35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great safari!
We booked a 8 days safari in Kenya and Tanzania with Kenya Bush Expeditions and it was a great experience! We started with Peter who was our guide in Kenya and he was really good, he was always trying really hard to get us in the best spots to see the animals really well and was really knowledgeable! Then we continued in Tanzania with Linus and John who were both really friendly as well, overall we had a great experience. We loved our time during the safari and would recommend it to anyone! The trip of a lifetime! Thanks to the Kenya Bush team for looking after us so well!
IR
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
They are very kind friendly and professional
Everything was Great on time and meet nice people
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience from start to finish
We had an incredible 4 day safari in the Masai Mara and Lake Nakuru with Beacon safaris and wish the experience could have lasted longer! Robert was a pleasure to deal with when arranging our trip and was able to amend accommodation to suit our needs and budget. He kept us well informed throughout and was very quick to respond to emails.
Once we arrived in Nairobi, our safari was carried out by James who has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the Mara, the Kenyan wildlife and everything else we asked him! James was super persistent in making sure we saw everything we wanted to see on the trip and to make sure we had good viewing spots throughout. James is clearly a very experienced safari guide and it was a pleasure to spend 4 days with him. Anyone considering using Beacon should go ahead and if you are assigned with James you are in luck! Thanks for everything, Beacon!
BE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great for Kenya, do not take them for Tanzania
Joseph at Parrot Safaris is a tour organiser that matches passengers to drivers, locations and experiences, and he is quite efficient at it in Kenya. He sent a pick-up for me at the airport, explained the Kenyan part of the trip in his office, and then sent me off with the great driver, Stanley on an excellent six-day safari in Kenya, that was supposed to be followed by a similarly excellent safari in Tanzania.
Unfortunately, Joseph doesn't seem to have a good network in Tanzania and relies on a local partner, Seven Wonders Safaris, with whom the information exchange is not great and who clearly have capacity and organisational issues. Starting on the first day when the shuttle from the border (2.5 hours late) left me at the bus station at Arusha where there was no transportation to my hotel (the Tanzanians blamed the Kenyans for not getting my arrival information, and they did not bother to ask for it), and the company representative was not waiting for me at my hotel as they were supposed to. From there the trip got a bit improvisational as things were organised with about a 12-hour forward look with freelancers doing the pre-arranged itinerary somewhat in reverse and mixing up many of the camp sites. I got a driver for the first day, who then made me get up at 6:30 to say goodbye and wait until 10 for the next driver (scheduled to arrive at 9 or even before) who was supposed to take me on a full-day game drive in Lake Manyara. Well we got about half a day, which I got to enjoy from the navigator's seat as the car was overfilled, and we had to come back at around 3pm to drop of two passengers on their way to the airport and to go back to camp to take my luggage to another camp (as the drivers did not know in the morning that I would be changing camps by the evening) - I got a feeling that the animals were hiding in the hot mid-day period and we effectively missed most of what could be seen. From the third day on the group staid together, but instead of a branded 7 Wonders car we got a freelancer with a broken radio, broken binocular and broken charging outlets (which was a pity given that this part of the trip was in camps without electricity for the next 2 nights). On the last day, we dropped a couple off in a camp, but again the driver could not tell them who would pick them up the next day and at what time... Finally, on my way home, I was supposed to be taken by a shuttle to Nairobi, but instead it was a private car, that waited 2,5 hours after my pick-up for other passengers and luggage. In all this, Joseph had no useful information on what was going on and he could get nothing out of his Tanzanian partners either. While in the end I was never in any danger (apart from being scammed by a taxi driver on the first day) and the elements of the itinerary were mostly ticked off, as Joseph's role is a facilitator of worry-free smooth experiences, I would not recommend his services for Tanzania. Indeed, in general, it might be a better idea to book the two different country safaris with local operators in each country to avoid these communication issues.
As regards the safari, the best experiences are where one can get close to nature and thus bycicling among animals in Hell's Gate in Kenya, and sleeping among zebras with visiting elephants and lions in Serengeti and Ngorongo in Tanzania were definite highlights.
In conclusion, Joseph was a good communicator and organiser for the Kenya part and his information was mostly accurate (he did claim that I would stay in the same group for the whole trip, and he did miss out in listing a number of optional paid activities, or that there would be cook expecting tips in Tanzania on top of the driver/guide that is expected). The driver for Kenya, Stanley was also excellent and while not given the best equipment, our third driver in Tanzania, Godfrey was also very good.
IT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing Safari with Suricata
Amazing trip, everything was perfect, our driver Florid was really professional and polite, he was always explaining us all the things and all the necessary to discover that amazing country. I really suggest you Suricata Safari
IL
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Excellent and efficient as usual
I always book my African travels via SafariWithUs. This was already my 6th travel with this company (2017, 2018, 2019, and 2 times in 2022) - South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Tanzania. Andre and team are extremely efficient, friendly and responsive. This last time they arranged for us stay in Umkumbe Bush lodge in Sabie Sands and this was a great experience. The rates are quite reasonable and SafariWithUs accommodates all your needs. I, personally, plan to book with them at least two African trips next year.
HR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great experience for an affordable price
I booked a 5-day safari trip through Kenya & Tanzania and it was an amazing experience - one of the highlights of my life. Everything was great and exceeded my expectations (the selected parks where the best picks, our guide was a star and overall it was dream). I've met other people that booked through many other agencies and discovered that my price was at least 10-20% less, it was very competitive if you're worried about the budget. Erick is a very trustworthy guy and I recommend his company!
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
EXCELLENT
A good communicator and a wonderful guide. I loved the way we were taken through the whole tour I felt in touch with nature and really was restful ant the end of the trip.
We communicated well there were no language barrier but yet still should we have experienced that I am sure they would have discovered a solution.
The hotels were of good standards they had variety of foods well prepared. The whole time we moved as per schedule Oh my gosh I wish I could stay thanks to KAMERAZ OF AFRICA, I would recommend them any day any time. Superb
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Professional and knowledgeable
Amazing safari experience! Our guide Jackson was a fantastic guide, very knowledgeable about all plants and animals. We got incredibly close to the wildlife. Pick up and drop off were on time and clearly communicated. The schedule felt very relaxing and fulfilling. Would highly recommend for future tours.
HK
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Baby Lions, Leopard and Cheetah, a great week with big cats and more!
We had an amazing week with our guide Khalid. He was polite, professional and well-spoken in English. From his 15 years as a safari guide we could see he has a lot of experience and knows all the good spot to find the wildlife. He was also adapting the trip to what we we would like. We wanted to spend as much time as possible looking out for the animals so most of the days we woke up a 5:30 and were some of the last to arrive in the lodge. Khalid was more than happy to do long days and always tried his best the animals.
Some of the highlights of the trip:
- in Tarangire, we have spotted an elephant eating alone close to the road. After waiting for a while he was joined by more and more elephants and we were able to see more than 20 of them up close (so were a meter or 2 away from us).
- in Central Serengeti, we saw a whole pride of lions from very close. There was one male, 7 females including that were nursing around 10 babies. It was amazing to then them a few meters away interacting with each other like that. We also saw a female unsuccessfully hunting a gazelle which was very interesting to see as we were able to observe her approaching for 30 minutes.
- in Central Serengeti, we saw a big male leopard in a tree as well as 4 cheetah (2 males sleeping on one occasion and another day a mother with a juvenile male eating a pray)
- in Northern Serengeti we saw 3 wildebeest crossings. In one of them we even saw crocodiles attacked some of the weaker wildebeest that got carried away from the group by the river.
- in the Lake Manyara, we saw some lions climbing into trees to lookout for prays in the area
We saw many different animals on several occasions on top of the one highlighted above: giraffe, hippos, hyena, jackal, buffalo, zebra, vulture, antilope.
We warmly recommend Lion King Adventure and Khalid!
