masai mara
Bigmac Africa Safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2011)
- Member Of:
- Kenya Association of Tour Operators
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $50 to $300 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
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Email Upset customer | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
CHEATS AND LIARS
I had a safari tour with my family and from the United States through email communication I felt as if though I was booking with a reliable and trustworthy company. I had communication with Magdalene. Our driver Steve tried to cancel part of our safari tour in order to try and pocket the entrance fees we had already paid the company! He confronted us during our family dinner to try to talk us out of it! How disrespectful and unprofessional! I never felt so insulted in my life. I contacted Magdalene who informed me I would be refunded and once I replied to confirm yes send me back my money I never heard one word back!! Do not trust this company. You should not have to go through this when visiting an unknown third world country. Of course safari is a great experience but you can experience all the wonderful things with ANY other company who has reliable staff and drivers, there are so many which shouldn’t try to cheat and steal from you! I tried to be calm about it but after all, I highly discourage anyone from booking with BigMac!
Reply from Bigmac Africa Safaris
Posted on Sep 29, 2021Hello Joyce,
Thank you for taking your time to give your feedback.
But i don't understand why now the review is different from the one you wrote on TripAdvisor.
As per our conversation earlier, all the park fees were paid and we have the receipts hence company owes you no money. You even wrote to Pesapal that you want a refund of the money you had paid as deposit lying to them that we had overcharged you and we owe you $240. You went on to say that we don't know how to use their system hence why you want them to refund directly to you. this is a week after you have finished the safari and gone back to your country.
You have mentioned 'the driver tried' to cancel your safari' but he didn't cancel, you did all the game drives as per the itinerary but the last one was little shorter.
I will copy paste the reply i did on TripAdvisor below:
Dear Joyce. Thank you for the chance to serve you for your 5days Amboseli-naivasha-nakuru- masai Mara which started at 3pm at the airport hence quite rushed according to the number of parks you wanted to accomplish(some which were squeezed into the initial program) We also thank you for taking time to review us and expressing the dissatisfaction, we really regret for not meeting your expectation.
its unfortunate that we were in contact on whatsapp and you never informed this until after a few days when you went back to US despite telling you to contact me incase of anything. Also, in your email you sent, you had indicated below but am surprised you omitted it here: " I want to thank you so much for your kindness throughout the booking process and for the great gesture at Amboseli Lodge with the birthday cake. All the accommodations were wonderful with very kind staff and comfortable lodging. It was wonderful to work with you."
Point to be taken: the tickets are always paid on the first day for the number of nights you will be in the park so that you don't queue every morning, the tickets for the whole 2nights were paid and i have the receipts with me as mentioned to you earlier. He couldn't be allowed in the park even for a few minutes without payment for the second night on the third day, also, masai mara park management take such offenses very seriously and have very heavy & strict disciplinary measures on its clerks including jailing them and banning drivers from the parks, and hence even the clerks cannot collude to allow him without paying.
Regarding gates, Masai Mara has many entry & exit gates hence drivers don't necessarily leave from the same gate they used to get in especially when there is one close-by. i understand on the first day you arrived at masai mara from nakuru is was almost park closing time hence he used the nearest gate to ensure you get a game drive but he left on a different gate.
As i mentioned to you earlier, i had to outsource the Spanish guide (Stephen njoroge) from another company when you said last minute that you need your mum not to miss anything hence we provide a Spanish guide whom we didn't have at the moment as all of our own were engaged. But having outsourced does not mean bad service since he was representing Bigmac and for this we really apologize for not meeting your expectation and for him not meeting our standard of quality. Doing a game drive on the last day for shorter time and not talking to you (which he gave an excuse of being extremely exhausted for the rushed and very tight itinerary) is however not acceptable and its so unprofessional, we sincerely regret this.
The driver having misconducted, the company has dismissed him, we have also launched a complain to the Kenya tourism board for action. Once again thank you for choosing us and i promise that if you give me another chance to serve you or your friends, i will do better
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Email MESQ | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
BEWARE!! Poor safety practices, will con you out of money throughout tour.
Nothing can beat the wildlife of Kenya, however we had the WORST tour guide, John and would not recommend BigMac safaris or John as a guide. He rarely spoke to us and quite honestly barely acknowledged us. He put us in danger by driving insane speeds on the roads and with broken seat belts. He was on his phone ALL of the time, if not talking then texting and looked like we were bothering him anytime we asked a question. He was frequently late for us sometimes at the expense of us missing meals. Go with another company, ANY OTHER company has to be better. He only spoke to us at the end when he wanted to explain to us what a good guide he was and if we didn't believe him we should "check trip advisor".
Reply from Bigmac Africa Safaris
Posted on Dec 3, 2018We regret that the safari you had did not turn out as per your expectation.
It seems that somebody sold you a safari under the name 'Bigmac Africa Safaris' and used one of our guides name which are on TripAdvisor or you are mistaking the company you used for your safari, this is because we are not able to trace any safari booked under your name and under the circumstances mentioned.
-First we do not have vehicles with broken seat belts, all our vehicles are well serviced and has speed limits gadgets.
-our drivers are not in-charge of sales and you mentioned driver adding amounts on prices.
-All our drivers are professionals guides and clearly the above description do not match any of our guides.
We are therefore following up on the issue above, we have reported to Tourism Authorities in Kenya. If you can also send us the contacts you used in booking to sales@bigmacafricasafaris.com we will appreciate as this will help in the investigation.
Even though we are not to blame, we feel sorry for what you experienced and welcome you to book with us in future to experience Better services.
At Bigmac Africa Safaris we value all our guests and treat them all as valuable since they are the reason for our existence!
DK
Email Alan | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very good safari for the price!
The safari was just amazing! 5 days with great experience.
From the begging Magdalene was easy and kind to communicate with and she help us with everything even things after the safari.
The drive game was very good and we saw all the animals. Our guide had a big knowledge about the parks and animals.
Definitely value for money.
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Email Anonymous | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great Time in Amboseli!
We had a great time using Bigmac for our Amboseli safari! Anthony was an amazing, knowledgeable tour guide that showed us so many great animals and went out of his way to help us set up some great photos! He even got us up close to some lions, which are very rare in Amboseli. Communication with Bigmac was also great while we were planning. Every email was answered very quickly and payment could not have been smoother. The itinerary was also very detailed. The only reason this wasn't five stars is because the lodgings they use at AAA were a tad rustic and the service there, while friendly, left a little to be desired. The other small issue was that in transit to and from Amboseli, when we stopped for a restroom break, it was always at some roadside gift shop with very pushy sales people. Other than that, things were pretty perfect! Bigmac did a great job with nearly every aspect of our trip and really was the high point of our Kenya vacation.
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Email Hermina | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An Adventure of a lifetime
Overall we had an excellent time. Magdalena was excellent in communicating with us and met all our expectations. Anthony was a very knowledgeable about the area and was attentive to all our needs.
We thoroughly enjoyed our safari.
CA
Email Gloria | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent communication and good value for money.
Magdalene was very quick in responding to all my inquiries.All extra activities I wanted to add in our safari was arranged by them.Our guide and driver Joseph, made sure we see the Big five.I do recommend this tour operator.You get your money’s worth.Bigmac Africa Safaris made our safari an unforgettable one.
DK
Email Mads W | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Everything was taken care of
I can recommend Bigmac safari. The guide, Ben was very kind and helpful. Always on time and we got to see a lit of beautiful animals. He had a huge amount of knowledge about the animals and the area. And he was a very skilles driver too
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Email Marie | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic tour, great for birds and other wildlife!
We had an amazing safari to Masai Mara and Amboseli with Anthony as our guide. We saw so many animals even in muddy conditions. The highlight for me was that I am into birds and Anthony is a bird expert! I saw 72 different species of birds and it was amazing!
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Email Brian Ellen and Josh | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Ben was Excellent. He was extremely knowledgeable about the park, animals, and the Environment.
Excellent Tour and Guide. Lodging and meals were better than expected. We would recommend Big Mac Safari's and recommend you ask for Ben Njuguna as your tour guide. Ben's experience and knowledge of the parks was exceptional. He knew where to look and when to stay and be patient to see the all the animals, not just the Big Five. We were fortunate enough to see not just the Big Five, but the Big Six (The Leopard). Communication before the Safari was excellent. The tour company made sure the hotels and staff were aware of some dietary needs and they were right on time picking us up. We noticed several other tour companies whose guides rushed their customers and did not seem to take the time or energy to show all the beauty of the parks and various animals. We highly recommend Big Mack Safari's to anyone considering a Safari in Kenya.
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Email Monica | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Would definitely come back
Excellent overall service. Ben was a fantastic guide. Enjoyed the trip immensely.