Odyssey Safaris

Great experience

We went for our first Kenya Safari trip in February 2014. Although it was not the right timing for the migration, we got to see a lot more than we expected. The trip was well planned out and arranged. Well done, Odyssey Safari.

The magic of wildlife and the beauty of Kenya from all perspectives while staying in luxary tents.

Our safari was over the top.... better than my expectations, even though I had been to Kenya before.
As a professional Travel Director of twenty one years, I do have some suggestions I would like to mail on this survey or seperately,.
Our pre-communications were the only area lacking as I wrote and requested insurance that was never delivered. In retrospect, that's ok since I fortunately didn't need it.
Mark, on the other hand, was quick to get back to me every time I asked him for special assistance with concerns.
I have been on safari's fin SA, Namibia and Botswana and thought this was the best.... ever !
The lodges and parks we visited were each unique and special in their own way.
The top mark goes to our guide, Erastus. He was smiling almost every time I looked over at him and I know four 60++ year old woman could not have been easy. He deserves high marks. I hope the $400.00 we tipped him was sufficient. He DESERVES a raise !!!

Trip of a Lifetime

We returned on January 25, 2014, from our amazing Kenya safari. Words cannot adequately describe our wonderful adventure. The trip was truly amazing: the animals, the landscape, and the Kenyan people. Every aspect of the trip provided by Odyssey Safaris was first class. We loved the places we stayed and are grateful to Mark Cahill and his team that everything about our time in Africa was absolute perfection.

Our guide, Erastus, was the key to our unforgettable safari. Not only is Erastus a great guide and driver, he is also a very nice man. His ability to spot all of the various animals was remarkable, and we thoroughly enjoyed his narrative about what we were fortunate to be seeing. We found four of the Big Five on our first afternoon; and watched a leopard on Day 5 chasing an impala for the kill. Wow! Four female lions with two cubs, a week-old baby giraffe, two cheetahs, a serval cat, black rhinos, and elephant families with babies, were some of the highlights to go along with viewing thousands and thousands of other animals. And to finish it all off on the last day, we watched four adult male lions with the hippo they had killed that night.

We will never forget our wonderful adventure to Africa. Thank you, Odyssey Safaris!

A birthday to remember

I had never imaged that I would be going to Kenya and I was a bit nervous about experience. But I should not have been. Odyssey had everything taken care of. They sent us all the information well ahead of time. They met us at the airport and got us our our way! Everything was arranged and there were zero issues along the way.

Our guide, Simon, was always punctual and was very knowledgeable. When he got a tip on a good sighting, he was a man on a mission to get us there. Yet he could be patient. We spotted a lioness and her cubs moving into the bush. He turned off the engine and told us to wait...sure enough the mother and 4 cubs emerged a few minutes later. He had a great eye and found us many interesting sights.

We celebrated our daughter birthday on the last evening. I don' think she will ever forget the experience.

If I had a complaint it was that the van was too full. With 7 adults plus our 10 year old and all the luggage and water it was very tight.

I would travel with Odyssey again!

Trip of a Lifetime

This trip was nothing short of remarkable, and I am thankful Odyssey Safaris was my safari operator. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect, but Odyssey did a great job of catering to our needs and answering all of our questions. The safari rides themselves got better and better with each place we visited, and they certainly saved the best for last: Masai Mara. Our tour guide, Erastus, was wonderful and very knowledgeable. It was because of him that we saw some of the breathtaking things we saw, including a leopard feeding on a gazelle while in a tree, a lion waiting (impatiently) to make a kill, and six lion cubs playing with their mother. It certainly helps that, with the exception of a few activities, the expenses are all part of the package. That way all you have to focus on is enjoying your trip and negotiating good prices for your souvenirs.

The trip of a lifetime!

As a self-admitted travel nut, to say that this is the best trip I have ever taken (in 60+ some years) still seems like an understatement. The quality of all arrangements and accommodations, the caliber of the staff and guides, the printed materials and informative emails, and general responsiveness of all Odyssey personnel (they aim to please, and do it brilliantly!) surpassed even our greatest expectations. As if seeing the animals up close and personal in the African savanna were not life affirming and life altering enough, the good fellowship of our tour group and the daily helpfulness of the Odyssey folks made this a dream-come-true of a vacation!

They took care of all the details. I didn't need to worry about anything and all the tour guides and tour coordinators I encountered while there were incredibly helpful and knowledgeable and very concerned with our health, safety, and enjoyment of the safari. I would book another safari with them.

Very good for the money but our itinerery had way too much travel built into it,

Exceeded expectations. The game drives were plentiful. We only had 4 (others had 8) in our Land Cruiser so everyone had an view. I've gone before with Abercrombie & Kent, so the bar was high. But I paid half if not less what I paid A&K so I was really worried what Odyssey would cost on service.

So at half the price of Abercrombie & Kent, what did they deliver that Odyssey did not? 1. Better communication between team drivers. (our wireless CB was down for the trip and our driver did not use his cellphone much) when other vehicles found things - like leopards.

2. The driver could be quicker at shutting down the engine. The subtle vibrations blur shots. Seems A&K drivers were more aware of the vehicles and angles of shooting for the photographers.


3. Less time getting to destinations (road time). And once at a destination it seemed (because of #1 above - driver sharing "finds" - they put us on animals quicker.


4. Less Nairobi traffic - this may be unfair because traffic jams are unscheduled and unavoidable. But we had a horrible traffic jam from Airport to hotel with Odyssey that really delayed getting to the hotel. In fact we had zero time to do any of the planned or offerred side trips and went right to sleep, leaving us to feel we missed out on some of the purpose of being in Nairobi. Abercrombie and Kent minimized any time in Nairobi and I have to say now that that is smart.


Where Odyssey excelled - We really lucked out! Our Landcruiser vehicle had only four customers. Others in our group had 6 to 8 so we were the exception, not thhe rule. But where this worked out in our favor, was Odyssey assigns one driver to the group of 4, 6, or 8 and it stays that way - whether you're on a game drive in Ambosei, the Mara, or roads in Nairobi. At A&K our drivers changed throughout the trip - in Kenya we used one set of drivers; in Tanzania another.


Also the Lake Naivashu was an excellent location which A&K did not include.

Great safari!

We just returned from our travels and I’m happy to report we had an outstanding time on the safari! We saw way more animals than we expected, the accommodations were great and the ground crew (Erastus, Simon and Eliud) were knowledgeable and friendly. The trip was well worth the costs and we are super happy we went.

I don't give this trip 5 stars because we had some issues with the air travel part of the trip prior to leaving . Specifically - getting assigned seats and tickets with correct names. Based on conversations with other people on the safari, my own problems with air travel were not isolated issues. Several people remarked about air travel problems. Although in the end our flights, seats and air travel were fine for my wife and me, we did experience some stress leading up to departure.

Once again we are glad we went and are still speaking excitedly about all we saw and did!

We had a fabulous time but communication with the company was a little limited

The safari itself was everything we expected. Our tour guide Kim was awesome and very knowledgeable. The accommodations and food were good also. The tent camps are cool and they have electricity and bathroom and shower in them. I never received a packet from odyssey and some things aren't very clear. You definitely need to bring your yellow fever vaccination card...Kenya and Tanzania will need to see it but that wasn't on the list of things to bring. Also get your Kenya and Tanzania visas online prior to going so you don't have to carry that cash and wait in longer lines. If you do those things prior to going, things should go smoothly and you will have an amazing time :)