AMS Tour Guides
Amazing Memories Safaris
- Located 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:
- $5,164 to $12,049 per person per day (MXN, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
Email Sylvia | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great Service all around
I booked with Amazing Memories 1.5 years in advanced and coming into it, I had the highest of expectations for my once in a lifetime trip. I wanted to see the wildebeest river crossing and see animals catching prey. Although I was two weeks too late to watch the river crossing, our guide Joseph made sure we saw the Big 5 in the Masai Mara within 2.5 days. We saw 3 leopards and 1 rhino up close! The service from Joseph was top notch and he was very knowledgeable in the animals, birds, plants, and Kenya in general. He knew where the animals will move to next and ensure we get the best view points for our photos. He has eyesight like my binoculars and is consistently on the ball.
The itinerary itself was a bit confusing because it had said we were getting unlimited game drives almost every day, but it didn't seem to be the case. There are set time slots during the day that game drives are designed/organised which did not allow for as much flexibility as I expected.
Email communications in the planning stage were relatively good. We were able to change the accommodation for some legs, and add extra days to the itinerary and costs would be adjusted. They sent through an information pack which was helpful to get you ready. It would be good if they included a warning very on dusty roads, so you can prepare for it.
The buffet at the accommodations were amazing, esp Lake Naivasha Sopa Lodge. Although for some reason we kept getting the furthest room from the reception area throughout the trip.
For our Serengeti leg, we got Santos as our driver from Migada Tours. He was always punctual, which I appreciated. He took us to see the lion's nest, hippo pool. We saw two leopards, one which walked right in front of our vehicle!
Overall, the package, service, organisation was great and turned out to be me and my partner's best holiday yet.
Email Mel | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
We had a fantastic safari!
All in all I'm really pleased with the service provided by Amazing Memories Safaris, with only a couple of minor issues encountered (hence why I felt I couldn't honestly give the full 5 stars).
Right from the beginning in the planning stage, Anne was super helpful, replying to all my emails and giving plenty of information. We ended up doing a 12 day tour of Kenya and Tanzania. When we arrived at the airport the driver's were already waiting for us and were very friendly and welcoming.
Our driver for the Kenyan part of our trip (9 days) was Joseph, and I cannot speak more highly of him! He was incredible! He was so friendly, always chatted to myself and my partner on the long drives between national parks, was extremely knowledgeable and very good at spotting wildlife. He was very patient and worked hard to spot the wildlife we wanted to see, and as such Kenya (the Masaai Mara in particular) was the most successful part of our trip, providing sightings we will never forget.
Our driver for the short Tanzanian part (3 days) was still very good, a nice guy who did his job just fine, but we felt he lacked the passion and enthusiasm of Joseph so that part was not quite as enjoyable for that reason.
All the accommodation (except one night) exceeded my expectations as we had just booked a mid-range tour. The lodge/permanent tents were very clean and comfortable and some in particular were in such beautiful locations, with the food always amazing and all the staff extremely well trained with brilliant customer service. The only night we had an issue was our third night near Lake Naivasha/Hell's Gate. We were only told that morning that our accommodation had changed from the original plan as Anne had wanted to give us an "upgrade". Obviously after hearing this we were quite excited and expecting something lovely. On arrival at the hotel, we found it lacked that "African bush" feel all the other lodges had as it was part of a small but busy town and was set up as a normal hotel with rooms in buildings rather than separate permanent tents. We were greeted by the only other tourist in sight (it seemed to cater more to locals) coming up to me and warning us to be careful as she had her wallet, phone and passport stolen the previous night, which instantly made us uneasy and worried about this leg of our trip. Our room was clean and comfortable enough, but the food was absolutely shocking, almost inedible! Furthermore, whereas all the other lodges welcome tour guides and accommodate and feed them, this place would not take our guide Joseph who then was forced to leave and find his own accommodation elsewhere, which we felt was very unfair. Upon further investigation we learnt the lodge we were supposed to be booked at was currently under renovation, so we would have much preferred the honesty of being told this rather than being told we'd been "upgraded". In the end it was only one night of the trip and not a huge deal, but it perhaps would have been nicer to have been told more in advance and offered to upgrade to one of the nicer lodges in the area (of which there were a few), even if that meant we paid a bit more.
The only other issue we faced was when we left the Serengeti we questioned whether a single day there was really enough. When we later looked at our itinerary we discovered we were supposed to receive an additional evening drive (usually 4pm-6:30pmish) on our first evening there, which was never given as an option. We also were never given the optional activity of a night drive, which the camp offered, and were not told the camp had no ATM facilities which meant we weren't able to book this ourselves as we didn't have enough cash.
I will counter these small complaints with a couple of ways in which Anne did go out of her way to provide us with good service, though. Our last day I asked to visit the Giraffe Center and the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage, which was not included in the original itinerary of the trip. She provided these extras to us with not additional charge, even though it meant a whole extra day on the tour, with us just paying for the additional nights accommodation.
On our final night we were supposed to stay at the Hilton, however due to the controversy with the Kenyan elections Anne thought it was unsafe for us to stay directly in the city with all the protests happening, so last minute she managed to change our accommodation to somewhere equally as nice, but further out from the city so much safer. We really did appreciate this.
Besides the couple of small issues, our safari really was amazing and myself and my partner are extremely grateful and generally very happy with the experience. Thank you very much, we definitely would consider booking through Amazing Memories Safari's again, especially if the itinerary is able to be followed more closely!
Thanks again,
Mel and Jared
Email Koshy | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing Safari
4 of 5 stars
Pending review
AmazingMemories is a genuine and reliable Safari / tour agency. Anne and Joseph were very prompt and patient with the answers to our numerous questions prior to our trip. We wre met at the airport and escorted to the hotel on arrival and the drivers were courteous , knowledgeable , patient and helpful. the accommodations were excellent and food very good and hygienic.
The wild life views were stunning and truly Amazing. We visited 7 parks / game reserves in 12 days and all had its own charm. The only difficulty we experinced was the bad condition of the roads in the national parks and the long drives between the parks . Had we known we would have flown the long segments. Overall we strongly recommend Amazing memories Safaris.
Visited September 2016
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g294207-d10755751-r426966867-Amazing_Memories_Safaris-Nairobi.html#
AE
Email Shuaib | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Nice experiance with amazing memories... Everythng was perferct ...
Excellent since we called Ms. Ann ( Amazing memories ).. All process picking from airport .. Game drives ( arranged perfectly...Mr. Peter ( experianced guy ) who was with us for game drives... He knows the areas we can see almost all animals... We got only one and half day game drive.. He showed allost all animals except rhinos... Next time as per his advise we wil go for minimum 7 days.. So i will prefer all of you that if your are planning kenya safari trip please plan for minimum 7 days...
Email Ahmet | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great Time
We had a 8 day Kenya + Tanzania safari booked through Amazing Memories in July 2015 and we highly recommend them, especially for safaris in Kenya. The correspondence before the safari was great and the total price was definitely competitive. The lodges in both Kenya and Tanzania were as good as we could've asked for. Our driver in Kenya was Joseph and he was very knowledgeable, professional and courteous. Our luggage was lost flying into Nairobi and we spent the first 5 days with a single outfit, but Amazing Memories did their best to help us. Ann from Amazing Memories went to the airport multiple times to deal with incompetent airport agents when we were were in Tanzania for us, and collected our luggage to be delivered when we crossed back into Kenya. Overall the customer service was great.
Our only problem was in Tanzania, where the 4-day portion was subcontracted to a Tanzanian company. The car was very old and it broke down frequently, the driver was horrible, we felt unsafe the whole time. We told Ann about it and she sounded surprised, I don't think Amazing Memories had direct influence on it, going forward hopefully they will do business with another company.
Overall we were highly satisfied with Amazing Memories, they genuinely tried to make us have a great time. Just beware of complex itineraries with multiple countries, if I do it again I'd deal with each company directly in the separate countries.
IN
Email Arup P | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A childhood dream come true
My wife and I respectively have wanted to visit Africa and go on safari since childhood. What a fantastic trip it turned out to be, exceeding our wildest expectations and dreams.
We would highly recommend booking your safari trip through “Amazing Memories Safaris” directly, especially if it is your first visit to Kenya. The booking experience was good and hassle free. There was complete clarity on the itinerary, cost and related information. Titus Kinyua was very prompt in responding to our questions and accommodating our requests. All our queries were satisfactorily answered in a timely manner.
The Amazing Memories team led by Titus was waiting to greet us as we emerged from the airport, which was very reassuring for us as first time visitors to Africa in general and Kenya in particular.
The familiarisation briefing we received from Titus before we began our trip was most helpful. The Amazing Memories team provided us with a more than adequate stock of drinking water bottles for the entire trip. We realised the importance of it later as drinking water at meal times in all resorts is chargeable and the water provided by the resorts in the rooms is not always adequate and is replenished only during room cleaning each day.
We had an exclusive safari vehicle and guide dedicated to us the entire trip. The vehicle was very clean and well maintained and it stayed that way the entire trip.
The rooms we stayed at were nice. Fig Tree (Masai Mara), Sopa (Lake Nakhuru) and Oltukai (Amboseli). Sopa was the best hands down, especially the views from our room, the dining area and the bar. Breathtakingly beautiful! The food at Sopa and Oltukai were good. The hospitality at all three places was very good.
We had the most awesome safari experiences at Masai Mara, Lake Nakhuru and Amboseli National Park. We have one person whom we cannot thank enough for making our entire trip so enjoyable and ensuring that we left Kenya with amazing memories for a lifetime! Our safari guide Joseph Mwaniki.
Joseph was extremely attuned to our every need and request the entire trip; from the time he picked us up at the airport till the time he dropped us back. His familiarity with the routes and safari trails ensured that our travel time was optimised and our safari experiences were elevated. He was very fluent in English and a treasure trove of information about Kenya in general and the national parks, flora and fauna in particular. He took great pains to ensure that we took in all the beautiful sights that each safari game drive had to offer. Thanks to his wealth of experience and tireless efforts, we had the opportunity time and again to witness some very rare sightings of animals in the wild in their own element.
We were travelling with our teenage daughter and were particularly touched by the fact that he made it a point during and after each safari game drive to inquire with her whether she was enjoying herself and the animal sightings. One particular instance readily comes to mind. We had only our mobile phones with us (no high end cameras) and were at one point struggling to capture a photo of a rhino in the distance at Lake Nakhuru. Joseph immediately pulled out a device and a pair of binoculars, which when affixed to the phone camera lens, enabled the camera to zoom in and capture very clear pictures. Our daughter could not stop taking pictures after that. It was an extremely thoughtful gesture on Joseph’s part and one that endeared him to us instantly.
Joseph’s soft spoken, polite and easy going nature put us at ease and made us feel very comfortable. He was extremely professional, very punctual and a thorough gentleman. He would always hold open the door of the safari vehicle for us and greet us warmly before and after each game drive. He had a boundless reserve of energy even after long drives between two resorts and wanted us to experience as many game drives as our enthusiasm and interests permitted. What we particularly appreciated about his approach, was that he would make suggestions and even recommendations but would leave the decision to us. We had complete freedom to plan our daily schedule and curate our safaris with informative insights and inputs from him.
We had such a wonderful trip, thanks in no small part to Joseph. He is an outstanding safari guide and a gem of a person!
Thank you very much Amazing Memories Safaris, Titus and Joseph for everything! You made our first safari to Africa a memory to cherish forever.
Email Stephanie | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Trip of a lifetime!
It’s hard to even put into words how grateful we are and how truly amazing this trip was. My boyfriend and I did a 5 day safari, in Tsavo West and Amboseli, plus an add on of a morning game drive in Nairobi National Park. We stayed at Severin in Tsavo West and Sentrim in Amboseli. Our tour consultant was Morris and he was excellent. Great communication via WhatsApp and email and great planning throughout! We told him exactly what we wanted to do and he made it happen! Our driver guide for Nairobi National Park was John. He made sure we saw rhinos and boy did we see a lot of them! He also drove us around for a little city tour of Nairobi and it was lovely. For our 5 day safari, our driver guide was Eliud (Elliot). He was incredible!!!!!! He made sure we arrived safe to every location, kept us safe on safari, and was just really lovely to hang out with for 5 days. In Tsavo West, we had amazing scenery, cool giraffe and elephant encounters, and visited Mzima Springs to see hippos and crocodiles. At our lodge Severin, it was an open lodge with no fence, and there were zebras grazing 10 feet away from us during dinner! The lodge felt luxury with a nice pool, and was very calm and peaceful. Although Tsavo West lacks in wildlife encounters, it is way less busy than Amboseli and the lodge was an incredible experience. Next we went to Amboseli - where the magic happened! Our lodge was Sentrim, and while not as luxurious as Severin, it was a VIBE! Lots of people hanging out and drinking and loud music and a lot of fun. In Amboseli, we saw EVERYTHING. We saw cheetahs, lions (a male lion within 10 minutes of entering the park!), hippos, so many birds, different gazelles and impalas, huge herds of elephants, wildebeest, zebras, and Cape buffalo. We got so lucky with really clear views of Kilimanjaro on both our drives. But what made our safari truly unforgettable was Eliud. He was so knowledgeable, told us so many cool facts about Kenya as we were driving, knew everything about all of the wildlife, and had an answer for every question we asked. I cried multiple times today leaving Kenya because of how special this whole experience was. We miss you Eliud! Kenya will forever have a place in our hearts ❤️
SG
Email Xuan | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An Unforgettable Safari Experience with Amazing Memories
We booked an 8-day, 7-night mid-to-high-end safari package with Amazing Memories, and it genuinely lived up to its name. Our guide and driver, John, took us across four stunning destinations, Amboseli, Naivasha, Nakuru, and Masai Mara, and the entire journey was wonderfully managed from start to finish.
John was consistently punctual and incredibly knowledgeable. He guided us to an incredible number of wildlife sightings, most memorably an abundance of lions and at remarkably close range. Every question we asked was answered with expertise and genuine enthusiasm, which made the experience so much richer. Our requested accommodations were also arranged exactly as specified, with no surprises.
The only minor regret from the trip was not spotting a leopard this time around, but that's the magic of the wild, and it just gives us a reason to return!
If you're planning a safari and want a seamless, well-organized, and truly memorable experience, we wholeheartedly recommend Amazing Memories. You're in great hands.
Here are some tips based on our experience:
No need to bring a water bottle as the vehicle is well-stocked with bottled water throughout the trip.
That said, do pack a hat and a scarf or mask. The safari vehicle has an open roof and open sides (ours was a photographic pop-up roof 4x4 Land Cruiser with no windows), so dust and wind can get intense, especially on bumpy dirt tracks.
Sunscreen is a must. You will be exposed to direct sun for long stretches, so don't skip this.
Last but not least, bring binoculars! They make a huge difference when spotting animals at a distance and will genuinely level up your game drive experience.
SG
Email Rose | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best experience ever
For our 8D7N safari in Kenya, we chose Amazing Memories. Anastacia handled all the arrangements before the trip, and John was our safari guide. Looking back, choosing them was definitely the right decision and gave us some of the best travel memories I’ve ever had.
About Anastacia
* She upgraded us for free to a photographic Land Cruiser and also included a complimentary sundowner experience. The vehicle had amazing visibility with no windows blocking the view, and twice we got within less than a meter of lions. The sundowner was absolutely beautiful and one of the most unique experiences of the whole trip.
* She was always responsive and easy to communicate with. Her replies were quick and clear, and her level of service stayed exactly the same even after we had already made the payment.
About John
* What I appreciated most was how punctual and enthusiastic he was every single day. The vehicle and lunch boxes were always prepared in advance, so as long as we showed up on time, we could head out immediately.
* He respected the park rules and never drove off-road unnecessarily. During the safari, I saw many vehicles driving onto the grass and crowding around lions, which I really disliked. We are there to observe wildlife, not disturb them or invade their space. I was glad John always put responsible wildlife viewing first.
* He is extremely knowledgeable and experienced. Even while staying on the proper roads, we still had incredible close-up sightings. Thanks to his experience, he always knew exactly where to position the vehicle. We got amazingly close views of cheetahs, elephants crossing the road, and even a lion that decided to rest underneath our vehicle. We also spotted more black rhinos than many other groups.
* The location he chose for our sundowner was simply perfect. Surrounded by zebras and antelopes, we spent a beautiful evening watching the sunset and colorful sky.
Overall, I highly recommend Amazing Memories, as well as John and Anastacia. This Kenya safari is definitely the most unforgettable trip I have ever taken. Thank you so much for making it such a special experience.
AE
Email Abhinav | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing safari experience with Philip and Nevill
Very pleasant safari experience. We had few good sightings and our guide Philip was very good.