Kenya & Tanzania Safari and Mt Climbing Adviser
Adventure Africa Expedition
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2006)
- Tour Types:
- Small & medium group tours (Budget & mid-range)
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $120 to $295 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
NL
Email Tom | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Strongly recommend not to book here...
I had a bad experience with this travel company, therefore I would not recommend anyone to book here:
Some good points:
- Pick-up at the airport was well arranged.
- Plenty of game in Masai Mara (but you can see that with any company).
- Good communication before the travel.
However:
- I was booked for a Masai Mara + Lake Nakuru safari. Only upon arrival I was informed I would not go to Lake Nakuru.
- I was put in a different camp than promised on the website. On booking.com it turned out it had a much lower rating than the original proposal. Most people had small to medium stomach problems in the camp.
- On the last day, the driver 'forgot' to pick me up so I missed a morning game drive.
- The trip from Masai Mara back to Nairobi was in a very unsafe van (we broke down once as well) and the driver was driving like crazy and mainly paying attention to his phone. He didn't want to slow down while everyone was asking for it. At one point we slipped off the road and the car finally stopped about half a meter in front of a tree.
I informed the company on this after my trip. For the first weeks I did not get any response. As I kept reminding them they finally gave response saying everything that happened was out of their control. I asked for a refund however they were not willing to compensate.
IT
Email Hannah | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
8 Day Safari to Northern Kenya - highly unprofessional management
Itinerary: Nairobi – Maralal – Loyiangalani (Lake Turkana) – Kalacha – Marsabit – Samburu
First of all, this itinerary is really worth following, especially if you don’t want to just follow the usual touristic path.
Unfortunately, during those 8 days we encountered several grave problems with the tour operator and the manager Mr. Dickson Wambugu. The organization and also the handling of occurring problems was highly unprofessional and therefore we do not advise future clients to book tours through this tour operator!
We booked the tour well in advance, and about a month before departure we transferred the total amount (about 4800$) to the tour operators bank account as requested. Apparently the money was needed in advance to book rooms and organize car, driver and cook.
Several problems occured during the journey :
-Money: The driver and guide were not provided with enough money for the package we had booked. So at some point we had to lend them money in order to proceed with our journey, because the tour manager Dickson Wambugu was not to be reached. Highly unprofessional handling of the whole situation and we had to fight really hard to get that money back! Voluntarily almost no communication with the client throughout this whole situation.
-No accommodation was booked in advance even though the tour operator clearly indicates that in the program. That always made us loose precious time.Some of the campsites do not even exist anymore.
-We booked fullboard. Apparently the driver and cook had not been informed and we had to fight to get it. The food cooked the cook was good, whereas the restaurants offered were very basic and sometimes not very proper.
-Old car with many security issues: no seatbelts, no equipment (e.g. shovel), broken battery (with no money left to fix it)
Overall, the organization and also the handling of occurring problems was highly unprofessional and therefore we do not advise future clients to book tours through this tour operator! Back in Nairobi we reached out to the tour operator to discuss all problems in person. It remained really unsatisfying, because nothing was really explained and no real apology was presented.
We had a good time during this safari because we tried to concentrate on the positive things, have a good time as family and learn about the beauty of this country. However, having chosen a different tour operator surely could have improved the experience and saved us a lot of stress!
US
Email Charles | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
We believe we got scammed by Dickson
Four of us were referred by my friend’s sister to the owner, Dickson, of Adventure Africa Expedition over six months ago. All communications were very good at the begining. We were so exited and looking forward to the great migration in Masai Mara and Serengeti. We even wired him extra fund after the contract due to park fee increase from July 1st in Masai Mara. But during the tour, we realized we were scammed. He charged us 5 day Masai Mara park fees ($4,000), but we should only pay for 4 days. We have confirmed with the driver that he only paid $3,200 for 4 days. We brought this fact up to Dickson as this is an integrity issue, but he has been running around and refused to refund $800. We have reported this scam/integrity issue to Kenya’s Tourism Regulatory Authority (TRA) and we are waiting on the reply. But we really don’t know how Kenya authority will do. We were told that government has got so corrupt. Hope that is not the case. I have all the facts including the contracts and communication. I like to share this true experience so you can avoid falling into the same trap. Safari is great, but you need to stay away from this company.