Voyage to the Magical Africa

4.8/5 – 14 Reviews

$2,032 to $3,093 pp (USD)

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Voyage to the Magical Africa

4.8/5  
(14 Reviews)
Office In:
Kenya Kenya
Size:
5-10 employees (Founded in 2020)
Tour Types:
Custom luxury tours that can start every day
Destinations:
Kenya KE
Rwanda RW
Tanzania TZ
Uganda UG
STAFF

STAFF

Welcome to VOYAGE TO THE MAGICAL AFRICA! We're a Tour and Travels company founded on a passion for people, a passion for wildlife, a passion for the magnificent parks & landscapes of Africa and a passion to meet and surpass our clients safari expectations! Based in Nairobi, Kenya and serving travelers globally, we specialize in creating personalized and immersive travel experiences for individuals, families and groups.

Reviews14

Incredible, unforgettable experience - exceptional service
5/5

We booked a 4 day, 3 night Safari experience through Voyage to the Magical Africa, where we visited two destinations: Masai Mara (for two nights) and Lake Nakuru for 1 night. It was an incredible and unforgettable experience, and I would definitely do it again. I've broken down my review to give you as much detail as possible.

Timing: We booked in April, which is the "off season", and genuinely, I think that was the best decision we could have made. Prices were much lower (our total trip was about $4K USD, including more luxurious accommodations, pickup and dropoff in Nairobi, and 3 nights in 2 different locations). We lucked out with amazing weather, and we had exceptional service, barely any crowds, and we got to see a WIDE assortment of animals.

Booking with the Voyage to the Magical Africa Team

I had a great experience communicating with and booking with the VOYAGE TO THE MAGICAL AFRICA team. The individual we spoke with was Brian, and he was INCREDIBLY helpful and solicitous, and very, very communicative. We had no idea what we wanted from our safari experience, and he gave us several incredibly detailed quotes, going back and forth with me, and answering all my questions with patience and speed. He was very communicative throughout the experience, and Brian was honestly the main reason we booked with this company, compared to some of the others we received quotes from.

Things to keep in mind: Pesapal, the platform used for payment does charge fees for your transaction (when you're paying your deposit, or paying for your safari). For our initial 50% deposit, we used a bank transfer, but if I had known in advance, I would have brought cash for the second part of the payment. This also would have helped as when I was trying to pay the second half of the payment, it took a long time going through 2FA via pesapal, and it was needlessly stressful.

Feedback on the vehicle: While we did have a great experience, the land cruiser provided by the company was quite old. We had seen videos of people going on safaris in much more comfortable and updated cars (with mini fridges, charging ports, cupholders), and while we didn't need all of the bells and whistles, the vehicle we used had only 1 working seatbelt. While our experience was safe and (relatively) comfortable, I do hope the company upgrades their vehicles for future visits.

The Guide: Our guide's name was John, and quite honestly, he was the best possible guide we could have worked with. We would honestly request him for future trips. John is Masai himself, and studied animal behaviour and birds. So on top of his friendly nature and great attitude, he also knew what he was talking about. We got to see all of the big 5 on our trip, along with lots of other really cool birds and animals. Brian was so knowledgeable, and we often found ourselves telling other guides and vehicles about animals WE spotted, so they could go see them. Brian had a great instinct for knowing where animals would be, and would spot "hidden" animals and birds with ease. We had such a great experience with him. My sister, who is a biologist, and entomologist was so impressed with his depth of knowledge, and we learnt so much about animals, plants, and birds from John. Truly, I couldn't have asked for a better guide for our first safari experience.

Our accommodations: We stayed in 2 parks: Maasai Mara, and Lake Nakuru.

Maasai Mara was INCREDIBLE. We would absolutely go back there, as it's so huge, and I could have honestly spent an entire week just there. We saw our first three of the big 5 just on our drive in to the hotel (Buffalo, Elephants, and Lions), and saw so many cool birds, big groupings of animals, and more. The weather was amazing, getting a bit hot in the daytime, with cool evenings. We also barely encountered any mosquitoes.

We stayed at the Ashnil Mara Camp, and let me just say, it was the most exquisite, luxurious, and incredible hotel / resort I have ever stayed at. It was BEAUTIFULLY furnished, with gorgeous, comfortable, and tastefully appointed luxury tents. The rooms were big, comfortable, and clean (although some bugs WILL get in, it can't be avoided, but don't worry!!). They had great amenities (mosquito lotion, hand cream, shampoo and body wash), and even did 5 items of laundry for you (for free) every day, as a part of your stay. The food was delicious, you ordered from a menu, and the breakfast buffet was EXCELLENT (we preferred it to the packed breakfast, as nothing can compare to a hot breakfast buffet). The dining area was gorgeous, overlooking a river where you would frequently see and hear hippos. There were even lots of wild animals ON the site, like monkeys, insects, cool birds, mongoose, and deer. The staff was incredibly courteous, friendly, and helpful. I don't remember everyone's names, but the bar staff, the restaurant staff, the porters, and cleaners, and laundry staff, and the front desk staff were all great. John the restaurant manager was very friendly and helpful, and we were usually served by Dickson, who was so friendly, kind and helpful. I also got a Swedish massage from Rose - and oh my goodness, it was such a relaxing and enjoyable experience (I am pretty sure I fell asleep and started snoring!!). My favourite thing was all the little touches - cool towels when we checked in, the free laundry, fresh juice and cold water, hot water bottles tucked into our made beds!! I felt like a princess, lol. I wish I could have stayed even longer, and would love to go back.

In Lake Nakuru, we stayed at the Sarova Lion Hill Game Lodge.

Lake Nakuru National Park itself is pretty small, so not everyone recommends it, but we lucked out, seeing the last of the big five (rhinos and a leopard) almost right when we entered the park, on our way to the hotel. We saw a of babboons, zebra, gazelle, topis, impalas, and cool birds here. We also saw some white rhinos, rothschild giraffes, hippos, flamingos, and the same male leopard 3 times. This place is a lot more marsh-y, so we saw a ton of birds, and a lot more mosquitoes (although many resorts spray for them). It rained a little during our time here, so the roads were muddy and puddle-y, which was fine, but we did see a safari vehicle (recklessly) drive into some big puddles and get stuck right by the water (eventually getting out).

Our accommodation at the Sarova Lion Hill Game Lodge was decent. The staff were very friendly and helpful, but the rooms were a bit small. We were there during the off season, and there were so few guests there that they hadn't even opened their dining area, we ate in a smaller area by the bar. The food was buffet style, and it was pretty good though. My biggest complaint was that you had to pay (!!!) for water. You had to buy bottles of water to drink, which was very frustrating as our booking had specified we'd have access to drinking water. We also had to pay for soda, whereas at our other accommodation, both were free and abundantly available. There were 3 bottles of water in the room, for brushing teeth/making coffee, but for our lunch and dinner we had to buy bottles of water to drink and fill our refillable water bottles. Interestingly, at breakfast, there was a jug of drinking water available, which was a bit frustrating, because why did we have to pay for water for our other two meals?

On our way back, our guide, John, generously detoured through the Lake Naivasha area. We decided against the boat ride and Crescent Island safari because we were worried about running out of time, but we did eat a delicious lunch at the Lake Naivasha Country Club where my sister said their Buffet was the best of all the meals she'd eaten on the safari trip.

Overall, we had a truly incredible experience in Kenya, thanks to our incredible guide John, as well as Brian and the staff at Voyage to the Magical Africa, and the wonderful and friendly staff at all our accommodations. I definitely hope to come back!

Amazing
5/5

Brian researched and got us the best itinerary with best hotels. It was within our budget and timeline. Brian is a very good communicator and stayed constantly in touch with us from beginning to end and is still in touch with us. Very accommodating gentleman. Our travel guide John is the Best!! It was our first visit to Africa, first to Kenya and first Safari ever! And we will be coming back for more!

First and Best experience in Safari!
5/5

My mother and me had beautiful experience in game drive in Masai Mara area! Our guide, John was willing to give us many suggestions to make our experience even better and let us choose what we want. He was super good at finding animals, especially we were so happy to find lions (we wanted to find the most) since it seemed like everyone was struggling with finding them during the period. I look forward to going back to Savannah again, and I trust that they will give us another great experience!

A perfect safari experience
5/5

I chose this agency because Brian was the most responsive of the ones I reached out to, and gave us a good price. As it turned out, we had the same wonderful driver the whole 7 days (many people who booked with other agencies were moved between drivers), and our driver, Evans, was really wonderful. He was an excellent driver, knew all about the animals and where to spot them, and was kind. We were picked up and returned to our hotel near Nairobi airport, and communication was easy, on WhatsApp.
We spent two nights at Masai Mara (seeing LOTS of wildlife), one night at Lake Nakuru, one night at Lake Naivasha, and two nights at Amboseli where you see elephants with the backdrop of Mt. Kilimanjaro.
This was really a great itinerary, and the hotels surpassed my expectations- they were very nice. I would particularly recommend the Sarova Lion Hill Game Lodge, the Lake Naivasha Sopa Resort, and the Amboseli Sopa Lodge where Ernest Hemingway stayed and designed a bar.
Brian continued to communicate with us throughout, checking on things and arranging details when needed.
The trip was unforgettable.

Promises luxury, struggles with delivery.
2/5

This review relates only to the service provided by the safari company in organizing our trip, not to the national parks, wildlife, or Kenya itself, which were all wonderful.

First, I would like to emphasize that our guide, John, was excellent. He was kind, professional, and did his best throughout the journey. Our dissatisfaction does not relate to him.

We booked an eight-day package that included the word “luxury” in its name. After receiving the offer, we accepted it and paid 50% within a few hours. Later the same day, we were informed that two of the four lodges included in the confirmed offer were not available. Having already paid, we felt we had little choice but to accept the proposed alternatives. We were particularly dissatisfied with one of the replacements.

Two days before departure, we were informed that yet another lodge was unavailable and were offered a different property, which again was not our preferred option.

Upon arrival at the airport, the agent who organized the trip arrived approximately 40 minutes late, which was quite exhausting after a long international flight.

The vehicle provided for the safari was operational but quite old and extremely noisy. Although this did not prevent us from completing the itinerary, it made long drives significantly more tiring than expected.

We also had the impression that the itinerary may not have been carefully planned in practice, as some activities were poorly distributed across the days, which resulted in adjustments having to be made during the trip.

The most disappointing aspect for us concerned included activities. One afternoon in Ol Pejeta, we did not have the scheduled game drive because, as we were told, there had been a misunderstanding regarding the validity of the park entrance tickets.

Additionally, although a visit to Hell’s Gate was clearly listed as included, we were initially informed that we would need to pay the entrance fee ourselves. After discussion, the company agreed to cover the cost. However, on the same day, the visit to Crescent Island, which was also clearly stated in the itinerary - was not organized.

Based on our understanding, this resulted in us missing activities with a combined value of several hundred dollars in park fees.

Overall, in our opinion, communication and organization were not at the level we expected, especially for a tour marketed as “luxury.” In our experience, the company was very efficient when it came to securing payment, but less consistent when it came to delivering the agreed services.

We had a memorable time in Kenya thanks to the parks and our guide, but from an organizational perspective, the experience fell significantly short of our expectations.

Other Safaris & Tours43  – Offered by Voyage to the Magical Africa

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  • This tour is offered by Voyage to the Magical Africa, not SafariBookings.
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