Reviews of Kikwetu Cultural Adventures

We had a superb safari, well organised and with an excellent guide and driver.

The whole trip went well, from the earliest contact with Kikwetu. We couldn't have had a better guide than Isaac Oumar, who is an expert on the habits of the wildlife and culture of the area. Together with our very competent driver Robert, they were able to predict the best places to view even elusive animals like leopards, lion prides, and a broad range of animals by predicting their hideouts and behaviour. We thoroughly enjoyed their company and learnt much about the region. I would now like to do other tours led by Isaac who is an expert on the whole east coast even beyond Kenya I believe.

helen

Exceptional safari + holiday; value for money

After booking our KLM-flight Amsterdam-Nairobi ourselves, we asked Kikwetu (Tour-consultant Kenneth) to organise our 16-days Safari + holiday-programm in Kenya. They have kept their promises for more than 100% and took care of everything (up to the smallest details) ; hotels and lodges, visits of the parks, 4 local internal flights , hotels in Nairobi, Lamu and Diani Beach, local transport to and from the airports, etc.. We had one of our best holiday-experiences ever. In the first week we visited the the 4 parks Masai Mara, Lake Nakuru, Lake Naivasha and Amboseli. Our driver Livingson (an excetional but safe driver) showed us the big 5, many other animals and (of cource) a Masai Mara village. All accomodations were perfect (we especially liked Sekenani-camp in Masai Mara) and state of the art. The programm was not too strict so we also spent some afternoons at the pool and visited several interesting places "on the road" (Crater Lake, a hospital, an animalfeed-store, etc.) After 7 days in the parks, we spent 3 days in a private house in Lamu Sheela Beach (www.houseinlamu.com); another exceptional location with an exceptional cook Eddie; who prepared the best Lamu seafood for us and also gave good advices on Dhow-trips and other interesting things "to do". We finally spent 4 days in Diani-beach (Southern Palm Resort). An exceptional hotel and a lovely experience; especially for our 16, 17 and 19 year children who particularly like the hotel's Activity Crew (waterpolo, volleybal, evening-programm, etc). We thank Kikwetu (Kenneth and his staff) for an exceptional Safari- and Kenya-experience. Their professionalism was remarkable so we fully recommend them to everybody.

Kaanen family

Great staff. Well organized

Our driver, Livingston, did a great job over the 8 days of our safari getting us where we needed to be without rushing us and put in a lot of effort to make sure we got the best animal sightings possible. I would go with Kikwetu again.

Bryan

A memorable Masai Mara Safari!

It was a well organized and enjoyable 3 day Masai Mara trip that Kenneth from Kitwetu organized for us. We were well informed of our itinerary. Although part of the roads to the Mara were washed out due to the rains and unpaved, Msagha Livingstone, our driver was experienced in keeping to the side of the road that made the journey easier and fun too. Our luggage was well protected throughout the trip. At the game drive Msagha went the extra mile to make sure we saw the big 5. It was a thrilling and exciting game drive at the Mara. The accommodations at Keekorok, beautiful sunrise and sunsets amid the African wild country made it a trip to remember! The surprise lunch was the icing on the cake. Thank you Kenneth for a lovely experience!

Naomi

Direct and highly professional communication with nature and african culture.

The firsts contacts by email with Kikwetu were always fluid and friendly. The safari details were discussed and clearly explained. Once in Nairobi, since the first day, me and my wife received a friendly and kindly treatment by all the staff . During the Safari itself, the service and expertise of the guide were exceptional. I really can say that we recieved what we expected for a trip in the deep and alive Africa. Beside the richness of the animal and vegetal diversity, I specially enjoyed the different geological enviroments, since very old metamorphic and sedimentary rocks, to very young volcanic deposits associated with the Eastern African Ridge. I strongly recommend Kikwetu.

Sergio Rodriguez-Elizarraras

Tailored Kenya & Tanzania safari on a budget

We had a great 10 day private safari in Kenya and Tanzania with Kikwetu - Kenneth designed a trip that met our requirements, and we had lots of personal interaction when we set off and quick communication throughout the trip when we needed anything resolving. Recommend for great service on a budget.

Liz

Generally, the company service is good, helpful, solved problems in Kenya but no good in Tanzania.

Kenya 1. The driver was a good man, friendly, helpful, met the safari rundown, & solved the sudden big problems. 2. Our safari tour was joyful, and could meet our expectation. 3. The car was not so good, a Toyota van re-constructed, sitting were uncomfortable inside, esp. the first row space in middle was too narrow, couldn't spread our knee towards, too suffering in long distance. 4. The accommodation was quite OK, but the shower pressure & hot water was weak, no good. Tanzania 1. The driver was puffed up with pride, bad manner, not friendly during his guide way. shortened the safari tour timing and early returned back. 2. The packed lunch were served much, out of our expectation. 3. The scene and animals viewing was good, met our expectation. 4. Two times of accommodation were changed, not matched to the itinerary. 5. The tent living place was no good, the inside grounding was uneven & rough, ease hurt the feet, and the tent bound was not well protected, and much frightened the safety.

Christine

My Kenyan Safari

My fiancée and I have just finished our Kenya safari with Kikwetu Cultural Adventures. This company is just superb and very organized, they helped to tailor make a 6 day safari for us through Maasai Mara, Lake Nakuru and Amboseli. The safari was private and we were only two of us in a 4 by 4 landcruizer. We had the chance to see the big five and very many other animals as well as the birds by the help of their ever happy guide (they have professional staff), the accommodation options they made for us were more than our expectations and the magnificent sunset in the lodges brought out the romantic theme as we wished. Thumbs up to you guys you made the safari so sweet and memorable. We intend to come back in December to visit Mombasa and other places we missed. Kudos.

Mia, Hamburg

Very professional people ... had a super time

Kikwetu is a very professional safari organizers. They have a very professional team who work 24x7. They are very quick in their response and have a very good knowledge about the safaris. We had a very good time with them and look forward to cover other parts of Africa with them. I give them 5 stars for everything.

Amit

The Ultimate 80 Day African Safari of a Life Time Made Possible by Kikwetu

At the age of 70, I decided to fulfill a lifelong dream and visit different countries in Africa. From the beginning it was clear to me that I wanted an African tour operator and through client reviews I came upon Kikwetu Cultural Adventures and Ken. It was the best that could have happened to me. During the long period of planning, since the places I wanted to go and the things I wanted to do kept increasing while I was reading about the continent, Ken's response vía e-mail to my multiple questions and doubts was constant, immediate and always helpful in orientation. Finally, I ended up with a 80 day private Safari in Kenya, Uganda, Botswana, Zimbabwe, North Sudan and Ethiopia. Ken has the itinerary (if someone is interested), since he arranged for everything. For me, there is only left to say, it was absolutely perfect: Not one single thing that went wrong during the 80 days, excellent logistics, warm, detailed personalized attention throughout, more than fair cost/benefit relation, but above all, an outstanding, caring, knowledgeable team of guides and drivers who turned into dear friends. Thank you Ken, thank you Livingstone with the memory of an elephant and the eyes of an eagle (!), thank you Agustin in Uganda for always proving my much loved dried bananas and encouraging me on that memorable gorilla trekking in Bwindi, thanks to Mr. Achmed and his team for making it possible to visit the most incredible sites in Sudan, thank you Birhanu for providing exactly what I needed when I came back totally wiped out from Erta Ale and thank you, Alex, for making me laugh, getting me on and off the camel and for the many other funny occasions we shared on our safari! If I could, I would do it all over again and I would not want to miss one single day of an unforgettable experience! ¡Thank you all!

Ingrid Reich

Thanks Kikwetu for taking so well care of us

We selected Kikwetu among other Kenyan agencies after smooth email and WhatsApp exchanges with Kenneth, tailoring our itinerary and lodge preferences. Our guide Livingstone provided excellent wildlife spotting in the National Parks and pleasant drives through the country side, with interesting conversations. We opted for a second week on lovely Wasini Island, and Kikwetu organised further transport to Mombasa and train tickets back to Nairobi. Thanks Kikwetu for taking so well care of us. We can warmly recommend this Team to other families.

Axel

Amazing and highly recommended

We had to wait 3 years from booking to going to Kenya due to pandemic. It was so very worth it. Kenneth the owner kept in touch all that time and kept us up to date with what was happening. Small changes were needed and done in consultation with us. Great. We saw all the big 5 but so much more. We had our own guide and moved to several different places. Each location chosen by Kenneth was great and provided just what we needed. Livingstone our guide/driver spent 10 days with us. He was brilliant. He knew so much which he shared. He was professional but friendly and funny. The game drives were both interesting and exciting. Also worth seeing were the places in between the national parks which showed us the varied lives of people in this beautiful country. Livingstone told us about the country and answered all our questions. We think by booking directly with a Kenya company we got more. We booked our trip with this smaller company and got the personal touch we wanted. Would recommend them to anyone and already have. Mary Lines OBE

Mary

Outstanding Safari Adventure

We started booking our trip a year in advance, and we couldn’t have anything better than the itinerary that Kenneth arranged. Words cannot explain how amazing Livingston was to us, ensuring that we didn’t leave Masai Mara without seeing the Rhino, even though it caused him stress. We saw the big five and a cheetah kill, which was great. Thank you Kenneth and Livingston for making this an unforgettable trip.

Irene

Outstanding service and awesome adventure

I feel lucky that I picked Kikwetu to provide a safari for 8 days. I was travelling with my wife and 2 young children and I think that I had sent about 100 emails to different companies. Kenneth from Kikwetu was the only one that took into consideration my young children and devised an itinerary that would ensure a great time for my whole family. After about another 80 emails backwards and forwards with Kenneth. I decided to book with him. I am so glad I did because we had an amazing time. Livingstone our driver and guide was awesome. Driving safely to get us to the parks. And on game drives he worked hard to find animals for us. He seemed as excited as us when we found a cheetah with a fresh kill. All the accommodation booked for us was awesome, great service and putting us right in the action. The airline lost 2 of our bags on the flight into Kenya and Kenneth personally picked up our bags and brought them to us in the middle of our safari. Now that is service, he didn’t want us to miss anytime on safari. Thanks Kenneth it was much appreciated. Do yourself a favour and book with Kikwetu you will be in good hands.

Steve Hansen

It was a very pleasant, safe and exotic travel experience

Communication with Kenneth was very warm, he was always available and would check on everything being okay at regular but also not too frequently so as to be disturbing. Masai Mara and the wildlife cannot be described In Words, needs to be experienced. The animals were like I'm live in national geographic, lovely giraffes, zebra, we saw the migration of wildbeast, 5 sets of lions in different combinations in 1 day. One was a troop resting withncubs, one was a honeymoon couple, one was alone drinking water, one lion and lioness in the grassland whom we saw very closely. Also saw hyenas, vultures, leopard, cheetah and many many birds . Wish we had kept one more day for Masai Mara, the caravan picked us from the airport and was with us through the safari. The guide was knowledgeable and experiences and showed us good sightings but was a bit arrogant and particular about timings, tried to push us to shop at designated places (which were expensive) but we enjoyed buying stuff from locals on roadside at the entry point to the park. We also visited Zanzibar and that experience was out of the world, the guide there Muhudini was very pleasant and showed us around very patiently, the place was beautiful - lovely waters and snorkel. Also saw dolphins on the boat ride. Enjoyed plantation and the culture of the place, everyone should consider incorporating Zanzibar islands in their Africa travel. All in all the entire trip was very well planned and we were welcomed at all places with good hospitality and returned back safe and sound, and since Kikwetu is local to the trip was exotic and in our budget

Purvi Adani

Excellent advice, support and customer service on a custom made safari inside and outside Africa

This is the second time I am writing a review of my experience of traveling with Kikwetu Cultural Adventures. Last year, Ken Benson and his team organized an 80 day custom made safari through 7 African countries for me with such outstanding logistics and customer service throughout the safari, that this year I decided to turn again to Ken and his team to ask for his professional assistance in organizing a half-around-the-world tour for me. I am 71 years old and decided that it was now or never for me to travel to some parts of the world which always have exerted a lot of attraction over me. I communicated to Ken via e-mail my ideas of where I wanted to go and how long I wanted to stay in each place and asked him to arrange flight connection, ground transportation, accommodation, sightseeing, etc. It turned out to be the safari of a lifetime: 31 days and 7500 km by road through rural and religious Ethiopia. One week in Nairobi with visits to museums and galleries, the Sheldrick’s elephant orphanage, a hike through Hell’s Gate close to Naivasha, Kibera slum and a very enjoyable walking tour through down town Nairobi which is especially recommendable on a Sunday. Flight from Nairobi to Nampula and ground transportation to Nacala, Mozambique. From Nacala, I had arranged for a freighter travel to Singapore with a stop over in Mauritius Island, but with three weeks on my hands while waiting for another freighter to come along and take me back home to Mexico across the Indian and the Pacific Ocean, Ken arranged for a 12 day safari in Indonesia, visiting Central and East Java, Sulawesi and Bali, and one week in Malaysia with highlights in Georgetown, Ipoh and Malacca. My journey lasted 122 days and whenever network connections were available, Ken kept track of my travels and was in contact with me and/or the subcontracted provider to make sure, that everything went according to program and schedule. It was a most gratifying experience and I want to thank Ken, Livingstone, Paul and the rest of Kikwetu Cultural Adventures for having made one more of my dreams come true. There is no doubt in my mind that, if you are interested in a truly custom made safari inside Africa and in neighboring countries, Kikwetu Cultural Adventures is the best choice for getting what you are looking for with regard to advice, support, customer service and price.

Ingrid

10 day private safari over Kenya & Tanzania - Fantastic experience from start to finish!

My brother and I (25 and 30 year old males) did a lot of looking around as to what safari operator to go with (there's a reason it's all grey nomads on safari - it's not cheap). In the end, it was a no brainer - Kenneth from Kikwetu replied promptly to our email inquiries (don't know when the guy sleeps), understood what we were after and easily provided the necessary information (we had lots of questions) all with a great price. We opted for budget camping and were more than impressed with the standard of accommodation provided. Airport pick ups and drop off were included. I think a big part of the safari adventure is the driver - as you spend the most time with this person. We were extremely lucky with our driver Livingstone in Kenya who is a genuinely great bloke and has the eye of an eagle with his ability to spot animals. Thanks for getting the baboon out of the car for us! The standard of food prepared for us by our cooks was also great, we were never left hungry and in fact - always felt bad that we could not finish the food put in front of us! Travelling in Feb/March was a great time to safari - we saw loads of wildebeest giving birth to newborns and watching them take their first steps within 10 minutes of life, saw plenty of big cats - lions, leopards and cheetahs and of course saw the big 5 many times. Our safari covered the following - Lake Nakuru, Masai Mara, Amboseli, Tarangire, Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater. Highly recommend Ken and his team at Kikwetu! Thanks for making our safari to East Africa a memory of a lifetime

Aneale

Very well organised, good guiding,many animal experience, all 3 lodges very good,also the meals.

Very good planning and communication with rapid answer to all our questions. Good service and very good driver and guide (Livingstone) who knew all the animals and how to find them. The safari was very varied with 3 different lodges and everyone had something different to show us on the safari. We were satisfied with 2 nights in all 3 lodges. The safari was living up to our expectations. NB ! In Norway we always use seat belts when driving on motorways and we will recommend this except on the safari trips.

Ingrid S. and Marius Conradi

Let’s organize 2022 safari trip!

Even during the pandemic, I haven’t given up my vacation in Africa. I returned to Kenya, with the assistance of my friend Kenneth from Kikwetu Cultural Adventures. Kenneth has organised my safari vacation since the first time I went to Kenya. I was looking for two smaller lodge that would be located within the nature with no fences. One of them should be near the Mara river and also a place where leopards would be easier to spot Kenneth organized everything and with Charles’s assistance, my driver and guide, we drove from Nairobi to Maasai Mara during one week. This was the first time I met Charles but he was super and awesome with me. Very friendly and with a remarkable knowledge of Maasai Mara. I guess Charles has got a map in his head! Thank you all for the care during my stay. Let’s organize 2022 safari trip!

Paulo Pina