Wecam Safaris

Wecam: Highly responsive, okay service, some missed key details

Wecam was mostly good but got quite a few significant details wrong, so I give them 3 stars to make a point that the operator in a situation like a Kenya/Tanzania safari trip should come with strong experience, clear recommendations, and quality equipment to soothe over the difficulties of a trip like this. Wecam overall provided okay service, were honest and responsive, but fell short on the details. I emphasize the details missed below.
Starting with the positive, Wecam was the most responsive of the operators contacted, which counts for something. They also were honest enough to pay for an error in a flight booking that I showed via old emails was there fault. While that represents missing a detail, on the flip side, they were honest enough to pay for the flight even having already paid for the safari in full at that point. So the positives of their service along with one strong lifts them from below average.
We chose a safari and beach vacation. The first vehicle assigned for our safari was the oldest we saw around and a bus rather than jeep-style, better suited to the terrain. More importantly, the windows did not shut well to keep out the cold morning draft (which the limited heat could not offset sufficiently) or dust, with one periodically even falling out when I opened it to take photos. Nor did it have air conditioning as an option to keep drafty windows closed and prevent my girlfriend from coughing from a mild allergy to the dusty road. The second vehicle assigned in Tanzania was significantly better, though it may have been a governmental requirement. It also lacked air conditioning, plus the trunk stopped working, which would have been a big problem if we were more than two people. The first vehicle advertised that it had wifi, but they didn’t send the driver with the wifi unit so that it could work. The second vehicle didn’t advertise wifi onboard though the driver had the unit, and didn’t clarify it was available until we were out of range of towns anyway and then ran out of airtime promptly and couldn’t get it back working. The first driver wasn’t that great with English or explanations, although the second one was outstanding, raising Wecam from two stars.
Another significant detail missed was that I specifically made it a much more expensive two-country safari to see the Great Migration in action, which was heading from Masai Mara to the Northern Serengeti. However, they had the itinerary skip right past the Northern Serengeti. Good thing we were lucky enough to see a decent number of wildebeest including a river crossing in Kenya and so many lions in Central Serengeti, or we’d feel really miffed.
There also were problems with estimating time. Drivers generally under-estimated amount of time to arrive, while the central office person initially estimated our timing to arrive at the airport four hours early for merely a domestic flight. The second driver was better at estimating time. Wecam booked internal flights without engaging us as requested with respect to flight time, they ignored one message with a specifically-requested time that was available, and they communicated a slightly incorrect flight time. They also put us at a hotel a 90-minute drive away from the airport after a long day of driving and flying when much closer options were available, even if without quite as nice a beach, turning a long, tiring day into a late, exhausting one unnecessarily. Wecam did not provide clear recommendations from among mid-range hotel options, forcing me to try to review choices and advise though without sufficient time while working a busy job to check accurately, leading to staying in a couple second-best stays among the second-rate places.
Overall, there were a number of positive elements in their service and strong responsiveness. For the price paid though, I expect stronger assistance with providing recommendations and smoothing out the details.