65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fantastic Safari - Great Company - Highly Recommended!
Bottom line: Excellent overall experience – would highly recommend Spirit of Kenya to my friends and family – in fact, I already have done so for friends thinking to visiting!
Have recently returned from our week-long safari, I have nothing but the highest praises for the entire Spirit of Kenya experience. Working with Vanessa to plan our trip was a comfortable and confidence inducing effort. I had been to Kenya 31 years earlier and was excited to take family members back to experience the grandeur of Kenya for themselves. Based on my prior experience, I had specific things I wanted to accomplish. Vanessa helped structure the trip so it was efficient and covered the areas I was most interested in visiting, and book accommodations that were in line with our budget, style and expectations. She was knowledgeable and responded to all my inquiries and changes very promptly and with great customer service.
Based on my prior visit, many (31) years ago, I knew the importance of working with a reputable tour company, especially one that had “in field” support from the head office and other vehicles in the parks. After doing my research, Spirit of Kenya seemed to fit criteria. It is easy to write a 5-star review for a trip where everything goes like clockwork, but earning a 5-star review when there is a hiccup is the highest of complements. DISCLAIMER: Please note that safari roads are dirt, rock and gravel and vehicles (and people) take a beating, so the following is not intended to be a reflection negatively on vehicle maintenance – hey, this is safari and things can go wrong! During our first game drive, our vehicle wouldn’t start after stopping for pictures of some of our early animal sightings. Our driver, Peter, (and other safari drivers) worked diligently to get it running, but it became clear that a mechanic would be needed. Two other Spirit of Kenya drivers had stopped to help and they quickly shuffled passengers to allow my family to continue our game drive with another driver, Dennis, until our vehicle could be fixed. By lunchtime, a mechanic had fixed the problem, Peter was there to pick us up and we continued on with him without missing a beat. We can only imagine that our experience might have been a disaster – if we were the only vehicle from a tour company in the park that day. But due to the prevalence of Spirit of Kenya and their code “We leave no one behind” there was a team on hand to make it all right. Bonus, we got to know TWO great safari guides and enjoyed meeting up joint for de-briefs other evenings at subsequent resorts.
Peter was a very knowledgeable guide and found us EVERYTHING we wanted to see on our game list. He was flexible to fit in special requests we had and was resourceful to help accommodate some off the beaten path requests, like a custom fishing trip, stop at a Maasai school, a second trip to the Giraffe Centre in Nairobi to let us feed the giraffes (again), and a special dinner in Nairobi on our return.
Many, many thanks to Vanessa, Peter and Dennis!
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Incredible experience. A must!
One of the best and most exciting experiences I’ve had the pleasure to embark on. Our guides were incredible, accommodating and extremely knowledgeable. They absolutely added value to the experience and made it a one of kind venture.
The cost was reasonable for such a unique experience. I would ABSOLUTELY do this again and again and highly recommend Key2Africa! You will not regret it!!!
CN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
We believe we are trapped and treaded unfairly
We are 4 friends and booked our trip to Tanzania from 09/24 - 10/4. And we’ve planned our trip like more than half year ago, we are so looking forward to have an impressive and unforgettable trip. But it turned out that we are just trapped and treated unfairly:
1) Request are neglected
during the book，we have highlighted that we need twin room(2 beds in 1 room), and the company had confirmed the request in our itinerary in the email. But it turned out that the company just ignored the request and there are always only 1 bed in 1 room.
During the Serengeti safari, we can overcome the difficulty as there is only 1 night and with the help of receptionist, we finally have 2 beds in one room. Although 1 is king size the other is baby size.
But when we arrived at Zanzibar, there are straight 3 nights! And when we turn to receptionist, he confirmed that there is no request for the room and it cannot be arranged. At the time I called Mirene, our customer service representative from the company, she just said I NEVER request!!!
2) forgot to arrange activities with payment
We booked dolphin adventure and but there no one knows the schedule onsite.
We check with the reception desk, they let us ask the excursions and taxi office. And the office asked us to wait at the front desk today at 6 am….
We just wait at front desk today at 6 am as we are told, but there is no driver, the receptionist tried to call someone to help. And we are waiting half an hour. The driver finally showed up and took us to the North saying the staff forgot to arrange the adventure to us. And because it is too late, cannot take us to the south, which list in our itinerary, he can only take us to the north as it is closer.
3) Payment change without notice
We are informed fully that the credit card payment rate is 2.5%, but when we pay it was updated to 3%. We find the balance is not right and reached out to the company and only when they told us that because the government changed the rate.
4) careless and time wasting
We have reported to the company on 10/1 and want to have a solution of the unhappiness, and till now 11/11 we don’t have the solution. And the reply just keep saying they are contacting accountant (don’t understand why need to contact the person) and asking the same question even though we have demonstrated exactly in the email of what we need and what happened.
the route of keeping letting us down in summary
A. the credit card payment rate rise from 2.5% to 3% without notice until we find the difference. And we accept it;
B. Full of lies: One of my friends reached out to Mirene to help know who is our pickup guy at airport. And Mirene replied she will contact me to confirm. And I never received her email so I have to write to her. And she wrote me back” she never got message from my friend” ( we have both WhatsApp and email record if you need). Again we accept it.
C. During the safari, the room is also only 1 bed. As you may know already. We accept it with the receptionist help.
When we back to Arusha, we immediately write back to Mirene that we are very happy with our arrangement as we want to know the time that pick up tomorrow! And of course, you may need to give credit to wild animals who help erase our unhappiness.
D. And finally our disappointment has reached to its ultimate level in Zanzibar when we step into our room. So I immediately write email to the company but they just keep pulling back and forth.
We truly want to know, the difficulty the company set for us is because we are Asian? or more specifically speaking, we are treated unfairly is because we are Chinese?
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very personable and knowledgeable
Kuda greeted us with a warm welcome and a big smile. He spoke to us about the Fall’s history and interesting facts during our walking tour which made it very enjoyable. We highly recommend him and Safari Bookings for a fun informative tour that is definitely a good value for money spent!
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent safari with wonderful guides
The safari exceeded our expectations. We added Tsavo East and Silas accommodated the request quite easily.
Our guides, Julius and Isaiah were great.
I could not believe the amount of animals we saw and on occasion how close we could get to them.
All the accommodations were unique, comfortable and wonderful. Each place had great staff.
If we do an East African trip again, we’d go with Apodiform and Silas again. Speaking of Silas, he would return our communications usually within minutes. Answered all our questions and was just great to work with.
It was an adventure of a lifetime.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unforgetable mind blowing experience
The Serengeti has always been on my bucket list! We booked a full circuit Safari and it was amazing. The properties are perfectly located and the drive from one lodge to the other was like being on a game drive and quite enjoyable. We saw so many animals. The landscapes between the lodges are all so different, not what I expected at all. The Ngorongo Crater was one of the many highlights on this trip. The vehicles were very comfortable and our guide extremely knowledgeable of the animals and surroundings. The accommodation was perfect and excellent value for money. Staff were very friendly and helpful. Each lodge had a great restaurant and bar where fellow travelers shared safari experiences. The highlight of our trip was seeing the migration, we didn't even have to look, they were right there at Africa Safari Ikoma! We were so blessed to witness all these animals together in one spot!! I would definitely recommend Paradise and Wilderness to all my friends! Best holiday ever!!! Unforgettable experience!!!
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing Experience with Amshar Serengeti Adventures
We had a 4 day safari visiting, Serengeti, Ngorongoro and Tarangire, it was perfect trip I never thought of. The first conversation we got from Edward and his customization of our itinerary made us feel secured, we are grateful for his passion and all the support he gave us before, during and after the trip, our guide Baraka was an amazing person for us as he is more knowledgeable and experienced about the animals and we got a chance to see all the big five. Thank you so much for the lifetime experience we had, see you next time
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Incredible climbing experience (amazing guides, cooks & porters)
This was my first trip to Africa. I 've traveled with my brother on the Rongai route to Kilimanjaro. This is the top path)) There are constantly changing natural areas, very beautiful nature.
We had the best climbing team)) Man Man and William were our guides. They were very supportive on the road. Also they told us different stories about their life in Tanzania, about the mountain and nature.. I was amazed at the solidarity of the team (there 9 people went with us - cooks, porters)!
The guides really love their country. And they have been doing this for many years. If you want to get super emotions, meet amazing people - then go with these guides!
AT
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
unreliable, untrustworthy and careless
I am writing to express my extreme dissatisfaction with my recent safari experience in Tanzania with Kipok Africa Adventures
I booked 3-day safari package for 2 people, including one airport transfer, transfers to and from accommodation before and after the safari, and full 3-day safari with guide and accommodation.
Itinerary: 1.day Tarangire, 2.day Ngorongoro and 3.day Lake Manyara
Contact person: Amani
Specific Feedback
• Communication: After we paid for our trip, we received very little communication from Kipok Adventures. We were not informed that we would be with a different group/company each day, even though we paid for a package that should have included the same guide for the entire trip. They also charged us extra for the airport transfer, which should be included in the price of our package.
• Plan changes: The original safari plan included visiting Tarangire National Park on day one, Ngorongoro Crater National Park on day two, and Lake Manyara National Park on day three. At the last minute, we were informed that the plan was changing and we would be visiting Lake Manyara on day two and Ngorongoro Crater on day three. Due to these changes, on the second day of our safari, we had too much free time because we were very close to Lake Manyara, and on the last day, we had to rush through Ngorongoro Crater (the highlight of safari) in order to make it to Arusha on time. This made the trip feel rushed and stressful.
• Guides: We had a different guide from a different company every day. We never knew for sure who would be leading us. For two days, the car had no company markings. The guide on the last day was very unprofessional and did not organize the taxi to our hotel properly. We had difficulty getting back to our hotel and had to ask the guide from the previous day, John from Crater Explorer Tours, for help. John was the only one responding and actually the only really professional guide on our trip. I am very grateful to him for helping us even though he was not our guide on the last day.
Additional Feedback
I would also like to add that I sent a complaint letter to Kipok Africa Adventures but I did not receive a response until few days later, after I sent a warning to write a review based on my experience. This is already 2 weeks and since then I did not hear from the company. I believe that this shows that Kipok is not serious about addressing customer complaints.
Conclusion
I am very disappointed with the service that I received from Kipok Africa Adventures. I would not recommend them to anyone.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Exceeded our expectations
Our experience with Apodiformes Adventures exceeded our expectations on every level. Our experienced guide/driver, John, was incredible, top notch! We enjoyed learning from him, joking around, and sharing stories. Asante, Asante John! We spent 3 nights in the Maasai Mara at the Loyk Mara Luxury Camp and 1 night at Ziwa Bush Lodge- would highly recommend both, they were amazing. We booked with Fredrick and from the very beginning, communication and customer service was clear and timely. The Apodiformes team was committed to making sure our trip was perfect. We are finished with the 4 day safari and have begun the second part of our trip- 3 nights at Diani Sea Resort. All arranged by Apidoformes Adventures. Our trip has been incredible and I would highly recommend using this company for a Kenyan safari. If you’re lucky, John will be your guide/driver!
