Masai Mara Safari & Beach

Accommodation and food at Karen Rock House were good. It was very quiet there as we were the only guests. Our transport, guide (Elijah) and driver (Oliver) were excellent. Elijah was very informative and patiently answered our questions about everything we saw. Our first day was very full, a long drive to Hell’s Gate, bike ride and gorge walk. Elijah suggested that we postpone the boat trip on Lake Navaisha to the morning we left Nakuru rather doing it on the way and this worked well. On the bike ride, our youngest struggled with an adult sized bike with bald tyres. Fine for us and our eldest though. The gorge walk was great as was the boat trip on Lake Navaisha.

Lake Nakuru Lodge accommodation, food and setting was excellent - as were the game drives with Oliver and Elijah. We saw a lot more here and close up than we did in Ol Kinyei and the Masai Mara.

Maji Moto Camp was an interesting experience. Again, we were the only visitors and the facilities & food were good. We visited the school before travelling to the Mara Adventure Camp but could have spent longer as there was a lot to see and our children enjoyed playing football etc with the school children.

The Adventure Camp was brilliant. We had a packed schedule of game drives (up at 5.30 every morning) and George and Wilson (guide and driver) were a lot of fun. They played football with us and were very entertaining on bush walks and game drives. We felt all the staff at the Adventure Camp worked really hard to make the experience an enjoyable one - from preparing the food, supplying endless hot water and tea and making sure we got to see what we wanted. The Ol Kinyei conservancy is beautiful (although we saw more at Lake Nakuru).

Our itinerary was good - it was busy and varied which suited us very well. We felt a bit rushed on Day 1 - in hindsight, it really was too much for one day. The day we travelled to the Masai Adventure Camp was also time pressured and we had a to cut short our visit to the school.

Overall, 5/5 - an unforgettable experience.

Tim Sheppard reviewing Maasai Family Adventure on 11 November 2014

If you’re looking for a more personal experience of Kenya, something a little different from the standard safari and beach package holidays, then you should definitely speak to Tourdust!

We decided to have a family holiday with our two teenage boys in Kenya in 2014, a decision that turned out to be far from straight-forward as the FCO extended their no-essential travel guidance area by area in the months leading up to our holiday. After researching the travel companies specialising in Kenya , we chose Tourdust to organise our holiday, partly based on their highly informative website but mainly based on a conversation with Ben, who within a matter of minutes clearly understood what we were looking for.

Ben’s recommendation of the Laikipia Wilderness Camp, followed by the Sosian Ranch and then the Msambweni Beach House was absolutely perfect for us. Everywhere we went the experience was personalised, the service was outstanding and the quality of facilities was second to none. Yes, we did safari drives to see the fantastic range of wildlife in the area, but we also swam in the rivers, rode camels, went on game walks and ate delicious meals cooked on an open camp fire before sleeping out under the endless African skies listening to the lions roaring! Then a flight down to the coast and we relaxed in the luxury of the a villa overlooking the Indian Ocean, with massages on the beach, personal staff on hand and nothing too much trouble.

We knew that we didn’t want a standard package safari and beach holiday but what we got was beyond all our expectations – a truly personal, family experience of Kenya that we will remember forever!

Joanna Heard reviewing Best of Kenya Family Safari on 07 October 2014

We have just arrived back after our 10 days in Kenya and Zanzibar.

Pongwe Beach is an absolute little gem. Far exceeded our expectations after the standard of accommodation we experienced in Kenya and from the pictures on the hotel's website.

However, perhaps I should talk about Kenya first. We felt absolutely secure, safe and relaxed. There was no hint of anything untoward. There were security guards at Nairobi Airport and searches when going into shopping malls etc., but that was very low key. We were the only guests at Rock House and at Plantation Lodge. At Lake Naivasha Resort there was one other European guest, a German tourist. At the Mara Springs Camp it was busy because of the Migration, but there were no other English guests. Plenty of Australians, Americans and other Europeans, French, Belgian, German etc. All the hoteliers commented on the affect the British media reports have had on UK tourists visiting any part of Kenya. It is a great shame. Other nationalities seem not to have taken fright!

I was afraid we would not see much wildlife in the Mara with so many vehicles swarming the park. However, we were amazed, not just by the number of Wildebeest, Zebra , Thomson's Gazelle etc, but by the variety of other animals we came across. Our team were wonderful. Samuel, our driver had a great sense of humour, knowledge of wildlife and the country, as well as being a very safe and careful driver. Elijah, our guide, had an incredible knowledge of all the flora and fauna and our cook, also Samuel, managed to conjure up very wholesome and plentiful meals with the limited facilities and provisions available to him at the Wilderness camp and at Mara Springs Camp.

After early morning starts, it was great to get to Pongwe Beach and completely relax for a few days. If you are going to promote the property in place of Lamu, we would have no hesitation in recommending it. It is English owned and well managed. The rooms are spotless, the gardens and pool well maintained and the beach swept every day. Despite being full there were plenty of loungers and hammocks hidden away, so it always felt intimate, never busy. The cuisine is excellent too and great attention is given to presentation and variety.

Thank you, Ben, for all your help and patience when we were jittery about whether to continue with Kenya. I am very glad we did as we had a great time and have many happy memories. I do hope the media coverage is not causing you too much loss of business and that the message can be spread that the Nakuru Park, Lake Naivasha and the Mara are quite safe areas.

Jennifer Cole reviewing Maasai Explorer on 05 August 2014

My son & I had a superb time, there isn't one word to describe the trip but many adjectives come to mind; stunning, humbling, breath taking, beautiful, hilarious (that was due to my sons face when we watched lions mating!), fascinating....Each day was exhilarating and amazingly each day got better.
Our main guide Duncan was very knowledgeable and easy going, David our cook was excellent and also a good source of information. All the guides we encountered we were pleased with.
There were so many highlights it's difficult to pick one but our time at the Maji Moto camp with Masai is probably my main highlight, walking in the bush with a knowledgeable tribe member, the widows camp and the school very humbling and setting extraordinary.

The whole trip was well organised, flexible not fixed, I'd give it a 6/5!

Travelling alone with my son can sometimes feel daunting but I never had any concerns during our trip and the balance of activities and travelling was perfect for a family holiday.

joanne clarke reviewing Maasai Family Adventure on 11 June 2014

Our Guide, Nicolas was fantastic. We bombarded him with questions which he was always able to answer and as a result we came away feeling that we had much more understanding of Kenya, not just the wildlife, but the people, politics and economy etc. The driver, Duncan was great too and seemed to know the Mara really well which meant we were often the only vehicles in an area and that we saw loads. Demetrius, the cook too were really helpful and made being vegetarian completely comfortable - the kids loved his food. And the kids say I have to feedback that the truck was awesome (it really was!).

Magi Moto was an interesting experience and one that we have thought about a great deal since returning home. It was not so rich in terms of wildlife - it's a fairly desolate place isn't it - but we were impressed by the projects there and the kids loved the warrior training. At times I felt uncomfortable that people's lives were being so openly presented to us, but I am not sure there is a way around this and also understand that our presence brought them a source of income. We met people there with an incredibly intimate knowledge of their environment that was quite inspiring. We did not do the complete walk to the Papesua Masai cultural village as it felt too long for Luca (7) and as it turned out there was no one there anyway. This was a good thing because it meant we had a quite period when we got to Mara Springs before going out for an afternoon drive. The children really appreciated the down-time and when a monkey stole Jasper's melon from the porch of our tent their day was made!

Cally Hargrave reviewing Maasai Family Adventure on 24 September 2013

My guide, Duncan Kingori, was fantastic. In the three days we were with him I don't think I ever asked him a question, on any topic, which he couldn't answer in detail. He was a fountain of information about the mating habits, gestation periods, family practices, hunting strategies etc. of every animal we encountered, but never in an intrusive way. He also appears to be an excellent driver and mechanic, and in a dozen hours or so we seem to have seen pretty much everything Maasai Mara can offer - not least all of the Big Five.

I was also very impressed by the two Mountain Rock camps, and think the new temporary camp inside the park is particularly fine. It was exactly what I wanted: comfortable, but not featherbedded or faux-colonial. I can't say I am a big fan of the Rock House in Karen - the staff were friendly enough and the food was OK, but all the tortured wood and fake (fibreglass) rock gives the place a heavy, gloomy air!

Meals, service & advice and overall impression was great. It would have been good to know that the last two hours of the drive to Maasai Mara are over an extremely uncomfortable unpaved (and washboarded) road; people might want to consider flying from the local airstrip to their next destination if the costs of doing so aren't prohibitive.

Andrew Joncus reviewing Maasai Explorer on 18 December 2012

Having Tourdust as our partner and being able to communicate with the British office gave us confidence (no offense to our African brothers and sisters, it is just an European thing - we think we can better understand each other having the same mindset and mentality, so easier to communicate). The communication as expected, went very well and smooth - both by e-mail and phone. We were told what can we expect for the price we agreed on, and there were only positive suprises during the trip: the 4WD Land Rover that came to pick us up was at the meeting point at the right time (which should not be a surprise, but we were far from Nairobi on Rusinga Island and the meeting was at 6 AM) and the driver even made the extra 2 km-s to pick us up from our mountain cabin. The car was very comfortable for 6 people (I would not recommend though to use it for 7 people plus bags - could be a little tight, but for 6 was great). We had an excellent driver - kind and knowledgable, ready to 'satisfy' the 'strange' requests of the tourist: 'check that bush on the right', 'lets look what is under that tree', etc. This was my first safari (out of 3 so far) where we saw the 'BIG 5': and much of the credit goes to our driver, who kept beleiving that we will find the animals, and kept looking for them. On the last day of our safari - which was a morning drive we still missed the rhino, having not seen any in the previous two days. We only had about one hour before we had to leave the park. the group was ready to give up, but our driver and guide - Samuel - kept saying, do not give up, we will find one. He was driving on roads where we were the only group/car, and suddenly we saw in the middle of the grass a beautiful black rhino, just waiting us to shoot - some pictures of course... We were the first ones, we found it! those who have been to safari know what I mean when I say, we found it! It feels special when you find an animal and not going there because you got through the radio the location of the animal found by somebody else. We of course announced it, and in 10 minutes there were like 12 cars and vans to see 'our' rhino. You can ask anybody: this was on February 22, 8.30 in the morning in Masai Mara, when Samuel with a group of 6 from Romania found THE RHINO…

Attila Daray reviewing Maasai Explorer on 27 April 2012

We had a great time! We really appreciated that the trip was booked with a local tour operator, which we learned was one of the biggest and best in Kenya. Patrick was exceptionally helpful, and came to meet us 3 times to check in and make sure things were going well.

There was an unfortunate change to our flight to Lamu which happened 2 weeks before leaving, but were only told the morning of, and it meant waking early, somewhat unnecessarily, except that our flight was changed to the intl. airport instead, and it also meant stopping in another city on the way, which added time to our flight, and detracted from our time in Lamu.

Nevertheless, we had an amazing time, and are very pleased with the trip!

I would rate both customer service and our experience a 5. I would definitely recommend you to others, and am looking forward to saving up again so I can book my next trip.

Jaclyn Rubin reviewing 11 Day Mount Kenya Trek and Masai Mara Safari Combined on 17 August 2011