Our driver for the first week, John, was fantastic! We all got on very well with him. He had the perfect balance of interesting conversation and local knowledge, but also happily left us to sit quietly and look out the window. When you spend a lot of time together, it’s so important you get on well!

Thank you both for all your hard work in putting together this trip of a lifetime! We all agreed it was unforgettable and truly wonderful!

All the staff, drivers and camps were great. Felt like we had been to one of our relatives’ homes. I am sure R said, that it felt like visiting your grandma!

We loved the Serena Camp, so lovely, the food, view and the service was great. T was lucky to see the White Rhinos at Lake Nakuru (K was so disappointed not to tick off all the Big Five).

The Masai Mara, what can I say? T with his camera clicking away was a pleasure to watch. The animals didn’t disappoint us either. I am attaching some of his photos. You are welcome to use any of the animal pictures for your website.

Finally, thank you so much for organising the cake for L. It was very touching. He certainly was surprised.

Hells Gate  – we enjoyed the bike ride so that all worked well.

In terms of transfers and people picking us up etc all went very smoothly. The two nights in Nairobi were enough for us and the visit to Sheldricks and the Giraffes worked well. We had Steven as our guide for the week and he was just brilliant. Couldn’t do enough for us, was really considerate about snack stops (kids not me!) gave us loads of info and arranged everything we needed for us e.g. picnic etc. Really enjoyed our time with him. 

Diani was then lovely too – just very unsettled weather which no one can control. We did a boat trip for snorkelling and then a day at Shimba Hills – amazingly we saw nothing all day !! But that’s the way it goes sometimes. We were perfectly happy with the lodge. It was clean, the food was good and there was loads to do with the games areas and evening entertainment.  I had seen some negative reviews online but we had a great time and the staff were so friendly and welcoming.

They even arranged for someone to come to the airstrip when we were there as we realised that we had left something at the hotel – but had gone through the security bit so couldn’t leave, which was really kind of them.

The beach is beautiful too and the staff keep the sellers away from you if you do want to go on the beach. 

So, all in all, a fantastic trip – thank you for advising and booking everything for us! We had a great time and can’t wait to go again!!  

Transfers all went well and the safari camp was perfect for what we wanted. It was fun having an open camp and C absolutely loved it and was happy on even the longest game drives, especially after he took over my camera! I guess the only downside was we did have to do a lot of driving as it was so dry there (I gather worse at Amboseli). We had our own open-sided jeep and a very good guide called Daniel who was incredibly knowledgeable.

So a great trip – thank you for arranging (and especially for re-arranging) – in C’s words, `best holiday ever’!

The hotel in Lake Naivasha, was ideal (beautiful spacious room, good food) and allowed us to have some relaxing pool time on my son’s birthday after the cycle through Hell’s Gate. A small improvement would have been if we’d realised the driver who collected us at the airport was going to be our guide for the next week – James was very kind, polite and knowledgeable, but not very forthcoming with info so it took a day or so before we realised he was our guide for the whole trip and was looking to us to let him know how we wanted to manage our itinerary, both at Lake Naivasha and in the Mara. For example, it took us a day or so in the Mara to realise that it was up to us when we wanted to do our game drives and that we could spend as much or as little time in the park as we wanted. 

The camp in the Mara was fabulous – we had an amazing time, accommodation, service, and food exceeded expectations. The game drives were fantastic with abundant wildlife at every turn – we only failed to track down a rhino – giving us an excuse to return one day.  We were very lucky and saw so many amazing sights – several fresh wildebeest lion kills, a crocodile killing a wildebeest crossing the Mara River, lion cubs, lots of baby elephants, zebras, giraffes and warthogs, and celebrity cheetahs and their film crew!

Transfer to Mombasa and then on to Diani Beach was an adventure for the kids and went smoothly.

Diani Sea Resort also exceeded expectations – food and facilities were excellent.  We enjoyed the pool and daytime activities were well received with a small and friendly team organising low-key beach volleyball, water polo etc, and always ready to partner up for a game of ping pong or a board game if there was a child at a loose end – all very relaxed.  

The room, though it seemed fairly basic at first, was actually absolutely fine – clean, comfortable beds, good air conditioning, and hot showers.  The beach was beautiful but was essentially a no-go area during the day as there were so many vendors that it was impossible to take a walk – such a shame as no one sunbathed /played on the beach outside of the hotel’s organised activities. We were able to enjoy gorgeous walks along the beach before breakfast.   

Thanks again and sorry it’s taken so long!!

– The accommodation  – the places that we stayed were all characterised by great locations and brilliant hospitality.  At Deas Gardens our youngest daughter M was invited to go and play touch rugby at the park with the family – she loved it.  It is the only park she has been to where she could play and see Zebra at the same time!  Olepangi Farm introduced us to fascinating people, both in terms of hosts and guests – and the setting was beautiful.

– Our driver Joseph was so enthusiastic about the wildlife – and was tenacious about pursuing reported spots!  We only missed out on a leopard, we saw all of the other Big 5 in abundance.  He clearly wanted us to get the best experience that we could out of Kenya and we really appreciated his kindness, experience, and good driving skills!

– Diani Beach was beautiful – my teenage daughter was in absolute heaven!

Perhaps some advice re the costs attached to non-itinerary activities would help with planning.

Other than that, it was our much anticipated trip of a lifetime – thank you! Definitely the worst holiday blues I’ve ever had!

The Masai Mara was completely different – loads and loads of lions which was fantastic! We also see cheetah there as well as lots of other smaller animals. One comment I would make was that Eagle Lodge was a long, long way from the Mara River, which meant that our opportunity to see the wildebeest crossing the Mara River as part of the Great Migration was limited to one day. If I could change one thing about our trip it would have been where we stayed in the Masai Mara – Eagle Lodge itself was lovely but it was in its own conservancy area and not in the “main part” of the Masai Mara.

Tanzania
And then on to Tanzania where is was good to have a break from safari, have some downtime and do some more cultural activities. We particularly enjoyed going early morning hunting with the Bushmen and the boys loved practising their bow and arrow skills!

Then back to the Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti where we finally saw leopard and the elusive black rhino – well worth the long wait and hours of bumping around in the jeep! Kubu Kubu lodge was wonderful, although we enjoyed the more basic Angata Camp too. Perhaps it would have been nice to stay in a lodge with a view of the crater itself but I suspect that would have added considerably to the price! We also arranged a hot air balloon ride whilst in the Serengeti – an expensive but unforgettable experience.

Zanzibar
Finally, onto Zanzibar! Glad we stayed in Stone Town for a couple of nights before heading to the beach. Seyidda Hotel was charming and well-located although on arrival the family room we were given was a little strange as it only had two very small double beds in it for the five of us!! The hotel did put an extra bed into the room for us but it is worth noting as perhaps not all kids would be happy to share a bed with their siblings! Hideaway Hotel was lovely – it had just the right level of luxury and the beach was beautiful.

I could of course go on and on about the trip and all the amazing things we saw! I haven’t yet had an opportunity to go through our photos properly – needless to say we have hundreds and hundreds! When I do, I will send you some.

A really big thank you to you and the team for organising such a wonderful trip for us – we have so many amazing memories and being away together for 30 days was (in the main) such a happy time – wish we could do it all again!

All the best – until the next time!

The vehicle we travelled in was spot-on allowing us as a family to be together, stretch out and watch the world go by, without worrying about where to go and what the children were arguing about in the back! Testament to this fact is that our three girls would happily snooze, chat or look out the window for the long journeys and we didn’t have to break out the screens until the last day (a long drive back to Nairobi)!

The safaris in Ol Pejeta, Lake Naivasha and Masai Mara were very all different and wonderful.  We loved the varied nature of the trip, the beautiful highland region of Mount Kenya, Lake Naivsha with it’s bustling town and the Masai Mara with it’s stretching plains and long vistas.  Everyone we met was so friendly and happy that we were visiting their country. The programme of events was perfect, the trip to the elephant orphanage and giraffe sanctuary on the first day was great for getting a taste of what was to come, the children loved getting up close, the giraffe’s were a particular hit.

Similarly the trip to see the chimpanzee and rhinos in Ol Pejeta was great, my highlight was feeding a blind, black rhino and I will always remember his slobbery kiss as he took the greenery from my hand!  We could have stayed in the Masai Mara for much longer, on reflection I think an additional night here would have been our only change, we loved just looking out across the plains.  The girls really felt like they were in Lion King land. The animals were fantastic to see, having done safari before I knew the magic of it but my husband admitted he didn’t think he’d enjoy watching the animals as much as he did!

To be honest the accommodation blew us away.  Maybe you under sell yourselves but we really didn’t expect it to be so good!!!  The family cottage at Ol Pejeta Lodge was just amazing, huge and beautiful.  We loved the open fire and the big beds. We could have stayed for a week. The welcome we got was as if we had returned home from a long journey, perhaps it was a taste of colonial Africa.

We all fell in love with Dea’s Guesthouse too, the gardens were simply beautiful and we felt we’d arrived at our grandmother’s house with the care and hospitality we received.  The family loft room was perfect and the girls loved their first experience of sleeping under a mosquito net!  The home cooked food was delicious and they had clearly considered the children.

Then the Ashnil Mara Camp, again mind-blowing!  The level of luxury and service given its location in the middle of the Mara was just amazing. And again the space we had as a family was perfect.

Onto our last week in Malindi at Temple Point, we were certainly all ready for some relaxing time and being in one place. There was a slight problem when we arrived as they had given us three rooms, which weren’t connected and our children (being of an age) were not comfortable sleeping alone after one night the hotel managed to find us a family room, this was all dealt with very well and in a friendly manner so nothing that bothered us too much. The hotel was perfect for the children, over the Easter weekend it had a full schedule of entertainment.  We all loved the evening shows and then the open-air movie. There was plenty to do during the day, from darts, to Easter Egg hunts and water balloon fights, the kids loved it (as did we!)  We also did a fantastic beach walk and the children got to hold sea cucumbers, star fish and feed a rather ugly moray eel.  We did a dolphin-watching excursion with snorkelling, our 4 year old was so excited about swimming with all the fish and seeing Dory!

All in all Liddy it was just perfect, exactly what we wanted and actually a whole lot extra.  Thank you so much.

The Masai Mara was as wonderful as we hoped and we were very lucky with our wildlife viewing – masses of lions and cheetah as well as huge herds of plains game. Some lovely baby elephants too which the children enjoyed. Our guide here (Roger) was particularly good and what we don’t know about African game isn’t worth knowing! We were worried that the novelty of game drives would wear off on the kids but Roger managed to keep their interest going throughout. Highly recommended.

Then the beach was gorgeous and we loved Medina Palms. All very luxurious and exactly what we needed after the safari. Our rooms were AMAZING. And the food was superb here, so we all ate far too much of it.

Thanks for arranging such a great trip.

We were very pleased to have taken your advice and got straight out of Nairobi as from what we saw it was a dump. It didn’t take long to get to Sweetwaters and was so lovely to get there. The kids were straight in the pool and M and I sat down with a cool beer and felt that the holiday had truly arrived!

We saw a lioness with her cubs on our first morning drive which set the bar high, but we continued to be very lucky throughout the trip and ticked off the big-5 several times over. I also loved the birds but the kids were not remotely interested and all did exaggerated yawns the minute I pulled out the binoculars. However, Stephen, our excellent guide, was brilliant and somehow managed to point out enough birds to keep me happy, whilst also spotting plenty of bigger animals for the rest of the brood.

Of all the hotels, our favourite was probably Epiya Chapeyu. Amazing food, lovely staff and we saw elephants just nearby, down at the river.

The Sonrisa was also perfect for us. We saw lots of the big charter resorts and they looked awful so we were greatly relieved to turn up at the Sonrisa. It was really comfortable and just what we needed at the end of the safari.

Anyway, sorry this is brief. I’ll try to send more details soon but I just wanted to say thank you. Do also pass on to your local agent that Stephen was brilliant as he really went above and beyond. The kids adored him. Cambodia is next so we’ll be in touch!