Absolute Holiday Safaris
- Office In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2006)
- Member Of:
- Ministry of Tourism Kenya & Kenya Tourism Federation.
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $100 to $600 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
BD
Email Adiba | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Reassuring, friendly and quick at problem-solving
Had an amazing 7-day Safari tour with Absolute holidays. David was our contact point for the whole tour and when we arrived in Kenya and met him at his office in Nairobi we felt tremendously reassured. He helped us exchange currencies and arranged for one of my missed luggages from the Nairobi airport to be sent to Masaimara on the following day. We booked the 7-day tour package (amboseli, masaimara, nakuru) and saw all the magnificent animals in all its glory. Our tour guide Richard even took us to an additional place out of the itinerary --Lake Elementeita -- where we got amazing views of flamingoes. We spent a lot of time on the road but it hardly seemed tiring because the weather was fantastic as was the driving by Richard. All in all, an incredible experience that I will cherish for life.
CH
Email VN | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Pleasant Experience
David was the sales representative I was in contact with. He was very responsive and very happy to find ways to accommodate my requests for modifying the itinerary. David's hospitality was fantastic and exceeds that of other companies. The safari was operated by Big Time Safaris. The driver was very friendly and skilled but not outstanding. The driver was not so familiar with the region, which led us to taking some wrong turns. He could also improve his wildlife knowledge as he mistook Grant's gazelles to be Thomson's gazelles. Overall though, the safari progressed smoothly. The accommodations were nice and the van was comfortable.
Reply from Absolute Holiday Safaris
Posted on Feb 4, 2021Thank you so much Vance for a great review about your Kenya Safari with us, we really appreciate it highly, Thank you also for the great remarks about David. Concerning the safari guide yes he agreed from Sweetwaters to Meru National Park he had some direction issues and assured us that would happen again.
About the operation due to covid 19 we had to have a strong agreement to make sure all confirmed booking that was cancelled due to the pandemic and new bookings either private or group joining is done with as per the agreement and that when we signed the agreement just for the benefit of the clients.
Thanks in advance
with Kind regards
John.
Email Roger Simmons | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Good communication, great animal safari for the budget - but lots of travel and a moving itinerary.
I travelled with my sister on the 12 day safari in Kenya and Tanzania.
David is an excellent communicator, which made booking informative and simple.
Collection from the airport prior to the safari was a nice complimentary service.
When we were collected to pay our itinerary was changed.
Our driver in Kenya, Stanley (Stano), was fantastic. He knew where to go to find the animals and was always happy to pause so we could take photo's. The accommodation in Kenya was varied from very nice to functional. Keep in mind its a budget holiday so manage your expectations on the temperature and volume of water in your shower.
Do take a power bank to recharge your phone - electricity access is variable. I took a solar charger and power bank and didn't need any mains supply.
Minivan transport in Kenya was fun as we shared with 6 other people, who helped make the holiday. The roads are bumpy and some of the driving styles are not what you might normally expect - but its fun.
We did the hot air ballon, which is very expensive for an hour's ride and it is hit and miss what you drift over. The champagne breakfast is also nice and we were glad we took the opportunity.
The transfer from Kenya to Tanzania was lengthy and involved a series of transport changes. The shuttle bus is public transport to Arusha and would have been improved by a dedicated tour operator vehicle.
We were issued a revised itinerary in Tanzania, same places but in a different order - which was fine. It appearered this part of the safari had been subcontracted out to another company. Our booking of tents with bed and bedding was downgraded to tent with mat and blanket. We did ask for the original but when we got to the camp we still got the mat and blanket.
Accommodation in Tanzania was mixed, some very nice and some a basic tent which you take with you on the 4x4.
More great travel mates - 6 of us plus the driver, Gervas - who was excellent and the cook.
The food is mixed but good considering its travelling with you and cooked on site.
The trip back from Arusha to Nairobi is again very long after a long safari, but I must say both companies were very helpful in adjusting our travel arrangements after my sister was unwell and unable to travel.
Overall I would probably just stick with Kenya for safari. I'm not sure adding Tanzania added to what we saw but did significantly add to the travel time. As long as you can go with the bumpy roads and 'flexible' itinerary its a great budget holiday.
AR
Email Ayelen | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great experience!
Finally I found some time to write about my experience.
My boyfriend and I booked a 7 days safari, Masai Mara - Nakuru - Samburu, our guide : David
We stayed 3 days in Masai Mara and they were perfect!!!we got to see all the animals we wanted, Lions giraffes elephants foxes rhinos crocodiles hippos.
The tents were ok, I mean it is not luxury but you could sleep there
After that we went to Nakuru, which is not better that Masai Mara but it was a mandatory stopped between MM and Samburu since its a very long journey.
In Nakuru we saw diifferent types of giraffes elephants and rhinos and falso Flamingos.
Samburu was a whole differente adventure. Just being on the village was an experience, in the park we could see cheetahs leopards and ostriches, besides the giraffes lions and elephants
During the week we algo get to learn some swahili culture and Kenyan history.
We want to highlight the work of David who cared of us and our well-being during the whole trip.
Thanks for a wonderfull experience
Ayelen y Pablo - Argentina
FR
Email Anna Maillard | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing adventure with a professional team
Kind, friendly and profesional staff.
Simple but original place to sleep (tent).
Good food.
Email Simone | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Awesome 12-day Kenya & Tanzania Safari
We did the "12-day best of Kenya and Tanzania Safari” end of September/beginning October 2016 with Absolute Holiday Safaris and we had a great time. As a note, you will get lost in the thousands of companies, but a lot of the safari companies are actually the same (I think Big Time safaris and another one is the same as Absolute). We started in Nairobi, where we were picked up at the airport (be it a bit late) and the day after for our safari. Mind that you will be taken to the office first to pay and transfer to the safari van. Traveling with a backpack is recommended, you don’t have to walk with your luggage a lot, but it will fit in the vehicles a lot better. Obviously visa, vaccinations (yellow fever is mandatory) are required and malaria pills recommended. After this safari we went to Zanzibar on our own, highly recommend Demani Lodge in Paje, and Stone Town is good for shopping. I've reviewed Kenya and Tanzania separately below, with as a main message: the Kenya part was awesome with a great guide, the Tanzania was good too but the experience suffered from bad management.
Kenya (Maasai Mara, Lake Nakuru, Lake Naivasha, Amboseli): As we had seen his name mentioned in good reviews, we requested Patrick as our guide. We were very happy he could guide our trip, we felt very well taken care off and he made sure we saw all the animals and he was in touch with all the other guides through his radio. This part we travelled in a Nissan 4x4 pop-up van, which was actually quite comfortable. We travelled with 7 for a few days (which is a bit crowded) and 5 for the most part. Travel times in between parks can be long, with a big part of it on dirt roads (ladies, consider bringing a sports bra). The tented camps were a lot better than expected with actual beds and private bathrooms (including the one in Amboseli, which gets bad reviews online - we stayed in the wooden cabins which were great), and food was simple but really not bad and there was lots of it. Do bring some snacks, because there is not a lot of opportunities to buy something on the way and ‘picnic lunches’ are not great. I personally loved Maasai Mara for all the big cats and Amboseli for the elephants and hippos (take note that for Amboseli - in rain season it is just a big lake and animals won’t need to all go to the swamp to cool off so it is less fun). Lake Nakuru was good for views and we saw some (really far away) rhinos too. However, the flamingo’s have left that lake because of flooding. We made a stop and boat ride in Lake Naivasha which was really fun, seeing the hippos and there’s lots of birds if you’re into that. Patrick helped us getting over the border onto the shuttle to Arusha, Tanzania.
Tanzania (Arusha, Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro crater): The Arusha Center Inn hotel (were the office of the safari company is based) is awful, consider getting an upgrade or pick out another) hotel yourself (we did this for our second stay in Arusha). The city itself is not very nice either, not much to see and unsafe. The safari company here (led by a man called Abraham, subcontracted by Absolute Holiday Safaris, we never really found out what the name of this company was, really vague) was not great, bad planning and scheduling all around. We were picked up very late on our first day, and got put with people staying at different places. This meant we all had to wait for each other each day, which made it impossible to get into the parks in time to see the rhinos and lions awake. We had researched our trip extensively and knew the ‘budget camping’ was not for us, so we upgraded to lodges and luxury tented camp. This was one of the best choices we made, these accommodations were fantastic. The lodges in Manyara and the crater were close to the camping site where the others were staying, however, the tented camp in Serengeti was different from what was in our itinerary and an hours drive from the others. Not ok. We travelled in a 4x4 pop-up landrover, which was allright but surprisingly less comfortable than the van. Also, when you’re tall you might want to check whether you can stand up comfortably (I’m 1.82 and just about could in this vehicle). We were with 5 people in total, however, some of the longer drives we had to take the chef in the front seat, which meant we were a bit crammed in the back. Our guide Estomy was allright, he made an effort to make sure we saw all the animals, but I feel like he was a bit to timide and could have taken a stronger standing point at times (‘if you want to see the animals awake we have to be there at 6 and not sleep in’). Also his radio was not working, which really is unacceptable because you’re always the last to know about the animals. I loved the Serengeti, and the crater was cool too. Even though we saw a lot of giraffes in Lake Manyara, it was not a spectacular park (again no flamingo’s and lots of smelly pelicans). When we had to be taken back to Arusha by another car, we waited on a junction for 45min for someone else to join, without any explanation or apologies. Very unprofessional.
IN
Email REX B M | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A buget safari with all details coverd
I went to Masai Mara-Nakru-Amboseli 6 days safari in Sep-16 ....3rd week
Highlights:
1. A worth visiting place & safari...a must see place
2.. Absolute Holiday Safaris is a reliable company and the Manager David was polite and good to us.
3. Driver cum Guide Stanley was extremely good. Initially he looked to be little different but he made the trip enjoyable
4. Stanley took us every where ... even near to the animals when other vans did not dare to do it.
5 . When I lost my video camera in Lake Nakuru and traveled 15 km with out knowing it , Stanley took every effort , called some one there and got back my camera safely.....Weldone....Thanx Mr. Stanley. God Bless you.
7. We enjoyed every hour of the day ....especially Amboseli,,,, but could not see Mount Kilimanjaro due to misty condition.
8. Over all the safari was well organised.
Negative points:
1. The tented accommodation was not up to the expectations.
2. Always the food was bread, jam/butter/ Watermelon /some rice/etc .
But I really enjoyed the safari .
Safari Kenya - Tanzania
By the end of June I travelled for 11 days with Abolute Holiday Safaris to Kenya and Tanzania. First half - 6 days in Kenya was absolutely amazing. We had a great guide, he told us that his name in Swahili means animal and we should call him John (Onejohnny?). He knew very interesting facts about all that we saw, he knew every animal, he knew a lot about the culture and politics of Kenya and he could find the animals very quickly. We had a lot of interesting experience during the journey. Unfortunately, after the end of the Kenya tour, the problems began. First, the trasfer to the Tansania border in the end turned up to be a public transport transfer. I spent several hours in a bus full of noisy kids and ill people travelling with a lot of stuff. I walked alone the Tansania border and I was met by an agent in the bus station in Arusha. He drove me to the hotel in Arusha - in this matter everything worked OK. In the morning our 5-day tour in Tansania started. The conditions of the accomodation and most of all the guide were not great at all. His name was Good Luck. As a driver, he did a good job. But as a guide it was a total disaster. He was arrogant and lazy. He did not speak about almost anything at all. Because of him every day of our tour was destroyed for me. This is the reason why I gave four stars - five stars and a + for Kenya, and three stars and a minus for Tansania. Tours offered by Absolute Holidays Safari in Kenya are amazing. But they should pay more attention to choosing their partners in other countries.
TN
Email Haifa | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A great tour and a great guide
The tour was great, Masai Mara was everything we expected it to be and more: Wildebeest, Antelopes, Cheetah, Leopards, Hippos, Elephants, Lion cubs, sunrise over the hills... Lake Nakuru was also lovely.
Gibson, our guide and driver was perfect
DK
Email Cecilie Lykke | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic experience, but a horrible, bumpy ride.
AbsoluteHolidaySafari offers safari trips where you get a lot of value for your money. We chose a 3 day safari in Maasai Mara, and really looked forward to it. We were picked up at the airport and driven to our hotel on our first day in Nairobi, which saved us a lot of hassle finding taxis at the airport. They also picked us up on the first day from the safari and to the office where we met up with the others we were sharing a car with.
I was expecting like a range rover safari van, but when the trip is as cheap as ours was (300$ pr. pax) we had to settle for a Toyota van with 9 seats. And trust me, the trip to Maasai Mara and during our safari was horrible. If I could choose again, I would spend a little more money to get a better car, but we made the best out of it.
The safari in general was amazing!! We had Richard as our driver, and he's sort of the veteran of all drivers. He really gave us a nice experience and we got to see so many animals. We saw cheetahs 2 times, which we learned was very rare, and a lot of lions, elephants and other animals. You really get to see all the animals you want to on this trip, and if you're going on a safari to see animals and not for luxury, I would highly recommend this trip.
The beds are hard, the facilities are on a low standard, but not too bad. The food was okay, but as others have written here, there can be quite long gaps between every meal, so you should bring some snacks. And remember to bring water, you only get 1 litre per day, which is NOT enough...
We really enjoyed our trip and got to know some really nice people during our stay at the camp. If it's your first time on safari, this is a very nice tour that is affordable, where you still get to see so many animals.