Baboon Budget Safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2006)
- Member Of:
- KATO, KTB & Ministry Of Tourism
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $100 to $700 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
AE
Email Bhat | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Disappointing - Would not recomend them to any of my friends.
Communication- Fair
Service- was pretty bad. they dont stick to the timings . On the day we were to leave from Nairobi to Masai Maara, we were quite appalled with the quality and cleanliness of the mini bus that we were driving to Masai Maara. When we were told that this would be the vehicle that we would go on the game drive , we politely refuse to take that vehicle considering the rough terrain that we would be covering as the Van was in really bad condition without propoer upholstery and bad seats.
when we insisted they had the vehicle changed to a slightly better one.
Day 1- Evening -on reaching MM ,our Tour guide (Fred) was not able to locate our lodge amidst the Savannahs and we aimlessly wandered for about an hour searching and then he decided that we would go on the game drive after which we will find the lodge.
Day-2 was the best day of the 3 day tour as we were on the game drive from morning to evening. Packed lunch was provided.
Day-3 : our schedule was to leave for another game drive from 630 to 830 am after which we were to drive back to Nairobi. However when the tour guide came to pick us up he said that there was some technical snag and the car battery was having problems. We hardly took off and the van stopped twice in the grasslands. We then suggested that he go to the mechanics available in the town to which he agreed and after a 40 mt drive we reached the place but none of them were available. it was already 820 by then and he quitely filled petrol and said that he suggests that we skip the drive as we would reach Niarobi only between 7pm-9m if we went for the drive. We agreed to that as we were a bit concerned about the Vehicle giving way in the middle of the Savannahs with animals around us.
Little did we know that this was a ploy by the tour operators as half way through on our way back to Nairobi , the guide stopped for lunch and after lunch he told us that there would be a change in plan and that we had to move into another car which was parked beside ours and that the passengers in that car would travel in the vehicle we came from MM and we would go to nairobi in their car.
at that point of time we actually wondered how could they take them on a game drive if the van had technical snags (stoppped at least 3 times in Masai Maara when we started the game drive)??
It was just a pretext used by these guys as they needed the car by noon to make the swap.
Overall - Althoguh i would want to visit MM again , i would not take another package with them as their service was quite disappointing and would not recomend them to any of my friends.
US
Email Katie | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The director Dennis Solomon is a incompetent and is only worried about money. No respect.
I was super excited about the safari, and the lady who helped us book was so nice, even our driver to the safari was so nice. The issue was on the second day ( we did only two days one night), logistics was awful. We were told to meet the tour guide at 6 am only to find out, the tour we were suppose to be on left. We spent the next 45 mins in the safari searching for that said group, only to find out they were finished in the park, so we parted the park to return to Nairobi. We were suppose to spend three hours in the safari. All while my husband did not have a seat in the van ( over crowded) so he sat on the floor- literally where you put your feet. When we discussed this with the direct of baboon budget his response was; “ who told you you would have a seat, you can stand”, which was not of course what we paid for. After some time explaining his only response to our cristicms was, “ oh you people- I know people like you- you are just never sastified, you just want to complain and get money”. We were of course only relaying our complaints. We ( my husband and I) spent 520.00 usd ( 240 a person, plus surcharge for using debit machine), and spent less than three hours actually touring the safari. Logistics are awful and the director does not care about the costumer.
IL
Email Sergey Priven | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Patrick Atweng'a (introduced to me by at baboon office) stole 500$ which left as a deposit
A year ago my parents rented a car trough babbon tours from guy named Patrick Otieno Atweng'a...
after 3 weeks of using the car my folks returned it but never saw any of the the deposit, they were left to wait for couple of hours for the thief to come back - which never happened.
Baboon tours admitted their responsebility for Patrick Otieno Atweng'a action and promising me to deal the issue and return the stolen money..
I was in touch with mr. Dennis across the year via watsap and every time he gave me another excuse.
Beware of Baboon budget tours and other scammers...
Thank you for nothing mr. dennis behalf my parents and me
CA
Email Gail | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Untrustworthy, changes to itinerary, skipped site, misleading communications...
I do not recommend this tour company. No compensation for changed itinerary with a site completely skipped that was on my tour, no pickup in Arusha on arrival, poor customer relations and misleading communications from day to day, difficulty with payment at national park resulting in lost time on drive, not enough room in vehicle for equipment so stacked tents on top resulting in no pop up viewing one day. It just seems the operator wants money and cannot deliver what is promised. Be very wary when touring in Tanzania. Enough said. I have experienced several safaris, and this one is the only one that I can say was regrettable.
IL
Email Vladimir | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
They behaved dishonorably
I signed a lease contract with Patrick for Nissan X-Trail from 5.09 to 25.09.17, I've paid him for rentingת and left him a deposit of 500 USD.
At 25.09.17 I've returned the car. Patrick examined her and then drove her to the parking lot. He said that he have to go to the bank to refund me a the 500 dollars. Patrick did not return with the money.