JO
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Masai Mara National Reserve by VChhetri
Massive reserve. Saw Leopard, Lions, Hyenas, Giraffes, millions of Wild-beast and Zebra........... Because of its vastness, it is not easy to see many birds. The landscape is beautiful.
JO
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Lake Nakuru National Park by VChhetri
Flamingos and rhinos were awesome!
Although the location of our hotel was beautiful, the room was in need of major facelift. Because of small area and proximity from Nairobi, a day trip is recommended.
JO
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Amboseli National Park by VChhetri
World of elephants and birds. Saw a couple of lionesses and many beautiful birds. The landscape is superb!
Serena Amboseli facilities and services are fabulous.
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
An informative, friendly, interesting overview of the city of Nairobi and surrounding area.
The giraffes and baby elephants were very well cared for and we were given interesting information about both.
The small amount of scenery that we did see (it was primarily a city tour) gave us a good idea about the African landscape.
The weather was dry, cool and enjoyable.
The food was excellent and well served.
The transportation was old but safe.
Our guide Robert was very helpful, interesting and friendly.
We especially enjoyed the Karen Blixen Museum - our young student guide Nicholas did a really good job - he was articulate, respectful and very knowledgeable, and the Kazuri Bead factory was inspirational in that it provides employment for the single mums, as well as producing beautiful, high quality products.
We were slightly disappointed with the Bomas Dance presentation, in that it was advertised as having much more music, colour, acrobatics etc. but it was still very enjoyable.
All in all, a wonderful day! Thank you and well done!
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Fabulous!
What a beautiful, friendly, extraordinary place. We had very cold mornings but hot days. Xakanaxa Tented Camp was beautiful and very friendly with a lovely deck overlooking the river and a fire pit for evening get together to chat over the days sightings.TS was a fabulous guide - very knowledgable and keen to show us all the wildlife from elephant to beautiful birds. Having a sundowner whilst elephant were wandering past at the end of a hot dusty game drive is something very special. Khwai Tented Camp was small and intimate and as it was in the concession we were able to have night game drives and a wonderful Mokoro trip. We saw 2 leopards on the hunt and were able to follow them off-road. Chobe lodge is more like an hotel so much bigger and less intimate. The food was amazing. The wildlife is concentrated around the river and there were amazing sightings of elephant, beautiful sunsets and we had a brief sight of a pack of wild dogs. We asked to do full morning game drivers rather that split the morning into game and river safaris which gave us more time out though by about 11 am most of the game is seeking shade from the heat. So many fabulous memories of a beautiful country.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing, one-time experience!
- the wildlife was fascinating and the safari is a must-do in Tanzania
- food was good depending on the location and even the lunchboxes provided were more than necessary
- unfortunately our guide did not explain very much about wildlife etc but only pointed out the animals once we were around them
- it was a lot of driving around but I would always do our route (Lake Manyara, Serengeti NP, Ngorongoro NP) the exact same next time
- however, beware that guides will try to put you in alternative accomodations than booked, just make sure you stay stubborn ;)
JO
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An excellent convergence of nature, wildlife, bird watching, and well trained hospitality staff.
In one word: Excellent.
I had never seen so many wild animals and different varieties of birds within such a close proximity.
The hotels should improve wi-fi service. Except at one hotel, i.e. Serena Amboseli, all others were pretty bad in wi-fi connection. Connection in public areas of the hotels was also poor.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent service with a Superb guide, bar none!
Great service, door to door. The organizer worked with with us on all modifications we wanted. We were picked up day one with no issues and the trip went on seamlessly from there on out. Our guide Tony, was extremely knowledgable on the flora and fauna, but geology, history, etc, as well.
NZ
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Difficult driver changed the plan
The pre-tour booking was very efficient. The tour was simple to book, we were provided great options for accommodation and we were given clear level of detail. However, unfortunately our experience with the driver was far from positive. We had booked a full game drive, plus two game drives, but in reality, we were given a full day + 2 hours. The driver was then disagreeing with us on the second half day, and said that we had to get back to Nairobi. We are not usually confrontational people, but we felt that it was really unfair to not finish the agreed itinerary. This made us feel really uncomfortable as we didn't want to be disagreeing on the plan, however, we had flown such a long way for these three days and we really wanted to spend our agreed time in the park. The driver begrudgingly agreed to take us back into the park, but we only spent 2 hours there, rather than the half day. What really polished it off was on our way home, we stopped to fill up the tyres and one of our passengers got out to use the rest room. Before the passenger even got back into the car, the driver started driving out of the petrol station! He was very rude, didn't make an effort to learn our names and made it apparent that he didn't want to be hosting the trip. He was also making multiple personal phone calls throughout the trip. It was really very disappointing.
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An amazing experience that was all, and more of what we expected - Excellent!
Dealing with Katona Tours was one of the best travel decisions we have made. We toured Uganda and Rwanda using an itinerary that was planned by Jackie and Katona Tour. We had tons of questions as we planned and they were always answered completely and promptly by Jackie. The tours and all of our accommodations were excellent. Caesar, our guide, was with us for the entire 17 days allowing us to tap into his expertise regarding the culture, parks and animal life of the countries. We would have never had half of the great experience we had without them!! I begin to express our gratitude for their contributions to making this trip the "one-of-a-life-time" experiences we had hoped it would be. We began our journey in East Africa unsure of what to really expect. We left thrilled with our experiences and with a feeling that we had found a friend in Caesar that none of us will ever forget!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOU DID FOR US!!!