Travel reviews by Ms K. from USA

"I thought the hotel was just lovely, the staff were friendly and the food was good.

I enjoyed my stay there!"

"How I loved Kicheche Bush Camp, the staff and everything about it!!

I'm sure I'll be able to rate these things separately but Kennedy?!? Omg, could there be anyone more wonderful and welcoming?!

Charles and Patrick were phenomenal guides - clearly way ahead of the other camp guides and so, so fun. All of the staff were so wonderful and the food was incredible!

I truly hope to come back to Kicheche Bush Camp one day!"

"Kicheche Mara was disappointing after Kicheche Bush camp, mainly due to the camp leadership (Rachel) and the game drive guides. The tent was lovely and the land was lovely but I would not go back. I had an awkward encounter with Rachel. I had given her my passport, other valuables to hold in the pouch and when I got it back from her, my passport was horribly bent and I was really worried. The pages were damp so I could tell it was due to moisture and asked her where it had been kept and she said "in a safe". I didn't know how that could be with the condition it was in. I let her know that it was completely like new when I gave it to her and I was upset at the condition she returned it in. All of the pages were flared and it would not close all the way.

Since I had never been out of the country before except for a drive into Canada, it was brand new and I was worried about it being accepted in the condition it was in and it made me really nervous. She said she would take it back and try and fix it and I said no thank you - I really didn't want to let go of it again. She kept insisting - this is the conversation Jane overheard that really bothered her. It bothered me some, but not as much as the next one.

Finally, Rachel relented and said she'd bring a book to my tent so I could put the passport under it. Later that day when I saw her she had the book. I said "thank you" and reached out to take it and she said that she would come to the cabin with me and help. I said it wasn't necessary but she insisted so I relented. At the cabin, I told her I was perfectly fine doing this myself and thanked her for the book. She said "no, no, I'll come in and help you". I said that that wasn't necessary and the book was help enough. She kept insisting on coming in to the point that I had to be ruder than I was comfortable with and repeat again, more sternly, that I was more comfortable doing it myself. She kind of went off in a huff.

This conversation made me really uncomfortable. It was ridiculous that she couldn't read the social cues better to know when to let go and leave.

Otherwise, honestly, I felt Rachel was fine during the rest of our stay."

"My room at the Emakoko was incredible, just breathtaking. It was hot and I was surprised there wasn't air conditioning in the hotel like there was at Tamarind Tree. But still, the room was so beautiful. The one thing wrong was the fan. It was incredibly loud and noisy (could not have it on when I was in the room) and did nothing to cool the room at all. Placed somewhere else in the room and much quieter would have been better. The outside walkway was in need of repair and seemed to be a trip hazard. The other facilities were beautiful.

The food was a little bizarre - there were a couple of dishes none of us could eat. Maybe focusing so hard on gourmet that it took away from just good food. The gentleman who took us around Nairobi shopping was wonderful. The gentleman who took us to the airport, just dropped us, didn't even offer to help with our bags or offer any advice on where to go or seem to care at all - just awful. Jane wasn't even dropped at the right terminal.

The rest of the complete, horrible chaos at the airport - 4 hours of lines for luggage drop off and passport control and only making the flight because they held it - were the fault of the airport, not the gentleman from the Emakoko. Regarding the wildlife sightings below, we declined a game drive on our arrival and just wanted to see whatever wildlife we saw on the way out shopping. Nairobi National Park was pretty dismal and depressing after the beautiful Masai Mara, mostly due to the lack of rain, I'm sure."