AMS Tour Guides
Amazing Memories Safaris
- Office In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2012)
- Member Of:
- ASTA, KATO, AMREF & Eco Tourism
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $5,204 to $12,142 per person per day (MXN, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
Email Jennifer | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Well planned, terrific safari!
We had a terrific safari with Amazing Memories. Ann helped us plan everything. She was accessible and answered all our questions. Everything went according to plan. James, our driver, was knowledgeable and kind. He got us great views of countless animals!! The van was comfortable and safe. Hotels were terrific! I highly recommend Amazing Memories!
PL
Email Aga Rzezniczak | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great experience
Everything was very good in terms of the service. The communication was great before and during the safari. We were taken care of from the airport to the end of the safari. Eliud was a great companion, professional and really helpful. He is calm, knowledgeable and thoughtful. Would recommend to anybody.
We did a 4day safari in Naivasha (Sopa Lodge) and Mara (Sarova Mara). Both accommodations were good, in Naivasha we had hippos strolling by our house at night and Mara was a bit chilly at night due to the rainy weather.
Eliud took care and did his best to show us the beauties of both parks.
Email Paul | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fantastic Safari
Recently returned from our fantastic safari to Kenya and Tanzania. This was a customization of their normal 11 day trip, removing one stop and adding a couple nights elsewhere. Anne was very cooperative in adjusting the trip to our needs. The trip was amazing, the wildlife unbelievable. met or exceeded all our expectations. The driver knowledgeable and facilitating. We also did the Nairobi Natl Park, Elephant Orphanage and Giraffe Center with Amazing memories.
My main comments are:
1) Take the Land Cruiser. It offers more room and better air flow. Neither the Land cruisers nor the mini-vans had air conditioning.
2) Be prepared for some very bad roads and longer drives. This has nothing to do with the company, getting into and out of these parks involves long drives over some poor roads.
3) Unless budget is an issue, go with the better quality lodges. The Sopa lodges were good, but even they were not consistently great.
4) Would suggest having Anne book you something other than the Amboseli Sopa or the Oldeani. The service was poor at the Amboseli and while the Oldeani was the nicest lode of our trip, we really were not there long enough to enjoy it. Fantastic lodge, but your only there for dinner and a nights sleep. You might discuss the Serena lodges with Anne. We stopped at a couple of them during the trip. Were very nice and pricing close.
5) Would suggest skipping the elephant orphanage. Way too crowded, and short time frame in the middle of the day affected the rest of the day.
Email Ron Barnes | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
11 days Kenya and Tanzania
The booking process was easy after selecting the safari group. We initially found Amazing Memories through Safari Bookings. Emails were answered quickly with the appropriate information. Accommodation was great – glamping and hotels and the staff friendly and helpful. Our guide Daniel (in Kenya) and Charles (in Tanzania) were amazing and put us in front of the big 5 (rhinos from afar). They shared their knowledge of the culture and the animals and we had many discussions of the African way of life. I would happily recommend Amazing Memories Safaris to take you on an incredible journey.
CA
Email Andrew | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An excellent and unforgettable experience
From the start of my safari booking, Anne was able to help me build and a customized itinerary to match the type of safari I went on. She was very attentive and quick to respond. We had a lot of extra requests including some birthdays and she was able to handle it in excellent form. She was also very proactive in helping us select the best hotels that matched our preferences as well as planning an itinerary that would give us the best chance to see the most animals.
Our guide Daniel was also more than we could have hoped for. There is a lot of driving to be done on Safari and Daniel made the time fly quickly. He also knows the best places and times to see where the animals are. He is very experienced (more than 10 years) and very adaptable to our needs. Daniel is also an avid photographer and certainly taught us a thing or two about photography. I really enjoy working with people who truly enjoy what their doing and you can tell Daniel has a real passion for his job. He is the best kind of tour guide there is.
Overall I would have no problem recommending all of my friends and family to book with Amazing Memories Safaris
NZ
Email Denise and Colin North & Lynette Trotter | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great Safari with wonderful Tour Operator
Me, my husband and sister have returned to New Zealand from a wonderful "once in a lifetime"private safari booked through Amazing Memories Safari Company. Anne (the owner) was great, always emailing straight back with answers to our questions. Our guides both Joseph in Kenya and Faso in Tanzania were extremely knowledgeable about the animals and birds and were always able to locate them. In Kenya we saw the "big 5" which was truly amazing. All accommodation, game drives etc were of an excellent standard and we felt very safe with both Joseph and Faso. To anyone contemplating an East African Safari we would have no hesitation in recommending Amazing Memories Safari Company. The cost was very reasonable and standards very high. Thank you once again Anne and Joseph. Your safaris are truly memorable.
AE
Email Melanie | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The best time in Masai Mara with such friendly people along the way
We couldn't have asked for a better safari. And we also couldn't have asked for a nicer tour guide than James. He went to such efforts to ensure we got the most out of our time on the safari. Couldn't recommend Amazing Memories enough!!! Thank you.
CA
Email Diane | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The trip was well organized with no surprises.
This was truly the trip of a lifetime! Anne was able to recognize my need for every detail before we left home and was able to provide me with answers to my litany of questions in a clear and concise manner so there were no surprises.
The actual safari was truly amazing. Although we were told to expect some wonderful sights, by Anne, we did not imagine that we would see "daily" lions, the coalition of brothers Cheetahs, and the sheer numbers of Wildebeest and Zebras in the Serengeti. The scenery is unfathomable, even to this Canadian used to the vastness of the Prairies. The balloon ride over the Massai Mara was spectacular and highly recommended.
Prior to and after our 13 day Safari (Kenya and Tanzania) we spent time in Nairobi, both times accompanied by our Amazing Memories guide. Most decidedly this was not as spectacular as the Safari, but I had asked to see the city and our guides were able to respond to my request and also very rapidly understand my aversion to crowds and planned accordingly.
The most amazing feature of the trip were our guides. We felt honoured to have Daniel, Laurence and Moses as our guides. Within a very short period of time they were able to understand our dynamic (family of 3 adults) and tailor the tour to suit us. We would not have enjoyed this trip as much without them.
The accommodations were very good as was the food. The Staff at the hotels did their best to welcome us and provide for us.
PL
Email Paul | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Everything perfectly organised from start to finish
Thanks to Anne and all the team at Amazing Memories Safaris for making our (my son and I) first trip and safari to Kenya a great experience. All the pre-trip itinerary options and selections were done very well; in fact I had initially booked to travel in March, but managed to break my leg in February, so had to change our travel dates to July. Anne reorganised the trip with no problem, finding us accommodation in what was of course an already mostly fully booked peak safari season. Our trip did not get off to the best start as we missed our connection from Europe to Nairobi due to a late incoming flight. Anne reorganised the team to pick us up at the airport very (very) early the morning after our scheduled arrival no problem. The safari part (6 nights: 1 in Treetops, 1 in Lake Nakuru, 4 in Masai Mara) all ran like clockwork, our driver John was excellent as both our guide and driver. All we had to worry about was getting to the hotel receptions each morning and afternoon, where John was always waiting, ready to go. In terms of game sightings, we saw all the Big Five and many other species, including cheetah. In the Masai Mara, we saw 28 lions, including 18 on one day, in 3 different sightings, all very close up. Of course, sometimes it is the luck of the day, but we were very happy with what we saw. While we joined the sightings where many vehicles had already gathered which is normal (for lions, leopard and cheetah - the drivers / guides keep in touch by radio to see where the action is), John also had the patience to look in many areas on our own, away from the main tracks, and this produced a leopard only a few feet from us, which we were able to enjoy by ourselves. Once again, many thanks to Anne and the team.
Email Cole | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
11-Day Kenya/Tanzania Mid-Range Safari - Trip of a lifetime!
My wife and I joined a couple of friends for an extraordinary private 4-person safari with Amazing Memories. Our safari exceeded our wildest expectations in large part due to the tour operators of Amazing Memories. We are extremely satisfied having gone with them after comparing several safari companies over many months.
We had a pop-top van in Kenya and pop-top Toyota LandCruiser in Tanzania. We ended up strongly preferring the LandCruiser for good suspension, comfort, space, ease of drives, and for viewing purposes. Our itinerary included tours of, in order, Lake Nakuru, Lake Naivasha, Maasai Mara, Serengeti, Ngorogoro Crater, and Amboseli.
We were greeted warmly at the airport and were immediately taken out to Nakuru, which was a pretty lengthy drive. We had had problems with Qatar Airways getting to Nairobi, and Anne of AM was incredibly helpful in adapting our itinerary to fit our late arrival and start to our safari. (as a side note, I highly recommend building in an extra arrival day before your safari begins). Anne was instrumental to the planning and coordination of our trip. She made us feel like we were her most important clients before and during the trip. She was eager to match and beat prices of other safari tour operators for the same itinerary, and made really helpful suggestions to that itinerary. She also upgraded one of our camps a month or two out from our safari, which was fantastic – she moved us to a camp that was probably our favorite place to stay.
Itinerary Comments:
We chose an itinerary that minimized times in major cities – many of the multi-site tours across most safari companies spend time in Nairobi or Arusha prior to border crossings. We wanted to minimize driving time and build the most direct route possible. The direct transfer between Maasai Mara and the Serengeti was in fact the main reason we found and ultimately chose Amazing Memories. This ended up working out really well for the most part (read exception below under “Guides” section). We loved every site we visited, and the order we visited them. The one thing I would say, however, is that transfers between locations were always longer than the itineraries accounted for, especially between the Mara and Serengeti. So we didn’t have quite as much game viewing time as we were led to believe.
It seemed like every day and game drive added a unique experience or sighting to our safari. I’d say the Mara, Serengeti, and Ngorogoro were the highlights, but Nakuru, Naivasha, and Amboseli each added great things. We didn’t see as many rhinos as some others did at Nakuru, and the flamingo population had declined significantly. But it was a great start to the trip. We enjoyed Naivasha, and the optional add-on walking tour of Crescent Island is highly recommended! Maasai Mara was incredible…we saw a huge array of lions, elephants, and giraffes in particular. By the end of the trip we had racked up 68 lions, 2 rhinos, 6 cheetahs, a tree-climbing leopard, hundreds of elephants and giraffes, and thousands of herd animals. Many of the key animals were in the Maasai Mara, highlighted by about half the lions and a group of five cheetahs who made a kill, ate it, sauntered to a drink, and then plopped for a nap. The Serengeti was perhaps our favorite park experience – we had great luck in the Seronera region of the park. The park also has bathroom and picnic locations, which were really helpful on our full-day game drives. Here we saw the full array of high value animals – basically everything but a rhino. Ngorogoro was otherworldly and should not be missed…it’s like being in a fish bowl with almost every safari animal you can imagine, in a place that’s unlike any other. And Amboseli was a fantastic park to finish our trip – so many elephants, birds, and lions. And we had a lucky hour or two on our first day when Kilimanjaro became visible for a brief time. I think if we were to take a second safari, we might minimize the number of sites and stick with Tanzania. We didn’t get to see Manyara, Tarangire, or Zanzibar either (which was our choice). But for our first trip, Anne and AM designed a truly spectacular safari.
Camps/Sites Information:
We were really happy with AM’s choices for our stays. We stayed at Flamingo Hill Tented Camp our first night at Nakuru…it was spectacular. The grounds were gorgeous, the staff incredibly kind and welcoming, and the food exquisite – the best of the whole trip. And they were incredibly gracious in asking park officials to keep the gates open late for our late arrival. At Naivasha we stayed at the Sopa! Property. It was a larger, more hotel-like operation. We appreciated the wifi for photo updates. But the grounds were incredible in that animals wandered through the grounds. Zebras, water bucks, monkeys of various sorts, even hippos late in the evening. Don’t worry – they have security staff to escort people around the grounds. For our first night in Maasai Mara, we stayed at the Sentrim camp. It took a long time to arrive here from Naivasha, and Sentrim was perhaps our least favorite camp. But it was in an excellent location near the park entrance. We had been slated to stay here three nights, but we were upgraded to the Ashnil Luxury Camp within the park the next two nights. We LOVED it here. Its location was ideal for game viewing, situated above a large bend in a river that was populated by lots of hippos, birds, and crocodiles. It had an excellent restaurant and bar, and the tents themselves were really nice. We really enjoyed our evenings at Ashnil. For our Serengeti evenings we were at the Ikoma Tented Camp. It’s near one of the smaller park entrances, but it’s only about an hour’s drive into the Seronera region of the park. It was the closest to feeling like “being in the bush” – it was a comfortable and minimal group of tents that we really enjoyed, wolf spiders notwithstanding. After our visit to Ngorogoro, we stayed at the Crater Forest Tented Camp, which is in the middle of a coffee plantation. It was a really gorgeous location and nice tents and restaurant. Finally, we stayed at the Kibo Safari Camp in Amboseli, which gave us prime place to see Kilimanjaro when it came out for a couple hours. Kibo was a lot like Ashnil – really exquisite tents, good restaurant and bar, and beautiful grounds. Overall, AM did a great job of selecting a mix of places to stay – each had their own distinct atmosphere. I think the most important thing in the future is picking places already within the parks – it greatly reduces drive times. But Anne did a great job of mixing location with keeping costs within our budget.
Guides:
Each of our three drivers said the same thing: “You are one of the luckiest groups we’ve ever had.” We saw a ton of rare animals. But we grew more convinced that it was driver talent rather than just luck. We had Anthony in our first Kenya leg, Farro (of Migada Adventures) in Tanzania, and Joseph for Amboseli. Simply put our guides were the most important and influential part of our trip. We couldn’t be more thankful for their enthusiasm, knowledge of the animals, skill at getting us in really great viewing spots, and in accommodating our requests.
Anthony was particularly good at wedging us amongst the number of cars at high value areas, and anticipating how animals would move. He was a charming and really effective guide. The one thing I’d say about Anthony, though, is be sure to be very upfront about times. As we learned later, he started our drives much later than other guides, and we didn’t get to do afternoon game drives with him. Moreover, our transfer between Maasai Mara and Serengeti went very poorly. He had picked up a Maasai companion/guide for our days in Maasai Mara, and to return the companion to his home we had to take a 4-hour detour on our way to the border. As a result, we missed our first afternoon/evening game drive in the Serengeti, probably our favorite park. Without the detour, we would have made the drive without a problem. Anne was very responsive to this issue, and even compensated us for the missed game drive. And we were given a different driver upon our return to Kenya for Amboseli, one who was explicitly instructed to maximize our game drives. But this was a little frustrating since this transfer was the reason for going with AM in the first place.
In Tanzania, Anne had arranged for Farro and the Migada Adventures safari company. We couldn’t speak highly enough about Farro (and the LandCruiser…we loved that thing). He really knew the parks well and always seemed to get us to the best animal sightings at just the right times. And he always seemed to guess precisely how the animals would behave, especially the leopard that killed the prey and took it up into the tree. If it had been up to us we’d probably have stayed in the area all day, but he suggested we continue on because the leopard would nap there all day. He was spot on – we returned on our way out of the park, just in time to see the leopard feed on the impala and come down the tree. That sort of thing happened a lot with Farro – he was really eager to stay as long as we wanted, but was equally eager to make really helpful suggestions. He was professional, kind, personable, really knowledgeable – the perfect guide.
Finally, we had Joseph guide us through Amboseli. His knowledge of the animals was unparalleled. We had seen nearly every animal by this time in the trip, but we learned so much about each one we saw. He was especially good with spotting and knowing about birds…he was really excited that our friends were budding birders. He was equally personable and skillful at finding great sightings. I’d say the guides were really the highlight of the trip – they were the main reasons the safari was spectacular as it was.
Conclusion:
The safari truly was the trip of a lifetime, and we have Anne, Anthony, Farro, and Joseph to thank for that. I think we’re a bit more savvy now understanding transfers, and being much clearer with our guides about our desire to maximize game drive times and knowing about transfer times. But the trip exceeded our wildest expectations and we are very thankful of Amazing Memories’ care in planning and executing the trip. We have a number of friends now considering taking safaris, and we are eager to recommend AM to them for their (and our) potential visits in the future. Thanks Amazing Memories!
