Guide Richard at Lake Naivasha Sopa Lodge
Lenchada Safaris
- Office In:
- Size:
- 1-5 employees (Founded in 2015)
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $50 to $400 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
IT
Email Simone | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience!!
Our tour included 2 days in Masai Mara, 1 in Nakuru and 2 in Amboseli.
All the trip was well organised in every services. 4 stars only because when we arrived at agency departur they changed our lodge without any previous advice. Despite this inconveniente the new camp/lodges were nice too.
Denis was the best driver that we could have. He’s kind and avaibale for everythings you need. With him we saw the big 5 and other more animals without any problems to the jeep.
I recommend him!!
Email Anonymous | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great safari but....
Well organized Safari, saw the Big 5 with Moses. Great guide but kept talking about how many women he has , how he uses them , some of us understand the language so to hear that was absolutely terrible.
CW
Email Semb07 | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The guide is an important role in your experience
My first contact with Lenchada was with Alex, he was very great to deal with very attentive and made sure all my needs were met. The driver that will pick you up from hotel was also very nice and hospitable.
On the start day of my safari I was assigned a guide in a group joining safari as I was a solo traveler. They assigned me to Richard, he was the best guide I could ask for on safari. He was sharing information along the road about Nairobi, about the animals and most importantly he made sure everyone saw their favorite animal and complete the checklist of viewing the big five.
Unfortunately on my 4th day of safari they split me from my group and guide as I had booked another route to Amboseli for my last 2 days to complete the 6 days.
I was assigned a guide Izachiel, worst guide ever! I wish I ended my safari on day 4 with Richard.
I did not feel safe with him on the 5 hours drive to amboseli at all. We almost crashed 2 times, first time he took a break so abrubt that he had to turn of the land cruiser or for safety the cruiser turned off by itself not sure. The second time it was a bit dark and we almost crashed in some crossing cows.
When I arrived at my lodge also I didn’t feel welcome after the long drive.
And to complete this whole nightmare with Izachiel, I told him from the start that my interest in visiting amboseli was to view Mt Kilimanjaro
2 days we stayed in amboseli he did not even show in which direction I needed to spot.
Weather was cloudy but I think he could have at least showed that he cared and make some effort and communicate better.
All by all I arrived back safely in Nairobi but I was not happy at all with the end of this trip. Could have saved some money and do only a 4 day trip. So my advice is that overal Lenchada is a good company I would recommend most of employees are very professional but be wary of types like Izachiel.
(some images removed for privacy reasons)
Very informative about the safari
Overall the tour was a lovely experience. All of the guides were well informed and shared plenty of knowledge to the tourists. The most pleasurable part of the trip was meeting members of the Maasai tribe.
CO
Email Javier | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good
Our guide Evans is very good! friendly and helped us all the time
SG
Email Levi | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Responsive
Had a great time with Lenchada exploring the Mara. Geemon our guide & driver is very polite and knowledgeable. The camp site is comfortable and the food is satisfactory. Do time yourselves for a great trip ahead!
NL
Email Johanna | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Affordable and amazing
I did the six day tour, Maasai Mara, Nakuru, Amboseli. It was an amazing experience, beautiful parks, and I saw the big 5. Thanks to our great tour guide Peter an Moses. Accommodations were basis, at least in Maasai Mara, but along the trip they got better. But for that price, it was very good.
I recommend to change a little bit in the program, because the one night in Nakuru, makes it a long day from Nakuru to Amboseli. You spend almost 12 hours in the jeep.
But thanks Peter and Moses for the great experience, the amazing driving and your great eyesight. You guys see everything. Communicating with other tour guides in the park makes that you most likely see all of the big five.
JO
Email Khaleel | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Nice experience over all
So I booked the five days safari for Maasai Mara, it was a very decent experience especially compared to what I paid for. The driver was super nice but this safari could be better when it comes to many things. First thing is the optional activities, if you don’t do them you’ll be literally doing nothing “for hours?” In the car, so you’ll have to do them and each one costs around 20-30$ so each day after the second one you’ll be paying around 50$ per person including the tips, so if you’re doing 5 days, that’s around 150USD extra, I don’t mind that at all, as I really enjoyed the activities but I wish their price was included in the whole package as they are “technically” not optional:/ the second thing which is the Maasai village, I hated how I was literally “forced” to buy something from them, so my trip to the village which was supposed to be 20$ ended up as 40$ and what they sold me was the fabric, and it was used, they didn’t even give me a new one:/ I got to know that they have tons of new ones after they gave me the used one, with used I mean someone was wearing it for god’s know how long. The last point is the experience that I had in the very first accommodation when I was trying to buy a bottle of water using USD, and the guy told me “don’t expect me to give you Nairobi’s rates here in the bush, that literally made me feel very uncomfortable! He was super direct about trying to rip me off, as there’s no other place to buy water!
If you guys work on these small details I’m sure you’ll be more successful.
Other than that everything was very positive from how responsive they were, to how many animals we saw, and the memories I made with the people I met there!
PT
Email Carolina Marques | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The perfect guide but might not to be the perfect company
We booked a 4 days (with game drives in all of them) and 3 nights safari going to Masai Mara and Lake Nakuru. When we got to the office on the first day to pay, the company said that there was a “small” change in our itinerary that would make our 3rd day a day without doing game drive (80$ p person entrance fee to the park) and in exchange they would take us to the Masai Vilage (20$ fee supposed to be optional in our 2nd day). Part of the group had other programs booked so thanks to the our driver we got to experience a boat ride in a lake (we would have to pay extra 20$ p person) to compensate us.
To sum up, it was an amazing experience, with good food and that we would love to repeat, especially with Joseph, who made our safari amazing.
To the company the only thing I wish they did better: it was not let you book a program that they can not provide…
FR
Email LJ | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
My first safari (and solo)!
I booked the 6 Day Maasai Mara, Lake Nakuru and Amboseli Budget Landcruiser safari and the booking team (Alex) was super helpful and maintained clear communication up to the time I was picked up on D-Day.
The first 2.5 days with Ibrahim as my tour guide was excellent! He really knew the Maasai Mara reserve like the back of his hand and made significant effort to ensure we saw as much as possible! However, I completely believe that the budget lodge needs significant renovation. The conditions of the tent were passable at best but they have a great team there. Secondly, I regret going to the MM village; not a privileged moment with the local people to discover their culture but a money grab at every moment. Eg. we were shown a welcome dance and encouraged to participate but weren't educated about the moments that these were actually performed in their daily lives. The main Maasai guide constantly encouraged you to take photos of everything which just felt so intrusive. These are real people and not characters putting on a show and should be given that respect. Overall this part of the program was my favourite.
Things took a turn when it was time to move on to the last 2 parts of the program. Turns out, they randomly throw people together on these group tours, which in theory is fine and efficient but this time they lacked good coordination which had an impact on my experience. I booked (and fully paid) solo with Lenchada but turns out I kept getting placed with guides from "Jocky Tours" (imagine my surprise and confusion). (1) On my program, I was expecting an evening game drive upon arriving at Nakuru but instead was forced to go with the rest of the group in the vehicle to an almost 2 hour stop at Lake Naivasha before heading to Lake Nakuru; resulting in being unable to the evening drive. (2) We had to drop people into Nairobi instead of taking the planned direct route to Amboseli from Nakuru, resulting in no evening game drive but also having to endure very dangerous driving getting to the Lodge in Amboseli in the night (there aren't much street lamps but an abundance of wildlife in this area as you can imagine). Furthermore, because we arrived so late, the driver proposed not to do an early morning game drive which is when Mount Kilimanjaro is clearest. I almost missed it, thank God I had one more day. Everything with this driver felt rushed and unorganised during this last period and had a significant impact on my safari experience. The driver also displayed serious favouritism with all the other travellers in the group and made me feel even more unwelcomed being by myself. I even overheard him sending safari review links to everyone except me (let's not get into the fact that I was the only Black person in the group). Anyway, the lodges during this part were nice and seeing Mount Kilimanjaro in all its splendor was the only highlight.
I will definitely be back to Kenya! The wildlife and national parks are an absolute dream.