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
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
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.
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.
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
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!
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.
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.
Email Rachel | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great Family Safari
We had a lovely experience with Mwema Africa Safaris. They provided an excellent price for the dates and style safari we were looking for. They were accommodating, listening closely that we had family members ranging in ages from 78 to 3 years, and made sure each member had a great experience. We visited Serengeti )2 nights central), Ngorongoro Crater (2 nights), and Lake Manyara. They met us in Arusha and transferred us to a hotel outside the city, but before doing so they agreed to stop and let us check out a bit of shopping.
Email Alison | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Good experience
My daughter and I booked a 3 day/2 night safari with Mwema, which included pick up from Nairobi and drop-off in Watamu. Simon was very fast at responding to all our queries in advance. Anthony was our driver and safari guide; he was very flexible and knowledgable about the animals. We felt safe and well looked after. We stayed at Kibo safari lodge in Amboseli which we found to be a very friendly place - we loved our spacious tent. Amboseli was great for viewing elephants in particular, though we were also lucky enough to see a variety of other game including a lion and her cubs. Then we moved to Kilanguni Lodge in Tsavo - this was comfortable and has a watering hole right outside - it was rainy season but we imagine this would be amazing in the dry season when animals visit. We also enjoyed the lava flows at Tsavo. All in all a great experience with a good local company. The safari van was a little bit old, but I think is being replaced very soon after having racked up over 150,000 miles!
AE
Email Shavon | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Everything was organized with perfection and the ended up being more amazing than we had imagined.
From the beginning the communication with our safari designer, Simon, was very clear and easy. He designed a safari for us that met all our needs. Both Tsavo East and West were quite when we visited in May, but that was just how we liked it. The lodges didn't have many people as it was off season, but that is how we liked it. We didn't run into many people while in the parks and we saw so much wildlife. Such an amazing experience.