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 Antonio | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Less than 3h of Game Drive for a 2 day tour in Masai Mara - Avoid it!
Terrible experience. I absolutely recommend against the 2 days 1 night tour to Masai Mara as the total game drive was 2.45h for both days. It's simply unacceptable. I have been to daily safaris of 5-6h of game drive.
Some good things though: My guide was great, the accommodation and food were good for being a budget safari.
Tour happened as follows:
Day 1: pick-up at 7am in Nairobi. Departure at 8am. Arrival at camp at 3pm. Game drive started at 5pm. It finished at 6.30pm.
Day 2: pick-up at 6.15am. Game drive starts at 6.45am. Game drive ended at 8.30am. I arrived at Nairobi at 3pm.
The drive from Nairobi to Camp will never be less than 6h and it can be up to 8h,
Take at least the 3 day tour or don't do it!
For respect for your time and well-being it is a brutal waste of time, money and energy don't do a 2 days 1 night tour. It was so frustrating to have ended a 2 day tour at 8.30am! I was shocked.
They never offer to refund partially or offered a discount for another safari.
I cannot recommend Jocky Agency. Avoid them!
Reply from Jocky Tours and Safaris
Posted on Nov 28, 2022Hi Antonio
Its very unfortunate that you are putting the blame squarely on us, its should be known that you had booked a 3 days 2nights safari with us, which you later reduced to 2 days 1 night on short notice. We explained to you the pros and cons of joining a 2 days safari and even gave you an itinerary to go through which you subscribed to and agreed to proceed with a 2 day tour over 3 days tour.
We talked over phone about this while on safari, but you never brought forward a compensation claim but instead you told me it was your own fault on reducing your stay by 1 day. Its amazing that you have gone forth to write an official negative complaint even though it was your own idea on reducing your stay.
Regardless, we would like to pass our apology for not being able to convince you enough to drop the safari all together if you couldn't manage a 2 days Private safari or the initial 3 days group safari, which for sure would have offered you more time in the wild and would have been more relaxed safari. We apologize for any inconveniences caused.
DE
Email Sebastian E. | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
a beautiful 7-day Safari
Big kudos to Jockey Tours and especially to our safari guide and driver James! Jockey was the only safari agency (and we requested many) to send us a detailed itinerary of the safari in advance. The contact with Jockey was smooth, courteous and professional. We paid $100 USD in advance and the rest on the spot in Nairobi at the Jockey Tours office. We had chosen a 7-day safari (Masai Mara, Nakuru, Lake Naivasha, Hells Gate, Amboseli) in a small (up to 8-person) group with the 4x4 jeep - and the decision was absolutely right, because the different national parks differ not only in the animals you encounter there, but also show you how incredibly diverse and breathtaking the beauty of nature in Kenya is. While Masai Mara is like a steppe, Nakuru is a green oasis at a lake that reminded us of a jungle. Hells Gate shows itself as a canyon and in Amboseli there is a swamp area at Lake Amboseli where birds and of course a myriad of flamingos find their home. Our guide James did an absolute TOP job. He was able to give us a lot of knowledge about the animals as well as about the vegetation and background of the parks. His first words were: "On the next 7 days we are a family and I am the Mom & Dad" - and that's exactly how it felt, like a great family trip with a multinational group with whom we all got along wonderfully, laughed a lot and gained great impressions. In addition, James and his colleagues at Jockey helped us with further travel planning and ticket booking for the train from Nairobi to Mombasa - free of charge!
From us therefore a 5 out of 5 rating and we unconditionally recommend Jockey Tours and James!
DE
Email Shihmin | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful safari with Jeff!
We booked our 6 day safari tour with Jocky which turned out to be a fantastic experience for us!
First, the combination of Amboseli, Nakuru and Masai Mara is just unforgettable-- the magnificent Kilimanjaro and versatile ecosystem in Amboseli, Nakuru's beautiful lake, birds and finally the grandiose Masai Mara-- every park is so unique yet so beautiful. We highly recommend to book a longer Safari to get the most out of the trip!
Our guide Jeff is very knowledgeable and friendly. He respects our privacy and yet is very attentive to our needs and open to all questions that we have. We had captured some magical moments of wildlife during our early morning and late afternoon game drives thanks to him. One of us is a hobby photographer and Jeff was very patient to all our needs and requests for the best pictures. He was also able to guide us find cheetahs, lions and many others. One important thing on top: he drives also very carefully even in extremely bad weathers.
I will definitely book safari with Jocky tours and with Jeff again!
CA
Email Vanessa D. | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Beyond expectations for a budget priced tour!
Chose an 8 day (Maasai Mara, Naivasha, Nakuru, Amboselli) budget tour in a 4x4 jeep. First time on safari so wasn't sure what to expect.
Jocky, specifically our guides, Moses and Francis, exceeded all my expectations. Pre-tour communications were informative and responsive. The deposit was easy to do. Pick up from our hotel was on time, and they had us on our way after a quick stop at their office for balance of payment.
The first lodging, a tented camp, was basic but clean and comfortable. The following accommodations got better with each stop and ended in a very nice resort that was well above what I expected. No shortage of food at any time; sufficient variety and all tasty (except the boxed lunches which could use some variety). The itinerary provided enough variety (i.e. different ecosystems) to avoid being repetitive or boring, as well as providing sufficient rest time (i.e. not all 6:30 am starts). It was also completed smoothly, on time, and to plan aside from incidents outside of their control (i.e. traffic congestion, power outages, flooding in park, etc).
The best thing was our guides who were professional but fun and friendly. They clearly communicated each day's plan, knowledgeably and happily answered questions about animals, cultures, history, etc., got us into prime viewing/picture taking positions, smoothly managed transfers of persons joining or leaving the tour, worked hard to overcome unexpected issues (i.e. traffic), and accommodated additional requests where possible (i.e. purchasing SIM card, ATM stops, arranging for PCR test, etc).
In general, a very positive experience, money well spent, and zero hesitation on recommending Jocky Tours!
Email Daniela | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The tour of your life
I highly recommend to choose this company to everyone...I have done 4 days of safari in Masai mara and Nakuru and I have seen more than i ever expected
ES
Email Alvaro | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Perfect safari
Everything as expected and discussed with them, after having spoken with them by mail and doing a tailor-made safari for us. Everything was perfect from the pick-up at the airport until they dropped us back there. The hotels and the camp were much better than expected despite having chosen the basic option.
We got to see the big5 and hundreds of animals, and thanks to our driver, Charles, we always had the best spot for photos. We would repeat without a doubt
Email Emma Rogers | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Most amazing experience of a life time with the most amazing safari guide, highly recommended!
Honest, reliable, company.
We have just been on a 4 day safari to Massai Mara and Lake Nakuru which we booked about 8 weeks ago. Communication with Minneh from Jocky Tours was very good, quick responses and all the details you need. Our flight was severely delayed from London by 10 hours but I was able to communicate with Minneh in the middle of the night to rearrange our scheduled pick up time from JKIA airport. A Jocky tours taxi was waiting for us at the airport and transferred us towards the office for full payment. We were told someone from the office was going to meet us at a petrol station to pay and start our safari from there as it was late afternoon and there was traffic to get to the office. We were a bit worried about this but sufficient documentation put our minds at ease and Jocky tours clearly did this to ensure we could start our safari and had our best interests in mind. We stayed in midrange accommodation which was above the standard we were expecting and provided good service. Above all of this, I must talk about our safari guide, Jack. He was amazing at his job and we will always remember him as part of our experience. Jack was extremely knowledgeable and could answer every question we had about the flora, fauna, massai and Kenya in general. He was also an excellent driver and handled the roads and tracks with great skill. We felt Jack went above and beyond to find animals in the Mara and get us as close as possible to the animals. We were lucky enough to see the Big 5 including a black rhino in the Mara as well as a wealth of other wildlife and plants, unforgettable and unlike anything I have ever seen before. Best experience of our lives, we felt safe and that the tour provided good value for money. The Kenyan people were very friendly and welcoming, wanting to show off their beautiful country, and it is without a doubt the most beautiful country I have visited.
I couldn't recommend a safari in Kenya and Jocky Tours enough.
NL
Email Joy | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Great experience exploring Kenya with them.
We had an amazing time with jocky Tours. The price was good and they were very flexible to help us with our needs from the beginning.
The guides we had drove responsibility and also knew how to find the animals in the safari. We were very lucky as we saw all the big 5 within 3 hours with them and even had a front row seat to cheetah hunt!
I would definitely recommend them.
US
Email Katherine | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great way to see Masai Mara!
Had an absolutely fabulous time on this tour! Lenchada Camp was incredible to stay at, with cozy full-size beds and a full-scale bathroom inside the tent. Joshua was a knowledgeable and experienced driver and guide, who ensured that I saw all of the big 5 and so much more! The upgrade from the minivan to the Land Cruiser is definitely worth the $20 I paid--a much bigger vehicle and a better ride. Would recommend to all, including solo female travelers.
NL
Email Liza, Oona and Igmar | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
We would like to say that our guide Richard was first class
We spent 5 days with Richard our guide and he was an absolute gem. His knowledge and thirst for more knowledge was astounding; he knew so much about the flora and fauna and also about other aspects of Kenyan life. Seeing our enthusiasm for these facts, he told us the first day that he would test us on the final day and so he did with much humour. I hope we lived up to his high expectations of us!
But more importantly he was a guide who was very sensitive to his customers' needs: anticipating when he thought we wanted to have a longer look at something (and always getting it right), finding beautiful spots to have the picnic lunch, being flexible, caring and inventive when our daughter wasn't feeling too well and he was a very safe driver too which is important in a country where drivers sometimes do their own thing. All in all, we were very very lucky to have him as our guide and would highly recommend him. Dear Richard asante sana!
Liza, Oona and Igmar