AE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best option for a budget safari
Excellent safari. I was able to communicate with Nelson before the trip through WhatApp.
We did 3 days 2 nights in the Serengeti and ngorongoro crater. The driver was great and got always found perfect places for us to stuff to see the animals.
The cook made for very tasty meals and made sure that we always had enough food.
Camp sites where basic but included everything we needed.
VN
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
amassing journal. the classical tour in Namibia is very good. i have a lot of fun with my parents.
it is accessible for old people as well. my parents are 70+. they also enjoy the tour.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Masai Mara National Reserve by David Beck
This park is simply out of this world. The savanna and trees are just gorgeous. This must be one of the top places in the world to see wildlife.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Lake Nakuru National Park by David Beck
Beautiful lake plus a surprisingly abundance of wildlife. We even saw 4 rhinos.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fantastic experience with the incredible wildlife in both Masai Mara and Lake Nakuru National Parks
My daughter and I had the privilege to take a 'trip of a lifetime' at both Masai Mara and Lake Nakuru National Parks. Both parks had beautiful scenery and a abundance of wildlife. We saw elephants, giraffes, zebras, lions, cheetahs, warthogs, rhinos, hippos, crocodiles, etc. The weather was lovely and the accomodations were excellent. The food was delicious and the service by the Kenyans first class. Our guide, James, did an excellent job driving but more importantly was very knowledgeable about the animals. We definitely learned a lot from him. All and all it was a wonderful trip well worth the cost.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A wonderful tour, in a wonderful country!
Our 15 day Namibian Highlights tour was fabulous. Blue Crane Safaris provided us with a comfortable, well maintained vehicle, driven by Sedney our excellent driver/guide. Sedney has great knowledge of his country, it's history & culture, & the wildlife. We were very well looked after, & felt safe the whole time. This tour takes in many parts of the country, & is a great way to see the diverse features & landscapes that Namibia has to offer. We would definitely travel to Namibia again, & Derek & the team at Blue Crane would be the people to talk with to arrange it.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
5th Safari with Roho Ya Chui and service provided is 5* as always!
This was our fifth trip with Ute's help, but the first time we have booked a safari in Kenya with her, as we had previously used a Kenyan operator. Given our extremely positive experience with her during the past years for safaris in South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe, we decided to use their services for our trip which combined Kenya with Zimbabwe and everything went smoothly. Given the unexpected rains in Kenya, the camp we had originally booked in the Masai Mara was damaged, but Ute immediately worked to rebook us in another camp which ended up being a much better option since it was in a conservancy rather than in the Mara Reserve. What I love about Ute is that she responds immediately. When I have an inquiry, there is nothing more disappointing than having to wait for a response or in some cases, I've had companies even ignore my inquiries when they think it may not be enough business and don't even bother to respond, but Ute will always respond promptly. She is also very straight forward with her advice and when she thinks something is not ideal, she will also let you know. That's when her expertise is really appreciated. She's a great professional and I wouldn't hesitate one instant in recommending her company to anyone wanting a great safari experience anywhere in Africa. She will always aim to get the most reasonable price and is very detail-oriented in presenting her itineraries and quotes. I hope to be able to book a new safari with Ute as soon as possible!
DE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
life time expierience, I will never forget
In March 2020 we drove with Claws of Africa for 5 days with the guide Emanuel to Tarangire, the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro crater. It was fantastic. Everything was just wonderful. We had really impressive days. Emanuel is a very good and experienced guide. He showed us all the animals, he always had a good nose where the animals sit. The rainy season started and sometimes it was really not easy to drive through the muddy paths, but Emanuel did everything with patience and safety. At breakfast, lunchtime and in the evening we were always cooked by Tespo with a three-course menu. It was a mystery to me where he always took food from, after all, we always had it with us in the car, but he cooked it delicious in no time and we were served like royalty. We decided on a cheap tour with simple accommodation and mostly in a self-made tent. But that was also very comfortable, soft mattresses on camp beds and at night we heard the lions or the buffalos smacking grass next to us. I wasn't aware of how beautiful the landscape with the thousands of animals is, sometimes I had to pinch myself to realize that everything I saw with my eyes was really true. Everyone should go on a trip like this once in a lifetime. You will never forget it. A thousand thanks to Claws of Africa
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
FlashMc delivers 6-star FOUR SEASONS HOTEL customer service!
Peter Macharia will be the guy answering your phone calls and emails from start to finish. He's DA MAN as Africa Flash McTours and Travel is his baby! He delivers 6-star FOUR SEASONS HOTEL customer service! Seriously, they should hire him! If you want to go directly to the source and not have a bunch of middlemen in between, then look no further! Before I settled on FlashMC (which I kept mistakenly seeing as McFlash) I did research on a dozen companies in Kenya & Tanzania, 6 companies in Europe & another dozen companies in the USA. If you've read until now then STOP YOUR RESEARCH and look no further - you're welcome!
So Peter delivers on speedy communication that is easy to understand. He delivers on obstacles; if you have one he can help you get around it. He's KATO-bonded. He delivers on helping you do a turn key solution from the time you land until you take-off! But can he deliver on the safari? YOU BETCHA!
I met him after his guide, Anthony Kimondo picked us up and brought us to a quick snack station and to meet Peter (see photo). All the lodges and tented camps were as advertised. FlashMC's website is transparent about choices of accommodations, upcharges, travel times, etc. Many other websites were "contact us for pricing" or some such malarkey (never used that term but trying to bring it back - LOL).
We did a 10 day Kenya & Tanzania LUXURY tent & lodge experience. The title says "11Day Best of Kenya and Tanzania Group Camping Safari" because I could no longer find this option. You may see it listed as "Great African Rift Valley Safari" on his FlashMcTours dot com web site. We chose the "Luxury Package" over the "Standard Package."
Anthony, our guide, smiles from ear to ear and with his eyes. He's 45 and has a wife and kids at home; it was nice to gain some insight into Nairobi living from him. He's genuinely happy and laid back enough to make sure this is all about you! You want to start at 6:30 am? No problem! You want to start at 9:30 am? Hakuna Matata! At breakfast, all the other private guides wanted to sit with happy Anthony! On safari, all the other private guides wanted to say hello to Anthony and share with him what they saw. He's like the MAYOR of the Maasai Mara! Oh, and he knows his stuff! He has eagle-eyes, his head is on a swivel but yet safety first!
When we got to the Kenya-Tanzania border at Isibania, Kenya, the crossing was pretty simple. They were already protecting against CoronaVirus (CoViD-19) even tho, at the time it was rampant in the rest of the world but for Africa! Each country protects its own tourism so there are arrangements for a hand-off to another outfit. Peter uses Emanuel at Tanzania Joy and his guide was PrayGod (not misspelled). PrayGod is 31 and has a wife and new (adorable) baby son at home in Moshi. PrayGod was a thinking-man's guide! You wanted superficial knowledge about an animal; he got that! You wanted to go deep about the eco-system? Just sit back and listen to the professor! He was college-educated in this area and it showed. He used his radio for information but also used his all his senses to search for evidence so instead of looking for the lion, he listened for the baboon in the tree. He once spotted a black rhino in Ngorongoro that must have been 5 km away. PrayGod was also flexible and patient!
Thank YOU Anthony & PrayGod!
What would I change? Well we saw 28 of the 30 animals that were on the check list (attached). 93% seems like you don't need to change anything but here's my take:
LODGING:
1) The hotel chain SAROVA is INCREDIBLE! They make you feel like family. Like genuine family you love and not faking it. We stayed in 2 locations and any chance I would to stay in more would be my choice. The Mara Sarova Game (LUXURY TENTED) Camp may have been one of our highlights!
2) The hotel chain Serena is very good. A blend of African welcoming hospitality and American service efficiency.
3) In Amboselli, we stayed at Oltukai Lodge though Peter's 1st choice was Amboseli Serena Safari Lodge; Oltukai was not bad and the scenery was magnificent as were the velvet monkeys but it seemed a bit 'rookie' compared to Sarova and Serena. In retrospect, we should have stayed in the Serena property.
ITINERARY:
1) Amboselli to Lake Nakuru National Park was a LONG day filled with a lot of peripheral Nairobi traffic so not so interesting. We saw much there including the White/Wide Rhino but not sure it was worth THIS drive.
2) Maasai Mara to Serengeti was also a LONG DAY. We had to drive hours North West to the crossing and then hours South West to the Serengeti and then much further to get to our lodging. We were warned that this was the longest day and to consider a flight from Maasai Mara airstrip to the Serengeti. Peter would have arranged it and maybe we should have considered it more closely. NO REGRETS tho!
3) Ngorongoro: We were there for one night - I would have made that 2! If we had to 'steal' from somewhere else, it would have been to ditch Lake Nakuru (1-day) or to poach (okay, bad word) one of the 3 days from Maasai Mara.
CAR/TRUCK:
Your cheapest option is a safari-modified mini-van. As soon as we heard that the Toyota Landcruiser had more comfortable seat/ride, we chose the up-charge. Here's a minor thing we did not know: There are 2 styles of Landcruiser - The standard 3-row & the extended cab 4-row. In Kenya we had the 4 row and in Tanzania we had the 3 (you can see one of the attached pictures side by side). Well we were 2 people so space was not an issue but I will just mention that the 4-row has windows that are larger and 'portrait-mode' vertical rectangles to better see out of whereas the 3-row windows are more square or 'landscape-mode' horizontal. In comparison to the mini-vans both our Landcruisers had much better visibility!
The book with the best stories should be your passport and FlashMc Peter delivered! Thank YOU Peter!
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Un safari incroyable
A amazing safari
Bartho is the best, the communication with him was perfect
We see a lot of animal (lion, girafe, éléphant, rhinocéros...)
He was very hepfull to book our transfert
The safari driver was very kind too
I recommand
