Does anyone have any experiences with Raylenne Safaris, Mxploresafaris and Africa Travel Centre? I am waiting to receive a quote for a Kenya and Tanzania itinerary from Africa Travel Centre, but have already received a quote from Raylenne and Mxplore. There is however, a $1200 difference in price for the exact itinerary. Is there anyway one outfitter will match or beat another? I have heard about Raylenne from this forum, but nothing of the other 2. Raylenne has also said that there is only Rwandair that will take us from Nairobi to Kigali roundtrip. (We were planning on doing a gorilla safari leaving Nairobi on July 9.) I thought Kenyair flew there too. Is he wrong? Do I have any recourse if they say they can book the tented camps we want, but end up in another? Would we find this out when we get there or soon after our deposit? Could we get our deposit back if we are not interested in the ones they decide to book? Thanks.

Kenya Airways also flies between Nairobi and Kigali. Try www.kenya-airways.com for flight schedules (set your country to Kenya) or any of the third party booking sites like Travelocity, etc. should be able to pull up their schedules.

Once you ask a tour operator to book a safari for you, they should be able to confirm availability of all accomodations before you send your deposit. I wouldn't send a deposit until I knew exactly where I was staying unless it's a waitlist situation where your 1st choice is unavailable and you're booked into an alternate camp as a back up pending any cancellations at the 1st.

Some outfitters may match prices, others won't. Make sure you're comparing the exact same itineraries though. If one outfitter includes flights and another is offering an all drive safari, then they aren't the same itineraries.

For flight and booking gorilla trekking you can contact http://africAdventure.net. They will try to find the best option. Otherwise, if you don't mind travelling for 11 hours, you can go to Kampala on a coach. There is a good company called Scandinavia that offers a non-stop service from Nairobi to Kampala and it is cheap. I did it twice and it's not too bad.

Thanks Patty for your suggestion. I have tried to confirm availablilty. rnxploresafari (I mistakenly wrote mxploresafari)and Raylenne both say there is availability for the dates I want, but it they are going fast. Other tour operators have said there isn't any avaiability. How does that happen? Are there some spaces blocked for each tour operator?
Ivan, rnxplorer is very competitive with gorilla trek rates and I know I will take them for that. In fact they are holding my gorilla permits for us. It is just the Kenya/Tanzania safari aspect of the trip I am not quite sure of using this company. rnxploresafari has been excellent in responding to all of my questions (there has been many) and by the next day, in fact. I do appreciate that, especially when we are down to the wire in booking a summer safari.Thanks for the info, though. 11 hours is quite a long time!

Hello, as I mentioned in a previous post, about AfricAdventure, I just wanted to clarify that we are now operating as Zed&Away (www.zedaway.com). AfricAdventure focused mostly on Uganda, but we are now offering several countries in Africa, including safaris, sport holidays, volunteer work, etc. Thanks, Ivan

I have just returned from a 9 day safari in Kenya with Raylenne Safaris. I was very happy with their service and would whole-heartedly recommend them. We adapted one of their custom tours, and they were extremely accommodating in adding in extra days and activities. A particular highlight was visiting a school in the Masai Mara which is not on the usual tourist beat. When one of our party was not feeling well, we were met at the airport in Nairobi by the director to check that everything was ok. Communication was good prior to arrival in Kenya and everything was organized with very short notice. Our driver Julius was knowledgeable, polite and well organized and very good company. The accommodation was all of a good standard although at this time of the year I would recommend staying at Keekerok rather than Mara Sopa given the distance from the animals. All in all I would definitely recommend Raylenne.