Guide Richard at Lake Naivasha Sopa Lodge
Lenchada Safaris
- Located 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)
Reviews
US
Email Blair | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great budget safari
This is a great budget safari for those who want a no frills experience where you are immersed in the Masai Mara park and Masai culture. I emailed frequently with the owner Alex before I arrived and he was very helpful! I signed up by myself but was added to a group of 5 others and we had a nice time together. Also, I’m very glad I chose the jeep 4x4 versus the mini van, as we had to help a few vans along the way that got stuck on the treacherous roads!
We spent a LOT of time out on safari-I was pleasantly surprised! Our guide Isaac was very knowledgeable and also did a good job of navigating the awful roads around the park. Masai village tour was included and was wonderful!
Lenchada camp is very basic but fine since you are basically just there to sleep. As a single female traveler, I felt very safe at the camp. Food is nothing fancy but flavorful and plentiful!
Suggestions: don’t drink too much water when you are at the Mara since there are basically no bathrooms; bring cash to the camp to buy beer, water, sodas or snacks. A flashlight is helpful for getting around the camp at night. The animals are noisy-earplugs are helpful at night. Bring layers especially if doing a safari in the colder months of June and July.
A few comments: meal times should be more frequent or we should be told to bring snacks. Most days we would leave the camp at 6am and eat lunch around 2pm, which was too long to wait for most of us. We were all starving well before lunchtime each day. Also, I didn’t like that the camp doesn’t provide any drinking water. The safari vehicle did have water but I also had to purchase bottled water at the camp. That seemed a bit strange to not have water available at meals or in the rooms.
All in all, it was a great experience and first safari for me.
Email Rocky | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
professional and very corporative, many thanks Anto, the trip was amazing.
professional and very corporative, many thanks Anto, the trip was amazing.
JE
Email Liz & Steve | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Exceeded expectation
We booked this tour last minute and did not have time to thoroughly review the operator. We were very fortunate to have been in good hands with Lenchada from the beginning.
Alex was great at communicating swiftly and when I couldn’t pay online was ok about us paying when we started the tour.
Our tour guide James was brilliant! Friendly and good humoured (even when we encountered animals we didn’t expect. He was flexible in the arrangements and so we were able to visit a Maasi Village as well as the Masai Mara, Lake Naivasha, Lake Naukura and Nakuru National Park and finally Hell’s Gate National Park.
We felt exceptionally lucky to have seen all of the big five animals as well as close up encounters with many many more and James was determined that we would have the best experience possible.
James also managed to sort out non-tour related requirements such as helping to arrange Covid tests and collecting a forgotten item from a hotel for me! We certainly felt we have been able to trust the company with the arrangements.
The accommodations have been comfortable and clean with hot showers and good food.
We have had a fantastic experience for our first safari and will definitely recommend Lenchada to our friends. We were fortunate to have a good group and as there were only 7 of us it made the tour really special.
HK
Email Yan | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Amazing experience!
My 3 days masai mara safari was amazing. we went there exactly in the great migration season, and so blessed to see the river crossing. All things are smooth.. from the beginning of communication until the end. They tried to fullfil my requests. my driver guide is Kikitu, we feel so blessed to be his first group since pandemic. He tried his best to find the animals that we want to see, driving skill is also good. He even explained a lot about the animals we saw in details. The accommodation is comfortable.. but there was no hot water in the bathroom. Also.. drinking water seems not available for us until you keep asking. Other than these, My experience was nice generally :)
IN
Email Vasanthy | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Willingness to help the tourist in every way
Enjoyed the whole safari trip except the operators could have sent me a mail on necessarry items lo be brought like torch and some power bank units .they never mentioned that the charging stations are common at masai mara since this is my first trip I fiind it difficult when it comes to charging my canera as well.as my phones
NL
Email Joeri | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastisch safari
The safari tour was a wonderful experience with an unforgettable visit to a Masaai collage and impressie encounters with the wildlife. Dennis was a skilfull driver that safely got us from Nairobi to the reserve. Good accommodations during the trip. Only downside was the amount of bottled water available in the van. This was insufficient for the amount of people on the trip.
Email Duncan | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
This safari was good value for money and was basically what we were looking for
Our guide, Evans, was very reliable and helpful. He was a cheerful guy who was professional and flexible when it came to minor changes to some arrangements. He was our guide as well as our driver and he was knowledgable about the wildlife but not expert. I would recommend him to others.
US
Email Damola | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good Experience
They offered good value and were great with responding back to emails. They answered all my questions promptly as well. The tour driver was nice and easy to communicate with. We stayed a kibo safari camp ambioselli. Camp was perfect, hot water, clean and as described. Only con is that the execution of all our requests wasnt perfect. I had asked for vegan and vegetarian meals. I had to ask for it again at every meal, both on the van and at the camp. The driver kindly purchased fruits for us but on the way back, the picnic lunch was awful, a small white bread sandwich with cucumber and tomato, cold fried potatoes, dry cake, 1 small apple and half a cup of coleslaw. Also, opt for their better vehicles at the higher price, the van doesnt drive as smoothly as the land cruisers. Game drives were good. Overall, I will use their services again, but I will make sure to communicate exactly what foods I want ahead of time.
Email Thomas | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent start, medium finish
We started our safari at excellent pace; there were elephants, antelope, giraffe, cheetah, lions, baboons, zebra, buffalo, guinea fowl and many more, just within the first two hour tour! The second and third day were just as interesting, and we also saw a leopard up a tree. Our fourth day at Lake Nakuru was cut short at 11am, and although we got to see some white rhino in the morning, we were stuck in a pretty poor hotel all day, with nothing to do.
The accommodation and food were excellent, apart from the last accommodation at Lake Naivasha. Our towels weren't clean, bathroom door didn't close, mattress sank and our door locks were the same as our neighbours. They should seriously reconsider this accommodation, as it greatly affected the experience. There are plenty of wildlife at Nakuru and we'd much rather have stayed longer to see more of it.
The Masai village tour is interesting, but the men in the village are clearly bored of entertaining tourists every single morning.
James, our guide was very energetic for most of the journey and a very friendly guy. He was very knowledgeable and managed to find plenty of animals for us to see on our journey. We saw the 'Big 5', plus many more. He's an excellent driver and we always felt safe in his care.
Overall, we would definitely recommend this tour. It is very good value for money, but I would probably choose a four-day, rather than a five-day tour, next time.
DE
Email Andreas | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Everything worked exelent and we felt always save. Gerne wieder!
All good............................................................................................