Holiday Reviews
We invite every traveller who books a holiday via us to send in a review. Because we don't run the holidays they're completely independent and unedited... remember to read between the lines though, as two people on the same trip can have different views!
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Big game safari in Kenya, independent reviews
 Reviewed 30 Jun 2009 by Chris Hurford |  |
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Three moments will stick with us forever - racing to the scene of a lion kill of a baby giraffe that happened minutes before, seeing an elusive leopard after a perfect day in the mara, and being invited into the home of a masai chief's son.
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Only go with this operator, or its sister companies that have tented camps within the Masai conservancies (and which are run by the Masai), rather than the bigger hotel-like lodges based in the Mara. We went to Mara Porini and Porini Lion camps. Excellently managed, food great, great guides and drivers (Simon, Robert, Jared and Ken!) Jared and Ken in particular seemed to have a personal interest in what we saw and how we understood things - which gave my 14 year old daughter a life-changing trip. Please thank them!
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?
Absolutely. This is the one unique and hugely impressive feature of this operator that means it stands above the others (for us at least). I am an aid and development worker, so know about projects that aim to reconcile the needs of local people, of the environment, and of foreigners. This truly seems to be a viable and sustainable win-win solution to the needs to protect the wildlife of the Mara with its human populations.
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
Exceptional. Especially given the ethos (above), the professionalism but relaxed friendliness of the Masai and the camp managers, and a sensitive, cultural approach to safaris. And we saw every animal we wanted to see - in abundance!
| Reviewed 1 Dec 2008 by Louise Race | |
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
How can I choose the most memorable moment? Listening to two lions roaring in the bush as the sun went down, a close and solitary encounter with a cheetah and her three cubs, or even watching hyenas and vultures compete with ferocious obsession over a lion-kill buffalo corpse - these were all unforgettable.
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Forget the credit-crunch and go ahead and book it! They can take away your savings, your stocks, your pension, your house - but they can't take away your memories!
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?
Now more than ever, this holiday benefits local people, who are feeling the absence of tourists. This is one way of supporting the local economy without causing great stress to the environment: staying in a solar-powered tented camp, without pool, the real luxury is provided by the closeness to nature, such as waking to the sound of monkeys playing on the roof of our tent.
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
Following our stay at the Porini Mara camp in the Maasai Mara, we went down to Kizingo in Lamu, which is run in similarly environmentally-conscious way, with a lot of effort put into the preservation of turtles. Both stages of the holiday were superb.