20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Worst ever experience
As expats in Kenya, we have taken many safari trips, and the recent one to Masai Mara with Lenchada was unfortunately our worst ever experience. We chose this company out of their overwhelmingly good reviews on safaribookings.com. That probably means that most of their drivers are excellent. But our driver, named Tony, was an exception by a large margin.
Tony clearly hates his job and was cold and rude to us throughout the trip. Every time we met at the beginning of a game drive, he never greeted us and only responded to our greeting with a node. He never helped with our luggage either. During game drives, he never asked us or even notified us before starting the vehicle after a stop, never caring if we wanted to stay for longer. In several cases this interrupted our ongoing photography of animals, and sometimes even worse—the abrupt move of the vehicle on the bumpy road of Masai Mara caused us to fall on the seat. All three of us hit our knees on the armrest of the seats for a few times, and we all got bruises. Having paid a little more to take a private tour rather than a shared one, we expected that we could customize the game drives to a reasonable extent. When we tried to communicate with him about our preferences in animal viewing, however, Tony responded impatiently with cold words such as “You have to be patient,” “I have to follow instructions from the radio.”
And his words about following the radio turned out to be a lie, because his vehicle was not equipped with a radio! A radio is important for any safari trip, and especially for Masai Mara, since the natural reserve is simply too large. Even during the migration season, most part of Masai Mara at any given time would still be empty, and without a radio, on which dozens of drivers share their findings real-time, you will very likely end up not finding anything interesting for a whole hour. Two of the three of us fell asleep for around twenty to thirty minutes during the game drive. In the past we have taken safari trips in less renowned destinations and during low seasons, but the experiences have never been so boring for us that we fell asleep. It may be unbelievable that this happened in Masai Mara during the migration season, but when you don’t see any noteworthy animal for dozens of minutes it would be hard to stay awake. We did get to see some big cats, but that was only possible when we luckily encountered another vehicle that had radio, whose driver kindly shared the information, and our vehicle then made a U-turn to go back in the opposite direction for some fifteen minutes to get to the spot. With a radio we would probably have spent thirty minutes less to get there.
When we realized this problem, we contacted Alex, the managing person of Lenchada. Alex was responsive and attentive. He apologized for our experience, clarified that the driver’s practice of not carrying radio to a game drive is intolerable and against the company’s rules, and told us that he will soon make a thorough check on all the vehicles of his company to make sure that they must have radios. For us, however, the only thing he could offer as a remedy was to extend our final game drive by departing the lodge one hour earlier than planned. We appreciated his supportive attitude and accepted the offer, understanding that it was probably already all he could do within his capability. Tony was late, cutting the extended game-drive time from one hour to less than forty minutes. But the length of the trip turned out not a big issue, because during that extended final game drive, we again fell asleep, for the simple reason that the vehicle still didn’t have radio and we still had not much to see most of the time.
Although Tony had no radio, he attempted to cheat us by saying that he had one. It was only during the second day of the trip, when we heard him responding to another driver asking about information on animal spotting, saying in Swahili “Sina redio” (I don’t have a radio) that we realized he had been lying. When we contacted Alex about this concern, Alex hosted a three-way phone call with us and Tony. To our surprise, in the phone call Tony lied to his boss and insisted that he had a radio which he simply turned off because it was noisy. On our way back to Nairobi, Tony even blamed us for telling his boss about the radio issue, and still insisted that he has radio. When we pointed to the antenna holder in the front of his vehicle, where there was no antenna at all, he said that for some vehicles the antenna is in the back. But one only needs to get off the vehicle and look at its back to know that there’s no antenna there either. For so many times, Tony lied through his teeth.
Tony also told us that because of our complaint, he was going to lose his job. Due to his repetitive blatant lies, we would not believe in what he said. But if what he said is indeed true, that would be an indication that Lenchada really cared about their customers and promptly fired this unprofessional, dishonest, and rude employee. Such a person should simply not be allowed to work in this industry.
In other aspects of our trip that are unrelated to the driver, our experience was mostly positive. For example, the lodge was a good balance of quality and price. It is way cheaper than any accommodation inside Masai Mara, yet it’s only a ten-minute drive to the gate. Since their boss Alex is a responsible and honest person, and since there are many good reviews out there, choosing Lenchada for your safari may still be a good idea. But you have to make sure that your driver is not Tony, otherwise all those good reviews will be totally irrelevant to your actual experience.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Knowledgeable, friendly and professional
We took this trip for our honeymoon and it was absolutely incredible - our guide Oswald was very friendly and knowledgeable about everything, helping us with anything we needed through the trip and packing the days with safari. Pendo and the Lion King company were incredibly helpful and went above and beyond at every opportunity, including helping sort out baggage that was delayed at the airport. The safari itself was amazing, full of loads of different types of animals and the lunches they provided were always delicious (proper rice, chicken, beans, veg lunch, not a sandwich in sight!). The accomodation was stunning every step of the way - if you are done with a game drive I recommend getting back slightly early for a day or two to enjoy the pools at the camps. A fantastic trip!
CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Red Africa Safaris delivered on everything they promised and gave us a once in a lifetime experience
Red Africa Safaris, and our guide Jaco, delivered on their promise of a trip of lifetime. Having never been to South Africa or on a safari, we were unsure what we were doing or how to make our dreams a reality. Red Africa Safaris took care of everything and put together an experience that was truly awesome. They took care of all the details and delivered on all of them, meaning we were able to relax and enjoy the magic of a safari in Kruger National Park. We couldn't have been happier with this stress free experience that kept delivering the 'wow' factor we were hoping for. The detail and planning that Red Africa put into our trip was outstanding, but what really made our safari the trip of a lifetime was our guide, Jaco. We spend 4 days with Jaco and he was unfailingly kind, fascinating, knowledgeable, reliable and easygoing. He took such good care of us and was deeply invested in making sure we had a fantastic time while also helping us to appreciate and understand what we were encountering. Could not recommend Red Africa Safaris highly enough or express our profound thanks to Jaco for bringing Kruger National Park alive for us. 5 Stars.
VE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very well organized itinerary, reliable and excelent communication and Services
Africa Starpal Safaris went beyond our expectations when we traveled to kenya to witness the wildebeest migration. We did 5 day Nakuru and masai mara safari with my wife then went to Zanzibar for 4 nights. This was the first time we all see the big 5 animals. We then took a few days on Zanzibar to snorkel in the turquoise ocean and sight see historic Stonetown where Paul assisted us with also booking our flight to Zanzibar. The local contacts were professionally-trained wildlife guides and more knowledge on wildlife . Our accommodations and meals were 5-star fabulous and the staff at each safari camp and beach resort went above and beyond to give us a memorable, luxurious experience. We will use Starpal safaris once again and highly recommend them to family and friends. Thanks, all the team, for a well organized, highly enjoyable, and stress free trip.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Hallmark Travel Planners is professional, knowledgeable, service oriented, friendly and world class
Levis from Hallmark Travel Planners was our key contact. We started our planning with Levis ~3 years ago and due to COVID, our trip was delayed. Levis (and his team) are truly world class, were timely with all our questions via email and were extremely friendly & service oriented. When you begin the daunting process of selecting the travel company you want to work with, it was not easy and after significant online research...my wife and I decided on Hallmark. We could not be more pleased! Our 3 week trip to Egypt, Rwanda and Kenya was truly magical. All small details were executed on flawlessly and we highly recommend Hallmark Travel Planner! If you are looking for a personalized experience with top notch attention to detail, Levis is your guy. Levis was always very open and honest with us, and shared all the needed details to assist our planning. He helped us better understand all the COVID policies for each country, process to follow to secure our visas and all other required travel documents. My wife and I really value the service Levis provided and his insight greatly brought us a "peace of mind" in knowing we had a true partner helping us plan our trip, not simply a vendor who was checking the box and taking our money. Levis proactively offered supplemental info to help us plan, listened to all our needs and then helped us design the trip that matched our "trip of a lifetime!". Simply a wonderful experience and we highly recommend Levis and Hallmark Travel Planners. Chris & Liz Van Anne from Colorado, USA
ES
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Was a unforgettable trip
We are a family formed by two adults and two teenagers of 15 and 18 years old. We have juste arrive from a Safari in Tanzania, visiting during five days PN Tarangire, Ngorongoro and Serengeti with Nisha Safaris. Our experience has been fantastic, amazing, we could see lions, guepards, elephants, hippos...only a few meters of our 4x4 thanks to the ability of Maxi our guide. He knows very well the enviroment and offers a great organization, with the lodges and tender camps, the timetables, the lunch, we had lunch under a tree in the middle of Serengeti. He was also in charge of the transfer from and to the airports, and then after 5 days of safary we spend another 5 days in a fantastic hotel in Page, Zanzibar, with tourquose waters, white sand and the paradise of kitesurf which let us to disconnect of the rest of the world in a quiet place with almost nobody in the huge beach.
Thanks a lot Maxi for this unforgettable trip! We hope see you again!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A dream come true
Everythig was arranged according to our plan. When we arrived for a 5-day Safari, we were met by our guide Ayubu, this guy is are knowledgable and helful.
We would recommend this agency for your next trip
ES
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Perfect safari
Everything as expected and discussed with them, after having spoken with them by mail and doing a tailor-made safari for us. Everything was perfect from the pick-up at the airport until they dropped us back there. The hotels and the camp were much better than expected despite having chosen the basic option.
We got to see the big5 and hundreds of animals, and thanks to our driver, Charles, we always had the best spot for photos. We would repeat without a doubt
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
I say just two words: Top experience!
I liked Safari tour so much, it was perfect experience. I won’t forget it ever. Everything was okay! Communications, service, price. I can’t complain. It was an adventure for me! I’ve seen many animals, culture of Massai people and others, met new people, nature. I’ve eaten traditional food from the best cook! Our jeep was driven by the best driver! And owner of Meijo Safaris really takes care of his clients. He was very kind, helpful. He wanted to meet each other after Safari because he always does! He wanted to know what we felt after this. I can just recommend it to everyone! :))
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent. We could enjoy both parks at all. Perfect tourist guide and chef. I will do it again with
Excellent. We could enjoy both parks at all. Perfect tourist guide and chef. I will do it again with this company and Felipe and John