RafikiGo plans private safaris and trips across Kenya.
I used to plan trips in Kenya for my friends, and not just the itinerary. I'd organise the best drivers I know and the best places to go, and run the actual trip itself. My family and I have been living in Kenya for a long time, and we've helped many friends take some incredible trips here.
And honestly, I have that itch of always wanting to show people the best of Kenya. I've travelled all over the world and I think Kenya is one of the most blessed countries in the world, and I want people to experience that. So that's why I wanted to start a tour operations business as well. It's called RafikiGo. Rafiki means friend in Swahili. We picked it because this all started with planning trips for our friends, and we want to plan every trip the way we'd plan one for a friend.
Mara Hilltop, our lodge in the Maasai Mara, started with the same passion, and we've helped so many people since it opened in 2025 (more than 1,500 guests), with some amazing reviews. I'd like to do the same for RafikiGo.
Who handles your trip
This is not a big business. It's three of us: my brother Nikhil, me, and Anupam, who's been a close friend of the family for years and is like a brother to us. We love travelling and showing Kenya to our friends and people in general.
Nikhil, who plans every RafikiGo trip, on a game drive in the Mara.
- Nikhil, my brother, runs Mara Hilltop and plans every RafikiGo trip. He answers WhatsApp himself, usually within two hours, from 7am to 10pm Kenya time.
- Anupam, our cofounder, handles your deposit and the paperwork.
- I price the lodges (we hold rates with 80+ of them) and built the trip planner.
- Your driver meets you at the airport with your name on a sign. For road transfers we usually recommend a Toyota Noah, which is very comfortable with air conditioning throughout the trip, and for families it feels perfect. Bigger groups go in a 10-seater or 14-seater van, and if you'd like a 4×4 for the entire trip, we can do that too. For the game drives you go out with local guides from the region who know the place, like local Maasai guides in the Mara or Amboseli. The trip is private, game drives included, and if you'd like to share a safari with other guests we can help with that too.
It's the same WhatsApp thread from your first question until you fly home. If something goes wrong on the trip, you message that thread and Nikhil sorts it out with the lodge directly.
Maasai guides on a Mara Hilltop nature walk.
An example: the Mara and Amboseli in one trip
Say your plan has the Maasai Mara and Amboseli back to back. Both directions are fine, there's no one better than the other, and we have done trips both ways. What I would recommend is to include Naivasha along the way. Mara to Amboseli direct is almost eight to nine hours, which is too much.
With Naivasha in the middle it's about four hours from the Mara to Naivasha, then about six hours from Naivasha to Amboseli. So Naivasha works as a halt, and it's another good spot to stay. You can take a boat out on the lake to see hippos, or cycle through Hell's Gate. For Amboseli itself we generally recommend two nights.
Hippos, one mid-yawn.
How to check any tour company in Kenya, including us
There are tons of tour companies in Kenya. Some are good, some not too good, and there's not enough information out there. I want to make Kenya more accessible. The goal is to become one of the most trusted travel brands in Kenya and East Africa, and with Mara Hilltop's reviews we've had a great start already.
What we'd ask any tour company in Kenya, and our answers. The first two are what Kenya's Tourism Regulatory Authority tells travellers to check.
| What to ask | RafikiGo |
|---|---|
| Is it licensed? | Yes. RafikiGo is the brand of Venture Valet Tours & Travel Ltd, licensed by Kenya's Tourism Regulatory Authority as a Class C tour and safari operator (licence TRA6/33/C01/93147). We carry the insurance a licensed tour operator needs. |
| Does the deposit go to a company bank account? | Yes, by bank transfer to Venture Valet Tours & Travel Ltd. Half holds the trip and is fully refundable until 30 days before you travel. The rest is due a week before. We never ask overseas guests to pay by M-Pesa or into a personal account. |
| Does the quote name every lodge? | Yes, every lodge and every night, in writing, before you pay. |
| Who drives you? | A driver on the road, usually in a Toyota Noah (a van for bigger groups, or a 4×4 for the whole trip if you ask), and a local guide from that area on game drives. |
| Is it private? | Yes, game drives included, unless you ask to share a safari with other guests. |
| Where are the reviews? | RafikiGo is new, so there are none under its own name yet. Mara Hilltop is 4.9 on Google (130+ reviews) and 9.6 on Booking.com, and 40+ tour operators send their guests there. |
The lodge's own website also has a page saying RafikiGo is run by the team behind Mara Hilltop.
- Mara Hilltop is the only lodge we own. Every other lodge on your trip is independent, and we book it for you.
- Kenya only, for now.
- We're not KATO members yet. KATO (the Kenya Association of Tour Operators) only takes companies after a year of trading.
A few trips to start from
If you don't know where to start, start with one of these and change it.
A topi mid-leap.
| Trip | Route | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| The Long Weekend, 4 days | Naivasha, Maasai Mara | A first safari when you only have a few days |
| The Wild North, 8 days | Aberdare, Ol Pejeta, Samburu | Rhinos and the dry north, away from the Mara |
| Family Safari, 9 days | Rift Valley, Maasai Mara, Diani Beach | Safari first, then the beach, with kids |
There are eight trips on the site, and the planner prices any of them for your dates. Park fees are part of the estimate, but you pay them at the gate and the rest to RafikiGo (how the Mara's park fees work).
The price covers your lodge nights, road transfers, game drives with local guides and the airport pickup. International flights are never in it. If you want to see where the money goes, there's a line-by-line cost breakdown of a Mara safari on the Mara Hilltop blog.
How to start
The planner lets you try a route and see a rough budget before you talk to anyone. When you're ready, Nikhil checks every lodge has space and sends the written quote, and you pay half by bank transfer to hold it.
Or skip the planner and message Nikhil on WhatsApp with your dates, how many of you are travelling, the kids' ages if any, and a rough budget. Not just for Mara, we plan trips to other parts of Kenya too (Amboseli, Samburu, Naivasha, Diani and more). Let me know if you have any questions.
— NJ
NJ Singh: photographer, digital nomad, co-owner of Mara Hilltop and co-founder of RafikiGo. More of my Kenya photos are on Instagram.