into East African wilderness
Mwema Africa Safaris
- Located In:
-
United States
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2013)
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $65 to $250 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
DE
Email Jan | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Safari is the best part of Kenya but be prepared for lower service quality
We had with my wife a private 3 day Safari. The trip started in Amboseli, which was amazing - lot of animals and beautiful nature views. Kibo camp where we stayed was also great - tents were perfect, cozy and totally comfy. Then we moved to Tsavo West, which was a bit less interesting. It was very dry and we saw almost no animals. Luckily we are huge fans of nature, which was beautiful also there, so we were happy anyway - but I can imagine that "regular" tourists would be disappointed from seeing no animals there. The Ngulia Lodge where we stayed was also not a very nice place - very old, empty and with low service quality. Our guide Anthony was a nice guy, however he was more like a driver than a guide. He drove us safely to all of our agreed places, but he didn't provide us many additional information - only the name of an animal and some high-level basic info. He also paid more attention to his "fellow guides" than to us, which caused that we stayed for couple of minutes every 500m, when we met some other Safari car to have a talk with them. In general the Safari was great experience, but the service level could have been much better for so much money.
FI
Email Kim JAnsson | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Well organized, quick answer to e-mails
The safari was very nice. Fine loges, good driver and guide. Saw lots of animals.
CA
Email Kelly | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Everything went smooth
Everything was organized well - the driver was always on time, prepared and knew where to go. He also drove safely and kept to the speed limits.
The only issue was the road we took from Lake Nakuru to the Mara, where we didn't go the long way around on tarmac, and instead took a secondary road in terrible condition (he wasn't aware the road had deteriorated). In that instance it would have been nice if we'd selected the 4x4. Due to the road, we arrived too late at the Mara for a decent game drive, but the driver made up for this the next day by taking us on a full day drive with packed lunch where we saw every animal on the list, including leopard. The driver (I think Richard?) was very accommodating like that.
Overall, I would say everything was organized very well!
DE
Email elke | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
reliable Safari company, wonderful trip
Everything was well organised, our driver James (very sympathethic) picked us up at our hotels and brought us back. We have had wonderful experiences.
Two lodges we booked very okay and one (Ziwani) was outstanding !
We were flashed for days after our tour.
Thank you very much Simon and James
NO
Email Stig Waagø | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Perfect guiding, logistics on time, lodges could be better.
Mwema delivered according to expectations. They provided us with a safari guide (with & car) that guided us thru Amboseli and Masai Mara. He did an excellent job and he knew his stuff. Very service minded also. He had been working as a safari guide for the last 25 years and he knew all the places to look for animals. We saw everything except Rino and Leopard. Accommodation could be slightly better, they used AA lodge Amboseli and AA lodge Masai Mara. They where good enough , but service level on the lodges was maybe not as expected.
Dealing with management in Mwema was also a nice experience. Logistics went according to plan, and this is a plus! All in all a nice experience, wonderful game viewing but they could consider change lodges.
Email lilian | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
the service provider knew exactly what I wanted-a place to unwind.
Excellent. The communication and service was top knotch.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A Mixed Experience
I booked with Charles from Mwema Africa Safaris since his response time was great and he was easy to communicate with. He answered all my questions and was upfront what was included and what was excluded. I did a 3 day safari to Masai Mara with a visit to a Masai community and then onward to Lake Naivasha instead of returning to Nairobi.
Since I booked on short notice Charles met me at my hotel on time and took me to his office to complete our paperwork seamlessly and then onward to meet the Safari van. The van was old and a little worn but appeared serviceable. Charles had me join a group that various agents had booked and assured me that we were all staying at the Sopa Hotel in Masai Mara. We ended up going all over Nairobi to pick up various people which was fine since we were getting an early start. We ended up leaving one couple who were not ready on time and they joined us later.
The road into the Mara is terrible and unfortunately the safari van had holes in the floor boards so the dust just wallowed into the van which was worse than when It rained and the water ran down the windows and doors inside the van. It was pretty miserable since we kept the windows rolled up and no AC. When we got into the Mara there was a huge dispute since half the group had been unknowingly booked into a backpackers tent camp while the rest of us were staying at the Sopa Hotel. We all felt bad and while we were together during game drives it was a bit uncomfortable to have part of us staying at a different place. Our evening game drive was delayed while sorting out the accommodations, so some of us were not able to wipe the dust off or get a cold drink prior to the evening drive but the vote was to go on the evening game drive and it was well worth it. Amazing variety of animals and a magnificent sunset. We got back to the Sopa after dark and were greeted with hot towel and a glass of juice as we checked in. Nice accommodations with plenty of hot water, great buffet dinner and staff were wonderful.
The next morning we were to leave at 7:30 AM for an early all day game drive. Our driver was picking up the other group first and was 1 hour and 20 minutes late picking us up. Evidently one of the couples was not ready on time. Not OK and while his apology was sincere it was a loss of our only early morning time out in the Mara. I called Charles who apologized but frankly not much he could do. While our driver was fine he did not know any of the animals and really didn't know his way around the Mara. Since the drivers all have shortwave radios they are in constant communication and can get to where the animals are fairly quickly. We saw cheetahs hunting and a pride of female lions going out for the hunt . It was an amazing day with a picnic lunch under a tree while zebras and giraffes grazed nearby. It was surreal, animals everywhere! the wildebeest migration was just starting and from the overlook we could imagine what it must be like during the main part of the migration.
The next day I was to trade vehicles and meet up with a group going onto Lake Naivasha while the van I had been riding in returned to Nairobi. Unfortunately the van to Naivasha had brake problems so we waited a few hours while they were fixed and off we went over the hills and again with brake problems and another long delay. Finally arrived at Lake Naivasha Sopa hours late, just before sundown. The cottage at Lake Naivasha was great, staff were friendly and the hippos on the grounds in the evening and early morning hours were unreal. Who knew hippos make noises.
If I had to do it again. I would make sure that the agent owns their own van and employs the driver. While Charles was great once I was in the van he had no control . Being placed in a group is the luck of the draw, in regards to driver knowledge and van condition. While Charles assured me we were all staying at the Sopa hotel the other agents who booked clients on our van had obviously lied and told their clients they were staying at the Sopa hotel and when we arrived were told they were actually booked at a backpackers tent camp. I would skip the visit to the Masai community, very uncomfortable and certainly not culturally appropriate. Also our driver dropped two of us off in the village and told us we would be walking back with the Masai, when I protested he said it would be fine. I didn't feel unsafe and was tired of arguing. Unfortunately no one wanted to walk us back until we had bought the required amount of goods from community members.
Overall an amazing experience and I would go again. Hope someone else can benefit from my experience.
Reply from Mwema Africa Safaris
Posted on Jun 24, 2014I would like to appreciate the review given above by Maria, i am glad she had an amazing Safari Experience and also ready to visit again....!
I conveyed my sincere apologies for the inconveniences caused (on the transport side) and took the appropriate action as this went beyond control, however for clarification
A) Joining Safaris offered by a different operators (3rd party) may not fully meet our demands but we always try our very best to enhance client(s) comfort & satisfaction
B) All the safari(s) requirement on SafariBookings is minimum of two persons, any other arrangements are done between the client and the agent on a mutual understanding not withstanding the quality of service
C) We ( Mwema Africa Safaris) use qualified driver guides on all our Safaris (with bronze / silver medals) we promote excellence on all our operations, if client(s) purchase our package either as a single traveller / small medium sized group, we will definitely offer our own transport
Thank you so much and promise always to offer my very best....."A true adventure beyond imagination"
Regards
Charles
IR
Email Qazale | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Perfect
I had the best travel experience with this group. My driver's name was Richard, an extraordinary man with whom I experienced the best safari ever, filled with patience and kindness.
RU
Email Vitaly | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent organization and the best safari in Kenya!
We arrived in Nairobi on January 01, 2024. By agreement, our guide and driver Eric were waiting for us at the meeting place. Everything was exactly at the specified time. Special thanks to Eric for his punctuality throughout the route! On the first day, we headed from Nairobi to our parking place and overnight near the Masai Mara Park. We visited the Masai village. It was interesting, but a little uncomfortable because of the poor and very natural lifestyle of these people. I hope that their lives will change for the better soon.
The next day was completely dedicated to the Masai Mara Park. In which, thanks to Eric, we were lucky enough to see a pride of lions, hyenas, cheetahs, warthogs, elephants, giraffes, ostriches, buffaloes, hippos, many antelopes, zebras and wildebeest. This is only the main part of the animal world that we have encountered. At certain points, thanks to our excellent guide Eric, we were alone on the road, which the giraffe was crossing importantly. They also saw a herd of elephants very close, and there was not a single car around. To summarize the first day of the safari: we saw three animals from the Big Five! Special thanks to Eric for the interesting and informative stories about the animal world and the life of Kenyans!
The next day we visited Lake Naivasha with amazing hippos in the water and an amazing island that turned out to be almost a contact zoo! Since there are no predators there, the safari was on foot. In this place, you can get very close (within reasonable limits) and look at zebras, giraffes, antelopes and wildebeest. There are also a lot of birds there! Wonderful and enthusiastic impressions of this place!!!
After breakfast and another transfer, we found ourselves at a park overlooking the majestic Mount Kilimanjaro. There is a new excellent Amboseli Park here. On an afternoon safari, we met elephants, giraffes, zebras and many other funny animals.
In the morning, the clouds around Kilimandaro parted and we managed to take wonderful pictures against the background of the snow cap of this highest mountain in Africa!
And our further way lay to East Tsavo Park. And here we were waiting for two discoveries: first, it turns out that there are red elephants, and secondly, we saw the world's smallest antelope Dikdiki.
This is the end of our wonderful safari. And despite the fact that we didn't manage to see the whole Big Five, we hope to come back and do it again!
All the crossings were not very tedious, despite the fact that we drove a total of 1,500 km. The food and accommodation in all places of overnight stays are good. In some cases, we were even just the two of us! :)
Thanks to Mwema Africa Safaris for the excellent organization and great experiences!!! Special thanks to our super driver Eric!
NO
Email Karina | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Safari of a lifetime!
We went on a 6 day safari in Masai Mara, Amboseli, Lake Naivasha and Tsavo east. We can not recommend it enough! Our driver Paul was professional and accommodating. We did not only see animals and nature, but also a lot of “ordinary“ Kenya.
Paul was extremely knowledgeable about the parks and where the different animals where located. We felt throughout the whole safari that Paul really tried to make the trip the best experience for us.
We have learned a lot, not only about animals, but also about Kenyan culture though Paul.
The parks are located quite far from each other. The itinerary we were presented underestimated the driving times.
Otherwise we are in awe of Kenya and are still thinking back on our all our wonderful experiences!
This safari was really an experience of a lifetime. We highly recommend Paul and Mwema Africa Safaris.