The team
Aanika Karibu Safaris In Kenya
- Office In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 1986)
- Member Of:
- KATO, Tourism Regulatory Authority & Eco Toursm Kenya
- Tour Types:
- Small & medium group tours (Mid-range & luxury)
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $80 to $280 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
Email Angelia Khaterine | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good Food, Good Driver
I really like food I have in Masai Mara! And for low-season trip, this is by far amazing! cant wait to go back to Kenya one day!
NG
Email Olugbenga (Gbenga for short) Olatunji | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A memorable prep into the wild beasts of the maasai mara
My wife and I had a wonderful outing into the maasai anchored by Karibu Safari. We're picked up very early in the morning from our accommodation.
We also had a nice drive to the maasai (safe for the part of the road that is very bad-- this is government responsibility though). We got to the maasai a bit late on the first day because Sammy, our great driver, had to fix something in the bus while we ate lunch.
Regarding our game experience, Sammy was no doubt a very experienced driver and tour guide. Because we got there late on day 1, we could only see very few animals. However, his experience as a tour person and wildlife 'hunter' came to fore on the second day. We saw many of the important animals: lion, buffalo, leopard, elephants, hyena, antelope, zebras, and several others. My wife and I really enjoyed the search for animals and the whole maasai mara experience.
Lunch and dinner are great. It's a buffet arrangement where you have to serve yourself (except for the lunch on the second day which is packed because we have to eat inside the reserve).
Accommodation is also acceptable and represent a good value for money paid. Light is on from around 6-6.30pm and goes off by 10pm. It is on again in the morning around 5-5.30am and off around 7am. This is not so bad for us. The only reservation I had is that the link sent to me by the Karibu Safari indicated that we'd be staying at MaraSpring safari camp. Information on the link also stated that there would be solar-powered 24 hours electricity. See http://www.mountainrockkenya.com/marasprings/ But like I said, this did not in any way reduce the fun that we had. The organisers can be more specific in the future though.
Going forward, Karibu Safari's organisers should provide adequate information and advice in certain areas before the commencement of the trip. Two areas affected my wife and I. First, we didn't have sufficient advice about exchanging money. One of the reviews I read about KS on tripadvisor is that if you're paying in dollars and you don't have the exact change, you might be made to pay more than necessary. This was the reason I asked the KS organisers of I could pay in Kenyan shillings. For the sake of next time, kindly advise your clients that money exchanging facility will be available at the park before driving to the destination. In order to pay the exact amount, I exchanged the money with me at one of the malls. However, I was told that I was given a lower exchange rate at that mall (ksh 98/$1 instead of ksh 100. Even though, the exchange rate by the time we went elsewhere was ksh 99.3 to $1). So, I had to pay more than necessary. A clear information that exchange facility will be available at the take off point will guide against this.
Secondly, since we're picked up from our accommodation on Monday, I was thinking we'd also be dropped off at our accommodation. Unfortunately, no one said anything about this. I was going to Langata area but I was eventually dropped off around the city centre. It took us over 2 hours to return to Langata. For future trips, kindly advise clients/tourists on return transportation to their destination. My expectation was that the driver would ask us for our destinations so that he could drop us off at the closest points. This was not done. I didn't know the right place to come down. It turned out eventually that we had already passed somewhere very close to Langata before going to the city centre. We practically had to take a cab back to where the bus already took us through. Please, try to avoid this in the future.
Overall, we had a nice experience on this safari. Thank to Sammy and thank you KS.
JP
Email Takashi | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Budget Adventure with good staff & good visitor
I enjoyed this safari tour. Unfortunately, I joined the tour in rainy season, we met a lot of car stopping by bad road condition. But Mr. Raymond, who was our tour guide and driver, had good driving skill, we avoided car stop. Additionally, We enjoyed communication with other tour visitor. I was afraid because I join alone and I cannot speak English well. If I can visit East Africa again, I want to join the safari tour which operated this tour operator.
RU
Email Nataliya | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Exciting adventure in Kenya
I took part in 7 days trip: Masai Mara, Nakuru, Naivasha, Amboseli. National parks were excellent. There weren't too many animals cause of low season (especially in Amboseli). But anyway i managed to watch big 5 and super 7. In Amboseli almost absence of animals was compensated by Kilimanjaro view and an incredible Milky way at night. Accommodations in Masai Mara and Amboseli were rather modest but i knew where i was going so for me it was ok. Meal all the time was ok too. I had 2 drivers during the trip. And I want to thank Edward (driver in Amboseli) for his attentiveness and reliability. Things to improve: it's better to write cost of optional acitivites on the site and to mention about special permission for floral farms access in Naivasha also.
ES
Email Pau | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Its was a very amazing safari!
It was a perfect safari, we saw the Big Five minus the rhinoceros. Samy was the best driver, he helped the other drivers when the car was stuck in the mud. I have had two great days and I have seen many animals. The road is long from Nairobi to the park, but it's fun. Asante sana :)
Email Ricardo | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Amazing experience, my first African safari, very well organised, competent and friendly staff.
Truly unique experience, we saw all the Big5 and so many other animals, always felt we were in the hands of trustable, professional and knowledgeable staff. I’d recommend anyone who is looking for a genuine “no frills” safari to go with Robert and his team at Karibu Safaris.
ES
Email Marta | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very good balance of price and quality
Everything was perfect. The only thing I would improve is to comunicate to the guests any change before starting the trip.
The safari and the driver were amazing, the accomodation not bad, and the communication can be improved a little bit.
We want to make an special mention to our driver Arony. He was the best guide we could have.
Email Christina | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great experience!
This was my first safari and I wasn't disappointed at all!! Was a solo traveler, but had no problems because of that!
Food and water were provided as planned throughout the whole period.
PROs:
- managed to see all the Big 5 in Masai Mara thanks to Robert, our guide. Very experienced driver, took us out of some pretty complicated roads, cheers for that! Also stopped at Lake Naivasha even if it wasn't on our schedule, very flexible person!
- in Amboseli Boniface, our guide - very entertaining and funny, plus giving us a lot of information about the park and the animals.
CONs: the accommodations mentioned on the website are not ones you actually book into.
Email U.K | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great Driver/guide, car could have been more modern
Easy and quick communication. picked up on time. Bonface, our driver and guide, was very friendly and pleasant to have around. Would book him again and recommend him. The minivan we drove was very old and dated. I was glad we didn't spend a lot of time in the car. Would book with the tour company again, if they promised to provide a better car.
Reply from Aanika Karibu Safaris In Kenya
Posted on Mar 21, 2018
Hi ursula,
I want to apologies on be half of the company for being allocated an old safari van while the new once were there parked and i will bring the transport manager to task on the matter.
We have faced out our old vans and replaced them with the new fleet.
Sorry once again.
Regards
Msafiri
Director
Email Jane | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great safari for price paid
Robert was very helpful and quick to reply.
Safari was great, a little issue on the first day due to a breakdown because of the rain, but James the driver did his best.
Saw the big 5 which was great.
Jackson, our second driver was reliable and a fantastic driver in the slightly rainy conditions. He ensured we all had a great time and saw many animals.
Accommodation was ok. Hotel was better than expected.
Overall a great trip for my first safari and for price paid.