Experience Kenya like never before

Yes, game drives included. For road transfers we usually recommend a Toyota Noah: comfortable, air-conditioned the whole way, and great for families. Bigger groups go in a 10- or 14-seater van, and if you'd like a 4×4 for the entire trip, we can do that too. Game drives are with local guides who know each area, like Maasai guides in the Mara and Amboseli. Nothing is shared unless you ask, and if you'd like to share a safari with other guests, we'll help set it up.

One of them: Mara Hilltop, in the Maasai Mara. Every other lodge is independent, and we book each one directly. In the Mara you can stay at Mara Hilltop or another lodge if you prefer. Your quote names every lodge before you pay.

Yes. RafikiGo is the brand of Venture Valet Tours & Travel Ltd, licensed by Kenya's Tourism Regulatory Authority as a Class C tour and safari operator (licence TRA6/33/C01/93147, valid to 31 December 2026), and we carry the insurance a licensed tour operator needs.

If you already have an agent you trust, book through them; plenty of good agencies send guests to Mara Hilltop. Book with us if you'd rather deal directly with the people who run the trip. An agent at home can give you things we can't, like a company in your own country and flights in the same booking.

It works well. Tell us their ages. Many lodges have family tents, pools and child rates; kids' meals and dietary needs are normal. Park fees are reduced for children and the youngest go free. Where a lodge publishes no child rate, the planner prices children as adults, so the confirmed quote can come in lower.

We don't stack more than about four hours of driving on back-to-back days, and no seven-hour days unless there's no alternative. Nairobi to the Mara is 5–6 hours by road or a 45-minute flight. Long legs get broken with a night at Lake Naivasha, the train to the coast, or a flight. Your itinerary prints the hours for every leg.

No. Tell us how long you have and who's coming. The classic first trip is Nairobi, the Rift Valley lakes, then the Maasai Mara: calm, no repacking every night. Add Amboseli for Kilimanjaro, or finish on the coast. Beach after safari, never before.

Lodge nights, road transfers and the airport pickup with your driver, game drives with local guides, and park and reserve fees. We pay the park fees for you, so there's nothing to settle at the gate. Flights are never in the package; any internal flight is quoted separately.

July to October is peak: the Migration in the Mara, dry weather, the highest lodge rates. January to March is excellent and a little cheaper. April and May are the long rains: 30–40% cheaper and empty parks, but muddy and grey. November to mid-December is an underrated shoulder season.

Half when you confirm, by bank transfer to Venture Valet Tours & Travel Ltd, and it's fully refundable until 30 days before travel. The balance is due about a week before your trip starts. We never take payment from overseas guests by M-Pesa or into a personal account.

Message the same WhatsApp thread. Nikhil and your driver are in Kenya and sort it out directly with the lodge, so nobody is relaying messages from another time zone.

The safari circuit and the coast are well-trodden; standard travel sense applies in Nairobi. Your driver meets you at the airport with your name on a sign, and the same team is on WhatsApp for the whole trip. Our honest write-up on Nairobi is on the Mara Hilltop blog.