Experience the Wildlife remains at Mara Masai
Ancient Wild Safaris
- Located In:
-
India
- Size:
- 1-5 employees (Founded in 2000)
- Tour Types:
- Customizable private tours and fixed group tours
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $100 to $480 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
BE
Email Britta, Antwerp - Belgium | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Bona fide organisation with good knowledge of what foreign tourists expect (quotation, safari, etc)
This company clearly has experience in dealing with foreign tourists asking all kinds of questions and requesting a detailed programme with segmented prices.
Good communication and also once in Kenya they are easily reachable (they actually return your call, not all companies do!) and they tend to any additional enquiry you might have.
We booked a car and safari driver for 4 days/ 3 nights (stayed in Tawi Lodge and Acacia Camps which we booked ourselves), the driver Mr Joseph proved a safe and careful driver who has good knowledge of his country and the animals in general, he's good company without being the pushy kind.
The car, a typical safari minivan, was in good condition and was cleaned every evening.
Ancient Wild Safaris profiles itself as a budget operator but I find they're perfectly able to handle more upmarket tours as well, just clearly inform them what your standards are and what you expect from the trip.
My next safari will be booked again via Ancient Wild Safaris and yes I recommend them to friends and family.
Thank you Michael for making our 1st trip to Kenya a memorable one!
US
Email Irritated | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A ridiculous, unprofessional organization
Where oh where oh where do I start to explain the ridiculous experience I had with this god-awful company. It should be noted to that one of the good reviews posted on here was actually posted months later and from Kenya so that's a lack credibility right there.
I found ancient wild safari's right here on Safari bookings and after writing off to about 6 to 7 operate is looking for a certain itinerary that fit into a certain period of time I landed on this company. At the beginning Michael was very very good about returning my messages and seem to have his stuff together. They didn't have as many reviews as another company I was considering but sometimes I like to try to give the new guys a chance as I know how ihard it can be in business. I found his photo on Facebook and thought he looked very pleasant and like a nice African man. Even when I looked at other companies after I had already somewhat committed to taking the tour through Michael I felt a little bad as I don't like to mess people around. There was a tour I really did like the look of better but I thought you know what let me give these new guys a chance as they hadn't done it that long from what I could tell a couple years versus many.
I spent the first day in Nairobi with Morris a private driver arranged by Michael. He honestly looked very tired at the beginning but he was a good talker and we got along. I was booked to do a group tour with African budget safaris for the first couple of days and then they hooked me up with a sister company in Tanzania as federal regulations prohibit the same tour operator operating in both states. You're actually required to do part of your tour and then you get put on the shuttle bus down to Arusha where the sister company picks you up and you continue. Morris and I had all day together and as the day went on he kept pushing me into doing a private Safari with just him and he kept stressing that I would have more flexibility. Finally at the end of the day back at the hotel we'll sit down together Michael Morris and myself. Michael said to me Morris thinks that you were very friendly lady he would like to take you want to private tour and share his love for Kenya with you and really a private tour would be much better for you so why don't you go ahead and do that. So I agreed and handed him the payment in full for the tour. He gave me a written receipt for the amount and then told me I would need to pay an additional US$300 give or take for the private version of the tour. I didn't have enough money and I told him so and this we agreed I would pay after the tour. I did tell him he better make sure it's a great tour as I didn't want to pay extra if it wasn't.
Morris arrives bright and early the next day. Again though he has these tired tired eyes and it was a little distracting so I asked him are you okay. He said yes. We get out on the road and as we're driving through out the day he tells me how a lot of Kenyans have a drinking problem but they all go out and drink a lot and it's a real problem. It didn't take long for me to put it together that he's tired bloodshot eyes were from a lot of drinking he was doing all night. We get to our first camp and it's quite satisfactory just outside the park Massai Mara. As promised my tent was a permanent self-contained and had its own bathroom with shower and toilet. I had specifically made sure I asked Michael in our email exchanges about these facilities and he told me that both Kenya and Tanzania had the same facilities that is self-contained tent with its own bathroom and shower. I was not willing to sign up with the company that did not provide these facilities and I was ready to pay more if need be but he assured me that these facilities were what I would get. Instead of going to dinner that night Morris decided to slip off into town and hit the bar and while he lied about it to me I'm not an idiot as my ex-boyfriend is an alcoholic and sometimes you can just tell the signs. I was a little put off that he didn't share dinner with me at the camp but I've heard different versions of what's considered appropriate and what's not. The next day we got out on the Safari and sure know if there was an actual beer in the door of the car!!! I mean really people come on. By this stage we were in the middle of nowhere and even though I was in constant contact with Michael at this point I didn't want to mention it as I didn't want to be irritating Morris in the middle of the African bush when it was just him and me in the car. Quite frankly he made me a little uncomfortable so what was I going to do I just had to get through it. So we get through the next couple of days and he smells and wears the same clothes one day as the night before when he picks me up but whatever. The same red tired bloodshot eyes the whole time so I just prayed. We end up in town and Michael is waiting at the shuttle bus to take me to Arusha and all that went okay. I get down to Arusha and get on Safari and that's all very well and fine but then we pull up at our first camp and I walking my little hut and guess what no bathroom no toilet no shower no self-contained nothing but a bed without sheets without anything. Again I was assured it was self-contained which is very important to me. Oh it gets better the next night was actual camping sleeping on the ground in the pouring down rain and me with my bladder issues having to get out in the middle of the night with the water buffalo just 20 feet away from me and I had to pay right outside the tent in the middle of the night with rain gushing down on me and this is exactly what I wanted to avoid and therefore why I made sure to ask ahead of time would I have my own bathroom. It really did suck I have to tell you I woke up in the morning pissed off cold and miserable as I didn't get what I was told I would get I didn't get what I paid full and there's nothing worse than when you're lied to in business. I did let Michael know the night before the first camp that I was irritated and he told me please just be happy. This time I couldn't contact him as I didn't have any cell phone service. The actual scenery was amazing and made it worthwhile but really that's not the point right here. Finally I end up on the shuttle bus heading back to Kenya and he's waiting for me at the other end with Morris to pick me up and take me to this restaurant that's included as part of the whole tour. Morris gets out of the car to greet myself and my new friends and actually staggers and crashes into the vehicle he is that wasted drunk!!!! I could not freaking believe it. I fought with him the whole tour we were on together as each night before we went to bed on tour I kept telling him don't get wasted drunk please please. With these early starts on Safari it's just not enough hours to get all the alcohol out of your system you know. Wasted drunk ridiculous oh my Lord. So I tell Michael hell no I'm not getting in the car with him he's drunk. Michael calls and all the driving and gets us to the hotel that is my friends and I. After we get there I proceed to let him know vigorously how unhappy I am with the alcoholism of the driver and the fact that I was lied to about my facilities in Tanzania and would you believe it he still tries to get the additional $300 out of me!!!!! I dig my heels in and say hello and my friends who actually United Nations offices all jump in and stick up for me as well. He fights vigorously until he gives up and leaves. The next day I proceed to get all these threatening messages from him with verbal abuse telling me that no one on the tour in Tanzania liked me they thought I was a horrible person they thought I was stubborn, I pissed everyone off. Unreal and not true, we had fun and the company in Tanzania was really good, it's not their fault he lied to me and the service they provided had that been my expectation was more than satisfactory and I will give them a great review on here as they did their job very well and professionally.
As for Michael, not once would he knowledge that he lied his ass off to me even though the night before I had showed him all the emails we exchanged back-and-forth and I have witnesses that agreed with me that his communication with me clearly indicated I would have my own bathroom. I don't have to explain why I need my own bathroom it should just be enough that that's a request that I need honored. I get into it with him and tell him that I have a bladder issue and I had to go to the bathroom in the rain and then have no shower for three days because I didn't even have a towel because I was told my accommodation would be self-contained and he actually has the nerve to tell me that I should've told him about my personal bladder issue!!!!! Are you freaking kidding me!!!!! It is no one's business what bladder issues I have can you talk about invasion of my privacy!!!!!! He won't quit and tells me that not once did we actually stop at any accommodation that wasn't on the itinerary. Wow he just doesn't listen it was amazing as that was not my beef!!!!my beef was lying to me about the facilities not that we stopped anyway we weren't supposed to ....my Lord it was so aggravating trying to communicate with him. He told me that I should've called him on tour to say I wasn't happy. Dude we were in the middle of the African jungle with no cell phone service are you really really serious. And not only that I did message him the first place we stopped when I realize the accommodations werent what he promised and all he said to me was please be happy please be happy the scenery is great and that's all. So I'm trying to get to the airport my last morning and he text me to tell me he's going to get the police to meet meet me at the airport and I broken the law and he's going to try to have me arrested and it was just ridiculous and even when I got to the Middle East he was texting me and calling me telling me he had my passport information he was going to the police at the airport he was going to go to the embassy and threatening me and it was just a complete circus. So if you read this far I beg you for your own sanity run fast from this company and save your money and yourself the aggravation of dealing with the most unprofessional, dishonest and ridiculous people I've ever met in my life. Oh and he even accused me of being racist , that was his defense. Yeah I'm racist and Id just come from volunteering at an orphanage where I spent time and money with all the kids because I'm racist and I have a black boyfriend because I'm racist. Fool . If there's any mistakes with grammar or punctuation in here it's because I talk text because I have a lot to say so if you actually want to verify that this is a true and legitimate review please don't hesitate to message me thank you.
Reply from Ancient Wild Safaris
Posted on Apr 21, 2015Hi Sarah, Thank you once again for your honest review about the trip you had in Africa. We are truly very sorry for the mess you had with us. It shows mostly the driver Guide was miss behaving on the trip, we only wished that you had time to tell us this before you finish your trip with him as was your right to get the best out of him. Please note that client is always right, and i think was fair enough even to let you go for the whole trip with balance of which not many operators would allow this. People experience different and since you have all the days on trip we accept the mistake of not giving you your own room on Tanzania side. Please let us also note in advance when you have special need as these are always very important to help us arrange all facilities with Hotels and Lodges.
Thank you as we learn through mistake. Therefore shall be very keen next time.
Best. Ancient wild.