JOCKY TOURS TEAM
Jocky Tours and Safaris
- Office In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2002)
- Member Of:
- AMREF & KWS
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $50 to $200 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
for a custom tour
Your request will be sent directly to the operator
If preferred, you can contact the operator directly
Reviews
AT
Email Lisa | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Amazing!
I got picked up on time, the food and the camp were completely fine for this price and our tour guide Edwin was very good! He did everything to spot the animals and that we get the best view and pictures. He also explained us a lot about the animal. The 3 days were great and would defenitely recommend it!
Email Kamau | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Nice gamedrives, excellent driver, bad accommodations, miserable customer service from the office
We’ve been doing a tour for 16 days/15 nights with this company. We visited several nationalparks and destinations in Kenya.
Nairobi-Amboseli-Mount Kenya-Thompson falls-Lake Nakuru-Kakamega forest-Kisumu-Masai Mara-Naivasha-Nairobi was our tour
First of all we can say thanks to our driver and guide Evans, who was very friendly and helpful. We enjoyed all the game drives with him, we were able to spot all of the big five and he was able to tell us a lot about all the animals we saw. He’s very experienced and has a lot of knowledge.
So on the first day in Nairobi we’ve been picked up on time at our hotel and drove to the office to do the outstanding payment with our creditcard. The office wanted to charge us 5% on that amount, which we refused because it was not a small amount and we already paid a lot, it was never mentioned or written anywhere that paying with creditcard will be charged with 5%. If we would have known we would have paid full in advance. We started our program in Nairobi, it was fine and in the evening we arrived at the sopa lodge in Amboseli. The hotel was good and the first game drive the next day was great. On our way back to the lodge our drive told us our program the next to days will change.
There the disaster began, they wanted to fool us the first time. Our schedule was to visit the Mau Mau caves on the way from Amboseli to Mount Kenya the next day but it was not possible due to lack of time (whole day driving). So he told us we would postpone it to the day after and skip a whole day gamedrive/visit in Ol Pejeta Conservancy (Sweetwater Rhino Sanctuary). That’s ridiculous, they obviously really tried to fool us and why was the visit to Mau Mau caves planned anyway, if they now it’s not enough time for it? So of course we’ve been insisting on our gamedrive in Ol Pejeta.
So after the second night in Amboseli we spend the whole day on the road to Nanyuki (Mount Kenya) and arrived at Sportsman Arms Hotel in the evening. Horrible hotel, unfriendly and inconsiderate staff, dark rooms with a lot of broken items (lights, dustbin) and water dripping out of the bathroom light from above. Restaurant also very dark and uncomfortable, staff as mentioned, buffet very small and not tasty at all.
The next day our gamedrive at Ol Pejeta was great but we had to quit in the early afternoon due to one out of four persons was already feeling bad because of conditions of the last night... sad because of the nice conservancy and bad because of returning early to that hotel (we just thought ok we’ll tolerate one more night there).
The next day we went to Nyahururu to visit the Thompson falls, spent few hours on the road and arrived at the lodge for lunch. Already two out of four persons felt bad/were ill due to the last two nights. Lodge was very old and rustical but had charme but could definitely be maintained better, especially the showers.
The next morning we took off to check-in to our hotel in Nakuru and left with picnic lunches for Lake Bogoria which was a nice trip. We arrived at our hotel (Hillside Court) in the late afternoon and took a first look into our rooms and we’ve been disappointed again. Dirty sheets, leaking toilets, dirty towels and so on.
That was the point we decided not to be disappointed about accommodations anymore and just to look forward to get back to the hotels late and wake up early the next morning for gamedrives/excursions.
The next day we had our gamedrive at Lake Nakuru, which was as enjoyable as the other gamedrives! In the evening we had to go back to our hotel, at least the staff tried everything to get us comfortable.
The next day we went to Kakamega forest and finally had a good accommodation again, the Rondo Retreat. Really charming, quiet and in the middle of the forest! After a good night we had a guided walk into the forest the next morning and went to Kisumu arriving at our hotel for lunch.
In Kisumu we decided to upgrade the hotel in advance on our own cost to have two comfortable nights with a day at leisure in between! Later it paid off...
After two nights in Kisumu we took off to Masai Mara with a stop at the soapstone factory in Kisii which was quite interesting. We arrived at our camp in the Mara at dinner-time. The Lechada camp is not maintained well, the mattresses are done, the showers are very dark, dirty, no hot showers, all in all very poor bathrooms, food was okay but the dining hall also very dark. Staff and the Masai have been friendly.
The gamedrives the next two days have been amazing, the Masai Mara is really awesome.
After three nights in the camp we took off to Naivasha and we’ve been really excited about our hotel, the Lake Naivasha Resort was on the program for two nights. Arriving at Lake Naivasha our driver told us we’ll stay in the ‚sweet lake resort‘ which is a totally different price category than the Lake Naivasha Resort wish we found out really fast online, so we told the driver and insisted on to stay in the Lake Naivasha Resort as per program. As we were doing our boatride before lunch, our driver was to sort out with the office. As we came back I had to talk with the boss Lucy from the office for the first time, the lady really told me that the hotel was changed and we’ve been informed about, which was not true and a lie! After me still insisting on us staying in the better hotel as per program she was shouting at me on the phone!!! It was getting later and later so that we even had no lunch and we finally accepted to stay in another hotel called Masada resort, because Lucy was not reasonable and insisting to her lie the hotel was changed and we knew. So we checked in at around 6pm in the Masada Resort without having any lunch (all meals included) and the hotel was also definitely not the same category as the hotel on the program, the hotel that we have paid for! How can a hotel/program that we have paid for be changed?
The next day we went to Hells Gate Nationalpark and had a gamedrive in the morning to back at the hotel for lunch and afternoon at leisure. After another night at that hotel we took off to Nairobi the next day.
We would never recommend that agency to anybody, please be careful!
Our driver/guide Evans Ngigi was really excellent but the Office/the boss Lucy really unprofessional, customer service was very bad or no customer service at all! She tried to fool us with skipping Ol Pejeta Conservancy which is 95 USD per person, in total almost 400 USD. And finally she corned us with our hotel in Naivasha and saved a lot of money (hundreds). This lady is criminal! Sadly we had no chance to react because it was already paid and booked directly with that agency in Kenya.
Email Chris and Judy | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great dynamic driver and very friendly, considerate and personable.
Edwin was an extremely good communicator as well as a very skilful driver. He arranged a taxi for us when we arrived back in Nairobi to take us to our accommodation which was 15 kms from the city. Edwin exceeded our expectations and we would have no hesitation recommending him for future tours.
HU
Email David | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Nice experience
We chose the 3 day Amboseli National Park tour. Before we arrived to Kenya we had a lot mail with Minneh, who was really helpful. The tour was very nice. Alex was very kind and he explained everything. We were totally pleased with him. Thank you again.
BE
Email Marie | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Everyone was very professional and making sure everyone is having a good time.
This was the first real safari I ever did and I had an amazing time.
Our guide in Masai Mara & the one in Naivasha were very professional and took really good care of us.
Everything was very well organised and there were no problems at all.
I had a great experience!
BE
Email Victor | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent!
We just finished a 5 day safari in Kenya. We did 3 day Masai Mara, 1 day Lake Nakuru and 1 day Naivasha and Hells Gate Park with a group of 7 and had an amazing experience. Joshua from Jocky tours was an amazing guide and driver. Highly recommend this safari tour operator for its quality and price. Very professional and well run agency.
RU
Email Alexander | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It was excellent, highly recommended
I really appreciate especially guide James, who took care of us 24/7. He is kind, helpful, and a great guide knowing all the tracks at national park, all the best places to observe as many animals as possible!
Email Joshua | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Good communication, fair price, wonderful tour guide (Evans was the best!)
We had a great time with Jocky Tours - from the start, the communication was great and it was clearly outlined what would happen in terms of our pick up arrangement, what was included and excluded in the package. Our guide, Evans, ensured everyone’s needs were met. He was a great guide, friendly and approachable. The accommodation was comfortable and food was good. Some confusion around water which was included in our package, we had to buy water at stages as the water being provided was limited. In our group of seven, all of us had actually booked with different agencies, at slightly different prices though this didn’t impact upon us in any way - it made sense to fill up a car with people who booked a group tour instead of having multiple cars going to the same place. We would recommend this tour agency to others, they seemed more professional than other agencies that booked customers in our group.
Email Sanne | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
One in a life time experience
The safari tour was amazing! We booked through E-mail, we wrote with Minneh. She is very sweet, helpful and answers very quickly. They picked us up at our hostel, and we got in the van. Our drivers name was Isaac, he was wonderful! Very funny, helpful and did everything to make the trip unforgettable. The tents in the camp are more than we expected, with our own toilet and shower. The food there is excellent, the staff are sweet and friendly. We had an amazing trip and would love to go again. The only complaint we have is that there is no refrigerator and therefore only warm drinking water...
SK
Email Rich | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
good office interaction, driver not perfect
Minneh was great helping get this organized at the start and was quick to respond to our questions and queries, which was fantastic. But there were some mixups on what time we were supposed to be picked up at our hotel to start. Not a big deal, but we were told three different times and ended up ready at 7am while the driver said he was told to get us at 8am. A bigger deal was the 45min wait at the tax office coming home while our driver sorted out permitting issues on the way out. Other safari teams came through the tax checkpoint quickly, showed their receipts, and left -- less than 60 seconds -- while our paperwork wasn't quite right, and so we waited and waited and waited.
The animals of course were great, which is what you want to remember from the experience. And Keekorok lodge, while dated, was a great location and had super friendly staff.
I'd probably be okay using Jocky Tours again for the ease of payment and organizing, but just double and triple check how things are supposed to go on timing. And maybe avoid Leonard as a driver. We didn't get as a warm a fuzzy with him as we might have liked -- he'd clearly done this a lot before, but spent a lot more time on his phone while driving that we would have wanted.