20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
They were welcoming and open.
My 3 days at Diani Kenyan coast were fantastic, I enjoyed alot in terms of food,beaches and historical places. African Vulture Safaris did a tremendous job in planning everything. I'm looking forward for another round with you guys.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Expected more
I selected Thompson Safari for a Kilimanjaro Lemosho route summit, largely because some colleagues recommended them. All said- I would recommend considering other more reasonable alternatives. For sure, their team got us to the top, but the pre-event US based staff was lackluster at best. Delayed - if ever- responses that fell so short as to make me search the web for answers rather than engage them. Great in-country staff but clearly there were others, higher energy, and as it turns out far more reasonable for the same outcome.
IE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great safari and saw tons of wildlife but operations need some work
3.5 stars - Overall the tour was great. If you are looking for a budget safari this is for you.
Pros
- saw loads of wildlife
- tour guides David and Evans were helpful and informative (Evans especially)
- accommodation was clean and very comfortable
- food was very tasty
Cons
- the tour charged us a 5% FX fee which is outrageous (extra 25 USD)
- long periods of driving with no breaks or snacks (6/7 hours)
- we had to ask for bathroom breaks
- couple of other hidden charges that weren’t clear (bicycles in hells gate were extra and so was Masai Mara village tour)
- hot springs were in our itinerary and we never went
FR
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Lake Mburo National Park by Isabelle
good to rest but not as interesting as other NP
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Tour did not deliver what was promised.
Don’t get me wrong, the safari was amazing, our guides were knowledgeable, our lodges comfortable. Our group of 10 women are disappointed because we were told the trip was all inclusive, included was a balloon ride & Champaign brunch, a flight out of the Serengeti, & NO tipping other than for our guides. Well you can guess that it was not all inclusive & we paid out of pocket for drinks. Our balloon ride never happened & instead of flying back to Arusha from the Serengeti we spent a whole day in a van ( which broke down & had 3 flat tires). We spent hundreds of $ tipping throughout the safari.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Disorganised 9-Day Kilimanjaro Hike, Coffee, Camping Safari & Culture
9-Day Kilimanjaro Hike, Coffee, Camping Safari & Culture
If I had not chased Nasr prior to my arrival, my tour would not have started at all due to a lack of organisation. I was then told to ignore my itinerary as all my activities would be in a different order. This meant that I had no idea what I was doing, when, who with or where I was staying day-to-day which I found stressful as a solo female traveller. Nasr did meet with me to try and help the situation but it did not improve due to an ongoing lack of open and honest communication.
Due to the change in order, all of the hikes were back-to-back which was exhausting. The activities themselves were incredible and most of the guides very friendly and informative. Unfortunately I missed out on the natural springs visit due to a lack of organisation. The best part of the trip was the safari in Lake Manyara, Tarangire, Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater which was outsourced to another company called Meru Slopes. If I had booked the whole trip with them I would have saved $500USD!
Overall, the activities are unbelievable and so worthwhile but I cannot recommend this company.
NL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Well organised, great trip
We had a wonderful and amazing trip!! Apparently good hotels, but dinner and lunch were a big disappointment on every safari day
.. that was a shame. But the country and the safari days made up for that.
(automatic translation from Dutch)
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
They are friendly & time conscious
Super Eagles 'Rhino'
They picked & dropped us at the agreed time & place.
The tour guide was friendly & cooperative.
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very excellent guide and hotels, but not exactly a “luxury safari”
We started Safari with a van that, fortunely, had a problem before we started the road to Masai Mara. They kindly give us a jeep to excuse of it, but to reach the car the travel was very long and “adventurous”. First guide was very helpful, but for a “luxury safari” we were expected to have a different treatment.
When we reach the jeep in Narok, our guide was excellent. He knew very well masai mara and show us bigs 5 and all possible kind of animals live in Mara.
Ilkeliani camp was very good, in service and for food!
Lunch for the last day we were expected Spirit of Kenya provide a en route lunch packed by the hotel, but we payed a full day safari but Did only 2 Hours in the morning without a hotel meal.
Last thing that can’t allow to us to define this a Luxury Safari was the cars condition ( vero vero old) and lack of uniform for guide.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
You can find better.
We (a couple) booked a 5-days safari tour with Beasts Africa to begin last September.
We really enjoyed our experience: we got to see so much, our guides were so knowledgeable and made us feel safe and looked after. Our accommodations were nice, clean and hospitable. The transfers between each stop were long, but overall the rides were comfortable. We feel like we had the experience we were looking for and more.
However, there were also a number of issues:
- Our airport pickup was over an hour late. After a very long flight and without much internet connection, we had to phone the tour operator over and over: it took so long to get through and even longer to finally be picked up. No apology was offered for this massive inconvenience, nor explanation.
- Changes were made to our pre-agreed itinerary without our knowledge/approval, and only communicated to us few minutes before departure, without giving us the chance to amend or discuss.
- In regards to two different excursions (Masai village visit and boat trip), we specifically asked if there was going to be a surcharge, and we were told there would be none. However, both of these turned out to be at an extra cost once we got there.
- We had to insist to had a physical invoice given out to us, and the one we obtained had a different company's letterhead -an alleged "sister company".
- Included in the agreed fee, was a supply of bottled water for the duration of the tour. However, we for the first 2.5 days we were not provided this and our driver/guide stated that he had not been informed and he was not equipped to provide it. We had to therefore buy water at our own expense.
- We were not told that we would not travel with the same group and guide, but switch party depending on who was headed where next. We ended up switching twice and only finding out about the changes only a couple of hours beforehand. The second time we were assigned to the wrong group and ended up going in the wrong direction, which resulted more than 3h lost on our itinerary. Once again, we received no apology, in fact we were never even contacted to ensure the issue had been resolved.
All of the issues we experienced ultimately relate to how the tour was managed: the lack of communication, transparency and organisation. Even though we had a great trip, the merit goes to the guides and hospitality structures -both of which are not affiliated exclusively with this tour operator specifically.
Upon our return, we reached out to Beasts Africa to feedback all of the above: we were given contradictory justification for some points and dismissal for others, but no admission of responsibility nor apology.
Our advice is to definitely book a safari tour of Kenya, but with a different company.