Melvin and Ann from our office during a game drive
Africa Marvel Tours
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2014)
- Member Of:
- Kenya Association of Tour Operators
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $130 to $450 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
NZ
Email Nicola Burrows | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Disappointed by last minute changes and miscommunication
A wonderful safari was let down by a last minute accommodation change and miscommunication between the tour office and my guide.
I'll start with the positives. Communication with Perminus at Africa Marvel Tours was quick and easy. He was helpful with making itinerary suggestions. I was able to call via Whatsapp before I left NZ. He was quick to let me know that my guide was running late for my initial pick up - which I appreciated.
I loved my stay at Tsavo East Voi Safari Lodge - the view overlooking the plain below was MAGNIFICENT!!! I highly recommend staying there. I have never seen so many elephants before. They were everywhere!
Amboseli had incredible contrasts between the dry landscapes and marshes. Overall Amboseli seems more affected by the current drought than Tsavo East. But I have no idea what they were like before the drought, and I was still able to see many animals at both. There are lots of carcasses at Amboseli due to the drought.
My guide was mostly good. He was knowledgeable and professional and I felt very safe as a single woman.
My disappointment came when my accommodation outside Amboseli was changed the day of arrival. I was most disappointed as I was moved to accommodation that was more basic than I had expected. I communicated my disappointment to Perminus, who said his supervisor would be in touch with me. That never happened. This last minute downgrade of accommodation left a sour taste in my mouth.
The other disappointment was a miscommunication between the Tour office and my guide. My guide told me that I HAD to do a full day in the reserve as I would have had to pay for an additional entry fee, if we wanted to enter again. So I agreed, even though I would have preferred a morning and afternoon drive. Full day drives are tiring and less enjoyable. (At this point I had forgotten that my itinerary specified that I had a morning and afternoon game drive.)
At the end of that day, as we were confirming plans for the next day, my guide told me that we wouldn't be able to enter the park again on my last morning as we didn't have an entry. This time I remembered that my itinerary specified that I had a game drive that day, (and lunch in the park). I had to contact Perminus to get this cleared up and was able to have that final game drive. I wish I had done this the previous day.
Make sure that you get what is written in your itinerary!
I had my hot air balloon ride moved to another day, as the day it was scheduled was already booked. This was mildly frustrating, as I had booked this months in advance, but Tour Office only booked it a few days before. The one positive of this, was that I was able to see 5 cheetah the morning I would have been on the hot air balloon ride.
Going on a safari is a wonderful thing to do. Both Amboseli and Tsavo East are very different. The accommodation at Tsavo East, probably means I rate it more highly.
Unfortunately the accommodation downgrade, lack of follow up and miscommunications between the office and my guide, means that I would not book with Africa Marvel Tours again.
Reply from Africa Marvel Tours
Posted on Apr 4, 2023Jambo Nicola,
Thank you for entrusting us to do your safari to Amboseli and Tsavo. Glad to hear that you had a great safari and that you managed to see all the big 5. Great that you enjoyed your stay in Voi Safari lodge at Tsavo. Again accept our sincere apologies for the disappointment with the accommodation change in Amboseli and not getting back in time. This occurred due to the closure of the original camp booked which was a mid range type of accommodation and when you made the call to Perminus there was an agreement for a free upgrade to a luxury type of accommodation. However due to the changes happening close to safari start date we could not confirm the upgrade due to the luxury camp being fully booked. We had to look for an alternative which we got at another mid range type of accommodation which is the same level as the initial camp(closed camp).
Its great to hear that your guide was mostly good, knowledgeable and professional and that you felt safe as single a single woman traveler.
As for the game drives the options are either a morning and afternoon game viewing drives or alternatively a full day game viewing drives, this is always agreed between client and driver guides depending on how the previous day was, some clients prefer full day while other prefer morning and afternoon game drives. With either of the arrangement there should not be an issue of extra park fee, so we are going to look into this and work on the same.
For the balloon safari while doing the reservation there was no enough load(people) to fly on the original date of booking and we could only get the same the following day hence the move to the following day. Glad that you had a chance to see 5 cheetahs on the morning you should have been on the balloon safari.
We appreciate your feed back and going forward we guarantee working to improve on our services to ensure seamless safari experience for your next safari expedition with us.
US
Email Becky & Daryl H. | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing, attention to detail, very professional, knowledgeable, informative!!!!
Africa Marvel Tours did an amazing job with communication and attention to detail. They were prompt and on-time. Their service was top-notch and their driver (Joe) was incredibly knowledgeable of the Masai Mara and animals we saw. If you want a fun tour guide/driver, make sure you ask for Joe - he was great. He allowed us all the time we wanted for pictures and answered all our questions. He provided a detailed itinerary each day but allowed us to make any changes we wanted to ensure we had the safari of a lifetime. The tent camp we stayed at (Enkorok) was very inviting, the food was delicious, and the pool was an added bonus. The views were breathtaking when you sat out on the porch of your tent. Africa Marvel Tours is 5 STARS and we would highly recommend them. We have had previous safari trips with other companies and Africa Marvel Tours far exceeds other tour companies in value, safety, communication, and professionalism. Well worth the money spent - you won't be disappointed. Any future safari trips will be booked through Africa Marvel Tours! Great job!!!
US
Email Alison Fontaine | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Absolutely incredible, our tour operator was so quick to respond and wildly accommodating.
If I could give them ten stars, I would. My friend and I did the five day, four night tour to Amboseli, Lake Nakuru, and Masai Mara. By the end of our trip, we were in tears having to say goodbye to our guide, John. He was the kindest, friendliest, and all around best tour guide I’ve ever had (and Ive traveled a lot.) The accommodations were amazing, at each location there was a steward waiting for us with fresh juice, and I don’t think I carried my bag once. The game drives were absolutely mind boggling, we saw the big 5, and by the end of the trip we were having to pick specific things we wanted to see. We had close encounters with elephants, cheetahs, and lions but never once felt unsafe. I cannot say enough good things!! I will absolutely be using them again.
Email Mustafa | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Incredible safari tour
We were greeted and welcomed by Ben our driver and guide from Africa Marvel Tours at our accommodation in Mombasa bright and early ready to go on our Safari tour. We could tell it was going to be a wonderful trip. We spent two nights and three days traveling around the beautiful Tsavo East and Saltlick - Taita Hills Sanctuary. We saw many animals in the parks elephants giraffes zebras lions gazelles birds ostrich and many more. It was a wonderful event for us. From the booking staff, hotel staff in the parks to the driver and guide all were incredible. I highly recommend this safari for anyone arranged by Africa Marvel Tours.
US
Email Steve and Patti | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Africa Marvel is the best!
My wife and I recently returned from a 12 night “Best of Africa” tour with Africa Marvel tours. Everything about the experience was first rate. Every communication with the office was quickly answered and made the planning very easy. Perminus was great to work with - even when our arrival time kept changing he made arrangements to have us picked up at the airport. He came personally to our hotel to explain the plan for our safari and was there the next day to introduce us to our driver - Joe. He even arranged a free day of sight seeing in Nairobi at the end of our safari.
Joe was our driver in Kenya and he was great! He knew so much about the animals and was able to answer any and all of our questions. While in Tanzania our driver/guide was Jeff. Jeff, too, was extremely well informed. He made out time together so much fun. He even taught us some songs in Swahili. We would encourage you to request both Joe and Jeff as your driver/guide.
The accommodations were awesome. We stayed at mid-range tented camps and lodges and were never disappointed.
This bucket list vacation was made that much better because of the service we received from Africa Marvel tours. It exceeded all our expectations.
Email Robert | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Very organized 5 days safary by Perminus!!!
Perminus made me an offer with many different options and gave me a lot of details about the safari!
He recieved me in his office in Nairobi an took a lot of time to planify these 5 days!
I would have given 4 1/2 stars but I could only give 4 or 5 so it was 4!
If I rate my experience with ‘only’ 4 stars it’s because of my driver! He was always on time and just nice but that was it! He has not given me the impression that he was really passionate about his job! I have done several other safaris (Tanzania,..) so that I could compare! I spoke during my stay in the lodges to other guides who impressed me much more an he was so much on his phone (while driving, lunch, when I offered him a drink) that it was a bit annoying!
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Email Madi J | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
He could have provided more information on ALL the animals.
Great safari! The location was great. We were able to see all big 5 animals! It was timed out just right where we were able to rest for a bit after lunch. The hotels/accommodations were very nice. The food was very good while at the resort and they had excellent service. However water was not provided on our trip and we had to purchase drinks if we wanted them. And the tour guide was very short and didn’t provide us with very much information about any animals. After 3 days of drives he didn’t even bother to ask our names or get to know us on any sort of personal level. The experience would have made a difference if our driver put in some effort for us to have a good time.... As far as location and number of animals we saw in tsavo west and amboseli they were great!
Reply from Africa Marvel Tours
Posted on Apr 9, 2021Jambo Madi,
Thank you for entrusting us to do your safari to Amboseli and Tsavo. Glad to hear that you had a great safari and that you managed to see all the big 5. Great that you enjoyed your stay in the lodges and camps we had booked for you. As for the water, we always provide bottled water on the safari vehicle just like we did however the hotels and lodges do not include drinks(including water) as we had mentioned on our email communication.
Its a regret that the driver guide did not meet your expectations, as a company we promise to work on this by continuously training our driver guides to ensure every one of them meets the highest standards possible and make every safari a great experience for all our clients.
Many thanks for the feed back and hope to see you again on another great safari expedition.
DE
Email Stephan | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Absolutely fascinating trip of a lifetime
My wife and I can highly recommend this exciting and eclectic tour to explore the best of Kenya. The trip was well organized, full of adventures and our guide Ben was amazing.
FI
Email Cecilia | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Really good value for money
We really enjoyed the safari and saw the big 5! It was easy to negotiate with the company and the tented lodges were amazing! We saw many animals in action and could warmly recommend.
I hoped for the guide to tell us more about the animals on his own initiative, now we mainly got answers to the questions we proposed. Always good to check the correct exchange rate by yourself.
The safari was really good value for money and the company is really trustworthy!
DK
Email Anne Mohn | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing safari in Masai Mara
My husband and I had an amazing safari in Masai Mara. First of all the company were very quick to respond and easy to communicate with.
When we were making a bank transfer we wasn’t informed that the bank in Kenya would charge 22 usd for each transaction. This was a bit of a bummer as we ended up paying 44 usd just for the transaction as we paid over two times.
Beside that we had an excellent experience. Our driver guide Sam was very informative and answered all our questions. He was very flexible to make our wishes come true. We saw the big five and all the animals with cubs. On our last day we drove to Lake Naivasha to see the hippos.
As we were celebrating our anniversary they made sure that the staff at the camp made a romantic day for us.
Thanks to Africa marvel tours. We had an amazing experience. This company can be recommended to others.
