Reviews
NL
Email Antonio | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Worst experience ever ! Total scam.
We met with mr. Rufus in Kenya to discuss our tour and our accommodations. We booked luxury tented camp accommodations during our safari and when we met with Rufus he told us the reservations for these camps were confirmed and we paid him. However on our first day of safari we got dropped off at a different very low budget tent camp which was not the camp he promised us we would stay at. 2 days later we went to a different national park and also there Rufus had arranged a totally different accommodation (less expensive and more basic) than was described in the booking. The last two days we would go to amboselli national park and we were supposed to stay at kibo Safari camp. However on our drive there we asked our driver where we would stay and suprisingly he was told to take us to a very low budget, crappy tented camp. We called Rufus to discuss this problem (again) and he told us we were on a waiting list for kibo camp. We didn't believe him and called Kibo camp ourselves and they told us they had plenty of tents available and they never had been in contact with "visit mount Kenya tours" or someone named Rufus. As Rufus was not answering his phone anymore we told our driver to go to kibo camp. Eventually the driver paid our first overnight there as Rufus was not responding to any calls. However the next day we called Rufus again and he was very aggressive and yelling that we costed him too much money and he wasn't going to pay our last night accommodation (even though we already payed him for a 6 day safari in advance. In the end we had to stay at the kimana amboselli tented camps, the camp Rufus wanted to accommodate us in the first place. This was the worst place I ever stayed. The toilets were disgusting with bugs in them, as was the shower (cold). Furthermore we both got sick from the food, as did others in the camp and our tent was full of holes and the sheets of the bed were full of stains. In short: don't travel with this tour operating company, it's a complete scam !!
TR
Email Cem | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Disaster !
We went to Amboseli and Masai Mara between 11-18 Septembre with Visit Mount Kenya Tours.
This was a terrible experience especially in Masai Mara as
- The company's minivan broke down on the first day as it was a very old and neglected car. They took us to Safari with a normal car where naturally it was impossible to enjoy savannah . The next day we refused to be in that car and we discussed with the driver and hardly found a land cruiser
- The driver (he told his name is Justus) never came to hotel to pick us up at agreed hours for the morning and afternoon safaris , he was always late 1-2 hours. The hotel management told us later that he was drunk on the first day he took us to the hotel
- Although we bought the tour by agreeing that we will stay in Sopa Lodges, the driver in Masai Mara tried to place us in a different hotel saying that Sopa Lodges is full , we discussed with him, He talked on the phone with company owner/manager Rufus then they accepted to take us to Sopa Lodge which was already what we agreed upon. If we did not object hardly, we would miss the opportunity of staying in a really very good hotel ( Sopa Lodge). The driver told us he would place us in a sister hotel !!?? of Sopa Lodge
- The last day in Masai Mara, the driver did not show up at all, we stayed in the hotel, we missed 2 safaris
- The last day when we were leaving the hotel, the hotel did not let us leave because Rufus (owner/manager of visit mount kenya) did not pay to hotel the money we had paid him a couple of weeks before our visit. so we argued with hotel management and they accepted that it was a problem between them and visit mount Kenya , and we left with another car hotel management found for us. We did not return to Nairobi with that driver of visit mount Kenya.
I wont write everything we experienced but my recommendation is that never use this agency!! We will make our officials complaints too.
US
Email NH | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Total disaster
I have travelled extensively for many years and this has been the worst experience by far. Departure to Amboseli was delayed by 8 hours which I had to spend hanging around in Nairobi because infamous Mr Rufus kept making up incongruous excuses every 10 minutes. Before paying, Mr Rufus categorically confirmed I would not be sleeping in tents. Instead, he said I would be sleeping in a lodge made with "local materials", "like a proper house". The reality was that I had to spend two horrible nights in the filthiest cheapest tent I have ever seen. Mr Rufus did not make arrangements for me to leave Amboseli. After making up loads of stories and delaying the agreed departure time by about two hours, he offered me the option to take a matatu (unsafe public bus) back to Nairobi by myself, which I had no choice but to accept since Amboseli is in the middle of nowhere. Do not trust the positive reviews because I suspect they are fake. Simply do not take the risk of going on a safari with this agency.