Having lunch with the pride! - I took this Game Drive in April 2024, from Nairobi to Masai Mara park, with Nathan as the driver. Nathan, our guide and driver, went above and beyond to ensure our comfort and convenience. He picked us up from the hotel and dropped us off at the airport. He was also very knowledgeable about the park's animals and always ready to answer our questions. Although the accommodations said "camping", we had the option to stay in cottages or tents, which included private bathrooms with hot water and a communal kitchen with meals. The stay was way above what I was expecting from a "camping". I learned that the Game Drive is a hit-and-miss experience. You could have an average day just seeing animals in their natural habitat (which is what we signed up for), or you could see something extraordinary from nature. Our case was the latter. During our drive, a pride of lions hunted buffalos, and we got to see them having a meal. It was quite a unique experience having a lion eating in the shadow of our SUV, at an arm's length distance. If you are considering a game drive, I suggest this one.

Superb Masai Mara Safari experience. - I have to say that it is an experience that must be lived and that will undoubtedly leave a beautiful memory in your mind. The 3 days of Safari were phenomenal, amazing, incredible and this would not have been possible without the help and tireless work of our driver and guide James Gichina, who I recommend 1000% for this type of adventure in Masaai lands. James Gichina is a helpful person, punctual, pleasant, fun and with a lot of experience within the Masaai reserve, he stays in constant contact with other drivers to take you to the best places where the vast majority of animals are found, he has an appetite for adrenaline and to satisfy its passengers. James Gichina moved to every possible corner to see the BIG FIVE with us, he was attentive to our requests and constantly motivated us not to lose faith. Undoubtedly, this experience without his abilities would not have been possible, and even more important, it would not have been so wonderful thanks to his talent when driving his 4x4. Thank you James Gichina, you made this, one of the best experiences of my life.

Best safari ever with guide James Gichina ❤️🙏🏽🙏🏽 - I need to tell you that everything was absolutely amazing the guide was the best I ever had in my life and I have travelled the whole world!! James Gichina the guide was astonishing he made the group see all the big five and maybe more that 50 different animals...so dedicated and so worried to make us see everything! I never had someone like him...the other guides around were not dedicated like him!! The best trip EVER! i will tell my parents to come as well but you have to make sure that James will be the guide!!! I really hope I will come back again I was totally satisfied with what I saw and thrilled to see all of this nature free to do whatever they want and so much respect for the animals. TOP QUALITY WORK! usually I'm very picky and never satisfied but this was just perfect! I'm thankfull to have written to you and even more thankfull to have had this experience with James because I don't think anybody else would have made it better! Thanks again safari and a BIG shout-out to JAMES GICHINA!! The safari has a treasure in its hands because of this guide, nothing would have been possible without him...if you are going absolutely ask for him!!!! INDRIE and MARCO

Living a dream in Maasai Mara - The safari was incredible, the staff was super friendly and helpful, the food is not gourmet but it was good for what you pay, the tent was super good and with hot water. Even my luggage did not arrive in Nairobi, they took me to buy some clothes and they were in charge of managing the rescue of my luggage at the airport and leaving it at my hotel. I had many doubts about going on a safari alone, but it's good that I dared. If you travel alone, make sure to coordinate your transportation to your hotel after the safari because if it is outside the downtown it is not included, but everything is negotiable.

Awesome Masai Mara experience! - Every one involved in the tour was very professional. From pickup from my hotel to drop back to my hotel they were on time. The Mara is full of wildlife and I got to spot 4 of the big five on the first day itself. Rhino is scarce and difficult to spot. Great value for money.

Excellent - Excellent service, food and we were able to see lot of animals. Recommended 100%! Accommodations were really Nice and confortable

Masai Mara 3 days - Moses was a good guide and we saw tons of animals. He went out of his way to make sure we saw the animals we were most excited about It was very fast paced which is inevitable since it's a huge place, if anything that just means you should book a longer trip!

Very good experience. Great people. - This 3 day safari was a great experience. Our guide Paul was very attentive and knowledgeable. Saw a lot of wildlife. Lenchada camp is basic/rustic (not luxurious) with great staff. Comfortable beds, shower, toilet in tents. Basic good food. Tasty American buffet style. Very quiet and nice. Tour company was very responsive to all online questions.

Great experience ! - Once I booked the safari I received a few minutes later a message on WhatsApp confirming everything. The whole trip was very well organized, and the staff was available for assistance at any time. Our driver and guide was great, and the other people as well. Great experience I definitely recommend !

More adventure than I bargained for, choose wisely. - My first safari so I don’t know how most compare. Will you see all that the Masai Mara has to offer and will you see animals? Yes, but I implore you to choose another tour. If budget is your restraint, you can certainly find similar at or near this price point. To begin with, this tour combines other people who made arrangements through different booking companies. This also means there is a possibility members of your group might be staying at different locations. This could be fine in other circumstances, but in our experience it didn’t. We had a group of seven. Four stayed at one camp, two stayed another camp, and one stayed at another camp. This ruined any chance on leaving on any set schedule. Don’t bother trying to show up on time, because you ultimately will have to wait on others. This happened everyday, losing time for the actual park visits. Our first two days were great. Great guide who clearly knew the park inside and out, and was a very skilled driver on the terrain. He was quick to answer any questions and he had so much knowledge concerning the animals, plants, and the Masai people. I honestly couldn’t have learned more from anyone else I think. That being said what happened on the third and final day was inexcusable. The driver and this company did put the lives of my group in danger. On the third and final day we were all told to be ready at 0610HRS for an early morning game ride. The four members of my camp were ready. Time passed and there wasn’t much concern, because as I mentioned earlier nothing started on time. At around 0700HRS our guide arrived at the camp. We started gathering ourselves to hop in the jeep. However, our driver got out of the camp and started walking away from the jeep. Next thing you know, he had fallen on the ground and was having difficulty getting up. This was not a medical emergency, he was intoxicated. His eyes were bloodshot, speech slurred, and had the strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on his person. The people running the camp clearly knew something was wrong. The members of the group all could see he was not in fit condition to drive. One member of our group tried to persuade our guide to hand over the keys, for safety measures. He refused, and just got back in the jeep and drove off. No explanation, nothing. I tried contacting the company, and at first I didn’t get a response. I contacted TripAdvisor, the operator expressed my concern and informed me he would try to figure out what was going on. He took my information and stated he would start the process of getting a partial refund for the activities we clearly would be missing, and to figure out how to get another driver to return us all to Nairobi safely. A few minutes after that I did hear from Joel, with the safari company. He apologized for the situation and assured me that the drunk guide would not be going forward with us for the remainder of the trip. He said he was sorting out who could take over and still take us on a shorter tour of the park and then head back to the city. I thanked him and we proceeded to wait until I received further information. About 15 minutes after that call, our drunk guide returned. At first he acted as if nothing was the matter and was asking us to get in the vehicle (we needed to pick up the rest of the group). All of us said absolutely not! Some time went by and it was getting to the point that my partner and I just wanted to go back to Nairobi, forget the park tour. We already had an appointment for PCR tests to get back to the States and failure to do so would have jeopardized our flight. I received another call from Joel, saying the new driver was located and would be on his way shortly to take over. He stated that the driver was nearby and would still take us into the park for a quick ride. I told him my partner and I didn’t want that, we already had important plans, and we were already behind schedule significantly. He said that was not possible because the other guests would complain. I am pretty sure the other members of our group, weren’t even informed about the whole situation. Our new driver arrived, and still they were pressuring us to continue on with the tour before going back to Nairobi. By this point all four of us just wanted to head back to Nairobi. Our original driver did come to us and expressed deep regret for his actions. Apparently his father had recently died and he was working through some things. We thanked him and got into the jeep, the original driver did too, but in the passenger seat. We set off to start collecting the other members of the group. When we arrived at the second camp, that couple wasn’t even close to being ready, just getting out of bed. Keep in mind it’s almost 0900HRS at this point. While we’re were waiting, our first driver got in the driver seat, started the vehicle and once again insisted that he take us to the park himself. Several of us jump out the jeep and said no. He got out of the jeep and our new driver secured the keys. He then drove us to the third camp to pick up our last member (the other couple still wasn’t ready, the driver was just trying to be efficient). We pick up our solo traveler and headed back for the other couple. They still weren’t ready. More waiting and finally, we were on the way back to Nairobi. This should have been the end, but there is more. Leaving the Masai Mara it is on unpaved rough roads. Yet another reason why we did not want an intoxicated driver. Takes about 90 minutes to get back to paved roadways. Our new driver handled to bumpy road very well, but things got strange about 10 mins into the portion of the trip. Our new driver was not maintaining speed, had some abrupt braking. At first it wasn’t a concern, but then some of us noticed he was drifting over the center line quite a bit. We nearly hit a goat and a cow. We nearly had a collision with a vehicle that was over taking us. After on significant center line drift and a abrupt braking, the two members sitting towards the front of the jeep yelled fir the driver to wake up. He had apparently been falling asleep at the wheel. We told him to pull over immediately and get some rest. His eyes were bleary and red and he obviously was sleepy. He pulled over. It so happened to be at a scheduled break stop. He drank and energy drink and had some coffee. We waited around about 20 minutes. I don’t think we all felt comfortable about having him drive, but I think we felt we didn’t have any other options. We started driving back to Nairobi. For those of you not familiar with the highway between the Masai Mara and Nairobi, it is heavily travelled on sundays. There are also a number of small market towns that are also busy on sundays. There are regular head on collisions that end up being fatal. Not a good combination for a intoxicated or sleepy driver. On top of that as you get closer to Nairobi there is a portion of the trip that climbs up the rift valley (7000 ft in elevation, two lanes, steep drop off points, and minimal guard rails). We stopped for gas before making this climb, and then out of nowhere our old intoxicated driver shows up and says he will finish the drive and drop us off. Yes, he was probably sober by this point (1500HRS) but the point is, Joel stated earlier out original driver would not be coming back. Also his lack of responsibility was on full display earlier in the day. Yet again, we felt we had no other options but to just allow this to happen. Thankfully, we did all make it back to Nairobi safely. About an hour after my partner and I were dropped off, I get a call from Joel, asking if we made it back safely. We did. I told him about the sleepy driver, the drifting over the center line, and the return of our original driver. Joel apologized many times. Things are sometimes out of our control I get it. I told him I would be seeking some sort of refund for the events that happened today. Joel went on to ask me if I had a good safari, and if I did there shouldn’t be a need for me to make a complaint and ask for a refund. He went on to say that after his cut of the $900 we paid TripAdvisor, he only received about $30, and that he had already spent that money. His tone as he was telling me all this stuff had the air that I should be “grateful” that I at least saw the park and made it home safely. I was almost left speechless by this for obvious reasons. I am still trying to recoup some of the expenses for this trip. But apparently, the issuance of a refund of any kind is out of the hands of TripAdvisor. That choice is made by the vendor. I probably won’t get any sort of refund, but I really felt the need to write this review. I’ve travelled quite a bit, all sorts of countries and have had some hair raising moments, but I have never been so uncomfortable and almost terrified during the course of all this. It’s been two days and I still can’t stop thinking about all the bad things that could have gone wrong. I have chosen not to name the original driver. As I said before he was fantastic in the beginning. But what happened on the third day was inexcusable. Putting the life of members of the group in jeopardy is wrong, unsafe, and unprofessional. I highly recommend you do not book with this company.