Safari contacted by a 4X4 Toyata land cruiser jeep
Tall Masai Safari
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2021)
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $2,602 to $13,009 per person per day (MXN, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
HK
Email Kary | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Many things can't follow the schedule.
Although this tour is cheap when compared to another group. The operator schedule will not be followed. It changed day 4 to day 3. After we pay, the operator tries to downgrade our accommodation after deposit paid from lodge to budget hotel, which is 1/3 of the price without any refund. Also, we need to pay extra money for that hotel. And the pick up from our deep to car for transfer to another hotel. It let us wait 2 hrs in another hotel lobby and changed 2 cars. Although it is cheap, but not recommend. It will make your journey having many trouble.
Reply from Tall Masai Safari
Posted on Sep 30, 2025Hello Kary
First thank you so much for giving us an opportunity to avail our services to you... we appreciate your feedback and we wish to clarify as below...
1. Kindly you booked Mara Sopa Lodge and Lake Nakuru Sopa Lodge and we confirm from our end you stayed in the above mentioned lodges as we had shared with you...
2. Kindly at the time of booking we advised that Lake Nakuru Sopa Lodge not possible with a shared safari... we agreed taking a small car upon arrival and Nakuru City and get a private transfer to the lodge... kindly the driver at Nakuru was subcontracted and disappointed the company and that the time you stayed as we were preparing to have another driver to your hotel.... we apologize for this delay and admit yes that happened...
We request please your confirmation about the lodges we confirmed and lodges you stayed as there was no downgrade at all...
3. Kindly note that you booked a shared safari and clients were drop at different lodges within the Nakuru city...and your hotel was inside the park which is far away from where the rest of your group staying.
Thanks I advance
With kind regards
Benson...
NL
Email Yonah Lekkerkerker | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very stressful safari experience; we felt scammed!
We booked a 5-day midrange safari tour. We had a horrible experience with Benson. The night before the start of the tour we received a message of Benson if we could pay 55 dollars extra for the hotel because it had become more expensive. Of course, we would not pay extra as this was not stated in the quote, but Benson was persistent and kept messaging us for an hour straight. Then the next thing came up; the visit to the Masai village. The quote stated that this was included, but Benson called our driver that this was not the case. We sent a screenshot of the quote to Benson, but he did not agree with this. Benson kept calling us and the driver and even screamed a couple of times. This is insane! He told us that he already fixed the problem with the extra charge of the hotel, so now we had to fix this. This was very unreasonable because he caused these problems, not us! Of course, we did not pay for this as it was included. Now the third problem occurred. Before the safari, we agreed to pay extra to get another hotel; instead of the Citymax hotel we wanted to stay at the Waterbuck hotel. This was confirmed multiple times by e-mail and WhatsApp. The extra charge was paid on the first day of the safari. Our driver told us he would take us to the Citymax hotel, but we explained and showed him we paid extra to go to the Waterbuck hotel. The driver understood it, and called Benson. Benson said it was not true; we did not pay extra and we did not agree to go to the Waterbuck hotel. We discussed it for 3 hours!! We showed him multiple times the emails and WhatsApp, but he did not want to help. Finally, he wanted to pay back the dollars we paid extra, but he wanted to reimburse us in shillings which which didn't equal the amount we paid. Another hour of discussing went by and he finally paid us back. It was a very stressful experience for us. Something you do not want during your holiday. Benson did everything he could to screw us over. Fortunately, we had proof of everything, but this was the worst experience ever. I would not recommend booking with this agency!!
SE
Email Volker | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Non-delivery and bad delivery of promised service
I really cannot recommend this company Tall Masai. My pickup at the airport for which I paid extra was 20 min. too late. My free pick-up from the hotel which was included in the price was 40 min. too late, because they combined it with another paid airport pickup. Be very careful which pick-ups are included in the price and quote they offer.
However, free pick-up from the hotel was included in the quote of Tall Masai, but suddenly Bensson wanted extra money for this.
I selected Tall Masai for an 8 days tour because Bensson indicated in the quote that safari start at 6.30 in the morning. On the first morning, they did not get one customer placed in another accommodation into the care in time, thus, the safari in Masai Mara started at 7.00. Then, the 2WD car got stuck in a mud-hole and we were lucky that there was another car around to pull us out. On the second day at 15.30 the second car broke, they managed to continue to drive slowly on the straight way back to the camp reaching already there around 5pm while the parks closes at 6.30 (and the walki-talki was turned off, thus, not hearing where interesting animals could be to drive to). Hence, the “late afternoon/early evening game drive was no real one” because no walki-talki was used and because they indicated if we stop we might not be able to continue. Thus, we hardly dare to even asked them to drive slower as they already did for taking photos.
The worst thing was in Amboseli where the (fourth or fifth) driver I had indicated already in the evening that the game drive the next morning starts at 8.30 (despite the agreement mentioned above to start at 6.30). Bensson did not intervene despite being reminded about the contract but tried afterward to justify this very late start with some Amboseli entrance fee issues, but he apparently does not understand what it means to agree on terms. But he just promises and then does not deliver.
They also work together with a hotel in Naivasha called Leisure Apex Resort. When I need to get medicine with a five-minute one way car ride, the receptionist told me that he called a driver who does it for 500 Kenyan Shillings in total for both ways. But then he informed me that he has to inform his manager "Sylvia" about this. And afterwards he suddenly informed me that the trip now costs 1000 Kenyan Shillings .... . And when that driver arrived he immediately also claimed 1000 Kenyan Shillings. Guess what happened.... . I cannot recommend to stay there. Even not jam or honey was provided, also not upon request, for the breakfast bread with butter.
Apparently, Tall Masai works together with a bunch of other companies, and you feel like cars are filled up every day newly just to maximize profit. For example, People who have seen for six days Zebras are suddenly confronted with one person of a one-day safari who's main goal it is to find a Zebra (not that easy in our case in Amboseli). Customers in the same van who contracted with one of the other companies (Karibu) said that they were promised that there would be only 6 people in the car during their 7-days tour but occasionally we were 9 people in the car.
I took the 8 days tour with two full days Massai Mara at the beginning. I ended up having the same route two times (main road via the viewing point to Mara River and back). They just put me consecutively on two vans which start in the Mara.
On the vans: they provide 2WD vans also during the rather rainy and muddy season in April. While you get what you pay, it is rather inappropriate in my opinion to offer at all 2WD cars in this weather conditions. And then get stuck in the mud in the first morning and the breaking down of the van on the second day just supports this opinion. In general, I got the impression that 2WD vans tend to stay mainly on the main roads, which reduces the covering range of the safari.
I asked for a financial compensation proposal after the journey, and since then I have not heard for several days from Bensson/Tall Masai.
As mentioned, I really cannot recommend Tall Masai safari, or you should try to at least not to pay the full amount.
I do not understand how a company like Tall Masai with such an opinion about an agreement can be further listed on this webpage.
Email Khari | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Disappointed overall
They changed my accomodation last minute and also my pickup time the day before.
The drop off I was passed between drivers and eventually had to order my own Uber since people were continuing on to another destination.
The guide was just ok, and his personality didn't really fit the tour. Overall I think there are better options
QA
Email REZA | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Bad Driver makes a tour disaster
we had 3 days safari for Massai Marra. Our driver was an old man that has no eager to stop for any good view, any animal or even enough explanation about any things. He just liked to drive whole day! First day and the last day will be just road driving and the fact is only the middle day is a real SAFARI. The funniest part is that at the end of the trip, he asked tip from all of us, not as a request, but as an order to pay! I dont want to say his name and better this company survey and monitor the drivers and tour guides.
4 days MM and Nakuru with Navasha
Safari was good itself, not the organisation. Mr. Benson didn't keep promise to side boat tour in Naivasha, even after I notified few times in advance, and only offered to pay taxi for myself back to Nairobi if to go so I had to resign. At the arrival he let me wait over an hour abandoned in a car park in Nairobi without transport until I got my own.
The driver failed in critical interaction with local authorities and after bribing them he demanded money from me to pay all to him. Very disappointing customer care
ES
Email Ari | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
All good
He has complied with everything contracted. We would have liked the guide to explain information to us during the safari. The meals are repeated every day, but the accommodations were great. To repeat.
Email Johns | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
the scenery was beautiful, but the overall experience was average
We joined a sharing tour of mid-range accommodation for 6 days safari to Masai Mara, Naruku, and Amboseli. The safari was fun, but it was below expectation.
Highlights:
1. Before the day of safari, they picked us up at Nairobi airport on time, and helped us to buy the SIM card outside the airport.
2. During the days in game drive, the guide tried his best to find more animals. We saw the big five in different parks.
3. Jambo Mara lodge for the first and second nights was pretty good and satisfying.
Lowlights:
1. At the first day of safari, they asked us to wait for the pick up form hotel at 6:30am, but we waited until 7:30am. During the waiting time, no one told us where the driver was.
2. Before we booked the tour, the agent said 5 to 6 people sharing a car each and person getting a window seat, but we were 8 people in a minivan and some of us should be seated at the middle seat.
3. During the days, we got 1L of drinking water a day for each person, but sometimes only 500ml of water. (There’s no drinking water in the camp, so we didn’t have enough water for some days)
4. About the food. At the third night in Naruku, the dinner in the hotel gave each person only 3-4 pieces of meet and little vegetables. At the fourth night in the camp, the food of the restaurant had run out in 10 minutes after they served it. In addition, we had the same lunch boxes for 4 days. (At the third day of lunch, we had the same lunch box, but who booked for budget tour had a buffet inside the rest area.)
5. The most disappointing thing is the accommodation.
*(1) At the third night in Naruku, the light bulb burned in the first room we stayed, and there were no water in the sink in the second room.
*(2) At the forth and fifth nights in Amboseli, it was a nightmare. There was more than 50 mosquitoes in the room, and even like 10 mosquitoes in the tent. We asked for the help to the staff and the travel agent, but no one was trying to solve the issue for two days. The camp shut down the electricity after 22:30pm, but no one informed us about it. There was no hot water or even warm water in the room for showers. There was almost no signal in the area, and the wifi of the camp was not working at all. We saw someone was complaining about the camp on Google Maps, but everything is still the same.
6. At the last day, the driver dropped us off at the Namanga border around 10am, but we wait until 13:00pm for the bus to Arusha. During the time we were in the border, the agent who helped us to pass the checkpoint asked us to give him more money to buy the SIM card for us, and even took our lunch box with him to ask for additional tips.
PH
Email Joyce | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Cheapest price for 1 day Amboseli safaris
Amboseli itself is good. We were very lucky because we saw Kilimanjaro mountain and Flamingos.
Our tour safari were Worthy for money.
We are budget travelers. We tried to find cheapest tour for Amboseli safaris but we couldn't find other cheaper agency. I visited many agency and also searched online. I finally chose Tall Masai Safaris. Because this agency offered cheapest price. But the safari car is economy class. If you want business class car, you better find other agency or request high level car even if more expensive.
GR
Email Konstantina | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Serviceable. Ready to help you in any inconvenience.
We travel with my husband to have the safari tours in Masai Mara ,Amboseli,Lake Nakuru, Naivasha
The communication with Nancy from Tall Masai office and our driver with David was realy good. They were very cooperative!
We had booked the mid range tour package for 6 days .
The 2/3 hotels we stayed were nice .
But the room at Amboseli park ( AA lodge) was old,somehow dirty ,hot and without mosquito sieve at the windows ,only around the bed. But we could not open the window to have some air .Also they initialy provided us with 300ml free water per person per day and only when we complained that this is not enough they provided us more.
David was given us many information about the animals and we managed to see a lot of them. My only complain would be to stay in the afternoons a couple of hours more into the parks before we got back to the hotels.
In total we were quite satisfied and was a value for money option the tour with Tall Masai office!! I would recomended to other too!