family-pumpped-up-for a classic family safari
Doyen Safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2004)
- Member Of:
- Kenya Tourism Board
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $480 to $1,200 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
NL
Email Tom | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Well arranged and good safari! Trustworthy/reliable booking agency
I did a 5-day safari (masai mara - naivasha - nakuru) with Doyen. Arrangements, itinerary, price and accomodations were good and Kennedy takes care of all your requests (taxi/hotel,etc). Especially Masai Mara is excellent for safari. Safari van and driver were good and comfortable for mid range/budget safari. I can recommend this company to other people.
Doyen Safaris is a cornocorpia of excellence.
The service is unmatched by any in the industry the customer service was patient and help, time management was excellent, no delays and we always could reach an agent if we had any inquiries.
AE
Email Ashley Vera | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Liar, Thief, Coward and an Overall Scam!
I am absolutely disgusted with how horribly I was treated during my stay in Kenya after booking through Doyen Safaris. The owner, Kennedy, is the biggest liar, thief and coward I have ever met in my life. When we booked the trip in December, Kennedy was very responsive to my questions and concerns and gave me an itinerary with all of the hotels I would be staying in, so I felt comfortable and excited for the trip. But that was all a lie. From the moment we arrived in Kenya, there were several mix-ups and we were not delivered what we were promised. The hotels we stayed in were 3 of the most disgusting, dirty, old, and unsafe accommodations I have stayed in. The sheets we marked with blood from the mosquitoes and the beds had dirt on them. We were supposed to stay in glamorous tents when we went to Masai Mara, but I was shocked when we got there and I learned that first off I had to share a tent with a total stranger I had met in the car an hour before and second the place was a complete dump and even had a mouse in it. My group was promised a private tour but soon realized Kennedy had placed us with two other travelers. Every time we tried calling Kennedy to fix these issues he would tell our driver, Stanley, he was too busy to talk. The one great thing about the trip was our driver. Stanley was absolutely amazing and made the safari worth it, but anything else Kennedy was involved in was a complete disaster. The food was included in our package and it was the worst food I have ever eaten and I actually came home with typhoid fever because of the dire conditions of the camp. On my last night in Nairobi I was supposed to stay at the hotel Kennedy listed in my itinerary but of course when I got to Nairobi he said the plan had changed because the hotel was booked (he had already done this to us the day before with another hotel as well). I became very angry with Kennedy and began listing all the things that had gone wrong since the start of the trip and he acted like this was brand new information to him even though Stanley had been telling him all along what was going on. He denied everything and seemed shocked when I told him I had to share a tent with a stranger and he blamed the camp. He refused to take any responsibility and promised me he would put me in a 4 star hotel to make up for it. He had a driver take me to another hotel and as soon as we pulled up I knew this was not a 4 star hotel. It was a complete dump. They showed me to my room and when we walked in it turns out there was someone staying in that room already, so we went back to the lobby. I called him and told him this was not acceptable and that I had paid him a lot of money in order to stay in a nice hotel. I sent him several pictures of acceptable hotels I had found online and told him any of those would be fine. He asked me to go to booking.com and pay for the room and that he would send me money a week later through PayPal. Obviously I refused and told him he had to come to the hotel and sort it out right away. He finally came to the hotel and looked upset and annoyed and tried to convince me to stay there. I told him I would not stay there and he just sat around not saying or doing anything for about 20 minutes. Finally he got up and walked out of the hotel without saying a word. After 10 minutes I had the driver call him and he said he was figuring something out. An hour later I was still sitting in the lobby and now he was ignoring the driver's phone calls. I had the hotel call him and he told them to tell me I could either stay there or find my own place and pay for it myself. I was SO upset. What a liar, thief and a coward. Absolutely disgusted that these kinds of people actually exist. Do NOT book with this company. This man is only out for one thing. Your money. My goal is to spread this to as many people as possible so they don't have to experience what I did.
BH
Email Chris | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
First class communication, organization and service from 1st email of inquiry to arriving home
Having never been on a safari or to Kenya before I came across Doyan Safaris by chance over the internet. It was a last minute decision to do this trip. I found Edwards communication to be extremely efficient and he helped to tailor a safari experience based on the requirements of my trip with ease and at a great price. Edward was also very easy to work with in terms of payments and arrangements. Personally met us at the airport and gave us a lift to the hotel in Nairobi, and then again the following morning before starting the 3 day Masai Mari safari. The road trip on day one took approximately 6 hours to the camp which was located about 1KM outside of the National Park. Evening safari, full day on day 2 and early morning day 3 was enough for us personally but it was a fantastic experience. The tented accommodation was fine and as expected, don't expect luxury, but for two nights then no complaints even if the food wasn't that great.....take some snacks!. Lots of interesting people to talk to in the evenings all doing the same thing. Food wasn't great but . The safari guide who drove us for the whole three days was excellent, friendly, helpful, experienced and committed to making the safari the best it could possibly be for all of us. After the drive back to Nairobi we flew to Mombasa and had two nights and days at the Diani Sea Resort which was very good and all inclusive. Edward organised all of the internal flights, taxi pick ups and transfers and everything ran smooth, Edward was also very attentive in calling regularly to ensure everything was going well with the trip. If we were doing the same trip again then we would probably have looked to fly from Masai Mara to Diani Beach to save the time traveling. I would strongly recommend Doyen Safaris to anyone, I believe Edward could and would tailor a trip to your exact requirements, ours was last minute budget and he delivered admirably.
CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Knowledgeable and accommodating
Early this year I spent some time in Nairobi and was taken around town and in the surrounding areas by Doyen Safaris. The staff were very knowledgeable about how to get around safely and efficiently. They accommodated a number of my particular requests very well, and were always courteous and extremely helpful. I would not hesitate to recommend Doyen to others considering travel and safari in Kenya.
US
Email Peter | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Spectacular moment
We had Kennedy plan our honeymoon tour. Our wedding was on December and we wanted a wild honeymoon. We talked to Kennedy who planned our tour to Mara, Diani and lastly Zanzibar. Doyen Safaris took good care of us and we have the best memories. Kennedy, am sending so many friends of mine your way.
DE
Email Almar | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great 7D6N Safari through a variety of parks
We were with a group of 3 people when we booked a safari with Doyen. Kennedy was our main contact and was very responsive to any questions we had. We compared price and variation with some other tour organizers and Doyen was better in all aspects.
The tour itself. Both Kennedy and our tour guide Zak (Zakaro) picked us up perfectly on time from our hotel. They allowed us for some breakfast and then we went off. We had one of thos pop-up roof buses with a strong engine. So it allowed us to go everywhere throughout the parks and gave us some perfect picture opportunities. The first days we had 3 other people in our bus but the last days we were the only guests.
We went to the following parks: Masai Mara, Nakuru, Naivasha, Amboseli.
Our guide knew the park by heart and together with the other tour operators they used the radio to direct them to places where some rare animals were found. Zak gave us the chance to see the big 5 multiple times and we got some excellent photos of a leopard that would make a professional photographer jealous.
Masai Mara: Has the largest variety and is a great park. You can see all the big 5 although a rhino is slightly more rare as it has a lot of hiding places.
Nakuru: Park is smaller but we have seen lions and we got to see the Rhino from very close. Hotel was goof
Naivasha: We could mountainbike through the park. A unique experience with Giraffes, Zebras, Buffalos and a wild variety of other animals around. (off course this park has no lions, hyena's, elephants, rhinos or hippos). At the end you could do a walk through a gorge.
Amboseli: This park is set at the foot of the Kilimanjaro. A unique ecosystem there provides all animals with water from the Kilimanjaro. Excellent park to see Elephants, Hippos and Hyenas.
The food at all times was more than enough and the sleeping places were good and all had hot water.
Great experience and would love to do it again at some point. The guide and organization made the experience very enjoyable and were always very quick and timely.
KR
Email Hyunchul | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Safaris were so great
They were helpful enough for our honeymoon and appreciate everybody people in Doyen. hope business better see you soon again
CN
Email Amon | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It was a good experience, but some options are not in the package and we were not been informed.
Just put all options on the list to show to customs, let them know at the begining
Ye shall know them by their fruits (Matthew 7:16)
When I booked my trip to Kenya it was for my spiritual journey.
Genesis, Exodus, Jerusalem, Shalom.Fear him.. words of the bible ...etc???? written everywhere.
I still remember their joy of life, laughter.Masai Mara wilderness, how beautiful Yahuah's creation.
How Holy is Mt Kenya.
I live in Israel , yes Israel of today is a partly land of Yahuah.
Yahuah, whose fire is in Zion, and His furnace in YAHrusalam.’—Ysha'yah(Isaiah)31. 9.
But where is Zion?
And he knew that the Garden of Eden is the holy of holies, and the dwelling of Yahuah, and Mount Sinai the centre of the desert, and Mount Zion -the centre of the navel of the earth: these three were created as holy places facing each other.( Jubilees 8:19)
My first day was to see Mt Kenya, I was with a guide that came from the tribe of Kikuyu who mentioned that mountain is of God but today people turn their back . When I arrive at the equator point which is halfway between the North Pole and the South Pole at ‘0’ degrees latitude.
I had a divine appointment. People talking that their ancestors were praying in front of the mountain and it started raining , a place where they did sacrifices offerings, and at 3300m we get to the Old Moses Camp ??. They told me that people come from Israel and says that mount Kenya is where Mashah (Moses) received the commandments.????
What was Yahuah telling me? for sure that mountain is Holy. We prayed together. The clouds covered all the mountain. One of them asked me, why? I told them that your people as turn their back from Yahuah and it is time to go back home. One of them said. Why do people kill when it is written...do not kill. Wow! How beautiful those people, are.
Thank-you