US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Experience varies with drivers/itineraries
I booked with Absolute Holiday Safaris based on price and the superb, friendly communication with David prior to traveling. I was so happy that David really is as kind and genuine as he seems through email! I was very pleased to meet him in Nairobi.
I booked 8-day safari: Maasai Mara, Nakuru, Naivasha, Amboseli. We began the trip with John AKA Animal for 3 days in Maasai Mara, and learned from other passengers that he is one of the best drivers. He was very knowledgeable about the animals, and very professional. Sadly, we only had him for 3 days and were bounced to 4 other drivers for the rest of the trip.
The other drivers were Sammy and Stanley. Neither of them was at the same level with Animal. They both sped in the parks, and Sammy actually almost hit 3 zebra (I was riding in the front seat and was horrified). There was also a small child in the back seat who was bouncing around and flying off the seat. Both Sammy and Stanley were on their radios talking and laughing (presumably not about animals, since we weren't really seeing much...) the whole day and it ruined the peace of the experience.
We were also abandoned one morning in Hell's Gate National Park. We were to be picked up at 10:30AM and were not picked until around 1PM due to miscommunications within the company. We luckily had David's business card on hand and the kind women working at the park let us call David several times until we were picked from the park. Other changes were: switching hotels in Nakuru with no notice, changing our itinerary around during the trip itself. We never got offered a boat ride at either Lake Nakuru or Lake Naivasha, and we missed one morning's game drive in Maasai Mara which was on the itinerary.
The overall experience was wonderful; I love Kenya and want to come back already! However, I would book with this company again only with guarantee of a great driver (Animal) for the entire trip. Now that I have more awareness of how things work I would try to lock things down a bit more.
NL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Nice employees, good itenerary, some mistakes/miscommunication but in the end all solved
With some help of a friend we had a good itinerary. The safari was good, except that we had lots of car damage. Our driver was skilled to fix it all the time, so in the end we did not mis a lot. Our trip to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro was great, we had a great team that walked with us to the top.
For both safari and the climb we had good food, well done chefs!
FR
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Lake Manyara National Park by Mike Briley
We were not there at the best season - lake very dried up. In addition it was the last we visited so we were already blasé seeing elephants again. A good number of different monkeys.
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Namibia by Andrea Giuseppe Sanfilippo - Photographer
Etosha National park is home to a large variety of wildlife and there are remarkable landscapes. However, the park is often crowded with tourists.
NL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Venture Safaris: well organized visit to amazing parks in Kenya
Organzied by Venture Africa Budget Safaris, we had an unforgettable 4-days trip to Masai-Mara and Lake Nakuru. Both parks were amazing beatiful, the weather was great, making the trip a huge success. Price-quality ratio was perfect, also the drive to both parks was well organized. At the start, we departed from Ngong (1-hr from Nairobi) to Venture’s office. Prior, it was quite unclear were to meet Venture’s employees in Nairobi. After many questions to the organization, it became more clear where they wanted to meet. Hostels and food was good. During our drive, the car crashed. It took many hours before we continued our trip to Nakura, that was a pity and required a lot of energy. Overall, the organization was well done and really enjoyed the trip. Afterwards, we were a bit spammed for writing this review, so be prepared ;)..
QA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Both Good and Bad Experiences (9-day trip with kids)
I just came back from a 9-day safari trip from Kenya and Tanzania. I want to write down both good and bad experiences. We have 2 adults, one 10.5-year boy and one 2.5-year girl.
Good experiences. (Peter is the one who runs the company)
1. Peter is very nice, from email contact to meeting me in the airport.
2. Peter upgraded my last night room in Nairobi for free, since I had some bad experience (see shortly below).
3. The travel guide is good.
4. The hotels are good.
Bad experiences.
1. On the trip from Masai Mara to Serengeti, Peter told me that it will take 4 hours. In fact, it took 14 hours, which was a terrible mistake. Although Peter said later that there is another route that he tried to ask the driver to use, however, I don't quite trust it since (a) the > 12 hours route is written in the itinerary; and (b) we have met in that day, if he knew another way, he should change it. BTW, the 12 hours driving is without traffic, but with very bumpy and dusty road.
Things got worse that night that the car we ran out of gas, in the middle of the big Serengeti national park. I don't know how professional people can make such mistakes. That was totally a mess, and we were lucky that the Tanzania guide found his friend to fix the problem, which took one hour. The worst case could be that we stayed in the car with kids for the whole night.
2. The car in Tanzania was bad, with a lot of dust, which made my daughter coughing and in fever for 2 days. Peter has no ability to change it, since it is from another company.
3. From Ngorongoro to Lake Manyara in Tanzania, it should take only a little bit more than one hour. However, in fact, it took us 4 hours. The reason is that Peter forgot to buy the pass. In Tanzania, you cannot even pay cash for the national park, the money should be transferred and the car should be registered before hand. This made us very unhappy since my son was sick and we wasted >2 hours for the pass (ticket) that was not prepaid.
Adding to the above bad experience is that, if you take more hours (for nothing) on the road, simply you have less hours to see animals, which you have paid for.
Again, Peter is very nice and he is very sorry for my bad experiences. However, I have to write down my experiences.
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Small but plenty - but no big cats
We visited as a day trip between Moshi and Arusha while on a business trip, and for this purpose - to get a short glimpse into the Wildlife - this park is perfect. It takes less than an hour to drive there, and you do not necessarily need a 4WD. Entrance fees are lower than in Serengeti and there is plenty of accommodation within half an hours drive.
It is also refreshingly uncroweded. We were there quite lat,e but there were one, maybe two other vehicles, and other than by Momella Lake, we were on our own. Roads tend to be dirt, and ther eis a lot of grass and bush on the side, which makes animal spotting a little harder. After a while (when you come from the main entrance off the main Moshi Highway) the scenery will change alot - first you'll be rewarded with magnificient views of Mount Meru, then you get pictures like in an Africa storybook - complete with giraffes and zebras.
This may not be the park where you get close to a lot of animals, but it feels like you can view them in their natural habitat withour driving right through it, and this makes it somehow more authentic.
Last not least it has Momella Lakes, breeding place of thousands of flamingoes - this is quite unique in Tanzania, maybe even Africa, and although you can take the long drive to Lake Natron, there is nothing that makes the experience superior there.
We saw flamingos, giraffes zebras, buffalo, gazelles, monkeys and lots of unnamed birds aplenty. Sometimes you may spot an elephant, but there are definitely no big cats here.
In summary, this is a small but fine NAtional Park with good infrastructure, easily visited as a daytrip.
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Tanzania by Anja
Too expensive and infrastructure can make National Parks difficult to reach. I have been on safari in South Africa and Namibia, which altogether has a more "Western" feel, but also is less expensive, easier to reach by normal car.
CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Did Not Live Up to The Hype
We had researched the Lake Nakuru National Park before our safari, and were particularly keen to include it in our itinerary to get that National Geographic picture of vast amounts of flamingos wading along the shoreline. Unfortunately, we were met by a rising waterline covering an expanse of dead trees, morbidly picturesque in their own right, but a sad indication of how things are no longer what they were. We did see a small number of flamingos, some pelicans and other water birds.
The park itself is situated close to Kenya's fourth largest city, and is adjacent to a number of private farm lands. Fence lines were clearly visible making the area feel rather confined and did nothing to hide the fact that this is a purpose-built wildlife sanctuary. The roads/tracks within the park did not offer as good a view of the wildlife as at other parks/conservancies... but, from the animals' perspective, maybe that is not a bad thing!
Flamingo disappointment aside, during a late afternoon game drive, we encountered a variety of wildlife including a Giant Spitting Cobra as it crossed the track in front of us, a small herd of Rothschild Giraffes, several buffalo, zebras, a small herd of Eland, a giant tortoise, Impala, two Dik Diks, and four White Rhinos wandering the through the bush and grasslands.
Because of the paucity of the park's main attraction the previous day, the next morning our driver/guide returned to the lake where we did see more flamingos than the previous day, but still much less than expected. We were, however, treated to an audience with a lone White Rhino at very close quarters.
It is difficult to judge a place having stayed only one night, but Lake Nakuru National Park was probably our least favourite of the five conservancies/national parks we visited on our safari. It would be wrong to judge it on wildlife alone (although it would have scored fairly well based solely on that), but the rising waterline and dead trees mean that the days of witnessing flamingos in vast quantities appear to be few and far between. I applaud the park's purpose and am delighted that it protects so many species of animals. However, from a wildlife viewing perspective, its proximity to adjacent farm lands with visible boundary fences make it feel too confined and therefore often lacking "bush vibe". And so, whilst I would not discount Lake Nakuru National Park from a safari itinerary, I would advise against having such high expectations.
US
Go with a more experienced company!
We booked a two-week trip which included both Kenya and Tanzania after having multiple, thoroughly detailed e-mail communications with Beatus. While Kenya was smooth sailing, Tanzania was another story. After picking us from the Namanga border, we get to Lake Manyara only to be told by Beatus and his driver that his park entrance "credit card" has expired and if we wouldn't mind using our personal credit card for the entrance fees to Lake Manyara, Serengeti, and Ngorongoro Crater. I was told I would be reimbursed as soon as we reached Arusha. Long story short, didn't get reimbursed until quite literally our last morning in Tanzania and that too was told part of the reimbursement would have to be in Shillings. If you are looking for efficiency, integrity, and professionalism, this is not the company for you. Again no complaints with our Kenyan tour guide, but I felt that Beatus let us down with Tanzania. From a driver that wouldn't stop yelling down on his cell phone for a majority of our day in Serengeti to the poor hotel selection in Arusha, Beatus tried but wasn't quite successful with living up to his promises while booking with his company. Word of advice: while not mentioned anywhere in the email communications, apparently the expectation is that you google each and every hotel/camps he books you from the itinerary because specifying standard accommodation can still lead you to a god awful, mosquito infested hotel room with a piece of ROOF MISSING. And when you have a problem with that, you are told "I sent you the list of hotels with the itinerary. Why didn't you google them?" Gee why? Because I thought that's why I hired you as my tour coordinator!?! Standard accommodations, the last time I checked, involved an entire roof over my room for sure. Yes Beatus got us a better hotel upon our adamant refusal to stay at that place, but the point is that we should have never been put up there. Overall I think they are perhaps too inexperienced to put together a seamless trip but I did appreciate Beatus trying to resolve our issues. At the end though there were just too many issues in my opinion.