Safaris and hotel booking specialist
Mufasa Tours and Travels
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2010)
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $30 to $300 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
Email Miss Vermont | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Smooth as silk-- great two weeks in Kenya thanks to Mufasa Tours
I was a guest on a wonderful 2-week Kenyan trip that was organized and planned by my friend, M, a photographer, with the help of Maryanne Mwangi at Mufasa Tours and Travels. Everything went smoothly from the start. She was in touch with us a we bought our plane tickets and got our eTA's (like a visa).
We landed in Nairobi, were met by a Mufasa driver who took us to Four Points by Sheraton, Hurlingham, a hotel with a rooftop pool and wonderful restaurant. Rested after our long trip from the states, another Mufasa driver took us to the Wilson airport and we flew to Samburu National Reserve, a remote, 165-square-kilometer wildlife haven in northern Kenya along the banks of the Ewaso Ng'iro River. where we stayed at the Samburu Simba Lodge. Great food, beautiful birds watching us eat, an infinity pool, elephants formed a circle around their babies and dozed in the shade. We were met at the air strip by our safari guide and driver Tonny Wambugu. Every morning at dawn he drove us out into the bush looking for Samburu's iconic "Special Five" animals and we saw all of them: the Grevy zebra, the blue-legged ostrich, reticulated giraffes, the gerenuk, which is an antelope with an extremely long neck, and the common beisa oryx, all adapted to the arid and semi-arid climate of northern Kenya. We'd return to Simba Lodge for lunch and a rest, then at three or four head out again until the sun set. Tonny took good care of us, knows his African birds, has a bachelor's degree in his business, plus four more years of study as a guide and bird expert. All the other guides knew him and shared information so that Melissa and I could also see a cheetah mother with five young cubs, and on our last morning photo safari on our way to the red dirt airstrip, a pride of young lions hesitating to cross the river because of the resident crocodiles. "The icing on the cake," he said, and he was right! Tonni Wambugu was knowledgeable, personable, helpful, careful and happy to answer all our questions.
We had four days of photo safaris, then flew back to Nairobi where we changed planes and flew to the all-inclusive The Baobab Hotel at Diani Beach, a powdery white sand beach on the Indian Ocean. Right off I picked my favorite spot near the pool under a giant baobab tree looking out over the turquoise waters. Friend Melissa arranged a couple of outings. One was a glass-bottom boat trip out to the coral reef where she snorkeled. Another was a day trip to a fishing village on Funzi Island, where we saw a first-grade class, a woman making rice flour with stone instruments, the same woman creating coconut oil before our eyes, a 500-year-old baobab tree next to the village well, then a trip up a river lined with mangroves and crocodiles, and men fishing from dug-out canoes made from halved mango tree trunks! We were given lunch in a sand-floored restaurant on an uninhabited island. This day trip was an eye-opener and a good way to meet people who did not work at the hotels and lodges.
We then had a car and driver take us to Mombasa, a bit farther north up the coast, Africa's largest port. Melissa arranged a private half-day tour in downtown Mombasa where we tried to see Fort Jesus, but their credit card machine was not working and they did not accept cash so no one could enter. Our guide Mohamed showed us old town and recited its history, then we all piled into a solar-powered tuktuk ( a three-wheeled truck similar to "ape" (the bee) in Italy) and went to the spice market amid chaotic traffic. 95% of the people in Mombasa are Muslims and I enjoyed seeing the colorful African hijabs. We also saw colorful Hindu temples, and heard the Muslim call to prayer. Our hotel was out of town, the Sarova Whitesands Beach Resort and Spa, where we drank mimosas under the palms with a full moon reflecting on the waves, a wedding party on one side of us and a karaoke show on the other.
From there, our driver, Paul, took us to the Mombasa train station and prolonged security checks where we boarded the ultra-luxurious Madaraka Express for the 500-kilometer 6-hour ride through the bush to Nairobi. Every seat is a window seat. It's more of a pod than a seat. The seats rotate to face the window, have phone chargers, gooseneck reading lamps, USB ports, good internet, storage spaces, and the seats recline to prone position for sleeping. A stewardess took our order for breakfast, delivered the hot meal and poured coffee into our ceramic cups. The train runs over a stretch of the Nairobi National Park before reaching the Nairobi terminus. Nairobi is the only country capital with a national park within its city limits. A Mufasa driver collected us at the train station and brought us to the Argyle Grand Hotel nearby where our room overlooked the national park. The next day we were thrilled to have Tonny Wambugu again as our photo safari driver and guide through the park. We saw black and white rhinos, zebras, ostrich, a plethora of water birds, an eagle, the backs of hippos in a lake, and a pair of battle-scarred male lions, two old mufasas (lions in Swahili) ambling down a dirt road. Kenya had removed all the elephants from the park because they had been escaping and doing damage to human property, Tonny said. After a couple of nights at the Argyle, we boarded its free hourly shuttle to the airport just ten minutes away and flew home through Frankfurt.
Everything flowed smoothly. The planning was perfect. Our drivers and guides were in touch with both us and with Maryanne at Mufasa Tours throughout the trip. Our drivers always kept in touch, and showed up on time. Thanks to Maryanne, we had all the tickets for in-country flights and train rides in hand. Maryanne was always available to answer questions via e mail or whats app. I told her it was like she was our guardian angel on this trip.
Highly recommended.
BE
Email Lili Hao | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Hope see you guys again
I chose Mufasa for my first safari, and it was a huge success. The itinerary was perfect, seamlessly connecting the safari in Tanzania with a city tour in Nairobi. The pricing and service were impeccable. Special thanks to our guides, Sam and John, for making the trip so enjoyable, and to chinese sales Echo for the nearly six months of coordination and attentive follow-up right up until I returned home. I highly recommend them and will definitely come back next time.
IT
Email Alessandro | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Professional and kind
Very good experience. Marianne took care of us before we arrived in Kenya providing all the infos and our guide Tonny took us through Amboseli, Tsavo west and Tsavo East telling us about all the animals, the culture and making it a very pleasant experience.
IT
Email Lucia | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An amazing safari, made special by an incredibile and passionate guide (Tonny).
We had a great safari experience thanks to our guide, Tonny. He was friendly and very professional, and he adapted the safari tour to our preferences, suggesting changes based on his experience (We did 4 days Safari: 2 days in Amboseli, 1 in Tsavo West and the last one in Tsavo East).
It was clear that he loves his job, and he taught us a lot about the animals we saw. Highly recommended!
IT
Email Debora | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Accurate, polite, clear
It was a wonderful experience from start to finish. From the very beginning, Maryanne was incredibly kind and provided clear and accurate information. The safari itself was amazing, and Tonny is an excellent guide who did everything possible to make our experience the best it could be.
IT
Email Andrea | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great professionists, always on top of every situation.
I had a really great time with Mufasa, they handled perfectly the 5-days safari trip we had. The price was reasonable for the length and target of the tour.
The tour itself was great, we missed the big 5 only because Rhynos didn’t show up, but we balanced with cheetahs and other elusive animals.
Nonetheless, our guide was amazing and really complement on the matter
Email Despoina | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
We had an amazing experience with Mufasa and are so glad we chose to travel with them!
Our guide, Muturi, was truly outstanding. He made us feel completely safe and comfortable throughout the entire journey. His knowledge of the parks, wildlife, and local environment was impressive, and he shared everything in a fun, engaging way. We also had lots of laughs together, which made the experience even more special. He was a big part of what made our safari unforgettable.
The accommodation arranged for us was overall well organised and aligned with our itinerary. We appreciated the effort in coordinating everything in advance, and each place offered its own unique experience during our journey.
Maryanne was wonderful from start to finish—very attentive, kind, and always checking in to make sure everything was going smoothly. Her communication was clear and timely, and we genuinely felt she had our best interests at heart throughout the entire trip.
Our expectations were not only met but exceeded. We’ve come home with incredible memories and enjoyed every moment of our journey.
We would definitely recommend Mufasa to anyone planning a safari in East Africa!
Email Alejandra | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Efficient
We had a one day tour in Nairobi including Nairobi National Park, Elephant orphanage, Giraffe centre and Karen Blixen museum.
We had an amazing time and our guide was amazing!
DK
Email Malene | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing 3 day safari in Tsavo East!
We had an amazing 3-day Safari in Tsavo East arranged by Lucy from Mufasa Tours and Travels.
Lucy was extremely patient - answering all my 800 questions in the booking process – and after! She was helpful and kind, and she managed to arrange the perfect Safari for our little family!
We brought our 2 children of 6 and 9 years, and everything went so well!
Our driver knew the plan and the lodge, so he had everything under control, meaning that we could focus entirely on just taking in the beautiful surroundings and the impressive animals we met.
Our driver, Mahmud, was very kind, easy to talk to, humorous and very knowledgeable! It was clear that he knew the park very well and knew where to look to spot the different animals. He really made a great effort, and we managed to see everything we hoped for!
Mahmud suggested that on our final morning, we took an extra game drive in the park before he would drop us off at the train station. So instead of just an ‘en route’ game drive to the train station, we spent 1,5 hours spotting animals for the last time. This is where we saw the Leopard up close. It was an incredible experience. Simply amazing!
The duration of 3 days (2 nights) was perfect for us, travelling with kids that age. It was long enough for us to get the real experience and spotting all the animals we hoped for, but not so long that the children lost interest and got impatient.
We were picked up at 06.30 in our Hotel in Diani Beach on the first day, went to the park and had our first game drive on our way to the lodge.
We had 2 nights at the Voi Safari Lodge and when the safari was over, we were dropped off at the train station in Voi from where we took the train to Nairobi.
Mahmud helped us get the tickets in the ticket office and made sure all was clear before he left.
It was very easy and safe to take the train from the Voi station to Nairobi, so I can recommend that as well.
I would certainly recommend booking through Mufasa Tours and Travels if you wish to go on Safari in Tsavo!
IL
Email peter | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
amazing experience with mufasa tours and travels
it started with very good communication with marry Anne, everything was going smoothly, we went over possible itineraries, and chose lodges according to budget.
a week before I received all the phone numbers of everyone I met on the ground.
then we met Steve!!!
I can't praise Steve enough!!
very knowledgeable guide,very professional driver, and all around amazing person, we had a great time both on the safari drives,and the drives between parks. Steve went above and beyond, sometimes even doing slight detours inside a park just to show us an animal that just came out and was spotted by other jeeps.
Hotels were great, Sopa Nakuru was our favorite.
I know I would highly recommended Mufasa and Steve as the guide to all my friends
