Hanne F, Kenya

Going on safari in Kenya for the first time as a family group of 14 aged between 5 and 72 years makes for a challenge in organising. Tracey at OTA immediately made us feel safe by listening, suggesting, thinking along with us and very quickly providing an itinerary that made it a lot easier to grasp what an adventure it would be – even within our limited budget!
We had 2 amazing days in the Masaai Mara – camping in a really nice little campground and with delicious camper-food cooked and served by Tracey. The kids enjoyed the space to play, sit by the fire and run around when we were not stuck in the car watching amazing sceneries and wild animals in the Mara.
Afterwards 2 amazing days with Masaais in Maji Moto – warrior training, community projects, widow village, herbal medicine, bonfire without paper and matches, ceremonial goatkilling, singing, dancing, sleeping under the stars in the bush etc. We learned SO much about the culture and young as well as old had the best of times. 
THANK you OTA for finding these pearls for us in the jungle of lodges and camps in Kenya.

We would recommend OTA for your family adventure at any time!!!

Jasmine Sun, Canada

My friend and I had a great time with OTA. Tracey was really helpful with her e-mails and I knew exactly what to expect. Our plane was several hours delayed but the driver had patiently waited for us at the airport. He knew exactly where to go and we could take as much time at each attraction as we wanted. We were also able to leave donations for the ‘Pack for a Purpose’ group with him. It was an excellent day trip.

Bob, New Zealand

Tracey and Francis definitely know what they are doing. They assembled a multi-day tour that matched pretty much what I wanted to do (essentially a lot of hiking). Plus they added in a few things I didn’t know I wanted to do. They have a network of friendly and interesting people who they use well to provide an excellent experience. They also know how to pace a trip so that you don’t feel knackered after day three. This is a small operation, who work at a personal level very effectively.

Vishal Panday, The Netherlands

We had 2 weeks for Tanzania and Kenya. We came in contact with Tracey and Francis via a local guide that knew Francis. We wanted a custom made itinerary for these 2 weeks to see the Serengeti National Park and a 3 days Mt. Meru Hike. Tracey fixed this for us in no time. Via email we kept in great contact about the status.

Nothing is a problem with Tracey and Francis. They are very flexible. If we wanted something changed, they tried their best to help us and fixed it.

In the end they brought us to Nairobi where we had 3 days to explore the capitol of Kenya, which was great. They are service oriented, so give them a shot!!

Tom Koerkemeier, Germany

Baldur, Iceland

Perfect insider’s knowledge of all things Kenyan as well as personal attention and care

I had left Tanzania disheartened. My Tanzanian tour operator had been anything but service-oriented on the tour to the Serengeti and Ngorongoro the days before and the stay in Arusha had been very difficult. So upon arriving in Nairobi, I actually wondered why on earth I should do more African safaris. Wouldn’t all the tour operators be the same anyways?

But since I still had some days to kill in Kenya, didn’t want to pay to change my ticket, and was after all interested in wildlife while knowing that I might never again get a chance to see Africa, I decided to give OTA a go. I had been in touch with Tracey (there are countless tour operators/agencies in East Africa and you can’t write to them all but I found OTA on some responsible tourism website and, being an Ecotourism graduate, this appealed to me so I only wrote to companies listed there) and I was amazed at the amount of information she put down and also the passion that shined through. These were not the short almost copy-paste response that you might expect from a larger operator. So even if my money was about to run out, I decided to forget about it and asked Tracey if they could take me to Samburu and Tsavo West.

I can say that Tracey and Francis repaired a lot of what the Tanzanian operator had damaged. Had I not met them, I would have left Africa totally disappointed and totally disillusioned. But the two of them are just a perfect mix. Francis is a born-and-bred Kenyan whose insight into and knowledge of his country is amazing. There was not a question that he could not answer. These were also the weeks leading up to the presidential elections. Francis presented me with some very interesting views on how things might turn out and how things have been. He is also a very balanced man and a confident driver (the traffic in East Africa is horrible but Francis made me comfortable). Australia-born Tracey then offers a foreigner’s view of Kenya and is almost too keen to help out and give you honest advise.

My three weeks in East Africa were difficult as I had never been to Africa before and I learnt many things the hard way. But it would have been a much harder experience if not for Tracey and Francis. They are starting the company and will provide you with what many larger and older tour operators will not: personal attention and care.

Give them a go, you won’t regret it!

Angelique, The Netherlands