Inspired Feet Safaris

More Expensive for More Information but Not Neccessarily a Better Tour

I went on the 14 day Combined Kenya-Tanzania Safari. I chose Inspired Feet because of their positive reviews, excellent e-mail communication and detailed itinerary. Fiona was professional and answered all my questions. I had multiple guides but Francis and Godana in Kenya were the best and deserve a shout-out for their service.

I thought I would be with one group the whole time but I was not. This was disappointing to me as a solo traveller. Unless you are on a private tour, you will be on "joining safari" which means you share a car with multiple people from different tour companies. People may have different itineraries. I changed cars 3 times in Kenya and 2 times in Tanzania. It was nice to meet new people and have different drivers but it made it harder to form a bond with people. This was because I had a longer itinerary than most people (it was the extra day in Kenya compared to others that threw things off).

The value for money is OK. I met people who had the same itinerary as me but paid less. I thought I was getting value out of a more detailed itinerary book but honestly it was not worth it. When you get on the safari everyone is figuring things out as they go anyway. Go with the tour company with the best price that hits the destinations you want. The extra information about the destinations in the book and about the hotels was not worth paying what I estimate was 10-15% more than what others did (at least). I would recommend upgrading to the jeep for Kenya though - it is essential and I didn't see any vans in the parks.

Inspired Feet did not communicate with me after I paid the deposit. I was on my own for my visas and had to message them about scheduling the transport from the hotel to their office. Other tour operators did this for their clients so I would have liked more communication.

I was recommended the 14 day itinerary because it was "the most popular option". This was not my experience. During my trip, I did not meet anyone doing the same itinerary (with Inspired Feet or another company). Most people do Kenya OR Tanzania. I did 7 days in Kenya but most people I met were doing 5 days. In Tanzania, I did 6 days but most people do 4. If you want to go to Kenya and Tanzania and want to save money/time, do the 10 day itinerary - it skips Lake Naivasha, Lake Manyara and Tarangire Park, which aren't as popular or good of parks. I preferred Kenya over Tanzania so I would do 6 days in Kenya (having 2 full days in Masai Mara was worth it). The drive to the Serengeti in Tanzania included 4 hours of the worst roads I've ever seen. I thought the Masai Mara was much better for wildlife because it is more dense part. Only go to the Serengeti if it is a bucket list item. The Ngorongoro Crater was highly underwhelming - cool landscape but it really is just a hole in the ground with few animals. Despite this, I enjoyed having a longer trip because I did see new things everyday and could appreciate all the parks at a slower pace. The 4 day run doing Serengeti and Ngorongoro is absolutely brutal - I am glad I had 2 extra days to break it up.

Would I recommend Inspired Feet? Yes and No. Their service was quality, the tour was great and I had a good time. It was expensive for a budget safari and I don't think I should have been recommended the 14-day tour.