Big Time Safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2006)
- Tour Types:
- Small & medium group tours (Budget & mid-range)
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $100 to $450 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
FR
Email Mane M | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Geoffrey best driver guide
Geoffrey enhanced our travel experience beyond our expectations!
I warmly recommend him !
RU
Email Agnia | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent management and decent price
I was trying to book safari over safaribooking and sent 5 requests. Steve was the one (and actually the only) who wrote me at Whatsapp, answering all of my questions.
Our flight from Cairo to Nairobi was delayed so, first, I change a day of safari without any extra fees and later, being late on arrival, was taken by driver straight to the group which had already left the town by the time of my arrival.
All this time Steve was there, on the phone, helping and supporting.
The safari was amazing, we saw 4/5 of the "big 5" (bad season for rhino). Our driver and guide, Max, is extremely professional. He's doing safari for the last 15 years so basically knows everything about everything. Every single question we asked was answered straight and fully.
The accomodations and the food aren't chic. Don't expect 5 star camp neither Micheline star restaurant, but the camp staff is absolutely charming.
Anyways it was extremely great and I enjoyed every single moment!
US
Email Lori | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great tour for Masai Mara
From the beginning, Steve was very communicative and responded quickly to every single question we had. The driver picked us up at our hotel just as planned and we joined a small safari and became close friends with the other travelers (we were 4 in total). We had two different drivers, the first day driver knew where to find the best animals but did not communicate any additional info to us about the habits of the animals, so we didn't really get any background info on what we were seeing. The second day driver was excellent. He was extremely passionate about what we were seeing and doing, had incredible eyesight (he spotted a rhino deep in the bush that took us all forever to finally see!), and brought the details of the animals to life. It's an incredibly valuable price for what it all entailed. We have no complaints, just be weary of the Masai Village, in our opinion. It is interesting and worthwhile, but they hassled us left and right to buy things, lying about selling us lions teeth (it was a zebra bone), and plant-hand-dyed cloths (they were from factories in India), tried to charge us double the fee for the village tour than what the driver had told us to expect, and generally grossly overcharged on all of the items that they sold (but that's common in Kenya). You can easily opt out of the village tour to avoid these hassles though. Bring your own water despite the confirmation that it will be provided. Our guide did not have any for us. The accommodations were in a spacious camp with amazing hospitality from the staff. We absolutely fell in love with Masai Mara and hope to come back again soon.
RU
Email Alexandra | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent Safari! We have met All big 5! incredible hospitality and care
It was the first safari in my life (7 days) Massai Mara, Naivasha, Hell's gate, Nakuru and Ambosei. I felt comfotable and safe during all week.
We have seen all big 5 amimals. Great communication with Steve, comfortable and fun game driving from Eric and the best logistic from Geoffrey. I can highly reccomended
US
Email Angela | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Well Organized
Steve in the office was great to work with. I emailed him a billion times and he was always quick to respond to any question I had. He made the booking process user friendly. I travel a lot on my own and for work and so I know a bit about how to go about things, but just having that extra help and info about a place I had never been to from Steve made my experience that much better.
Our guide Gibson was awesome. He made sure we saw everything, the Big 5...well technically I spotted one of the five. LOL. It was easy going from place to place. It felt like I had a knowledgeable bodyguard with me the whole time as he is over 6ft tall. Not that we needed a bodyguard, everyone was pretty nice.
There were a few things that I personally didn't really like doing, but I am sure for some they would enjoy it. Those things were the little shops when you stop to use the washroom, I didn't want to buy any trinkets and I felt rude if I didn't. Or the ladies trying to sell you things at the gate into the reserves,
The other was the boat ride in Lake Naivasha. It just wasn't my thing, so to pay the extra money for it wasn't worth it for me. But again some people might love it. I am glad I experienced it, but I probably wouldn't do it again (the boat ride, not the safari, I would definitely do the safari again).
The things I listed above are such a small like 3% of the 97% awesomeness of the trip. I would recommend Bigtime Safaris Ltd to my friends. I hope you have a great experience and get to enjoy Kenya.
Thank you again to Steve and Gibson for a memorable trip.
Great tour operator, made the best life time experience for us
We chose 7-days budget safari trip from this company. From the first email with manager called Steve I understood it will be great service. Steve helped me a lot by providing information and answering all my questions which were not always even related to this tour. He used to reply me fast even in late evenings. Also, he organized our COVID tests to enter Tanzania and dropping us in Namanga border to Tanzania. We had some problems there as officers didn’t want to let us to the country as they probably wanted money from us. We just called Steve, gave the phone to the officer and Steve made things clear. Thanks a lot, Steve!!!
No about the trip. We got an amazing tour guide Mansur. He went above and beyond to make this trip amazing for us and worth of money. He was very professional, also he is very bright and smart person, open minded and told us many interesting and real things about Kenya, wild animals and processes happening in nature. He did all his best and we saw Big 5 because of him! He also managed to show us the great migration of wildebeest crossing the river, it was a lifetime experience.
Just few advices for the people planning to take this trip:
First, if you are picky or spoiled don’t take budget trip. Food is always the same: rice, beans and cow or mutton stew. This is not about this particular trip, this is about Kenya all in all. We are not picky people and that food is okay for us. But do not expect burger or spaghetti bolognese here :)
Second, trust your tour guide completely once he is not blindly following written program. The brochures about safari trips were written many years ago, even some lakes are already gone which are mentioned in tour description. Your guide always wants you to have the best experience and sometime it is needed to modify a plan slightly. Experience is the best if you trust your guide and let him do his job.
What is more, do not expect animals to behave like in documentary movies. People who are making these movies are hiding in the bushes for days just to catch a hunting lion. In the real world true happiness is just to see them, even see them walking and not just lying already is a big achieve! Some of them is really hard to find. Be happy just to see them in real life.
Also, be ready to spend many hours on the road. Kenya’s roads system is not well developed. It will take many hours get from one national park to another, once it took whole day for us. The only option to skip this is take a planes but it will be very expensive. For us spending time in the road wasn’t terrible as we enjoyed the view through the windows, you cannot see true Africa if you take planes. We saw local people life, beautiful African nature. Mansur used to stop for a sunset for us, African sunset is one of the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.
One more advice is specially for the girls. If you choose budget safari tour have in mind that two nights you will spend in hotels and four night in tents. My advice is to wash your hairs once you are in hotel :) although tents are really nice and there is a toilet and shower in it, water is not hot. It is okay to wash yourself but not so nice once washing your hair, a little bit cold. So use opportunity to do it once you have a night in hotel.
Big Thank You for Big Time Safari from me and my husband Justin. We really appreciate all your help and the service you provided. It was definitely worth of money adventure.
US
Email Robin from California | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best trip of my life! The people! The animals! The culture! Fantastic!
From start to finish- amazing! Martha answered all my questions and was always available. Everything was outstanding. Service was great!!! The value for the money was excellent. The tour was fantastic. Every person I encountered went out of their way to make my time in Kenya excellent. Words cannot describe how fantastic the trip was. Eric,our guide, made our time together so much fun and he worked so hard to make sure we got the most out of our time together. I booked the 7 day tour and loved each place we went to. I am so glad I picked this company and have the pleasure meeting these new friends!
CZ
Email Jan | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Magical week in Kenya
7-day budget safari was an experience of a life time for animal lovers. I've seen the big 5 and many more species. Guide Richard was very well experienced. Communication with BTS was great. I have a lot of diet restricrions but there was no trouble with my food.
Thank you guys a lot.
Email Eloi | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good Company, Best Guide
We have done a tour of 14 day around Kenya. We just rent the van for a cheep price. The guide/driver and the fueil were included. The best part of this company is the people. The boss, John, is a humble and funny guy. Albert also made it easy for us, and helped us to find the best offer for us.
But the best one, it was our guide. So if you can, ask for Mansoor. He knows everything, he is a very good driver, and he can explains you everything about wildlife and Kenya, any topic. We are happy with this company bescause of the people.
So thank you, and we will recomend you in Spain.
Asante Sana,
Kwaheri
ES
Email Sanne | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing experience!!
Had a lovely time and great experience with BigTime and our time in Kenya.
Big thanks to Anne for planning our trip to Maasai Mara and answering all our questions and concerns (traveling during a pandemic).
Our guid Patrick took great care of us during our whole trip, very experienced and knows A LOT!!
Another big thanks to the rest of their team for taking great care while we were in Nairobi; PCR tests, transportation, pickups/dropoffs.
Amazing serviced and very friendly!!
Looking forward to be back :)