Field Guides from Ontdek Kenya

Ontdek Kenya has been operating high quality nature safaris that are led by competent field guides since ’96. We offer activities that we love and are passionate about, i.e. bird watching, walking and responsible wildlife viewing.

We hate sales pitch and we believe most of our clients detest them and can easily see through them. We therefore feel uncomfortable using the “best Safari Company” tag and we let our clients speak on our behalf. But what we would like you to know is that at the core of Ontdek are competent naturalist guides who are in so many ways different from “Big 5” safari guides.

We have a team of guides that we select, based on how they impress us in the field, and as most of our clients come to Kenya when they can already go through their list of mammals, we look for intelligent leadership that creates depth in a safari – this is what defines Ontdek’s naturalist guides.

In our 13 years as safari operators, we have seen many guides and thankfully our rigorously field interviews mean that our clients never get to see many of them! Not that they didn’t have all the right papers or rich CVs as “safari guides”, which would have given them a head start elsewhere, but they did not make the Ontdek’s cut for guiding.

At Ontdek, a field guide is an all round naturalist who enjoys being outdoors (not the morning and afternoon game drive thing), have a great people skill and an educator’s trait, genuinely likes to make our tours enjoyable and as a true birder can tell the Babblers from Warblers. (Ok, we like Flamingos, Ostriches and Secretary birds but it is the details we are after.)

We are delighted that our safari guides, coupled with our fine logistics and itineraries that are well researched, continue to receive very positive reviews from our clients. Yes, Ontdek’s tours are much copied, a sign that operators know a good product but what is hard to copy is our attention to detail, reliability, consistency and the knowledge that comes from knowing that a field guide and not a “tour operator” is arranging your nature safari.

Besides the educational curriculum our field guides bring knowledge from being research assistants especially with bird-related work and they are also involved in community and conservation projects.

What do past clients say about our tour leaders? Please see our reviews and should you want to directly contact past clients we will oblige you with their contact info.

We invite you to join us on our trips and get to know leadership that is thorough, committed and knowledgeable in non-package safaris.

See our calendar to join our small group tours accompanied by our professional field guides or contact us for a private safari.