DE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Awful tour for affordable price level.
We can truly say, we had a great tour with many highlights, especially in Maasai Mara, where we got in close contact to the big five. Before starting the tour we had no big expectations, but after the tour all our expectations have been fulfilled. The accommodations were okay as well as the food, which was served. We had a perfect guide (Arony). He was a very good and safe driver and took care about us all the time. We can recommend Karibu Safaris in Kenya to all, who would like a budget and no luxory safari.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
This company stole our deposit, made zero bookings, and now will not respond to emails
We have been scammed by this company (It Started in Africa) and cheated out of USD 3,300.
We have been thinking about an African safari for a long time. In July 2017 we started looking into safari companies and selected It Started in Africa based on excellent previous reviews. We contacted then, they sent us an itinerary. After several exchange of emails, we decided to go ahead with them, and wired them a deposit of about USD 3,300.
After this, things started going south. They did not initially send us any confirmations of any bookings at the lodges which we had requested. After many emails, they sent us pictures of lodge invoices, which all showed that the amounts were still payable to the lodges. We contacted each individual lodge, and each one said that they did not have any bookings with this safari company. They had previous bookings, which got cancelled as this company did not send them the advance payment out of the deposit that we had paid.
We also read about several other reviews that indicated that this company had scammed many others out of their money recently, and they had gone bankrupt.
Now we are in a state of panic as we seem to have lost our money, and we do not have any safari reservations at any lodge. Our emails to them are now going un-answered.
If any one has been able to get their money back, please post on this review board on how they went about it.
NL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A fantastic adventure through South Africa
Going on safari with Benjamin as our guide was perfect.
Benjamin is very enthusiastic, he knows a lot about the nature and culture of South Africa and he is a real gentlemen.
Thanks to him it was a great journey that we will never forget.
IN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Really great and exceptional experience
My wife and I were recommended by the Sarova Mara hotel to book our 3 day safari at the Masai Mara with the Bigfoot Adventures. Since, it was our honeymoon trip, we wanted everything perfect, including the car, the guide, trips, minute details etc. We were absolutely delighted with every single thing we received.
The Car: We got the best 4x4. I can vouch for it as other guides and tourists used to stare at our huge and new car. It was very comfortable and made the safari experience very enriching. At many points in the safari, our guide drove across fully utilizing the car's power across rough trails and ponds.
Guide: Dexter was our guide for the 3 day sojourn. Dexter was very professional, friendly, knowledgeable and really great at spotting animals. At several occasions, we were the first to spot the animals and other cars would simply follow us via radio chatter. At one time, Dexter spotted first the rhino (such a rarity and luck!) and he drove across the terrain while not losing sight so that we won't miss it. I am sure we kept Dexter busy by asking him so many questions not only about the animals but also about everything under the sun in Kenya! He responded very well to all our questions with great interests.
Overall experience: We really enjoyed the entire experience. BigFoot really made it very good for us. Big thumbs up! I am pretty sure, if we come to Kenya again, we are going to call them up again. Mercy/Maureen were the people whom we contacted for booking our tour. They were very humble and courteous and they really helped us make our journey memorable.
DE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Wonderful Safaris
Orongai Africa Safaris is a young company.
Despite all this, Asseri, the founder of the company, is an experienced guide.
I have known him for 7 years.
Not only once could I spend unforgettable days in Tanzania under his guidance.
A perfect organization with great attention to detail made the safaris to highlights in my life.
It was always possible to express wishes and to plan and carry out the safari as I wanted.
Asseri is a great guide, reliable and always in a good mood.
On the safaris I received from him a lot of information about Tanzania, the unique landscape and the wonderful wildlife.
You can feel his love for his homeland and his profession.
So I also learned to love this country and to be enthusiastic about it.
The company is definitely recommended.
The value for money is right and the recommended accommodations are perfectly selected.
Orongai Africa Safaris - always a great experience!
See you in Tanzania, maybe soon again!
Dear Asseri, dear Martha, I wish you all the best!
IN
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Well Planned Kenya Safari
This was our first trip to Africa let alone Kenya, so before planning the tour I was very apprehensive about booking directly with a Safari company in Kenya. However because I wanted a customized itinerary and also has a budget I contacted Shoor Safaris through a referral from a friend who had travelled to Kenya with this operator.
From the time I emailed the Shoor team till when we arrived for our 7 day Safari the communication was very clear, informative and to the point.
The actual safari was amazing..words cannot describe the beauty of Kenya and its wildlife not to mention its people.
Our Driver was also the perfect guide and a very nice jovial person who took care of every part of our tour. We had such a good time that we have decided as a family that will be back to East Africa in the near future.
So thank you to Shoor Safaris in Kenya for the memorable Safari !
AE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic trip with Rachel team
My friends and I enjoyed our trip across East Africa, it was memorable, trips to destinations in Kenya and Tanzania we're worth the experience. In a group of five we toured Kenya's Masai Mara and Tanzania's Serengeti and Ngoro Ngoro crater facilitated by tour guides from African Habitat Safaris everything went as planned . It was good to interact with the natives and experience cultural diversity on this part of the world. We must say the game drives besides site seeing made this vacation a unique experience. It was worth the time, and you get value for your money African Habitat is the best...
UA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
You get just what you expect from tour organized by Ilmaasai Expedition and a bit more.
That was just a great experience we (my boyfriend and I) got with the help of Ilmaasai Expedition, or rather Loth (organizer and owner) and David (driver and guide). Guys met us at the airport and right after this went to safari.
David was telling a lot of interesting things about animals and not only. We were able to see a lion female, hunted a gazelle, in the first day. And in the second day we met 2 lions males, one of them was sleeping in the bushes just in 1-2 meters from our car - that was incredible!
After day of safari we spent evenings in a lodge, David was telling us a lot of amazing stories from his previous safaris, showed rare videos with animals.
In the end guys were very kind to take us to our hotel in Arusha and to the airport next morning.
So everything went just great. We're looking forward to go to safari again, this time - to Serengeti!
QA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
WONDERFUL and VERY GREAT adventure
We visit the Safari last week tru the help of Mr Eric Lennox.
Booking your safari trip is not easy specially if you do not know anybody in Africa. So I browse the internet and found a good review about Axis Africa Safari and it is recommended by previous customer so I tried contacting this office. Turns out that everything is easy and Mr Lennox is easy to talk to and always ready to response to your queries.
We booked 6 day Safari and we had a very wonderful experienced. Great to see wild animals and plus we think we came to perfect weather. But According to the guide- the migration of the wildebeest and other animals is between July to October. So if you want to see more animal it is better come to these month so you will be able to see more animals on the field.
We saw many zebras and gazelle's and smallest antelope, elephant and we even see bat eared fox and other foxes, lions, cheetah's and leopard around and it was so so good to see them in person living in the wild.
Clothes- you can wear any clothes of your preference.
Camp- We stayed in Lenchada camp in Masai Mara for 2 nights where we experience the hospitality of the locals. The other lady looks like she is angry all the time but inside she is really kindhearted woman. The other camp are also great and they met our expectations. In Amboseli park we stayed in Kimana camp for one night and I had to upgrade from Kimana camp to Kibo camp for the second night.
Kibo camp is great experience and they even have restaurant and swimming pool and bar where you can have a drink and relax after a long day drive from safari. They also have wifi which is very important (to update your facebook and blogs) and for the cost I think it is reasonable.
Our driver name is John. He is the one who drives us for 6 days in the safaris and I would say that he is well trained and well mannered tour guide and driver. He speaks English fluently and he is easy to talk to. Because we visit safari with our big camera's, often time I had to ask John to stop the car and stop the Engine (when in safari) to avoid shake and blur for my photo and he always answer to my bidding :)
The result of course we are happy because we get the photo that we wanted.
For this great experienced, I would like to say big Thanks to Axis Africa Safaris team for giving us great experienced. I would recommend that they should put "Wi-fi" on the vehicle so the tourist will have access on the internet during the travel like other safaris van do.
NO
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience
My husband and I were on a 6-days' safari in Kenya with Karibu safari. they did great job from the start, were quick to reply and follow up. I was pleasantly surprised by the standard of accomodation, seeing that we were on a budget safari. Our driver, Arun, was very professional at all times and it was clear that he's had vast experience with safaris. We got to see much more than I could have ever imagined thanks to him. All in all, a fantastic trip and value for money!
Quick tip: even though it says that water is included, it only includes full-day safaris in Amboseli and Masai Mara. You have to pay for water at lunch and dinner.
