Back of Africa Adventure ltd
Back of Africa Adventure
- Office In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2014)
- Member Of:
- Kenya Association of Tour Operators (KATO) & KWS
- Tour Types:
- Small & medium group tours (Budget & mid-range)
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $180 to $500 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Your request will be sent directly to the operator
If preferred, you can contact the operator directly
Reviews
DK
Email Madeline | under20 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great Experience!
We went on the 6-day tour of Northern Tanzania, which was incredible! Back of Africa had everything sorted out and were a great help in the booking-process. The only thing I would recommend is taking a shorter trip than 6 days as it is a long safari, but especially Serengeti and Ngorongoro were amazing and probably the most beautiful places I have ever visited! If I had to do it again I would definitely recommend the camping safari with Back of Africa as you really get to experience the nature up close, but 3-4 days is enough!
SI
Email Matic | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing 4-day safari
I have to mention The Back of Africa's representative, Allan. He was amazing. His email correspondence was super prompt and he was extremely thoughtful throughout the entire process (reservation, downpayment, ...). He even called our driver on our second day of safari just to check if we are satisfied and if everything is ok. Really amazing service on their end.
Moreover, we had a really great time and saw every one of Big Five group. Our driver and the cook were both great and really did their best.
Our driver Erick even communicated with other drivers to find out where the most interesting animals were located and took us there. All in all, it was a great experience. And even though it was a rainy season we had very nice weather.
DE
Email Philip | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Yes you can!
My girlfriend, 22, and I, 26, had a great experience with Back of Africa Adventure, from the very first day of our pick-up at the airport by the greatest guide you may find - Obama :) - until being dropped off again. All our questions in advance and in the Back of Africa office in Nairobi were handled with joy and professionalism by Allan.
We decided to go for a four-day safari, one to be spent in Nakuru NP and three in Masai Mara NP. On Day One, Obama picked us up at our place in the outskirts of Nairobi early in the morning to start the trip to Nakuru through the beautiful Rift Valley. Upon arrival in Nakuru, we had the opportunity to check into a very comfortable, spacious hotel where we had a great lunch and rest before embarking on our first game drive in Nakuru NP. Although it was raining, Obama made sure we had the most mesmerising time; we spotted many birds, gazelles, antilopes, buffalos, giraffes, zebras, baboons, and, the absolute highlight, four rhinos, both black and white rhinos. Obama taught us about the animals' lives with great expertise throughout all encounters.
In the morning of Day Two, we continued our journey in joyful mood to Masai Mara NP, only to find out that our Nakuru experience could be topped. We spent two nights in a lovely eco camp run by local Maasai right next to a river bordering the park. During three days of safari (afternoon drive - full-day game drive - morning drive), we saw the Big Five and many other species. It was clear that this was mostly thanks to Obama's great expertise and knowledge of the park - he knew every corner and road and, most importantly, where to find wildlife in its finest form. Apart from that, he also was the go-to-guy for the other safari operators. In Masai Mara NP, Obama was also very open to spontaneous rescheduling and gave his best for us to have an incredible time. During long hours in the car outside the nationalparks, he further discussed not only the animals and plants, but also football and Kenyan politics - he knows it all! On top of all, Obama and Allan together dropped us off at the airport in Nairobi, incl. a farewell drive alongside the Nairobi NP. Cristina and I couldn't have been in better hands and highly recommend this operator with their amazing staff to everyone interested in visiting Kenya. Special thanks to Allan and Obama!
US
Email Susan | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great safari value
If you're looking for a good value safari, try a Back of Africa camping safari. Our family of five enjoyed a private four-day safari in Tanzania where we saw the Big 5 and so much more. Prior to the trip, I communicated with Allan, the owner, via email and always received a prompt, detailed response. The trip itself was well organized and went smoothly. Our driver/guide was pleasant and knowledgeable. He did a great job spotting a wide variety of animals and made sure we were informed in advance about plans for the next day. The safari vehicles are an older model and the campgrounds have basic accomodations. Set your expectations there and you won't be disappointed. The game drives, however, are spectacular. We have lots of postcard worthy pictures and great memories. If you want to do Africa on a budget and are willing to camp, I highly recommend Back of Africa for a camping safari.
all is marvellous. very very good safari. the best experience that I have done
all very good.Allan is very kindle and helpful.Great organization.guide brilliant. food too much.and the price is the cheapest I've found in Internet.
CA
Email Daniel | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great Experience for our Budget
In the lead up to our 5-day safari with Back of Africa Adventure, Allan was very helpful in getting the logistics and planning organized for our trip. He was prompt with his responses, and made our preparation an easy process. One thing that we did not expect when organizing this trip for our group of 4 was that we would be sharing our experience with others who had booked budget Serengeti tours as well, but this only really enhanced the experience. Everyone, from our guide, Simon, to our cook, Mr. Delicious, to our fellow tourists made the experience great. There were a couple times where there would be lulls in the trip (an hour or more) due to arranging permits for the parks, but I don't know how much the company is at fault for this or if it's the park's poor communications infrastructure. Overall, the 5-day trip we took was one of my favourite experiences I've had across 4 continents of travelling, and would highly recommend this if you're looking to avoid spending an arm and a leg. Camping in the Serengeti and getting to hear the hyenas was so cool!
RO
Email Irina | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful 5 days safari in Tanzania, professional and knowledgeable staff, good food&accommodation!
They went above and beyond to make the safari trip unforgettable experience. Allan was really quick to respond, at any hour, giving us important tips and support on how to get to the safari starting point from Kampala in Uganda to Arusha in Tanzania. They made us feel welcomed in both their offices in Nairobi, through Allan and Arusha, through Abraham, who was also helpful in organizing an extra day for us in the safari. As for the safari itself, we had Max as guide and Yusuf as chef. Max was really knowledgeable about all the places we visited, animals, people, local culture. As we were particularly interested in the Maasai way of living, he was more than pleased to give us extra information about them. He knew a lot about the savanna flora and fauna, and we especially liked the peculiar details specific to each animal, never a dull moment on the trip. Max made all efforts to be sure we'll see the Big 5, and we encountered them all, many times. As for Yusuf, he cooked delicious food, in the morning, for lunch and dinner. We especially liked the three course dinner, it was every time different, and the pancakes for breakfast. They both made a good team and they even organized a surprise for one of us who had his birthday during the safari trip, a moment to remember! All that, plus reliable car, good accommodation, as they provided all that was initially promised and even more, made an excellent safari trip. We want to also thank them for being flexible in setting up the schedule for the safari trip, especially for the last day, when we needed to be at the airport at a specific time. Will definitely recommend them!
DE
Email Jana | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
We had a nice time during The Safari and saw many animals. It was incredible!
The Service was really good. Allan was really helpful preparing our trip and always replied within minutes to our Emails. The Guide during The tour was also really helpful and took good care of us. The Food was amazing!
US
Email Justin Porter | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great option for low cost safari
Allan at Back of Africa arranged my entire trip and took care of all of the details. The transportation and accommodation were just as described and I was very pleased. There was a slight mix up on the last part of the safari that was out of Allan's control. He was very responsive when I notified him and he made it right immediately. I would give Back of Africa my highest recommendation.
FI
Email Elisabet | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Not what I expected
In this safari business as in many others in Tanzania, it seems that you are buying from some company in particular but then they just put you with the same budget pack that many others offer. We booked everything through Back of Africa but once we arrived to the office, Allan, whom I have been all the time in contact, was not there, there was no signs or credentials or anything that would refer to Back of Africa. We trusted the guy at the reception, his name sounded like "Biarman". So we paid the big amount of money for the safari to him and we didn't even get a receipt. The same guy at the reception was our guide and driver the whole trip. The first day of safari was terrible, the guy was very lazy, not even going out of the car to show us the birds when we stopped at a viewpoint. He could not recognize birds more specificly than the basic information if it was e.g. "a hawk". We didn't have the promised binoculars for each neither the guides, not even one for the whole group of 5 people. Then I contacted Allan try to get some clear info about who is the guide we have and for whom does he work. Allan didn't even know the guy, afterwards he said he was new in the company. But the funny thing is that when we asked to Biarman he said that he works for Sandland Tours, the same company as the logo there was in the safari car. There was 1 person in our group that had booked the safari through a completely different company. We never got this thing clear. And it seems a common practice to put people that has booked through different companies together in the same safari. I think that only in Arusha there was something like 280 different companies, but at the end, many of them belong to the same owner, or they just change the name when the company lose its reputation or whatever, but you can never trust that the company you are booking with, will be the same you are actually going with.
(By the way, Sandland Tours has the worst reviews ever on the Internet...)
Anyways, we tried to make the best out of what we had, we put some pressure to the guide to make a bit bigger effort to find the animals, and it improved, at the end of the day we saw pretty much. I don't think he was a bad guide, but he was not a very good one either. He was just doing his job to get paid, he did not enjoy his job, he was not a nature lover.
The first day we did not have any binoculars, after the second day, we had 1 for 5 people and it was broken and not very good quality. I think it is essential to have good binocular for a safari, and they promised 1 for each, which never happened. We never got any wildlife guide or book.
The camping sites were what they were, don't expect too much, but it was good enough. Our tent was the oldest in the camp and it didn't smell nice. Thank god we brought our own sleeping bags cause theirs were pretty smelly too. We had the poorest chairs to sit during meals, and no chairs at all to be able to relax in the camp site, but the guide had his own nice chair to relax. In some camps there are no lights so they could have adviced to bring own headlamps (we had ours, but other people did not). In one of the camps there was no electricity, so for people without power banks it was a serious problem if you couldn't charge the camera.
There was 2 days that we had to take the cook with us, which make the car not big enough. The cook sat on the front with the driver so we had to share the 4 windows seats on the back with 5 people, while in the national park, seeing the animals. Specially in Serengueti it becomes extremely dusty, it would not have been a big job to cover the bags on the trunk so they wouldn't be completely brown from the dust by the time we reached the camp.
The safari of 5 days in the 4 main national parks in the North of Tanzania was still worth it for the own awesomeness of the places, but certainly not because of the company we booked with, whatever that company was...
Reply from Back of Africa Adventure
Posted on Aug 16, 2017Dear Elisabet,
I would like to personally apologize for the series of unfortunate incidences that you experienced during your safari on the Tanzania side with us. We continually try to do our very best for all of our guests, but unfortunately, sometimes we do fail. I therefore again express my sincere apology on behalf of our company. I am very sorry to learn that your experience with our Arusha representatives, was less than adequate.
I understand your frustrations and the moment you did reach me out on my Kenyan cell phone on the issue; I tried all I could in my powers to sort it out and my contact person in Arusha promised to rectify the mistake as I did communicate back to you the same day. Little did I know that my directives landed on his “deaf ears” until I read from you via this respected platform. I MUST say that we let you down as a company and as a person whom you were communicating with all through and for that, I am so sorry.
As a company we take full responsibility for the situation and understand why leaving the work to the “untrusted hands” at times compromises our standards and I did not meet your expectations. Our Customer Service Representatives are given a set of guidelines that they are supposed to adhere to, however in this case, clearly those standards were insufficient.
In this regard, we failed you as our valued customer. I should have postponed my travel and see you off on your safari program with a more qualified and respectful guide.
Please be assured that this type of situation will never happen again. We have put new procedures in place as of today that will ensure that any of our customers who will be with us on a safari and may intend to speak with someone more senior, for any reason while on safari or after the completion of the trip and need assistance, will be transferred immediately at our company expenses.
It's very important to us that our customers get what we promised as that is what our company motto “putting customers first through service…” does preach.
I regret that we provided you with bad service and a poor customer experience—it is the exact opposite of what we pride ourselves on. We value our customers and understand how important it is to offer exceptional service.
I would like to thank you for bringing this to our attention. It will help us improve our operations and services today and tomorrow across the globe.
If there are any other issues that need to be addressed, now or in the future, please don't hesitate to contact me personally on my cell phone or my Gmail account.
Yours Sincerely,
Allan.