Kenya Bush Expeditions
- Office In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2013)
- Tour Types:
- Customizable private tours and fixed group tours
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $1,735 to $5,204 per person per day (MXN, excl. int'l flights)
for a custom tour
Your request will be sent directly to the operator
If preferred, you can contact the operator directly
Reviews
BR
Email Thiago Torres | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing Place, terrible experience
My friend and I were very excited for this trip (Massai Mara 2 days). However, a series of events almost turned this trip into a nightmare. First, the driver (Edwin) arrived 40min late saying he had a problem with the car. The car was terrible; by far, the oldest car I have seen during the journey. As the car was very old, all the trip was very 'shaky'. On the way to Massai Mara, we had a flat tire and had to stop for change. More 30-40min wasted. Then, we had to stop to had the flat tire fixed before going to the park. Inside the park, the car broke and we were stuck there for FOUR HOURS. Four hours inside the park, and the driver and company gave no alternative option but to wait. This was very frustrating, as we were waiting for months for this trip. We understand that cars can break, but if the car was not soooo old, the odds of this event would be lower. Also, again, the company had no backup plan for this. To top it ofF, the driver was not so nice. At certain point he said that the elephants undesrstood his situation better than us. Needless to say what he meant... The following day the driver was very rude, did not enter the park and continue the trip as if we were wrong, not the company. We asked him if he could drop us at the airport - which would be nice after allll we have passed. He said no, that he could not change the itinerary. In conclusion: I do not recommend this company. We lost almost 5 hours of our time during the trip and we had no compensation
AE
Email Brendan | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Extremely unreliable
I have used Kenya Bush Expeditions 3 times and have been let down twice.
My last Safari a week ago, somehow the email between them and me was hacked. I’m not sure if it was an outsider or someone within their organisation but I was told to pay for the tour upfront and when I arrived in Kenya I was told of the scam and advised they had not received payment for the tour.
They were kind enough to arrange something last minute but it was not the same as the original itinerary requested.
The driver arrived late to collect me on the first morning. When we approached our destination, over an hour and a half late, the driver stopped for a 20 minute breakfast. As a wildlife photographer this meant I had lost the whole mornings photo opportunity as the light was too harsh to take any photos in the park.
The driver just chased around the park for the day, he did not spot anything as he was driving too fast. Every time I asked him to stop he would respond, “you see something?” Or “must I stop?” Every time I had to repeat 3 or 4 times. Stop stop stop because he couldn’t follow a simple instruction.
On the second morning I wanted to take advantage of the good light for my photography as I had missed out on day 1. I arranged with him to meet at exactly 06:00 for a quick breakfast and leave at 06:15. Once again he was late. After being late the day before he didn’t have the decency to make sure he woke up on time for the arranged departure time.
Very disappointing, will not use them again.
IE
Email Harry | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Lying Cowboys
Kenya bush expeditions lied to me and my local guide about available tickets for the Sheldrick Trust tour for the 20th of December.
On enquiry they said they had 7 tickets available and we only needed 4. They asked for an email to send the payment link and we were slightly skeptical so we offered cash on the day which they agreed.
They charge $50pp US for the tour and the price is actually $15pp from Sheldrick. All they offer extra is pick up and drop off.
On arrival to the Trust, we pulled over and the driver said we had to wait. After questioning he said that we didn’t have tickets and we are waiting to see if there are any no shows. There were 6 other operators engaging in the same activity. Imagine if we had paid online prior!
Absolute cowboys! Sheldrick trust informed us that they are fully booked until the 6th of January and all bookings should be done through them. This company still offers available tickets every single day for the tour, complete liars.
Email Jake janybek | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The tour guy was nice but demanded extra pay.
I booked the tour through TripAdvisor, securing it for the listed price of $85 for the 6:30 tour. However, the organizer contacted me via WhatsApp on the evening of the tour, stating he would pick me up at 6:15. Upon arrival, he proceeded to pick up other participants from a different hotel before reaching the park gate. To my surprise, he then requested an additional $45, catching me off guard. Reluctantly, I agreed to pay in cash upon our return to my hotel, complying with the unexpected demand.
To further add to the frustration, we were left waiting for approximately 40 minutes at the park gate, with no communication about the delay. Eventually, the tour commenced. My concern lies in the discrepancy between the advertised price paid online and the unanticipated extra charge in person. This unexpected financial request and lack of transparency about delays were disappointing aspects of an otherwise anticipated experience.
DE
Email Max | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Good guide but contracts not honored
I booked a tour (2 days Safari Maasai Mara). Did the 50% prepayment.
One day the company owner contacted me telling me that park fees got raised and that he wants me to top up my fee about another 80USD per person.
I told him out of generiosity, that I can take over 50% of the increased fees, because thats his business risk and not mine (and package+price was already negotioated).
He declined and didnt even try to find a good solution here, just wanted me to take the whole fee. As client paying hundreds of Dollars for that tour already, that behaviour just felt really wrong and "greedy".
So just wanted to warn you that if you book with that agency, you might end up paying for additional stuff that was not negotiated (maybe he will also charge you for inceased gas prices, who knows.)
Tour itself was good. We had a great guide. Just be careful with your prepayment. Cheers
Reply from Kenya Bush Expeditions
Posted on Aug 22, 2023Dear Sir,
WE tried our best to give you the best tour. You gave agreed this. The government increase was announced at the last minute. Such fees are covered by the client. We had contacted you to cancel the trip but you insisted we continue with the tour. Kindly be candid and tell the whole story. We tried our best to give you the best tour.
NG
Email Dave | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Nairobi Park 1/2 day tour----The Gilligan's Island 3 hour tour.
It was advertised as a 4-5 hour tour, it was less than 3 hours in the park.
Our expectations were not high so the bar was set low and they couldn't even meet that.
After everyone was picked up at 1:30 we were told "all the animals are asleep now and the best time to start is 3 pm." So to kill time we drive to a small souvenir shop/snack place for about an hour.
First question is if there nothing to see until 3 then why not pick us up at 2:30 instead of 1:30? Obvious answer---to take us to some place to spend money where I suspect the driver and/or company is getting a kickback. THIS ANNOYED ALL THE PASSENGERS (we talked about it) since it was very obvious what was going on.
So we get to the park entrance at 3 and by the time everyone has paid the entrance fee we head in around 3:20. Funny thing is there were numerous vehicles in the park already and we pass a few LEAVING. Didn't they know the animals were all asleep when they arrived a few hours ago? lol.
Long story short what we saw was: Virtually nothing, certainly nothing of interest until 30/40 min. in when we saw a pride of lions sleeping (they should be awake, don't they know what time it is?). There were long stretches of nothing but in the end did see both black (2) and white (2) rhinos, lots of zebras and 3 giraffes only because we happen to see them far off and luckily they were headed in our direction so we stopped and waited. We pass that area 30 min. earlier or later and we don't see them. We also saw lots of Impala, one Ostrich, a couple of hartebeest and 3 hyenas.
They tell you up front in their ads there are no elephants so we knew that.
All we saw of the "big 5" was Lions and Rhinos so no leopards or buffalo either. Also no cheetahs, wildebeast, Hippos, baboons or crocodiles or well....anything else. Of course there's luck involved and no one should expect to see everything but this was pathetic. We headed out of the park before 6 pm so the tour was less then 3 hours long.
The whole thing was more like a Gilligan's Island 3 hour tour gone wrong then an interesting African safari of any kind.
CZ
Email Babak | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Beautyfull nature, lot of animals.
We saw a lot of animals, even very close up, the Massai Mara, Tsavo and Amboseli parks are really vast. Traveling between them is really time-consuming, given the condition of the roads. The condition of the Jeep we had at our disposal, which was probably the oldest compared to the others, certainly had a big influence on this. The windows could not be opened, the seats were almost in a lying position, we even had to deal with a brake defect, which meant an unpleasant 2 extra hours during a full-day journey. The driver Peter was very nice, he drove slowly but safely. Unfortunately, he did not familiarize us sufficiently with the prohibitions during the Safari, so we received a $150 fine from the Rangers for taking photos from the roof of the Jeep.
BR
Email Bruno | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Drowsy driver
We took a 1-day trip to Amboseli. The safari part was ok but the transfer between Nairobi and Amboseli was carried out by a driver who was dead sleepy (both on the way and on the way back), which left us insecure. On the way back, I even sat next to him to talk and make sure I kept him awake.
IT
Email michela | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Not so good
We booked a 5-day Safari between Tsavo East-West, Taita and Amboselli. The quality of the facilities is very good however the time spent on the Safaris was very little (in fact we saw very few animals). Much of the tour was spent in moving from one park to another. We usually arrived at the lodge to check in around 12 noon and the guide took us to the safari directly at 3 p.m. for only two to one and a half hours. All this money for two hours a day of safari doesn't seem like the best.
We were finally very disappointed when we were taken to see the rhinos in the special reserve near Tsavo...the guide arrives there for 4:30 p.m. and after 20 minutes makes to leave since the park closes at 5 p.m.; but couldn't he have taken us there earlier?
finally, the guide did not seem the least bit knowledgeable to us and never wasted time looking for animals (he even came without a spotting scope!).
Email Ken Southerland | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Lovely custom safari
Keny Bush Expeditions did us a great service by allowing us to dial up the safari we wanted and make it work for us. We spent 2 days in Amboseli and 1 day in Tsavo East to see the red elephants. Just marvelous! And our driver was a joy to spend the 4 days with. They even dropped us off in Diani when the safari was finished. It was truly an unforgettable experience.