DE
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Well done!
It was agreable to communicate with African Hartebeest while preparing a trip from Meru to Masai Mara. The drive itself was perfectly done, the guide an untiring driver and an expert. Even the last two days in a Masai concession of which I first had been wary proved to be thoroughly recommendable.
Thank you!
under20 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Safari the old way
Booked a three day safari by road from Dar with Zepisa African safaris who i had used in 2017 for the Selous Game Reseve. The trip started at 4 a.m with a pick up by our driver/guide Mkonda. The drive through Morogoro region , past Mikumi and Iringa is on Tarmac road. From Iringa to Ruaha is initially Tarmac and then a bumpy non Tarmac stretch. The journey took 14 hours in total with arrival at the park at 6 p.m. (a couple of stops for refreshment and a traffic police stop also).On our way to our accommodation in the new Bandas we saw Hippos, crocodile and a family of elephants. The new Bandas have 2 single beds with Mosquito nets and an adjoining shower/toilet room. They get very warm and there is no fan to cool down. The game drive the following day was slightly disappointing as we saw one large group of Buffalo and one large family of Elephants. Lots of Impala, baboons, Zebras, Giraffe, an Ostrich family, the odd Kudu and a pair of Hyenas. The following morning on our way out of the park we saw a group of 5 lions. The reputation of this park is on the large groups of lions, Buffalo and Elephants, i guess we were unlucky. The return journey was again 14 hours with a traffic jam in the Mbezi area at 10p.m !! It is no wonder that flying in and out is recommended but the cost then triples to what we paid.
CN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
good budget safari of 3 days
we booked only, we arrange all without paying Any money until they pick up us in the hotel, also they help us buying tickets for the train.
The safari was great, we saw 4 of the big five, rhinos are difficult to see, our group also was good, we went 3 days 2 nights, cost 290 usd
So good experience for the money
Important if you write by whatsapp he help you with all the details and recommendations for kenya
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
amazing !!
I've had the opportunity to do a SAFARI with Jocky Tour on december with my family. the guide was nice and took time to show us animals and explain whbat they was. He was answering to our questions. They took care of everything and we had a very good time. I recommand Jocky Tour to all who wants a weel organized Safari at a reasonable price !
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Staff are fantastic, really made the experience a memorable one.
I've only been on safari once, but I have to say East Co did a fantastic job of making sure our trip was both enjoyable and was according to plan. Each night the driver's would give us a full run down of what the following day's itinerary entailed - they even let us have input in regard to the timing and length of game drives that we'd do. We really felt like they'd bend over backwards for us if we asked them to!
Overall, I was ecstatic with my experience in dealing with East Co.
CA
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
very comfortable and knowledgeable and full of respect.
Communication was clear , service was good the driver and guide (Mike) wz knowledgable took good care of us and treated us with respect, very patient and if we complained of anything like heat or food he would take immediate action.
we took two tours with them first was a day trip to Zanzibar everything was very well organised
I am 80 years 0ld and comfort is very important to me and I got lots of it on the tour
I will recommend this company to other people.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Brilliant safari - amazing range of animals and environments!
We were thrilled with the itinerary, the parks, the lodges and in particular:
· The great care and driving excellence of Ken and Joseph
· The range of parks and numbers of animals – we were expecting to see just a few animals – we had no idea we would literally see thousands!
· Your excellent and easy coordination – nothing was too much trouble to organise, you were so flexible
· The value for money – the safari was extremely reasonably priced, making it possible for us to involve younger members of our families
CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Willem Heckroodt amazing tour guide, very knowledgeable, made sure we saw many animals. Awesome!
Was very well done. Driver was knowledgeable and knew the best places to look. Was prompt to pick up and didn't watch the clock which was nice. We were given clear directions on pickup and the events of the day. Even though we had rain in the morning, it was an amazing trip! Thanks to Willem, our driver for the day!
DZ
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Merci beaucoup our tour leader!!
Go explore safaris is an awesome tour guide company. Am glad to say that I had a great vacation in Uganda thanks to this company. My Algerian friends with whom I were had so much fun seeing gorillas for the first time and bungee jumping in Jinja was awesome as well. We liked Brian he was so prompt on responding to us. He helped us to plan for our trip.We were glad to have Chris as our tour guide(he speaks some French), he was able to explain to us a few basic things with his basic French, very knowledgeable and great driver.
I highly recommend this Safari Company to everyone.. It was amazing.
Thank you Go Explore safaris. We shall return and visit Kidepo Wilderness with you.
CA
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great SafariExperience, despite the accommodations
We booked this private Masai Mara and Lake Nakuru safari online although it was a bit more expensive than others exactly like it, thinking the increase in price would upscale the experience just a little. But we had the same accommodation as others we talked to at our two overnight stops who paid less. The first, Manhattan Camp, in the Masai Mara, was very run down. Maybe thirty years ago when it was built it was a great place. All that left of ‘great’ is the gardens. The zipper on out tent did not work. The mosquito netting had holes in it. The bathroom was a shower I did not want to step in, a shelf mhammered together from old wood was hanging on the wall, and a toilet that had a lid but no seat! The camp entry/reception was a mud pit. This place has simply given up. The food was as basic as possible: either spaghetti, rice, mashed potatoes at every meal all served with the same ‘beef’ sauce. Over and over. The dining hall was big and uninteresting. It did however have a massive tv in the bar section which, when the electricity was on (rarely) was blaring soccer games. Pleasant-not! Hardly ‘dining’ experience. A safari camping experience is one thing but this camp has deceptive older photos and dares to call itself a ‘resort.’ Online it states that each tent has a kitchen. Not ours!
The second was a hotel at Lake Nakuru (City Max) in a very very sketchy neighbourhood. Secure but you don’t want to walk around here at night. Grumpy daytime front desk staff and manager. Night front desk was good. Restaurant with maître de and two uniformed wait staff. But, again, the food was miserable. I pushed away the dinner after a few bites as did a few of the other four couples in the restaurant. The room was good. The beds were good. But this neighbourhood is noisy, way into the night. Our room was directly above the kitchen early, so early mornings there was banging pits and pans, etc. I complained about this to the manager but all I got was a blank stare. As for the wifi, although this place claims to have it throughout - forget that. We just gave up on it. It does work sort of in the dining hall.
So, as far as accommodations are concerned, this safari is not just budget but very very budget.
The best part of the safari was Robert, our driver/guide. We had a safari van with openable roof all to ourselves. Robert was a great driver and an informative guide. He was sensitive to what we wanted and made sure we were always having a positive animal viewing experience. We saw almost every savannah animal you could think of . So that made up for the questionable acccommodation. Ask for him if you are still going to book after reading this review.
The owner of the tour company, Felistus, was quick to respond to our emails and even got us onward train tickets to Mombasa. So she is good. I am not sure however that she has recently or ever visited the two places we overnighted in. She and all others who use them should think again.
‘Budget’ does not have to mean ‘inadequate’!