CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Breathtaking safari experience with Spirit of Kenya
A huge thank you to Vanessa for her incredible patience, detailed answers, and smooth handling of our booking via PayPal. Everything was organized to perfection from start to finish!
Our guide Ken was outstanding—respectful, patient, and extremely knowledgeable. He drove us safely, respected nature, and thanks to his sharp eyes, we managed to spot 4 of the Big Five!
Traveling in a private 4x4 Land Cruiser made a world of difference for comfort. The Maasai Mara was absolutely mind-blowing, and I strongly advise booking as much time there as possible. Staying at Tulia Amboseli Camp in the Mountainview Superb Tent was also a magical experience with incredible views.
We highly recommend Spirit of Kenya to anyone looking for a seamless, top-quality safari!
CH
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great Safari experience with Suricata
My girlfriend and I booked the 6-day mid-range option with Suricata. We did the Tarangire National Park, 2 days in the Serengeti National Park, the Ngorongoro Crater and the Lake Manyara National Park.
Tarangire was a good entry point for our first Safari experience, since it is a little smaller and we already saw a lot of animals on our first day. We had an amazing encounter with a group of elephants we will remember for a lifetime. It was especially cool to do the tour in an open jeep. Our guide, Amos, was a calm and friendly presence and provided us with interesting information on the park and its animals.
Then the main part of our trip started, Serengeti and Ngorongoro. It was absolutely outstanding. We saw all the Big 5 and many animals more. It was too much to put into words. Just the scenery in the Serengeti is astonishing enough. Our guide was Pascal and he did an amazing job. He really went the extra mile for us. His knowledge of the park and its animals was second to none. His driving skills weren‘t too bad either, which is needed on the bumpy roads to Serengeti and within the park itself. I can‘t recommend him enough as a safari guide, you will not be disappointed!
The Lake Manyara National Park was a nice day to finish before we went back to Arusha.
The communication with Suricata around the booking was smooth and professional. All the pick-ups worked as discussed. On the second day, our schedule got changed probably to accommodate the general planning. We only found out about the change kind of by accident at the lodge reception. Better communication in case of changes would be appreciated. But in the end, everything worked out as booked over all, so it was a small inconvenience.
The accomodations were all in the range of what was promised. We really liked the Suricata Boma Lodge especially, a beautiful place. Our highlight was the Tanzania Bush Camp (Simba) in the middle of the Serengeti. Our two nights there were incredible, including hearing lions roaming through the camp in the middle of the night. Camp manager Steve and his entire staff were awesome and they make you feel right at home in the middle of nature!
Overall, we can definitely recommend Suricata as a safari operator.
MY
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Big praise to guide Johny for his exceptional wildlife-spotting skills, deep knowledge on animals.
Great experience on safari tours. There should be a clearer information regarding the time spending on the attractions places.
MY
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Experience tour guide
Overall very good, really enjoy the trip!!!
Value of money: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Service: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Reliability: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Tour guide: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Communication: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
PT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
We saw all the animals, ate delicious food and were helped by kind staff. Only minor issues.
We had a lot of fun. We saw all the animals we wanted to see, saw all the big 5 and much more. The food was delicious and the staff were very kind. Our guide Jeffe was capable of finding the best spots to watch the animals when there were many jeeps trying to approach the same animal.
The Seronera camp in the Serengeti is extremely poorly maintained and has no amenities. This will be the same for everyone who stays there, no matter the tour operator.
There were some minor issues that had only a small impact on our experience which I'll list: We were dropped on the wrong hotel at first. We were told there was room for our travel bags on the jeep but at the last minute we were told we could only take half of our bags and had to rush to rearrange everything. We were told at 5am we would be picked up from the hotel at 6am that same day and then we had to wait almost 1 hour for our car after getting ready at 6am. These delays were the norm during the safari as well. Despite being promised, no sleeping bags were distributed on the first night. Finally, tipping is always a hard subject for us as europeans that don't have/disagree with tipping culture as it is bad for both employees and customers. We were told during the booking process the value of tip that was expected which we agreed to. However, during the safari we were told a 3 times higher tip was actually expected. That ended up not being too bothersome as when we gave only the tip previously agreed upon, no one questioned it. I hope with enough pressure tipping culture is abolished so that employees are properly payed by their employers and customers get to know the real price of the experience before booking.
Every company on this website can show you the animals. I hope not all of them also give you all this trouble.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Communicating was excellent, responded within very short time
Safari package we customized for 8 nights. All hotels and tents were good except one or two. Our driver Gidion was a very knowledgeable and respectful man. He showed us all kinds of animals and described with details. Only issue we had with our vehicle, air conditioning was not working, otherwise everything was perfect.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Provided the best tour guide and great food
Kida was always responsive and took good care of us. The safari package was very good value for money. Food provided on our safari was excellent; not individually boxed as the norm for other agencies. We always had 3 courses.
The 'star of the show' was our incredible guide 'Meku.' He worked hard to make sure we had the best experience and rewarded us with seeing all 5 big cats ... on our first safari!
ER
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
TRUSTED TO! with a room of improvement :)
Just finished up an amazing journey with Hekima Safaris. From the moment I arrived staff was available to make sure my journey was safe and everything I needed was taken care of . On the road my guide, Subra shared her knowledge of Uganda/Rwanda. They join me with another clients yes i didn't booked private but the information was little bit not clear! That is why i gave 4 star ;) But i strong recommend it to anyone !
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A good safari, excellent communication
Communication with the tour operator was excellent right from the start.
Overall, the tour was satisfactory; all the arrangements made were honoured and the transfers were on time.
There are lots of optional activities that aren’t included in the price of the safari and which you’re almost always forced to do so as not to be left with no alternatives (usually $20 each, and there are at least 3–4 of them).
Overall, all the guides, staff and drivers were honest and very friendly, so I’d recommend them.
I’d advise you to carefully consider which activities you want to do and how many days to spend on the safari in the most important parks: Maasai Mara and Amboseli.
We chose the 5-day tour, but we spent a whole afternoon with no scheduled activities or optional extras to do. For the last three days, we only did half-day activities.
The Lake Nakuru and Lake Naivasha parks are interesting, but you’ll only spend half a day there; it might be worth dedicating more time to the larger parks (Maasai Mara and Amboseli).
One final tip: there’s a big difference between budget and mid-range accommodation; consider your choice carefully.
JP
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Professional, prompt in both planning and on-tour services. Very reliable.
Communication with the tour planner months before the tour always felt reassuring, and the agreed tour plan matched the experience.