Traveler Reviews

• Harald_n 12-Feb-2023

  Bikeride through the Canyon and the spektaculare view from the viewpoint where the movie "Lion king" was shot. The driver, Jeff, was good and friendly. Spoke very good English. There guide on the biketour, Gadaffi, as well! Good sence of humor 😊

• Omar 11-Dec-2020

  The tour was great. Stephen is an excellent guide and very knowledgeable about all the animal species and landmarks that you would see on this trip. He is incredibly courteous and friendly. The bike ride through Hell’s Gate was fantastic. It’s a great experience to be biking alongside amazing wildlife. Stephen made sure that everything was timed perfectly. I would highly recommend this trip with Gracepatt to anyone looking for a day activity from Nairobi, even if you have already done a safari.

• Anastasijam 11-Mar-2020

  Stephen Mutuku my driver is amazing guy and guide. I was lucky enough to be the only passenger on this tour, and enjoyed it to the maximum. In the National Park I was lucky enough to see many zebras, antilopes, warthogs and giraffes at a very close distance. And take a lot of cool pictures. After that we went to Lake Naivasha where I saw many birds and hippos. Beautiful view and nice ride on the boat. I had a nice day and a lot of positive emotions, trip to remember. Defiantly will recommend to everyone.

• Shewoolf 22-Feb-2020

  I will start with what I loved about this trip: my driver Francis and the bike ride through Hell's Gate with my guide Gaddafi! Francis was right on time (even early) to pick me up at my apartment in Nairobi city center and he was an absolute pleasure to spend the day with. He's kind, he's super funny, and he kept me (us) safe the entire trip. He's a true professional and has a great time showing tourists beautiful Kenya. There was one other woman we picked up before heading to Hell's Gate to get our bikes and then begin cycling. We joined up with 2 more tourists at the gate for 4 total people. It was really nice to get to know the other tourists, and Gaddafi was a fantastic guide. He kept checking that everyone was cycling ok behind him, gave us tips for navigating some of the more sandy parts of one of the roads, gave us lots of unique insights about the park - overall a really great experience. The gorge was closed by the park to hikers because of rain dangers (it can happen, and it's not Gracepatt's fault for that). I actually think if we had done the hike down into the gorge I would have been too tired to cycle back at the end! It really was a magical experience to see Hell's Gate by bike. You do have to cycle a small bit uphill on the way out but I just put my bike in higher gear and it was really no problem at all (the slightest incline). Some people wrote reviews that the bikes aren't in great condition but really this is an easy trail you don't need a fancy bike, mine was comfortable and the gears / brakes worked just great. The lunch at Lake Naivasha was absolutely delicious! But....I have more feedback on that later. My criticisms of the trip: overall this tour is sold as a guided tour, half day at Hell's Gate and half day at Lake Naivasha. The way I viewed Lake Naivasha is that the boat tour is part of the tour (otherwise you just sit at the beach, there is no alternative activity they provide for you) it's simply that you pay extra for the service. I struggled with this part in writing my review since it's hard to give criticism to an activity that is run by the boat operators and not Gracepatt. However, I ultimately arrived at this conclusion that I should include the criticism in my review because of the way the trip is titled/described and that there is no alternative activity offered. I did not enjoy the boat ride at Lake Naivasha and I wish I had skipped that part. After cycling all morning, we arrived to Lake Naivasha around 2pm (it's maybe 20 minutes from the point you drop off your bikes after Hell's Gate). Myself and another tourist were starving and asked if we could eat lunch before doing the boat trip. But we were told that they cook lunch while you are on the boat trip (you order before you head out). So we did not end up eating lunch until after 4pm as a result. That's entirely too late in the day to offer lunch after having cycled for 2-3 hours in 28 degree heat. Next I had read online that you can rent a boat for $20. I had also read that if you get a group of people together the price is still $20 (since you are just paying for the price of the boat and operator of the boat). However even though there were 4 people in my group they charged us $15 per person. I paid the price since I had already planned to go for $20 in case I was the only person on the trip. There were far fewer animals and birds hanging around the lake than other trip reviews lead me to believe. Ok, so perhaps it was an off day and I can't fault the boat operator for that. However, without prompt from any of us tourists the boat operator on 3 occasions used tactics to get animals to look up at us for photo opportunities. He revved the engine of the boat to scare the hippos so they would look up out of the water, he threw a fish in the water so that an eagle would swoop down in front of us from a tree, and he clapped his hands at some deer drinking at the waters edge so that they would look up at us. I intentionally left my camera down and did not snap photos so that the boat operator wouldn't see me enjoying the results of his interactions with the animals and feel encouraged to keep doing it. I cannot positively support tour operators interacting with wild animals like this. Overall, I think the price of the trip is fair, but I think some good improvements could be made for the second half of the tour at Lake Naivasha since it is advertised as a "Hell's Gate and Lake Naivasha Guided Tour" such as some alternative activity to the boat ride for people that do not want to support interfering with the animals. Also the ability to each lunch earlier after a difficult bike ride would be more suitable for a lot of people.

• Craigcn9891hf 14-Oct-2019

  Francis, our driver, arrieved at the hotel right on time to pick us up at 7:00AM. It was a foggy and rainy morning, buthere assured us the weather would be much better once we got out of Nairobi. The fog and rain added to the road conditions, which in Nairobi are not ideal to begin with. Francis was an outstanding driver and we felt totally at ease with him behind the wheel as there is ot way that I would have wanted to drive. First stop was teh Great Rift Valley Overlook. We stopped in between a couple of buildings and took a few pictures across the valley to to the floor below. About this time we could see the sun poking through the clouds. We were back in the van after the purchase of a small trinket for the gift shop. Next stop was Lake Naivasha and Hells Gate National Park. We stopped at the last intersection before the park entrance and were fitted for bicyceles and made a few small adjustments to each of them. We drove on towards the entrance another mile and a half up the road where the bikes were delivered via boda boda. Ibrahim our guide for the bike portion, took over from there. We stopped at several locations on the way out to see rock formations, zebras, gazzelles, pumbas, and giraffes. It was about 8 or 9 km to the turn around at a masai village market. We walked through and hiked a trail along the rim of the gorge to a rock formation that was the inspiration for pride rock in the Lion King. We took a few picutres and started the hike back. FYI.... The hike was, at most 2 miles round trip. The return trip on the bike is a slight uphill all the way back, but very doable. We rode along side a pack of pumbas that eventually passed us and crossed the road before disappearing into the brush. After returning the bike we were back in the van for a short trip to the boat ride and lunch. We ordered our food in advance and did a one hour boat ride with Joe. It was an amazing ride. More birds than one could count. An enjoyable, for us, hippo chase unfolded right in front of us. One hippo shased the other out of the lake around a loop and back in the lake before either hijinks or tempers cooled a little. Lunch was good, I had beef stew, she had fish filets. We were soon back in the van headed for Nairobi. Francis was a great driver and we enjoyed his company along the way. Tip: Dont forge the sun block. It was only about 75 degrees they day that we went, but the sun because to the time of the year was still pretty much right over head most of the day.

• Katiups 06-Oct-2019

  I did the tour on my own and I enjoyed it. The driver was friendly and reliable, took the time to explain any questions I had. I felt save throughout the whole tour. As for the rest of the programme, the bike tour is really a nice alternative to do a safari, the guide was also friendly.

• Bakaliaros82 17-Sep-2019

  I took part at the one-day excursion to Hell's Gate and lake Naivasha. We cycled in Hell's Gate National Park where we saw many zebras, antilopes, warthogs at a very close distance. After the cycling we went to Lake Naivasha where we saw many birds, hippos and we had fish from the lake for lunch. It was a very well organised excursion and our driver Boni was very professional he picked me up from my hotel and returned me there at the end of our tour. I just had one suggestion for Grace after the cycling we were all very hungry so it could help if there are some small snacks available after the cycling to get some energy. So to sum it up it was a very nice experience and I would recommend it to everyone.

• Raymond M 07-Sep-2019

  We had a excellent day in Hell's Gate and Lake Naivashu. Cycling within metres of zebras and giraffes was a wonderful experience and felt very unique. The animals are wild but do not run away, allowing for very nice pictures. Our driver for the day Francis was extremely knowledgable about Kenyan nature, was very caring about our needs and was good fun to be around. Our guide for the cycling trip Ibrahim was also very knowledgable. If you're in Nairobi and feel like an adventurous day out of the city, this is a really good choice.

• Katrinalj 10-Jun-2019

  My friend and I visited Hells Gate and Lake Naivasha for a private tour over the weekend. Our driver and guide, Kelvin was awesome. He was punctual, professional and answered all of our questions. Kelvin is also an excellent driver which is key when driving in Kenya. When it was time for lunch, he ordered ahead so it would be ready when we arrived at Fisherman’s Inn. I recommend the Swahili fish with Tusker Apple Cider. Very good flavors! As for the lake, the landscape was beautiful. It was a pleasant boat ride and we were lucky to see several hippos as well as a plethora of birds. We went during rainy season, so take a jacket when going out on the lake. Take pics at the overlook for Great Rift valley and the gorge at Hell’s Gage. Both are spectacular!

• Pooja I 09-Jun-2019

  Our trip to Hell's Gate National Park and the surrounding Naivasha area was absolutely perfect. The day started promptly on time and the trip started with a stop at the Great Rift Valley. Riding bicycles through Hell's Gate National Park was amazing -- we saw giraffes, boars, impalas, zebras, and many other animals. Our day was only made better by Kelvin, our fantastic guide. He answered each and every question I had, drove from and to Nairobi with impeccable skill, and made the day all the more enjoyable. If you have a spare few days in Nairobi, plan a trip to Hell's Gate, and plan it with Kelvin and Co.