CH
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Overall very good - but there is room for improvement
Overall very nice service from Helen Jessie and our driver Julius. They do their best to please their customers and are helpful. Preparation of the trip; nice communication but sometimes we had to ask for things that should come automatically like copies of the Chimpanzee and Gorilla Trecking (we still wait for them and our tour is over sind more than two weeks) or a final Travel-Document including them. We booked medium to higher class Lodges but if you do not tell them what you want exactly you will find also low budget hotels instead, because they think so it will be cheaper. Finally we realized they did not know better, since the used some lodges the first time. From an agent I expect that he checks the Lodges that he offers or at least tell the clients, what they can expect. In one Lodge we had to fight for our Delux Room due to miscommunication agent and /Lodge and had to wait almost one hour. Rating for Lodges: 5* for Zero L'Altitude (Room, Food, Environment top), 4.5 * Kyaninga Lodge (title water only minus, super service!), Para Lodge 2* (very old, not clean, food very poor!), Buffalo Safari Lodge 4* (a bit aged, Bathroom minus, very good food), Lake Bunyoni Eco Lodge 1* (not to recommend, not what is promised, very bad food!), Kigambira Safari Lodge 4.5* (Outstanding apart of the pool- dirty not in use), food excellent) Service in all lodges excellent (Manager in Buffalo Lodge should! He is helpful and very friendly. Sometimes he could have helped out of the car instead of letting us crawl out (we are oldies hihihi), but ok, we managed it. If we had a wish he tried to make everything possible he could - Thank you Julius. Regarding food outside of the lodges, mostly good but twice we were not happy regarding place and cleanness - the agency should keep an eye on this, especially if they have clients, who book a medium to higher class trip! Boattour at Lake Mburo Nationalpark: never do this at the end of the trip, it is boring and disappointing - You better let guest have a rest in the beautiful Kigambira Lodge instead, provided pool is usable. Boattrip Lake Bunyony - ok but not exciting. All animal trips were super. One point here, guest should be informed ahead, that they only can get close to the animals (Queen Elizabeth) if they pay $100 extra. Then the guide asked a 10$ extra, paid to him (at the end he tried to ask 20$). He said it is for the people there, but I think, he cheated us and took the money for himself. We neither got a receipt, for the $ 100, we got one. Be carefully with this, don't pay this without official receipt.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great Trip
It was an easy flight from Addis to Nairobi where I caught an afternoon ride to the Sankara Hotel. I had a pleasant evening and was met promptly at 7:00am as promised. The 5 hour ride to the camp just outside the Masai Mara Reserve went smoothly and included vistas of the Rift Valley and a couple of opportunities to do some shopping.
The camp was welcoming and the room generous and comfortable. The only surprise was the hot water bottle at the foot of my bed, which I thought was a small animal!
The afternoon included a stop at a Masai village where, for $30, you could get a tour of their homes and see some dancing. It was a fine experience, but I would have preferred not to have been given a tour of their wares with the expectation of a purchase at the end.
The ride to the game park was only interrupted by a gaggle of women animatedly selling their wares with calls of “Jambo, Hello! All for $10!” As I awaited my driver paying the entrance fee.
The park was amazing! I was able to see Zebra, Giraffes, and Water Buffalo within minutes of entering. The next two days were equally exciting as we saw Cheetah, lions, Hippos, Topi, Hyenas, Impala, Elephants, a Leopard, and many birds. The only one of the Big Five I didn’t see was a Rhino.
Overall, it was a great trip and made even greater by my guide, with his eagle eyes and kind demeanor, Charles.
NL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very friendly
We had a nice Mount Kenia Chogoria tour of 5 days. The guide Jimmy was very polite and understanding.
He made the best of it and brought us to the top.
The price was good . The food sometimes too much and mostly vegetarian.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great
Great safaris with a nice driver and the a guide. Catering services very delicious. Cost is affordable and the vehicle is on a good condion.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing
We had a fantastic experience using Genesis of Adventure. Jonathan was very helpful when it came to planning our trip, from being picked up at the hotel to being dropped of to the airport for the next part of the trip.
Our driver was very knowledgeable and we were lucky to see all of the big five.
I would highly recommend this company.
BE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great experience
We really enjoyed the safari, everything went according to expectations. I never had to wait long for an answer from Paul. Emanuel was more than a good driver and brought us excellent company during the tour. The Safari can be paid in cash, with PayPal or Wise.... paying by card was unfortunately not an option when we went. If you pay by PayPal or Wise you have to transfer the amount in several transfers.
AE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A nice trip to remember
We were disappointed in Masai Mara Game drives. In itinerary, it mentioned half day and next Full day game drive. On the day we arrived to Masia mara the game drive we started late. It supposed to start at 4.00 PM but we started at 4.30 PM and ended on time 6.30 PM. We didn’t see much of the Animals. We were hoping on the next full day we may see more animal. But due to Balloon safari our Game drive started again late at 10 AM. He shown one pride of lions and a cheetah. Then we had bush lunch. There after we didn’t had any chance to see any wild life, He took the vehicle slowly in a bush where he spent almost 3 hours and he was telling us someone in the morning saw a lion kill here. But in that place apart from us nobody were there. Then slowly from that place he took us back to lodge. Then only we realized he bullied us. And next day we have been taken back to Nairobi without any early morning game drive.
Before taking the trip I have seen good review for the same guide from different nationality. I was very happy to get the same guide at start of Tour. May be since we are Indians we have been taken in to grant. The approach for other tourist may be different.
The only nice thing about the trip were the accommodation where we stayed.
The Sarova Mara accommodations were great.
The Image Travel Limited management (Mr. Mwanje) was extraordinarily helpful from beginning to end. He was always responsive.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Friendly and supporting tour operator
The communication was easy and friendly via email as well as the payment via master card. The value we got for what we payed was very good. Grayton Expeditions helped us with some visa problems. We joined a shared safari group. The camp was nice with a good view to Kilimanjaro and delicious food. Unfortunately only cold water in the shower. The morning started with a walk and was followed by a full day game drive. Lunch was okay, dinner back in camp much better. The second day the game drive in the morning was replaced by rushing through the park to drop some guests at the border. All in all our guide did not talk a lot but answered questions nicely. Definitely recommendable because of its very good price.
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari