NAIROBI KENYA
Balu Travel
- Located In:
- Size:
- 1-5 employees (Founded in 2022)
- Member Of:
- KWS & TRA
- Tour Types:
- Budget & mid-range tours with set start dates and a fixed itinerary
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $175 to $400 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
DE
Email Ti | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Balu Travel Focussed on shopping rather than Safari
Balu Travel safari agency cared more about shopping than animal viewing. We had a long (more than 30min) shopping stop everyday, even inside the natural park and this one was at 9am!! just during the best time for animal viewing. Meeting times with the driver James were always late. On the ongoing trip from Nairobi we had to wait for 1h for some supplies which were not picked up in Nairobi. The safari started at 8am when other agencies start 6-7am for better chances of game viewing. The driver James spent most of the time at the phone, didn't explain anything, no comments and explanations about animals, only the passenger next to him could hear him, he only talked when asked and mostly responded with shortest answers possible. The driver James wasn't friendly. One visitor was curious and liked to ask questions, driver wasn't friendly with him, seemed he didn't want to respond or talk, it was very uncomfortable. Everything seemed rushed, the most important thing was stopping at selling points even inside the park. Afternoon game drive was very rushed, he just wanted to show the river and the Tanzanian border, try to finish as early as possible and no interest at all for animals. Visitors had to ask to stop and to get closer to animals because the driver wanted to finish the safari as soon as possible.
Reply from Balu Travel
Posted on Jul 21, 2026We wish to appreciate you taking time to write your feed about your recent shared tour for Masai Mara, thank you for bringing to our attention about the contact of the driver guide James we will internally address the concerns raised during the tour to better improve our visitor experiences.
We apologies for this experience and we are committed to have the best safari guides for all our visitors.
AE
Email Muhammad | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Pathetic customer service by someone named Morris who contacted me on my WhatsApp
My friend liked the safari combo and I sent $725 as Mr Morris who was in communication with my friend demanded 50% money in advance. After 2 days Morris confirmed he received the money and to my disgust sent me an invoice that he received only $695 where as I transferred $725 on his insistence, moreover this man is also very impolite and talks too much. He had the audacity to suggest I should not ask him and refer to my bank for further details. I am very disappointed as I have already paid and this man did not confirm anything as yet, also threatened my friend that he will cancel the safari which we have asked him to book for us and had already paid 50% money in advance. Totally non cooperative person who has no sense of customer service. I would like to request safaribookings.com to take action against Balu Travels and I will share all the relevant evidence to support my claim.
ES
Email Riasat | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Balu Travels was disrespectful
I was trying to weigh my options for a 3-4 day safari and Balu Travels was one of the tour operators I requested a quotation from through Safari Bookings. After they shared the quotation, I had a call with them the next day and requested for some changes. They texted me the new quotation. I told them I would review and get back to them the next week.
In the meantime, I received a more affordable quotation from another operator and decided to go with them. I politely informed Balu Travels that I would have to pass on their offer, but in response I got an offensive remark. I am quoting it here verbatim: "You people are very interesting, why should you make request with unrealistic demands then skip it. It's unprofessional to just want to waste time."
I am not sure what they exactly meant by "you people", but it is hard not to tie it to ethnicity. I think they miserably failed in their customer communication.
(images removed for privacy reasons)