The team
Aanika Karibu Safaris In Kenya
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 1986)
- Member Of:
- KATO, Tourism Regulatory Authority & Eco Toursm Kenya
- Tour Types:
- Small & medium group tours (Mid-range & luxury)
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $1,388 to $4,858 per person per day (MXN, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
Very disappointing
PS: This review was originally written in French and translated to English
I was extremely disappointed with the safari experience provided by Karibu. We had booked a three-day safari, but the title was misleading as we were only given a maximum of 10 hours to look for animals. I suggest that they change the name of the safari to better reflect the actual time spent on the safari.
On the first day, we were only in the park for one hour. On the second day, our driver wanted to return at 3 p.m. even though we still had time to search for animals. The driver was also very unfriendly, which spoiled the fabulous experience for us. Raymond, our driver, did not hesitate to remind us that he had long work days, which he compared to ours. He said this was the reason why he had listened to the research. We reminded him that we had paid $700 to keep him on schedule.
We strongly recommend that you move on and choose another provider!
ORIGINAL REVIEW IN FRENCH
Extrêmement déçus de notre safari avec Karibu. Nous avions réservé 3 jours de safari mais cet intitulé est mensonger, sachez que vous n’aurez que 10h tout au plus de recherche d’animaux ! Il serait donc préférable de changer le nom du safari…
Premier jour 1H dans le parc, 2ème jour notre chauffeur a voulu rentrer à 15h alors qu’il nous restait du temps de recherche.. Chauffeur par ailleurs très antipathique qui nous a gâché cette expérience fabuleuse… En effet « Raymond » n’a pas manqué de nous souligner qu’il avait de longues journées de travail (en osant comparer aux nôtres!!!) c’est pourquoi il avait écouté les recherches.
Nous lui avons rappelé que nous avions payé 700 dollars pour qu’il respecte le programme prévu.
Nous vous recommandons vivement de passer votre chemin et choisir un autre prestataire
IN
Email Surbhi Sud | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Unprofessional and unreliable
I don't know if the 2000+ positive reviews for Karibu we saw on safaribookings.com were fake or were they just related to mt Kenya climbing. I wouldn't recommend our 7 day safari experience to anyone.
When I was booking the safari, I was a bit hesitant since their package is cheaper than most other operators and therefore I was expecting barebone properties and campsites. Surprisingly, the accommodations were mostly decent and the cost cutting was done at the expense of the safari experience which was really unfortunate.
Robert was quite good with communications before the safari started, afterwards he stopped responding to messages or calls. So no matter what the issue is, if the safari is not happening as per the itinerary, or if the hotel is different than what was specified as part of the quotation, or there's some other issue, don't expect Robert to be available. Instead you are stuck with Edward, the guide + driver who was a moody individual with moments of courteousness sandwiched between rude and abrasive behaviour.
The itinerary promised 1 full day safari and 2 half day safaris at Masai Mara. On the first day of the trip, we reached Masai mara campsite and faced 2 separate issues - first that the evening safari is not going to happen and that the campsite was different (+inferior) than what was promised (I had confirmed the names of the properties that very morning at their office in Nairobi and still they preferred to not disclose the truth). We let go of the campsite issue and focused on the promised evening game drive. Robert obviously did not answer my calls and Edward in a passive aggressive manner threatened to organize a half-assed safari the next day if I continued to find discrepancies in the written itinerary and what was happening in reality. When I pressed further he called Robert, who answered his call(!) and said that the itinerary that I booked does not exist anymore (they took the webpage down from Safari Bookings that very instant)....luckily I had taken screenshots of the itinerary to share with my mates so they had to oblige. But not really in a way that counts. We did do one full day game drive as promised + 1 evening drive near the entry gate that was around 30 minutes + on the 3rd morning of the trip, we drove in from one gate and exited from another gate, a 40 minute ride that doesn't really count as a half day game drive. During the game drives, Edward mostly drove around quietly, sharing very little insight into the national parks or wildlife. If you pointed towards any animal and asked he would accurately name it. Compared to other game drive experiences that I've had, Edward was more like a driver than a safari guide. To be fair though, Karibu arranged a very comfortable 4x4 Land cruiser for us and Edward was a highly skilled driver (the 5 of us slept through bad roads and highways alike).
On the third morning of the trip, we reached the vehicle before our driver and since he was still having breakfast, I started loading everybody's rucksacks in the back of the vehicle. I was half way done when Edward showed up. He looked at me for a minute as a I stood there waiting for him to take over. Instead he told me to hurry and finish the job. I dont mind putting my bags in the car and dont really expect anyone to do it for me but I didn't see any reason why I should load rucksacks of the other group members. I dont see the point in treating your clients like that either, maybe he just got a kick out of it.
The quotation included drinking water but in reality that meant only 5.5 litres per person through 7 days so keep that in mind when choosing your operator.
Regardless of whether you go with Karibu or someone else, if you're keen on making the most out of your itinerary, I would recommend the following -
1. Start with Amboseli or Nakuru instead of Masai Mara
2. Skip Hells Gate if you are short on time. If you're going there for the lava wall, that section is inaccessible to tourists now.
3. Skip Naivasha unless you are into birdwatching. And if you are, spend some time near the lake and find a legit boat tour. The current version of the boat ride is a tourist trap where you'll see 1-2 hippos in the water (that was pretty cool) otherwise it'll be an hour long uneventful boat ride with 3-4 bird sightings that are anyway commonly seen in other parks. Not really worth $30 (additional 30$ to step foot on the island)
4. One full day safari in Amboseli is probably going to be enough. Half day in Nakuru is sufficient. Try to spend some extra time and money for Masai Mara. On day one, let the guide hurriedly take you across the park to tick off all the major sightings. On day 2, you go with a plan to focus on only the things that you missed out on day 1. Finish the itinerary with 2 days in Masai Mara so that you end on a high note.
Property Review -
1. Mara Enkajiang - Clean tents but dirty toilets. Bad food. This was given to us instead of Enchoro Wildlife Camp (highly reviewed). If any tent turned on their bathing shower the whole row of tents would lose electricity till a staff member repaired the fuse. This happened 5+ times in one night.
2. Lanet Matfam - Resort property with a nice swimming pool. Best food but very small and weirdly constructed rooms.
3. Leisure Apex - Overall best - new property, clean rooms, good food, no nonsense motel.
4. Nyati Safari Camp - Clean and spacious tents, well maintained, good food. This was given to us instead of Manjaro Campsite but we were happy either way.
PT
Email Rita | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Terrible experience
Our experience with Karibu Safari Kenya was terrible. The accomodations were very different than the ones that were promised by the company, we discussed the issue with the company and they didn't even know that our driver was taking us to different hotels, much cheaper and with much worse conditions than the ones that we actually paid for. We demanded a refund and it's been weeks and they don't even reply to us. The driver was very rude, the itinerary was constantly changing and it was very different than the one settled for us by the company. We only enjoyed a full day of safari in Masai Mara and there was a day where we just spend the entire morning driving from Masai Mara to Lake Nakuru and spent the entire afternoon in the hotel room as the driver refused to take us in a morning game drive in Masai Mara claiming that there was "no time".
The company doesn't deliever what is promised and they don't even try to compensate us or to do service recovery. The company nor the driver were not professional AT ALL being very rude to us. I felt that I paid for a 3 day safari and only enjoyed 1 day, not worth at all.
If I could go back I would book it with another company
ES
They never respond to requests once you pay. They do not respect the agreement
We booked an 8-day group tour. Communication was always via WhatsApp. They responded quickly and promised to honor the program's accommodations and limit the maximum number of people per vehicle. They assigned us to several other agencies that didn't honor any of this. They changed our companions and vehicles every day... the drivers didn't even know which agency we were from or our names. They took us to places we didn't want to be. Aanika Karibu never answered our messages. She contacted me every day and didn't read our complaints! She charged us and ignored us! We were packed into eight-passenger vehicles on the Game Drive... dangerous because you'd trip. A horrible experience. It made you feel unprotected.
Reply from Aanika Karibu Safaris In Kenya
Posted on Oct 14, 2025Thanks for your feedback.
You booked your safari on 27/July for the 8Days safari starting on the 5/october and on the 29/september the Kenya wildlife services in charge of parks increased the park entrance fee with only 3days notice and the price changed on 1/October(check online you will see). So We topped up USD86 per person from the company funds for the difference in park entrance fees because as per the policy we could not tell you to add funds so we changed Masai Mara accomodation to Miti Mingi Eco Camp from Enchoro Camp and Manjaro Camp to Nyati Camp as the Propeties gave us little discount to try and top up the park fees all are in the same standard and lake nakuru and lake naivasha hotels remained the same and the safari and game drives was planned. You had booked safari by Safari Van and heading to Amboseli we upragded you to 4x4 Safari Land Cruiser.
Regards
Lilian
Safari planner
ES
Email Lucía | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Did not comply with the reservation
We had hired a guide in Spanish, they guaranteed it and the guide who accompanied us had only done a 6 month course so we had to communicate with him through the phone application, which made it impossible to give us explanations about the safari, sites, animations, etc.. The guide who spoke English did not give any indication or explanation to other travelers who came with us. Horrible treatment of the guides.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
ES
Email Daniel | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
THE WORST EXPERIENCE POSSIBLE
After much comparison on Internet, I decided to book my trip to the Masai Mara for 3 days with this company. Big mistake.
Despite they took their time to answer my emails (great 'pole pole'), the reservation was made without major problem, for a single room in the Mara Springs, which I took charge of checking in person at his office in Nairobi, two days before the start of the trip (where they tried to trick me).
The problem came on the day of the activity, where they tell me that I will have to share a room with a stranger because there is a lot of traffic in the park this season, that they feel it, that I must have empathy, that I must be proactive, that they fuck me and that I can stand it . Well, no. Because one thing is that there is a last minute setback and quite another is that there is no seriousness here. But of course, one takes the trip programmed to the fingertips and I could not afford the pleasure of looking for another company that left in less than 10 minutes to the park, so I agreed to go with them, they made me a ridiculous price reduction that I would gladly have paid for 20, so as not to share a night with the boy who played for me, who had also paid for a single room and to whom I scarcely frightened entering his 'tent' to usurp the next bed.
Regarding the planning within the Masai Mara say that it was not fulfilled at all. The first day we spent 1 hour and a half at the door checking our passports (we were 9 people, so you calculate the slowness), and we spent half an hour in the park, which gave us a dreamy reddish sunset that I asked the driver to photograph and he did not leave me, answering me in an edge way and driving to the opposite side.
The second day was quite well and the guide seemed to change his character. However, same result trying to photograph the sunset of the previous day. Like they give bad luck to man, I do not want to prejudge, first of all empathy.
The last day, which was presented as to take advantage of to see the sunrise in the park, forced us to visit the Masai community, with no option to reply, and return to Nairobi, where they left me in a place that was not the agreed . I complained and they said I cause a lot of problems.
Regarding the VAN where we traveled all the time, although basic, it was comfortable a priori, it did not turn out that way since we were in it the top of possible people, bothering one another in many moments, inevitably.
On the other hand, the accommodation was finally carried out in the ENCORO WILDLIFE CAMP, which I will break down into another opinion, but which I can summarize in precariousness, dirt and loose snakes.
SULTRY.
Email Michael | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A total wreck
Before booking this tour I had some communication with Robert. I clearly asked if Karibu had a tour on my dates and he said it did. On my arrival date I went to the office, paid my balance and was subsequently sent to a car that would shortly transfer me to join another group with another company. Karibu never contacted me again.
At a transfer point myself and two other passengers joined a group of 6 other passengers for a total of 10 people (9 tourists plus the driver) The vehicle was so full we all had to sit with our own luggage and supplies between our legs and on our laps as the small space in the rear of the vehicle was woefully inadequate. Despite the fact that the tour was supposed to be maximum 7 people with everyone being offered a window seat and rooftop space, for the long drive to Masai Mara, the first evening game drive and the second day morning game drive we were 9 cramped passengers with three people having to use flimsy extension seats in the middle of the bus (ie. no window seats) and not receiving good views. After 2 passengers left after the morning drive it was still not possible for all 7 passengers to have a window seat and rooftop space as promised as there was only window space for 6 in the back. If you sat in the front of the bus with the driver, there was no rooftop space and you were situated lower.
At the camp, no towels were supplied to us. I only mention this because a few days before I left home I wasn't sure if I needed to bring my own towel so I e-mailed Karibu to see if towels were provided at the camp sites. They told me they were so I didn't pack one. I don't know if this was a lie or because the company they dumped me with used a different camp site with different standard.
On the third day I was supposed to visit Lake Nakura. The night before I reminded the driver since all the other passengers were going to Amboselli. He said he was aware and that I would be dropped off at a transfer point. After we left Masai Mara on the third day, I again reminded the driver about my transfer to Lake Nakuru. His reply was "You are not going, you will be going to Amboselli with us because there is no tour group going to Lake Nakuru today" There was no discussion with me at any point prior to this and had I not said anything to the driver, I don't know when they were planning to tell me. I asked him to call my tour operator (Karibu), but he refused saying this is what his boss had told him and that he was driving now and couldn't call (this despite the fact that he later picked up his phone while driving multiple times). I called Karibu's office on my personal cell phone which was very expensive as I did not have a local SIM card. Robert picked up and was very well aware of the situation. He suggested that they could refund some money which really wasn't a good option for me. He then said I could still go to Lake Nakuru on my last day instead. This would have meant backtracking a very considerable distance and spending about 12 hours in a car to go from Amboseli to the Tanzanian border to Nairobi to Lake Nakuru. It was never a real option as an evening tour at Lake Nakuru would have been impossible. I ended up taking an extra day in Amboseli, which is not something I really wanted to do as I felt one full day there was sufficient. What makes this even more frustrating is that the group that I joined for my second day in Amboseli had been in Masai Mara the previous day. If Karibu had communicated with me that going to Lake Nakuru was not be possible BEFORE I left Masai Mara, I would have much rather preffered to spend the extra day in Masai Mara.
Karibu failed miserably both in terms of communication and in terms of delivering what was promised. When my trip ended I wrote them an e-mail describing my experience and asking for a manager to respond. No one ever did, but after what I experienced, I really wasn't expecting anybody to. A complete disappointment.
RO
Email Daniel | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Uncoordinated, rushed and disappointing experience.
Having such a beautiful country, this should be such an easy job. Well it was not, it appears that the group I was in was too large for the company so they had to hire an external contractor, 3 busses from the conpany, one outsider. The best experience was the outside contractor. There was no coordination between the drivers, it almost appeared that the 3 drivers from the company had a problem with the outside contractor and did not support him in any way. The 4th driver with the people he had in his care were abandoned 2 times on the safari, one time for 1 hour and a half, when the bus could not move and see anything because the papers for the bus were with the other drivers. So 7 people out of 27 missed a part of the safari, the only encounter with a leopard. After all this, at the end of the safari we were suppose to cross the river and see the big migration, but the car we were in could not cross, luckily we were taken by a total stranger group ... otherwise we would have missed it. Last but not least our driver kept being harrassed by the others to drive faster on public roads, break the speed limit and really put our lives in dager with unsafe driving, I have seen him being called literally every 5 minutes, I felt UNSAFE! So yes ... poor experience in one of the most amazing places in the world!
SE
Email Alice | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The tour guide is really bad
We did not have a good experience with Karibu Safaris In Kenya since our tour guide Edward was really bad and not engaged at all. He did not communicate anything to us about anything during the transportation. And during the safari he did not tell us anything about any animal or anything. We had to find all the animals ourselves and when we asked him to stop so that we could take photos of the animals we noticed he got annoyed all the time. We expected more from a guide, basically he was just a driver who could not communicate and he slept in the car every chance he got, not professional at all.
CN
Email jeff | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A terrible company and one that all travelers should beware of
I have always thought that the second-selling travel agency on SafariBooking has basic service guarantees,！
but I am wrong!
The trip was very bad. I changed three cars and three drivers in a row on the road. I didn't have any notices or reminders before, which made me feel at a loss, and there was no apology and explanation afterwards, especially the last driver was not prepared any water for us and we were all thirsty and unbearable, and we couldn't buy any water. The most exaggerated thing was that the driver was unwilling to take me to the airport. The 7-day itinerary included the last delivery to the airport. He asked me to call Uber by myself!
All future travelers！
please don't be blinded by the so-called sales volume and are blinded by more than 1,000 comments, choose this company carefully, and choose a travel agency carefully!
Reply from Aanika Karibu Safaris In Kenya
Posted on Nov 20, 2023Hello Jeff,
We have received your review and we apologize for the experience,
Did you book the safari with (Karibu Safari in Kenya)?? we cant find your data in our systems to find out who is the sales person that booked you and driver guide name started the safari with you and why you were put in 3 vehicles and why the whole service and trip dint make you happy. Because for the 7Days Safari is long to have a bad safari experience and you dont communicate with the office or driver guide.
If you have the details, Kindly reply below or send us a email.
Regards
Lilian
Customer Service