Baboon Budget Safaris ltd Team
Baboon Budget Safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2006)
- Member Of:
- KATO, KTB & Ministry Of Tourism
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $100 to $700 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
NL
Email Mark | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great value for money
We've had a wonderful three day safari in the Maasai Mara, although we ended up with eight people instead of four (which they said before). Also the pickup on our first day was 1,5 hours too late but the group was fun and it all worked out well. Our guide Ambrose worked hard to provide an amazing experience. Accommodation was fine. Not super fancy but hey, it's called Budget Safaris for a reason. Great value for money!
AE
Email Empire L | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A Budget Tour - Similar to More Expensive Tours for Half the Cost
3.5 Stars
We booked a 9-day tour with Budget Baboon Safari. The process was relatively easy. Emails were responded to quickly. A deposit of 20% was needed through a wire transfer or via African PayPal (forgot what they call it). I did a wire transfer after reading about the possible challenges and pitfalls of African PayPal.
PROS:
Good drivers. We had Mike in Kenya, and he went out of his way to ensure that you saw animals, and that you could see animals up close. The vehicle didn't break down (you'll see or hear stories). We were upgraded to a newer campsite, which was nice. It had running water, albiet no hot water, it had WiFi although spotty (what do you expect in the middle of nature). Food was decent. We went in October and saw many animals in a short period of time.
Tanzania, we were contracted out to 7 Wonders, then to 3 Wonders. Frank was our second driver, he was excellent. Not a lot of info, but good driver, took you to see what you wanted. Set up camps. Food was decent. Fun to camp out in the wilderness with the animals. Serengeti is much larger than Masai Mara in Kenya, and therefore, in October, we spent more time driving to find the animals.
CONS
We were picked up from the airport, but ended up waiting for hours for another couple's delayed flight, who didn't even come on our tour anyway. We were only 20 minutes from our hotel, but the driver said it would take hours "due to traffic," to take us to the hotel. Google Maps did not indicate this. Locals confirmed there is not hours of traffic at night. Furthermore, looking on the other side of the road driving into town, at night, showed no traffic at all.
One more con, has to do with us booking Tanzania through this company. So you understand, they do contract out for Tanzania. We were forgotten at our hotel and had to text, email, then call to get a response.
I will say this, they did correct the mistake by: taking us to the museum and paying for entry. They also upgraded our hotel in Tanzania. The owner, Dennis, also came and apologized personally. You can tell he cares about the business and his reputation and customer experience.
There was poor communication from there-on-out. We were originally told we'd be met at Tanzania-Kenya border heading south. We were not. We were told we'd then be met at bus stop in Arusha. No one was there. We had to text again to tour operator in Tanzania, 7 Wonder Tours, to get picked up. We waited about 20-30 minutes, not too bad.
In Tanzania the vehicle broke down twice, once we waited over two hours for them to "fix," it. It was a broken brake cylinder, but instead the replaced the break drums, which were completely shot.
First driver we had, we only had for part about 4 hours, for a short drive, and he demanded a tip of at least $10/person. When we offered him less, he refused, got angry and walked off.
OVERALL: Remember, you are on a budget tour, and you are in a developing country. Things will not always run on time. If you do Kenya/Tanzania, the company will farm you out to another company to get you into a vehicle and on safari. Don't worry, this is normal. Your vehicle may break down, we heard this from others as well. Makes sense, they drive these vehicles daily over rough terrain, part of the experience. Last, we did ask other tourists how much they paid...we were paying less for the same trip! You can't beat cheaper. In the end we saw what we wanted to see.
Email Steve Jones | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Magnificent wildlife adventure
Amazing. Joseph your a star. The experience of seeing African willdlife so close in such iconic surroundings is an experience you can never forget. Given the value for money it’s hard to complain, campsites were of a good standard although the one at Amboseli could have been cleaner. Baboon let us down by not picking me up at hotel to meet my wife at the airport and worse did not pick my wife up at the airport, so she landed at Nairobi early hours of the morning to a strange place without baboon there to meet her. Emails & phone calls went unanswered as to why they failed. Would have been 5* because of this.
Our driver/guide Joseph made the whole experience memeroble with extensive knowledge & good humour. Thank you so much.
US
Email Cortland | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great safari at a great price
The gane drives on the Maasai Mara in Kenya were amazing. Accomodations were basic thiugh sufficient. It was a budget safari after all.
Joseph was a great guide and expert2 at finding wildlife.
All in all had a lot of fun.
KR
Email Moon | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful journey to heaven of animals
The driver&guide Stanley was so knowledgable and nice, and he drives so well. Thanks to him, we saw a lot of animals and enjoyed our time. We saw double rainbows, and most of the animals, even lions eating meat!! That was so amazing.
The accomodation(camp) and food could be improved, though. There were only certain time that you could use electricity and I didn’t know that before I go there. And the staff told us that hot water is for 24 hours but most of us had difficulties when having shower because there was no hot water.
And we didn’t get our drinking water from any staff so I had to ask for other people.
But in general, it was a wonderful time with Baboon Budget Safari.
IN
Email Dr. Rita Mourya | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Real Budget Safari..............
It was awesome and a memorable trip, I have contact Mr. Dennis in advance to arrange our game reserve tour. Dennis arranged everything for us very nicely. Ambrose our driver cum guide is very cooperative, knowledgeable and friendly we have not faced any communication problem.
Hope to visit again.......
Email Natalie | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Overall we had an amazing experience on safari, also our driver was very knowledgeable and friendly
Good points:
Food – it was always hot and cooked fresh, there were always options for veg and non veg
Additional add on’s such as Lake Nakuru were worthwhile paying for as they added an extra experience and sometimes gave us a break from being the van
Campsite – all 3 were very decent, bed linen, towels and hot water. Always had a bed and mosquito net and there were areas to hang out after meals
Scenery! The views were amazing, regardless of whether this was in the parks or driving across the country!
Driver – Ambrose was excellent, very knowledgeable and always knew the places to find the animals with the best views
Points to note:
Generator – power only for certain amount of time, always check before going to sleep what the timing will be
There is a possibly of having ‘outdoor’ toilet and shower
You will need your passport to get into Masi Mara Park
The distance of driving was more than expected, especially from Lake Nakuru to Amboselli
It would be good to have a map to understand distances covered and the different areas
Be prepared to be sold merchandise at each stop/break
Collection at the airport was confusing. Had to call and text Dennis (an international call!)
Email Kate | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
3-day safari in Masai Mara fantastic, day trips in Nairobi bit disappointing.
We booked our trips with BB Safaris on arrival in Nairobi. Our day trips in Nairobi to the elephant orphanage and giraffe centre were good and well worth the visit but the 1-day safari to Nairobi National Park was disappointing with a 'driver' rather than a 'guide'. Our 4 hour schedule was reduced to 3 hours with an unplanned, and quite frankly, unwanted visit to a snake centre. I didn't enjoy the day which is why I've scored 4 instead of 5.
However, our 3-day trip to the Masai Mara was outstanding! This was mainly through our guide (Patrick) being so expert in knowing where to find the animals and getting us the most amazing sights of animals in their natural habitat and family scenes unfolding in front of us as we watched enthralled. I am still buzzing from the experience!!
For a budget safari we felt we had a fantastic trip that was worth the money.
CA
Email Elda | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very good trip- wow belle aventure
We did 2 small budget safaris (3 days in Kenya and 4 days in Tanzania).
We saw the "Big Five" in Kenya and Tanzania, very kind and caring drivers / guides.
A memorable trip for my daughter and me, a perfect zootherapy ...
I recommend this company for those who want a cheap safaris, not too demanding on food and lodging ... the focus is on animals ...
Accommodation in Kenya was not luxurious but comfortable camping.
Accommodation in Tanzania was wild camping in the bush.
The food very ordinary and little varied.
Perfect for practicing your English or Swahili.
Have a nice trip!
Elda
SD
Email Wallis Green | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
It was all that I hoped for...and more.
I had a wonderful 7 day safari. I spent two nights at a nice, very friendly hotel in Nairobi before starting the tour. I spent one day with one of the drivers on an excellent city tour. The next day the safari started. I went To Masai Mara, Lake Naivasha, Lake Nakuru, and Ambroseli. We stayed in comfortable places. I am a vegetarian and I was pleased with the meals. The drivers were all very competent and I met nice people. Before the trip I was expecting to be with the same driver and the same group for the 7 days. Instead I had 4 different drivers and 5 different configurations of people, but it was just fine. All the drivers were excellent and I met a lot of nice people. Baboon Budget did everything possible to see that I had my entire program. I would certain recommend the company to other people who are interested in learning about the area and want to see the animals where the animals belong.