Faustin tour and travel tanzania southern safaris
Faustin Tour and Travel
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2010)
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $130 to $500 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
DE
Email Christian | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Spectacular impressions from Tanzania
We stayed for 14 days in Tanzania for safari and beach time on zanzibar a and these days had been one of the best in life. Faustin is very well connected, and knows many good places. He organised the safari including driver and accommodation as well as our stay in Zanzibar very flexible based on our wishes. And all this via email between tansania and Germany. The organisation was absolutely perfect, we stayed in cozy, clean lodges and our driver, Davis, who drove with us through selous, mikumi and ruaha national park was very friendly and showed us the beauty of the wildlife with all of his passion and experience. I highly recommend Faustin for all persons, who want to really "feel" Tanzania. It was a blast. Thank you again for this experience. Iam pretty sure it was not the last time, I visited Tanzania.
Well-organized safari with amazing guide
We liked...
- Patrick is an amazing driver, a very positive, appreciative and helpful person and had great knowledge regarding the animals which he was eager to share. All in all very happy to be with him.
- car was in good condition
- all lodges (especially Mikumi safari lodge) are very recommendable and had a good standard
- procedures were uncomplicated
All in all we are satisfied with tour.
Areas where Faustin could improve:
- after having paid the remaining 70% in cash on site, it definitely would have been necessary to hand out receipt for the payment. The digital invoice with the cost split was not sufficient and for reserving it, it caused some discussion (and should be common practice)
- the hiking with Maasai in the uluguru mountains did not take place which was a pity and which is different to the description given on safari booking
DE
Email Kosta | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Avoid this guy!!!
Attention, be very careful with Faustin!!! I can't recommend this tour operator at all!!! We have never experienced such a disaster before. The tour was a nightmare!!! The organisation was terrible.
The driver left us in Mikumi at the Hotel, on the last day returning back and disappeared into thin air!!! Faustin and driver would not pick up the phone since then! We were left alone and had to go back by ourselves to dar!!!!!!!! Luckily it was not our day of the departure, else we would have missed the flight back home!
We reported this incident to the Police and the Tanzania Tour Association as well as the National Park Administration!
But let me tell you the whole story...
...My girlfriend and I, booked a 5-day Mikumi and Selous private tour. Faustin was recommended by friends, who made a 9day luxury safari. Faustin and his driver John picked us up with the car ready to start the tour. Once we paid him the full amount cash (by the way we never received a bill) he left the car telling us that he is not going to join the tour with us. If we knew before, we would have canceled.
Alone with the driver we soon realized, that John wasn't speaking English at all. Luckily my girlfriend is from Kenia and speaks Swahili. Even though John was not talking to us, he was just driving like a robot. No conversation, no stories, no jokes, no social interaction. In fact, he was texting all the time and even stopped to handle some private business while we were waiting for him in the car. Being scared of getting a fine he drove 40km/h although the speed limit is 50km/h. Can you imagine how long a 5-day-trip can get with someone like that!
John was just the driver, he had no clue about the daily planned program. He asked us, what to do next, instead vice versa. We had to coordinate the trip with the local guides ourselves, who were also shocked with Johns behavior. He littered in the national park. In the national park, during safari he jumped many times out of the car while talking on the phone, although advice differently by the guides as it is forbitten by the rangers. He scared away animals and spoiled pictures. He had no patience and was bored quickly. At some point, after a long wait, trying to get a good pic, he decided to drive off. At this point I lost my calm and had an argument with him. Because he didn’t understand English, he thought we insulted him.
A regular (taxi) driver with no safari experience would have done the job with more passion and care.
We booked a regular tour, but Faustin delivered less than promised. He cut our program short. He is profit oriented but delivers a really bad service and showed a very unprofessional behavior!!!!!!
During the whole tour, he never got in direct contact with us, although we expressed some concerns. Maybe he will do that now, through this platform. I'm curious to see his response.
After the driver dumped us in Mikumi, locals told us, that Faustin is known for this tricky behavior. He owes local guides/drivers money. He doesn't pay them their full salary.
If you are thinking of doing a safari-tour check the safaribookings.com for the best rated company. I strictly advise you not to ignore my review.
Reply from Faustin Tour and Travel
Posted on Oct 6, 2017The fact is that Kosta booked for the car not regular safari tour package and he went far by asking us to help him organising tent in selous and mikumi becouse they had no money for the lodges. After one night in the tent at selous game reserve Kosta found that Tent is not confortable with his girlfreind so they asked for lodge while they do not have money to pay, They have given one night in the lodge in selous and 2night in mikumi at morio hotel and all that tent and lodge i paid by my self for knowing that he will cover our money but one day before we found that Kosta had no money to pay for extral services so we took car money of one day we pay to the lodges so Kosta were supposed to pay for the car for one more day becouse we spend car money to the lodges that they sleeped. Kosta had nothing to pay for his last day transfer to dar es salaam so we advised him to take public bus to dar which is cheaper and my guide took them to the public bus to dar(Bus name is Upendo bus services). Kosta plan was to get help for free so that he may give us good reviews but we do not need good review for helping people for free so this is how story was so kosta is trying to wash him self from the shame of not prepared well for safari and put blame to other people for expecting help. Its better for kosta to show the agreed plan so that people can get truth of what he booked and what he and his girlfreind spent. The more wost thing from Kosta is bad word to my driver and guide, he insulted every one in mikumi but this is becouse of stress of lack of money. God will bless him
DE
Email Alice | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Avoid Faustin tours
We (my boyfriend and I) booked a full 5-day Mikumi /Selous safari package tour with Faustin. We agreed on the price and paid Faustin the whole amount in advance. We never received a bill, although we asked several times for it! After paying, he told us, that he wasn't accompanying us for the trip, leaving us with an odd driver, who couldn’t speak English. Even though we had many negative incidents with the driver, the peak reached on the last day of the trip, when the driver never turned up at the hotel to bring us back to Dar!!! Even the people from the hotel and the local guides were shocked with this behavior.
Faustin’s organization was not well planned at all. For more information please read my boyfriend’s (Kosta) review below!!! We never heard from Faustin during the whole tour and are a bit shocked with his response. He uses fake facts/information to respond to honest feedback from customers. Faustin response doesn’t add up. We booked a full package tour from the beginning (pickup Dar + tour + dropoff Dar), not only a driver and a car!
Our trip was never about the money, we had the money, it was about the service. We flew to Tanzania for safari, of course we had the money!!! We are not his friends to ask for favors.
Looking at his negative reviews, his response is always the same. Faustin blames the customer by responding that the customer had no money and he -Faustin- tries to help making a tour possible. Which in our case was not true. He never offered help in any way.
We do not want such an incident to happen to anyone else, that’s why we really not recommend Faustin. If it would be possible, we would give him zero stars.
I bet he is going to respond to my review also negative.
Be very careful booking your safari by him.
Reply from Faustin Tour and Travel
Posted on Oct 9, 2017I have already reply this to your husband comment but whatever you may try to lie to the public if is not true it will never work as you wish becouse so may people used my agent and they will say the truth but nexty time be prepared for safaribudget and do not put your problem to people. I past you again the fact that i gave to your boy freind.
The fact is that Kosta and alice booked for the car not regular safari tour package and he went far by asking us to help him organising tent in selous and mikumi becouse they had no money for the lodges. After one night in the tent at selous game reserve Kosta found that Tent is not confortable with his girlfreind so they asked for lodge while they do not have money to pay, They have given one night in the lodge in selous and 2night in mikumi at morio hotel and all that tent and lodge i paid by my self for knowing that he will cover our money but one day before we found that Kosta had no money to pay for extral services so we took car money of one day we pay to the lodges so Kosta were supposed to pay for the car for one more day becouse we spend car money to the lodges that they sleeped. Kosta had nothing to pay for his last day transfer to dar es salaam so we advised him to take public bus to dar which is cheaper and my guide took them to the public bus to dar(Bus name is Upendo bus services). Kosta plan was to get help for free so that he may give us good reviews but we do not need good review for helping people for free so this is how story was so kosta is trying to wash him self from the shame of not prepared well for safari and put blame to other people for expecting help. Its better for kosta to show the agreed plan so that people can get truth of what he booked and what he and his girlfreind spent. The more wost thing from Kosta is bad word to my driver and guide, he insulted every one in mikumi but this is becouse of stress of lack of money. God will bless him
Fast communication and catered to my needs as a lone traveller.
Slightly smaller park (Mikumi) than the main ones, but still a very good experience all round. Guaranteed to see lots of wildlife in smaller groups.
My guide (Daniel) was brilliant and knew his way around and he was easy to get along with.
Hike up the waterfall was also a great experience and a good few days all round.
Email Karol, Sean, Peter and Drew | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unbelievable experience
Everything was amazing and well organised during the tour and safari.
Communications between the company and us was extremely good with quick and regular responses.
The whole experience definetly lived up to expectations.
The lodge was out of this world and the food was amazing.
The tour guides were very friendly and showed great knowledge and care.
Highly recommend using Faustin tour and travel for your tour guides and safari's.
DE
Email Sabrina ans felix | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very friendly , very acurate, dependebly
We Had a Great Time with Faustin . He had very good Guides in the Parks . All of Them ans faustin were Very friendly , very acurate ans very dependebly.
Email Chloe | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing, smooth, painfree and unforgettable experience!
I was visiting Zanzibar for work initially (solo traveler) and, despite a tight schedule, I thought it would be a shame to travel all the way from London to East Africa and miss out on a once in a lifetime experience.
I started looking at safari prices and most of them were very dear or complicated to organise. I came across Faustin Tours randomly as I landed on safaribookings.com. My requirements were simple: I wanted to do a 3 day long safari in the middle of my Zanzibar business trip, I wanted all the meals to be included and ideally was looking for something that would cost me less than $1000.
Willst other tour operators seem to charge a fortune without the meals to be included, I sent a quote request to Faustin Tours for a private safari, and Faustin, the owner, happened to reply within 10 minutes. He was extremely kind and sent me a quote and after kindly asking where i would come from (directly from London or from the continent) explained that he could arrange for a taxi to pick me up from my Zanzibar hotel and to take me to the airport and back.
Faustin was extremely nice, easy going, very patient and super quick to reply (expect a reply within 20 minutes!) even advised me on which plane to take from Zanzibar to Dar Es Salaam.
After agreeing on everything, I was sent an invoice and requested to pay a 50% deposit via bank transfer.
I arrived in Zanzibar at the end of October 2017 and my safari started on November 6th. Faustin kindly got in touch with me 2 days before the trip, asking whether I had landed safely, and for address and pick up details.
The day of the trip, my flight was at 6:30 and departing from Zanzibar airport. Faustin’s driver picked me up at 4:30 from my Makundunchi hotel and we drove for just over an hour. I arrived at the hotel on time for my flight. The flight from Zanzibar to Dar is a 18 minute flight, and I paid just over $130 (I didn’t want to deal with all the ferry hustle and bustle).
Faustin himself picked me up, and after introducing me to my driver, he explained that I would be alone for the safari! AMAAAAAZING! It would be the driver, the guide and I!
We sorted out the invoicing and I paid the remaining balance, and here began my trip with Johnny, the driver. The trip from Dar to Mikumi National part was 6 hour long. I was at the back of the car and got all the time to sleep and enjoy the breathtaking landscapes of Africa whilst on the road that links Tanzania to Zambia.
We stopped at Morogoro for a quick breakfast at 11ish and arrived at the park at 2pm, where I was taken to a cottage for lunch.
My guide, Nova, was absolutely lovely. Young chap, very smart and knowledgeable. Him and Johnny had that connection that made the trip even more fun. I was taken to the game drive at 3 pm and here it started!
Nova explained that it was a “game”drive and that I may or may not see all the animals. However, I was in luck that day: after seeing hundreds of impalas, we came across zebras, giraffes, buffalos and ONE lion. I was so excited to take all these pictures (make sure you carry a professional camera, and not a phone).
I was driven to my hotel at 6pm, had food and passed out. The hotel was cute but the window had stayed open all day long and I came across 5 cockroaches around the bed. The next morning, I had breakfast over there and mentioned the cockroach incident to Nova and John who picked me up at 6:30am. Nova immediately spoke to the receptionist who arranged for a cockroach-free room to be given to me that same evening.
We headed to the safari and got there at 7 am ish. All the animals we missed the day before were there and i got to take amazing pictures of them: lions, elephants, zebras, wildebeests, giraffes, buffalos... it was a dream
Come true! We even got really close to a lion and a lioness, and witnessed a lazy intimidating attempt of the lion wishing to get closer to a group of zebras.
After lunch that day, and after having seen every animal I wanted to see, I asked Nova whether we could visit the Masai tribe. Both him and the driver were quite flexible, I was taken to the cash point and withdraw about $70, and off we were. The visit of the Masai camp is possibly one of my best memories ever. Seeing all these kids, and mummies showing me around, playing with me, dancing and singing for me, taking pictures and videos and spending time with me was extremely emotional. I wish I had taken toys or stationery along with me. The mums offered to dress me as a Masai woman and gave me all the jewellery accessories so I can fit right in.
We stayed with them for just under two hours and I was driven back to the hotel whilst trying to realise what I had just had the chance to see and live.
I headed to my new hotel room which was much better and said bye to Nova. I had dinner there and was driven back to Dar airport the next day at 6:30 am. We stopped at Morogoro again for a juice and toilet and picked Faustin up on our way to the airport.
Once at the airport, Faustin directed me to the correct check in counter and showed me where I could grab lunch before my flight. I said bye to both him and Johnny and left.
My flight to Zanzibar was delayed by 3 hours, I was in touch with Faustin who was able to alert the driver that was supposed to pick me up from Zanzibar airport and drive me to my Makundunchi hotel.
Once I landed, the driver was waiting for me and we headed Back to the hotel.
As previously stated, this safari really is one of the best thing I have experienced in life. Very well done to Faustin for making a dream come true by providing a painless, smooth, professional and top quality customer service. I would recommend Faustin tours to anyone wishing to go on a game drive :).
Nova, Johnny, and Faustin: thank you for everything!
Email TONY WATTS | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Such an easy and unstressful booking experience from start to finish and the safari was well managed
All the lodges selected by Faustin were of a very good standard with good food choice and sleeping arrangements. The guide ( Novath ) and the driver ( John ) were very likable companions throughout the 9 days. Special mention for young Novath, he was one of the most pleasant young gentleman one could wish to meet.....so polite, so happy and 'chatty' and for his age, very knowledgeable about all the animals, birds and environment at each park. Our communications from the UK with Faustin were always kept up to date and the meeting on arrival in Tanzania was well conducted by the company. We saw so many different species of animals so went away from this experience with fond memories. Would I book again or recommend Faustin Tours...............................OF COURSE I WOULD!!
FR
Email Marie | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
I knew i made a good choice for letting Faustin organises my son's honeymoon safari
Faustin has been very helpful and avalaible from the earlier booking until the completion of the safari. He kindly and patiently responds to all the queries and questions we had. I would highly recommand to anyone who have a keen interrest in human contact and interaction to consult Faustin for their trip to Tanzania