Kenya: reviews from our travellers

"The arrangements made by Expert Africa were excellent with one exception, the 'accessible' room in Nairobi mentioned above.

I do want to single out a young woman called Bernice at Nairobi airport who shepherded me through passport control avoiding the horrendous queues.

Otherwise Expert Africa's customary care and attention to detail are what I have come to expect." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 10 on a Tanzania safari

"WOW! WOW! WOW! This was truly the trip of a lifetime.

For 6 decades (since I fell in love with Born Free) I have wanted to travel to Africa. The opportunity arose when I ceased the opportunity to go on safari with a wildlife photographer I followed on Facebook. I had no idea what going on safari with her meant, but knew from her photos and connection to Africa and the animals that this was how I wanted to do it. Her trips are completely organized through Expert Africa with Richard Trillo, organizer and planner extraordinaire!

The information, the attention to detail, planning, everything was managed perfectly. Expert Africa (Richard) walks you through every step along the way; and if they can’t answer a question specifically for you (like which travel insurance should I get), they provide necessary information to perform your own research and make the decision that fits your needs. Informative packets are sent with answers to all the questions you may have (as well as ones you didn’t know you needed the answers to). Weather, culture, money, gratuities, obtaining the appropriate visas, etc. Everything is planned so that you are never alone once you arrive, and never need to figure out how to do something.

Everyone is sent an itinerary for the trip including everyone’s flight information, who will be meeting you at the airport and helping you through customs, driving you to your destination(s). All travel, including flights within Kenya, are taken care of, including providing day rooms on your last day prior to your flight and bringing you back to the airport at the end of the trip. And when they ask on their booking form what your food preferences are, make sure to fill it in (no matter how silly you think it may be, this from my own experience). All the destinations, camps, and lodges want to accommodate you as best they can.

The camps are perfect. Perfect accommodations, perfect food, amazing staff. Joyful always. Informative always. Welcoming everyone into the family.

I didn’t have the opportunity to research other travel companies, but from this experience with Expert Africa, I have absolutely no reason to look into any other companies. I plan on returning to Africa. And I plan on ONLY going through Expert Africa. And I am telling everyone I meet that indicates they’ve “always wanted to go”.

Thank you for the service your provide, Expert Africa.

Thank you for providing opportunities to travel to this most cherished continent in a way that respects, sustains, and helps to protect these lands and all their inhabitants." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 11 on a Kenya safari

"Fantastic; exceeded all expectations.

Every component was top drawer -- pre-trip info, the accommodations, meals, guides, service, schedule -- even the animals all cooperated!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

As a non-drinker, I wonder how much of my cost was allocated towards alcohol.

A non-alcohol pricing option might be something to consider for guests who'd agree not to indulge." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 11 on a Kenya safari

"It was an experience of a lifetime!!!

I can't wait to hopefully one day go back again, and I wouldn't change a thing, the trip from start to finish was everything I had dreamed it would be and so much more!!!

A special thank you Expert Africa, Richard Trillo, Nancie Wight, and to everyone else that made this trip one I will never ever forget!

The memories will live on in my heart forever.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Nothing at all, totally pleased with everything." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 11 on a Kenya safari

"Many thanks to Expert Africa, and our wonderful advisor, Jessica Plumb, for working with us to plan our amazing adventure. We could not be happier with the camps she suggested and the itinerary.

Each location offered something special - something different - but with the same high-quality surroundings and excellent service. It was truly seamless and a trip of a lifetime.

If we are ever lucky enough to get back to Africa, I would only turn to Expert Africa to plan our trip.

I can't imagine how this trip could have been better!

Thank you so much Jessica and Expert Africa!!" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 10 on a Kenya safari

"loved the trip thank you" Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 9 on a Kenya safari

"Overall an amazing experience." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 11 on a Kenya safari

"Organisation from Expert Africa was great, almost everything ran very smoothly." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 11 on a Kenya safari

"The trip was fantastic.

The airport drivers were courteous and informative. They took good care of us. The overall organization was great. We didn’t have to worry about a thing. All we had to do was ask for something and it was taken care of.

Not sure we mentioned the Game Drivers specifically. They were superb!!! Silver rated but Gold Platinum in our books.

Our amateur group was pretty tired with the schedule and although we knew we could skip a game drive if needed- we didn’t want to miss out on anything. Next trip might be organized differently for our needs. Now that we have more knowledge and know what to expect.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Richard was very responsive and thorough. It would have been nice to have received the book sooner to give us more time to review and customize/expand our itinerary. Having the logistics taken care of allowed us to focus on our experiences." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 12 on a Kenya safari

"Before visiting Kenya, we have been to four countries in Southern Africa (Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe) five times, and each one of those trips were highly enjoyable.

Nonetheless, we figured it was time to check out East Africa for a change. To be honest, we were a little apprehensive about this trip, because many guidebooks or websites tell you that in both Kenya and Tanzania visitor numbers are much higher than in the South of Africa. As the New York Times wrote earlier this year, they witnessed a cheetah hunting and making a kill in the Maasai Mara, and in no time, the poor animal was surrounded by 50 vehicles. Well, even though the number of cars per sighting was, on average, higher than in Southern Africa, we experienced none of such extremes. I guess, we were lucky with the choice of camps and/or locations.

For instance, we took great care in picking camps that are using open vehicles with a maximum of six passengers and not vehicles with pop-up roofs, let alone minibuses. For a serious photographer, such conditions would seriously limit your freedom to move, and in the case of pop-up roofs you would have to stand up and, often, you would look down on animals. In other words, it would be a nightmare ruining my trip. I realize that the camps we picked are significantly more expensive, but this goes hand in hand with providing better guides, better amenities and facilities, and better service. The good news is that in our experience, the camps in Kenya are not quite as pricey as Botswana accommodations.

One more comment about the number of cars per sighting: The official rules in the Maasai Mara clearly state that the maximum number of vehicles per scene is limited to five (per animal, not animals!). Taken literally, a pride of 8 lions could be visited by 40 cars, and we have witnessed scenes with up to 20 cars. On other occasions, for instance when observing cheetahs or leopards, we have noticed that local wildlife rangers do in fact make sure that there are no more than 5 cars on the scene. Throughout the entire trip, we were blessed with guides that showed great patience and perseverance to stay at a scene for longer. Quite often we were also lucky enough to be the only two guests in the vehicle. The only camp where there were six passengers in a car was Lewa Safari Camp.

As in previous years, I enjoyed recording our wildlife sightings. Overall, we saw more animals here than in any other place in Africa. And our encounters with the big cats were especially noteworthy, because often they were full of drama. I should point out though that we did not see any wild dogs anywhere. Of the four areas visited, the Maasai Mara was, thanks to our guides, and despite the higher number of vehicles, a photographer’s paradise.

What we also appreciated in all five camps was that they allowed each party to have their own tables at mealtimes.

To summarize, this trip was so good that we are almost certain to return to Kenya in the near future." Read full review: 30 nights in Africa; 20 on a Kenya safari