EASTRAVEL Traveller Reviews

In and out of Africa I decided many years ago that I would love to go on Safari to shoot some wildlife, big game hunter me. So armed with my Canon for my 50th birthday I went in and out of Africa. Booking was made through East Travel (Ipswich) and they came up with a plan that should work, using Somak Safari, and this is my story. My wife and I set off from LHR with Kenya Airways for the 8 hour direct flight to Nairobi. Kenya Airways are not the most polite or helpful and the food is dire, but hey, that’s not why we are going. An ill passenger had us diverted to Cairo and when I saw all the fuel being dumped into the desert I was a tad concerned. 3 hours of delay for the poor passenger and we were off again. Nairobi was, well hot, hotter than expected. We met up easily with our guide and driver Yusef a 12th generation Kenyan with distinctly Asian looks and colouring, now I thought that was weird! What a lovely man. We went first on a 4 hour drive to Aberdares County Club for an overnight. Colonial in its styling the staff were fabulous. Hot water bottles in the beds and a great room and food. There was also the ‘Kumars’, who were a group on tour and caused a little annoyance when after dinner they did Bollywood to a ghetto blaster disturbing the sounds of African evensong. Morning prayers were an amusing sight and even the staff struggled to keep a straight face. Yusef arrived on time and at 7 we were off, 4 more hours on the road to our first lodge proper. We were to stay in a tent for 2 nights in the wilds of Africa at Samburu. First though the spectacular sight of sunrise with an Acacia tree in the foreground. We were nervous, the roads were awful, police checkpoints and speed humps everywhere. The tent was a tent, big enough for 12 but with its double bed and ensuite shower room and toilet it became quite luxurious. We did our first game drive that afternoon after a few hours by the pool and by now my wife and I were enjoying singing ‘riding along in our army truck’ (look it up on you-tube, from Trumpton or Camberwick Green when I were a lad), interspersed with “Sorry, sorry” as another big bump spoiled the perpetual massage. We saw animals, big animals, lots of them and close up too! Dinner was prepared and we bedded down for the night at about 8.30. Here the electricity was from a generator with strict hours of available light and hot water was twice a day from a boiler heated by a wood fire beneath! You couldn’t make it up and it was heavenly, views were spectacular and again the staff were just so friendly. Yusef was teaching us to speak a few words so we could get into the swing of it all. The next day a 7.00 morning drive and I surprised Yusef with an untaught phrase ‘Simama Hapa’ (stop here). It was a hilarious reaction and so throughout our stay we got random phrases from the waiters to surprise Yusef. Another great drive and we had 3 of the big 5 conquered (only the Rhino and Leopard escaping my shutter). A pm drive and another great dinner ready for our 6.30 start. Off we went to Serena Mountain Lodge, near the Presidents weekend pad so roads were a little better. Serena had a watering hole so look out for random wildlife. The staff were not good, the rooms tiny and the porter was very intimidating regarding a larger than normal tip! They did have a special though, a sheep’s head chained to a plinth for the wild cat to come and take away. My neighbours have meaner and bigger looking tabbies, pathetic. You can’t be held accountable for the lack of wildlife and here there was a lack of it but I was seriously disappointed and told Yusef to tell the porter who took my bag the next morning to see the big guy for his share of the tip! I would not book another Safari that included Serena as it is a waste of a day with rude staff. The one wow was we saw an eagle owl and some yank said “did you see an owl? What did it look like?”. I replied, casual like “Wings, feathers, head that goes all the way round!” Turns out he wrote the book “Birds of Africa”, took him years and he was just over to do book revisions!! More humpity bumpity and off to Lake Nakuru crossing the Great Rift Valley enroute. Pictures do not do this place justice, the immense enormity of it simply cant be captured. Another fabulous lunch on the veranda with jaw dropping views of the park. Here we got Black and White Rhino (even if we did have to run the risk of the wardens by going out of bounds for whitey!) as well as the rest of the Gazelle, Impala, Zebra, Water buffalo, Monkeys, Flamingo (who appear to be emigrating to Lake Victoria as the water has changed as the Lake expands) a host of different birds including various Heron and Pelicans. After lunch we drove to Lake Naivasha, more a small sea than a lake as I understand it! Into a boat with Yusef no. 2 and off to see more and more. Get up close(ish) n personal with the Hippos and across the lake to see the Sea Eagles fish, stranded Wilderbeast and a Hummingbird! $40 for an hour and a half of high quality viewing and knowledge. Then overnight in Naivasha Sopa Lodge. This really is a posh gaff and a half, with security to take you and collect you from your room in case of a stray hippo. In the morning you have Giraffe grazing on the trees in your back garden!! On we go to the Mara, be very warned that there really is an end of the road! The tarmac just stops for no logical reason and you have 2 hours of a full body massage at 50mph! Trust me its worth it. 2 nights in an ensuite tent that truly is better than the last with your patio in complete privacy overlooking a family of Hippo!! Lunch on the second day was hilarious when, due to their noise, I said “Bloody Hippo”. Just think about the bizarre nature of the phrase and simply being able to utter it in truth. Anyway more safari, Cheetah stalking, saw a kill (2 Cheetah lunch on a Gazelle) more Lion, Elephant etc etc. On our last morning Yusef parked up and threw us out into the bush. He had only organised as a surprise, a bush breakfast, with our very own chef, waiter and game warden! How totally amazeballs!! Now for a well earned rest and back to Nairobi, Precision Air to Zanzibar, yep the plane was precision, precisely 3 hours late and lost precisely half the luggage of all the passengers!! Ja Ja our taxi and guide recovered our bag by lunchtime!! Blue bay beach resort is a little out of the way, but its paradise on legs, reception staff bit grumpy, well they are inside all day, every one else is awesome, we were Jambo’d out! The Indian ocean is the most beautiful colour and the temperature of a warm bath 24/7 no exaggeration. The sand has the softest, whitest sand and the beach boys are not annoying if you can stand up to them (Hapana!) Take and pay for a tour of Stone town and Spice world, I promise on your own you will miss sooo much. It is dear but you get the works. The above really truly is just a summary. This holiday was worth every single penny and so much more. Well done East Travel, Somak Safari and above all the animals and people of Kenya and Zanzibar and especially the wonderful Yusef and Ja Ja. Thankyou for a wonderful unforgettable 2 weeks and 1400 photos !! PS we did arrive home on time but a bag lighter!! Kwaheri.

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Thank you for organising our holiday. Every part of it was enjoyable and put together really well…. All connections/transfers were met on time. I think I can say for the pair of us that the stay at the Sakau Rainforest Lodge was the best part of the holiday, where we got to see the “BIG 5”. Crocodile, Proboscis Monkey, The Hornbill, Pygmy Elephants and of course the Orang-utan all in their natural environment. The guides were very knowledgeable and pointed out looks of things, where at first we could not see a thing but they were well trained in looking for the things that at first seemed not there….. we could have missed a lot if not for these guys. Everyone at ALL the hotels we stayed at made us very welcome and with ALL the cakes they gave us to celebrate our 25th Anniversary, I think we will now need to join a gym to burn of the excess weight we brought back.

Eastravel 79-81 Norwich Road Ipswich These guys were really helpful and the holiday they arranged for me was truly magical

East travel provided an excellent service in regard to making bookings for travel and accommodation on my behalf, during the course of the process I kept making travel amendments which were all dealt with as requested with no fuss. Cathy applied a lot of local knowledge to assist with an excursion to China which would have been difficult for me to arrange alone, all in all the operator provided an excellent service.

Our Canadian itinerary was put together with much assistance from Eastravel to include a variety of locations and pre-organised trips, balanced to help ensure there was enough of interest to keep our 2 boys, 10 & 7, entertained. We flew in to Calgary, picked up our hire car and spent the next 14 days making our way across Western Canada via Banff, Jasper and Whistler to name a few, to end up on Vancouver Island for 3 nights in the beautiful Tofino. The scenery and wildlife we saw on the way was stunning. The accommodation selected and booked for us was excellent, always well located and family friendly. The pre-booked bear and whale watching trips were all excellent and with reputable operators. An amazing 2 weeks.

We have used Eastravel for many holidays over the years and each one has been excellent. We rely on their local knowledge of each place we have visited, and they have never failed to provide us with anything other than a memorable holiday. The accommodation is always spot on, suggested trips and the overall itineraries are great because they take the time to build a personalised itinerary with you based on the things you like to see and do, tailored to suit your budget. I highly recommend them.

We were a group of 8 ranging in age from 7 to 71 and we had a great time. I would really recommend the villa we had, it was exactly as described with a lovely pool and a games room which we did not expect

Everything was arranged for us and it all went to plan, I cannot fault East Travel for the way they arranged everything and sorted out the little glitches for us

We wanted to have a two centre holiday with Hong Kong as our city and Langkawi as the beach resort with specific hotels for each destination. We could not find a package so asked Eastravel to arrange the trip.

All arrangements for our family trip to Hong Kong and Malaysia were made accurately and just as we had asked. Transfers to and from airports were arranged by the operator and were carried out as planned by good providers. The price for the trip was the best out of three companies who quoted, two of whom were sector leaders.

We travelled to Washington, Brooklyn, Boston, Montreal and Toronto for our holiday. It was organised by Cathy from East Travel and went smoothly from start to finish. The whole trip including internal flights and train journeys were organised for us. We loved everywhere we visited. The hotels were all great too. Such fab memories.

Cathy from East Travel made our trip easy. She had organised everything to the letter. All our journeys internally on flights and trains went smoothly. The hotels we stayed in were all wonderful too. Cathy had organised all of our documents and put notes on them all do we knew exactly what was coming next. Cathy's organisation made our holiday even better as we had nothing to worry about.

This was my first time in Singapore and thanks to the advice from Eastravel and Dorothy especially choose a superb Hotel, we were there for 3 nights but could have quite easily done 5 nights, theres a lot more to see and do in Singapore than just shopping, after Singapore went on to Koh Samui for a rest this was not our first time there and most definately not be my last. Excellent Hotel in Bophut and superb staff.

Have been using Eastravel for a while now and booked Several big holidays with them with no problems whatever if you give them a budget they try to stick as close to it as humanly possible. The staff are so professional and knowledgable about your destination, hotels everything. Nothing is a problem for Dorothy and her excellent team of experts. If you ever have a problem whether before you go or when your out there they are always contactable and get back to you as quickly as possible about your questions or problems. I would never have any reservations about recommending Eastravel to anyone because they are not like any run of the mill high street travel agents they are friendly, extremely knowledgable people where nothing is a problem.

We had arranged a stop over in Singapore before flying onto Koh Samui to relax by the beach. This was not our first time in Koh Samui and am sure it won't be our last. I last visited Sinapore twenty-six years ago and was not disappointed. Despite what some people say, there is plenty to do in Sigapore other just shopping.

Dorothy and the team at Eastravel go out of there way to provide excellent customer service. Queries even whilst away can always be addressed via email/Whatsapp etc. Advice in respect of hotels always seems to meet clients requirements/expectations. I would not hesitate in recommending Eastravel to anyone.

Our holiday was perfect firstly our prices was beaten for anything I found online. The hotel was beautiful the rooms Was gorgeous and overlooking the sea as requested. East travel helped with everything and was very quick to reply with any queries I have recommended them now to a few people.

Very friendly helpful and efficient at dealing with any email enquries.