This Tour Is Offered By
Beacon Safaris Team in Masai Mara
Beacon Safaris
- Office In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2010)
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
-
KE
Beacon Safaris a leader in the field of tours and travel, and is completely devoted and engaged in offering vacationers a perfect date with the African wilderness.
Reviews324
Excellent 6 day safari to Masai Mara
We did a 6 day Masai Mara trip with Beacon Tours in Nov 2025. We had been to Kenya in 2018 during the great migration and visited Amboselli, Lake Nakuru and Mara for over 8 days. Hence, this time we wanted to spend more time only at the Masai Mara.
Booking went smoothly through Robert. We stayed at Mtito Camp outside the Mara on the first night. We then stayed 2 nights at Sarova Mara and 2 at Serena Mara. All accommodation was handled perfectly by Robert.
We arrived mid day at NBO Jomo Kenyatta, after doing Gorilla trekking in Uganda. We were welcomed at arrivals by a smiling Alex. In the first few minutes he had already found out from us what our expectations were and also explained to us the difference in what we would see this time compared to our earlier trip (though we were fully aware that the wildebeest would have largely migrated etc). We thought this was extremely professional of him. We wanted flexible whole day drives starting early. Alex went above and beyond. All 4 days were whole day game drives some starting as early as 6am, as we stayed inside the park. Alex was very knowledgeable and positioned the truck the right way to get awesome pictures. He was constantly looking for game while simultaneously getting information on the radio and from other guides on the location of big cats. We saw 61 lions, 4 leopards, 2 cheetahs, 2 Rinos, countless Elephants. In fact we saw the big 5 on the first day itself.
We would never have been able to experience the wild like how we did without Alex. His knowledge, patience and kindness is very much appreciated. Read on below for an illustration of some of our experience :)
We have done multiple safaris in the past, Kenya in 2018, Tanzania in 2022 and South Africa. This was the first time where we spent hours at many sightings observing animal behavior. We saw lionesses hunt warthog unsuccessfully on 2 occasions. The elaborate spreading out of the lionesses and them taking cover behind ant mounds and even our safari vehicle was enthralling to watch. We had a huge male lion walk up to our jeep and lean against it for shade from the midday sun. Of course Alex immediately moved the vehicle away as he was not supposed to be close to the lion. The lion was not happy to lose his shade. We saw a leopard climb the tree to eat his stashed red buck kill. We saw another drink water. We saw a male ostrich chase out another male from its territory for over 10 minutes before disappearing over a hill in the distance.
The most dramatic experience though, where we spent 4 hours at a lions sighting, when we arrived early one morning to see 3 cubs sitting on the dirt track. We parked at a distance so as to not to scare them. This was by the Talek river. Soon a hippo walked right in the direction of the three cubs as she was returning to the river after her night out grazing. Upon seeing the hippo the 3 cubs scurried and unfortunately 1 cub panicked and got separated and ran into a bush in one direction while the other 2 stayed together in a bush beside our vehicle. Alex advised us that if we were patient we will see the mother come to get the cubs. The next 3 hours were gut wrenching. The mother came and called out and retrieved the 1 cub that got separated and took him back to the ravine where there was another lioness with 3 other cubs. She came back again but would go searching in the other direction. It was dramatic to watch. She kept searching as we sat helplessly watching not able to do a thing. In all this the male lion (they called him Olepolos) catually strolled by and lay under a bush by the river. The mom even went to the talek river and roared loud and got the dominant hippo agitated. She finally went back to the ravine at around noon and we left the 2 cubs who by then were comfortably lounging under the bush oblivious to the danger they were in from Hyenas, buffalo or even Hippo who would kill them without hesitation.
We saw 2 mating lion pairs and another male lion following one of the mating pairs from a distance. This lion had a scar on his face. Alex pointed out to us that he would have fought and lost to the mating male but is still following them.
Alex was a wealth of information, was always before time with a smile on his face, but best of all was that he had an amazing sense of humor and told us stories of his past adventures. He became family while we were in Kenya, which is exactly how he said he intended it to be. We were so happy and content with our safari that we did not do the additional night safari at Serena which we had planned (that was separate from the Beacon package).
IT
Reliable
We had a very good experience with Beacon Safari, Robert helped us to organize our 5 days stay and gave us always clear and prompt reply. The suggested hotels were good and we should gave a special thanks to Sopa Lodge that promptly advised of some forgotten items and our guide Carlos collecting them. Our guide Carlos was attentive, good driver and made his best to show us all the animals of Masai Mara. So we can say we were satisfied and would of corse recommend this travel agency
BE
Satisfaction
2 différents safari (3 days Amboseli and 2 days Ol pejeta)
Very good : choise of the lodges, guide ….
Good : contact with Robert before the travel
Can beter : contact during the safaris with Robert (he change One lodge without information,ask more money, answer very laat on request……
A complete African experience--couldn't have been better
As you know, there are dozens of Safari companies out there, and selecting one can be challenging. I chose Beacon based on a recommendation from a fellow photographer who has gone out with them twice. I am a wildlife photographer, and wanted to be able to take my time so I booked a one on one tour that included Samburu, Nakuru, and Masai Mara. I opted to take the trip that drove between destinations instead of flying. In the beginning, I thought my trip was going to be purely about photography, and I quickly discovered that this experience is about so much more. The drive times between the parks is substantial, but the experiences and things I saw along the way soon became as much of the trip as the photos of wildlife. Seeing the rawness of life there was jarring at first, but as time went on, I began to understand and develop an appreciation for what life is like for the people of this awe inspiring country. My guide Carlos was extraordinary. We had hours in the car together and discussed all aspects of life in Kenya and how things differ in the US. He took time to not just locate all the wildlife I hoped to see, but spent an equal amount of time explaining the subtleties and intricacies of surviving and thriving in this sometimes unforgiving place. We spent 8 days together and I saw everything from lizards to leopards, unusual birds, cheetahs, lions, rhinos, serval.......every animal I could have hoped for. Carlos was patient, knowledgeable, and truly enthusiastic about what he does. I can't imagine a better guide or experience. On the front end, Robert and Elaine took care of all the trip planning and details and were responsive to all my questions. My flight got changed only a week or so before I was due to arrive and I wound up with an extra day. Elaine quickly coordinated a day trip to Nairobi National along with dinner at Carnivore. These 2 details were arranged last minute, but handled seamlessly by the Beacon team and were 2 more very memorable experiences. There is nothing Beacon could have done better. Robert and Elaine coordinated the route, but Carlos and Africa created the experiences.
Thank you,
Steve
CA
Very professional and well executed.
We had a 5 days safari with Carlos. Everything was perfect.
Carlos was very knowledgable about local culture and also about the different parc and animals.
He’s been doing this for over 13 years and really know his ways around the park and the best place to catch the animals at the right moment. In our short safari we got to see the big 5 and even more. We saw very rare animals sights and carlos was very good a predicting the animal movements according to the time and temperature of the day.
He also caught intererest in our taste of local culture and brought us to some local spots on demand.
The hotels booked by robert were great and greatly situated. The overall was very nice for the price. Everything was very clean and very « luxury » (we had a mid-luxury private package). Communicating with robert was easy and also accomodated us on last minute changes to add an additional park.
Thank you to beacon safaris and especially to our awesome guide Carlos !
