JOCKY TOURS TEAM
Jocky Tours and Safaris
- Office In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2002)
- Member Of:
- AMREF & KWS
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $50 to $200 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
for a custom tour
Your request will be sent directly to the operator
If preferred, you can contact the operator directly
Reviews
PL
Email Yarik | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Terrible standard for much too high price
My review is based on comparison - we experienced services of 2 agencies in Kenya, for 2 different Safaris.
We (the couple from Poland) went to Maasai Mara national park, in tour organised by Jocky Tours (Bison safari in internet). We had already experience with safari, since we went few days before to Tsavo East and Amboseli, so we have had some expectations, which have not been met in ANY aspect.
Lodging and food - terrible, much closer to the army camp than tourist lodging. We have been accomodated in Rhino Camp (claiming to be the best camp in Maasai Mara, really!!!), but it is very far from what you expect. I have to mention that at booking time we were offered Lenchada Camp, what has been changed without any prior information to us. Just dropped in other camp, no explanation.
Food on the road and in the camp - dirty(!) dishes, no choice of food, dirty place: disgusting in every aspect. In the camp - do not take a look into the kitchen (what is difficult, kitchen is open all the time)), otherwise you will stay hungry...
The driver/guide - not interactive with passengers at all. All the time on CB, listening and responding to other CB users, not providing any information to people on board and not reacting on your requests to stop, see something, etc. Last day he was 45 min late to pick us up from the camp, without even a word of apology!
To sum up - price (310 $/pp) does not meet the offered standard. For mentioned above another tour (which was private one - only 2 of us on board), we paid 275 $/pp, receiving great accomodation (hotel Voi Wildlife Lodge and high standard camp: Senirim Amboseli), great food (on the road and in the hotel) of good choice and service, fantastic guide - informing about what we see, responding to our needs, good tracer of game, always on our request.
I did try to claim to agency received service, but they don't care at all...
US
Email Kristine W | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Budget safari with great service
Wonderful safari for a low price - $300 for 3 days in the Masai Mara. Beautiful landscapes, and we saw the big 5 (lion, elephant, leopard, rhino, buffalo) plus everything else - cheetahs, giraffes, wildebeest, hyena, warthogs, hippos, crocs, etc. We waited a few hours at the end to see a herd of wildebeest cross the Mara River. July and August is the best time to go to the Mara to see the wildebeest migration and cats hunting. We saw lions, cheetahs, and leopards with fresh kills. It's the dry season so more animals are out and about at the watering holes. We didn't do the cultural visit to the Masai village because another guest told us that you have to pay extra to get in, and it was mostly uncomfortable situations of them pressuring you to buy souvenirs or donate more money. You can hang out with Masai at the camps anyways.
Good overall communication by email from the time that I booked. Airport pickup and drop off, hot buffet meals along the way. Richard was an amazing guide - great English, funny, knew the park roads, and knew how to find the animals we wanted to see. He could also drive the safari van like a champ through those crazy rough roads. I would trust him to drive a school bus full of children through the Grand Canyon. We did pop a tire (surprised we didn't pop them all) and he changed it.
Lenchada camp was great - safari tents with comfortable beds on cots, bed nets, and a private bathroom with hot water attached to your tent. There are Masai workers at the camp that make a campfire at night who are nice and fun to talk to. Some other tourists even bought a goat from the Masai and roasted it over the fire. Just make sure you leave your tent zipped so the baboons don't get in at night. No locks on the tents. Dinner and breakfast buffets were hot and tasty, and also had fruit, tea, hot chocolate, and beer. Only the packed lunch they gave us for the safari day was rubbish - sandwich with dry bread and a few slices of tomato - come on. Inedible. Luckily I had taken some extra breakfast with me. The camp runs a generator for a few hours so you can have lights and charge your phone.
The only improvements I would suggest is that I asked to pay by card when I arrived but they forgot to bring me the card reader, so I had to take cash out of an atm later to pay. I don't like doing that cause atms and my bank charge crazy international fees, plus they're not safe and it's easy to get your card info stolen. You are also required to buy all of your own drinks all weekend (which they do tell you from the beginning). I would have also liked more information and history about the park and the animals without having to ask. Most of the time the guide didn't tell us things unless we asked.
When you book a safari, especially on a budget, you should know that it's rough, so don't complain that it's hot, bumpy, and that you didn't bring enough water. Of course there is no freaking wifi in the middle of the savannah, so don't expect that. If you can't stand up in a moving car without falling on the other passengers then sit your butt down, take pictures out the window, and stop complaining (I had someone falling on me a lot). And don't throw trash in the park.
ES
Email Candela | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic trip and Richard the best driver
Everything was ok, we enjoyed a lot the safari experience
ES
Email Loreto | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Awesome
It was all perfect, everything was clear, we enjoyed our driver so much
RU
Email Andrey | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Lovely safari with Jocky Tours and Safaris
We had a lovely safari (Nairobi - Naivasha Lake - Hell’s Gate - Amboseli NP - Tsavo East NP - Diani Beach) on 7-11 July with Jocky Tours and Safaris (guides are Richard and Dennis). We have hugely enjoyed the trip with them. Richard speaks great Russian, so it was rather convenient for us as not everyone in our family knows English. Richard and Dennis did whatever it took to let us have the best experience and impressions during the safari. We would highly recommend those guides and the Jocky Tours Agency itself to all of our friends.
Email Ashok | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
very good experience.
Booking and dealing with jocky is quite easy, they were prompt to respond. services of the guide Mr. Joshwa was extremely good. Accomodation at time was not upto our expectation, Taphe Guest Resort is partly under construction, problems of water in toilet, toilet flush was not working, staff tried their best to solve the issues.
NO
Email Eva | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Lovely safari and value for money to Amboseli National Park with Jockey Tours and Safari
Lovely safari to Amboseli national park with Jockey Tours & Safari
We had an amazing trip to Amboseli national park with our knowledgeable and very king and pleasant guide Edward. We saw all the animals we could wish for and had an overall excellent experience! The sleeping accommodations at Kibo luxury tented camp was absolutely good value for money and set in a beautiful setting with high standards. Definitely recommended using jockey tours for your safari trip to Kenya!
IN
Email Dr.Paniveni Udayashankar | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
it was excellent
The English speaking guide was very helpful. No communication problem. The chefs tried to please us with the food items. One request is make it much better for vegetarians. The choice for us was limited.
JP
Email Kimura | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Awesome driver
I exchanged e-mails from the planning stage many times, but the reply was early.
At the game drive we acted more quickly and more accurately than other drivers, always secured a good place and enjoyed us
I will definitely choose Jocky Tours and Driver's Isaac next time
I want to express my gratitude using the language of the people of that country
Asante Isaac,Asante Jocky Tours
RU
Email Sergei | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very enthusiastic about giving you the best experience, very client-oriented, no single failure
The first thing that struck me upon arriving to Kenya was the amount of rubbish along the roads, but I guess it has nothing to do with the safaris.
As for the safari I had with Jocky Tours it did live up to the expectations that I had. I didn't get to see the great migration, since it wasn't the season yet, but thanks to my guide James I was able to see every other creature in the savannah. James would always provide a couple of words about the name of the creature and interesting facts.
The weather was nice which really added up to the overall impression. I always asked the guide to stop the car and take a picture, which he gladly did, which I guess was another positive moment.
Oh, over the several days of my safari I got to stay in camps of different price segments, and that was my choice (when I was offered to try camps nice and not very nice, I said yes). So, from my experience, it is better to stay in 'nice' camps, it really is important (at least for me).
As for the Jocky Tours, again, very professional, friendly, client-oriented.