Magic of Madagascar
Why do you go to Madagascar? To see unusual & different wildlife, experience a different culture. Isalo National Park and surrounding countryside has this and much more.
AW
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It was an awesome experience!
All was very well organized, food was very good, driver was excellent, accommodations overall very good except for Lemala Camp Ngorongoro which was filthy and unfitted to stay. This problem was quickly resolved in a good way by the tour company. We will certainly return to Tanzania, the people are very warm and service minded.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Kenya and Tanzania trip report
An incredible trip that worked out very well, considering the number of us and all the logistics like transport and flights that was involved. We learnt that wild animals are very unpredictable and that patience is the key if you want to have a great game viewing experience. I would recommend spending a little more time in one spot instead of rushing to the next sighting. Take for example a sleeping lion. We did and saw them mating after the safari vehicle left. The river crossing in Maasai Mara took a lot of patience. I am pretty much sure that we would have witnessed a croc attacking had we spent a little more time in the same spot. Pure luck helps too as does being in the right place at the right time- our leopard Kill for example was luck, also my finest moments of the safari are not the finest sightings but rather those silent moments in the Maasai Mara and Serengeti plains waiting for action but at the same time being in absolute awe of the natural beauty unfolding in front of our eyes. Saving the best for last did not work for us, the best was front loaded in the Maasai Mara and the presumed sure thing-the Ngorongoro Crater turned out to be a bit of an off day for us but even down there I realized just how fortunate we were and the incredible scenery. We had no idea however that the Migration would be so early in the Mara this year and the Western Serengeti was supposed to be the best chance of seeing the Migration.
We saw the animals in the wild and hoped for more except a cheetah. The leopard kill , the morning with the pride of Lions and zebras in the Mara and the river crossings with thousands of gnu in the Serengeti, the misty sunrises amidst the acacia trees will stay with me forever.
I hope in some small way we contributed to the continued sustaining of the ecosystem and that the private conservancies will continue doing a great job employing the Masai and other local people and making them realize the animals are definitely worth saving.
We hope to return.
Asante sana.
ES
Amazing experience.they gave us the chance of having an excellent adventure.
Okoa tours has covered my expectations in general.good communicatios,excellent service.Mark,our assistant in Nairobi was very helpful and nice,very worry about our needs.we could watch many animals thanks to our guide max...good driver in those difficult roads.good quality/price in general.thank very much...this has been one of the best trips in my life.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Worth it
My mum and I had a really good experience. On the morning of the safari we woke up late but they kindly waited for us. Everything we needed to know was explained to us before hand.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Basic but great!
The communication with Rose our contact was very efficient, everything ran very smoothly, for the price the tour was amazing and the wildlife viewing was incredible. If your priority is to see amazing wildlife at a reasonable price, this tour is definitely for you. Our tour took in the Maasai Mara, Lake Nakuru and Amboseli over 6 days. I have traveled all over the world viewing wildlife and this was definitely one of my all time best experiences. Accommodation, food and transport were highly functional, but I do not go wildlife viewing to be pampered I wish to feel the experience in the flesh not from inside some luxury cocoon. Our guide James made great efforts to ensure we saw all the amazing wildlife that Kenya has to offer and overall I was very happy with the experience. After the 6 day safari, Rose organised a 2 day trip for me to Mount Kenya, which was also incredible, got to see a genet but you do not a reasonable level of fitness for this trip. My guide on this trip was Jimmy and I had a great two days discussing life in Kenya with him as we climbed the mountain, admired the scenery and observed the wildlife.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Ngorongoro Crater by Whitney Crofut
See most all the animals in one place - although kind of feels like cheating after Serengeti.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Masai Mara National Reserve by Ramona de Niese
It was all very exciting to be there and see all the animals in the wild. But there were not as many animals as I thought there would be. Your guide has to really work hard to find the cats for you to view and you might not see all the species. I can't help feeling that because of the large volume of safari vehicles that the animals have taken to hiding away. Our driver assured us that the animals are used to all the cars as they have been in the parks for so many years now. This probably is correct as the animals were not that concerned about the cars stopping to view them.
The tracks are so bad,that you get tossed and buffeted around in the car, so much so that we call it the African massage!!
ES
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
One of the best experiences I have seen in my life
We could see many wild animals,close and in a safe way.the food and accomodation was not bad at all.we had a van as our transportation and max as our guide and driver...dificult roads,but he drove well and gave us information about places and animals.very good in quality/price.mark,our assistant in Nairobi,helped us a lot....thank you very much.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Safari was amazing, but the roads were terrible!
We booked our tour through Skywide Tour and Travels, Nairobi, a travel agency recommended by Safari Bookings. We live in Melbourne and were a little bit nervous about using a company in Nairobi, but all our plans were listened to and booked and all went very smoothly.
The scenery on the way to the Maasai Mara was magnificent, especially the Great Rift Valley. The weather at this time of the year was quite mild and in fact we needed a light jacket in the early mornings and evenings. The accommodations range from 2 to 5 stars and there are plenty to choose from. We were on a budget so we used 3 star accommodation and it was quite satisfactory. The food was international and well presented. It is also good to try the local cuisine. The most unpleasant part of the trip was the roads. There is a sealed road for most of the way but the last 30kms is on a gravel rd which is so full of pot holes etc that you have to drive on the wrong side of the road to avoid doing damage to the car. If you suffer from car sickness, I would recommend that you take a small plane flight to the national park. The tracks in the national park are also very bad and you get tossed around all over the place! We had our own driver for the 2 of us and it was wonderful as you could ask him to stop for photo's or animal viewing as much as you wanted.It certainly is very exciting to see so many animals in the wild, and it was very exciting to see the lions just lying around. They are hard to find but your driver/guide is expert at finding animals. There are quite a lot of safari vehicles in the parks and they all keep each other informed of all sightings. We were lucky enough to see 3 of the big 5 in the Maasai Mara. We arrived just at the tail end of the migration but saw lines of Wildebeasts and Zebras, as far as you could see. We stayed at Ol Moran Camp which is a permanent tented camp just out side the national park and it was basic but nice. It was a surprise to us that all the places we stayed at in the national parks run on generators and the power is only on from 6-10pm and in the mornings 6-9am so make sure you take a torch! My husband uses a cpap machine so he was unable to use it. Always check the electricity availability if you need it overnight. I think all the lodges and hotels may have restrictions on electricity.
Skywide also booked the Tanzania and Victoria Falls component of our trip as well. All was perfect.