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
KR
Email Jeong | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Don't believe them. Especially Kate.
They kept me waiting for more than two hours at the airport and didn't abide by the numerous provisions stipulated in the contract. The airport dropoff was a contract, but they dropped me off in downtown Nairobi. I questioned her(Kate) but ignored it. They change when they get paid.
NG
Email David | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
My experience with African Breez Tours
This was our first safari and we are very happy that we chose to book through African Breeze Safaris. Right from the word go, the team made it a seamless experience.
Cate was always quick to respond and kept us up-to-date on all information. David, our safari guide did a fantastic job - be it his driving on the highway (very safe) or in the parks making every effort for us to see and enjoy the wildlife and the natural beauty. We must especially thank David for his patience with our 10 year old's incessant questions! The vehicle was well maintained, equipped and comfortable - we were a bit apprehensive about spending 7 days traveling by road, but it turned out to be a very enjoyable experience. A big thanks to the entire team.
Hakuna matata!
HK
Email Wenjie | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The operator you can rely on!
I had an eight days trip. Although there were a lot of changes due to the other folks not showing up in the end, African Breeze Team really handled it well. I was worried at the beginning due to the changes but the team was very professional. I have travelled a lot in the past but my trip to Kenya was the most amazing one I have done. Highly recommended.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A wide diversity and view of Kenya I had not seen before.
Cate Mbua helped me discover Kenya and its beauty in a way that I had not seen before. Informative and a very personal approach made my visit a one to remember.
Cate certainly goes the extra mile to help you enjoy your stay in Kenya and I would not hesitate in recommending her services for anyone visiting that wonderful country.
DE
Email Andreas | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Massai Mara 3 Day Tour
I booked a 3 day massai mara tour on short notice and also booked a train ticket from Nairobi to Mombassa!Everything was well organised and it worked out!
I was also able to pay Everything at the start of the safari!
DK
Email Cecilie | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
What more can you ask for?
While this experience is still fresh in my mind, but yet so distant that I have now had time to take all the impressions in, I'll try to give a written impression of the amazing tour I had.
We were a group of 3 girls who went on a budget safari to Masai Mara, Lake Naivasha and Hells gate. We were picked up at our hotel in Nairobi and without any complaints we made a stop for half an hour on the way, to check on our friend in the hospital. Cate, who arranged the tour for us, told us that in case our friend got better of course she could come join our safari, no problem. On the last day Cate even went to check up on our friend before we got home, because sadly she didn't get well enough to meet out in Masai Mara. The staff (Cate, our driver and cook) were genuinely concerned for our friend. That was really heartwarming and safe.
Besides from this not planned for event, everything was super smooth. We didn't have to think about food, accommodation or anything. We just had to enjoy the trip, which was easy because we were where we were.
We really enjoyed everything from the driving games, to the food (we still talk about this amazing food we had), the campsite, the other guys we shared the car with, the bike ride to Hells Gate and of course the air balloon ride. I would recommend every one to try the balloon ride even though it means getting up at 4 am, it ends with champagne breakfast in the middle of Masai Mara among the animals.
I'm never gonna forget the days I spent on a safari in Kenya and African Breeze Tours made it possible for me not to worry about a thing and just enjoy this very special time. It felt beyond a budget tour. The tents had bathrooms and electricity!
I would highly recommend ABT to every one going on a Safari.
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.
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.
Email Chloe | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Avoid at all costs - nightmare tour operator!
DO NOT BOOK with African breeze tours – warning! Cate is at best, disorganised, unresponsive and manulipative, and at worst a con artist. AVOID AVOID AVOID
We booked our honeymoon with Cate at African Breeze tours – we were super impressed with her communication, putting together a bespoke package, and offering a great price.
We arrived at the airport, expecting a driver to pick us up from arrival. We landed at 5am, and Cate told us that we would have to wait until 7.30am for her and a driver – which we did.
The next few days were fine, although we hadn’t booked a private tour, no one else joined us, and it was great. We stayed at Treetops (highly recommend a stay here), Samburu Lodge (again a great hotel), and our driver/guide Solomon was good, he was a little maverick, and at times I wasn’t too sure if he was totally sure where he was going or whether we were lost.
The second half of the week though was horrendous, stressful and has really tainted my view of the honeymoon. We arrived after an 8hour drive from Samburu to Lake Nakuru (although Cate told us it was a morning drive, and we would be there by lunchtime – we left at 8am and arrived gone 4pm!). Our driver struggled to find the hotel (Eagle Palace), which was in the city centre, not a hotel you would expect on a safari. Once we checked in, the driver said we should go for a drive around Lake Nakuru, but Cate hadn’t sent all of the money, and so we would need to pay $200USD. With the park only open for another hour, we decided it wasn’t worth it, but we were now worried that our driver didn’t have any money for fuel, and wasn’t prepared to drive us to Maasai Mara until he was paid. Cate didn’t pick up anyone’s calls, said she was having bank issues, and couldn’t pay until the morning. She didn’t read the WhatsApp messages and we had a strife night in Nakuru.
Cate paid the driver his fuel money so we left Nakuru, and headed for the Maasai Mara. En route we switched vehicles and drivers, and it appeared that Cate had booked us onto a tour with another company (Bencia tours – who were amazing!), we checked into the lodge (Ol Moran) and went for a drive the next day. When we arrived back at the lodge the staff were waiting for us and said our agent hadn’t paid for the room and so we were unable to get into our room until we paid $360USD. They had tried to get hold of Cate all day and she had promised to pay, but didn’t. After over 2 hours we managed to scramble together all the money the lodge required and paid it over, only then did Cate pay the lodge and our money was returned later that night. The lodge had told us that Cate had booked us into the lodge on the day we arrived, despite us booking with Cate 9 months before we arrived, and she had confirmed the lodge name and booking with us.
Overall the Safari was great, but African breeze were a nightmare. The company address is a PO box at JIKA airport – and this should be a warning sign to anyone.
AVOID AFRICAN BREEZE TOURS AT ALL COSTS, if you already have booked with them, I suggest you double check that all the accommodation has been booked and paid for before you leave, and that the driver has all the money and park fees before you leave for Safari.
Reply from African Breeze Tours
Posted on Oct 4, 2019The world can judge by reading your review Chloe, BUT a careful reader will judge it fairly.
We appreciate that Chloe confessed, at least ,that they were super impressed with Cate's communication, putting together a bespoke package, and offering a great price and that You arrived at 5:00 am and Cate told you to wait until 7:30 am. The company's safari itinerary to you Chloe stated that departure time was 8:00 am. You were not late to be picked,at least Cate and driver were there before your pick up time.
You really appreciate the first bit of the safari as well, going to an extent of recommending the Tree tops lodge, Samburu Lodge and the driver Solomon.
The second phase is where you state that it was horrendous. You left Samburu Lodge at 8:00 am and arrived in Nakuru at 4:00 pm. Anyone reading this review can google the location of Samburu lodge and they can tell that the lodge's location is inside the park, so you definitely had an enroute game viewing as you exited the park before even getting to the main gate of Samburu national reserve. Leaving at 8:00 am from Samburu ,arriving to Nakuru at 4:00 pm totally depends with our roads, and that was no one's fault. The parks entrance fee to Lake Nakuru national park was usd 120 for both of you and still it is until now and the driver had all the park fees, you clearly state that YOU DECIDED it wasn’t worth a visit. It was your decision to have a restful evening since you thought you had a long day. Anyone can see that.
You forgot to point out that you had spoken to Cate that evening and she said she was coming from Arusha, though on the way the network wasnt good but atleast you managed to communicate. Chloe, the safari you took was a group safari but the company did go an extra mile of giving you half exclusively private safari, and when you were just about to complete your safari you joined a group, anyone can see you didnt like the last bit of joining other travelers but remember that you were very much aware that your safari was supposed to be a group joining safari.
We called the hotel and they confirmed that they didnt take any money from you,we can still call or email them if any one needs clarification,network in Masai Mara(the wild) is not always consistent and calling Cate from there and didnt get hold of her doesnt mean she didnt pay the hotel or she hadnt booked you on time, you were on the 2nd night and Cate forwarded the payment ref number that very evening. Anyone who has stayed in big hotels/camps knows that the billing is done only when you are checking out ! Right? The following morning you checked out of the camp without any issues, right? what does that imply? Did any one fuel you Chloe?
We tried to tried reach you out after you were back in your country just to see what you were not happy about since the last day of your safari you did not have time, your flight was departing sooner, but you said were not willing to say what exactly made you so angry. Was the other agent i work with my competitor instead of a partner ????
Treetops lodge and Samburu lodge are expensive lodges than Olmoran tented camp, The company paid those as well, if any one was a CON ARTIST as you imply, then you would not have had any of those! You didnt say you wanted to visit our office in the first place, we would have gladly taken you for a tour in there. its wrong to accuse anyone falsely.
We regret that you say your honeymoon was tainted, should you ever be ready to tell us exactly what transpired, we will be happy to listen to you and solve whatever problem that might have occurred.
Regards,
African Breeze Tours.
DE
Email Sascha | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Messing up accomodations
Best experience of our safari was with our guide Isaac. He is a safe driver, very good game spotter and a lovely fellow. Asante sana to him.
With the accomodations Kate was supposed to organize we were not so lucky and happy.
We did the 7 day's safari with drop off at kenyan coast.
About 8 months prior we agreed with her on an itinerary that was finally matching the offer on safaribookings.com in terms of accomodations.
We paid her the deposit of 25% to make all the reservations.
When we arrived in Nairobi we've found out that there were just reservations made for the first 3 night's!
The rest of the hotels such as Sentrim Amboseli, Ngulia Lodge and Voi were not booked for us but completely full at that time in high season.
Kate is a very emotional person and was very pissed that we've found out about that prior.
We belived her to get us the acomodations of our intinerary as she promissed once again. So we paid the 75% balance of the tour in cash on the day we started, just as agreed prior.
We started without knowing where we would stay the other night's. For most of them she found somehow comparable stay's.
Except for one night. We had to stay in a
lowest budget sh*ty zero star place called "Kilimanjaro Cottages Amboseli" https://www.google.com/travel/hotels/s/3yQTuqmxLhfF4mkE8
instead of the exclusive Sentrim Amboseli Lodge, https://sentrim-amboseli-lodge.hotel-mix.de/
We requested a refund of 150$ for that.
She did not refund for that!
We didn't tip for that.
We told her to give the refund straight to the driver, so everyone is happy again.
She didn't.
We can not recommend to book through her.
Reply from African Breeze Tours
Posted on Aug 29, 2023Sascha and his partner booked a 7 days joining safari for 7 days months prior to their arrival. On this particular time, he would use a certain wire transfer and sent me a link that would show me that the money had already arrived in the company account while as, it did NOT reflect in reality. He did it just before the Christmas season and a busy season it was and he would tell me that the cash is already in the company account. i was keen to follow on this transfer particular transfer for some reason! it was tricky.
Now again when he arrives in Kenya, he contact me to say that he has arrived in advance and he was living in an area called Kiambu in a certain airbnb. and he insists that we pick him up in Kiambu the morning he is departing for safari on August 5. So i agree but request him to deposit the balance of 2000 $ in our company account since it was on Friday, a working day for the banks in Kenya and some hours prior to the commencement of the safari, Sascha doesn't agree to deposit the cash, infact he connects me with a certain local lady who advices him how we should operate his safari, she calls me and she gives me some funny points to meet with the quests in Kiambu and its here that i again become very suspicious and did not agree to meet them on those point. I requested Sascha to take a cab from Kiambu to the central Nairobi at City market and again, he disagree saying that City market place is very UNSAFE for them. Anybody who has visited Kenya knows that city market area is at the central of Nairobi and one of the safest place and many companies operating safari, there departures, start from here, so many tourists moving around the area.
So for some reason, Sascha and his team found another point that they wanted us to pick them up and collect the balance in cash but i didnt fall for that. Anyone can google the History of Kiambu and would surely judge me from my disagreement! After not falling to all the traps, Sascha and the local lady that evening of Friday started calling all the accommodations that were on his itinerary! Unfortunately, when they called about 2 hotels, they were informed by the hotels to having worked with our company for more than 10 years and they were asked to trust us. They were not very happy. Its here the hotel teams called and informed me what was happening and i called Sascha and informed him the information i had gotten from the hotels and i told him that if he did not trust us, he had a right to cancel the safari and get his refund back.
So to cut the story short, Sascha, his partner and the Kiambu lady arrives at city market in a small car on August 5, we decide to give him a full 7 days private transportation as a wise decision for a total of 2,666$, comfort hotels and all park fees and everything included but he still went ahead and said he would not recommend us. WHY? During peak season, hotels are usually fully booked to an extend of having some overbooked and if you have not completed the payments in full, their system will end up throwing some upaid bookings and since, Sascha did not agree to pay the balance on time, we missed out in 1 hotel booking, i put effort and booked them in Sopa lodge Amboseli for 1 night and with the money he had paid that wasnt enough for such a class of a hotel!
He admits the driver having done a good job, but he did not even show a sign of a appreciation for 7 days they had been together! Wasnt that mean in anyway!
Sascha finally told our Driver that he had lived in Kenya some years back and he understands everything going on here, he wanted a refund, but kindly judge us from this piece!
When it comes to money! The world should be careful about Sascha and his Kiambu team !