Luxury African Safari tours in East Africa
Natural World Kenya Safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 50-100 employees (Founded in 2002)
- Member Of:
- ATTA, ASTA, KATO, MCTA & Ecotourism Kenya
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $310 to $500 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
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Email Juliana | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
They took our money and refused to refund after we paid x2
Beware
All phone numbers are disconnected and the leadership claim they do not work for the company when called. Both KATO and the TRA ( government) are investigating this tour company and KATO has already pulled their membership. They will not show up and they will not issue a refund. If they do eventually send a driver, they will claim that their Pesapal ( payment system) is down and they cannot transfer money to the national parks and the hotels and they ask for you to pay and get a refund later from their office in cash. They will say they are preparing the cash and claim their sales agent is incompetent and company policy doesn’t allow them to give cash. I have been waiting for refunds for weeks and have discovered documentation they provided from Pesapal is fake and Pesapal confirms they have no money in their account to issue a refund. Shem (finance controller) will insist you don’t know how Pesapal works and that Pesapal can just debit it from their account and overdraw then recoup the money from further transactions. I was driven 6 hours to the Mara Triangle gate and told I would have to pay for hotel and park fees for the rest of the trip! I had no choice but to do so. I’m following up with the government to ensure they get punishment and hopefully some day I can get a refund from Natural World Safari. File claims with your credit card right away.
CA
Email Isra | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Horrendous experience- update from previous review
I wrote a review previously about my horrendous experience with this company and wanted to provide an update. I prepaid for my safari well in advance only to find that nothing was paid for upon arrival and I was forced to pay out of pocket. Our accommodation was also changed last minute- even after the company CONFIRMED that everything was booked and paid for in advance. All lies. Our safari was in February 2025 and I have been asking for a refund since. I have been provided with generic emails promising refunds with no follow-through. Now I've been ghosted by the company and they won't respond to my texts and email. I am writing this secondary review so others are aware. I DO NOT recommend rolling the dice with this company. You will likely lose out on money and be stranded.
Email Sue | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
I recommend you do not book with this company
Do Not Book Any Tours With This Company (NWKS)
The manager has blackened the previous good name of this company, and has probably tainted the good reputations all his drivers\guides
I have used this company in the past, with no complaints, actually they were so good, I have used their services three times.
I contacted NWKS in February this year to book another safari, and I paid a very large deposit.
I was not concerned because I had never experienced any prior problems with NWKS.
In hindsight, while planning a tour in 2024 with a friend, our choice of East Tsavo accommodation was changed due to ‘a government department booking out the whole venue\resort’, and our accommodation was downgraded without any reduction to the fees, maybe this was an earlier sample of the devious methods of the manager.
The manager had frequent contact with me while I was emailing him planning my 2025 itinerary, but once I had paid a deposit, I did not hear from him much at all, except when I arrived in Nairobi.
I spent 5 weeks in Kenya visiting friends in the Kisumu area, then had a short Mara safari with a different operator who is a friend, when I mentioned my planned safari to my friend, she asked which operator I was booked with and expressed her extreme concern about NWKS and their recent bad reputation for dodgy practices.
Apparently, they hadn’t been making bookings or paying for accommodation, nor arranging or paying for park entry fees, arriving at parks and then their guests have had to pay for things that should have been booked and paid for on receipt of the guests’ deposit.
I contacted the NWKS manager to inform him that I was back in Nairobi, and he wanted to know my method of payment for the balance of my planned safari, and he\his staff contacted me about this payment several times
I was to be picked up on 15\4\25 at 0700
On the advice of my friend, I did noy pay the balance, and requested a copy of the service voucher, which was not forthcoming.
My friend rang all three park accommodations that I was due to visit, and there were no bookings for me at two, and one had a cancelled booking.
My friend booked a whole new safari for me with her own company, similar to my planned one, and I left with her and joined her driver\guide after having to deal with the managers lies, as below
The NWKS driver arrived at 0700, I asked him to show me the service voucher for the first park, and when he couldn’t produce it, he rang the manager who spoke to me and told me that it wouldn’t be available until his office opened at 0830. He asked me to present to his office at 0830.
At 1145 that day, I received a ‘copy’ of a service voucher for one of my accommodations at 1145 that day, which was ‘created’ on 21\2\25.
I have reported this company to KATO, which said NWKS has been removed from membership, and the issue has been passed on to TRA. I don’t know if I will ever get a ‘refund’.
Apparently, the office and phones, aren’t manned, and all the vehicles have been auctioned, but the manager is still arranging safaris and ripping people off, using reputable drivers, and tainting their reputations.
Since receiving the ‘copy’ of the service voucher on 15\4\25, I have not had any contact from this company at all, and surely, if they had any morals or concern, they would have been wondering where the hell I went to after I left with my friend?
I have waited, and contacted both KATO and TRA again, but I have not heard anything from either organisation in over a month since being home, and I have been hesitant about complaining about this until now, while hoping for some positive response, and an indication of some kind of refund.
This situation is very damaging to the Kenya tourist industry and needs to be addressed to prevent the honest operators, guides and drivers being tainted by another company’s rotten reputation.
DE
Email Baptiste | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Another One bites the Dust
We found this company based on their very good reviews on TripAdvisor. But after booking two safari with this company, we saw all the negative reviews they got here.
We were worried, so once we arrived in Nairobi, we visited their office straight away. The following trip to Masai Mara was great, even though we understood afterwards that the driver seemed not to have been paid.
Our second trip to Amboseli was when it went bad. The accommodation told us our rooms hasn't been paid for, the promised services and meals was not delivered, the driver didn't get the money to pay for the gas. In all cases, it costed us more money and nerves that it should have, especially after the already large initial costs.
I don't know if this is malice or incompetence, and I am glad some trips are great. This seemed to be mostly down to the drivers that are either paid in time, or locked-in waiting to be paid for.
You should not book with a company with a succes rate of 50%. Book elsewhere or directly by a driver.
US
Email Justin | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
BEWARE
This is not a complaint, it is too late for that, since I don’t plan to use this company ever. Instead, I am writing this review to help future travelers be aware of what they might encounter, and to provide important information so you can make an informed decision for your trip.
We booked our safari for six people with them well in advance and paid in full more than three months prior to travel. Our trip was coordinated by “safari specialist” Esther, who assured us that everything was set. She even met us in person to collect a thank-you note and reaffirm that everything was set.
Our first two days in Kenya went smoothly. However, the problems began when we crossed the border into Tanzania, in route to the Serengeti. We were suddenly stranded at the border because Natural World had not paid the local driver. Despite multiple attempts to reach Esther, we were finally able to get her on a call, during which she told us we had to pay $200 ourselves to continue the journey. We were shocked and explained that we had already paid in full. After a few hours, our driver, out of sympathy, decided to take us to the hotel without payment.
Upon arrival, we found that there was no reservation, and no payment made. The driver gave us the contact information for someone he called the “owner” of Natural World – Hamfry. After multiple attempts, we finally got a response, and the hotel reluctantly accepted us for the night.
The next day, while heading toward Serengeti, we were stopped at the Ngorongoro Park gate and again unable to proceed because no fees had been paid on our behalf. After hours stuck at the gate trying to sort this out, I received an email from Esther (please see attached) informing us that WE would need to pay $5,000 per day to continue, claiming they were having "a problem with their bank."
At that point, we had no choice but to hire another company in Tanzania, paying nearly $4,000 just to continue our journey. Had we not done this, our once-in-a-lifetime trip would have ended there. Another hotel had only been partially paid, and they were asking to we pay the balance ourselves.
I spent over a year planning this trip, and Natural World completely ruined it. Despite promises to reimburse us for the additional payments we made, we have not received a single cent.
To make matters worse, the “owner” never answered his phone when we needed urgent assistance. I have a log of
I am submitting a formal complaint to the Ministry of Tourism to help prevent other travelers from being put in a similar position.
I hope this review and the extremely unpleasant experience we endured will help shed light on what might happen to you. Please consider your options carefully before entrusting them with your dream vacation.
IN
Email Shankar | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Avoid like Black Mamba
Modus Operandi - collects full fare. Does not pay to service providers. Drivers wait endlessly at park gate. You end up paying entry fee, fuel, hotel charges. The CEO vanishes from scene. KATO suspended them. But they have managed to resurface. TRA , the authority who blacklist, has not done anything. I saw some other operator black listed but not Natural World. With all the amounts being diverted must be having a huge cash reserve to pull strings.!
