724ralphm
Eyes on Africa are simply excellent. Everything went perfectly! Pre-Safari : They took the time to reply to all of my long and repeated questions, email after email. We were encouraged to have a skype conversation with them where we talked about ideas for what we would like and what the kids would like and they were very helpful with suggestions and recommendations. In the end our safari was the following : Collected from Nairobi by car drive form there to Mara, 2 nights in Maji Moto camp (Masai experience) and then 2 days in Masai Mara on safari, then flew back to Nairobi. Two adults two children, 4 year old girl, 7 year old boy. Firstly I cannot give enough praise to our driver George, if you are booking with them ask for him, he was brilliant. He knew when to tell us about Kenya and talk about the world around and when to leave us sit back and take it all in.The Maji Moto Eco camp is a small boys idea of heaven. My son is intent on moving back there. The team at the camp were incredible with the kids, taking them out tracking and teaching them hunting chants and tribal dances. My son still wears his Masai robes around the house and very proudly carries the wooden spear that one of the team carved for him as a gift.The chief of the tribe - Sengali (spelling probably wrong) - who runs the camp is tireless in his attention and his smile never even flickers for a moment. No request was unreasonable, from dawn to dusk and later he made sure everyone was having a wonderful time. Traditional songs by the fire side or when on a walk were lovely to hear and he got the kids excited and involved in everything.The food was excellent and the camp is very clean and elegant with wonderful touches. The camp was built by the Masai and Eyes on Africa and they really did a great job! The tents are very comfortable and face out over the savannah to give amazing sunrises and sunsets. I am very very glad we did this part of the trip as it was relaxing for the adults and a thrill for the kids.After this we headed on with George to the Masai Mara. Important : We had intended to travel by minivan, but George took the 4X4 land cruiser instead which made all the difference! It meant we could go places and see things the minivan simply could not have done, river crossings would have been impossible. I strongly recommend the 4X4, seeing other tourists in their vans made me thank George more than a few times for taking the 4X4. We would not have seen the black rhino nor the leopard without it.The camp in the Masai Mara is like something out of an 1850's novel of Africa, a full bathroom in the tent! 3 course dinner served in a huge elegant tent with trees all around. I felt like royalty.The following day we went out on a 6am game drive. Important : Listen to the advice of your guide! We had planned on going back for breakfast but George gently recommended the 'packed breakfast'. We expected a ham roll and box of fruit juice. But nope, fold out tables under a tree out on the savannah looking down on the wildebeest migration with cooked breakfast and hot coffee. Amazing is not the word, like something from 'Out of Africa'.We spent the rest of the day finding all the animals we had hoped to see and more. We arrived back at the camp to meet other tours who had been there for 4 days and not seen as much as we had in the first day. All thanks to George, he knew when to wait for the leopard to come stalking out and spotted the rhino from what must have been 15 km away. Sadly the next day we flew home, but George, intent on meeting all our initial requests did a quick detour so my kids could see the alpha male lion of the region, which they loved, he was enormous with a roar to match. We flew back with Mombasa Air (all organised by Eyes on Africa) which was excellent, clean and comfortable plane and a gentle ride home.Suggestions :1. Get 4X4, its makes all the difference2. If you have kids. 2, max 3 days safari is enough, they get tired. We got it just right luckily.3. Fly back, its expensive, but you leave on a real high.4. Ask for George, he not only knew how to ensure we got the best of the trip, but he really wanted to ensure we had a great time.5. Lastly, put the camera down from time to time. I spent too much time taking pictures and not enough just sitting there looking around at the scenery. The most memorable moments are from when I forgot about the camera and just let the whole thing wash over me.Wonderful trip, every bit of it. Eyes on Africa have an excellent team who ensure you never have to think or worry about any detail, the whole thing went flawlessly, I can't recommend them highly enough.
toddg767
I just had the pleasure of touring Lake Manyara, the Serengeti, Ngorogoro Crater and Tarangire Park on a 7 day Safari with my wife and mother in law. What a fantastic trip!! Roman and Omar were wonderful to plan the trip with and always very responsive. We could not imagine having a better and more informed guide and companion than Peter Mapinda who seemed to be able to make the animals appear on command. The trip far surpassed any expectations we could have had as we saw literally hundreds of lions, elephants, leopards, cheetahs, wildebeest, zebras, hippos, and giraffes just to name a few, all within a few feet of our vehicle while staying at lovely full service resorts each night. There were times when it was hard to believe what we were experiencing. Peter and Omar also went above and beyond to make everything right after an unavoidable situation occurred having to do with airport transportation which really says a lot about them. We would not hesitate to recommend or book through Eyes On Africa Safari again and truly appreciated Peter's friendly and even keel good nature as well as his seemingly limitless knowledge and expertise. Asante sana!!
