Kenya: reviews from our travellers

"We had an absolutely fantastic trip. We stayed at 3 different camps (for 3 nights each) which provided variety in terms of landscape, wildlife and accommodation. Each place was unique and incredible. We ended the trip with Christmas Day in Nairobi. We truly loved Kenya!" Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 9 on a Kenya safari

"The trip was fantastic. Everything ran very smoothly.

Olivia was very responsive and helped customize our trip based on our wants. She kept us up-to-date on any flight changes which was very helpful.

We loved the rough guide to Kenya that we received, it was nice to read.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We ended up staying 4 days in Masai Mara because they were running a special 4 nights for 3 days cost. We had a great time at Basecamp and saw a lot but it might have been too much time in one place. We had 7 nights total, I think it would be possible to fit a 3rd location into our itinerary for those that are looking for a more strenuous trip.

The Rough Guide to Kenya was great however you may want to consider sending it a little earlier on in the process if feasible. Our itinerary was already set by the time we received it so if we read about something we were interested in, we couldn't change anything." Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 7 on a Kenya safari

"Kenya was our second safari, and we had the most amazing experience.

Special thanks to Richard for answering my myriad of questions with patience, and putting together such a fabulous holiday. Everything ran to schedule, there were no issues whatsoever, and it was all planned in meticulous detail by Richard. I contacted a few firms when booking the trip, and was very impressed with Richard, and intended to book with Expert Africa even if they didn't give the cheapest quote - but in fact they did, the price was really excellent considering it included so many flights and transfers and excursions.

We really enjoyed the different experiences in Samburu and the Mara, and can highly recommend this combination. To sum up, Saruni was the best experience in terms of lodge and stay, but the wildlife was much much more prolific at Ol Seki, and so it was great to combine the two.

All in all it was amazing, and now we cannot wait to return." Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 6 on a Kenya safari

"One of the most memorable experiences of my life.

Kenya is magical, suffice to say " I Will be back "

As I stated earlier, I came home a tired but extremely happy lady who is yet to wipe the grin off her face" Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 11 on a Kenya safari

"A truly spectacular time at Sasaab.

More wildlife than we were expecting in Samburu, wonderful location, fabulous food and great accommodation.

We left part of our hearts there!" Read full review: 5 nights in Africa; 4 on a Kenya safari

"Our trip was a visit to Lake Turkana, Marsabit and then to Samburu National Reserve. We were pleased that we did the circuit in that order as it gave us a luxurious end to the journey.

I had some difficulty to find an operator that was willing to cover Northern Kenya, but Expert Africa had the knowledge to create a suitable itinerary for us and find a company experienced in touring the region." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 7 on a Kenya safari

"Good animal sightings. Good guides working hard to keep us happy.

Rwanda was a nice surprise. Kenya was wonderful.

Saw little of Uganda but we liked what we saw.

Made new friends and enjoyed the contacts with the local people. Most of them were welcoming, happy and very friendly. Then again we found this in most African countries we visited." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 8 on a Kenya safari

"Best safari we have ever done and one of our favourite ever holidays. And Beyond were great and we would look to book with them again. Serengeti under canvas staff were off the scale amazing!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service: None - you guys are superstars" Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari

"This was one of our best ever family holidays - ideally for older children (in our case, young adults) - with many amazing animals to see, landscapes which were stunning, and different cultures between the highlands, the Mara and the coast.

The four legs of the trip - Borana in the Highlands, a not for profit conservancy which is helping re-establish the black rhino to the first Maasai-owned Camp in the Mara, to six days on Lamu island, a centre of Swahili culture, provided wonderful contrasts and very different experiences.

We could not have wished for a more perfect trip which exceeded all expectations. Now we would love to explore more of Kenya and see more of sub-Saharan Africa. Problem is, we also loved where we went and would like to return to these places and people too! Not the worst problem to have...asante sana, Expert Africa!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Expert Africa could offer a bit more information about activities in addition to quality of camps and lodges -- including interrogating the interests of a family group in order to get them to plan more of what they can get out of a trip. We didn't realise until the end of our first day at Borana, for example, that horse riding really offered the chance of a safari on horseback - and this then made Borana very special.

On the other hand, the flexibility of the Expert Africa team in allowing us to stay at a friend's private accommodation on Lamu was greatly appreciated. The process of building up the itinerary was a very positive experience and I trusted Richard Trillo's advice and in depth knowledge.

On the quote: It would have been nice to have had more of a breakdown of costs and options as I didn't feel able to weigh up alternatives fully. On the other hand, the itinerary was fairly fixed when it came to where we wanted to go on safari.

Finding ways of helping providers be as green as possible would be beneficial - not just conserving species (and we did donate to the Rhino International fund) but also ways of eliminating plastic in camps is important as these are visible ways of leaving less impact. After all, the Kenyan government has banned all plastic bags, so camps and airlines including safarilink should be encouraged to have refillable water canteens, etc. And camps can easily switch.

On Lamu - I would certainly explore the growing private villa/house rental options as these a fun, private and often of historic interest. Otherwise, airbnb and tripadvisor will take a share of your future business....(Our situation was coincidental and through a friend who owns a place with bandas at the end of the island...)

In summary, I rate Expert Africa highly and would recommend you to others! Many thanks." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 8 on a Kenya safari

"Despite the inauspicious start in Harare Airport, all other aspects of the trip went very smoothly and overall it exceeded our expectations and we will undoubtedly book another trip with Expert Africa in the future.
We are big fans of Zambia because of the excellent walking but we liked the combination of walk and drives we experienced in Zimbabwe.
Mana Pools was busier than Hwange, which was very quiet. In Mana Pools, it is strange to see people walking in the park without guides. In Hwange it was wonderful to be away from tsetses and mosquitos." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 15 on a Zimbabwe safari