3-Day Masai Mara safari from Nairobi

I had the pleasure of touring with Bencia Africa Adventure and Safaris for a 4-day safari to Masai Mara and Lake Nakuru. From the pick-up at my hotel, they showed professionalism and were very friendly as well. Our chef, John, was hilarious throughout the trip and made us delicious meals. Not forgetting our guide, Joseph, who was extremely knowledgeable about the animals and knew exactly where to find them. Overall, my experience with Bencia was a 10/10, and if I could, I would definitely tour with them again in the future. Highly recommended!

We had a great time on our safari to and from Mara. Josee, our driver, was exceptional. Extremely kind, patient, professional, and punctual.

Great tour operator ! They are more active for safari (Masaï Mara, Amboseli, Tsavo, Nakuru, Naivasha) but also for mountain trips. I had a great experience thanks to Daniel (if he approaches you for Bencia in the street, give the man a chance). They organised budget/routard trip for me which is exactly what I needed. You might join other existing groups also to split the cost, I met amazing people on my trip and the guides are so passionate about their jobs ! Thanks again to Daniel, Charles, Alfred & Team.

Highly recommend Bencia Africa Adventure & Safaris Ltd if you're visiting northern Kenya. we are really great and amazing travel team.

Good budget safari organizing company. We booked a 4 day safari and even noone joined it happened as planed. We had a good guide/driver Mourinho and a friendly chef John who cooked us very tasty food. A minibus and places to stay were budget type but good value for money. We saw everthing we wanted even though last day game drive was shorter than expected.

Pros: I booked 11 days joiner safari in Kenya and Tanzania. You should be always aware that when you book a safari in multiple countries in Africa, you get everything perfect only in the country where your agency is based so in Kenya everything was taken care of and went as planned. I had amazing time with my guide George. He was one of the best guides I had. He was on time for every game drive, and organised the whole group for everybody to be on time. He showed us the big 5 in only 2 days, and was amazing in finding the animals in Masai Mara. He and the cook George felt like family for a couple of days. In Tanzania I was lucky with the best guide there- Shafy. If you are doing Tanzania, definitely ask for him. He will make your safari the best one. Long game drives, he stopped for every animal of interest long enough. Everything was taken care of very professionally. A good or bad guide can make or brake your experience. Make sure to ask for a guide with recommendations. Our cook Rami in Serengeti and Ngoro Ngoro was amazing and more of a guide than the guide himself. He helped with everything, not just the delicious food, and he was the one talking to us, answering our questions, and giving us interesting facts. I wish he had been our guide! He was amazing and exceeded our expectations! In Amboseli the game drives were very good, and I saw a lot of elephants and lions. The campsites and the accommodations were very clean and good. We had giraffes and zebras in our backyard in Ngoro Ngoro. Amazing! Cons: In Amboseli I was transferred to Bonnie, who did his job very good, but failed with the time management, and did not organise the rest of the group to be on time, so I ended up waiting, which was not nice. I asked for water, and I was told that if I want more than 1l, the driver will be fined, but when i showed him my itinerary with 3l per person per day he agreed, but still the last day I asked him for water, he told me that he will give me, but just left. Not very polite.

I’m torn with this tour operator. Part of me wants to leave 1 star whilst the other wants to leave 4. Let me start by explaining we had two parts to our trip. The first part we booked was the masai mara safari in Kenya. We later decided we also wanted to visit the gorillas in rwanda and asked Alfred if this could be organised. We was told yes and booked and parted with our money. Everything was done over whatsapp and a couple of emails when requested. Including payment. You can imagine the anxiety parting with money over whatsapp links. Our first day arrived in rwanda where we was due to go and visit the gorillas out in the wild and thankfully our guide arrived and we felt reassured that the company was real and everything would be ok. However the guide explained we would be heading to the border and to our hotel. We was confused because we was under the impression we was seeing the gorillas in rwanda so why did we need to go to the border. Part of our itinery said we would go to the genecide museum but the driver was unaware of this. He was good tho and took us. After the museum we continued on our journey. Still confused when we arrived at the border and was told we needed 50 dollar visa which we did not have the money for because we wasn’t meant to be in uganda. Anyway our driver found a way to pay for our visa and drove us to a cash point (scared) and to a cafe to call our organiser. I was fuming and so scared being two females alone in another country. Alfred advised the paper work said bwindi so we knew it was uganda but we explained this is not the case when all paper work said rwanda and when i had specifically asked about visas and rwandan visas. Alfred agreed to refund the cost of the visas on the next leg of our trip in kenya. The plus side is that the gorillas were incredible but be prepared to walk and climb through the forest. I mean do not expect paths like i did :-). You find yourself scaling mountain sides through the trees and bushes (fun but terrifying) and the hotel was charming and had the most beautiful balcony to sit out in. It was charming!! Due to the drive from rwanda and uganda we did none of the other items on our tour such as going to the research center and seeing golden monkeys. The second part of our trip it was nice that alfred offered to get us from the airport as part of the intinery. I forgot this and said that was kind as we didn’t tour in the masai mara until2 days time. Alfred advised this was part of the package and it was ok as we toured in three days. OMG raging again!! So not only did we have the worst experience in the first leg but now our trip in kenya has been booked for the wrong dates dispite confirmation of dates on email and whatsapp. I’m sat at the airport googling availability in our hotel and i just get told. I will sort this and that’s it. I had to keep messaging to confirm the hotel had been sorted and that i wasn’t going to be without accommodation for a night. Again Alfred came through and dispite this we had the most beautiful hotel (luxury option) and the best driver. He was so kind and friendly. You stop off at a cafe on the way there and back. This feels like it’s to encourage you to spend your money so make sure you have some cash. There was toilets though this is fab. The hotel was stunning with wild zebras on site. They do a lunch for you which was the cutest. On the first day you must take your passport back out to the safari as you get checked in. Anyway can you see? Both experiences, the gorillas and the safari were fabulous with the kindest drivers but the experience was not enjoyable for two single female travellers. That’s why i’ve given them a 3 ⭐️

After the trip we were taken to their office like hostage to demand more money than we agreed and already paid cause they decided that they didn't make enough profit! poor customer service. Be expected to pay more than the original agreed fees as they will claim it is not included, e.g. entry fees. At one point we were asked to pay for the fuel cost! Make sure to pay yourself entry fees as we realised we have been scammed and paid more than the actual entry fee. Unfortunately only realised this after the trip when we talked with out friends who visited the same attractions

Really bad experience with bencia africa. We booked for 3 days in masai mara for 275$. We did a 2/3 of what they promised. It was an old mini van broken on the first day (then we didi something like 500m after the entrance door...). The second day we left the park two hours earlier what's written on our program (we finished at 16.30 instead og 18.30). And finally the last day same again, we left the park 2 hours before (2 hours instead of 4 hour drive). The driver was not a nice person at all, just interested in going fast and teling us to spot animals because he drives and he cannot do it and the guys at the agency never took our reclamation seriously. Anyway the cooker was great person and good cooker. They also used the logo of Kato (government agency which gives agreement to travel agencies doing things well) but they're not in ! We went to amboseli with another agency and then it was great.

My family and I recently went on safari in Kenya and booked the accommodations and game drives with Benecia. We specifically booked the Mara Sopa as it was recommended by a friend. Before departing from Nairobi and heading to Masai Mara we were told we’d been booked at another property. We were not notified of this in advance and were left with no other choice. The alternative property did not at all compare. The rooms were tented, the electricity only worked about 6 hours per day, the hot water was spotty and we did not feel comfortable or safe. It was dated, somewhat under construction and not the kind of place we thought we’d be staying in. Alfred and his team knew well in advance we were not booked at Mara Sopa and decided not to inform us. I found this to be very deceitful. Additionally, the driver provided, although a very kind man, did not have reliable transportation. On day two of our drive his vehicle broke down in the middle of the park and we had to wait 2 HOURS for some to pick us up. And when it was time to head back to Nairobi he picked us up in the same vehicle that barely made it the 5+ hour drive. The van cut off no less than 15 times and barely made it up the large hills on the highway. If you are booking a safari I would suggest going with a different company. Benecia cannot be trusted! If I could rate them ZERO stars I would.