Lake Naivasha Day Trip — Boat Ride, Crescent Island & Hell's Gate

Eduard/August 2026

We were initially picked up from our hotel and greeted with gifts (a beautiful animal art picture, safari water bottle, and safari hat) for each member of our family! The safari vehicle is very large and spacious, has WiFi and outlets for charging! The vehicle also comes with a mini fridge stocked with sodas and bottled water for the trip. Our tour guide, Simon, was very knowledgeable and drove as carefully as he could, and got us up close to most animals in the parks for clear pictures, and easily knew his way around the massive wilderness areas without any maps or GPS! The only downside I would say about this trip are that most of the roads in Kenya and out in the wilderness are not paved, so most of the drive is extremely bumpy, like worse than a rollercoaster, and caused some motion sickness, we were bouncing out of our seats many times, and getting into the vehicle is a bit challenging as the steps are extremely high up to the knees, so be careful if you have bad knees. The Zebra Lodge that they booked for us was very luxurious, and spacious, though the food was so-so and very limited, the bathrooms were very large and even had an outside shower, although the water temperature regulation and water pressure was terrible. The second hotel, Sarova Woodlands Hotel and Spa, Nakuru, was very nice, professional, great buffets, and a very nice clean 5 star hotel. The first two days doing the game drive in the national parks were great and exciting seeing all the wild animals, the third day going to the lake was honestly the most boring and uneventful as most animals were extremely far away and just saw some birds very far away, also I did not care much for going to the Masai Mara Village, and seeing their poor living conditions. The 4th day was great though, as we took a boat ride to see many birds up close and then did a walking safari tour and got sooo up close to zebras, antelopes, a hyena, and right up next to a sleeping giraffe! I strongly recommend going in August as it's the "migration season" and there are far more animals to see. The drivers also like to drop off tourists at rest stops with souvenir shops, just be careful cause the prices are extremely jacked up and the locals try to rip tourists off like crazy; if they say something is $25-30, in reality it's worth more like $5-10, do your research and haggle down! Overall I liked this tour company and the safari experience, and would definitely do it again someday if I ever went back!

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Aasma Aslam/October 2026

The whole experience was excellent. From the point of view enquiry right up until the drop off to the airport I can’t fault the service. Any queries we had were answered straight away with detail. The safari itself with the Imara Africa Safaris team was amazing- everything they promised at the beginning was delivered- by far the best holiday we have had made better because of Imara Africa Safaris. Finally our driver Jessie was brilliant. He was knowledgeable and very accommodating. We will definitely be returning in the near future and recommend Imara Africa Safaris to everyone.

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T/October 2026

Very good experience. Everything was planned very well from Lincoln and realized by a great driver/guide Simon.

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Vineeth Balachandran/October 2026

Finished our 5 day tour with Imara. What an amazing experience they gave us! Kate in the office was brilliant and helped us all the way through the planning of the trip. Tour started off with our guide Peter who drove around crazy, trying his best to show as many animals in Amboseli. Back drop of Kilimanjaro was a visual treat! We then went to Masai Mara. Simon, our guide was very knowledgable and committed to showing the big five, which he succeeded. We saw all the big five, some of them several times! Thoroughly enjoyed our time in Kenya and will highly recommend Imara tours. Word of caution-If you are visiting Masai village, you may get exploited. Just take care.

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Hassan aljaber/October 2026

What an amazing experience. From the booking, to the airport, flexibility, activities, and most importantly our excellent guide Symon. Eunice was amazing with flexibility and booking, she was able to provide me with my exact needs and wants for the whole trip. We were able to experience all we wanted, and so much more. We spent 7 days in Kenya, one night in lake Naivasha, 2 nights in Amboseli, and finally 3 nights in Maasai Mara. We got to experience all the classic safari experiences, and so so so much more. Our guide Symon was spectacular, and was able to get us views of everything. With Symon, we were able to see the big 5, cheetas, and all the animals on our bucket list, and a lot of other unique sightings, such as a cheetah hunt, lions cubs feeding, and the rare twin baby elephants. We started our trip with a boat safari, crescent island, and a horse riding safari. We also had a quad bike safari in hells gate. Then in Amboseli and Maasai Mara, we got to see so many animals thanks to Symon.

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Jo/October 2026

Cannot recommend Imara and our guide Jesse enough! My friend and I did a private tour of Naivasha, Nakuru and Maasai Mara. Imara organised everything from accommodation to lunches and all guided activities, and of course wonderful game drives in the Mara. We were incredibly lucky to be guided by Jesse throughout. He is an excellent driver and very experienced guide, who knew exactly where to take us so we could see all the big 5, the ugly 5 and everything in between, in just a few days. We felt completely safe and had fun as a team of three spotting wildlife. We never felt rushed or bored, it was the perfect balance of interesting things to discover and enough downtime to not feel tired by the end. The car was fully equipped with everything we needed, from WiFi and plugs to cold water in the fridge.

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Yosra L/October 2026

We were 2 friends doing a 7 day 6 nights safari in Rift Valley and Maasai Mara. We had an amazing time. Our guide Jesse was very knowledgeable, patient and friendly. The team at Imara was very responsive and tried their best to adapt to our requirements. We got to see all the Big 5 on our first day in Maasai Mara thanks to our amazing guide (and some luck). Everything was taken care of and went smoothly. I highly recommend Imara and Jesse! Thank you for a great week Advice: be very clear on what you want / what's a must have and check it is reflected in the final offer. This is not specific to Imara as we had that issue with other safari tour operators

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Brian Thompson/October 2026

My wife and I spent four days in the Maasai Mara on our honeymoon, and we couldn’t have asked for a better experience than what Imara Africa Safaris provided! Our guide, Simon, was absolutely fantastic. He picked us up from the airstrip and drove us throughout the park for all four days. His knowledge of the park and its wildlife was seriously impressive. One of the highlights was watching him have a quick conversation with another guide, drive a few kilometers, and somehow find three male lions resting under a tree before any other vehicles had arrived. It was amazing to see just how well he knew the park and the animals. Every day we went out, we saw an incredible variety of wildlife. We were lucky enough to spot a leopard, which is relatively rare to see, along with many lions, zebras, buffalo, giraffes, and some amazing close encounters with elephants. What I loved most was how natural and immersive the experience felt. There were moments when it genuinely felt like we were sharing the environment with the animals rather than just observing them, like you would at a zoo. Those were some of the most memorable parts of the entire trip. Simon was also an incredibly skilled driver, confidently navigating some pretty difficult terrain, including river crossings. He seemed to know every corner of the park and was often giving advice to other guides as well. He knew so much about the animals, frequently pointing out individual family members and explaining their roles and relationships. Another highlight was the picnic breakfasts and lunches he set up for us in beautiful spots under the trees. Those moments were really special and made our honeymoon even more memorable. Wendy and the rest of the Imara Africa Safaris team were wonderful as well. Every part of our trip was thoughtfully planned and perfectly organized, so we never had to worry about a thing and could just enjoy the experience. Overall, we couldn’t have asked for a better safari experience. A huge thank you to Simon, Wendy, and the entire team! We’ll absolutely be reaching out to Imara Africa Safaris again for our next trip to Africa!

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