Voyage to the Magical Africa

Promises luxury, struggles with delivery.

This review relates only to the service provided by the safari company in organizing our trip, not to the national parks, wildlife, or Kenya itself, which were all wonderful.

First, I would like to emphasize that our guide, John, was excellent. He was kind, professional, and did his best throughout the journey. Our dissatisfaction does not relate to him.

We booked an eight-day package that included the word “luxury” in its name. After receiving the offer, we accepted it and paid 50% within a few hours. Later the same day, we were informed that two of the four lodges included in the confirmed offer were not available. Having already paid, we felt we had little choice but to accept the proposed alternatives. We were particularly dissatisfied with one of the replacements.

Two days before departure, we were informed that yet another lodge was unavailable and were offered a different property, which again was not our preferred option.

Upon arrival at the airport, the agent who organized the trip arrived approximately 40 minutes late, which was quite exhausting after a long international flight.

The vehicle provided for the safari was operational but quite old and extremely noisy. Although this did not prevent us from completing the itinerary, it made long drives significantly more tiring than expected.

We also had the impression that the itinerary may not have been carefully planned in practice, as some activities were poorly distributed across the days, which resulted in adjustments having to be made during the trip.

The most disappointing aspect for us concerned included activities. One afternoon in Ol Pejeta, we did not have the scheduled game drive because, as we were told, there had been a misunderstanding regarding the validity of the park entrance tickets.

Additionally, although a visit to Hell’s Gate was clearly listed as included, we were initially informed that we would need to pay the entrance fee ourselves. After discussion, the company agreed to cover the cost. However, on the same day, the visit to Crescent Island, which was also clearly stated in the itinerary - was not organized.

Based on our understanding, this resulted in us missing activities with a combined value of several hundred dollars in park fees.

Overall, in our opinion, communication and organization were not at the level we expected, especially for a tour marketed as “luxury.” In our experience, the company was very efficient when it came to securing payment, but less consistent when it came to delivering the agreed services.

We had a memorable time in Kenya thanks to the parks and our guide, but from an organizational perspective, the experience fell significantly short of our expectations.