Reviews of Across The Wild Tours & Safaris

Great tour company to take care of your once-in-a-lifetime safari!

We booked a bespoke 5 day safari to the Masaai Mara with Across the Wild Tours. We had very specific ideas about where we wanted to stay, our game drives, even the vehicle. Fina at Across the Wild was fabulous. She checked it all out for us and, eventually, gave us exactly the package we wanted. She replied to emails, was always reachable on the phone, so everything was very transparent and reliable. I do not take such a great service for granted, especially if I order a costly bespoke holiday package from my desk at home. On the day of our departure, Fina and Joseph, the driver/guide, picked us up at our hotel, perfectly on time. Joseph was fabulous, too. Over the next 4 days, he went the extra mile to show us all the animals we wanted to see, including a pride of lions hunting buffalo, a cheeta, a leopard with cubs etc etc. The Masaai Mara is such an incredibly rich place. Joseph is not just a very good driver but also an amazingly knowledgeable expert on flora & fauna. There was not he single animal or plant he did not know, he even impressed us with accounts of life inside a termite hill. Apart from all that, he is a great guy and fun to have around. All in all, there was not a single thing we were not happy about. We are very grateful for the magnificent experience we had. Thank you so much guys. We will definitely book with Across the Wild again, to one of the many destinations you cover in the region.

Martin

They can do your perfect safari

We loved the itinerary that was tailor-made for my sister and I, we had a great experience booking everything with Fina and the safari was amazing with our guide David, he knows a lot about animals and plants, I can't recommend enough to book your safari with across the wild.

Liliana Quijano

Fina is the best! Warm charming and intuitively understands clients to give them the best experience

Fina gave us phenomenal service on short notice. She was very responsive and organized. She managed to get us into something that was booked out months into the future because she goes the extra mile. I will forever think of her as the go to travel agent for Kenya and other regions she covers.

RA

Not good transportation (4x4 land cruiser) very old and not safe for children

The tour operator advertised the service as VIP. We had a unpleasant experience with the transportation service. We had selected the VIP service because of the transport as we have young children. The car provided was 4x4 land cruiser but had mechanical issues. At many instances the driver had issue with the gearbox.

Nur Abdi

Takes time to understand customer’s preferences and tailors itinerary accordingly.

This was our second trip to Kenya booked through Across the Wild. Each time, Fina and her team took time to keep refining the itinerary until it matched our preferences and budget exactly. We flew between two different parks, so had two different driver guides, each was excellent. The booked accommodation was superb. We saw so much, including lion, leopard, cheetah, elephant and many others. Another fantastic trip, creating wonderful memories.

Paul Colbert

Excellent family/ photo adventure

Very nice camps from budged up to excellent, as agreed in the contract. Competent and non-pushy guide Duncun (thank you :-) ) worth to travel with. Animals guaranteed in umlimited q'ty. Very good and safe transfer from/ to the airport. 11 years old girl & her family will remember that awesome trip for a long time.

Piotr M. Kowalski

Our safari of a life time

My friend and i went on a safari with Across The Wild and we had the most amazing vacation. We spent 4 nights camping in Maasai Mara and then stayed one night at Lake Naivasha Sopa Lodge it was a wonderful experience. My friend was so scared about camping at first that she even wanted to change her mind but later she really liked the experience of sleeping in the jungle and when we got to Naivasha she even wished to camping the whole trip. We are used to luxury since our childhood so staying in luxury hotels was not a big deal at all but experiencing something new was the most amazing of all. We planned for this safari for two years and based on their strong recommendations and quick responses, we felt safe to choose them. Fina responded quickly to our annoying emails, and easily accommodated our wishes, we changed our itinerary so many times as we kept adding places we wanted to visit. She met us at the airport when we arrived, and made us feel very welcome; we also had the pleasure of having dinner with her at the carnivore restaurant, which was very wonderful eating meat of all types we really loved it. Our driver guide Steve was a great guide. He was very patient and willing to spend as much time as we wanted in the park. For example, in Maasai Mara we spent an hour watching two lions stalk zebras and he never said anything he allowed us to enjoy the act. We left camp early after breakfast and returned just before dark. He was a very careful driver and he knew where to go to see all the animals. We managed to see all the big 5. The safari cost was very reasonable, especially considering the long days in Masai Mara and undivided attention we received. We had the best safari imaginable. It was a dream come true! Thanks to Across The Wild Tours and Safaris. We will really recommend this agency all our lives.

Benellee Lass

The owner was wonderful and did anything she could to make our trip perfect and amazing

Across the Wild made our trip absolutely perfect. The hotels were wonderful, the Safari’s were amazing and they went above and beyond making our trip simply the best ever! The best part about it was our guide Richard, who was so knowledgeable about any question we would ask him from anything you want to know about an animal to the Africa culture. He was so fun to be around every day and making our trip the best for us was his primary goal, which he did superbly we hated to leave him so badly!

Alexis & Tom

Fourth time we, friends and family have booked with them and fantastic every time.

This is the third time we have travelled ourselves with Across the Wild. Friends who have booked with them have also had fantastic experience. Fina always takes time to listen to our requirements and budget and is very patient and diligent in tailoring our itinerary to suit. This particular trip we flew into Nairobi, then an internal flight to Mara where we stayed at Ashnil Mara Camp for three nights. Our guide, Kesea (Kool) was fantastic and knew exactly which territory to look for each animal. He made us feel like family. We took picnic breakfast and lunch to do a full day drive on our second day. We were rewarded with sightings of all the Big Five plus two cheetah feeding on a kill, all in one day! Our third day was also very successful with lovely elephant sightings and plenty of hippos and croc's in the river before a visit to the Masai village in the afternoon. After flying back to Nairobi, David was our guide for the two days before we departed from Kenya. He was always good company, informative and punctual and nothing was too much trouble. We had an excellent morning in Nairobi national park with views of lots of white rhino and four lionesses on the move. This was followed by a visit to Sheldrick's, which is always special. A big thank you to Fina and all the team at Across the Wild for another very memorable and excellent visit to Kenya.

Paul Colbert

Tremendous Experience All Around

We had an amazing trip to Kenya & Tanzania that happened April 2017. This was our first trip to East Africa and so we did not know what to expect at all. We were a group of 16 young adults and we used two vehicles for our comfort. After a long research and corresponding with several companies both in Kenya and Tanzania we finally decided to settle with Across The Wild due to their quick respond which helped us decide on the perfect itinerary within a short time and booked our flight right away. We were not disappointed! Throughout the inquiry and booking process, they were very quickly and detailed in making all the arrangements. We signed a contract agreement with them and then sent to their account 30% deposit to secure our accommodations. After a few days, we received acknowledgement of our deposits as soon as the received in their account. The staff from the office picked us at the Airport together with our driver guide Joseph and Simon in Kenya until on the eighth day when they dropped us at Isebana border and we met Ikamba and Charles our Tanzania guides, everything was perfect and happened more than we expected. We stayed at good hotels and camps in all places and, the services top rate. We were so happy to see all the Big 5. It was so amazing to view the Mount Kilimanjaro in Amboseli right from our rooms at Serena Lodge. We loved the lodge location a lot for a good view. At the end of our Safari, we had dinner at the carnivore restaurant we loved the meat was so delicious, first time to taste game meat. We both enjoyed everything and we strongly recommend Across the Wild Tours & Safaris and the 4 guides. We love you Across the wild team.

Reuben

Tour Operator is very helpful and respond on time and professionally. We had great great fun.

The staffs work professionally. Our tour guides are super nice. The safari was one of the best travel experience we have.

Ekkaphon

Good company, nice staff but was misled about the vehicle

Prompt response to quotation request we posted in katokenya.org (which is the union of accredited tour companies in Kenya) which propagate your quotaion request to all accredited safari tour organizers in Kenya. Always replies are prompt to further enquiries about the offer by Ms/Mrs Fina with flexibility to adjust program and cost. Airport reception, tour punctuality and game drive experiences are excellent with driver Steve. Steve has excellent and customer-care personality. We are very thankful to him. Hotels and all arrangements are as promised except for the vehicle, which really made a difference and was the most obvious disappointment. I was clear to specify to Fina I wanted 4 x 4 land cruiser which turned out based on our experience there that 98%-99% of tour companies provide to their clients who asked and paid for (category 4x4 land cruiser). On top of that nearly 85% of land cruisers used by other companies are new or almost new. We received photo confirmation of the vehicle type to be 4x4 landcruiser while when we arrived there we were surprised they actually provided 4x4 very old landrover with very old non-comfortable interiors and hard seats. This reduced much the comfort of the lengthy roads (4-5 hours) between national parks that we stayed in and also the comfort during game drives. There was absolutely no communication from acrossthewild tour company that the vehicle provided will not be land cruiser but old land rover instead. This in my opinion is misleading in that part of arrangement, they might also depended on the fact that the first trip was from Nairobi Airport to Amboseli, so there was no chance for us to ask or argue about the vehicle type otherwise we would ruin the next day in Amboseli. That's what happened actually so we just proceeded and withstood the vehicle for the rest of the 7 days. Just to give you an idea of the matter, our ancient land rover was the ONLY land rover we saw in 7 days of game drives among the tens of land cruisers provided by other companies and we came across them. Even when we later mentioned the point lightly to them, the excuse was that we reserved the package late !!!!!! firstly, even with that excuse they should have informed us in advance by email and left the decision to us to go with that odd vehicle or not instead of sending different photo. Secondly, until the end before we selected them other companies were offering us very close or even one of them lower price with confirmed new 4x4 land cruiser option, so that was wasted opportunity for us because of their lack of transparency and misleading. Other than the vehicle issue, we have no problems or conservations on this company. Just try to make it clear to them that if the vehicle is not as agreed, you would not pay the balance 70% upon arrival.

Majid

A 14 day safari which far exceeded our expectations for quality of accommodation and game viewing.

When booking the safari, Fina from Across the Wild was very quick to respond to all our queries and did an excellent job tailoring the itinerary to meet our requirements and our budget. We had the same guide, Kevin, throughout the trip, who was professional, informative and great fun. The accommodation in all four parks we visited was fantastic quality. Many were next to waterholes or the river to attract animals which we enjoyed watching during the time we were not out on game drives. The staff at all locations gave us a warm Kenyan welcome. We have been on safaris before but the quality of the game viewing on this trip far exceeded our expectations. We had multiple sightings of all three big cats, elephants and an abundance of other animals. An absolutely magical trip, the memories of which will stay with us for ever.

Paul Colbert

Seemless Organization and Great Itinerary!

Across the Wild put together an unforgettable safari experience for us, including our Dad who is 97 years old! Don't let your age keep you from this amazing trip. The drivers were so kind and had a real knack for finding the animals for us to see, while still retaining enough distance to not disrupt them. I would travel with them again and again.

Kelly

Wonderful Experience; Very Professional; Outstanding Company

We did a seven day / six night safari organized by Across the Wild. From the very first communication, Fina was wonderful to work with. She was attentive, responsive, and charming, working with us to customize our trip. As this was not our first safari, we made specific requests, each of which was addressed. Our guide, Steve, was superb! We were able to accomplish safari experiences that we had not previously had, primarily due the experience and patience of our guide. Everything during the safari was well-coordinated. We would work with Across the Wild again and will recommend them to others without any hesitation!

Jay

Excellent service and strongly recommendable

We chose Fina because she is the most responsive agent and also provided the most reasonable quotation. After lots of changes from us and plenty of communications, we arrived in Kenya finally. Fina didn't disappoint us! The accommodation is wonderful, the gaming is amazing, and most importantly, the driver, Mr. Ederson is so experienced! Our trip will be much less interesting without Mr. Ederson, with his guide, we have seen so many unforgettable events. We will strongly recommend Across the Wild to our friends those are going to visit Kenya. At last, I only want to remind that please avoid booking AA Lodge in Maasai the next time, which is horribly managed, whose manager and staff kept lying and cheating.

Samantha

An incredible safari with the most helpful and personable people from Across the Wild

We did the 7 Day Top Luxury Tour. The Serena Hotel at Lake Elementaita was incredible. Beautiful location with a stunning bar / sitting area looking over the lake and the rooms furnished with colonial buffets. The service and food were excellent; I think we will return to Kenya to stay just at this hotel for a holiday. The following day we moved on to Naivasha Simba Lodge at Lake Naivasha - the hotel was a disappointment and the food was not good either. In retrospect, we should have (and I would suggest you do too) stay this night again at Lake Elementaita and Fina will arrange the safari drive at Hell's gate from here. Day 3 was a very long drive to Masai Mara but this is THE place for the safari to see all the animals, you will see everything here (except the flamingos) so if limited on time I would suggest travelling directly to Masai Mara. FINA was very personable and helpful, she arranged additional trips to the Giraffe sanctuary in Nairobi for us and booked other hotels for either end of our stay. She also had us picked up from the airport at 3.30am. She will be as flexible and helpful as possible, and we had her number so were able to call her directly throughout the safari. Our tour guide was DAVID - the nicest, friendliest gentleman and ever so knowledgeable. He was very conscientious in ensuring we had plenty of sightings of our favourite animals (hippos for me / lions for my husband) and he was fantastic with our 3 young sons. His knowledge of all the animals and birds is extensive, we learned so much from him and he kept it all very interesting. The driving in Kenya can be erratic and dangerous, we were very thankful for David's considerate. smooth and safe driving throughout! I would definitely recommend Across the Wild Tours and Safaris, mostly for the personal service you will receive from Fina that makes the trip hassle free and flexible. And if you're able to choose the guide, David was fantastic. He has 2 children whom haven't been on Safari with him, astounding given his experience and knowledge. If we had have known this we would have welcomed them on the safari with us, the company for our children would have been welcome also. Note that alcoholic drinks are not included in the price, nor bottled water at Masai Mara.

Bridget

Game Drive

Excellent staff.. hope to use ur services again. Keep it up

Pamela N. Mafunga