JOCKY TOURS TEAM
Jocky Tours and Safaris
- Office In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2002)
- Member Of:
- AMREF & KWS
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $2,343 to $31,246 per person per day (MXN, excl. int'l flights)
for a custom tour
Your request will be sent directly to the operator
If preferred, you can contact the operator directly
Reviews
Great price/value however hard to get complete answers from agency before hand
Great guide (Jeff ❤️), we felt safe on the road and Jeff made his best for us to see all animals on the safari! Price/value great, however I struggled to get quick and complete answers from the agency beforehand.
Email Ben | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great time on the safari, wish office was communicative.
Had a great time on the 5 day budget safari to the Masai Mara, Lake Nakuru, Lake Navaisha, and Hell's Gate. Raheem, our driver, was a great guide that tried hard to find animals and get us close.
I wish the office was a little more communicative after booking the safari through the phone, received little to no information or communication until the morning of and that was only what time the driver was supposed to should up.
PT
Email Thomas | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Jimmy is an excellent guide however Jocky tours themselves were sometimes tricky to work with.
I'll first start by saying that our guide, Jimmy was absolutely excellent throughout the whole trip and went above and beyond to make everything memorable for us!
Initially upon booking, email responses were fast but a bit short. Sometimes I'd send an email with a few important questions and only receive answers for one. We were told we could either pay the $2600 dollar fee by cash in USD (not really comfortable carrying that much cash with me), pay by card and incur a 3.5% fee for "processing", or make a bank transfer and pay an extra $20 to cover bank charges. I chose the latter. Upon arriving in the office, we were told that wasn't an option and repeatedly had a card terminal thrust at us. He said the 3.5% covered bank charges but he could make it 3%, then 2%... (Dodgy). Finally he dropped the fee and we paid the $2600 by card with no fee - I'm still not certain whether this fee is genuine.
We were asked to take 3 guests with us on the 6hr drive to Masai mara. We agreed but feel like many others would prefer not to - having paid a lot more for a private tour - it is difficult to say no when put on the spot like that.
The tour itself was great - Masai mara was excellent and saw so many animals close up thanks to our guide Jimmy. He was one of the highlights of our trip - kind, knowledgeable and skilled at driving off-road. Where many others got stuck, Jimmy didn't. Lenchada tented camp was great - basic but that is what we bought. Hot showers and nice beds. Good food with vegetarian options.
Nakura accommodation was great. Good food and pool. Next morning was Nakura lake game drive which was a highlight - black rhinos and lions and much more. Naivasha lake was also cool with a boat ride to see hippos and other animals on the shore.
Hells gate national park was excellent where we rented bikes and cycled among zebras and gazelles to the canyon. Factor in an extra $20 per person for bike rental and a guide for this.
The long drive to amboseli was next but unfortunately Jocky tours had neglected to book our guide a room leading to him having to find accommodation some distance away from us. This meant the next days pre-morning game drive was delayed till nearly 10am and by then Kilimanjaro was covered in cloud. A bit annoying but I must stress this was not the fault of our guide.
Overall a great trip and amazing memories made, could have been a bit better on the organisation side by Jocky.
Email Joe W | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic Safari and Guides
Really good value for money. We got to see absolutely everything we wanted to see over the 6 days on Safari. We got split across 2 tour guides over those days, particular mention to one of the guides Francis who was amazingly friendly, engaging and insightful. He really put the cherry on top of a really great trip especially when there's a lot of travel time between locations. Accommodation was good, the only thing that could have been better was a noise issue in our hotel in Nakuru but the tour company apologized and the other places we stayed were nice. The Masai Mara accommodation was SUPER basic so just be prepared for that. The food was generally ok, local cuisine which usually was rice, veg and a protein. As a veggie it was usually lentils and beans. Not a huge amount of variety over the week but you do get fed A LOT! I would say if you're veggie, try and be specific about what you want in your packed lunch beforehand because we got pretty stingey stuff compared to the meat eaters...
The Manjara Camp in Amboseli was super accommodating with the food though. What a lovely place to stay as well!! It was the best place we stayed by far! Henry was an amazing host and if we could have stayed longer there, we would have!! Special shout-out to Chef, she blew us away with how much she catered for us.
All in all, we had a fantastic time. If your focus is on seeing animals and being treated amazingly by very experienced guides, this is deffo for you! Bear in mind you spend maybe 10-15% of your time at camp so if you just want the basics like we did, it's perfect without all the bells and whistles!
Email Ryan | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
It was a wildly beautiful experience.
I really enjoyed my trip. Being my first time to go to the Mara i must say it didn't dissapoint one bit. The travel logistics from time keeping to the accomodation, to the game drive it was all quite commendable. If you plan to travel stress free reach out to Jocky Safaris they're your go to safari booking experts.
Email Tewolde | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very good
Enjoyed quite a bit. I have already recommended my family and friends
ES
Email Mery | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Beautiful landscapes and nature, but many hours of distance between parks
It is true that the customer service is very efficient and friendly.In my case I did the tour at the end of May and the parks, especially Nakuru, had many parts without access which It made the experience contraversial, since I could not fully enjoy the parks and no one warned me about this.
On the other hand, the safari adventure depends a lot on the driver, in the first place they assigned me a driver for the first 4 days, who explained the interaction and explanation of animals, itinerary...(Everything a guide should do, he didn't do), but for the last Amboseli park they changed me to another group with another driver Kikitu He changed my experience because of how he treated people, his hospitality, great explanations and lots of laughter. The best driver and travel friend.
FR
Email Khady | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good
The experience was over all amazing.
The game drive was awesome, we had a very calm, polite and sweet guide Jimmy (I’m giving him a 20/10, he is just amazing). I’m recommending him. We had the opportunity to see the Top 5 animals (Leopard, Lion, Elephant, Rinno and Buffalo)We had a picnic in Massai Mara on the second day, it was really a greaaaaaat experience.
Giving a 4 stars because the lack of communication with the agency.
Hellen was very responsive on emails but when it’s comes to coordinating the pick up at my place it was terrible. They sent the driver at 7,15 as agreed but didn’t gave him my number so he couldn’t contact me, i was still waiting for him until they called me at 8.30 to inform me he was downstairs waiting for me. So make sure to ask about name and number of the driver a day before
The Hotel (Jambo mara) is nice, with good employees. I had a bad room on the first day, apparently the hotel was full, I didn’t receive any communication about it. They made a Room change the next day. There was no hot water in the rooms and it’s winter time.
Booked and paid for a Massai Mara village visit but it didn’t happen again no communication from the agency.
I do recommend the agency, but make sure you ask all the needed information and point out all your needs.
And Again Thank you Jimmy you made this trip unforgettable. You are appreciated
AT
Email Alex | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fantastic Safari with average acomodation and food
The safari and our driver (Albert) were fantastic! The acomodation and food (mainly rice, potatoes, spinach and chicken 2x a day) are low standard. As all tour operators stop at the same places I assume it is the same on all safaris. As such I can recommend Jocky Tours!
Excellent excellent guide - ok accomodations
Our guide Johnnie Jackson was super duper excellent!! We saw the big 5 right away and also saw 7 cheetah one day as well as quite a few lions (1 male and 1 female were right next to our vehicle) and even a leopard! He knew right where to find the animals and made each day fun and interesting. He was concerned about everyone in our group and was patient, kind and flexible. The only downside of the safari were a couple of the accommodations. They were definitely budget and we knew that going in, but we're still surprised by the lack of cleanliness, broken tiles, and no hot water.