The team
African Breeze Tours
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2011)
- Tour Types:
- Small & medium group tours (Mid-range & luxury)
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $150 to $500 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
Good experience with capable operator
Cate is good with responding to emails and helping you organize a pleasant African safari ! One needs to be flexible anytime they go to Kenya. My one suggestion would be to book 3 day tours separately if you wish to do "joining tours" as there are too many variables that can affect doing a six day or longer tour, and many of the tour operators in Kenya share the same camps and drivers anyway. Also be aware that you'll need to pay for your safari in cash ( no visa or paypal ) so plan in advance. All in all you'll be in good hands with African Breeze !
Email Lily | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
If you want a budget safari, this is definitely a budget safari.
Tour itinerary looked great and Cate was very friendly, but she neglected to tell us that the total payment for the tour was due on Day 1. This resulted in some scrambling to withdraw cash from an ATM but we were limited by ATM withdrawal limits. There was no option to pay online with paypal or with credit card! Finally at the end of the tour Cate had told or driver a different amount than what I truly owed (a $10 USD difference) and also told the driver that was should pay him extra for dropping us off where we were staying in Nairobi even though this was included on the itinerary (in addition to a regular tip).
Our itinerary told us to be picked up at George's Cafe at noon, by 12:30 we were still waiting and called Cate. Cate had apparently (forgotten?!) to call a driver and our driver finally showed up at 2:00pm with no clue about what our itinerary was. To his credit, he was able to take one look at our itinerary and then figure out what hotels he wanted to take us to. There were a lot of extra costs that were not described in the itinerary unfortunately. I ultimately didn't mind paying, but if a boat ride was listed on the itinerary I would have appreciated knowing that it would cost me $100 in cash. While the extra expenses were no big deal, a heads up would have been nice, unexpected expenses can be frustrating.
Our tour driver, Johnny, was friendly but apparently lies to KWS to try and get resident rates for non-residents (this was from a story he told us making fun of the stupid white people who "forgot" they were supposed to be going by fake names). This was disheartening to hear about because this is a big loss of money to wildlife conservation. I'm a resident and my traveling partner was not and luckily Johnny did not try to lie to get resident rates for her. It was a slightly odd interaction.
The hotels we stayed in were clean with excellent food but no hot water in any of them unfortunately. Johnny seemed to have a poor understanding of when meal times should be and how often people need to eat because lunch was at 4pm on Day 2 (he seemed to think we could skip it?!). He also tried to skip lunch on another day right before a long hike (who skips lunch before a long hike?!). He often told us dinner couldn't be ordered before 7:30 (resulting in multiple meals at 8:30 PM!) but the kitchens seemed to be open and working as early as 6 because there was always waitstaff ready to take our order when we arrived. He also often ate with us, which I normally wouldn't mind, but he would order too much food for us (even when we told him we couldn't eat that much) and then guilt us with cultural values if we didn't clean our plates. He subsequently also couldn't clean his plate, but would then offer up some excuse about the food being bad. Overall a bit odd.
Johnny was also getting a bit old and in failing health (coughing and wheezing which made us a bit uncomfortable) and it was clear by his driving sometimes that his eyesight is no longer the greatest. There were a few speed bumps he missed slowing down for and game driving in parks is not his forte! I spotted the rhinos and lions we saw and he stopped at a buffalo once thinking it was a rhino. He also bragged that he would find us a leopard but never did. (I've seen leopards before but the boasting was strange). In general our driver was friendly, but nothing like the kind of service I've had on other budget safaris.
We stopped at multiple curio shops and they are usually expensive, but I've never had someone try to sell me a shuka (usually cost 600ksh and never worth more than 700ksh) for 4,000ksh. I was surprised that knowing that I'm a Kenyan resident Johnny would still try and take us to a place this ridiculously expensive. After they tried to scam us once Johnny actually took us there a second time. (???). He also added in a random stop at a girl scout memorial for people that I know nothing about and the man there asked for donations of any size so I at least thought offer 100ksh but he then turned around and said that wasn't enough. Was getting a bit sick of Johnny taking us to people who were just going to ask us for too much money. Especially since we told him that were not interesting in gift shopping as we were planning on doing that in Nairobi.
The itinerary was great, but at the end of the trip I wouldn't recommend trying to cram as much as we did into one week. Spend at least two nights at every location so that you get a full day at each. Cate added a few extra things to my itinerary beyond what I requested and I trusted her to know what would make a good trip but now I wish I'd asked to cut some of those extra locations.
Good things: Because it was budget we ate a lot of ugali and nyama choma which I love. Food was always delicious. Parks themselves were beautiful and wonderful.
TL;DR: The organization and communication was poor. Driver friendly but not very skilled and in bad health/bad eyesight. Would not recommend. You can find better budget safaris than this, or just rent a car and do it yourself.
Reply from African Breeze Tours
Posted on Feb 2, 2017Lily with my help, tailored a 7 days budget safari. We finally agreed that they will be picked at the safari junction since Lily and her friend was coming from Masai Mara. I quoted her and gave her a budget of usd 1700 for 2. This was an all inclusive package. I was out to help them visit all the parks mentioned in the itinerary even with the low budget that that was. As much as i would like to attach the proposal here for prove,i find that there is no that option of attachment. In the proposal i informed her that if she paid using credit/debit card or pay pal,she will pay 5%pay pal / bank surge. I also let her know that , since she was in Kenya,a cheque/cash deposit would work out well without attracting further charges and for sure she choose the option of direct cashing to the company account.
On the proposal there was information of paying the total cash just before the safari departure,she had only deposited the 30% of the total amount on the departure day yet she had all the information. I allowed her to pay in bits since she was not going to come in the city to run her card and with the fact that she had all the company bank accounts.
I believe that all will agree with me that the exchange rates keep on changing and i didnt add any extra coin from what we had agreed,i just converted the dollars with the rate that was changing then,i even ended up paying the park entry fees with a higher rate than the one i had used to calculate the balance she had in Kenya shillings. The boat ride was clearly stated as an option,i paid for their hells gate entry fee which was what i was supposed to do. i disagree with her when she says that we over charged her on boat ride,curios and the rest of shopping was not in the itinerary or proposal,that she was supposed to negotiate on her own,not sure why she would stae and say that the company was involved. i bet anyone reading will agree with me that if the sellers give you unfriendly pricing,you would not go for the item.
She says that she called me and i had forgotten . I really dont understand what that means because i had organized and the driver had left Nairobi for the safari Junction where he was supposed to meet them,Lily and her friend had alighted at a different location other than the one agreed.
The driver communicated so well with her and had to go for them from they had alighted.
Just to conclude, Most of the things she has written here is not true,i personally left airport and drove 10 km to go and meet with her and her friend after safari, I did it because i always want to find out the out come of the safari.
She didnt raise any complain of any sort,the girls told me they were very happy. i trust that the world has away of judging this.
US
Email Dr. Pratt | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Serious issues before we embark. Planning on canceling.
We have traveled to Africa few times for Safari. We plan on heading for a Wildebeeste migration in September 2017. We paid a $400 advance to Cate on January 10th.
Prior to the payment, we received frequent emails inquiring about our plans. However, things dramatically changed right after the payment on January 10th. We received no response; nor have we received confirmation on the lodging (we were quoted for Keekorok) since. I have emailed Cate over three times requesting a date for the reservation (we need it to sign off on our vacations), noting that we are flexible with dates in September. Sadly, we have not heard anything yet.
This is turning out to be a serious worry and I feel that the $400 is already lost. I am in the process of filing a charge with my credit card provider.
CA
Email Leslie and Jim | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Safari adventures in 5 of the National Parks of Kenya with a variety of accomodations.
The main strength of African Breeze is the owner Cate....who is determined to provide the best possible experience on each safari. She is excellent at communicating by email in advance, by text and phone in Kenya and in person....she was always available and would follow through with every plan that we made - organizing insurance coverage for the safari and purchasing bus tickets for us and dropping them off where we were staying even after our safari was finished. Indeed she felt like our guardian angel while we were in Kenya and always seemed to be there when we needed her.
Cate has the daunting task of coordinating drivers and visitors and dealing with the unexpected.
We had been expecting to be on safari with another couple but we never got to meet them as they postponed their trip at the last minute. We ended up on our safari with a private driver for the same cost. Spending 7 days together we learned about our driver and he would answer our questions about everything we saw. He admitted that he never knew what each day would hold in store for us....but there was never a shortage of animals or sights to see. Our vehicle was comfortable and we felt very safe. Our only suggestion was that a cooler with cold water would have been nice to have along...also to help keep our picnic lunch cool. We stayed in 4 different locations all well organized and comfortable but each one was unique so an interesting variety. The food ranged from fantastic to very good.... the only exception was the one day picnic lunch which was poor.
We enjoyed our initial 7 day safari so much that we used African Breeze again for a 2 day/1 night trip to Amboseli National Park. Cate organized for us to stay at a perfect camp and provided us with an excellent driver who was very passionate about Kenya and willing to share his knowledge and understanding of the country.
African Breeze made all of our Safari Dreams come true and we are very grateful to Cate for her skills and for her kindness to us.
BR
Email Claudia | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great Experience with Big Fives
After to read some reviews about African Breeze Tours here I decided to book a 6 days safari tour to Masai Mara, Nakuru and Samburu with Cate and my experience was good. The payment of 15% was made in advance and once upon arrival the total amount in cash. My tour supposed to start in Samburu and end in Masai Mara but the order was changed and informed by Cate as soon as I arrived in Nairobi, but it was not a big problem because the group that joined us was very nice and we spent 3 days together in Masai Mara with our funny and expert driver James. After the first 3 days in Masai Mara the tour was private and Cate came to Nakuru to join us until the end of the tour and we had a good time to see many wild animals. In general the tour was very interesting thanks to James that was very professional and available giving informations and advises and also Cate that helped me with contacts to book transfers and hotels in Mombasa and Zanzibar.
ES
Email Mirta | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unpaid tour and guide that did not explain anything
They work slowly, many unnecessary waits. They took us from Lake Nakuru to Amboseli, to then return to Naibasha, obviously we lost the last day, because it was horrible to do 9h to see a lake again. They did not return any money, they only paid us a bus for 10 euros, instead of a minimum 150e. The guide driver did not explain anything to us. It was very monotonous and boring. Neither warned us where there was wifi or not. Excellent Masai Mara, of course, regardless of the safari company. I would not repeat.
BE
Email Betty Dr Vroe | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent,very good Company
Few things command more respect than hard work,Integrity,dedication and ability to follow through.These are among attributes we experienced from start to finish when organizing our trip to MasaiMara with African Breeze Tours.
An excellent listeners and pays attention to details.The choice of Mara Ashnil tented Camp was perfect for us.Driver guide skilled and reliable and the vehicle was always clean and completely stocked with bottled drinking water.
We had a fantastic 3 days safari experience and would highly recommend anyone to choose the operator.
We promise to be back next year Cate and your team.
KR
Email Joshua Sanggyu Kim | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
This operator just took my money and didn't make a refund until now. Operating skills very poor too.
I would just write facts here. It is your option to judge.
In brief, this operator
1) Took my money(entrance fee) and made me pay twice. Didn't make my refund until now.
2) Didn't inform me about changes within the tour
3) Didn't pay hotel in advance
4) Doesn't keep promises
1. Just took my money and didn't make a refund
I met Cate(Operator) at my hotel before my trip to Masai Mara. I paid the remaining deposits to her, including Masai Mara entrance fee(280USD for 2 pax). However, when I arrived at the national park, the park rangers said no entrance fee was paid. I had to call her(several attempts since she didn't pick up the phone) and she said the queue for the bank was too long so I should pay the rangers 280USD and she would pay back my money once I get back to Nairobi. I told her to tranfer the money directly to my Mara hotel but she said that was not possible. I had no other choice so I paid the rangers 280USD and went for my tour.
Cate promised me to meet me at Wilson airport once I get back, but she didn't show up. (She was in Tanzania) I needed to keep calling her and check how things were going. (Why would I use a tour operator if I needed to do EVERYTHING by myself?) She promised me (again) that she would send someone to my hotel in Nairobi and give me back my money. She didn't. I came back home after my trip and requested online refund. She said she will but kept ignoring my emails and said she needs a month due to funding issues. (She obviously used my money elsewhere) So I waited with patience but she decided to ignore my email again. She knows that she owes me my deposit(she stated that in her own email) but keeps on refusing to pay me back.
2. Not a professional operator.
- This operator must have done hundreds of excursions but never notified me regarding which domestic airport I should book for Masai Mara. I used skycanner and searched an airport and booked it in advance, but Cate said it was another airport few weeks before my trip. Shouldn't I be notified?
- Due to booking a different airport, my hotel was changed to a more expensive hotel. However, since this was my honeymoon, I wanted to have a private game drive. That was why I booked this tour in the first place because it was all private. However, I found out that my game drive was shared by 6 people. I understand what happened with the hotel but nothing was informed. I needed to call her(again) to check.
She insists that she is making nothing from this tour due to a more expensive hotel, but this wouldn't have happened if she informed me about the aiport.
- When I was checking out at Masai Mara Hotel(Serena Lodge), they said my balance was not paid. I paid everything to Cate, but the operator didn't pay the lodge in advance. I needed to call her(again) and check what was going on. The operator was on his/her way to pay and I needed to wait until I was free to go. I had a flight coming up so wasn't comfortable with waiting.
I strongly recommend you to look for another operator. This is how this operator does business.
US
Email Judy mburu | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
BEST SAFARI EVER, ACCOMMODATING, WELL ORGANIZED AND WELL PRICED
It was such a good safari that we had for 5 day’s. The Nov 12- 16 th 2018We saw two kills ,4/5 of the big five!! Felix the guide went out of his way to make sure we had a good time. Accommodation basic is all what you need. Staff are also friendly and food was great !Overall great experience will recommend for my friends around the globe.
Email Layla | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Our experience was Amazing
We had an unforgettable safari experience in Kenya, thanks to African Breeze Tours and in particular to our guide Joe. We highly recommend them to anyone considering a trip to Kenya.
Communication is smooth and straightforward. Cate was one of the earliest to respond to our query, and was always responsive to our follow up requests. On arrival, she gave us a warm welcome at the airport, despite having to wait for us for over an hour as we were held up inside the airport.
Our guide Joe is very friendly and professional. He was always on time and in a cheerful mood despite hours and hours of driving. He has superb knowledge in animals and a passion in birds, whilst showing great respect to the wild animals. His vision is extraordinary. Very often he spot animals with naked eyes, while it took me a long time to find with my binoculars. It was his extremely sharp vision that helped us spot a critically-endangered black rhino in Lake Nakuru. He works hard to ensure we had good game viewing, driving long distance in Masai Mara just so we can see both cheetahs and leopards in one afternoon.
We are really grateful for such an experience and hope to return soon.