Address: Gecko Village Building, Mombasa- Malindi road
Traveler ReviewsExcellent Safari
Reviewed by rppoortman on Mar 9, 2011We went to mombasa and made an appointment with Freddy via email. The day after we arrived we met with freddy and our driver Peter. freddy told us that the best 3 day safari would be in Tsavo East/West. And so it was. Peter was our private driver and was a very friendly man. He told us a lot about the parks and the animals and took as much time as we wanted. although through the rain we did not see al of the big five it was an amazing experience. The lodges we stayed in (Voi and Ngulia) were amazing. I would realy recomend anyone to book with Freddy.
Robert
Excellent Safari!
Reviewed by Anlaby-Traveller on Feb 26, 2011Originally we planned a Safari in Tsavo East and Amboseli, however, after discussing it with Freddy we changed our itinerary. This proved to be very good advice from Freddy as travelling time was reduced and we still saw Kilamanjaro We took a three day private Safari (4x4 Jeep) to Tsavo East and West; staying at Voi Lodge and Ngulia Lodge.
Our driver was Adam who's keen eyesight and patience ensured that we saw a wealth of animals. Leopard, Cheetah and, Lion, being the highlights of the trip. We would readily recommend Adam as a guide because of his wealth of knowledge and his dedication to ensuring you had the best Safari possible.
Voi Lodge - Comfortable and clean with stunning views (Don't miss the Elephant watering hole) The food was pretty good, however, alcohol was quite expensive. The staff were welcoming and helpful. The rooms appear to have been recently refurbished, the accommodation overall was very good.
Ngulia Lodge - The rooms were quite jaded and need to be refurbished - ESPECIALLY THE BATHROOM! The food again was okay and the alcohol remained expensive. The lighting at Dinner was extremely poor and made it difficult to see the food clearly. Again stunning views with the highlight being the Leopard that came to eat the strategically placed food during Dinner. Don't miss the Porcupines!
Overall this was an excellent Safari, everything Freddy described was accurate and we would have no hesitation booking with him next time (Especially Adam!) The locals really appreciated the fact that we had booked with a local as opposed to booking through our tour operator.
Well worth every penny - it was a stunning experience - a private Jeep is a must for maximum comfort and the best opportunity to see the animals.
Excellent tour - great people
Reviewed by Sorenriber on Feb 2, 2011We looked at a few different tour agents and Freddy just had the best program for us at a competitive price.
From the booking through the tour and all the practicalities, every aspect of the tour was easy and very professional.
The tour we booked initially was a 5 day tour from Nairobi, starting in Ambroseli(Sentrim lodge) and going down through Tsavo East(Ngulia) and Tsavo West to Tahita Hills. Our driver and guide ? Adan was excellent throughout the tour very knowledgeable and simply a nice and pleasant person to spend time with.
Adan was very good at giving introductions both to the animals, birds and plants but also the history and current events in Kenya. This great quality really makes a differences, since you spend a lot of time driving to and from parks/lodges and so forth during a 5 day safari.
We choose the Tsavo area because it seemed less touristy than Masai Mara. And we really felt that it was. We could almost drive for hours without seeing any other vans, just enjoying the beautiful scenery and the animals... But if you only have a day or so to do the safari and you want to be sure to see all The big 5, then you should probably head for Masai Mara as the animals here should be very easy to spot.
To others booking safari we would advice you to get a private safari witch is mush nicer ? and in our view it is well worth the extra money you pay.
Regarding the accommodation we were very satisfied with what we got, especially the Sentrim Lodge and the Ngulia Logde. We really appreciated the good food and the swimming pools, although we could have settled for less if that could have saved us some money.
All in all we would give our warmest recommendations of Freddy safaris ? It is good value-for-money, very kind and professional service and then it is a local operator. We would definitely choose ? Freddy safaris again if we where to go on a other safari in East Africa.
Ideal communication and organization
Reviewed by Savin-ion on Jan 20, 2011Trip details: 6 day safari to Masai Mara (Royal Mara Safari Lodge), Lake Nakuru (Lake Nakuru Lodge), Amboseli (Ol Tukai Lodge), Tsavo West (Kilaguni Serena Safari Lodge), two adults and a child of 10 y.o.
We started the trip in Ukunda (Mombasa), we took a plane from Mombasa to Nairobi and after that traveled by jeep between the parks and returned by the same vehicle to the hotel.
We liked:
- Way of communication conducted by Freddy, we contacted some 7-8 different top safari agents / agencies based on the tripadvisor ranking and Freddy was the best: always fast replies, always detailed information unlike others' answers containing just brief indications and the price and not answers to our particular questions
- Flexibility, we changed almost all the lodges offered in a standard route based on the tripadvisor's ranking and Freddy managed to organize our staying in the pre-selected lodges
- There was not a single issue / problem associated with our accommodation and national parks' visiting, everything was organized in a proper way
We liked all the lodges we stayed with the exception of Lake Nakuru Lodge, but this was not Freddy' fault ? as far as we understood there were only two lodges located within the park territory and we ourselves had chosen the wrong one.
- Mr Aden - our driver and guide was very professional with deep knowledge of wildlife and an extremely good capability to spot the smallest bird or animal among the bushes or at a horizon, we never were the first to see a ?breather?. Despite relatively long period of time (6 days) spent in one car we did not feel a slight inconvenience communicating with him: hard worker, never tired, always offered the best route for us to see more despite the possibility to choose easier road for him (park road vs highway etc)
- We did not have to prepay the safari in advance at the moment of booking, we paid it upon our arrival and Freddy financed the air tickets which were handed to us during our first meeting ? a good competitive advantage, the majority of the agencies ask for a bank transfer to be done at least several weeks before the arrival to Kenya
- Freddy advised us to choose the jeep and not a minibus and we appreciated his advise, because even during the dry season this type of a vehicle is preferred if you want to feel safer and more comfortable during the game drives at the parks and on the road between the parks and come closer to the animals in Masai Mara where the in-park road-net is not very well developed unlike other national parks
We did not like:
Our overall evaluation of the Freddy's service is excellent however there is still a room to improve it and to polish the service most likely not in comparison with other agencies' level of service but more with what will be appreciated by visitors.
- We did not like the transfer from the hotel to the airport of Mombasa, the guy did not drive safely and we would advise Freddy to select the subcontracted drivers more thoroughly to be in line with the high level of service
- We would advise to be not only detailed but maybe more transparent in terms of pricing, in case the visitors would like to change their accommodation. We were given several package options but we would prefer to have quotations per lodge not per itinerary (as well it is not in comparison with other safari agencies but rather vs what we would like to have / see)
- We would prefer as well to have a printed out itinerary with short description and may be some other valuable information of our safari to serve as a reference material to be given to us at the beginning of the safari, we did not have a proper internet connection at the beach hotel and no wifi at lodges so we were not in position to search for the information in case of necessity
fantastic kenya safari trip
Reviewed by billy93 on Nov 30, 2010booked freddy safaris online in england payed no money up front but booked safari online for the days we wanted.met at hotel by freddy himself taken back to his office to go over details provided everything we wanted and only took a nominal deposit the rest to be payed on the day.he also dropped us back at our hotel no problem.on the day of the safari we were met by freddy and his driver/guide again he asked if everything was satisfactory with every detail covered.his driver/guide was excellent the two day safari was fantastic if it had not been for the driver/guide we would have missed a lot be he was very clued up on where to see the animals and where to be to get the best vantage point we could not have had a better guide if we had hand picked him.the lodges we had lunch at and stayed the night at were very authentic i would not have missed it for the world.all in all a fantastic experiance i would not have missed,i would highly reccommend freddys safaris as it was a fantastic experiance from begining to end. normally do not write reviews but only too gladly to do and recommend freddy.book him and you will not be disappointed