50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Beat the crowds and go in winter or early spring and layer, layer, layer!
Kruger was never actually on my Wishlist. Over the last 15 years I've travelled to several different areas in Africa - Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda and South Africa. 'Kruger' is the place that everyone asks about - 'have you been there'? I'm not a big fan of the tourist pathways and have gone along the volunteering route to experience a different side. A side that I love.
Having said that, I was actually volunteering at The Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, which is in the general vicinity of Kruger National Park. We were given an opportunity to visit Kruger on a day trip. Seeing that I was so close, I decided to see it for myself.
We left before sunrise in an open safari vehicle. The sides were up so the breeze was quite chilly. Our driver stopped so we could get pictures of the beautiful sunrise. Entering at Orpen Gate, we stopped for breakfast. Shortly after we found a leopard at the side of the road, relaxing. Eventually he got up and left. Two rhinos were spotted in the distance but we couldn't see them well without binoculars. A leopard tortoise also reposed in the middle of the road. He was a big specimen!
Elephants, lions and lionesses, zebras, kudu, wildebeests, impalas, nyala, waterbuck, giraffes, the usual parade were on view. I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of a lioness walking near to the road (our guide had missed her). We were the only vehicle around so had a good chance to follow and observe her without other cars. The best sighting was a group of spotted dogs, reclining in the shade. At the most there were 6-7 vehicles at a sighting at any one time.
Lunch at Satara Camp and time for souvenir shopping before the afternoon drive. By this time it was quite warm. Our group enjoyed the day and were happy to sit and watch the animals, rather than race around to see how many we could find. The safari guide was very compliant with our requests. Another stop at the Orpen Gate souvenir shop for anything we missed and a 'comfort stop' before heading back home.
If you want to see Kruger I'd recommend going in a low season to avoid crowds (unless that's your "thing"). More space for all to see and breathe!
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great choice for a first-time trip to Africa
Takims Holidays is an extremely reliable tour operator. Despite us planning the trip very last-minute, they were able to organise a 2-weeks trip (one of safaris, one on the sandy beaches of Zanzibar) which went very smoothly.
They know the touristic offer very well, so once you make up your mind in terms of budget and accomodation they will offer you options that won't disappoint you. In our case, we should have done a little more digging in terms of the available options (sometimes we underestimated how popular some destinations could be), but this small hiccup was definitely on our side.
The car was very well maintained and Nelson was a very professional and pleasant company.
SE
A kind, beutiful land full of surprices.
We are very satisfied with our trip. The weather was good, the food was okay and we had a good guide.
TH
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The driver+guide are professional, and nice hotel choice
I found that the guide are so friendly and have a really professional service mind. Karim gave us so many information about safari animals and other thing too. For the hotels, the staffs in every hotel are really nice and kind. The hotel are clean and nice. Hotel food are fine too. I feel like this is quite beyond my expectation. Only some facilities in the hotel like warm water and electricity there are not the best but acceptable since they are in the park.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great Trip with good organisation :-)
We did a Kenia & Tanzania trip in August 2017. Everything was well organised. The drivers were very exerted.
We saw a lot of animals and the Big 5 for sure. The price-performance ratio is very good.
Thank you very much for the great time we spent!
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Efficient and persistent. They got me a booking at a difficult time.
The roads are a vast improvement. Reception was friendly and helpful. Chalet neat and tidy.Viewing very good
and rewarding. Only negative - people not obeying the rules. Good to see security improved at the entrance gate.
SE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A great time in an amazing environment
The memory of my three day safari in Masai Mara will stay with me forever. It was an amazing experience to come so close to so many beautiful wild animals. We saw the big five, and so many more animals. Our guide was nice, the group was nice and we stayed at a nice camp close to Masai Mara, sleeping in comfortable beds in tents. The only thing I am a bit hesitant about, is that I think we got too close to the animals. It was absolutely not only us, but almost every other van from other companies (mostly Bonfire), that drove very close to the animals, and we were about 15-20 vans in the same spot sometimes. I later, when I got back, read that you're not supposed to be more than five vans and you're not supposed to get close than 25 metres from the animals.
I wish more companies would respect that. (as I said before, it semis almost no one doesn't). And of course I was really happy to see so many animals so close, but when for example four cheetahs surrounding a zebra were followed, and in their turn surrounded by 20 vans - it didn't feel as if it were on the animals' conditions.
But overall it was amazing to see so many animals, and our guide really did his best to find lots of them.
BR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very good experience, recomend it.
We hired from Deepforestsafaris two itineraries, one for a hiking experience in Mount Kenya (5 days) and a safari tour , both for a mid-range budget.
The usual questions arise, payments, organization, safety and etc. and the company was always very engaging and responsive. I felt safe with their work, and that is a really important thing traveling to a place you don’t know such as Kenia.
My experience to Mt Kenia was good, and organization wise I was rather happy. Nonetheless, we had some trouble in the last day regarding the amount of hiking, that was an issue with the local guide preparations. Reparations were made but I recommend that you discuss in depth your itinerary before closing, once it can be a demanding hike.
Our safari the experience was amazing! Our safari guide, Sammy, was very friendly and great in finding and spotting animals, especially the big 5 that we were so eager to see. Whatever trouble would arise – possible in Kenia duo to bad roads, unforeseen climate and etc, he was already prepared and made it as little as possible an inconvenience in our daily routine. Great guide.
All and all, a quite good trip, and a good cost benefit for our budget!
NL
It was a very nice 2 day safari. Good prep and nice drive and stay.
The service was very nice. It was a good driver and a very nice stay in the park.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Awesome 9-day-safari with Edward & 4 leopards
We did a great 9 day tour with Edward to Massai Mara, Nakuru, Amboseli, Hells Gate and Tsavo East/West. It was booked as a budget tour with tented camps, some lodges (mostly outside parks, two inside) and one night of real camping in hells gate. Most of the accommodations exceeded our budget expectations esp. Oldarpoi Camp and Amboseli AA Lodge were very nice.
We were also extremely lucky with animals as we saw 4 leopards altogether, many many lions, 2 cheetahs, several rhino (I don't count elephants, zebras and giraffes anymore) . Saw the big five actually in the 1st two days at Massai Mara. Every park has its highlights and differences. It was wonderful. You need to know that roads to and in the parks can be very rough, though. Journeys to and from the parks were very exhausting, esp.the one to Massai Mara. And good roads in Kenia are generally full of overloaded and very slow lorries. Nothing much FlashMC can do about that, maybe improvement of suspension on the safari bus. ;)
Our guide and driver Edward managed all those things most greatly though. He is a well organized, very responsible und very lovable guy and a skilled driver too. We had a lot of fun together and he even taught us a Kenian card game (so bring a pack of cards). ;) Peter, the tour manager, is also a very nice guy, working hard to please every customer. He even met us persoally just to say hello. I am a very controlling person, so I asked a lot of questions beforehand which Peter answered all duly. Thus nearly everything went as planned. Upon request Peter also organized a day in Hells Gate incl. pitching tents inside the park with an extra guide who did a bicycle and canyon tour with us and also a cook for evening dinner. This was extremely cool and very adventurous. Merely the tents (brought by the extra guide) were in pretty chaotic and bad condition. Luckily our own camping experience made it all work out that night (of course we feedbacked all this to Peter). ;) Thank you, Edward and Peter!! We won't forget this great holiday!