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Apodiformes Adventures
- Office In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2017)
- Member Of:
- Kenya Tourism Regulatory Authority, AFRICA TOURISM ASSOCIATION & FRIENDS OF NAIROBI NATIONAL WILDILIFE CONSERVATION
- Tour Types:
- Customizable private tours and fixed group tours
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $75 to $250 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
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Email Kelsey | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Highly disappointed in our guide!
My partner and I hired Apodiformes Adventures as our guide group for our 5 day Safari in Kenya during the end of July through beginning of August, 2024. Overall our experience with the company was ok, but there were a number of things that came up during our trip that were less than ideal. I have never written a critical review before but felt obliged to do so after reading the review from a group that hired Apodiformes a week or two prior to us, which mirrored our trip to a near uncanny level. As a point of reference, this is my tenth trip to Africa, second trip to Kenya, and I’ve spent a cumulative 8+ months working around the continent. The challenges of running a tour business are not lost on me, but there are certain items that could be easily remedied, and tour guides should be held to standard.
First, we had outstanding communication with the company during the planning process of the trip and were very pleased with the level of attention to detail provided by Fred who handled our booking. We received notice of the name of our guide the day prior to arrival and arranged a pickup at 7:30 am. Our guide assigned was Ken who picked us up and took us to the parking lot of a nearby shopping center 15 minutes from our hotel to meet up with the representative from Apodiformes and pay the second half of our fees in cash. This is something that could easily have been handled in the hotel lobby from the standpoint of making things feel more “professional” but not a big deal. We then started traveling to our destination of the Masai Mara where we were anticipating a half day game drive to start the trip. When we were first picked up from the hotel I noticed that the back tire of the vehicle was very low, but not fully flat. An hour into the drive, we pulled over into a side street and a guy began to change the tire. During this time, Ken never mentioned that we needed to get the tire fixed or even that we would be stopping. While this only took about 45 min to an hour, this cut into the time of our game drive and is something that easily could have been remedied the day prior to pickup since it was clearly noticed, or at least we could have been notified of when we first started the day and we would have been very understanding. These vehicles take a beating and things often break, it is understandable.
On the way to the Mara and throughout the vast majority of our trip, Ken was continuously on his phone with various calls and texts to the level that if I were to ask a question after he got off the phone, his phone would ring again before I could even get the question out. I’ll not belabor the point, but Ken would answer questions when directly asked (at times with a one word answer) but would very rarely offer information, guidance or discuss plans unless we brought it up first. This was the theme throughout the course of the trip.
Eventually we made it to the Mara and had a great evening drive. To his credit, Ken is an incredible driver. He was always able to get us right in the action, was able to communicate well with the other drivers, and could find us a variety of wildlife. I really appreciate his efforts in making all that happen and led to us overall having a positive experience on the various game drives.
Our first night stay we were told that the lodge we were to be staying at overbooked and that we would be moved to a new lodge – not a big deal however this was not communicated until we were almost at the replacement lodge. Overall the accommodations were good and seemed to be of similar quality to the intended location, but just raised an eyebrow. Either way, the accommodations that night were ok.
The next few days followed this general course with limited communication from Ken minus a few good conversations we were able to engage him in with some prodding. We were never really asked about our preferences, what we wanted to do/see, but when we directly asked he was accommodating and was generally good natured.
On our 4th of 5 days when we arrived at our last lodge we were told that we could have lunch and then go on the intended boat ride. Of note, the boat tour included a 45 minute walking tour through a preserve off-trail which neither Ken nor the staff let us know about. Thank goodness we wore boots rather than the sandals we were considering wearing because it was a “boat tour”. When we met up with Ken for the boat ride he told us something about a “terrible problem” that had happened to the vehicle and that it would need to be in the shop, meaning he could no longer drive us. He arranged a driver the following day to “take us back to Nairobi in the morning,” not mentioning the fact that we were planning to go to Hells Gate for a tour before returning. Because we had assumed we were getting back in the vehicle after lunch we had not fully cleaned/removed our goods from the safari vehicle, I thought that I had left my hat and asked him about it. He said he would give it the the driver for the next day and though I found the hat in my bag the following day, he never messaged or communicated that he did not find it in the vehicle. Given that the previous group on the review boards experienced the same “sudden vehicle trouble”, this is either a habit of Ken or Apodiformes in order to free the vehicle up a day early.
The driver who picked us up the following day was AWESOME. Great guy, very personable, super helpful. Went out of his way to help us have a good experience and even drove us around Nairobi looking for fabrics. A+ overall. Of note: His vehicle was a standard hatchback van and not a safari vehicle, so if we had planned on a driving safari through Hells Gate the following day rather than opting for a bicycle tour, this would have significantly diminished the experience. Finally, we had been told on the first day that the rep from the company would meet with us back at the hotel when we returned to Nairobi to close the loop, but never heard from them again after the first day. I was hoping to provide this feedback to them in person but did not get the opportunity.
My purpose of posting this review is to note that overall, we had a good time because my partner and I enjoyed each other’s company in the beautiful natural wonders that Kenya has to offer, and all of the lodges and parks we visited had outstanding staff that were exceedingly warm and welcoming. It seems that Apodiformis Adventures has a few quality improvement points to work on with their team. While I much prefer to provide feedback directly to companies rather than posting on a public forum, the similarities to the previously posted experience tell me that this is something systemic that needs to be addressed.
NL
Email Vimal | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Professional and helpful, Tanzanian side not very good!
We had a 11 days private Kenya and Tanzania safari. Silas is very professional and helpful. He was in his car in the carpark when we arrived. The flight arrival was delayed by one hour but after contacting him on the phone he promptly arrived to get us to our hotel.
The Kenyan part of our safari was excellent. The driver/guide Samuel is a very knowledgeble and a nice guy. But the disaster started the moment we crossed over to the Tanzanian side. We were made to pay $50 each to get the yellow fever certificates at the border. The person just took cash in Euros and filled in the yellow booklet. No vaccination was given. Upon asking for a receipt they gave some vague reasons saying that the internet was not working and that we shall get it by email, which, of course never happened. A Tanzanian driver received us and we started our Tanzanian journey to the Serengeti park. Within about one hour the left rear wheel of the rickety Toyota Land Cruiser just came off while we were driving! Luckily no one was hurt. We were in the middle of nowhere on a village road. The driver managed to change the wheel with the help of few villagers and we resumed our journey. After every 15 minutes of driving the driver had to tighten the screws of the wheel. This happened a few time. Then suddenly that newly changed wheel had a flat tyre! The driver just could not change it. He had to arrange an alternative private transport for us from the nearby village, who was kind enought to take us till the Serengeti gate. In the process we lost many hours. Ultimately we could reach our camp site after 8PM, eight hours after the border crossing!
The new Tanzanian driver gave a very unprofessional and unfriendly impression. The game drives in Serengeti and Ngorongoro crater were excellent. On our fourth night in Tanzania we were dumped in an extremely low level hotel near Lake Manyara. A very depressive place indeed. Certainly the lowest level of acommodation we had during our entire trip. The driver did not know that we needed to make a game drive in Lake Manyara National Park. There was no time for that any more. The next day we had to leave for Tangerine National park. The only solace on the Tanzanian side was that the national park game drives were really worth the trouble.
We had a sigh of relief after crossing over to Kenya without much trouble. The last two days in Kenya were very good with game drives in Amboseli, and transfer to Nairobi for our return flight home.
I requested Silas to reconsider his contract with his Tanzanian partner "Seven Wonders Safaris" in Arusha, Tanzania, which prompted him to end his contract with them. Thank God.
I hope this small review is helpful.
ES
Email Fabio | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good price and good experience overall in Kenya, but not a professional and kind service
In general, I give Apodiformes a 3/5 because the trip through Kenya as a whole has been a spectacular experience, and all the hotels included in the package and the drivers and guides were very professional, friendly, punctual and helpful.
Also, I found the total price for the package to be very good, beating many competitors' offerings, so if you want to save money, Apodiformes might be worth it.
But I have to reduce the score because all the interactions with Silas -responsible for Apodiformes- during the trip were rather a disaster, showing little professionalism and little kindness at all times. Although he was always very efficient before the trip, answering quickly via WhatsApp and adapting the schedule to our different requests, everything changed as soon as we arrived in Kenya:
Things already started badly with our arrival at Nairobi International Airport at 4:00 am, when there was no one to pick us up at the arrivals gate. Silas did not answer the phone, so after half an hour of waiting in the cold and with a 3 year old we had to take a taxi on our own to the booked hotel. When we arrived at the hotel, where we were very well received, we were finally able to contact him and he arrived minutes later. There were no apologies, just bad excuses that he was waiting “at the wrong terminal” (so why was his phone turned off?).
The next day we were going on safari. We had agreed with Silas to have a guide who spoke Spanish, but when we met the assigned guide he barely knew a few words. In the end it wasn't a problem because we were able to communicate well in English (and the guide -Leroy- was otherwise a fantastic person and a very professional and concerned guide that took very good care of us), but this lack of compliance with what was committed in the case of a client who didn't speak English would have been a big problem.
On the other hand, we had requested a child seat in the car that we would use to travel to Nakuru and Masai Mara and carry out the safari. The child seat was there, but it couldn't be attached to the car seat belts. We solved the ballot by buying a rope in a shopping center and tying the child seat with it. A messy solution that of course made us travel through the dangerous roads in Kenia feeling constantly anxious for the safety of our three-year-old.
In addition, that same day Silas told us he had unilaterally changed our accommodation on the Naivasha stage (from Sopa Naivasha Lodge to Simba) because at the Sopa lodge "there had been complaints of food poisoning". In the end it was not a problem because the Simba turned out to be very good but it seemed unprofessional to inform us of this at the last moment and base the change on a reason that sounded like an invention (no one else mentioned these problems in the hotel's opinions on Internet) .
At the end of the Safari, when we had scheduled a visit to a Maasai village, they wanted to charge us again for the visit even though the agreed program specified that it was included. We had to advance the payment and then claim the refund from Silas.
At the end of the Safari and going to the beach, we arrived at the Baobab Resort hotel, finding a standard room booked, although a superior room was specified in the agreed plan. We had to speak with Silas to demand that he negotiate with the hotel for an upgrade as agreed in plan.
On our return from Diani Beach to Nairobi, despite our flight being late, we had to wait almost an hour in the Wilson airport exit car park for Silas to show up to pick us up. It seems there was "traffic" but no other drivers who came to pick up the dozens of people who arrived on that flight had any trouble getting there on time.
Anyway, despite all these messes the thing could be forgiven if there had been sincere apologies and explanations in each case, but Silas did not consider to apologize for any of these inconveniences even once. He even did not ask us how the safari and other experiences had gone at any time, nor did he write to us to ask how the return home was, being unfriendly and showing total disinterest. A pity that our main contact and organizer of the trip was the least kind and considerate person that we have encountered in our trip to Kenya, otherwise fantastic.
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Email Andre | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
So and so
I did a slight variation of the 12 day safari that the company offers in January 2021 as a solo traveler. I paid $2820 + 3% credit card fee. The trip included 3 nights in Masai Mara, a day at Lake Nakuru, a day at Mt. Longonot + Hell's Gate, a day in Amboseli, and 3 days in Tsavo (1 in West, and 2 in East). I had previously done a safari in Tanzania in August 2017 for 8 days in Tarangire, Serengeti and Ngororongoro, and therefore I will compare this safari with the previous safari experience. There were both good and less good things about this safari in Kenya.
First, I think that visiting Kenya out of the high season in Masai Mara, which is July to October, may not be a good idea. I knew that the wildebeest will not be in Masai Mara in January, but I was expecting that there would still be many other animals. The wildebeest also had left Central Serengeti when I visited it, but there were still many other animals left there. In Masai Mara in January, though, there were very few animals with the exception of a small area near the gate. You could drive around sometime for an hour without seeing any animals. On the other hand, the animals migrate much less from the other parks, so the experience there was probably as expected.
The second issue to consider is that while the safari was advertised as 12 days, and there was some sort of game drive for all days except the last when we traveled from Tsavo back to Nairobi, the actual number of 24 hour periods for which permits were purchased was in fact 8. This is partially due to the long distances that need to be covered between parks, but also because the company wants to minimize the number of permits it has to purchase, so it includes quite a good amount of downtime in the itinerary, which is not evident when booking a trip. For instance, in the first day starting from Nairobi at 8AM, one could do a half day game drive in Masai Mara starting maybe from around 1-2PM at the latest. Instead, because of several stops along the way, including a half an hour stop a tourist shop right before the 1 hour stop for lunch, and also a stop at the lodge right at the gate of the park, one enters Masai Mara only at 4PM, for a relatively quick game drive. Similarly, on the day when we entered Amboseli coming from Naivasha, we could have entered the park at about 1PM, but instead, we entered at 4.30PM (we got to a lodge right at the park entrance and then stayed there for 1.5 hours). That was so that the next day, which was supposed to be a full game drive in Amboseli, we would not have to exit the park too early, because the company only wanted to pay for one 24 hour permit. These are just some examples - the whole schedule is affected by this. On top of that, the driver further cut the available time in the park. For instance, for the full day Amboseli game drive, he exited the park at 3.15PM, although the permit would have allowed exiting at 4.30PM. And he cut other days short as well. These being said, it is likely that other companies use the same strategy when setting itineraries in Kenya. What I can compare with is the itinerary that I had in Tanzania, where out of the 8 days I paid for, we actually stayed in parks for 7 days because they were very close to each other, and once we entered Serengeti, we stayed there for several days continuously, with the camps being right in the middle of the park.
Third, the accommodations that were offered varied quite a lot in terms of quality. The lodges where I spent 5 nights near Amboseli and Tsavo were very nice, while the rest where I spent the first 6 nights were much less so, with the hotel in Naivasha barely meeting the minimum for a tourist grade hotel. The food at the good lodges was good, but for instance, at the hotel in Naivasha, the breakfast was one fried egg, two pieces of toast and a little bit of fruit. This is very poor for an almost $3000 safari. In general, for the first 6 days, the food was quite poor in terms of quality and quantity, and I had to buy myself more food even though I don't usually eat a lot. The packed lunches during these 6 days were also insufficient. For instance, in Masai Mara, they were consisting of a small chicken leg, a banana, and a small vegetable sandwich the size of a closed fist.
Fourth, the van that was offered, while not a 4x4, as stated in the tour description, was relatively new and reliable. And since there were Land Cruisers to get us out when we got stuck a couple of times in Masai Mara, I would say that it was perfectly fine. In Tanzania all tours are run by Land Cruisers.
Fifth, the experience with the company's manager, Silas, also had good and less good parts. The communication prior to the trip and during the trip was very efficient, most times with almost instant responses. However, there were some things that were not as expected. For instance, he agreed that I would make the payment with the credit card upon arrival in Kenya never mentioning that he would expect me to pay a 3% fee until right when I had to make the payment, even though there were plenty of opportunities to do so during our prior communication. Normally, if the seller expects the buyer to pay that fee, that is clearly stated when agreeing on a price and payment method. Second, while he promised prior to the trip that I would be able to set my own game drive schedule during the trip since I had booked a solo trip, in practice that did not happen. As mentioned above, that was partially to avoid paying too many park fees, but also because the driver, Nelson, did not really care about what Silas had promised even if I mentioned that to him, and exited the park when he wanted to exit it even when I explicitly said that I would want to stay more on that day. The driver basically said that whatever I discussed with Silas has no bearing on him and I should talk with Silas if I have anything to discuss on that topic, that "this is Kenya and promises don't mean anything", and so on. While I can say that I did see enough of each of these parks, maybe except for Amboseli, I would have liked to make the most out of the time in Kenya and spend it in the parks even if sitting around looking at some animal, rather than in lodges. In Tanzania, I had no problem accomplishing this, unlike this safari in Kenya. However, for people who are fine spending more time in lodges, this may not be an issue.
As for the guides/drivers (I had two of them since the first one had a family medical emergency after the first 5 days), they also had good parts and less good. They were both very knowledgeable of the parks and of the behavior of the animals, and while in the parks, did their best to show me the animals and the various landscapes. The first guide, Jackson, was also perfectly fine to interact with. The second guide, Nelson, was quite weird. Much of the time, he was a perfect guide, but when contradicted or disagreed with using some objective facts, he was starting to say some really unpleasant things that I had never heard on any other guided trips I was on. Like if you were to tell someone that 1+1=2 instead of 3, as they claim, and then hear him telling you some unpleasant personal things because you dared to contradict him even if you do it in a casual way. I tried to not be too affected by these and I was mostly able to accomplish that, but it may ruin the trip for people who would be a little bit more affected by such discussions. Also, worth mentioning that both drivers were saying at times things that were clearly not true when it was serving their purpose, as I could tell from other sources of information, like asking other people there. But probably this is not too surprising.
Overall, I obviously enjoyed this trip through Kenya, although it could have been better on several dimensions. However, for people who think that they may do only one safari in their lifetime, I would personally recommend to do that in Tanzania in July-August, with time in Tarangire (which is a really special park even if less known), Serengeti (including a day in the North part at the Sand River to see the wildebeest crossing) and Ngorongoro Crater. You can do that in 8 days for less than the cost of this 12 day Kenya safari. That safari I did in Tanzania was perfect - it couldn't have been better - and was probably 10 times better than the one I did now in Kenya. On the other hand, if you have already been to Tanzania and want to also see another country, then Kenya also has interesting places and somewhat different landscapes and it is also definitely worth visiting if time and money allows you. As for the operator I booked with, it may well be that in that price range, all companies offer similar services, but just prepare yourself to be a little bit disappointed every now and then relative to what you would expect or was promised. However, you should still be able to enjoy the trip eventually if you can get over these issues.
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Email Traveler T | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A budget tour and you get what you pay for
Definitely a budget option, and you get what you pay for. Accomodations were a little run down, but functional. Food was good East African fare. I had two drivers/guides during my trip. The first was not very social and his van was very rickety. We almost broke down and got stuck multiple times. He got us to the animals, but also tried to talk us out of a morning game drive. The second driver was much more personable and I really enjoyed riding with him.
Overall, I would consider booking with them again, but will probably pay a little more and go for a smoother experience.
IN
Email Nikhita | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great on ground support from Apodiformes - we had a wonderful experience
The tour was well curated & Fredrick our operator, made sure it was customized to accomodate our requirements. Our guides were well trained & went the ecxtra mile to ensure we had great sightings. Accomodation & meals were comfortable & we enjoyed a special sundowner in the bush. The travel to Mombasa required travel at odd hours & was quite a long train journey, but we signed up for it for the beautiful beach views! Overall I'd highly recommed this operator as they are always available to support & deliver as per plan.
CH
Email Gianluca | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A reliable, but not impeccable partner
The experience has overall been very good. My guide and driver, Nelson, is an incredible person with deep expertise and knowledge. Since it was a private tour and I was on my own, I had a very tailored and unforgettable experience.
Communication with Apodiformes has been good and the people very friendly.
Why 4 stars? Because unfortunately, although I had booked and it was confirmed to me that I was going to stay at the Mara Serena lodge, a month later Apodiformes informed me that Mara Serena was booked out and I had to go somewhere else. I ended up at the Keekorok, which has been a very good option, but the initial surprise really wasn’t and I wasn’t given any discount either.
NL
Email Robert Ellents | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Great organisation, good hotels/locations and a very good driver /guide. Good car e
Good value for money, hotels exceeded our expectations- also they listened to our wishes (quiet rooms). Also good driving by our guide. Always on time, friendly.
AE
Email Leigh | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great driver/guide (Sebastian) office organisation could be better
We booked a 6 night Kenya safari for a family of 5 with three teenagers.
Our guide/driver, Sebastian, was amazing. A kind a gentle man, we were all instantly at ease with him. He made the effort to learn all of our names quickly and conversed with the kids, answered our questions and shared knowledge of his country readily, and with excellent English. Whenever we wanted to stop to take a photo or go to use the bathroom he was more than happy to oblige. When he didn't know something, such as the name of a bird, he didn't pretend and would find out later for us. Most importantly, the roads in Kenya are pretty wild with dodgy drivers and even dodgier roads, Sebastian drove expertly and safely the whole time while negotiating animals, huge trucks and long days behind the wheel. He made sure he took regular breaks to remain alert while behind the wheel. We could not recommend a tour with Sebastian highly enough.
The only disappointments we had were with the organisation from the company. We booked a Maasai Mara, Lake Nakuru, Amboseli tour (in that order) so that our family could spend Christmas day on safari and enjoy the amazing animals within the park. When we arrived we found our tour had been flipped with us travelling to Amboseli first and Maasai Mara last. This wouldn't normally be an issue, except that we had especially organised the tour to avoid a day of travel on Christmas. Our flight arrival time had been shared, everything had been agreed and sorted. To find out upon our arrival that we would be spending Chrissy travelling for 7 hours was disappointing to say the least. If we had been informed that this was not possible or our flight had been delayed we would have understood. We then realised that our accommodation had never been booked in the order we requested and this was not communicated prior to our arrival.
Once again, Sebastian is awesome, ask for him to be your driver. Book with Apodiformes for a great safari. We saw all the animals, we had an amazing time, the teenagers and adults loved it.
DE
Email Tolga | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent driver/guide, good communication
I have contacted many safari operators for our family vacation with two children. Silas was very communicative and responsive from the beginning and he gave us a good quote according to our preferences and favorite hotels (a total of 5 nights and 6 days, 2 nights in Amboseli, 1 night Nakuru and 2 nights in Masai Mara). I have made the booking in June 2022 and sent the first part of the requested deposit.
In June 2023 (four months before the safari), Silas told me that two hotels that we decided dont have availabilities (OL TUKAI LODGE in Amboseli has no availability since they will be hosting a safari rally event (MOTOR SPORT event) and ASHNIL MARA in Masai Mara has no availability since they are hosting a big Chinese group who are coming for a safari tour.) I was really disappointed, because I chose the hotels after a detailed search and really chose the promised hotels exclusively. We were offered KIBO LODGE in Amboseli and we were really pleased with the new hotel. However in Masai Mara we had to get ZEBRA PLAINS MARA which was a bit disappointing because the camp is not in the national park as our original hotel ASHNIL MARA, you have to drive 15-20 mins to get to the gate, the rooms/tents were dark, the amenities were a bit old fashioned and the food was served on the table, not open-buffet as in other lodges.
The atmosphere and food at KIBO LODGE and LAKE NAKURU LODGE were very nice, we really loved both lodges.
Our driver Samson was very kind and careful with the road situation. He was always on time, he informed us very well and he was flexible according to the needs and wishes of our children. He knew the parks very well. We felt very comfortable. He showed us many scenes that we will never forget.
Overall, we had an unforgettable safari experience. Thanks for everything.
