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)
Reviews
Email CHRISTOPHER | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing.. one of the best.. that is Dickson
It was my first time visiting the mara with my friend Curtis from the USA and we shared the safari with Ebrahim the guy from Saudi Arabia. The two day experience was breathing and awesome. Our guide/driver Dickson knew where to locate what we wanted to see. The staff at the camp were friendly , the rooms were excellent. The food was delicious. I will visit again next year with family and friends. Well done guys and I will recommend you to my friends too
Email Andrew | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Worst ever experience
As expats in Kenya, we have taken many safari trips, and the recent one to Masai Mara with Lenchada was unfortunately our worst ever experience. We chose this company out of their overwhelmingly good reviews on safaribookings.com. That probably means that most of their drivers are excellent. But our driver, named Tony, was an exception by a large margin.
Tony clearly hates his job and was cold and rude to us throughout the trip. Every time we met at the beginning of a game drive, he never greeted us and only responded to our greeting with a node. He never helped with our luggage either. During game drives, he never asked us or even notified us before starting the vehicle after a stop, never caring if we wanted to stay for longer. In several cases this interrupted our ongoing photography of animals, and sometimes even worse—the abrupt move of the vehicle on the bumpy road of Masai Mara caused us to fall on the seat. All three of us hit our knees on the armrest of the seats for a few times, and we all got bruises. Having paid a little more to take a private tour rather than a shared one, we expected that we could customize the game drives to a reasonable extent. When we tried to communicate with him about our preferences in animal viewing, however, Tony responded impatiently with cold words such as “You have to be patient,” “I have to follow instructions from the radio.”
And his words about following the radio turned out to be a lie, because his vehicle was not equipped with a radio! A radio is important for any safari trip, and especially for Masai Mara, since the natural reserve is simply too large. Even during the migration season, most part of Masai Mara at any given time would still be empty, and without a radio, on which dozens of drivers share their findings real-time, you will very likely end up not finding anything interesting for a whole hour. Two of the three of us fell asleep for around twenty to thirty minutes during the game drive. In the past we have taken safari trips in less renowned destinations and during low seasons, but the experiences have never been so boring for us that we fell asleep. It may be unbelievable that this happened in Masai Mara during the migration season, but when you don’t see any noteworthy animal for dozens of minutes it would be hard to stay awake. We did get to see some big cats, but that was only possible when we luckily encountered another vehicle that had radio, whose driver kindly shared the information, and our vehicle then made a U-turn to go back in the opposite direction for some fifteen minutes to get to the spot. With a radio we would probably have spent thirty minutes less to get there.
When we realized this problem, we contacted Alex, the managing person of Lenchada. Alex was responsive and attentive. He apologized for our experience, clarified that the driver’s practice of not carrying radio to a game drive is intolerable and against the company’s rules, and told us that he will soon make a thorough check on all the vehicles of his company to make sure that they must have radios. For us, however, the only thing he could offer as a remedy was to extend our final game drive by departing the lodge one hour earlier than planned. We appreciated his supportive attitude and accepted the offer, understanding that it was probably already all he could do within his capability. Tony was late, cutting the extended game-drive time from one hour to less than forty minutes. But the length of the trip turned out not a big issue, because during that extended final game drive, we again fell asleep, for the simple reason that the vehicle still didn’t have radio and we still had not much to see most of the time.
Although Tony had no radio, he attempted to cheat us by saying that he had one. It was only during the second day of the trip, when we heard him responding to another driver asking about information on animal spotting, saying in Swahili “Sina redio” (I don’t have a radio) that we realized he had been lying. When we contacted Alex about this concern, Alex hosted a three-way phone call with us and Tony. To our surprise, in the phone call Tony lied to his boss and insisted that he had a radio which he simply turned off because it was noisy. On our way back to Nairobi, Tony even blamed us for telling his boss about the radio issue, and still insisted that he has radio. When we pointed to the antenna holder in the front of his vehicle, where there was no antenna at all, he said that for some vehicles the antenna is in the back. But one only needs to get off the vehicle and look at its back to know that there’s no antenna there either. For so many times, Tony lied through his teeth.
Tony also told us that because of our complaint, he was going to lose his job. Due to his repetitive blatant lies, we would not believe in what he said. But if what he said is indeed true, that would be an indication that Lenchada really cared about their customers and promptly fired this unprofessional, dishonest, and rude employee. Such a person should simply not be allowed to work in this industry.
In other aspects of our trip that are unrelated to the driver, our experience was mostly positive. For example, the lodge was a good balance of quality and price. It is way cheaper than any accommodation inside Masai Mara, yet it’s only a ten-minute drive to the gate. Since their boss Alex is a responsible and honest person, and since there are many good reviews out there, choosing Lenchada for your safari may still be a good idea. But you have to make sure that your driver is not Tony, otherwise all those good reviews will be totally irrelevant to your actual experience.
PK
Email Tayyaba Jamil | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Truly Amazing
This tour was one of the best tours ever! Our driver Khalifa knew exactly where all animals were and made the experience even better as we got to see so many. It was truly enjoyable!
US
Email Luke C | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Flexible and easy to work with.
Alex was great to work with and gave us a good deal on a wonderful safari! He handled all the details and we really enjoyed Keekorok Lodge at Masai mara. Got to see many great animals and would definitely recommend this safari and especially Lenchada safaris!
US
Email Frank Hogan | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very accommodating,, pickup, credit or cash, provide different food on request. Got right back to me
I looked for a safari Sunday night lenchada safari got back to me within an hour to join them Monday for a 3 day safari. Picked me up from my hotel. Sent someone to me with a credit card reader so I could use my card. And the kitchen cooked different food for one lady and her kids when day asked. Now that's accommodating ☺️I'm glad I chose the tent it made the experience better, the Stars in the night sky, bon fire, great food and hot shower. And of course the thousands of animals roaming in such a beautiful vast landscape. The guides are very knowledgeable of the animals and the terrain, they must have a gps in their heads to be able follow all those different trails. It was one of the most amazing adventure in my life. Thanks
Email Khizra | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Most amazing experience!
This was the best trip ever. Our driver Khalifa made it even more worthwhile by showing us every animal and setting up the best angles for pictures!
Email Sydney | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Vibess
Great experience all in all. Shout out to our guide Anto
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.
Email John16 | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Professional
Great Service, Professional Tour Guide, Excellent communication
Email Anthony | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Best Safari Ever!
Good quality cruisers-comfortable and luxurious....very professional drivers.