Kenya: reviews from our travellers

"If something is not broken it does not need fixed. This trip was well planned and well executed at all levels, congratulations to everyone who helped make it a success and a trip of a lifetime.






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Hard to improve on excellence." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 14 on a Kenya safari

"We (the two couples who went on the trip) are experienced safari goers; we have previously travelled to Tanzania, Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Kenya, and Uganda.

We had an exceptionally good trip. The cost was high, but worth it. The organisation was superb, with everyone along the way (the local transport, the domestic airlines and the camp staff) all being fully informed of our itinerary and being right on time on everything.

As I have said in the individual camp reviews, the food was superb as was the guiding." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 9 on a Kenya safari

"This was our first safari. Everything about it matched our expectations.

Highlights were seeing a black rhino, lion cubs and cheetahs on a kill. Another highlight was visiting the Masai which was a very moving experience.

Bush breakfast in Amboseli under an acacia tree was fun too!

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Olivia absolutely found the trip I was looking for." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 8 on a Kenya safari

"I had been planning this trip for well over a year, done a lot of personal research and held high expectations, which is not always a good thing before departure.
To my delight, all my expectations were surpassed and my husband and I agree it was the best trip we've been on thus far.

A big thank you to Richard Trillo.
Richard's advice and connections made it possible for us to have the best possible experience. For example at The Giraffe Manor we had a back room booked initially, then Richard was contacted by the property about a cancellation for Jocks room and he secured that for us straight away! What a treat.

All of Richard's planning was thorough and everything ran smoothly. I particularly loved the travel wallet which i am still using, the bag tags that others commented on and the 'Guide to Kenya', authored by Richard.

We fell in love with the African bush over the month we visited Kenya, Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa. We think it was a combination of the warm, friendly and proud (in a good way!) people we met and the animals we were honoured to be close to, together with 5 star accommodation, which made our trip so special.

One word of advice for potential first time visitors to Africa- if you are going to be visiting larger cities or towns do that first because once you go into the beautiful lodges within the National Parks you won't want to go back to the towns." Read full review: 4 nights in Africa; 3 on a Kenya safari

"The management and implementation of our safari package by Lemala was excellent in every way.

However our experience with Expert Africa did not live up to expectations. We chose Expert Africa because of their reputation and reliability which unfortunately for us proved not to be the case. Our main areas of concern being.
Wrong information regarding being able to book our flights to Africa. Also no proper discussion re: internal flight options.
Receiving incorrect forms and documents.
Poor advice on immunisation requirements.
MOST IMPORTANT. At no time were we informed that the gates to Tarangire National Park closed at 6:00pm. No one is allowed access after that time. If our flight had not been changed 2 weeks before our holiday we would never have reached our first lodge. A lack of awareness of this caused much stress to us, our guide and our lodge staff." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari

"We knew this was going to be the trip of a lifetime, but nothing could have prepared us for the experience we had. By the 3rd day we had run out of superlatives and by day 8 we were tongue tied when trying to describe how remarkable the wildlife was, how fabulous the food, how gorgeous the accommodations and how well we were treated. Even now, two months later we have difficulty.

We would not hesitate to use the services of Expert Africa again, in fact we would insist on it for trip planning in that part of the world. We would also insist on having Lyndsey Marris as our personal representative. Lyndsey was outstanding from day one, asking all the right questions about our travel experiences, our wishes, making suggestions before I had a chance to even think to ask, and somehow despite her being in London and our being in the United States we never waited more than 24 hours for an email or telephone response. We don’t know how she managed to work around the time difference, but she did. Her recommendations were spot on and she was flexible with changes; nothing seemed beyond her. We met and formed a friendship with a family from greater London while in Ruaha who had also used Expert Africa and had Lyndsey as their agent and they had the same experience and praise for her as we did.

We were provided with daily itineraries including private drivers, reservations at restaurants, all flight arrangements, hotel and safari camp reservations and accurate information about all of them. In over three weeks of travel there was only one hiccup and that was minor and no doubt precipitated by a flight delay causing us to arrive in Nairobi 2 ½ hours late. The driver who was to have met our flight was not there and we were unsure on how to proceed. As it turned out, a very attentive gentleman had been observing our situation and eventually came over and asked what had happened and it turned out he worked for the same company, Southern Cross Safaris, who was to drive us that day and the next. He took over and got us transported to the hotel and put us back onto our activity schedule to see the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage and the Giraffe Center. The driver from Southern Cross Safaris was delightful and informative and we met him again the last evening of our trip when we came back to Nairobi to fly home. The only adjustment we would make to our stay in Nairobi would be to give up the convenience of an airport hotel for the apparently unique, lovely experience of staying at Giraffe Manor. We didn’t know Giraffe Manor existed so it wasn’t something we asked Lyndsey about, but we really wish it had somehow come up.

I would suggest to anyone going on Safari to stay in multiple camps in diverse geographic areas. Lyndsey gave us a perfect itinerary in the perfect order: Nairobi, Selous, Ruaha, Mara River, Grumeti and finally Mafia Island and a flight home from Nairobi. Each of the areas had its own flora and fauna and special emphasis. Selous is private, no traffic or competition to view the animals, you can go off road, but the animals are very spread out due to its size. You have the opportunity to see the rare wild dog, but fewer cats. Ruaha, on the other hand, is a national park; you cannot go off road, there are many more vehicles, but it is definitely the place for cats. Mara River is all about the wildebeest crossing. It is also a national park. Grumeti is a private paradise in the Serengeti that gives you the absolute best of the best. Mafia Island is an exquisite respite from the “always on alert” feeling of safari.

If you looked on a map you might wonder why we worked from south to north just to fly much further south at the end, but Lyndsey explained her thinking, we took her advice - she was exactly correct. The wildlife built up as did the camps as we went along. Not once did we feel we were taking a back step in the quality of anything. And going on safari is quite tiring despite the fact you are being driven everywhere, so a restful beach idyll at the end is perfect.

We will definitely return to Africa. We would repeat this trip in a heartbeat. In fact this trip was so fantastic it will be difficult to resist literally going back to the same camps, but Africa is huge with so much variety, we will most likely expand our horizons. Where ever it is, Expert Africa will help plan our trip." Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 18 on a Tanzania safari

"We thoroughly enjoyed our trip. All the components ran very smoothly and we felt well taken care of throughout. Expert Africa had clearly passed on our dietary requests to the camps in advance.

We have previously visited Kicheche Laikipia and Kicheche Bush and this trip confirmed our liking for Kicheche Camps in terms of style, ethos and level of comfort." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 11 on a Kenya safari

"All aspects of the trip exceeded our expectations, which were already high given our previous trips to Africa, and the fact that this was our second visit to the Mara region.

Olivia and Richard were of invaluable help in planning and executing our trip, and I particularly appreciated their commitment to understanding our needs and expectations and ensuring that the trip they recommended was the best possible match for us. They found us late availability at popular camps and secured us competitive pricing that matched direct rates with the lodges concerned, but came with all the advantages of dealing with an experienced agency and a single point of contact.

Unlike other agencies, I never felt that they were promoting or selling specific camps with whom they may have preferential commission arrangements - I genuinely felt that their only objective was to meet the needs of their customers as best they could. This, in my view, is the key to a successful agency and repeat business, and we will certainly be using Expert Africa for our next trip.

It's also worth mentioning that the lodges were aware of our backgrounds, travel experience and preferences / objectives before we arrived, thanks to the information passed on in advance by Expert Africa. This was another plus, reflecting a high standard of customer service and attention to detail.

The team also did an excellent job of managing our expectations in terms of areas where the camps we visited might be different from places we had visited in the past. Our past travel history did include one of the most famously luxurious camps in the Mara, and so we were prepared that certain aspects of the camps we were visiting may not quite match what we had experienced before, but the overall safari experience would still be first class.

I'm pleased to say that the safari experience and the guiding matched or exceeded the best of what we had experienced in the past, exactly as the promised by the team. And in terms of the relative simplicity of the camps themselves, I can honestly say that I didn't notice all that much difference from what we had experienced before, and that this aspect of the trip far exceeded our expectations.

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Keep up the good work." Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 8 on a Kenya safari

"I had a fantastic trip.

I thought the locations and camps were well balanced and excellent. I loved the Maasia Mara, the people and the amazing amount of wildlife that we saw there. We successfully saw three Wilderbeest crossings which was the icing on the cake!

I thought that Clare listened to our requirements and did a great job in fulfilling them." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 11 on a Kenya safari

"Excellent trip which more than lived up to expectations.
The camps, staff( particularly the guides) were outstanding as were the wildlife sightings. We collected some of the best photographs we have ever taken largely thanks to the guides.
Expert Africa organised an efficient, well planned trip which we will remember for a long time.
Particular highlights( and there were many) include: the hot air balloon trip, wildebeests crossing the Mara river. Very, very close encounters with big and small cats. Leopards under the jeep and lion cubs on the bonnet.
The enthusiasm friendliness and efficiency of all the staff was hard to fault.

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It is difficult to think how the service could be improved and we would use Expert Africa again and recommend it to friends.
Keep up the good work!" Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 9 on a Kenya safari