DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
rememberable wildlife experience
- safari itself was great, saw all animals i wanted
- kilimanjaro hike was also good, but with sub contractor companies (not uhuru travel)
- organization of uhuru was not on point, i was left in the dark sometimes until a few hours before the trip.
-communications inbetween the tour operators was lackluster
still had a good time, would plan differently next time, i guess i got experiences equal to money spend, it was budget after all
first africa experience so dont know if this is standard procedure
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good communication, guide and accommodations, but need some improvements
1- Communication: fast and clear from the beginning till our arrival by Patricia.
It is better to have an intermediate (middle of safari) communication with the boss directly if in case we would like to clarify or modify Something. At the end of safari, the boss has a phone conversation, but it's the end of safari without really an effect on our safari.
2- Accommodations: Hotels were very nice. completely satisfied.
3- Guide: Very good at his job and could detect the animals very good. Very good driver. Not very communicative (part of the personality, so not a big deal). However, not very good at English. We had some difficulties to understand him or we need to repeat our questions in another way.
4- Safari tour: We had 7 days safari from Amboseli. The plan is nice and covers a lot of parks. HOWEVER, it misses early morning or late evening visits of the park, when in fact the animals are more active, rather than sleeping under bushes.
In fact, each day we were the last Jeep leaving the hotel to go to park (around 8am) or first one to return to the hotel (around 6:30pm). We entered the park, while seeing other jeeps coming back from pre-breakfast visit. For Amboseli and Masai Mara the guide told us it close at 6:30, however, online I checked and Masai Mara is open 24hrs. Couple of time we returned the hotel at the time when we exactly could see the actions (like lion was moving, éléphants were coming back, ...)
The last day, the guide told us there is no program and then I showed him that in our agenda it is written "pre-breakfast view". Then he agreed to have breakfast and leave hotel around 7am and have a short view (1.5hr).
This part is very important as watching animals sleeping during day is very close to our experience with Zoo. The point of safari is seeing animals in real action.
5- It would be great to have a binocular in the Jeep.
Thanks for the planning the tour. I recommend you for Safari, but with some modifications in the planning.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Had no idea on what to do on my honeymoon they gave me best package to Seychelles
Communication was on time from the Travel consultant Nzisa and at the hotel services were in order .
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fast response, very reasonable price and excellent tour planning.
Over all our experiance is excellent. We worked with Robert and he gave us great service. He respond very quick and solve any problem or question we had with a reasonable time.
Our tour guide Aroni and Joel were very good. Robert and Aroni went out of their way to locate our missing luggage and bring to the park on the next day. They had to send someone back to the airport the next day. We were really treated as their guest and we are very thankful on that. What they did for us was more than what they have agreed to do for us.
Aroni was calm and he make sure we covered everything. In our opinion he was number one. I suggest you ask for him. He make sure your luggage are covered so they don't get dusty every time he loads it. He gave a true meaning to the "hakuna matata" saying. We had no worries while we were touring with him. He managed to help us see the big fives.
Robert helped as getting transportation on the extra day we had their in Nairobi. That was not part of the tour and he was even willing to send us someone to give us a city tour. Thanks for that too.
My only complain if any would be the hotel to be communicated better. They ask us pay and when we told them to call Robert. He took care of it right away. It seems like a communication gap between the hotel and victor who also work at the tour company. Victor apologized once he knew that he was wrong. Things like this could be irritating do be careful victor.
In general, we are very happy with the service and recommend this company to our friend and families with no hesitation.
Thanks for the job well done.
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Complete
Communication was very good.
All the staff punctual and precise.
Service very nice, food, location, car.
All good.
We saw all the animals with short time available.
The guide was very friendly and good person.
BN
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A great customised trip with a guide/driver and land cruiser with just ourselves for the duration.
The communication with the company was excellent. They worked hard to understand the kind of trip we wanted and made good recommendations on where to go and where to stay.
We were met my our guide in Nairobi and we had this guide and the truck to ourselves the entire seven days. The land cruiser was beautifully outfitted with a fridge to keep drinks cool, a power supply so we could charge phones and cameras, and even WiFi.
We visited Amboseli Park and loved it, but Ol Tukai Lodge felt a bit like a tourist mill. It was larger and busier than we expected. But the location was great and we had no complaints about it. We had driven from Nairobi to Amboseli, then drove to Lake Naivasha, going through Nairobi again. So, we had a few long days of driving along the busy highways of Kenya with less than careful drivers in other vehicles. In hindsight, we would have preferred to organise the trip so there was less driving, maybe even flying between parks.
The Lake Elementaita Serena Camp was outstanding and highly recommended. The food and accommodation were above and beyond expectations. On the way there we stopped at Lake Naivasha. That was a bit of a disappointment since we spent some time walking around a small private piece of land with a number of animals on it. It was not the experience we expected, but it was nice to boat along the lake seeing the wildlife.
Lake Nakuru Park was excellent. The drive to Maasai Mara was again long (very long) but it was interesting to see the country. Mara Bush Camp was outstanding. The personal attention and level of service was exceptional. The luxurious tent was amazing, especially as it sat just above the river overlooking dozens of hippos.
We recommend Classic Journeys. They did a great job. Be sure to state the kind of accommodation you're seeking, and they'll point you in the right direction if you're clear enough. Check about driving time between parks and try to minimise that.
Thanks for a great trip.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Malawi by Owen
I liked Liwonde National Park. I think that it's an unknown gem. Nyika and Lake Malawi were fine.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great experience with a sour end
The experience on the whole was incredible. We were met at the airport by a driver (as arranged) and taken swiftly to our tour operator’s (Seth) office. We paid Seth for what we agreed (there maybe more ‘tax’ costs on the day though so bring extra dollars as we did not have enough with ‘extra increments’). After that we were then taken to the hotel as arranged by Seth prior to our visit because our tour started early the next day. I would recommend staying elsewhere as this hotel is very basic with its amenities and food. My partner and I did not believe it was worth the $100 cost for two nights. It is based in the CBD of Kenya so leaving the hotel to explore the city was eerily at times - my partners necklace was actually snatched from around her neck even though it was hidden (luckily it was not expensive).
The following morning we were picked up by another driver to meet the rest of the tour group. We met our driver Stanley who was fantastic and cannot recommend him enough. He took us to see every animal listed on the website and his knowledge of the areas he took us too was very good. He answered every question we asked and helped us if we were stuck with anything. He looked after us as a group and made sure we were all completely satisfied with our journey.
Accommodation at the campsites were as expected (because of the price you pay for the whole package). Food at all places are buffet but selection is not fantastic. The campsite next to the Maasai Mara was a great experience though.
Overall, the experience was great and it will hold brilliant memories for us forever. However, the trip we had went a bit sour towards the end as we had extras in our package which we paid for on arrival but were then changed. After much deliberation, we finally had what was agreed but this did take a lot of time when discussed with the tour operator. There were many messages back and forth which were needless. There had also been another instance on the tour where our driver had taken us to an excursion but our tour operator did not tell the driver my partner and I had paid already for it as part of our package. This could have become very tricky for one of us and someone could could have been out of pocket. This should have been discussed and organised prior to us. I do not feel the situation was necessary or my issue to fix but I was the one to fix this problem. It would have been extremely difficult if I did not have a SIM card (also recommended by the tour operator not to get beforehand).
I would recommend this experience to everyone as it was once in a lifetime opportunity. However, I have learnt a few lessons from this:
1) Make sure you get what you pay and you keep on top of what is offered so you are not swindled out of any money.
2) Be fluid and have a positive attitude as plans can change daily - detailed plans changed completely but we do what was listed.
3) Bring a high powered power bank and a SIM card at the airport as some places of stay do not have internet or working electricity all day.
RU
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Ngorongoro Crater by Ekaterina Kireeva
We wasn't lucky to see rhinos close! And famous enormous herds of zebra and wildebeests migrated to Kenya. But we still have seen lions cubs!
SG
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A good safari experience with African Sunset Safaris
A safe trip with good accommodations, good food and experienced drivers who managed to take us to see the big 5.
