A must-do, once-in-a-lifetime trip is an African Safari. This has been at the top of our bucket list since we started traveling internationally. The problem is that there is almost too much information out there that it seemed impossible to know where to start planning. We didn’t want to travel halfway across the world only to mess up a dream trip.
After a ton of research online, we discovered that Kenya is one of the best all around countries for safaris. The country is full of beautiful national parks, diverse landscapes, and of course incredible wildlife! It was through this research that we discovered Henry, the owner of Capture Kenya Expeditions. Capture Kenya took our dream vacation and created a custom trip that was more amazing than we could have ever imagined!
This blog post is about Capture Kenya and why we think that everyone should book their once in a lifetime vacation with Capture Kenya! Click here to read our post which shares more about our experience on our 11 day Kenya safari.
About Capture Kenya Expeditions
Who is Capture Kenya Expeditions and why book your once in a lifetime vacation with them? Capture Kenya is a local Kenyan travel company that specializes in creating personalized safari tours throughout the country of Kenya (as well as many other countries in Africa). The company is completely Kenyan owned and managed. After all, who knows Kenya better than someone who has lived there their entire lives.
The owner and founder of Capture Kenya Expeditions – Henry Gathura – has more than 20 years of safari experience. From food, transportation, lodging, and making sure that you have the most memorable experiences of a lifetime, Capture Kenya takes care of it all. We told the company what we were hoping to experience and how many days we would be in Kenya, and they took care of every single detail of the trip from the moment we stepped out of the airport!
Capture Kenya has a passion for conservation and sustainability. Because they are locally owned and operated, they have a deep love for the local people and the wildlife of Kenya. Capture Kenya books with camps, lodges, and conservations that are also passionate about preserving Kenya’s beautiful wildlife. We came to Kenya for a safari, but left learning so much about the local culture and people. It is a great feeling knowing that by booking through a locally owned company that cares deeply about conservation and sustainability, we were in a small way helping to support Kenyan locals and wildlife.
Another reason to book with Capture Kenya is that they are experts when it comes to African wildlife. After all, the main reason to book an African safari is to see elephants, giraffes, lions, leopards, rhinos, and more. If you’re looking to book the best safari in Kenya, we would definitely recommend them! We told Capture Kenya the animals we would like to see the most and they booked our safari stays in the places that gave us the best chances to experience these amazing animals! Our guide Henry was a walking encyclopedia of knowledge when it came to African wildlife. From birds to buffalo, he could identify the species, habits, and know the best places to look. Another major advantage to having a local guide is the connection to other local guides. The local guides radio to each other when they spot a hard-to-find animal. (Henry jokingly calls the local guide word-of-mouth news BNN for “Bush News Network!”) It is really remarkable seeing local guides help each other in this way. Because Henry has been doing game drives for over 20 years, a lot of the other local guides know him personally. There wasn’t a place that we went that Henry didn’t personally know at least four of the other guides out on game drives. Later in our Africa trip, we did some game drives of our own in Tanzania and did not see a fraction of the variety of animals that we saw with Capture Kenya Expeditions.
About The Owner
The thing that really makes Capture Kenya Expeditions so special is its owner and founder Henry Gathura. We have had a lot of guides and trips around the world with many amazing tour companies. But our favorite guide we have ever had has been Henry with Capture Kenya Expeditions. We booked Henry as a guide, but after just 11 days together we feel like we made a lifelong friend.
Henry started Capture Kenya because of his love for Kenya and its wildlife, and because he wanted to share this incredible country with people from around the world. His 20+ years of safari experience is what has made him such an expert on all things safari. Whether young or old, Henry does a great job of making sure that his guests feel like the most important people in Kenya. One of the things that attracted us to his company before we ever even booked our trip was a TripAdvisor review that explained how Henry went out of his way to celebrate the birthday of a child one of his guests.
During our trip, Henry made sure to take care of every detail for us no matter how big or small. Every day, he went out of his way to make sure to create the most memorable experience ever! On the last day, he even planned a picnic breakfast for us in the middle of the African bush!
Cost
Booking directly with a local company instead of through a third party travel agency helps reduce the cost of the safari. Instead of some of the profits going to a large travel agency, all of it goes directly to the local company. Capture Kenya Expeditions has booked tours all throughout the country and has relationships with dozens of hotels and lodges. Instead of booking a one-size-fits all tour, Capture Kenya goes above and beyond to book the experiences and lodging that best fit their guests preferences and budget.
Personalization
I can’t say enough how personalized our 11 day safari was for us. Starting from when we got picked up from the airport, Henry had water bottles with our names printed on them! He also created a printed and bound itinerary for us that detailed the places we would be staying and the animals we would see. Every single detail of the trip was tailored to what we wanted to see and do.
For example, if there was a day that we knew there were a lot of lions in the area, we could ask to go on a longer game drive. One of the days, we felt like cutting the game drive short and relaxing at the lodge. We told Capture Kenya the animals that we wanted to see and they planned the parks that we stayed in order to give us the best possible chance to see those animals! If you are interested in seeing elephants, rhinos, beaches, or anything else in the country, Capture Kenya will plan your stay based on your interest. If you are planning on visiting other parts of Africa, Capture Kenya can arrange tours in other countries such as Tanzania and South Africa.
Vehicle
The vehicle that Capture Kenya uses for their safaris is an extended Land Cruiser. These vehicles are custom made to be the perfect safari vehicle and are pretty much the only vehicle that local safari guides use. I never knew how much of a difference a vehicle can make, but after doing our own self-driving safari in Tanzania, we were even more thankful for Henry’s Land Cruiser.
Before going on a safari, I saw pictures of the open air vehicles and thought that those would be the ideal safari vehicle. But after just one drive down a dusty road on a hot day, it was easy to see why we were so thankful for a closed Land Cruiser. (Henry also offered to take out the back windows, but we definitely preferred to keep them in to help protect from dust). When we weren’t in dusty areas, we were able to roll down the huge windows for an unobstructed view. But my favorite part of the vehicle was the ability to lift up the roof. For the best views and chance to spot wildlife, we would stand up and look out the raised roof. (It is amazing how much better we could see and take photos from this high vantage point.) If it ever got too dusty or too many bugs, all we had to do was sit down.
When we previously bussed through Central America, I felt sick on almost every bus ride. So I figured that by going on dirt roads for a safari, I would inevitably feel sick. But I never felt sick on any of the game drives and I actually slept for the majority of the long drives between the parks. The extended Land Cruiser has 8 captains chairs that recline. Between the back seats was an electric cooler that Henry always kept full of water for us to drink. He also brought snacks for us in case we ever got hungry. The car also had its own inverter so we could charge our phones, cameras, or even laptops on longer drives. With Henry’s experience in driving, it seemed like there wasn’t a road that the Land Cruiser couldn’t handle. Even when the tires were spinning in deep sand and Em and I thought for sure we were permanently stuck, Henry switched into four-wheel drive, locked the wheels, and got us out! After comparing safaris in a Land Cruiser vs a normal four-wheel drive vehicle, I am convinced that Capture Kenya Expeditions has the perfect safari vehicle.
Where We Stayed
Something that I did not expect to be a highlight of our safari was the lodging. Before planning for our trip I pictured tenting in the hot African savannah. The lodging that we stayed at during our safari was anything but “roughing it!” Although we were living in luxury, in the four places we stayed we felt like we were living among the wildlife. From our rooms we saw elephants, rhinos, zebras, gazelles, antelope, warthogs, cape buffalo, baboons, and monkeys. And at our first camp, there were literally elephants that walked right through our camp. One night we would have walked right into a bull elephant if not for one of the camp’s guards. During the day, we had about a dozen vervet monkeys climbing on the roof of our tent, hoping that we would forget to padlock the entrance shut!
The lodging on our safari took “glamping” to a whole other level. The “tents” we stayed in were more nicely furnished than our apartment! Each place was so luxurious and peaceful. The pictures can’t capture just how lavish the rooms were. The food at each location was also a highlight of our trip. I pictured eating bag lunches every day. Instead we had incredible multi-course meals overlooking the African wildlife. It was the best food we ate during our entire stay in Africa! The staff of each place were so friendly, personable, and went out of their way to make sure that we had the most enjoyable stay possible.
Capture Kenya Expeditions works hard to find the perfect lodging to match your preferences with your budget. They can book anything from ultra luxury to more budget friendly accommodations – and no matter what, you will have the best safari in Kenya! All we had to do was tell them what we were interested in and they did the rest. Reading reviews online can be helpful, but there is nothing like having a personal experience of what the lodging is like. Capture Kenya Expeditions books lodging all around the country and are often personally familiar with the lodges’ staff, accommodations, and amenities. When booking your dream vacation, Capture Kenya makes sure that you are staying in the best lodging to meet your preferences.
How to Book
Our safari in Kenya has been our favorite trip of any we’ve ever been on so far! Click here to read our post which shares more about our experience on our 11 day Kenya safari.
An African safari is a once in a lifetime trip that we’d recommend to everyone!! Capture Kenya Expeditions made our experience so amazing and we would highly recommend booking them for your safari. Click here to visit their website and to send them a message about the type of trip you’re interested in!
