DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Our tourguide Gerald is very kind, knowing and always busy to let the tour become special !!
Communication via email top !!
Only thing: ...would have loved to get some specialized informations about visa for Uganda or best stuff to wear for the trip in advance ;-)
The tourguide Gerald was a top leader, who did everything to make the tour special !!
JP
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent private safari tour arrangement with good consideration and reasonable price.
I asked several Safari tour companies to give the quotes for a week private tour.
Sino Africa Safari proposed us the best plan to consider carefully for our expectations include price, itinerary, and so on.
Also they provided many valuable suggestions in advance, and whenever I sent the questions by email, Jong quickly give me the detailed answer. They were very helpful for us to prepare the trip, what we need to bring or not.
If you expect 5 star tour, I will not recommend Sino Africa Safari. But you expect 3-4 star tour with reasonable price, I strongly recommend this agent.
Two points I would suggest Sino to improve.
1. Make better selection for the hotel in Nairobi
2. Upgrade the Safari car from normal mini-van to Safari special car, such as TOYOTA Land Cruiser.
Sino arranged us the normal mini-van, the driving capability in off-road are relatively lower than those special cars. Our car sometime stuck or nearly stuck, and need to change the route due to the poor driving capability of the car, though the Land Cruiser easily pass those roads.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The trek itself was amazing but we had some troubles in the office
Our trek was brilliant. We went up the Sirimon route and got photos of us crossing from the southern the northern hemisphere. It was so scenic and our guides were so lovely. We were really looked after with delicious food and hot drinks and even popcorn and biscuits at snack time! We took an acclimatisation day, so it became a 5 day trek. I'd really recommend this as I was huffing and puffing on the acclimatisation day where we did a small walk up the mountain and back down to the same camp as the night before, but the next day on summiting I felt fine. On summit day we walked up by headtorch and the stars were like nothing I had seen before. We reached the summit for sunrise and it was one of the best experiences of my life. We came down Chogoria and that was stunning too. I felt very looked after throughout the whole trek.
Sadly our office experience was not so good. The company said they used a higher exchange rate than the national rate without explaining why. They also struggled to evidence this. They also didn't accept dollars in cash if the notes were from before 2007. Apparently this is a Kenyan-wide thing but I did feel these issues with paying should've been outlined before as we ended up paying a fair amount more than we were expecting.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great safari experience
Our safari guides were very knowledgeable and caring and provided very good experience. The office staff was very responsive to our questions. The Safari jeep came with a cooler which was great to keep the drinks cold. The seat covers were old and could use cleaning and that is the only reason for 4 stars instead of 5.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
had a good time with them
I went on a 5-day tour as a solo traveler with Buyaga Safaris and had a great experience. I went with the itinerary details and choice of lodges as proposed by them and was quite happy with it. Unfortunately some unforeseen car issues caused some disruptions along the way, but my guide was always looking for solutions without compromising my experience.
From the get-go I felt that I was in good hands with Buyaga Safaris. Thank you Peter for this fun and interesting trip!
US
Five stars for George, he was the perfect guide. Minus one star for Hell’s Gate bike ride.
George was our guide for the first four days, and he made them amazing days. He is not only a good guide, but a good person to spend many hours with. He was incredibly knowledgeable about all the animals we found. He knew how to find the more elusive animals (leopard, cheetah) and often we were the first safari van to find one of these special animals, due to his understanding of their movements and habits. He was patient in waiting for good viewing angles and opportunities. And he answered all our (many, many) questions about the large animals, the small ones, the birds, the bugs, and the plants. He even explained larger topics like the Kenya’s history and culture.
His personality was a perfect fit for us. Calm and present. He was attentive to every question, but did not fill silence with meaningless chatter. He thought carefully about his answers to our questions, and clearly understood the science behind the natural world. We really appreciated the space he gave us to talk amongst ourselves, or just enjoy the sounds of nature.
For the final day, George left and Obama became our guide. He was friendly and full of jokes. We visited Hell’s Gate that day. The park is nice, with some dramatic geological features and populations of zebra, impala, giraffes, and buffalo. The negative was the bike rental. We asked Obama about price but were told to wait and see, even after he spoke to the bike tour guide on the phone. When we met the bike tour guide, Obama explained his guide fee as 300 shillings, but the man corrected him to 1500. Then we had to pay a bunch of small fees, including the guide’s park entry fee and even his bike fee. We rented the guide’s bike for him, from him. The guide had a thick accent and a frequent cough. He mostly pointed to animals.
Only later did we see other tourists without guides and realize the guide was optional. We asked for some privacy and our guide rode ahead and mostly let us bike at our own pace.
One purpose the guide apparently serves is scaring away buffalo by clapping. So give the buffalo plenty of space and clap them away if they’re too close - they can be dangerous.
Finally, Alan was a responsive organizer and answered our emails promptly. Much appreciate that
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Brilliant!
Aroni (Arouni / Rooney) went above and beyond! He was very knowledgeable about important sites along the route. He was always punctual and courteous and drove well.
The tour was such good value and we saw so many animals even though we only did a one night safari. Accommodation excellent!
ES
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Extensive tour: Malagasy Travel
Since initial contact, Malagasy Travel were extremely helpful, efficient and prompt with all replies. They adapted their offering to my needs and finally I opted for a group tour of Madagascar, offering an extensive visit of the Island. It was a 15 day tour covering South, East and West.
We were given an itinerary and were warned that there would be some long days driving. However many of the highlights of the island were covered and the trip offered good value for money compared to other tours I saw offered by other companies. While the tour was enjoyable, the reality was that we spent much longer in the tour bus than anticipated (three days over 12 hours a day, and most days at least six hours!) Admittedly this was due to deterioration of the roads during lockdown, and beyond Malagasy Travel control. Malagasy Travel listened and tried to take on board our concerns and slightly adapted the itinerary to try and make the travelling less arduous. However it was still unavoidable and way too long to spend on the road in a bus which was far from comfortable! Overall I feel that I saw most of Madagascar through the van window. On hindsight I would opt to see less of the island but spend longer in each destination. Madagascar is a beautiful island, the people are warm hearted and friendly and I shall definitely be back.
IN
I recommend them
I had a good experience with Safari Trackers. Got great pics of different animals in their natural habitat. I was lucky to get to witness the wildebeest crossing Mara River. My guide Charles knew all yhe good spots for animal viewing. Would definitely recommend them to anyone visiting Tanzania for safari experience.
IT
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
efficient
Very good rangers, lovely lodges, fantastic parks!!! Food in lodges very repetitive, this is the only negative point. All the rest great