BE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent safari experience in Tsavo East and West
We booked the highlights of Tsavo (East and West) with Netherken Safaris & Tours, and had no complaints about this whatsoever!
We got picked up at the hotel as scheduled and our guide Mahmud drove us through both national parks, finding as much wildlife as possible.
Everything was well arranged, from the safari-van to the bookings at the lodges. Mahmud took care of all our needs and made sure we saw everything there is to see!
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unbelievable experience, fantastic locations, wonderful camps
My wife and I took a 15 day private safari to Kenya and Tanzania in August and September 2018. We booked everything through Trip Advisor African Safari (TAAS) in Nairobi. The owner, Seth Vincent, was terrific to work with. He worked very closely with us over several months as we customized our itinerary and accommodations to exactly what we wanted and we valued all of Seth's input and guidance. Seth met us at Nairobi airport and was constantly in communication with us during the entire time. Our Kenya portion was a clear 5 STAR experience with a terrific driver/guide, Ken, who took us to all the right viewing locations and gave us great insight into the animals, land, people and culture. Unfortunately Kenya and Tanzania do not have great relationships when it comes to tourism an don't have reciprocal arrangements. That meant half way through our safari when we transferred from Kenya to Tanzania we also had to change driver and vehicle and go with a Tanzanian subcontractor of TAAS. We were disappointed with our driver as he was very uncommunicative and told us little about what was going on. He did take us to fantastic viewing and we saw everything we wanted to see. The lodges and camps were all spectacular. If there was a 4 1/2 STAR rating, I would have selected that, but the guide in Tanzania was significantly below standard.
We would highly recommend TAAS for any Kenyan safari. Seth is easy to work with and very knowledgeable. The value of this private safari was substantially better than any group tour we looked at. During our entire safari we felt very safe and couldn't be more happy with the overall experience and the memories we created.
ES
50-65 years of age
highly recommended
I rented a Toyota RAV4 with this agency. Vehicle in good condition. No mechanical problem. Tires in good condition. Very competitive price. Good communication with Jacqueline Mwathe by email.
CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Quality 6-day tour
I went on a 6 day tour of Western Uganda, including Kibale, Queen Elizabeth and Bwindi. First of all, our guide John was great. He was super knowledgeable. He always had our best interest in mind. He was incredible at spotting wild life, and I’ve never been on a more dedicated game drive. And I trusted him completely as a driver. I initially booked as a solo female traveller, and although I had a friend join me last minute, I would have been completely comfortable travelling with him solo.
Secondly, the accommodations that were booked were excellent. The food provided was also very good – even for a vegetarian!
The reason this review doesn’t have 5 stars is due to communications with head office prior to the trip. When I initially booked, I triple checked the airport drop off time before booking my flight, but weeks before the trip I was given an itinerary with a different drop off time (and one that would result in me missing my flight home). John made the initial drop-off time work with a very early start and efficient breaks, but it certainly wasn’t ideal. Also, our chimp trekking permit timing did not match our itinerary, and no one was made aware of it until we showed up at the trekking office. To be fair, I was dealing with someone else when I initially booked the trip, so some things might have been lost in the transition. Communication was always prompt when planning the trip and when it was approaching.
Despite some hiccups, I would still go with Achieve again. They are significantly cheaper than other options, and provide good value for money. I could not see any differences between the experience provided between us and other groups.
NO
Off road Tanzania september - october 2018
Great local guiding off the beaten tracks of Tanzania. Bikes were great for the purpose. Light, nimble and powerful enogh for most of the terrain. Some technical problems could maybe have been avoided by preventive maintenance, however technical problems were always solved as soon as possible by qualified mechanics. Along the way we experience the friendly and curious atposphere of the people (locals, masai-tribe, hadza tribe) along the way and wild animals like giraffe,zebra,wildebeast, gazelle etc. Truly a great experience
ES
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great deal in terms of price vs. quality
The overall experience was very good! We did the Safari and the Panoramic View.
Things to point out as positive:
- Knowledgeable guides (especially in the safari)
- Generally good communication
- Overall great service (they came to pick us up)
Things to point out as not so good:
- One day we had miscommunication
- First day there was quite a big delay in terms of entering the park that was weird because many people who arrived after us entered before us and we had to wait for quite a long time but it was not so bad
I want to leave clear that we would give a 4.5 stars but the system does not allow it. I would be great if Shinzelle Safaris could provide a small pdf with the planning of the day with some information and recommendations that one could print out.
Anyways, would repeat for sure! Highly recommended
NG
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing!
I had an amazing time. The hot air balloon was especially phenomenal.
Thank you Karibu Safari and thank you Kikitu for being a great tour guide!
CA
Everything we would have asked for with a budget safari, even a little more!!
We had arranged a private 8 day safari from Nairobi through Kenya, across the border to Tanzania and then ending in arusha for 2 of us. Trip advisor safaris was very open to helping us plan the perfect trip for our budget and included the parks we asked for. We emailed back and forth a bunch trying to settle on the perfect itinerary with enough time to catch our plane from arusha to zanzibar. Although this tour operator was very accommodating, the only reason I took one star off was because I felt like it was a bit pushy to book every day and it was very difficult to sort out payment. I am from Canada and we dont do direct bank transfers and I found giving a deposit very annoying. Also when we arrived in nairobi to give full payment, he expected $3000us cash. Qe were not adware this is how it would be done and no way would i carry that in cash travelling alone from Canada as a female. So we paid by credit card in the end and paid the transaction fee percentage and waited in the office until the transaction arrived at the bank and then we went there so he could get the cash out for our safari guide. I feel like this could have been avoided with more clear communication. As for our safari, our guide in Kenya was Rubin and he was 5/5!!! He was so kind and honest and we trusted him 100%. He was a very reliable driver and was able to show us more animals than we ever expected! He was quiet, but very happy to answer all of our questions at any time. He never tried to make us shop or buy things, which was very nice for us. Our accommodations were even nicer than expected in Kenya some nights considering it was on a tight budget! Our crossing over the border to Tanzania was easy and our tanzanian guide Salim was waiting for us when we arrived. This portion was organized through trip advisor Safaris using the company kili slope. Salim was energetic and full of information and eager to find big cats for us. We saw many lions and also a leopard and a cheetah! Amazing! He was also a safe driver and happy to share information and quiz us on what he taught. Our personal cook in Tanzania was also named Salim and he made 100% vegetarian food for us as requested. He made delicious soups and yummy packed lunches! We were very pleased with our experience and saw everything we could imagine. As most recommendations say, get everything in writing. Our itinerary was not as full as it said because driving times in between were much longer than it seemed. But even so, we would recommend organizing with this company because we had a great time!!
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great trip despite difficult circumstances for KWSS.
We arrived 9/5 and after very long flights and a 90 minute wait for our visa were so pleased that our driver from KWSS was still waiting to take us to the EKA hotel at 11p.m. We had booked a 12 night mid-range package that included Masai Mara, Samburu, Elsemere and a flight to Entebbe where we went to trek with gorillas. I must admit, I was a bit apprehensive, but the outstanding reviews for KWSS eased my mind so we followed through and went with KWSS. We had the trip of a lifetime. Our experiences, the lodges, and the food were all outstanding. Gorillas by far the best for us! The only down side, being in our 60’s, the drives were much longer than we anticipated so it made it challenging for us, but then we would have missed the countryside and cultural experiences if we had not driven. When we were on our way back to Nairobi on the 14th we were told OT had been in a serious auto accident. This had us very concerned, but our driver took us to the airport for our flight to Uganda, and everything went as planned. More long drives, but beautiful countryside and the gorillas were worth every minute. On our return flight to Nairobi on the 17th our driver was there to meet us at 9:30 at night. He told us more about OT’s auto accident and that he was in a coma. We were concerned for him since we had met him and found him to be a very nice man. We also realized that we had been extremely fortunate that this did not happen before or at the beginning of our trip. I have read the nightmare stories from others since our return, and we know those stories could have been us. We believe OT and KWSS were a very good company before OT’s accident. I understand how this situation created nightmares for others, but am so grateful that because of the timing ours was so wonderful.
CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Trip itself was wonderful
Overall we had a great experience, and definitely feel we got good value for the price we paid. I can't say much about the booking process, as I wasn't really involved. I did find the
payment method a bit odd, as I was told simply to "carry cash" the first morning, and then it turned out the idea was that we carried $3000 USD to make the payment. It worked out with visa, but cost extra money and time on the first morning.
The only other issue we ran into was that the itinerary we were given was completely unrealistic on a few of the days (meaning we weren't able to see/do all the things we had expected). It would turn out that there were 10+ hours of driving (which in itself we didn't mind), but the itinerary had said there would be a morning game drive/visiting of various sites etc but realistically there was zero time for that.
Other than these things we had a wonderful experience! Seth arranged for us to see all the parks we asked for, and we were able to stick to our budget. Our guide in Kenya, Ruben, was so kind and knowledgable and wanted to make sure we had a great trip! He was excellent at his job, and we were so happy with him as our guide. He went out of his way for us, and we feel very lucky to have had him take us through Kenya. We also had a great guide in Tanzania, Salim, who was equally knowledgeable and managed to find some very impressive animals for us!
I would recommend Seth for booking your trip, he delivered on what we asked for an we had an incredible and unforgettable experience! Just be very clear in your communications, and make sure you let him know what things are most important to you (we did this, and had no disappointments when it came to those areas!).