CA
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
In the end, satisfied with the overall expérience.
Lodging and food were appreciated. Landcruiser in Tanzania was way over it’s usefull and safe life i.e. So old that there were no headrests!
Guide Moses in Kenya very sharp and dedicated. Guide in Tanzania inexperienced and too eager to please all in party at once. Did not spot anything on his on.
Visit of Massai village turned out to be stressfull for all in party as we were submitted to pressure and intimidation by the villagers. They were after our money, all our money and gang-up on us after we were separated from each
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Mixed feelings
We booked a 3 days/2 nights safari with Wildebeest Safaris in September 2019. The booking process was straightforward and we were really happy with the accommodation that was offered. We were picked up by our driver Joseph who was also our guide on the whole trip. First two days, we had a great time in Masai Mara National Park, we were lucky to spot the Big 5. Joseph did everything he can to find rare animals such as leopard and rhino.
The last day we set out to go back to Nairobi where we had a flight in the evening. Soon after we realised our driver was feeling very sick. He asked me to drive the safari jeep which I did. On the way, we stopped by a local clinic to make sure he had treatment. He was feeling better after two hours, so we moved on. The journey back to Nairobi was very long and because I wasn't familiar with that type of vehicle, so I struggled with driving it. We were supposed to go to Lake Naivasha and pay a visit to Masai village on that day, but Joseph again became sick and we had a plane to catch so we just drove on. We didn't want to take a break to eat or use toilet to waste time, yet again, Joseph stopped us at a souvenir shop which he had an agreement with. We then were stopped by a local policeman on the road who gave us a hard time, luckily I had my driving licence with me and he let us go after a while when he was convinced that our driver was sick. The whole journey took us 11 hours and when we arrived in Nairobi we had 2 hours left to our flight. Joseph asked us to pull over at their office where we were greeted by Noah. He had no idea what had happened, so when we said we were late, he immediately found a car to drive us to the airport. Unfortunately, the traffic was crazy in the city and we made it to the airport only 15 minutes before the check-in was closed.
We wish all the best to our driver and understand the challenges of ending up sick in a remote place. I tried to help him as a doctor and also as a friend. But it was a very stressful last day for everyone and the little things that happened there left a sour taste in our mouths. There was clearly miscommunication between the driver and the agency as they were not aware of what was going on. I hope Wildebeest Safaris take this review as constructive criticism and not allow the same thing to happen again.
NO
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great experience
We got to see almost all possible animals. Accomodation was ok. The safari guide was not very good in english, and he did not know how to drive a car with manuel gearing
CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Did work out at the end !
The company may be a good tour company but certainly can’t carter to luxury travellers. The communication was nonexistent but most things happened as they our itinerary stipulated. Safaris’s experience was rushed for later part of the trip but that’s because of wrong flights booked and so on.
RU
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Tried to reduce our time for game drives
We did 2-days safari to Amboseli with our guide Eric. All was good - Eric took us to Amboseli from Nairobi very fast, then was a lunch in a very beautiful Kibo camp. First game drive was in the evening and we saw a lot of animals against the setting sun. But in Amboseli there are not a lot of lions and cheetah so if you see them there would be a looot of other cars (compared to Masai Mara). Eric chose different routes so we saw a big part of Amboseli park.
But at the end of our morning game drive when we had just passed the gate of Amboseli park was an accident. We had noticed that our morning game was started at 7:30 instead of 6:30, and it was ended at 10:00 instead of 11:00. Yesterday there was the same thing - we depart to our evening game at 16:00 instead of 15:30. Eric showed us that he had different plan with other departure times but it is so strange that it's difficult to understand is it an accident or the organisers specially reduced our time and hoped that we are not noticed that.
After that Eric offered to us to go somewhere in Nairobi for that 2 hours but it wasn't satisfied us. The problem is that we had a one enter ticket for a day to Amboseli park and we couldn't go back by no charge (another one ticket to Amboseli cost 120$). Then we paid additional 20$ to enter Amboseli again for that 2 hours.
The safari was really good so as our guide. But on vacation we wanted to relax but if you relax you may be tricked.
NZ
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wouldn't use this company again
We were picked up 2 hours late as the owner hadn't communicated the correct pick up date to our driver. The first nights accommodation was absolutely disgraceful. Our driver only spoke when spoken to! He didnt interact with us at all. He was however good at driving and got us where we needed to go. Also at our last camp we discovered the owner hadn't even paid for the camp, poor form.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amboseli and Tsavo Safari
This Safari was fine. We had no problems with the booking process or whilst on Safari, despite being slightly sceptical due to a few bad reviews. Our driver/ guide was nice, but we would have liked him to interact with us more, giving us more information about the itinerary for the day and the animals that we saw.
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
The promised itinerary was not delivered - adding hundreds of dollars to our cost
The guide/driver was very good – he deserves a rating of 5. But the company is not to be trusted - I would give it a zero but am giving a 3 overall because of the guide. Without notice, the company dropped a visit to a national park from our safari – which was listed as included in our final itinerary. At great expense to ourselves, we did visit the park - paying the park entry fees and the guide’s services – rather than spend the day stuck in the hotel, which was the only alternative. The company admitted it had made a mistake in our itinerary but refused to take responsibility for it. They had our money, they no longer cared. The cost of such a safari is already high enough – and we were then left out of pocket an extra several hundred dollars. I would NOT recommend booking with this company.
MX
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great guides but little support from management during Safari
I have mixed feelings regarding Wildebeest Safaris. The first part of the trip was absolutely perfect, communication with Noah and Samuel at the beginning was very good but sadly everything changed towards the end.
Our trip started in Kenya where we met Jeff, our first safari guide. Jeff is the absolute BEST! He ensured we could see all the animals we wanted, he was very caring, funny and made sure we were having a good time at all times. He took us from Nairobi to Lake Nakuru and then to Masai Mara, accommodations in both places were amazing, they felt very luxurious and staff was very helpful and friendly.
From Masai Mara we went to Serengeti where we met Hamza, our 2nd driver and guide. Hamza was great, he is very experienced and knows A LOT about animals, plus, he knows great spots for photos ;) Both Jeff and Hamza drove 4x4 Land Cruisers, perfect vehicles for safari.
The issues started in Tanzania. One day before reaching Serengeti, the agency contacted us to inform that they had made the booking on the wrong dates so we didn't have valid accommodations anymore. Luckily we are not the kind of people who freak out and only asked for reservations at similar lodges, however, I do have to say that this was an unexpected situation and it was a bit stressful since they noticed only a day before! In the end they fixed it and booked alternative camps for us but one of them didn't have basic facilities like hot water.
From Serengeti we drove to Ngorongoro Crater and then back to Kenya's border to go to Amboseli. When we crossed the border, our 4X4 Land Cruiser was changed to a Mini Van, this was more than a huge disappointment because this type of vehicle is not made for safari, nor the roads in Kenya/Tanzania (way too bumpy + fishtailing when going at more than 20km/h, hence you have to go really slow and takes double the time to cover the same distance), most importantly is that is not the car Noah promised on the very first email he sent me. Our 3rd driver (Peter) tried to contact Noah to find a solution to this problem but we had no luck, he never answered. I also tried contacting Noah and Samuel by email... and we also didn't get any response, we were just ignored (up to date we haven't received any sort of explanation). We had to stick to the Mini Van the last two days of the safari and it became so uncomfortable that we decided no to go on a safari drive the last day.
It's a pity that a trip that started so well and that could have been rated a full 5-star was just thrown away because of poor management at the end.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Use to be fantastic for wildlife, now saturated with noisy disrespectful tourists vehicles
I first came to the Masai Mara 13 years ago, where it hooked me for life on wildlife and photography. Subsequent visits over the years, this was the forth, has shown a continuing decline in wildlife and a explosive increase of vehicles and the type of tourist that has little or no respect for the animals or landscape. Every spotting was swamped in minutes and upwards of 40 vehicles corralling the animal. Stressed animals, disrupted hunts and animals forced off rest-ups where common, and the norm. I would be surprised if you saw a hunt these days by any of the much rarer cheetah or leopard.
Parts of the reserve now seem devoid of wildlife, Rhino Ridge, Paradise Plains, Talek river, this was strange to us as these areas have always been good for wildlife. This could be seasonal but our guide, very experienced and many years in the Mara as a guide, indicated that it was rare to bother going over to these areas now unless a migration crossing was happening. So it sounds liked something else is happening to the wildlife. He indicated that a lot of resident wildlife is heading to the surrounding conservancies for a more peaceful life.
The lion population is still very good. Lions being lions spend most of the time sleeping so easier to find, although again if they had cubs they tended to hide much deeper in the bush.
The landscape is still beautiful and with the right timing you can get a vista without the ubiquitous white top safari van marring the view (why can't these trucks be in muted colors that blend?)
One of most my most loved parts of Africa seems to have become a victim of its own success, hopefully more controlled access and a cap on new developments will be implemented soon.