Team Shemeji Safari Tanzania
Shemeji Safari Tanzania
- Office In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2015)
- Tour Types:
- Customizable private tours and fixed group tours
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $180 to $800 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
for a custom tour
Your request will be sent directly to the operator
If preferred, you can contact the operator directly
Reviews
DE
Email Sadaf A | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Avoid in any cost, dangerous car, changed itinerary and rude guide.
Unfortunately, we had a very bad experience in Tanzania that was dangerous, wasted our money and spoiled our holiday. They misled and mistreated us and canceled one game drive. Inappropriate way of transporting cooked chicken and food. Please send me a message to show you all the pictures, videos and emails.
Driver, so called guide:
He drove dangerously to get us out of the park. Though we were supposed to do a game drive that morning, then transfer in the afternoon. he drove almost 70km (all recorded with our app, see below) because he had no permit after 12! He took us to our lodge at 2 and left us there, no apology and nothing.He said speak to the office blankly. The office just told us that he had explained to us on arrival. Bunch of lies and shambles! We paid for the game drive, why did we get a day of just horrible transfer that wrecked our bodies. Trust me, you can’t and shouldn’t drive more than 35! All poor animals in front of us getting so scared and shocked! I felt like a burden not a valuable client.
On another day we had the game drive for all afternoon, coming to the lodge in the evening. Our driver who had lost all his interest and hope of getting tipped, wanted to go back after 2 hours! We told him it is still 14 and he is supposed to go back in the evening. He said it is too hot, and there is nothing to see, there only one road full of Tsetse flies. We said he can take another route and take us to the game drive we paid.
I asked him to stop for the toilet break, he said there is no toilet for almost two hours and he can’t stop anywhere for a bush toilet, so we have to go to the lodge which is 30 minutes away. I showed him the sign for the picnic area which was according to our map 10 minuets away. He said no, it is too far. This was unbelievably unprofessional and inhuman! As we were staying in the park, I gave him an option to take us to the lodge, then we should come back for 1 more hour game drive. That means we should be in our lodge by 17 which means evening. To our surprise he stopped in another picnic area which was less than 10 minuets away. I was shocked how he lied to us, because he had no more interest in being around us!
We saw a lion getting ready to hunt, he said no he is just going to sleep. Though, we met the other tourists in the other car was staying in our lodge and they told us why did we leave? The lion hunted the zebra after we left. He intentionally didn’t want us to see anything! Good luck with the guide/ driver. I would say ask to see their certificate, but you can’t see their attitude until you actually go with them .
We had unfortunately no luck with ours. First he came with a car that was falling into pieces. Then, he got angry when I told him that all our luggage is wet and my clothes, books and electronics are also wet, because the back door is broken.And also after we told him how dangerously he transports the lunch, he didn’t apologiz or offered help. He only stopped and eating and talking with us. Trust me, it was a very difficult time for us. He stopped eating with us, as I mentioned above. Therefore for our lunch break, he stayed in the car, asked my partner to come out and check the bush before eating in the middle of Serengeti. He said there can be lions, leopards or snakes there. Either he was not aware or he just wanted us out of his sight. My partner asked him furiously if he has actually studied wild animals! We felt quite vulnerable and I have never seen anyone with this massive lack of conscience and professionalism.
Itinerary:
They sent an itinerary first and then they said they made a minor change only to the order of the days because one lodge was fully booked which was fair enough. We paid the money as you can see in the picture for 5 game drives, they cheated and only bought the permit for four days.
Getting the money for a game drive and not delivering it, it is not a small change. We didn’t get a new itinerary or any brief that they want to save the money and wake us up at 5 am to kick us out in our lodge at 2 and call it a day! when we complained, he just follows the orders. After 3 days apart from good morning and good night, and get out for lunch, check the bush, that is what he said. Absolute disgrace!
Food:
Our fridge was not working and the door was broken and kept on flying away all the time. We can't believe that transporting food set under the sun, next to the driver, from 6 in the morning to 13, at 37 degree can be healty. How many people have touched that box, juice and banana? He had to eat it by hand, as there is no cutlery or plate! Great job, I had antibacterial gel and soap, because the place he stopped had neither toilet paper nor soap in the toilet!
We had the same story almost every day, until he gave up as well, and requested only vegetarian food. You pay as full board, you get a cooked chicken or chicken sandwich, not hot food and although I told them I am vegetarian when I booked, no one was aware, and every one looked at me with a shock on arrival . So be careful that they never communicated our special dietary requirements.
Car:
We asked them about the car, they said in a good working condition. Look at the pictures and judge yourself . Broken door, broken fridge, no window frame rubber was left, all destroyed and the window was rattling all the way. I will put the videos on YouTube soon! The luggage were stored inside the car, because it all got wet in the back. So, we had only two seats with seatbelts that were not working. Trust me it was a torture. Our driver came with this car that the back door lock was broken and he used a robber band to close it. The rain, dust and the noise drove us mental during our time there. Our luggage was stored in the car, as all our clothing, books and electronics got wet. Well, no apology, of course! Two window locks were broken, so we had only on choice, a seat with a broken window close to all the dust coming in, see the picture below, I swear it was after one hour driving 80 km in the national park, or seat with out working seat belt. Add 36 degree to the image, without window.And my partner had to get up every now and then and close the door! Everything is recorded! We got in the middle of Serengeti, where we have seen lions 10 minuets ago.Although that all other cars in front got passed, because of the rubbish tyres we got stuck more than an hour, until we got rescued. Then he drove dangerously to get us out and not pay the fine, because the permit was till 12.
Communication:
Unfortunately, we are left disappointed and the company hasn't even replied to us after we sent them the pictures and videos of our holiday, plus the emails providing the facts that we paid for one day game drive and got only a horrible transfer.
Before sending the videos and pictures we got this sarcastic reply from Froukje:
She wrote (I’ve spoken to both Emma and Andrew about this situation. I'm very sorry to hear you're unhappy about a few things. I hope to clear a few things. We are in Africa, where the roads are rough and the nature is dusty. We are sorry you were not aware of this. These rough roads also cause the car to to be a bit noisy.)
* This way of sarcastic customer service doesn’t work in this day and age. She added salt to the injury with making us feel stupid and peaky. Of course we know where you are, but we’re not aware of the broken door and the fact that a driver is allowed to drive 80km/h in the national parks. I have got all of it recorded and I have tons of pictures to prove it from the app I used to record the whole way speed and location.
We got an email after Emma saw our pictures on Facebook and our reviews. She admitted, I quote her here, email is available on request:
(I've had a look at the car and after a very busy high season this car should have been in the garage for big mantaintance. It is at the garage at the moment. Issues like the seatbelts should have been solved earlier.What I understood the door needs to be closed in two places which the driver didn't know (normally he drives another car) and because of this it seemed broken and there was extra dust in the car. )
About food transport this was the reply: We are sorry to hear you felt sick. I understand you think it might have been the chicken. We will contact The lodge and let them know what happend and see if they received more complaints about it. We hope you're feeling better now. )
* Lets not point fingers. See the picture of how the cooked chicken was transported in 7 hours in 36 degree, next to the motor, underneath the sun. Yes, the company is there, but you have been brought up and educated in Europe. I don’t want to lecture you for health , safety and hygiene. This is not the lodge fault, let me ask you a simple question, would you feed your children with that chicken?
Reply from Shemeji Safari Tanzania
Posted on Mar 29, 2018We are very sorry to hear you had a disappointing experience. Our company offers safaris of a certain quality standard and we are also very disappointed that your safari did not live up to this standard. We will briefly reply your comments:
1. We are sorry the way you have experienced the guide. We have had very good reviews about him. There has clearly been a lot of miscommunication with the guide. He did not mean to make you feel bad or unsafe in any way.
2. About the itinerary. Because you booked last minute and one of the lodges was fully booked we had to change the order of the parks and lodges. We have informed you about this before safari. The other option was to sleep in a different lodge in Ngorongoro which would be much more expensive. Also going to Lake Manyara on the last day (instead of day 2) was a good solution because you had a flight on your last safari day. We wanted to give you the best itinerary and price.
We have explained to you that you got the exact same itinerary as you booked, only in a different order. For 3 days Serengeti there is a 2x24 hour permit included. There has been no cheating and there was absolutely no game drive cancelled!
We are sorry to hear you were disappointed with this change of itinerary.
The itinerary you are showing in your review is not the one you booked. You received 3 itineraries per e-mail and you’ve booked the 6 days (tented) lodge. In the review you’re showing the 6 days lodge/camping itinerary.
3. On the transit road from Serengeti to Ngorongoro the cars normally drive 60-70 KM per hour. This is not a game drive area. Because the road is so bad drivers prefer to have this speed so you ‘slide’ over the road. When they drive slower the road will feel so much worse.
4. Unfortunately dust during a safari cannot be prevented. With an open pop up roof you get a lot of dust in the car. The parks are very dry and dusty. We also warn about the dust in our pre departure document. Regrettably there must have been some extra dust in the car because of the issue with the back door.
5. About the lunch box. Safari is quite an adventure and the lunch means having a lunch box at a picnic site. There are no cutlery or plates included. We have not heard this complaint before but we will take it into consideration. We have informed all lodges per e-mail about your diet (vegetarian).
6. Communication: on the last day of safari we have spoken on the phone and we have explained to you some of the issues per e-mail. When the driver asked if you want to talk again with our office you declined. After your review on Facebook we have started to communicate again and we were trying to find a solution with you.
7. We have apologized for the inconvenience with the car. After a busy high season we should have taken the car to the garage earlier. We always maintain our cars well, but in this case we were too late to take the car for big maintenance. We will make sure this won’t happen again. We have apologized for this and we have offered you a substantial refund.
Email Corinne and Barrie Winwood | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
The perfect safari which ticked all our boxes
We decided to book our holiday independently after seeing how much the tour companies were charging. Not wanting to go to SA for personal reasons, we looked at Kenya and then fell in love with the idea of Tanzania. Shemeji certainly came up with the 'goods' according to our brief and we couldn't fault them.
We visited Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro, and the Serengheti, each very different and each fabulous in its own right. We saw the Big Five, and the choice of accommodation was perfect as it allowed us to experience lodges and tented lodges, all really great places to stay. The people were very friendly, and the Masai fascinating. Our guide Edward did everything to try to make our visit perfect, and he promised us cheetah, and cheetah we got.....7 of them. we would dearly love to return.
NL
Email Jonthan | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Lifetime experience!
On all our questions we received a response within 24 hours. All information was clear and helpful!
We are thankful for the tour Shemeji organized for us, it was a lifetime experience! The guide (Andrew) is probably one of the best in Tanzania, he was amazing!
NL
Email Monique | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful safari with amazing guide
We did a lodge safari in January. It was our first safari so we didn't know what to expect. We had such a good time. We were very lucky to see lion hunting and we saw so many big herds of buffalos, zebras and other animals. Our guide Edward was really good. He took good care of us and was very patient when we wanted to stay with the animals for a long time. My son just couldn't get enough of it! About the lodges. We liked them all, but especially Tortilis in Serengeti was so amazing. Great place to stay and really good service. All in all, we had an amazing week and we would love to come back sometime. Thanks Shemeji!
DE
Email Mehmet | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very good organization and excellent safari tour!!! :-)
I am very satisfed with the organization and the safari tour of Shemeji. I will never forget this amazing trip!!! The organization made by Froukje was very professional, she always behaved in a very kind manner. Freddy was an excellent guide and driver. He drove us to very nice places and based on his knowledge and experience we could see a lot of lions, elephants, zebras, giraffes, buffalos, and other animals. He was very patient when we wanted to stay longer at a certain place. Further, he always provided us the important information concerning the different places we visited and the animals we saw. Further, the food we got from the cook Godson was excellent. My friend Annemarie and me enjoyed this trip so much. I definitely would like to see the Serengeti again, which impressed me most. And if I come back, Shemeji shall organize this trip again. Thank you very much! :-)
IE
Email Anne | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unforgettable experience!
I was informed about Shemeji by a colleague of mine who already had a good experience. The previous communication with Froukje was alsways very friendly and helpful. And the 6-day Safari exceeded my expectations. Our driver/gide was really funny, smart and patience and because of him we have seen so many beautiful animals up close. Beside the driver we also had a private cook who travelled with us for a couple of days. The food was delicious and it was an absolute privilege to have him as our private cook. We have absolutely enjoyed the journey! It was an unforgettable experience and hope to return one day!
NL
Email Cecile | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
amazing safari and perfect organized
In dec 2017 we went to Tanzania for a safari, what an amazing experience was it. We went to Ngorongoro, Lake Manyara, Tarangire and Serengeti our guide Andrew, he knew so much about the parks and also nice stories you never read in travel books. We slept in good lodges with nice food and everybody in Tanzania is so kind and laughing always. It was an amazing trip we never forget and we come back to see more of Tanzania and of course with Shemeij Safari. Thanks Emma for all you patience with us ( for changes the trip few times;))
Can everybody advice this Safari Compagny
SE
Email Camilla | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Super safari with Shemeji Safari and our guides Ben & Omary
our guides were very good, nice and they had great knowledge about the animals.
we felt well taken care of. Tarangir, Ngorongora and Serengeti were wonderful to experience not only all animals but also amazing nature.
NL
Email Petra Vos | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very well organised
Good driver, trip exactly at my demands, good price, pleasant guide, quick response by email, during journey contact with director, trip could be changed on our request due to weather circumstances.
I recommend this company. We have beenon safari trips in Tanzania en Kenya before and those trips were much less1
NL
Email Kevin | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Wonderfull safari!
We booked everything in advance in The Netherlands. Emma was very helpful and based on her advice we did a 6 days safari. Our guide Dave picked us up and we visited Lake Manyara, Tarangire, Nogonrongoro Crater and the Serengeti. It is hard to choose the most beautiful park so we don't! The safari was amazing, everything was perfect. Our guide, the jeep, the accomodations, everything were very nice! Dave was very kind and knew everything about the animals, villages, nature and things we saw. We came back with lots of nice pictures and movies, great memories and a very very big smile!