20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The best experience ever
I went on a three day safari and it was the best experience ever. My driver for the three days was so lovely, he was really patient in looking for animals and spending time watching them that we got to see a lot, he also got us soo close to a lot of the animals! An unforgettable experience!
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A fantastic 6 day safari tour with a great driver/guide!
We booked with Jocky tours for a 5 night / 6 day safari taking in the sights of the Masai Mara, Lake Nakuru and the Amboseli national park.
It certainly did not disappoint! We had a fantastic driver and guide in Andrew who was very knowledgeable about the local areas and the animals that we saw along the way. His charisma and passion for ensuring we had a great time was admirable.
We were picked up from our Nairobi hotel on day 1 and after a quick stop at the office in the CBD to pay, we were on our way. During the trip we stayed in 3 different camps/lodges, all of which were confirmed up front and were seamless to check into thanks to Jocky tours. Andrew worked tirelessly throughout our trip to ensure we had a great time and was very accommodating in our requests on timings throughout.
After seeing the big 5 and plenty more! (Including a rare leopard in the Masai Mara and an awesome hippo experience in Lake Nakuru) Andrew dropped us back at the airport in Nairobi on the final afternoon ready for our flight to Mombasa.
We would definitely recommend booking your Kenyan safari adventure through Jocky Tours (and request Andrew for your trip too!)
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A wonderful choice for a Kenyan safari adventure!
It has been a dream of mine to visit Kenya and have a safari adventure. I’m pleased that my partner and I chose to go with Jocky Tours & Safaris. The company was efficient in corresponding with us and arranging our experience, including enabling us to stay at some memorable tented camps and lodges, one of which was even located inside the park and the others in close proximity. Our guide Andrew was professional and experienced - we were lucky to have had him. He worked very hard to ensure that we had the best time possible. Andrew found the best spots in all of the 3 parks we travelled to enable us to see a huge range of beautiful animals as close as possible and provide us with special photography opportunities. He provided us with flexibility to spend more time observing/taking photographs of certain moments. Andrew shared with us his vast knowledge about the parks and animals, which we were grateful for. I would not hesitate to recommend Jocky Tours & Safaris to others, particularly with Andrew as the guide!
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing!
A group of girl friends, and I went on our first Safari ever with Msangai Adventure Safaris. It was amazing! Our lodgings the first and last night were like resorts. It was really nice to have a connected bathroom and plumbing at the tent lodges. The staff was attentive, polite, and friendly throughout. Our guide for the week, James, was very knowledgeable and we could tell that he enjoyed his job and had a passion for the animals and wildlife. He answered all our crazy questions and made sure we got the perfect animal photos and group photos! During the planning process, Zee, was helpful and patient when we made several itinerary changes. Overall, it was a great experience, and I would recommend Msangai Adventure Safaris to anyone looking for a good time.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Sammy was a wonderful tour guide. Very thoughtful,helpful and accommodating!
I had a wonderful experience with Ways of Africa. Beautiful accommodations in a beautiful and lush environment. All the staff along the way were very friendly and went above and beyond to make the stay as enjoyable as possible. Highly recommend this tour group. Love the people of Kenya!
CN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
enjoy it
Mr. Gift is a good service supplier who is reliable. And their safari service is nice. You will see a lot of beautiful wild animals.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An unforgettable experience
We recently went on a 5 day Safari excursion to Mikumi and Ruaha in Tanzania with Kihindo Tours & Safaris. We can confidently say this was the most surreal and exhilarating experiences of our lives. The organisation was seamless; Winnie was extremely helpful as she was the main point of contact even prior to our arrival.
The Experience: Our adventure began from the moment we were picked up by our guide, William from our hotel in Dar Es Salaam in the morning and went on a 5-hour drive to Mikumi. We found the drive insightful as you get to see different parts of Tanzania and its rich culture. The Jeep itself was very comfortable and spacious, we had plenty of water to drink in the car and stopped half way on our journey for a delicious lunch (buffet style). We arrived in Mikumi in the afternoon and headed straight to the national park where we saw various animals such as lions, zebras, giraffes, elephants and antelopes! William was very knowledgable and very passionate about wildlife and welcomed our curious questions.
We proceeded to Ruaha Hilltop Lodge the next day following an early morning drive around Mikumi National Park. We spent the whole of the next day in Ruaha National Park; this was by far our favourite experience as the park itself is one of the largest in the country. Our favourite part was that it felt completely untouched and less touristy. We would drive around for a long period without seeing other Safari Jeeps! We were very lucky too as we saw 4 of the big 5 in what felt like the most natural habitat. Being in what felt like the only ones amongst these majestic creatures along with the owe-filled-silences observing them is a memory that will stay with us forever.
As you are looking out for the big 5, we would also recommend tuning in on the birds (there are over 500 bird species!) and we saw everything from eagles, vultures to the smallest kind with remarkable chirps. Additionally, the ecosystem is very diverse with savannahs, woodlands, river-systems and baobabs. Not only are the guides informative, they are also impressively attentive to afar animals!
Accommodation: Kihindo Tours arranged our accommodations in Mikumi (Camp Bastien Mikumi) and Ruaha (Ruaha Hilltop Lodge).
Camp Bastien was beautiful and had lovely cottage style accommodation, swimming pool and a large outdoor sitting area complete with a fire pit in the middle. It was a wonderful way to unwind following the Safaris.
Ruaha Hilltop Lodge is perched on a hilltop and offers the most breathtaking panoramic scenery of Ruaha (national park included). The lodge had spacious bungalows and we had to walk up the hill to get to ours! You are escorted to and from your accommodation by a member of staff as they are separate from the main lounge, dining area.
The lodges were beautiful, luxurious, comfortable and spacious. The staff were very kind and the food extremely delicious (all buffet style).
Final Thought: This safari felt like a journey into nature that left us in awe of the beauty and complexity of wildlife. It is at a reasonable cost (cheaper than some of the safaris we looked into) for what is offered (pick up from and to hotels/airports, Safari excursions, meals, experienced guide for the duration of your journey etc). I highly recommend this experience to anyone looking to connect with the great outdoors. Pack your walking shoes, comfortable clothing (including a jumper or 2 as the mornings and evenings are slightly chilly), camera and binoculars be prepared for the most extraordinary adventure!
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
This is a professionally run safari with great value.
We were completely happy with every aspect of our safari. Our guide, David, was very knowledgeable about the wildlife and was always eager to impart that information to us. He is the guides’ guide as he often told other drivers where to go look for the animals. I’m so amazed how he can spot an animal hidden far away as he drove. He’d stop and tell us where to look and sometimes it took us 10-15 minutes with binoculars to find the animal. He’d go to any length possible to make our adventure the best possible one. He also knows how animals behave and will park at a spot where he knows the animal will walk towards. He’ll beat other drivers to getting the best viewing spot. Also he’ll park where you’ll get the best angle photographically and tell you if a video would be better and he’s right.
Originally we booked a minivan but upgraded to a Land Cruiser and were glad we did. About 90% of the safari vehicles in Maasai Mara and Amboselli National Parks were Land Cruisers. We used an open top minivan with another operator in Nairobi national park and got stuck in wet mud on one section. We had to wait until another vehicle came by to use a bungee cord to pull our minivan out. Land Cruisers with their four wheel drive are much less likely to get stuck and the seating is more spacious then the minivans.
We also upgraded to a private safari which is good because we can tell David however long we want to stay at any given viewing spot. Often the drives are hours long and one time after eating something bad I had to tell David to pull over so I could use a “bush toilet.” I would have been embarrassed if I had to do so with a shared safari packed with strangers.
We were wary about doing the optional Lake Nakuru 2 hour boat ride and nature walk after reading reviews. But we were glad we did. You can see hippos much closer on the boat and you can walk to about 20 feet from wildlife.
We did the optional Massai village tour and it was interesting to see and learn how they live. However, we did have a bad taste at the end when we were led into their market area where we were subject to overly aggressive sales tactics for souvenirs vastly overpriced by multiples over what you can pay anywhere else for the exact same items.
We help support the massai with the “donation” fee for admission on the front end and to subject their guests to a rude ending doesn’t really help their cause in the long run. Then again, the massai aren’t known for being good business people.
Neither the Maasai village, boat/nature walk or balloon excursions had anything to do with Wild Adventures. They just dropped us off at those places if we wanted to do those excursions and we paid those places without Wild Adventures being a middleman.
We did the balloon ride over Amboselli which lasted about 1.25 hours at $450 per person. It was ok, but we didn’t see too many animals and the view of mt Kilimanjaro was not much different from 500 feet up. Personally I thought the balloon went too high because the few animals we saw were too small and far away. I’d rather see animals from just above tree height, which I’m told is the case at the massai Mara balloon ride.
We upgraded to the Sentrim chain lodgings and they were clean and comfortable. They consist of single rustic bungalow buildings. The food was buffet style and tasty with a decent variety. I did get an upset stomach but neither my two family members nor David did so go figure. Wild Adventures provided ample water during the game drives and the lodgings put a 500 ml bottle for each guest in the room, which we used to brush our teeth as tap is not completely potable.
One of the sentrim properties only had electricity available from 5-7 am and 6-10 pm so overnight charging wasn’t available. Not all sentrim properties had outlets compatible with US plugs so we still needed our adapters sometimes. All the lodgings had hot showers and flushing toilets.
We highly recommend using Explorers wild Adventures as they are a professionally run operation geared to high client satisfaction.
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
A new adventure every day
We toured Uganda for 17 days mid range accommodation. We took many game drives, launch trip on Kazinga Channel, gorillas and Chimpanzee trekking, plus visted Lake Bunyonyi and local villages. We had the most amazing holiday with many animal sightings. Accommodation was very good and food excellent.
We felt very safe whilst in Uganda.
Uganda represents great value when compared to other African Countries
Our main TIP for other travellers is not to leave any money in your room or unattended. Even if it is locked in a bag, unfortunately we had some money stolen from a locked bag which was opened and relocked so it was not evident we had money stolen.
good in general, my favourite is the gorongoro crate.
I like the whole trip, 4 days is definitely enough for me. I don't see there is a reason to have a longer trip. We are quite lucky to see all the rare animals including leopard and rhinos.
Take away food was like meh, so don't expect too much on the lunch side.