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
Email Will | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Mostly great
The tour itself was great and Kikitu was a great tour guide; full of energy, got us in the right places and always happy to have a conversation. He also expertly navigated everyone’s different schedules. Jockey Tours were great in the beginning but a day or 2 before I left, their communication was a bit lacking but as you can imagine they have a lot of people after them. Other than that, everything was great.
Email Judith Beattie | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A fabulous experience
We got a new safari vehicle which was huge and very comfortable. Our driver 'Dickson' was a gentleman. I did feel safe with him with but the driving in Nairobi is generally quite scary!
Our first safari drive day 1 started at 4.30pm and within the first hour we saw 2 male lions sleeping!!
Day 2 Masi mara we saw more lions (5 brothers), two cheetah, Elephants up close!! Wildebeest, zebra, topi, Giraffe. It was incredible. Everything I expected and more.
The first camp was Lenchada tented camp. I loved my tent. It has an extremely comfy double bed with lots of blankets and was very clean. At the back of the tent was a full tiled bathroom. There was even hotwater for the shower! Electricity for lights comes on at 6.30pm.
After reading reviews on trip advisor about the Golden palace hotel, which was our day 3 accommodation I requested to change and I got to stay in a lovely hotel at no extra cost.
Overall everything was amazing.
My only slight negatives were I didn't feel we got much information before the safari. I was told by the man who picked us up from the hotel on day 1 and took us to the Jocky Tours office that the journey would be 3, maybe 4hours but it actually took 6!!!! Dickson never mentioned how long the drive would be.
I also was not happy that on day 3 Lake Nakuru once you got dropped at the lake, the only options was to pay extra for a boat ride $20 and $30 for a walk! If you decided not to do these you had nothing to do all day. That was very disappointing and I felt putting the customer in a difficult position to feel presured to spend more money.
I also would like to have known that despite the temperature in Nairobi being 16 degrees and cloudy and cold that once we got to the Mara it would be 26 degrees and hot. We were only told to bring warm clothes.
Overall I would recommend Jockytours and definitely do a tour with them again
NO
Email Magne | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Should have had more variation, but friendly and knowledgeable guides
Our guides Geeman, Steve and Patrick
We stayed at the Sopa Masai Mara, which is a nice place to stay. We had 5 nights there, but in hindsight would have choosen to stay 3 nights in Masai Mara and 2 nights in another park to have more variation.
The safaris was great, although we expected to have some more variation since we had 3 full days of safari + 1 evening safari.
- The first two (evening + 1 full day) we had with Geeman, who was very effective in finding all big 5 both days (!). Impressive.
- We then felt somewhat suprised that we where to go the same route the following day with Steve, who did his job in the same friendly manner as Geeman.
- Thankfully, our wish for variation led us to have a private safari with Patrick, who gave us an experience more in peace, in our pace. He showed us places off the beaten track, and more insight into Masai traditions.
ES
Email Eugenia | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Reliable company if you want to get an unforgetable safari experience
We went on a four-day safari through the Masai Mara with Jocky Tours. The overall experience was good. Our guide, Steve, made an effort and was always concerned that we saw all the animals. The mid-range hotels were adequate. The biggest drawback was the group we were assigned to: I was with my husband and father, and they put us in a jeep with some very rude young Asian women, as if it were their private safari. I recommend this experience with Jocky Tours 100%.
Email Kirsty | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Magical time in Kenya 🇰🇪
Firstly - I had a fantastic time on safari in Kenya & would recommend to anyone! I’m going to break the parts down below for more information on each section.
1. The Tour Company - ⭐️⭐️
Honestly, the worst part of the whole thing was the actual tour company. I had food poisoning the day we were going, and I waited over an hour and forty minutes for the driver to pick me up from the hotel because they told me to be ready at the wrong time. They stopped replying to my emails or picking up the phone so I had no idea what was happening, which when you’re that unwell isn’t ideal. They also managed to mess up us leaving with the boat tour (aka hadn’t sorted us transportation back to Nairobi that would allow us to complete the trip with the boat trip!!!!), so we had to fight to be able to do both aspects after they told us we would just have to go back to Nairobi (having done only a two hour game drive that day). As I was dropped back in Nairobi the driver asked me to pay for the trip so I then had to sort that out with them as well (hard to sort when they aren’t very communicative). Also you do just hand over the cash to someone who picks you up, no receipt etc, which I found quite stressful. So all in all wasn’t very impressed with them as they made the trip much more stressful than needed!
2. Sir Charles - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Charles was the BEST tour guide and helped us to sort out the issues we had. He has a magical gift for finding the animals and was always talking to everyone else to make sure that we got to see everything! My friend has lived there for a year and not seen half the animals we saw (e.g. male lions everyday and even a leopard!). Make sure you ask for Charles (I’m considering going back later this year and definitely will be asking for Charles again!!!)
3. Accommodation - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I went for Jambo Lodge & Lake Nakuru Lodge. Firstly, the people in both were so so nice, which really helps to make the experience. The food in Jambo was not fab (although I think recovering from food poisoning took away from it slightly ahaha) & the pack lunch was definitely the worst of the three camps. The pool was also out of action which I was v sad about. The room was beautiful though and the bed really comfy, I would definitely stay there again (but take snacks). Lake Nakuru Lodge, the sunset was magical here and the pool was great! The food here was also really good. The room, however, was not as nice - the glass door to outside was broken and it had an older feel. I would umm and ahhh over staying here again, but the sunset might persuade me to!
Boat trip - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Absolutely loved the boat trip, I would say that is worth the money! You get to see an island that just has animals on it and hippos, Ken was also really nice!
All in all you should definitely go on safari and ask for Charles - he made the trip for me. A few things the tour company can improve on, but the memories make up for it.
US
Email Lucy | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent, very experienced.
Ben was very professional, he knew the animals well. He was very patient and polite.
Hassle free, one stop shop that seems to be a favourite with guests and guides
I chose Jocky Tours because they were very prompt with their responses, offered a competitive price, and had thousands of great reviews.
All the drivers from pickup to drop off were friendly, reliable, on time and very helpful. James our main driver/guude definitely used his network and driving skills to find us the best animals for viewing and taking pictures. Thank you!
The only thing that was a bit less great is that because Jocky is a big company with lots of guests, I think I somehow expected that there would be enough people to put similar tours and travel styles (budget, luxury etc) together so the rest of the people in the group joining tour would also be staying in similar accommodation and doing the same amount of days.. this wasn’t the case. While the group was cool and we got along, people were on 3/5/7 day tours and all booked from different agencies — so there was a bit of confusion as there were differing expectations, and also a bit of movement in group members as people finished their tour and moved on while others stayed and new ones joined. Then there was the time spent dropping off / picking up from different hotels. I am not sure if maybe this is because it is not yet high season in July and so we have to combine tours but my feeling is that it would be way more efficient if we were all on the same tour / accommodation level.
Still all in all a great experience - we saw the Big Five, took lots of pictures and had a great time - and we didn’t have to worry about accomodation, transport, entrance fees, food in all my 5 days there so for that I thank Jocky and guide James. Asante sana.
I have spoken to a few guides and they all say Jocky is one of the best and most experienced tour operators so I guess you can’t go wrong picking them.
NL
Email PS Gavani | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very patient, knowledgeable and helpful
The trip was executed as described as in email. We saw big 4 out of 5. Missed Leopard.
The food was monotonous. There was no variety especially when you are on 5 days trip.
For budget option, some of accomodations looked very unhygienic. In fact, we found mosquito in one of the dish in Naivasha at Naivasha Chambai safari Resort.
Given the food options, its 6/10 when it comes to value for money.
IT
Email Cami | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Efficient
I spent an amazing 3-days tour in masai mara, thanks to our great guide James. He always made sure to accommodate our needs. I strongly recommend this tour.
Thank you
NZ
Email Clare | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Reliable, straightforward to deal with, great access to Wildlife.
It has long been my dream to go to Africa and see the big 7. This was my first visit to Kenya, and I took a 4 day Budget Safari with Jocky Tours to the Masai Mara and Lake Nakuru. We saw all the big animals and we were lucky enough to see leopard, cheetah, black and white rhinos and even a pride of lions with their kill.We not only saw them ...we saw them up close in most cases (within the safety of the vehicle). A huge shout out to our guide Dennis, who was so knowledgable and taught us so much about the animals and the environment they live in.
It was well organised with a good vehicle and I would definitely recommend this company. It was an experience of a lifetime.