ES
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful expirience
It s a wonderful expirience, we saw a lot of animals! The big five! We enjoyed a lot, nice tents camps!! Nice people!
DE
We experienced an interesting program, saw a wide range of wild animals and beautiful landscapes.
Communication with the tour guide (= the company owner) was excellent, he knew a lot and explained it to us, and he made us aware of animals and plants which we would not have noticed. The service was - according to the tour character of a tented tour- very good, the expectations were more than fulfilled.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
We had a fantastic driver/tour guide. He was extremely knowledgable and became a good friend.
The experience was great. Our tour guide John Wanjau was extremely knowledgabe and very concerned about my wife and myself having a joyful experience. John does an excellent tour. I would highly recommend him as a guide. The only negative we experienced during our 9 day safari was the tent camp where we stayed in Amboseli could have been better.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Enjoyable Safari
Joseph was very helpful with setting up all the requirements for a quick safari trip. Details were provided near to the trip but this is because they use last minute flights and accommodation deals and this was no problem for us.
The actual safari was really good and we saw lots of amazing animals and had some great food at the Jimbiza camp. My only criticism would be that there was a bit too much waiting around on the first day instead of planned activities. We were just around the camp from 10am - 4pm. Other than that it was great. The staff were very friendly and helpful.
CN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great safari but not valuable for money.
I like the Alex homestay , his wife is nice. My safari driver James is full of experience for animals. But I think the travel in Kenya is not valuable for money compare with other nations. Long time for animal safari made us a little bored.
AE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Mara-Naivasha-Nakuru- Amboseli 6 day trip in August 2018
We came across Axis Africa through Safaribookings.com while browsing through different tour operators and went with them based on the quality of interactions we had with Lennox. This was our first trip to Africa and wildlife viewing was the main purpose and view them we did and how!
Lennox was able to tend to all our queries before the trip and organised our pick up/drop off without any hassles and coordinated with us wherever needed. He was prompt in all his interactions.
We had asked for Kikitu or Issac as our guides since they both had great reviews from visitors who wrote here. Lennox mentioned that he will try to arrange for them or even otherwise, assign us a good one as they are all experienced. Although we didn't get our requested guides, we were very happy with James, the gentleman who was assigned to our group of 8.
We had James as our driver and guide for all the 6 days. He was cheerful, professional, knowledgeable, polite, patient and gracious. We had a great time with him and were so fortunate to have sighted all the Big 5 on Day 2 of our Safari in Masai Mara. He informed us about the species, their gestation period, the number of young ones born with each gestation, hunting skills, any distinctive identification for that particular mammal etc.
Our guide gets a 5-star rating for his demeanour and efforts.
All our accommodations were catered to according to what was described in the itinerary. Lenchada camp was a rustic and comfortable stay. We had asked for a vegetarian diet for our entire trip and we always had vegetarian options to meet our requirements. Although I would suggest that they mark all the vegetarian dishes with an identifying label so there is no miscommunication.
The crescent Island boat ride via Naivasha gave us an opportunity to view some beautiful birds. The guide who took us out on boating was not very forthcoming with information about the birds and we had to keep asking him questions for him to engage with us or be audible. He could have generated far more interest from us for the birding in the time frame available but perhaps his approach was too laid back for our needs/expectation.
The accommodation in Nakuru was a fairly decent one as well. We were only there for 1 night and the next day saw some beautiful white rhinos, flamingoes, bison and birds at the Nakuru national park.
Our trip to Amboseli was quite long due to narrow roads which are shared with heavy-duty vehicles and the traffic is unpredictable. We could not do the safari on the evening of reaching Amboseli as we reached quite late. So it was the Nakuru NP morning safari and the rest of the day was occupied with travel.
We were supposed to stay at Kimana budget camp as per our itinerary in Amboseli. Although we had checked their website to look at their facilities, we saw their TripAdvisor reviews only when we were en route to Amboseli. We were quite trepid about the reviews and spoke to Lennox and mentioned that we would like him to consider a decent budget accommodation in case this one turns out to be unappealing. We were happy to go with budget camps as long as they are hygienic/clean and have functioning basic utilities. The reviews we read sort of told us that this may be difficult to find at Kimana.
We reached the accommodation and the only room available had a broken toilet seat and a flush that was hard to use, shower which was leaking water which could be heard throughout the room and the room was quite rundown. We had to express our dissatisfaction that there was no due diligence done with regards to accommodation in Amboseli and we were informed by Lennox that the other options at the last minute would cost us extra as Kimana camp will not refund (the amount quoted for a room is ridiculous considering how rundown the place is) Axis Safaris even if we don't stay and even when they can't fix any of the obvious issues with the accommodation. We ended up pitching half of the amount for our new accommodation in AA lodges just so we could get a good nights rest and not let Axis/Lennox bear all the losses even though technically they should have done their diligence on the upkeep of Kimana or found a way to mitigate their losses based on the business relationship they share with the Hotels/camps.
This was the only hiccup we faced during our whole trip. We were able to sort it out but they would have earned a 5-star rating if not for this incident.
I would suggest that Axis personally visit each of the hotels/camps/rooms and see what is on offer and then properly communicate the same with their guests. The onus is not on the guest to get information about the type/upkeep of the accommodation. Websites always showcase glossy pictures but on-ground realities might vary to a great extent and tour operators should take cognisance of that. That is what we rely on the tour operator for in a foreign country. The guests won't know exactly which hotel they will be visiting as they mention the name of a particular hotel and mention 'or similar properties' in the itinerary in most cases.
I, however, do appreciate that Lennox sorted out an accommodation in the end and the fag end of the trip went smoothly in the company of huge elephant groups and a gorgeous sunrise at Amboseli. Mount Kilimanjaro refused to appear during our stay there but hey, I know we will be visiting Kenya and Africa again and am sure Axis would find a way to put together another fabulous trip for us.
LB
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Beautiful experience, everybody should have this in their bucket list
Kenya Walking Safaris was the tour operator. In general, the tour turned to be better than I expected. Abundant and diverse wildlife. Our guide, Anthony was excellent. Weather was colder and wetter than expected and we were not really prepared for it. We were told that mosquitos could be nuisance, but we never encountered mosquitos. The distances from one park to the other were so long and tiring. Accommodation was acceptably good.
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great experiences und impressions of Uganda with the highlight visiting the gorillas.
First of all we would like to thank our guide Moses for the friendly assistance during our week in Uganda.
It was a pleasure meeting you. Nevertheless don't forget to be always in time :-).
The accomodations are all absolutely perfect for that that trip. The wunderful nature especially in QE Bush Lodge and
Arcadia Lodge Bunyonyi will be always in our mind. Also the support of all staff in the hotels were very impressive.
The safari tour itself (Ishasha and QE Nationalpark) was nice but not comparable with Tansania where we spent a holiday four years due to the amount of different animals.
Nevertheless we will keep the green Uganda always in our mind due to many great experiences, also outside the "normal" tour.
The most amazing experience was Bwindi Nationalpark with the gorilla family and also chimapnzee trekking in Kibale Forest National Park.
Thanks for giving us the chance to collect so many great impressions.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
5-Day-Gorilla-and-Chimpanzee-Safari
Compared to other tour operators Ababa offered us the best price in total. Although there were some communication problems at the beginning we enjoyed the 5-Day-Safari filled with great experiences. The accommodations lived up to our expectations with good service and delicious food. Sadly our guide wasn‘t able to join us before the third day of safari. Until then we were accompanied by our driver who did his best but couldn’t really explain a lot. From then on our guide took good care of us. We even extended the safari by adding another day visiting the Lake Bunyonyi. The safari tour has a timetable rich in variety including the Chimpanzee Trekking as well as a Gorilla Trekking, a Boat Cruise which is a great safari experience itself and some game drives trough Queen Elizabeth and Bwindi National Park.
NO
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Motorbike tour with 10 friends.
We had an amazing tour around Arusha area. 1600km drived in 7 days.