HK
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
what's a best value of tour package in Kenya through Banok Safaris's organisation
We planned for Kenya Safaris nearly one year, and searching the travel company and guide which suitable for us, after a few chatting with different travel company, Banok is the one who can design and suggest the best itinerary in reasonable value for us, We are impressed which Benson's quick reply, professional opinion and let us enjoy touring in Kenya.
During dry season, chasing for Africa Big Five is our main goal, We only take a few Game Drives within 3 days and our dream come true, it is not a easy job but the Guide "Eric" is so professional, good experience, service and safety / comfortable driving during our 10 days in Kenya. Not only chasing, he also try his best to let us have a good position to have a good view good angle to see the subjects.
Accommodation is nice, depends on our budget, we are all feel satisfactory, F&B are good at all.
We have night game drive, balloon riding, Bush Breakfast, and Sundowner at Masai Mara, romantic and unforgettable moment.
Without doubt, Banok Safaris is our companion of next trip to Kenya or Serengeti in coming day.
Thank you Banok Safaris, Benson and Eric. see you soon.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Dancing Zebra is very organized, thorough, and knowledgeable.
Jessica was very knowledgeable, accommodating with flight changes, shared a great tool to calculate tipping, a packing list. The meet and greet to skip the customs line was well worth it after the long day of travel. The driver and guides were all amazing! They were happy to stop whenever we wanted, answered all our questions worked so hard and succeeded at finding all the animals we wanted to see. Ladies, I do recommend checking to see if parks have bathrooms.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Goodluck was an extremely knowledgeable, funny, competent tour guide.
I would highly recommend Goodluck and Habitat Adventures for a safari experience. Goodluck worked with us to personalize our itinerary and planned amazing activities and booked beautiful accommodations. There was a nice variety of experiences in addition to seeing animals in the parks.
Amazing Guides and Seamless Logistics
Tellena is fantastic. We booked our 10 day safari + beach resort a bit late. They were able to accommodate us withour an issue. We also had dietary restrictions which they were considerate of, ensuring each camp or hotel we visited were aware of them.
We had Kelvin and Daniel as guides. They were experts in finding animals and telling us about them as well as the areas we visited. The vehicles we rode in were Land Cruisers with roofs that opened so we could see out of them. Each vehicle fit up to 8 passengers, so we got to meet some other people from all over the world.
Transportation was always handled, whether it was by our safari guide, hired driver, or first class train ticket. They were very responsive on WhatsApp as well.
I felt safe and well taken care of the entire time and had an incredible time!
TH
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing Safari with Beyond The Plains Kenya Safaris
Our safari in Kenya with Beyond the Plains Kenya Safaris was unforgettable! Everything was well-organized, the guide was knowledgeable and friendly, and we saw incredible wildlife—including the Great Migration. Comfortable lodges, great food, and warm hospitality made the trip even more special. Highly recommended! 🦁🐘🦒
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Tarangire National Park by Edwin
Loved all the baobab trees
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Lake Manyara National Park by Edwin
We saw some very unique things and enjoyed it. But the park has suffered extensive flooding over the past ~5 years making it tough to see animals.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Crowded Safaris in a Corrupt place
During our 6 day safari, our guide, Stephen, alone, worked tirelessly, sometimes driving 7 hours in a day. His communication to the group could have been far better, clearer and louder, but he was friendly, very knowledgeable about the animals, tried hard and did his best to help us tick off the big five. We achieved this, but only managed to see Rhino at a distance, and did not see a leopard.
The Maasai clearly have a strangle-hold over all of these safaris that comes across as if it is a Mafia-type of situation. They control the gates to all the game reserves, it was their tourist camps we were taken to, and it was their shops with heavy-handed sales tactics and ridiculous prices that all the tourists were constantly taken to throughout the trip. The camps all serve the same boring tasteless food in bulk. Beef stew, chicken pieces, rice and mixed veg. This is what you will eat for every single meal, every day for 6 days. Left over chicken is packed up for bland tin-foil packed lunches.
Roads around the Maasai Mara are 100 times worse than you can imagine, even in a Toyota Land Cruiser Jeep. My spine was killing from being sledgehammered after these two days of the trip, and I had cuts and bruises on my shoulders from being bashed into the jeep walls. Nokuru and Amboselli roads were far better. Book a Jeep. Do not book one of these safaris in a van, you will massively regret it!!!
Manjaro tented camp was a dump. Staff were unwelcoming, bossy and miserable. Our tent and mosquito net did not close, even though they stated that if it was not closed, baboons could steal your belongings. The camp smelt of raw sewage, and the tent toilet did not work. They kindly provided me with a bucket to pour sink water into the loo as a substitute. The bedside lamp did not work and the only lightswitch with loose visible wiring was about 6 foot from the bed.
Be prepared for lots and lots of driving, ..........like whole days of driving, on sometimes pretty scary roads, and pray your driver has good judgement while overtaking at high speed on terrible roads.
At all three parks, some beautiful scenes of animals together were spoiled by overcrowding of vehicles. Usually a pride of lions or Cheetah will be surrounded by 20-30 vehicles. Loud, stupid Kenyan vehicle drivers shout to each other loudly in Swahili, and truckfulls of ignorant tourists talk loudly, even by animals very sensitive to sound. On several occasions, this clown-show led to the animals being scared off, and missing out chasing down a meal. On one occasion, there were so many trucks (about 50!!!), the wildabeest could not even get through to cross the river.
If you go to the Maasai village, be prepared to be surrounded and sold heavily to. Also, if a bracelet is worth 100-200KES, they will price it at 2500-3000KES, to start any negotiation. On our trip, they were so focused on selling to us, they did not even let us meet the chief, which was supposed to be a key part of the visit. Also be prepared to be stopped by the police with guns in Ambosselli, for a short river walk with a bribe. As the police are all corrupt, and as Stephen did not properly explain or prepare us for this in advance, we panicked as we thought we were being robbed.
By the end of the trip, we had definitely had enough. The awful food and constantly being treated like a fool by the tireless heavy selling tactics of the Maasai had got a bit wearing. It was summed up by the Maasai children. You say 'Hi' to them, they hold their hand out for payment.
If it wasn't for the hard work of Stephen, this safari would only have been a 1 or 2 star experience.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The people, animals, plants, history, archaeology, geology, mountains, beaches all simply amazing.
We did a 7-day safari with African Big Cats Safaris. It was truly a very impactful time in Tanzania. An amazing place full of natural wonders and impactful experiences. We totally loved it all, it’s far too much to try to describe here, just something you have to experience. Endene was a great guide throughout!