Would appreciate any input from anyone who has taken a Born Free Safari. Am considering the Wings over Migration Safari to East Africa. Thank you.

We did not use Born Free. Anyone we spoke to found they spent a lot more money then what we spent.

We are planning a trip to Kenya / Tanzania in September; after reading brochures on Abercrombie & Kent / Micato and Born Free. Born Free seem to be the cheaper of the three but is there really a difference in quality?

omalei - the differences might be the accommodations each of these tour operators use. Then again, they might all use the same. So you have to compare the accommodations and if you want a site, you might check

www.e-gnu.com
Select Kenya and check the hotels/lodges/camps in the areas in Kenya these are located.
For Tanzania, do the same.
The individual sites (most should be listed here), provide info re the facility, services, extras, transport, estimated price per person per night.

Sorry my response is four years late. We went to East Africa on safari in July 2006 and Born Free served as our agent. We thought others might like to know how great Born Free was for us.

First a few basic facts: We were a group of three: my husband, our teen son (14) and myself. Although we had been to the Middle East as a family, this was our first truly physically demanding trip and I was equally as concerned about seeing the REAL Africa as I was about my accommodations, comfort level and food quality.

I researched EVERYTHING, talking to other travelers, reading books and magazine articles and websites. I read up on all the diferent sections of the continent, animal populations, seasonal issues, cultural, medical and environmental issues.

Then I found Alana, President of Born Free in the US, who listened patiently to all my questions, concerns, issues and other forms of BS. She crafted an extraordinary trip for us, to Tanzania and Kenya during the migration, that met all our disparate needs, hopes and dreams. It was, quite literally, the trip of a lifetime.

She started us off gently with very comfortable accomodations, then slowly acclimated us to a more traditional type of lodging and then three days of luxury at the end for a rest. Our two solid weeks in the bush cost less than 10 days on most other tours and we got to stay in lodges where we had private jeeps and driver/guides. No mini-vans or group gapes at the wildlife. No mass Masai ritual ceremonies where three dozen tourists snap away at the same kind of phony rituals every tourist sees.

Instead, Born Free was able to provide a highly customized, individualized trip for the three of us. We also stayed at a wide range of lodge sizes from places that can handle only 6-7 tents to ones that acomodate dozens.

A few highlights: three nights at a luxurious, 5 star lodge deep in the Western Serengeti called Mbalageti Serengeti. Smack in the middle of the migration, we went on safari all day with an amazing guide, then returned each night to the comfort of our suite, complete with master BR and Bath, another room with 2 full size beds and separate bath, electricity from 6 am to 11:30 pm, an outdoor tub on our private patio, a gigantic dining table and full living room and a large deck where we could continue to see the migration after our long day of seeing hundreds of game and predators. Dining in the main dining room, we met lots of interesting people and the night we were too exhausted to socialize, we had dinner delivered to our dining room where we ate yummy food and drank excellent South African wines while sitting in the thick terry cloth robes they provided us.

As we became more comfortable with Africa, our accomodations became less formal but were always comfortable, even when we stayed at a small private tented camp on Masai land in Kenya with no running water or electricity. We were far more enthralled with the Masai themselves, who welcomed us to their rarely visited manyatta with open arms and hearts.

Other thrills were our stay at Giraffe Manor, where in addition to getting to feed giraffe undergoing rehabituation to the wild at Nairobi's Giraffe Center (a must), we got to share breakfast with them the next morning. Also, a visit to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust after normal visiting hours where in exchange for "fostering" an orphaned elephant for a mere $50, we were able to interact with the orphaned elephants as much as they wished to be with us. There is something so special about being intertwined with a baby elephant's trunk. They like to pull your hand into their mouths and suck on your fingers the way human babies do (but without the syrength of those trunks). Visit www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org to learn more - it will change your life.

And finally, Born Free set us up for three nights at the end at Lewa Conservancy in mid-Kenya. Although we spent hours in our private jeep siting animals, go there for the people and the orphaned rhinos, who adore having you rub their thick leather hides or belly. Their feet are surprisingly delicate and soft and though the hides seem tough, they love a good belly rub as much as your dog does.


There was lots, lots more but these few highlights tell you why we love Born Free.

Interesting you should post this now, four years later after the question was asked!
And it being your only post-to-date.

I used BF in July of '03 and had a not-so-good experience with their service (to put it politely.)
There are several threads about it on this forum.

Knowing that the Africa travel biz is highly competitive, if they have stepped up to the plate and improved their service, it's good to know.

Glad your experience worked out better
than mine.