We organized a 5 day/4night safari and the Nairobi day trip (including Nairobi National Park, Giraffe Centre and Karen Blixen Museum) via email with the own Paul. Paul replies very quickly to emails and it was a pleasure dealing with him. Initially we were a bit skeptical when Paul asked us to wire transfer a US dollar deposit for the safari to a Kenyan bank – but if you google KET safaris it is all safe – just make sure you are transferring to a company name and check the details. You can pay the remainder by credit card when you get there (3% surcharge).
Comparing other companies the tour was actually of excellent value. The cost differs depending on the accommodation provided. Please note that these tours are private – so we booked for 2 and go the whole van to ourselves. We say many vans with 7-8 people tightly packed. At one camp we saw APT tours and their 3 Jeeps were fully packed.
The 3 lodges we stayed (Ol Tukai-Amboselli, Lake Nakuru Lodge-Lake Nakuru and Sarova Mara Camp-Masi Mara) at were all very good to excellent so don’t fear KET does look after you. All these camps are full board – nearly all buffets so there is lots of food choices. All the camps have mosquito nets covering the bed.
Our driver Lucky for both tours was great, experienced at spotting wildlife and answering all the questions we had. He has a good sense of humour. Lucky was also an incredibly safe driver considering how bad the roads are and is very considerate having breaks every 2 hours or so. Also note that you are not permitted to get out of the van inside the parks. The road trips between national parks are long and bumpy (especially off road).
We managed to see nearly all the big 5 (except the Leopard – we did see Cheetahs). The Masai Mara was probably the pick of the parks, being the largest with the greatest variety and quantity of wildlife. However, each park has their own uniqueness and we saw Flamingos and Rhinos in Lake Nakuru that we did not see elsewhere. The major highlight was seeing the wildebeest crossing the Mara? river – apparently very rare.
There are plenty of opportunities to buy souvenirs – from the numerous curios (gift) shops and from the Masai people who come up to the van at the national park entrances.
Overall, I would highly recommend KET safaris as your tour organizer. Tourism has taken a hit due to the Ebola outbreak, but there was not much hype at all inside the country (they have already banned flights from at risk countries entering Kenya). Come on guys go and support the tourism industry and I assure you that you wont be disappointed
Date of Posting: 28 October 2014
Posted By: prozerran
Perth, Australia
