65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Customer driven provider, very helpful, and very courteous!
First the positives:
1. The owner, Carol Kendi, was very patient and helpful from the very beginning and worked with me to plan our trip. She is very customer-driven and it was a pleasure to meet her in person in Nairobi. I particularly like the name of company, Kameraz of Africa, to encourage safari visitors to shoot animals through camera lenses and not through the barrel of a gun! Great idea! Keep up your zeal in this effort!
2. The tour guide, Kioko, was OUTSTANDING. He was knowledgeable and thorough and went out of his way to ensure we had all the opportunities to see as many wild animals living free in their environment, including watching 3 cheetahs hunting a small antelope. I particularly appreciate the effort he put in so that we could observe and photograph Craig, the giant tusker, in the Tsavo Conservancy next to Amboseli National Park. We also appreciate the wonderful conversations we had on a variety of topics during the long drives between the different parks. He gave us a window into life as it exists in Kenya. And we also appreciate the extra driving he had to do to go back to Lake Nakuru National Park to collect our passports and money that we had left behind in our room.
3. Visits to Amboseli National Park (NP), Masai Mara NP, and Lake Nakuru NP were excellent. Loved every minute we spent there.
4. The lodges at Lake Naivasa, the Sawela Lodge, and Lake Nakuru, the Lake Nakuru Sopa Lodge, were SUPERB. Wish we could have spent an additional night at Nakuru. They had great scenery, great food, excellent staff, and very luxurious rooms. They were very peaceful places.
Now, the not so positive things:
1. The lodge at Amboseli, the Amboseli Sopa Lodge, was OVERALL good. The food service was very clean and the food very flavorful. The staff were very, very helpful. There was no pressure to tip anyone which made it easier to give tips where necessary. The area around the lodge was very peaceful with a view of Mt. Kilimanjaro. The only negative was that the room itself was very AVERAGE.
2. The lodge at Masai Mara, the Jambo Mara Safari Lodge, was very POOR. The room was small, the bathroom was tinier and there were large crawling insects coming in through the drain pipe every night that I had to collect and throw out. The food was quite poor and both of us got sick enough that we were less than well through the rest of our journey. The worst part of it was that there were so many Masai people who wanted to be tipped. There was so much pressure to give tips to people who just sat there and provided no service. Lastly, there were tour groups from Iran who made so much noise with their loud music that it was hard to sleep and yet the staff on duty did nothing to curb their behavior. Hope this lodge is never used by this fine company in future safaris.
3. We got no value out of Lake Naivasa NP and Aberdare NP. If we knew as much as we know now, we would have instead gone to Tsavo National Park.
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Amboseli National Park by Mike
Amazing park, so many animals.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Friendly guides who helped us see lots of animals within Kruger
Friendly guides who helped us see lots of animals within Kruger
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good experience
We went on a 3 day 2 night Safari to Masai Mara.
Our driver Solomon was a very capable driver who was prompt, kept us on schedule and maneuvered to get us close to see all of the animals. We saw the big 5 thanks to his skills. We got stuck in the mud and through hard work he was able to get us out.
The reason we give 4 stars is because we felt we were not provide much information about Masai Mara (historical and present day) neither the towns we drove through. We saw animals but didn't feel like we learned much. Also, we informed Axis that we had two big suitcases as we were concerned if they would fit in the Jeep. They indicated that they should fit in the Jeep. When we arrived they informed us that the suitcases couldn't fit. We had to scramble to repack our things into our hand luggage in the tiny room in their office and then leave our big suitcases there.
Lastly I recommend providing a tip sheet so persons are better prepared. For example masks for the dust, motion sickness needs for the very bumpy roads etc.
We stayed at Enkorok camp which we review separately from Axis which we found to have exceptional service.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing safari experience
We started our journey from Germany and booked package from this operator, we had an amazing experience with safaris and stays also we got David as our guide who was really knowledgeable and friendly guide.
Although all stays organized by the operator was really awesome, I would recommend to upgrade stay in Amboseli to next level because your experience will be really upgraded(food) if you do so :)
I would rate 10/10 to our guide/host David,
and 9/10 to our travel operator(considering Amboseli s afternoon food package and stay).
ES
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very friendly and professional.
The girl who organized everything for us has been wonderful, she adjusted dates, times, prices... to adapt it to our possibilities, infinite patience!!! Ha ha ha.
We did a safari in the afternoon and another in the morning and we managed to see many animals, indescribable!!
Our driver and the safari guide, very attentive and friendly, explaining everything to us.
We were also in Victoria Falls in a Lodge 10 minutes walk from the falls.
It has been a wonderful experience and I recommend it without a doubt.
Many thanks to Paul who took us from one place to another always with a smile and infinite joy.
(automatic translation from Spanish)
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very attentive and fast in responding
The Safari was an amazing experience. Our guide Frederick was very knowledgeable, kind and also fun, he made sure we saw all the animals we wanted. The jungle pearl lodge was one of the best hotels we ever slept in, wonderful luxurious bungalows and amazing personnel. We definitely recommend!
AE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The best!
Beverly our tour operator was great and on top of things! She made our trip very easy and feasible and was a great help throughout. The experience was amazing and our safari tour guide in Kenya was absolutely the best!
NL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Great safari
We’ve had such a great safari from 7 days. It was a budget safari but we saw just as much as with an expensive tour. The drivers make sure you see the most. Just make sure you keep all writings and agreements and you will have a wonderful trip!
