US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful 2-week Tour!
Two of us took an incredible 2 week vacation in Kenya and Tanzania in January. We started planning this trip 16 months ago. The first company we booked with turned sour, but luckily gave us a full refund. Upon excellent reviews on TripAdvisor, we ended up then booking with Amazing Memories Safaris and what a great decision that was. Anne (general manager) was great to work with, answering my emails & questions and planning out & booking our trip. We were on a budget, so we needed a mid-range priced tour and Anne delivered. We were impressed with the camps and lodges we stayed at; most were 3.5–4 Star ratings. Not super fancy, but they were surprisingly comfortable and enjoyable. The autos we traveled in weren’t new or perfect, but they got us through the mud and we LOVED the pop-up roofs for viewing.
We visited Samburu, Ol Pejeta, Lake Nakuru, Naivasha, Masai Mara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro & Amboseli. Can't really say what our favorite park was as they all were unique and wonderful. Our driver/guide in Kenya was Joseph; with 20 years experience he was such a great asset and really made for an excellent tour experience. It was uncanny how he could spot the animals, network with other drivers, and was just simply a friendly, thoughtful and pleasant person to be around. We happily invited him to share a few meals with us, just to spend more time with him and hear of his life, tour experiences and Kenya.
In Tanzania, we were turned over to a partner company called Migada Adventures Tours & Safaris. (Evidently Kenya drivers can’t do Tanzania, and visa versa). Donald was our driver for 3 days; a good driver. Again, Anne coordinated all this for us, and going through immigrations/visa at the border, going and coming, was easy and simple.
The only negative issue we had (and it wasn't really their fault, I guess) was when we arrived into Nairobi at 10pm on a Sunday night, there were only 4 Kenya immigration/visa agents processing all the passengers on our Boeing 747 plane. It took us 2.5 hours to be processed and there was still more passengers behind us that waited longer. Not smart on Kenya’s part. Our driver, waiting for us, left… guess they figured we missed our flight. We had to take a taxi to our hotel. Amazing Memories apologized and refunded to me the money I spend for the taxi. But beyond that issue... our tour was WONDERFUL and was truly a trip of a lifetime.
We highly recommend Amazing Memories Safaris and would choose them again for tours in East Africa.
Now, if interested… some tips for fellow travelers, from our 2-week tour experience:
1. Take lots of new or newer USD for tipping, Visa’s, village visits & drinks at camps. We took about $1200; part of which was $200 in new $1 bills and they really came in handy tipping porters, housekeeping, waiters and security people. We found out that tips left in ‘camp tip boxes’ don’t always trickle down to staff. Staff genuinely appreciated the personal tips. Most camps & roadside shops, took Visa/MC, but not all. We did withdraw $200 in Kenya Shillings from ATM – probably only needed $100.
2. Tipping: We followed Anne’s advice of tipping $10 to $20 USD per day per person to our driver/guide and $10 USD per day per room to Camp Tip Box.
3. After reading lots of blogs on the internet on what clothes to take on safari (i.e. only beige colors; no black, white, blue, camo, bright colors), our experience was that it really didn’t matter… take & wear what you have and are comfortable in. Don’t go out and buy a whole new wardrobe. You will see people wearing everything. In warmer parks… we wore shorts and tank tops, comfortably. We found our converted zip-off pants to shorts, invaluable.
4. It sounds like "high season" is July-Sept, when the Migration happens. Yes, we missed that, but we are so happy we went in "low season" as the large crowds in the parks were gone, temperatures were comfortable, hardly any bugs, and in two of the camps... we were the only ones there. Very personal service & memorable.
5. We really didn’t need it, since we didn’t see many bugs… but before we left for Africa, I treated our shirts, pants & shorts with Sawyer Insect Repellent; just spray on and let dry. Our Friends that do a lot of traveling swear by it for controlling bugs.
6. Ahead of the tour, we were a little concerned about the food we would eat in East Africa. Don’t worry… Lot’s of great food at camps and lodges and we never went hungry. Lot’s of rice.
7. Wi-Fi was spotty or non-existence at most lodges and camps we went to. Don’t expect to rely on it.
8. Expect some long days, riding many hours on dirt, dusty & bumpy roads. We found the roads in Tanzania are better than in Kenya. I wear contacts so can’t tolerate dust. I took with me some compact padded motorcycle goggles (Global Vision Aerodynamic Eyewear) and they really saved me a couple of days in avoiding the dust.
9. Last comment-Our opinion: You will spend a lot of money for a trip like this. You will enjoy your vacation in Africa more if you go with the right attitude. Not everything will be perfect. Don’t be demanding. Just go with the flow and you will then be pleasantly surprised and appreciate the African experience more.
NL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
tour was nice but costed more, and was shorter then agreed, promised shirts were not deleivered
We arived from the airport in our hotel at 8.00 a.m. We asked at the hotel reception if we could do a safari Nairobe NP. They advised us not to do because it was too hot and to late when we would arive. They called Tour Kenya Safari Heights and they offered a citty tour vissiting 1) Elephant Orphanage 2) Giraffe Centre 3) Nairobe Animal
Orphanage 4)Kenyatta International Congress Centre 5) Nairobe National Museum and a lunch somewhere during the day. The man at the reception called in my presence, saying that it would be $60 each. I agreed on the $120 for the both of us and that we would be picked up at 9.30 a.m. We unpacked our stuff and I stick $120 and a few thousend Ksh in my pocked and went down to the reception to wait. Meshack and Diana arived at 10.40 A.m. because of traffic jam. We got in the car and got on our way. Then she said that it was 120 dollar each. The elephant orphanage is opened only between 11.00-12.00 and we got there at 11.10. After that we went to the Giraffe Centre which was nice and we got a lunch in a beautiful garden. Then we went unasked to a souvenir shop. The animal orphanage was next which we had to pay with our credit card because they didn't have money on their M-Pesa system. Then going to the KICC was a beautiful vieuw on top. it was 4 p.m and no use to go to the national museum any more because it closed at 5 p.m. They brought us back to the hotel and they promised us T-shirt with the big 5 on it when we would get back to Nairobi. They would deliver it to our hotel 14 days later. I fetched the extra $ 120 and Meshack gave me his card for contact. Back in our room we had a double feeling. We had a fun day but payed far to much for what we got. 14 days later we traveled back to Nairobe. I called him at 8.a.m.to ask if he would deliver the shirts to the Hotel. He confirmed that he would. When we arived at the hotel at 6 p.m. there were no T-shirts. The hotel made the phone call another 3 times but it was not answered.
if they would have brought the T shirts then we would still have felt overcharged. But now they didn't keep their promise we really feel screwed and overcharged. We had a beautiful 2 weeks aranged with sombody else in Nakuru with Masai Mara; Lake Nakuru; Hell's Gate; boat on Lake Naivasha and more. we did not get overcharged anymore. We would not go with Tour Kenya Safari Heights again.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great way to travel with kids!!
We travelled around Tanzania (4 adults, 3 kids) with Let’s view Tanzania. We had our own tour which we planned, 4WD Toyota Land cruisers at each Trip of call at our disposal, an English speaking guide when we went to tourist attractions, great food ordered in advance (they catered well for the kids). Overall it was an easy holiday!
ES
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great experience, perfectly organized
Kenya is a beutiful country, and visiting ir is a priviledge. Beverly made the experience even better by arranging for a trip that was perfectly tailored to our needs and our budget. She was available during the trip to provide any support we might have needed.
Our safari driver and guide (Francis) was extraordinary, friendly, truly professional and he clearly knew what he was doing when driving aorund the parks. I would definitely recommend this company if you are planning your next trip.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Absolutely brilliant!
Cuan was amazing, he planned everything perfectly. We couldn’t fault anything from the luggage storage, air and land transfers arranged to the places we visited and the wonderful safaris. He was extremely prompt with his email responses and patient when we were deciding what we wanted to do. The whole experience from the planning with Cuan to the safaris was well beyond our expectations, unforgettable and was worth every penny. Cuan’s father looked after our bags in J’burg whilst we were on Safari which made our holiday stress free as we had luggage we couldn’t take on the small planes. The staff and the service at all the places we stayed were wonderful. They encourage their accomodation to feel like your home and bend over backwards to help you in any way and make your holiday memorable and special. The food is delicious and there is so much variety and ample food-no one will go hungry! The experience with the animals is perfect and can’t be described- it is something everyone should experience, it is so special and we can’t wait to come back and start planning our next Safari adventure. Thank you Cuan for planning the most unforgettable and special honeymoon!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Do not do it!
Joseph did not deliver on our tour, and stole our money. Our family was devastated. Please do not select this tour, we never got our refund.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The best Experience!
Congo Discovery Safaris helped me fine tune my itinerary so it would suit me down to the very last detail. I had an amazing adventure in Rwanda, DRC and Uganda and did many things including gorilla tracking in Congo and a climb of Mont Bisoke in Rwanda.
I was a bit concerned before going about safety and visa etc but I was helped with all of those issues and everything went very smooth. even when I wanted to swap a hotel for another, it was not a problem. Barack (Company chief) and his team are honest, knowledgable and passionate about their jobs and we had many laughs together on this trip as well as me learning a lot about the this part of Africa.
CH
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
reliable and very fast responses to our questions
we had an amazing and exhausting trip to/with the gorillas. Ambrosi our driver was very nice and made the trip to/from Bwindi as confortabe as I could be. The lodge and meals were also very good, in summary a great experience.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience and amazing guide
Everything was perfect from A to Z, the guide, the food, the game drive, the lodge, the people.
AE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Lionel and his team did a marvellous job in getting us all up Kilimanjaro.
Cannot praise the Kilimanjaro team enough. From start to finish we were well looked after and the enthusiasm of the team to ensure we met our goals was just fabulous. I will have for my lifetime many fond memories of the team and the whole experience of climbing Kilimanjaro. Thank you Zuri.
