AMS Directors and Tour Guides
Amazing Memories Safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2012)
- Member Of:
- ASTA, KATO, AMREF & Eco Tourism
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $130 to $500 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
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Email Noah | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Incredible Honeymoon in Kenya
My wife and I chose Amazing Memories Safaris for our honeymoon in Kenya. The experience was incredible and far exceeded our expectations. Our trip started with a pickup at our hotel in Nairobi. We were given a quick briefing about the safari as well as safari hats which was a nice touch. Our guide/driver Joseph was very knowledgeable and had a great ability to spot animals in the wild. We first visited Lake Nakuru where we saw many beautiful animals and birds. We stayed a the Lake Nakuru Lodge which was okay but not amazing. We then traveled to the Masaai Mara where we spent the remaining 3 days of our safari. While there we stayed in a beautiful lodge, the Mara Simba. We had the opportunity to see the crossing of the wildebeest thanks to Joseph as well as rare animals such as cheetahs, leopards and lions. Overall, my wife and I were very satisfied with Amazing Memories Safaris including the quoting/booking process, the guide, the vehicle and content of the safari.
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Email Romano | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Adventure of a lifetime with people who truly are Amazing!
There are TONS of companies running safaris and we did a lot of research looking for just the right one for our honeymoon. We found Amazing Memories after browsing through Trip Advisor and other travel sites and our search was over. We ended up choosing Amazing Memories over our leading company because of Anne's thorough, quick, and helpful responses. She wasn't once pushy or rushing of us, knowing it was a big decision, and helped us design a unique experience in Kenya and Zanzibar, at a very competitive cost.
We were thrilled to be picked up upon arrival (we arrived a night early) by Joseph and another Anne (we called her little Anne) from our hotel promptly and with enthusiasm. They had an amazing day prepared for us. Little Anne updated us on some changes to our travel itinerary for the whole trip which Anne took care of without even asking. She had made our flights more convenient and had even gotten us an extra flight to make traveling easier, without us even thinking about the complications, and didn't add it to our bill- how thoughtful can you get???
We LOVED our time with Joseph touring Nairobi and were lucky enough to get extra time with him when we traveled back through on our way to Zanzibar. In a, yet again, AMAZING feat, Anne got us on an executive class plane for our trip to Zanzibar and we felt like royalty.
All of our accomodations were worked out in advance between Anne and myself. Being my first safari, she was invaluable in consultations for what to expect at each location, the beneifts of tents vs lodges at each stop, and what advantages of each type of lodging were. She was super patient and answered my questions with ease, even though I asked the same thing multiple times! I'm a worrier and she really made me feel at ease for all the preparations.
Everything from our vehicles to our departure were treated with the utmost care and it's clear that Anne and the staff of Amazing Memories value their customers, their work, and that everyone have a safe, fun experience. We were so lucky to get to see the Wildebeest migration in the Mara and our driver got us up close and personal with a myriad of animals. At each stop we knew Anne and her staff had our back and were doing all they could to ensure an amazing adventure.
Anne was easy to reach whenever I needed, and while I had no issues on my trip, I am confident she would have raced to make anything right for us. When our plans for dropping through Nairobi changed, she was already on top of getting us in touch with Joseph and ensuring a fun extra day.
We can't recommend Amazing Memories enough- they go above and beyond the already fantastic Kenyan hospitality. If you are looking for a company who will take care of you, be flexible, and offer an experience of a lifetime and a competitive cost, look no further!
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Email Francisco | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A safari company to goes the extra mile to satisfy its customers
Me and my family just returned from a fantastic 8 day Best of Kenya private safari organized by Amazing Memories. Anne was very helpful from the very beginning answering my questions and she was very flexible accommodating my requests. The lodges and tented camps she selected for this safari were very a good, specially the Serena Tented Camp in Ol Pejeta, and the staff in all of them was very welcoming and friendly. Joseph, the senior guide in our trip, must be one of the best guides in Kenya. He proved to be extremely knowledgeable about wild animals and their behavior, sharing that knowledge in a fun and entertaining way. He was able to safely get us very close to lions, leopards, cheetahs, elephants, giraffes, hippos, zebras, ostriches, impalas, gazelles, etc We were really impressed when other safari vehicles were crowding around two lions, and he took our vehicle to an empty spot were he correctly predicted we would be able get a close look at those lions because they would move away from the other vehicles and come to the place where we were waiting. Joseph was also able to avoid a horrible traffic jam on our last day day on the road back to Nairobi by taking a detour that many other drivers didn't know about, so that we wouldn't miss the activities we had planned for that afternoon. I summary, Joseph went the extra mile to make our safari trip fun, safe and free of any worry. If you book a safari with Amazing Memories, make sure you ask Anne to assign Joseph as your guide.
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Email Tatjana | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful and smooth long safari!
We just ended our two-week-long safari through Kenya and Tanzania and, as we are going through our photos it seems hard to believe how much we had experienced and seen in the past two weeks.
From the start, Anne was always promptly communicating and checking for every idea and wish we had, being that this was our first safari trip ever. Ours was a budget safari, which means we chose to stay at tented camps for two weeks, and were only treated to a lodge on our final night (Manyara Serena). The camps were excellent, clean, comfortable and some were even romantic.
Upon our landing in Nairobi, Anne and a couple of guys from the office welcomed us and took us to our hotel. On the first day of safari our Kenyan guide, Daniel, was waiting for us and from that point on it was a smooth breeze of a safari, without a single glitch whatsoever for the entire two weeks! Daniel was AMAZING, just as everyone and everything else about this trip, and on top of being a fenomenal guide and tracker in parks, he is also an interesting interlocutor and discussant. We had a fabulous time with him on the road. At the end of our Kenyan leg Daniel took us to the Tanzanian border and transferred us to the care of our TZ guide, Charles, a great, courteous guy, who managed the African massage roads along our route and managed to find leopard on multiple occasions for us, given that leopard was probably the only animal we did not encounter in Kenya. Charles also patiently helped us ship some of our bulky and excessive souvenirs back home, to make the rest of our trip, well, lighter.
The entire trip was spectacular; the employees at all places were the embodiment of courtesy and kindness; we saw many, many parks, but perhaps a few absolute highlights to help other people in planning their trip:
- Amboseli: Kili + tons of elephants - enough said.
- Naro Moru River Lodge, close to Ol Pajeta Conservancy: an overlooked but spectacular place from colonial times. It is old but is very well kept, clean, and safe from mosquitoes. The cottage we got had a fireplace and a bathtub, both of which we enjoyed very much, beautiful grounds for walking, and a breathtaking view from the swimming pool. The grounds teem with colobus monkeys as well, and give you plenty of opportunities to photograph them. In Ol Pajeta you will see and meet the most endangered rhinos, and we saw a big pack of lions as well.
- Maasai Mara NP - do not miss it even if you are visiting Serengeti! MM teems with animals, and even though the migration seems to be late this summer and we did not see much of it, there are animals in big numbers everywhere, big pack of cats, like the famous group of 5 cheetahs (Tano Bora), families of lions, 15 giraffes at a time, etc, etc. We also took the balloon ride and it was spectacular even though there were no millions of migrating animals underneath. I can only imagine what it is like with them.
- Hell's Gate NP - most likely the only park where you are safe walking or biking and taking selfies with animals, plus at the end of the bike route you get to hike into an exciting gorge. This was one of the very few times we got to use our legs on this trip and it was very much needed.
- Ngorongoro - needless to praise this spectacular place, but just to point out that Anne's choice of a coffee plantation as our accommodation was wonderful, with clean air and another opportunity to walk around coffee and bean-dotted hills.
- Lake Natron- we were lured by the famous photos of red water, only to get disappointed that those photos were taken nowhere near the NP, YET, what we experienced here took the blues away and made it our final highlight. We got to hike into a river canyon to the secret waterfall from which the surrounding Maasai villages and lodges take their clean water; swim and tobogan down the river, and enjoy a really exhilarating and wet hike. The next morning we took another 2-hr walk from the camp to the lake itself through villages and made friends with the local ladies who told us took their goods to the market - only to realize that we were the market itself, as they were trying to sell their good to us for most of the trip. Nevertheless, it was all fun and in good spirit.
Overall, AMAZING indeed and we can only recommend AMAZING to everyone.
DE
Email Tina | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
12-Day Safari in Kenia and Tanzania plus 3 Days Zanzibar
The trip was truly amazing and I would recommend AMAZING MEMORIES SAFARIS (AMS) without reservation.
I found the company's name on the website and was intrigued by its strong reviews. I did more research and obtained quotes from 2 other providers, but they could not beat the price offered by AMS.
My husband and I booked a tour that we found on the website of AMS (the "honeymoon" tour), but customised it a bit with Anne's help, covering Amboseli, Lake Naivasha, Maasai Mara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro, and Zanzibar. We corresponded with Anne exclusively via email which was easy and productive, because her responses were always prompt and very clear. Anne also picked us up from the airport in Nairobi, and her colleagues delivered two heavy suitcases to us for the return flight, which we didn't need for the safari and were able to store in the office. That was super helpful!!
The tour itself was truly amazing. We saw so many animals and were able to take spectacular pictures thanks mainly to our great guides/drivers, Kennedy in Kenia and Ikamba in Tanzania. They were great in pointing out animals at far distances which we would have never seen without them, and both were very professional and likeable at the same time.
We were also very happy with our itinerary--though if you hate long drives, I would probably stick with either Kenia or Tanzania instead of going to both.
As to the accommodations, most of the hotels and lodges (Eka hotel in Nairobi, Kibo Safari Camp in Amboseli, Mara Sopa Lodge in Maasai Mara, and Next Paradise in Zanzibar) were very comfortable with excellent food, and we really liked the experience of the tented camps in the Serengeti (Katikati and Ang'ata). Only the Crescent Camp in Lake Naivasha and (to some extent) the Rhino Lodge in Ngorongoro were a bit in need of repair, but we only spent one night in each--so it was ok.
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Email Jenny Davis | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fantastically efficient from the planning right through to the safari experience, highly recommend!
After emailing a few other safari operators, Anne at Amazing Memories impressed me with her efficiency and ability to organise a trip suitable within my specified budget for 2 adults & our two teenage boys. On arrival at Nairobi we were met by Anne & Joseph and met our safari driver/guide Daniel. We had the most fantastic week , early mornings, very long journeys sometimes on very bumpy roads but worth it all to see the wildlife in 5 national parks/reserves, Masai Mara being our favourite followed by 1 night at Lake Navaisha (a unique experience not to be missed) All the lodges/tented camps were of a high quality as was the food! Daniel was an excellent driver/guide and ensured we saw the big 5 which we were lucky to see in the first couple of days! We were sad to leave him in Mombasa after our adventures together. I can highly recommend this company, fantastic from the planning stage, booking process and during our trip!
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g294207-d10755751-r550873858-Amazing_Memories_Safaris-Nairobi.html#
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Email Charlie C | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing Safari, Amazing Safari Provider!
Family Safari from July 16th to September 2nd, 2017.
For my wife and I, this was our second safari. This trip, we brought along our daughter (16) and son (12) to see the splendor for themselves. Our vacation consisted of an 8-night deluxe safari with a 5-night beach getaway.
Our quest to find our safari provider began with many hours of reading reviews and visiting sites like “Safari Bookings” and “Trip Advisor”. After corresponding with several companies (and clients) we ultimately selected Amazing Memories Safaris (A.M.S) for the following reasons...
1-Our correspondence was directly with Co-owner Anne. Anne was professional, informative, and articulate. She was quick to respond to all our question and requests even though we had a 7-hour time-zone difference.
2- We are firm believers of doing business with smaller/family run businesses without having to compromise quality of course. Amazing Memories is exactly that. A family-run company whose focus and attention to detail was undiluted. We wanted to be a customer NOT a number.
3-Price!!! From the get-go, Anne was very forward in stating that she would not be undersold. After comparing all quotes, she was true to her word.
Our Trip-
Upon our arrival in Nairobi, we were astonished by our airport reception. Co-owners Anne, Joseph and driver Kennedy met us with huge smiles, warm hugs, embroidered safari hats and beautiful bouquets of flowers! They quickly shuttled us to the EKA Hotel where we had a late supper but not before they treated us to a ceremonial “Welcome Toast” (another a nice touch, one of so many).
On safari, we flew several legs and drove the balance in a 4x4 Toyota van equipped with beefy off-road tires. Our drivers Kennedy and Joseph were very capable of getting us through every obstacle that came our way. We did not opt for the Landcruiser. Having had experience with both type of vehicles, the van had a smoother ride and plenty of space for the 4 of us. Ultimately, this was a great savings to our overall expenses.
Our safari took us to the following places…
Serena Amboseli Lodge
Excellent hotel! The rooms are a little dated but the excellent location and service more than make up! Plenty of animals with the iconic Kilimanjaro as our backdrop. Gorgeous!
Sweetwaters Serena Camp in Ol Pejeta
Amazing Camp!!! The Rino Sanctuary and the Chimpanzee exhibit make this park a one-of-a kind place. We were surprised by the amount of game animals in this conservancy as well. Would highly recommend this reserve AND Sweetwaters Serena Camp (especially with kids)!
Enashipai Lodge in Lake Naivasha
This hotel disappointed. The actual hotel was quite beautiful however, the overall experience was terrible. This hotel didn’t have that friendly vibe that we’d come to know in almost every other Kenyan hotel. The dining service was lousy. The worst part about our stay there was crazy person protesting on a loudspeaker at 5 AM (no joke). This person who the staff later referred to as “the Preacher” was a commonplace occurrence and “beyond their control”. It was terrifying and unsettling to say the least. I would never recommend this hotel unless this was addressed.
Mara Serena Lodge
Excellent hotel!! The crown jewel of Mara lodges. The rooms are little small but this was trivial because the Serena is the best location in the Mara, especially during the Great Migration. We saw all the big five and a legendary wildebeest crossing. We also did the Balloon safari which always concludes with a Champagne Bush breakfast. On our final evening, Amazing Memories Safaris treated us to a surprise a private VIP Bush dinner. That night is something that we soon will not forget.
Beach stay at Diani Beach - Swahili Beach Resort.
This resort is surreal. It’s Swahili architecture was like something out of a fairytale (striking). Everything about this hotel was top-notch. The only thing that would be a problem for some was the actual beach. Water access during low tide was almost impossible without shoes. We made the best of it especially because we love exploring tide-pools.
All-in-all, this holiday was truly a trip of a lifetime. Anyone considering a safari, should take a moment to get to know Anne and her staff at Amazing Memories Safari Co. It’s not easy to put blind faith (…and a lot of money) in the hands of a complete strangers that are a world away. We did it with A.M.S and have no regrets.
Call them, you will not be disappointed.
On a more personal note, Anne, and co-owner Joseph, along with the rest of the staff quickly became like family. Our safari-driver’s Kennedy and Joseph both ensured our comfort and safety on our voyages. I would also like include a “third” Joseph (from the Nairobi head-office) into this mix. Although we did not spend enough time together, he too was a very enduring person who helped us during a particularly difficult moment. Thank you ALL! You found a way into our hearts and we miss you very much!!!
Suggestions for future visit...
-If traveling from North America "with" a stopover- (unless the stop is short), I would strongly suggest staying a day or two in your stop over city especially on the return voyage.
-In July-August, do not underestimate the cold temperatures in the evening and mornings especially in the higher elevations
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Email Ines | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It was really amazing!
From the very 1st email Anne was quick to respond, very professional and very patient about our million questions!
I am so glad I contacted Amazing Memories directly instead of relying on portuguese tour operators to organize everything for us. Not only was it much cheaper, but it was easy, simple, quick and very professional. I will definetly rely on Anne again if I return to Kenya and will recomend Amazing Memories to anyone wanting a fun packed, safe and adventurous safari.
The safari itself exceeded our expectations and it was truly an experience to remember. Daniel, our guide in Kenya, was great, making sure we saw all the animals including the big five. We were very lucky as we were able to see the rhinos on our 1st day at Nakura, because after that they were nowhere to be seen! He always chose the routes that had hardly any other cars which was great, as it felt like we had Masai Mara all to ourselves. In the end I think he was a little bit frustrated that he couldn’t find us a leopard, but the pride of lions eating the zebra for breakfast was a big plus!
Lawrence, our guide in Tanzania was absolutely excelente at spoting the animals. What an eye! And not only did he manage to show us a leopard, he managed to show us two The big five was finally complete! Serengueti is truly beautiful but Ngorongoro blew my breath away. If you can, don’t miss this place.
All the tented camps that Anne sugested were pretty great and exactly what we were looking for. We loved Ikoma Tented Camp as it felt like we were lost in the middle of the savana, and Amboseli Kibo Safari Camp for the beautiful views of the Kilimanjaro.
There were only 2 things that we didn’t really like: the Lake Naivasha tour didn’t feel very safe and our boat driver/guide had no regard for the animals as he drove the boat into the middle of the pelicans and other birds so as to force them to fly. Apparently it made for good photos… And whistling for the eagle to come took all the magic away. It’s suposed to be a natural park, minimum human interference, not a show in a zoo. The other thing was the souvenir shops Daniel took us to as the prices they practice are absolutely ridiculous! Even after bargaining the prices into half, the souvenir shops at the tented camps were still cheaper.
TIP: If you are covering A LOT of kilometers like we did, I suggest you pay the extra cash and request a Jeep for the whole trip instead of the minivan. We didn’t do it and we regreted it. It’s much more comfortable.
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Email Linda | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing Memories Safari was an incredible company to work with to plan our trip to Kenya.
I began planning a trip to Kenya in June 2022 after considering several African countries to visit. Probably my primary reason for choosing Kenya was based on numerous postings by other travelers and their assessment that Kenya has one of the best tourist infrastructures on the continent. As this was our first trip to Africa that was very important to us.
After making the decision to visit Kenya, I did my due diligence in choosing a tour operator to help make our travel arrangements (two of us). Based on several postings I chose the company, Amazing Memories Safaris. I emailed the company with my desired itinerary. Probably within 24 hours (maybe it was 48) I received an email response from Anne. She answered all of my questions and a few days later sent information about costs and other information (hotel suggestions, other options). After a few weeks an agreement was reached regarding a day-to-day itinerary for the entire trip.
I knew I wanted to include a safari but did not want it to be the majority of the trip. I ended up with the following itinerary:
Day 1: Arrive to Nairobi (late at night)
Day 2: Nairobi-David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage, Giraffe Center, lunch in Nairobi
Day 3: Leave to Lake Nakuru
Day 4 & 5: Maasai Mara
Day 6: Back to Nairobi
Day 7: Train to Mombasa
Day 8 & 9: Mombasa
Day 10, 11, 12: Lamu
Day 13: Back to Nairobi
Day 14: Last minute shopping & lunch in Nairobi
Day 15: Fly back home
Our trip was such an incredible experience and I know Amazing Memories Safari Company made it even more special. First, Anne was great at keeping in touch. Sometimes I just needed to confirm a detail with her and at other times there were some minor changes (flights, hotels, etc.). For example, approximately one or two weeks out Anne contacted me about changing hotels for the Maasai Mara portion of the trip based on feedback from other travelers. I trusted her judgement and the change turned out to be wonderful. Second, Anne was very clear about what I needed to do and what she could arrange. As I wanted to travel to Mombasa and Lamu, she was able to secure train tickets for us, but I was to make the arrangements for internal flights (Mombasa to Lamu and Lamu back to Nairobi). There were no surprises and almost everything went super smooth. Finally, I would add Anne partnered us with some great drivers. On day 1 of our trip around Nairobi we were driven by Joseph. Joseph was so kind, very personable and was able to help us find a new electric converter as our old converter did not work. I asked Joseph if he would be the person to take us out on the 4-day safari, but he explained he is the Nairobi guy – there is a different driver for safaris known as the bush guy. I was a little disappointed as we had connected with Joseph and he was so knowledgeable about Nairobi but my concerns were unfounded. We met Francis the next day. We would be spending the next 4 days with Francis. Francis is the guy you want to take you on a safari. He shares so much knowledge about the animals and he literally knows everyone. After a day or so I could see why Francis is so popular with other drivers, park rangers and others on the route. He (like Joseph) is such a likeable person and made the safari drives so memorable. Our very last day in Nairobi our driver’s name was Eshphan. Eshphan made sure we did everything we needed to do on our last day. Most of our day was acquiring last minute gifts and having our last meal in Nairobi. If he did not where to purchase an item he connected with his contacts and took us to the appropriate venue. He also did some incredible driving on the way to the airport. Traffic is chaotic in Nairobi and I was getting nervous as there was a point when we were in gridlock. We made it to the airport in fine time and I appreciated his driving skills.
Arriving in Mombasa and subsequently traveling to Lamu we made our own arrangements for tours, but Anne made the hotel reservations. I could have made the reservations on my own but Anne was able to get the rooms at a slight discount, which helped the budget.
Overall, I would give Amazing Memories Safari an exceeds expectations rating. All of the individuals who we worked with Joseph, Francis, Eshphan and our main contact Anne were outstanding. We will never forget our trip and hope to return in our future. If you are considering a trip to Kenya I would urge you to use this company – they are the best!
Email JP Bundle | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
They really are Amazing !
I rarely write reviews however I'll make an exception for Amazing Memroies Safaris as they really were outstanding. When searching for a travel company to go with, there was a very wide range in prices. AMS were on the more reasonable end of the price range. Anne was extremely patient with us as we chopped and changed itinerary and offered excellent suggestions to tailor our holiday. If I am honest, we were not completely sure what we would get for our money once we arrrived however we need not worry. The locations, accomodation, food, drivers were all excellent. We were completely taken care of from the moment we landed and met in Nairobi. David our tour guide was excellent and took us to all the places were the Big 5 hung out. We stayed at Mbweha Camp in Lake Nakuru which was stuning, Ashnil Mara Camp which was great. Anne arranged flights & drivers to Mombassa where we stayed at Sarova Whitesands. It's all the little extras that made the difference from arranging sundowner, driver pick ups / drop offs and a driver to take us around Nairobi on the last day. Would definitely recomend them to anyone considering a safari.
