BE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Perfect !
Isaya is an excellent guide and driver! the organization of the stay was perfect! i highly recommend kihindo tours and safaris!!
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A fantastic safari, a fantastic experience
The safari was fantastic in terms of the variety of habitat and the range of animals seem and we had a great time as a family.
What made it though was our driver and guide, Josen, and our chef, Ben who were both outstanding.
Josen, was engaging and informative and enabled plenty of time for photographs. He was always friendly, polite and relaxed.
He was also a brilliant spotter seeing animals which we would never have seen otherwise; notably a cheetah and their cubs, a lioness hunting and a a lioness with her cubs (amongst many others). He engaged both our teenagers really well.
Ben provided cooked meals throughout of a restaurant quality which was outstanding in a camping kitchen and catered well for two vegetarians. He was always happy and polite. The variety was great with no repetition of dishes, good portions and something for everyone.
The parks included Tangarire, Lake Manyare, Serengeti and Ngorogoro crater; all fantastic in different ways. We were lucky enough to see pretty much everything you could hope to see in terms of animals and habitat.
On a more practical level. The vehicle was in good shape. Simple things like drinks and regular toilet breaks were always thought of. The tents were always swiftly put up. The campsites were what you would expect for camping (in particularly spectacular locations at times).
The company offered transfer from the Mount Kilimanjaro airport to a modest but perfectly reasonable and secure hotel iand then after the safari back to the hotel with an inclusive transfer to Arusha airport.
A couple of side trips were appreciated as we had the luxury of a bit of time over 7 days. This included a cultural tour of a village which was engaging and did not patranise the local people; including local agriculture, a traditional drinking place and a an art cooperative - there were chances to buy good quality goods but no pressure to.
Separately visiting the Olduvai was interesting and humbling in terms of learning about our human origins.
A deposit in advance was expected which was a bit daunting based mainly on trip advisor and safari.com but in retrospect we have no regrets.
I very rarely get excited to this degree about experiences but this was experience we will really remember and treasure.
If you want a brilliant safari
- I would choose this one
IL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Real True Professionals
My experience with the company was unbelievable.
I took the 4-day Mid-Range Safari Tour (Tarangire, Serengeti, and Ngorongoro National Parks).
Hilary and Ally (The managers) went out of their way to ensure that my Safari tour would be as enjoyable as it could be. They took care of everything from top to bottom.
Our Tour Guide and driver "J.T" was amazing. Not only that he was very knowledgeable, but he was also extremely funny.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Professional, well-run operation, attentive to all details and wonderful host.
I've been to Kenya 4 times now and Classic Journeys Africa was by far the most well-run operation in every aspect. Their personal interaction with clients and great care to make our safari affordable, exciting, safe and comfortable was a rarity to find in the touism industry. What a pleasue to deal with them. Will go back on one of their safari trips next summer for absolutely sure.
NO
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great operator, fantastic guide and amazing memories
Mara Tirangle Safaris staff where most helpful, both planning the trip and during the trip when some of the group members had flight problems, and did not arrive as planned. Mara Triangles Safari had no problem to organize an new pickup at airport at a later time.
David, our driver and guide, was very friendly and had a lot of knowledge about animals and where to find them. We had good talks all the way, and we learned a lot about the life in Kenya and the parks we visited.
We experienced all the Big 5, and a lot of other different animals. It was just amazing, and we had an amazing time.
IL
The champion of African safaris
Afrimine tours is the most professional safari company I have ever met
CZ
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing safari, once in a lifetime holiday
This August, it was our first time in Kenya and we are happy we chose Kenny, who turned out to be essential for our trip. Everything was agreed in advance via email. Kenny always replied fast with good English and in comparison with other companies he seemed to be much more pro-active and just nice overall :-)
He organized a private safari tour for the two of us based on our requirements, 6 nights / 7 days in 3 parks - Masaai Mara, Lake Nakuru, Amboseli. It began with a pick up from an airport hotel in Nairobi and finished by a drop off at the Diani Beach (south of Mombasa).
We want to thank to our driver Mr. Jammlick who was very professional, punctual and experienced guide. I especially appreciate that he didn't take unnecessary risks. We have seen other drivers take bad routes and fail, damaging their car and having to fix it. Not this one. We felt absolutely safe with him.
Thanks to Jammlick we also saw the Big 5 in just 3 days :-), not just once, and much more: our expectations were met and exceeded! We saw so many animals and on our last game drive we were (Jammlick was, to be correct) the first to spot a lioness hunting!
Kenny called us several times during our safari to check if everything was going well (game drives, lodges etc.) and he really cared if we were enjoying our time in Kenya which was nice of him. Later for our last day in Kenya he also organized as per our request a one-day trip in Nairobi which originally wasn't part of the plan.
If you are choosing a company for your safari, I can truly recommend Keron. They all will do their best to make you happy. The trip will be private, tailor-made and Kenny is ready to adjust it to fit your budget.
The only thing to be careful about is making sure all documents, especially dates, names and numbers are right :-) In our case Kenny admitted that he has made an error mistaking our safari with a different group that was supposed to arrive a week later. Luckily, I noticed the wrong dates on accomodation vouchers few days before our arrival. Although it didn't affect us, it surely was a tough time for Kenny. Some of our lodges were overbooked so he upgraded us and after our safari, instead of traveling by train (Nairobi to Mombasa) we were offered to fly directly to Diani (Nairobi to Ukunda) for the same price :-)
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Absolute Best Tour Operator - Fantastic Experience!
Picking a tour operator for an 8 day safari was not easy. We wanted to go with a local company, and going by the 5 star reviews we picked African Big Cats. How lucky we were! No words can describe how fantastic this company is. From the beginning with Justice, the communication was quick and clear, they totally catered to all our wishes. The camps they choose were fantastic, and when Emmanuel learned that 1 of our camps was overbooked he swiftly upgraded us to a wonderful 5* camp, Acacia Bliss which we totally enjoyed. Thanks for that! But the very, very best thing was our tour guide Endeni, a walking encyclopedia - knowing everything about the animal world, the people and culture of his beautiful country. We spent 8 days with him and we still miss him! Such a caring man with a sense of humor. We went to see the wildebeest migration and we were not only able to see the crossing once, but 3 times! Endeni always made sure we had the best views and was always able to find animals, birds and little critters. It was just such an increadible experience and African Big Cats made it all possible for us. I can only say, please book your safari with them, you won't regret it! Absolute the best there is!
CZ
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
very good experience, friendly, informal, reliable
Pros
- good communication, all e-mails were answered in a few hours
- flexibility, they organized an unscheduled day in Nairobi for us including visit of former US Embassy destroyed by terrorist blast in 1998, one of the highlights of our trip besides national parks
- we probably got to see as much as we could in such a short time thanks to the great itinerary
- reasonable price for this category of safari trip
- excelent driver and guide David, always in a good mood, helpful, never tired of answering our questions or satisfying our endless need for the best picture spot, wonderful character we will never forget
Cons
- even though they say on the website that they do accept credit cards they do not, after we refused requested cash payment, we finaly agreed on Wise money transfer, cashless procedure which worked out fine but wouldn´t have to be so complicated, only dissapointment in otherwise perfect service and only reason for not giving five stars
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Absolutely the best possible choice for a safari in Tanzania!!
Amazing trip!! Anna helped us with the planning and she was great. Very patience, thorough and knowledgeable. Abu was our guide and it is hard to imagine any guide that could be better. He added so much to our trip! We had our 12 year old grandson with us and Abu was constantly engaging him in the experience in new ways. He knew so much about the animals, the birds, the plants, the customs and cultures - every question that we asked. Loved him! Highly recommend Lion King adventures!