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This entry was posted on Friday, October 31st, 2008 at 1:24 pm and is filed under Customer Feedback. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
We have just returned from 2 fantastic weeks in Pinewood Village Beach Resort. An absolutley fantastic resort, excellent food, brilliant staff and nothing was too much trouble for anyone. We had our wedding at Pinewood, and would recommend anyone thinking of getting married to consider this resort. 15 of us flew out to Pinewood with Africa Sky, who also arranged a night at Satao Camp in Tsavo East Park. The entire experience was one that will not be forgotten. From scuba diving with sea turtles, waking up to the sound of roaring lions and opening you camp door to herds of elephants, to the brilliant staff at Pinewood and our beautiful wedding there was nothing that we would of changed about our holiday. Thank you.
My daughter and I have recently returned from a fabulous 3 night stay at the Porini Amboseli and 7 nights at the Pinewood Village Resort. Africa Sky did all the arrangements and everything was very well organized. The safari was brilliant. The tents were luxurious, the food excellent but best of all were the game drives and sundowners when we saw loads of animals and birds and learnt all about them from the very knowledgeable guides and local Masai. It was good to be on a conservancy rather than a national park (although our day trip to Ambroseli was great – it has so may animals and was not too busy) and to travel in open sided jeeps. It was also good to be able to walk in the bush with the Masai trackers rather than being in the vehicles all the time. The only downside was the raod from Nairobi up to Ambroseli – it was ‘under reconstruction’ but should be finished soon.
The Pinewood provided the relaxation after the safari. It’s a great hotel with really helpful and friendly staff. It has a lovely pool and beach area. We used the spa and some of the many water sports on offer. Our suite was spacious and very clean. The restaurant food could get a bit repetitive so I am glad we were able to eat in every night and Dorcas, our chef, cooked us some great meals.
All in a holiday to remember and we would love to go back to Africa to try out another Porini camp. Many thanks.
The whole holiday was excellent. We have never experienced such good food on an adventure holiday both at Porini and by our chef at Pinewood.
We would highly recommend your company.
Thanks for all your help and consideration
Amboseli and Porini Lion Camp
Well, where to start? There were so many wonderful moments with the holiday exceeding all of our expectations.
The organisation – everything went smoothly (well other than the Kenya Airways booking-in procedure at Nairobi airport) with all the journeys going without a hitch. The arrangements at the camps were impeccable with nothing being too much trouble and, as you had promised me, arrangements were changed to fit in with what we wanted to do, rather than following a rigid itinery.
Our guides and spotters at both camps were brilliant. At Selenkay (Amboseli) we had Emmanuel as driver and Jonah as spotter (and Jackson occasionally). Emmanuel’s knowledge on birds was fantastic and although we were not especially ‘into’ birds before the trip, we were hooked by the time we finished our last game drive with him. We lost track of the number of times we went off the tracks into the bush just so he could give us the best view of an animal or bird. The highlight of the night drives was when we got to within 10 feet of a cheetah – and got its photo!
At Olare Orok (Porini Lion) we had John as driver and Jackson as spotter. The first drive out with them we saw a large pride of lions eating their kill and 3 leopards, passing within 20 feet of the Land Rover. The following day, 2 cheetahs – in daylight this time plus hippos, crocodiles and lunch by the river. The only disappointment at this camp was no Rhinos, despite John and Jackson’s tremendous efforts for over five hours one day to try and find one. But that’s wild animals for you. The last game drive on the morning we left was again one to remember with the year old lion cubs of the large pride playing chasing and fighting around the Land Rover as we watched.
Service at the camps was without fault. Nothing was too much trouble, the food was incredible with the standard of the presentation equivalent to a high class hotel. The tents were always clean and we even had hot water bottles in our beds at Porini Lion! We took it on as a personal challenge to get two showers out of one refill of the shower – and we achieved it! We were very impressed by the environmental attitude in the planning and running of the camps.
Highlights of the trip – too many to isolate one I think – the elephants in Amboseli, the leopards, the cheetahs, the people. Perhaps the main thing was how close we were to the animals. We never expected that!
Your organisation of the holiday – very straight forward once we had agreed on the camps and timing. Perhaps you could emphasise the flexibility of the arrangements a bit more in your documents but otherwise everything was good.
I initially found you on the internet and of all the offers of holidays I had, yours seemed to be the best fit for what I wanted to do.
Would we use you again? Yes, most definitely and we will recommend you to anyone thinking of going on a safari.
As I said earlier, the only negative aspect was booking in for the return flight at Nairobi Airport but that’s down to Kenya Airways, nothing you could do about that. I don’t know if Gamewatchers could give some support at the airport which might help. The signing and directions are appalling with a lot of the officials being unhelpful.
But thank you once again for a wonderful holiday, we have so many memories and photographs.
Kind regards,
Mike & Ann Baldwin
I would personally like to thank Robyn for all her help in booking one of the best holidays i have ever had. From the start of speaking to her and letting her know that i wanted a high end boutique style hotel in Zanzibar to visiting friends in Kenya on the way home, Robyn couldn’t do enough to help. Despite my heavy schedule she managed to find me flights that fitted in around my diary and even when we were facing a 6 hrs wait in Nairobi she told us where the first class lounges were that we could book into for as little as £10 per person. Anyway back to the actual holiday. The transfers were spot on, we were met in the baggage hall by the driver who fended off the locals that love to help / hinder so much when you arrive in Zanzibar. He took us to the hotel taking great delight in telling us all about the areas we drove through and even stopping off so we could take pictures. Once at the hotel (Z Hotel) we were greated with the usual cold drinks and towels and helped through check in in a relaxed informal manor – ideal after a long journey. Then in our room there were fresh flowers everywhere as well as fruits and again more chilled drinks. My girfriend was very happy to see all the luxury products that were in the bathroom as well – however not as pleased as i was with the massive 4 poster bed. The view from our balcony was amazing and caught the evening sunset perfectly.
Naturally we spent the first day resting and chilling out by the pool and having a wander around the village – we were definitely on the right side of the island, and most definitely in the best hotel that served the best food and drink in the area. Although having said that some of the local restaurants were amazing, Red Lobster Curry and a beer for £6 – that wih some of the most beautiful sea views in the world was unbeatable.
Anyway we looked around to book a few trips, diving and snorkeling adventures and after quite bit of searching realised that the hotel’s tour shop was by far and away the best place to use – they spoke good English and asked what we wanted from a trip and most importantly gave us a good price. One day we missed the boat for a snorkelling trip due to a rather heavy night on the cocktails in the bar the night before, so went to the tour shop to explain what had happened – no sooner had we told them they were on the phone organisng us another boat to take us out on our own at no extra cost.
The holiday went from strength to strength and the driver they basically gave us for the week was a wonderful character who would stock up with bannanas and water water everyday and suggest places we could see on the way back from trips for no extra costs.
Overall if your looking for a laid back, hassle free holiday away from all the tourists and chained resorts this is the best place i have been in ages and would definitely reccomend it to anyone – in fact one of my colleagues after having seen my photo’s has booked a week of his honeymoon there.
Many thanks Robyn and Africa Sky for a great holiday.
Neil Robinson
stayed at kicheche mara camp for three nights in jan 2009. this was our third visit to the mara, our previous visits to other camp sites were all good. however kicheche was outstanding from start to finish. kicheche is a small (11 tents) unfenced luxury camp site, animals move through the camp at night giving a true safari experience. askari (masai guards) patrol the grounds at night so its totally safe. benjamin our guide was not only good at seeking out cheetahs, leopards,lions, servals etc he was also very informative about his tracking techniques. safari vehicles are excellent and as it was a quiet time of year we had one to ourselves. tents are huge and extremely comfortable with bucket showers wash basin and flushing toilet. game drives are tailored to your own requests not the normal 3x2hr daily game drives most camps adhere to. on one day we had an early breakfast in camp were out on game drive by 7am and didn’t return till gone 5pm. on other evenings we would just pull up in the middle of a plain watch the sun go down with a gin and tonic in our hand. back at camp site meals were better than what you would get at most 4* resturants in uk, drinks also included in price, as is daily laundry. price wise, its not the cheapest campsite in the mara but was by far the best value for money campsite we have stayed at, you are on 1st name terms with the staff and they make you feel part of an extended family there.
thanks to michael
regards garry
Robyn from Africa Sky arranged my holiday for me this year – IT WAS AMAZING! I went on Safari to Kenya with my girlfriend back in Nov and we haven’t stopped talking about it. It was almost life changing in some parts! From arriving in Nairobi to walking along elephant tracks with Samburu Warriors – every part of the holiday was filled with surprise and went far beyond any expectations. You can see some of my photos here: http://www.deerdiary.co.uk/
Africa Sky are second to none. Their advice is brilliant and they were able to recognise my requirement and recommend a holiday that was a perfect match.
I have since recommended Robyn to several people, including my cousin who is a well experienced traveler and he echoes my opinion of Africa Sky – they are a quality company offering holidays that you will remember for the rest of your life….
Firstly, we have to offer our sincere apologies to Robyn and her team for not providing our feedback sooner! So sorry! We arrived back from the most memorable wedding/honeymoon approx 3 weeks ago (boo!).
Oiur trip started with 3 nights at the Porini Lion Camp. Well…what can we say… This place is absolutely amazing. Great people, fantastic accomodation, good food, endless G&Ts and, most importantly an abundance of wildlife! From the moment we were met at Olare Orok airstip we were greeted by vast amounts of wildlife – cheetahs, lions, elephants and hippos to name but a few! And things just kept on getting better! Our first night at Porini was fantastic -a great meal and drinks around the campfire, followed by a night of noise! Elephants, hippos and lions were all in the camp – and letting us know they were there! It was fantastic – and such a privelidge to experience such sounds in the wonderful, natural environment of the mara. Day 2 we were spoiled even more so – Our fantastic guide and driver (Jackson & Kitieri) showed us even more wildlife and even managed to track down a female leopard and her cub…with a kill! We sat for almost an hour watching the cub feed on a warthog before the sun got too hot and we decided to move on. Later that day…more treats! Our guides managed to track down Shakira and her 3 female cubs (for those of you familiar with the BBCs ‘Big Cat Live’, we can assure you that mother and cubs were doing extremely well!). Our final day gave us two special treats – our night drive found a lion lying right in our tracks – and calling to his pride!. And the pride were calling back…in the dark, from all angles of the mara, you could hear the lionesses calling back. Fantastic! Interestingly, the lion was also seen and heard back near the camp later that night! Our second treat on our final night, was the bottle of very chilled champagne that greeted us from our night drive. Alfonse, the camp manager had arranged the champagne as a ‘Good Luck’ present ahead of our forthcoming wedding in Zanzibar. We met a couple of great friends on the trip so decided it would only be right to share it with them by the camp fire. A truly great end to a truly great trip. Porini is an amazing place. Nothing is too much trouble here (we have to say such a big ‘thank you’ to Philip who works in the mess tent for keeping our glasses topped us at dinner and for arranging our showers!). At Porini, you are with local people, who generally care about two things – you – and the environment. They have not been spoiled by the western way of life and their kindness and willing is genuine. A rare trait in todays world. We fell in love with every aspect of Porini and we promised we will return. We hope its sooner rather than later! There are such few places like this left in the world.
Following lots of tears when leaving Alfonse and his great team at Porini, we headed off to Zanzibar to get wed! We stayed at the Z Hotel in Nungwi and wow! What a great place! We were met swiftly at the airport by the driver and transferred to the Z Hotel. The driver even kindly stopped for water for us on the way. The first couple of days we spent relaxing by the pool and then, day three was ‘D Day’! The hotel, along with AfricaSky had arranged everything for our wedding – the priest, the witnesses (thank you Keith and Nicci!), the flowers, the photos, everything! We literally had to decide ‘beach or shade’ and that was that! We got married at 3pm on Valentines Day, by an anglican priest who did a fantastic service. Following the signing of the register, we had some champers and were amazed at the wedding gift that Keith the hotel manager had arranged for us – an immediate upgrade to the ‘Z Suite’! The best suite in the hotel! It was fantastic – hugh bed, hugh bathroom with shower & bath, an extremely plush lounge, with white leather sofas, and the best rooftop views that we will never forget! Our day ended with a sunset cruise on a dhow (again arranged by the hotel), with more champers, followed by a lobster dinner by candlelight (and more champers), on our rooftop terrace. It was a truly memorable day and our thanks really do go to Keith, the Hotel Manager, and Nicci, the wedding co-ordinator, for making it such a special day. The rest of the ‘honeymoon’ we spent relaxing by the pool and we took advantange of the hotels tour shop and booked a few trips – the guys who work here really know the country and will do their very best to fit your needs around their trips. We arranged a Spice Tour, followed by Stone Town (you can’t go all that way and not experience the ‘randomness’ of Stone Town!). We also arranged a snorkelling trip off Mnemba Island. Now…we have been snorkelling/diving in the Great Barrier reef and egypt to name but a few, and this has to be one of the best places for spotting marine life – it was amazing – like swimming in a hugh aquarium! We ere even greeted by a pod of dolphins when we arrived! Fantastic! The whole trip to Zanzibar was fantastic – there is one moment where something happened which just summed up what Zanzibar Island is about …We rocked up at Cholos bar on the beach (5 mins walk from the hotel)…all around the bar is flotsam & jetsam…we ordered drinks…I asked for an ashtray…I turned around…the waiter is searching around in the sand…he picks something up…he brings me an ashtray…its the most beautiful shell, filled with sand. The sun sets, he lights a candle on the table…the candle is propped up in sand…sat in a water bottle. You have to go Zanzibar to ‘feel’ what this place is about!
Finally – AfricaSky…what can I say. Robyn and her team have been absolutely fantastic – nothing is too much trouble. I can and will truly recommend them to anyone (and have been doing so to anyone who’ll listen since we got back!) We cannot thank them enough for arranging, what has to be, one of ‘the’, if not ‘the’ most memorable trip of our life. Everything exceeded our expecatations and we wouldn’t think twice about using AfricaSky in the future. If you’re thinking of arranging a trip – forget all the ‘bigwigs’…If you want great, reliable service, from people who have lived and breathed these places, and have a wealth of knowledge and experience that many tour operators cannot offer, then AfricaSky are the ones for you…Thank you so much Robyn and the team…you have a quality team, who offer and deliver, holidays that provide memories of a lifetime…
March 22nd 2009 – March 29th 2009
I have just returned from a fantastic 6 nights out in the Mara and Lion Porini tented camps. The tents were superb and well laid out and serviced. The staff were excellent and extremely friendly at all times – they could not do enough to ensure you were both happy and having a good time. The food was of a surprisingly very high standard and well presented. The game drives were exactly what I was after – plenty of them including some great night drives! The nature walks and sun-downers were a treat.
I managed to see the big five – although the leopard (in the Mara) was from a distance – cheetahs and a rhino! For this time of year, I was surprised to see so much game around, literally thousands of buffalo, wildebeest, various antelope and zebras and in large herds as well. The Mara itself was very dry and sparse (not unexpected) but the two conservancies – Mara Porini is in the Ol Kinyei conservancy and the Lion Porini is in the Olare Orok conservancy – were brilliant and that is where the main volume of animals were to be seen.
The whole experience stands out as exceptional, particularly lying in bed listening to lions roaring, hyenas howling and hippos and buffalo grazing literally outside the tent. One equally good aspect was the focussed “hunt” for a leopard at Lion Porini was fun, even though we saw fresh kill up a tree but no leopard – it was skilfully avoiding us!
The Service from Africa Sky in handling my booking & providing all the relevant information was excellent – all done at very short notice (1 week from decision/booking to departure) and without any problems. The advice given about the Kenya visa saved me a lot of hassle and expense in trying to get to the High Commission in London. I would have no problem in recommending people to use Africa Sky
We have just returned from our second stay at the Tented Beach Reatreat, Gazi Bay. This place is truly amazing, total relaxation. Dont be fooled by the name the tents here are not tents as we know them, every luxury tent has a hand made four poster bed, air conditioning and a huge bathroom complete with a walk in shower, copper wash basins and loo. The tents also have electricity. There is a sitting area with a huge hand made day bed and a fridge area, outside there is an area with a table and chairs where you can sit with your evening gin & tonic and watch the sun go down.
Your butler is on hand all day and really looks after you. Everything from your coffee in the morning to your evening meal everything is taken care of before you even think of it.
The pool is fantastic with an amazing amount of wildlife all around you, bee eaters, kingfishers, swallows (or could be swifts) monkeys, fish eagles, storks to name a few.
It is a total away from it all break. The food is fantastic with everything cooked fresh and to your order. There is a wonderful bar area with a view across the palm trees to the creek and beyond.
This is a place that I know we will return to again and again a real gem.
Thanks to all for making it such an amazing time again!
A big thank you to Robyn and Africa Sky for the help in tailor making our recent trip to Kenya,
Again it was uplifting and invigorating to be back in Africa, be it as it was the dry season and the unusual heat in Meru and the dryness, dust & drought of Amboseli,
The wildlife viewing in Meru NP and the staff at Elsa’s Kopje are more then fantastic and we got on especially well with our driver there,
Tortilis Camp in Amboseli was magical and we felt almost part of the furniture by the time we left ! Once again the people there could not have looked after us better and we got on well with everyone..
The Game Watch Drivers on the ground where all brilliant guys and took well care of us and I have not problem recommending anyone to use them for a unforgettable trip to Africa…. As many of you already know it does change you in so many ways !
I have just spent a week in Mombasa at the new Gazi Retreat and it was the most amazing experience.
The tents are underneath a Makuti style roof, air conditioned bedroom with hand made , very comfortable four poster beds, lovely bathrooms and day bed outside the bedroom just in case you feel tired during the day.!!
This is a place for complete relaxation , no televisions, no music just the sound of the birds and the odd monkey or bush baby. It really is a sunbed and book holiday, with superb food and excellent service.
We were taken by boat to the Sand Bank at low tide and stayed there with a cool box for a couple of hours whilst our boat driver discreetly waited for us. There was nobody else there at all, its a very very undeveloped part of the South Coast. other guests went deep sea fishing, again courtesy of the hotel.
Gazi is a paradise if you want to be spoilt, do very little amd totally recharge your batteries, the biggest decision of the day is what to order for lunch.
We will definately be returning later in the year, there is something very special about it.
We are now all back in the UK after a fantastic trip.
Just a quick note to thank you for arranging things so well. The Vuyatela Lodge was excellent – very good guides, saw a lot of game close up, friendly staff and good food. Pestana Bazaruto was also great – lots of good water sports, excellent diving, comfortable accommodation, reasonable food, beautiful remote location (playing touch rugby on a deserted beach on the banks of the Indian Ocean with my son and friends will live with me for a long time). All transport and logistics worked perfectly.
When I next come to SA/Mozambique I would definitely use Africa Sky again and would recommend you to friends.
We had an absolutely amazing time in Kenya and Zanzibar! Thank you so much for sorting it all out. It really was our best holiday ever and a fantastic place for a honeymoon.
The Porini camps were great as were the guides and staff and I recommend it to anyone thinking about safari rather than staying in a large hotel/lodge in a national park. It was so much more personal and most days it was just us and the guides.
Chumbe Island was also amazing and idilic and great for chilling out at the end of the holiday but the Safari tipped it for us just because of the excitement of seeing all the animals and getting so close!
Just to say thank you for arranging our safari to Kenya and our stay at Pinewood Resort.
Everything was organised very smoothly and everyone was extremely helpful and we had no problems at all.
The Porini Camps were just superb, providing us with exactly the kind of safari we had hoped for; we’d never do it any other way. The extra element everywhere was the friendliness and skill of the staff which raised things to an extra level. We saw the Big 9 and so much more.
We’re glad we took your advice on the holiday.
Just so you know, we got back from our wonderful honeymoon just under two weeks ago and we wanted to write to thank the Africa Sky team for organising such a great trip! We were looked after all the way through and met by one of you representatives at every step of the way which was very re assuring for us after our big day!
The Porini camp was just superb and I would like you to send our thanks over if possible especially to Ben and Simon our guide/driver who really made the whole experience a great one, and to the stand in manager (also Ben)! The attention from the staff was great, being attentive but not intrusive!
Porini has truly captured exactly what we wanted from our trip with their camps. If the comments of most of the other guests we bumped into along the way are anything to go by, it appears we all had the same opinion!
Pinewood was also a wonderful place, away from the masses and again with great staff!
It was a fantastic trip and one that we would recommend to anyone! We have written our positive opinions on ‘trip advisor’ for all to see as well.
I just want to reiterate my huge thanks to Grant for providing such a memorable holiday for us all. You followed my requirements exactly and both venues completely and utterly filled ‘the bill’.
The staff, both at Porini Lion Camp could not have been more helpful, and Pinewood Village, complete with the personal chef (!) were a pleasure to be with.
All the transfers, and personal attention throughout were immaculately efficient.
I cannot thank you all enough for all your hard work on our behalf, and have already been singing your company’s praises to all and sundry. In fact an office colleague is considering a safari for his honeymoon and has asked me to give him details of your company!!
Keep up the good work, and again a million thanks.
Where to start, simply superb would sum it all up!
How do they create such wonderful meals in the middle of nowhere? Picnic lunches were pure heaven.
The highlight of our trip was one 24 hour period in the Mara. Noon we saw a river crossing followed by the first Cheetah I have ever seen, we then saw another 10 including Shakira hunting. We had a sundowner in the Mara with a beautiful blood red sky. Got back to camp at 7.50pm, dinner at 8pm, night drive at 8.45pm, saw leopard hunting Impala and Cheetah eating a kill. Back for bed. Slept through lion fight. Next morning we met the Cheetah family in the conservancy with 3 8 week old cubs. We had tears of happiness in our eyes. We then moved on to the Lion family with their 6 cubs and finish the 24 hours on top of the highest point in the conservancy surrounded by Topi and Wildebeest getting ready for lunch.
Pure bliss.
We have alreadey recommended Africa Sky and will be coming back with a group of 3 we met there and will book with Africa Sky then.
Thank you for all the work you did in arranging this trip, we are two immeasurably happy people……
Just a quick note to say thank you for organising our honeymoon for us. The Mara Porini camp was amazing and all the staff so helpful, just loved the game drives and how eco friendly the place was. At some point we would like to try the lion and rhino camps!
The Z hotel also lived up to expectations, amazing views and again everyone was so helpful.
Thanks once again
It was a brillant trip!
Gazi was everything we expected and our daily walks to the sandbanks were fantastic.The food was great and the company even better. The tent we had was near the pool but also tucked away behind a hedge so we have convience and privacey combined.
The safari at Satao Camp was brill and just the right amount of time for us, once you have seen a zebra you have seen a zebra ( all look the same to me) our tent position on the elephant water hole could not of been beaten and watching the elephants as we drifted off to sleep was quite something.
The Cove location is great and we had house number 1 which was lovely, watching the sun come up and stretch across the ocean in the morning was perfect. Rose who cleaned our room was brillant and could not do enough for us.
Sable was so beautiful and the food was great and we had “Milay” not sure how you spell him name but he was fantastic and so nice and the chef was brillant and neither of them could do enough for us. The solar heating was not working so we had a freezing jacuzzi and cold showers but the sun came out and we have great photos of us messing about with the bubbles! We also did a walk around the fields at sable with two guys and they were so interesting and a nice addition to the sable experience.
So overall it was great we came home soooooooo relaxed and we would definately go back. And we also felt we struck the right balance between the doing nothing and then have little trips out to keep us from getting bored.
Thank you for organising the trip for us and we really did feel looked after all the way especially with the extra trip to sable and also the locations of all our tents and tree house.
I wanted to send an email to say how fantastic our honeymoon was. The people were fantastic and the Pinewood Village was lovely. Everywhere we went we were treated like royalty! We were given wine and champagne at the hotels on safari and it made our holiday amazing!
Both Kenya and Zanzibar far exceeded our expectations. Obviously the safari was the highlight.
Both Porini camps were amazing. The staff at both camps were brilliant and guides were extremely knowledgeable/well qualified. The fact that the camps were run by Massai people also added to the experience
Food was excellent both on camp and at the Z hotel. Quality of accommodation (although very different at both locations) was perfect. In particular, the ocean cottage at the Z Hotel was fantastic and well worth the cost of the upgrade
Every part of the service was good. In addition transfers between locations were on time, there was always a representative to meet us who was friendly and happy – everything worked like clockwork!
We stayed at Mara Porini Camp & loved the camp itself. The tents we luxurious by any camping standards. Very comfy beds, very spacious and a proper bathroom with flush toilet and safari shower. They had a superb terrace for monkey watching and the service from the Masai guards (escorted you around the camp as it is unfenced), cooks and waiters was exceptional. As the maximum number of people at any one time is only 12 so you get a very personal service and the camp is in its own conservancy so some of the time you are the only ones in the area looking for animals this was a real privilege.
Our guide Robert was amazing – very knowledgeable and able to spot animals that to us were invisible. We were there at the time of the Wildebeest migration and saw more animals than we hoped for including the more difficult to see Rhino , a heard of 50 elephants and a cheetah kill.
Connections were seamless and there was always a friendly face to meet us. On our return to Wilson airport the taxi waiting for us put itself at our disposal to go to the Carnivore Restaurant (or wherever we had wanted to go in Nairobi,) to fill the time before our flight to Mombassa, which was an unexpected bonus. We will all never forget the experience we had there and would recommend it wholeheartedly.
At Pinewood Village, the Aqualand excursions and diving, available from the onsite office at Pinewoood Resort were very expensive indeed.
The other issue with Pinewood was its remote location, it was £20 for a taxi ride to the local shopping centre. Please bear this in mind.
The service was exceptional . Everyone took a real pride in whatever they did and nothing was too much trouble. The accommodation at Mara Porini & Pinewood Village was of a very high standard and the food was very good throughout.
We had an incredible time and everything went very smoothly!
Amboseli Porini camp, had brilliant food and very efficient it was great as it was off the beaten track. The tented camps were very comfortable and the experience was probably the best place i have stayed during a Safari. I would recommend this to anyone as it has the perfect balance of luxury but not over the top or too touristy! 10/10
Serena Hotel, was very comfortable and the perfect place to stay in Stone Town. We thoroughly enjoyed this with great views/friendly staff and really good food (breakfast had everything and was brilliant) Rating 9/10
Z Hotel, this hotel was fantastic too it was how i expected it. I think as i had seen lots of photos of the place on the internet i knew what to expect so wasn’t as surprised with what we were getting. The staff are professional and generally helpful. I think our only complaint was the lunch time food which was trying to be 5 star food although the evening food was very nice but rather expensive. Overall the hotel delivered what it promised with the honeymoon extras such as lobster dinner/sparkling wine and massages etc. Rating 8/10
All transfers were very easy and the flights perfect and on time!
Overall this was a perfect holiday and honeymoon so thank you so much for making it so easy and enjoyable. I would definitely recommend Africa Sky to friends and family as it made the holiday stress-free!
We have just returned from 2 fantastic weeks in Kenya. The Gazi Retreat is amazing, such a relaxing place where your every need is catered for. The staff were brilliant and the owners Stephanie & Roland were the perfect hosts.
Sable Valley was the perfect place for Judy to spend her birthday , so special. Thanks Grant for coming up with it as we would not have known about it otherwise.
Satao Camp was incredible and was everything that we hoped for from our first Safari.
We will definitely be going back and will use Africa Sky again.
Just wanted to let you know that we are back and that all the bookings and transfers went like clock-work.
Peponi was a level of luxury we didn’t expect, and Kipungani was the blissful relaxation we only dared to hope for.
We used Africa Sky as they were recommended to us by friends who had used them and I would not hesitate in recommending them to any one else. Grant was just brilliant in his suggestions and helped us put together the most amazing trip for South Africa. Nothing was too much trouble even though we kept changing our plans. The service that we received from him and the rest of the team was faultless and first class. We have just come back from the most amazing honeymoon and just wish that we were still there! I am now just working out how many Africa destination holidays we can do so that we can continue to use them for all our trips!
Had a fabulous trip to Pinewood Village in Mombasa and to Satao Camp in Tsavo East National Park. Grant at Africa Sky was spot on in judging the hotel, area and safari that was right for our family. Pinewood is a charming, low key hotel with attentive staff and a delightful owner. The monkeys were great fun, I recommend a visit to the Colobus Trust for a bit of local history and zoological education. The vast white, sandy beach was near deserted. The sea was a little disappointing, quite a bit of seaweed and no marine life.
Tsavo was brilliant. Following two months of rain it was almost ‘lush’. That did mean no elephants at the water hole but since we had a such a good guide on safari that did not matter. We were lucky to see both lions and cheetah. An amazing experience.
I would say, however, that our travelling around was much longer than we had been lead to believe (5 hours in transit in Nairobi on the way to Mombasa) and 5 hours from Tsavo back to Pinewood – the ferry in Mombasa had massive queues.
All said though I am already planning our next safari with Africa Sky….
Lovely holiday efficiently arranged by Africa Sky. Turtle Beach Hotel was wonderful- better than 4 star hotels I have stayed at in the Carribean . More than happy to recommend Africa Sky for their knowledge of the area and their efficiency in organizing everything.
Wow! We’ve just returned from a fabulous two-week sun and safari trip to Mauritius and South Africa which was, without doubt, one of our best holidays ever. Grant at Africa Sky worked hard to find us a perfect trip at very short notice and boy, did he succeed! Kapama River Lodge provided us with a wonderful experience on our first safari, with ranger John and spotter Stanley ensuring we were left with incredible sightings of most of the big five – and lasting memories. Neither of us will ever forget the sight and sound of a huge male lion roaring at us from just 12 feet away – awesome but alarming! The rangers couldn’t have done more and, together, with the rest of their colleagues at Kapama, made it an unforgettable start to our holiday. And Legends hotel in Mauritius provided the perfect ending – stunning location, beautiful island and warm, welcoming people, especially Vikhram at the golf range. Despite our complex travel requests, Grant at Africa Sky was extremely patient and put together a package that exceeded our expectations and ran smoothly without a single hitch. We are delighted with the service they provided and would recommend Africa Sky, Kapama River Lodge and Legends in Mauritius to anyone. All we need to do now is go back and find that elusive leopard! Thanks again for a life-changing experience.
We’ve just returned from a trip to Kenya incorporating a safari stay at Porini Lion Camp and then a beach stay at Pinewood Village, with a couple of nights in Nariobi at Macushla House. This was one of our best holidays ever, if not THE best. Africa Sky put together our itinerary and we cannot fault them at all. We made five flights in total during our holiday and yet everything ran smoothly. The Porini Lion Camp is amazing and I cannot praise the staff enough. The only animal we didn’t see was the elusive rhino. We even managed to see three leopards, a cheetah kill, three separate wildebeast crossings and lions mating!! The Pinewood Village Resort was the perfect place to chill out after our safari. Macushla House really is a home from home – excellent staff and incredible food. Once again a big thank you to all the staff at Africa Sky who arranged this wonderful trip for us. If you are going to book a safari look no further than Africa Sky – they really are the best!
Kenya holiday 20th Aug to 2nd Sept 2010
Grant at Africa Sky arranged a tailor made holiday for me and my husband and every single thing went without a hitch. There was always a smiling face waiting for us at every connection (and there were a lot!). We wanted to have a chill after the long plane journey as neither of us can sleep on a plane and he suggested Macushla House on the outskirts of Nairobi This really is the perfect place to unwind and get into the holiday mode. It has beautiful gardens, a pool and a raised wooden walkway that takes you to a viewing point for your first panorama of this wonderful countryside. You will be taken very good care of here and made to feel very welcome, so much better than the faceless major hotels in the centre.
We then embarked on the safari part of our holiday which was all spent at Porini Camps. 2 nights at Amboseli Porini, 2 nights at Rhino Porini and 2 nights at Lion Camp (Masai Mara). I cannot praise the Porini experience enough, you really are in the middle of nowhere with no fences but you feel completely safe because the Masai people are there to protect you. You stay in tents which are really like mini marquees with flushing toilet, wash basin and safari shower. (Gravity fed from a bucket!) The food at these camps is absolutely superb, and the friendly staff attend to your every need. The quality of the guiding was first class in every camp and their knowledge of the flora and fauna of Africa was highly impressive. These guys really know what they are doing and will get you right up close to the action….but not so close that it upsets the wildlife. There were elephant as far as the eye could see in Amboseli, two male cheetahs waking up and then playing with each other right next to our jeep in Rhino Camp, lions galore, a resident leopard mum and cub and three migration river crossing before lunch at the Masai Mara, the list goes on…suffice to say we saw a LOT of animals. FABULOUS!
The après safari is pretty damn good too with an ever replenishing wine glass and chats around the camp fire with the other guests catching up on what we all saw. We have met some amazing people on this holiday and this played no small part in the overall enjoyment of it.
We flew between camps to maximise the time we would have there and one of the flights was in a four seater Cessna and Keith’s suitcase was the co-pilot!! (Keith was a bit green after that one but I absolutely loved it)
It was my 50th Birthday the second night we were in Amboseli and they did a bush dinner that evening…what a magical experience that was. Came straight off a brilliant night safari to find tables set up on a dry river bed with lanterns scattered around and the chefs and waiters all lined up ready to serve you…. does it get any better than this?
Keith arranged a balloon ride for us over the Masai Mara as a surprise and I will admit to being apprehensive about this one (wish I could have done the landing first!) but I need not have worried, it was one tiny little hop and we were down (phew) and it was amazing to see the African savannah from up there, lovely and peaceful too. You do need a hat though as the burner is VERY hot.
We finished our trip with 4 nights on the Mombasa coast and Grant suggested Gazi Retreat (what a clever man). This really is a little piece of paradise. Pristine clean pool, top quality food and drink, friendly and caring staff and most of all PEACE. There is no music here, only the sound of birds singing and palm trees rustling in the wind BLISS.
We had the whole place to ourselves on the last day we were here and then Stephanie the owner pulled some strings and got us a flight back to Mombasa so that we didn’t have to negotiate the dreaded ferry (what a star she is).
All in all this is definitely the best holiday I have ever had and if you are thinking of doing Africa, I would not hesitate to recommend Africa Sky.
Asante sana to you all.
Jackie and Keith (Wiltshire)
Our Pinewood resort booked via AfricaSky was absolutely fantastic! Great food, wonderful location and fantastic staff. It also has all the facilities for snorkelling, scuba diving etc. Ones you’re there, you’re so relaxed that nothing else matters
Thank you for your interest in our holiday. We all thoroughly enjoyed it and arrived home safely. The arrangements you made for us worked out very well with no major problems.
We have travelled with Africa Sky before when we visited Mara Poreni and Kenya coast as a promotion in the Sunday newspapers. This was excellent and we would like to repeat the experience visiting say Lion Camp on similar terms in the future. It was this that put us on to your website which we found very useful.
We found you and your staff very helpful over handling the booking and dealing with all aspects and queries.
The standards and friendliness of staff at all the accommodations was excellent and lived up to expectations.
In addition to planned trips we enjoyed a Zambesi cruise after visiting the falls.
With regard to the safaris we were very pleased with the informative guides and found them most enjoyable. Having visited the same Savuti Lodge seven years ago we found the lodge and staff improved but due to various ecological reasons the game a little more sparse, especially the lions! but not the elephants. In Sambililli we were also unlucky with the lions as they had interests elsewhere.The itinerary unfortunately only allowed two game drives and we would have liked more but the transfer distances prevented this.
We would recommend your services to friends.
Friendly and extremely professional service. Jackie from Africa Sky helped make our holiday for the year into the holiday of a lifetime. At first, we were a bit uneasy about language, medical support, ATMs etc. From the word go, Africa Sky put us completely at ease and what followed was quite simply the holiday of a lifetime.
Clients recently returned from Kenya
This our first experience of travelling with Africa Sky and one we would hope to repeat. Our son and his partner had travelled with you previously to Kenya and recommended you to us and we were not disappointed! The holiday completely lived up to our expectations….and more.
The website was helpful, informative and very easy to use. Just a minor point – it would be helpful to have a map showing where the Porini camps are in Kenya. Booking was straightforward and efficient. All questions and queries were answered and it was reassuring to have a personal contact to look after the booking. And to be able to change our plane less than 24 hours before departure was amazing!
Most of the holiday worked like clockwork – we were picked up at the airport and taken to the hotel very promptly. All internal flights were arranged perfectly. Although everything was arranged so efficiently we never felt ‘organised’ and always had a choice as to what we wanted to do.The only problem, as you know, was the flight from Nairobi to Mombasa, due no doubt to the late change in our arrangements. It did make for quite a stressful afternoon at Nairobi Airport!. Nonetheless it was worth it when we got to the Cove.
On safari, we saw more animals than we could possibly have imagined. The guides and spotters were amazing – they were always friendly and helpful and would spend so much time ensuring that we saw the very best. The camps were excellent – everyone worked so hard to make the stay a success. The accommodation and food was of a good standard, and we also enjoyed the fact that the camps were small (and close to the action!) and the game drives in good vehicles. It was also good that the drives were very quiet – it was very rare that we were with any other vehicles and then only at significant places like the river crossing for the wildebeest and a family of cheetahs which everyone had gathered to see.
It’s difficult to say how good the bush supper was! It was kept a complete surprise (all the staff were in on it but didn’t give anything away!) – and to arrive at the spot to find all the camp staff there with so much food and drink was amazing – we would recommend it to anyone. We were pleased though that it was arranged at Amboseli because the weather at the other two camps wouldn’t have been as good.
We would certainly recommend this type of safari to any of our friends and are looking forward to another visit at some time in the future.
We can’t really praise the holiday highly enough. You and Porini make an excellent team
We booked through Africa Sky as part of the Times+ offer. It was a treat for my wife’s 70th Birthday and lived up to all expectations. We have not travelled with Africa Sky before but everyone we spoke to was most helpful and we were rung before we left to wish us a happy journey. The hotel Dreams of Zanzibar could not be faulted.Food,bedrooms,staff and attention to detail – first class. Hardly any English people there,mostly Italian but this did not worry us. We organised one trip through the Hotel visiting a Spice plantation and Zanzibar Stonetown. Guides were very good and it was an interesting experience. The price for the 2 of us to go was so exorbitant we refused to book until there were more members of the party. In the end 4 of us went and price reasonable. We were tempted to go with the “beachboys” – cracking offer but decided the organised trip was more sensible!
All in all a delightful holiday wlth wonderful weather and a really good all inclusive deal (no quibbles with anything we wanted as regards food & drink) Journey too went according to plan and a 4hhr wait at Nairobi airport was acceptable. Well done!
My parents have just returned back from Kenya. They had the most fantastic and marvellous time on their safari trip organized by africasky. Johnny -their tour guide- did a spot on job, was extremely helpful and polite, as well as the other stuff -including waiters, porters etc. They always were welcomed warmly -with welcome drinks- whichever accomodation they went to and even their luggages were carried into their room! Plus the high security standards were above their expectations!!
Food was also fab with huge variety, not to mention the jeep which they had only for themselves + the tour guide!! My parents definitely had the best holiday of their lives and came back with unforgettable moments. I strongly recommend this trip (7 nights Magical Kenya) to everyone who would like to discover and experience the beauty of Africa. We all are thankful to africasky to have had this organized so professionaly! P.S. GO FOR JOHNNY!