Drive Tanzania
- Located In:
- Size:
- 50-100 employees (Founded in 2010)
- Member Of:
- American Society of Travel Agents
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $150 to $1,500 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
IN
Email Sangeeta | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Best Tour Operators Tanzania
Everything was perfect and well taken care of by the team of experts who were friendly, efficient and knowledgeable. Guys have gotten us Kenya to Tanzania safari and I will always plan my trips through drive Tanzania Ltd . Thanks a lot for an outstanding trip !!
IN
Email S Agarwal | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful
The communications were good, the service also. All the people in the camp were very kind.
Drive Tanzania is an extremely efficient and well-organised tour operator. We booked the 7 Day holiday with them and are glad that we did so. Their superb communication & extraordinary service allowed us to be confident and excited. Everything was as per the schedule. The guide was informative, polite and helpful and made us feel relaxed in his company. The itinerary was well thought through and we had many excellent experiences. It was a wonderful trip with one of the best memories of my life!
US
Email Janet B. | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good Experience
Great Experience with this Company.
The owner is a good man, always taking care of his guest in Tanzania.
IN
Email Kajal Gupta | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Kenya Wildlife Safari
I enjoyed my tour with Drive Tanzania Ltd, especially as it was my first time camping! Great sites, experiences and exposure to local culture.
FR
Email Serge and Isabelle | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The perfect safari experience!
It was not our first safari, but it was our best because Director and driver /guide alike went out of their way to make sure we had a wonderful time. Director of Drive Tanzania (Yoeni), a most friendly person, welcomed us at airport, and helped us sort out some difficult paper work even though our contract was only for car/driver rental. The driver/guide named Ezekiel was of great company. He drove safely and was very knowledgeable. He was responsive to our wishes and took us to see a fabulous variety of animals, the highlight being cheetahs' and lions' families with young ones. The car was somewhat old but sturdy and proved to be fully reliable on Tanzania's dirt roads that are generally in a very bad shape. We came back happy and strongly recommend Yoeni and his team for your driving/safari needs.
SG
Email Charles | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Professional scam artist, avoid Yoeni Japeth Mbonea at all costs. No stars!
My wife and I engaged Drive Tanzania for a 21 day safari covering Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. With the benefit of hindsight, we should have not gone ahead with this when Yoeni, the director of Drive Tanzania was either very hard to connect with or he would hang the phone up on you mid conversation, as what occurred in the lead up to us engaging Drive Tanzania. There was a lot of miscommunication due to poor communication by Drive Tanzania around flights and commitments. I thought it is just a bad phone connection but really, that has nothing to do with it. All of these tour operators have multiple phone numbers and whatsapp. Tourists do not get the number they use most for all their communications with locals and to do their business.
Regardless, we commenced our tour. Things continued to go badly. In Uganda, when we arrived, our tour guide was more than an hour late, which is quite scary late at night in a foreign country with taxi drivers yelling at you at airports. There is a minimal standard of care and for a safari of this price, it was not being met. Eventually our driver came. We found out he didn't know who Yoeni was as all of the Uganda tour was outsourced and not provided by Drive Tanzania.
That said, Uganda is amazing. Seeing mountain gorillas in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and getting so close to them is a life long memory. Further, the Maasai Mara in Kenya (our second country, guided by another outsourced tour guide) was also excellent. Seeing lions, cheetahs, leopards, elephants, hippos etc in the dry season was actually very worth while as we could get close to the animals as there are less tourists around.
Here is where the disaster with the fraudster Yoeni and Drive Tanzania really began. As we crossed into the border from Kenya to Tanzania our Kenyan tour guide told us he was unable to reach Yoeni and left us there, to drive back to Nairobi. I was able to contact Yoeni and he said the car had broken down and they were several hours away. We waited for them in a roadside hotel at the border as we had next to no money, afterall on safari all expenses are paid and in advance. Also, this is Africa… do you think they accept credit cards or know what an ATM is? The hours passed. We got worried and tried calling Yoeni...repeatedly… 110 times! He had turned his phone off. We got worried and started scrambling. Eventually we found out the name of our hotel in Tanzania in the Serengeti and when we called, we discovered there was no booking for us and we could not get into the Park.
Yoeni Japeth Mbonea and Drive Tanzania left us stranded and took $10,000s from us. We are still chasing him for an equitable refund for more than half of an unfulfilled trip. Be careful, he has done this before. He has many different tourism companies that have come and gone. He also has interests in mining companies and gem traders. His fees are also very expensive, particularly as he outsources everything, but really he makes money by scamming foreign tourists and making a couple of phone calls to other tourist providers. His company is actually really small and he uses the money he steals from others to support an affluent lifestyle in Norway. Avoid this person [remember his address in case he starts a new company!] for your own piece of mind. Use safaribookings.com to find another tour guide as there are 2000 more out there and you will save yourself from this horrible, potentially life threatening experience.
FR
Email Eric | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Danger: big problem with "Drive Tanzania" car rental
We had a terrible and quite incredible experience with Yoeni Japheth of "Drive Tanzania Ltd". We booked in january 2017, a 4WD for 20 days, 200 USD/day for our trip in Northern Tanzania in july. We paid in advance 4.000 USD for that to an account in Norway (first strange thing for a supposed tanzanian company).
I accepted this fare more expensive that others companies offered because Yoeni Japheth promised us a car "not older than 3 years", sending a picture of a very new safari 4WD. I had insisted (that is important for the rest of the story) on the possibility for the driver of passing easily in the back of the car to be able to photograph animals from the pop-up roof.
On july 15, a car arrived at our lodge one your late with to representatives of "Drive Tanzania". But they brought a big landcruiser for 8 people (we were only two) with a barrier preventing the driver from going in the back without going out of the vehicle (what is prohibited in national parks). As I am the driver and the photograph of this trip, this this characteristic would make my safari impossible. Yoeni Japheth did know that perfectly as our mails exchanges attested.
So I said to these representatives that I can't accept this car and wanted the 4WD type we rent. "Ok, no problem, I will come back soon this the good car, take a coffee, I will pay it", was the answer in front of several witnesses of our lodge.
But they never came back ! I tried to phone to "Drive Tanzania" but their tanzanian number was a fake number. One hour and half later, we received a mail from Yoeni Japheth saying that we "choose to cancel our trip" and "no any other cars are available so we cant help" ! He didn't even offer any refund.
I immediatly asked Yoeni Japheth to call me to discuss the problem but he refused to do it, repeating in email his false allegations.
He refused later any refund so we loosed 4.000 USD and had to try to find an another 4WD in peak season. Our journey has been deeply disturbed by what I call swindle because Yoeni Japheth, who seems to live in Norway, knew that we need and rent a precise type of car.
Of course, I lodged a complaint against "Drive Tanzania" at the Arusha police on July 19. They take this affair seriously.
Eric
IN
Email D.Sharma | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
I have hired Budget car rental Tanzania and Experienced memories for lifetime
When we made a plan to explore Tanzania, the first thing that came to our mind was how to get the best car rentals. Only after exploring the web, I came across Drive Tanzania Ltd. I find it the finest adventure travel African Company that specializes in holidays, safaris, wild trips and tours for Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. the travel solution provider ensures luxury wildlife safaris to not only regular travellers, but also to travelers who have never experienced the thrilling African safari vacations. The company has allowed us to hire a budget car rental in Tanzania.
Tanzania is famous worldwide for its incredible wildlife and unspoiled natural beauty and so the company takes initiative to add value to its customer’s safari experience by making the useful preparation for your trip to Africa. The company allowed us a self-drive safaris at the most affordable rate. It was an awesome experience for me as well as my family. In the Self Drive Tanzania initiative, the company has provided us a platform through which we explored this amazing land. With the budget car rental services in Tanzania, we get option of either to hire Budget car rental in Tanzania, spend time in properly planned itineraries with overnight stays in pre-booked lodges.
Awesome tour, Awesome comfort, awesome budget the car was also awesome so we left no stone unturned to make the travel memorable. It was a cost effective as well so we saved our hard earned money.
NO
Email Nordahl Finn | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
wonderfully safari with Drive Tanzania ltd
We booked 9 days safaris with Drive Tanzania and we enjoy everything in Tanzania.Clean and long base landcruisers and we stay in Sopa lodges.Everything was good and our guide Isaac Mbaga was fantastic.We saw alot of wildlife and enjoy luxury safaris in Tanzania.We will come back next time and we will tell everyone about this company.Thanks so much Yoeni for great and great time in Tanzania.
IN
Email S. Kumar | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
An ultimate luxury wildlife Safari with Drive Tanzania Ltd
It is an undeniable fact that there is no dearth of wildlife safari solutions in the African region today. What makes Drive Tanzania Ltd unique is customization to transform wildlife safari packages into luxury packages. Such options are rare thus comparatively unaffordable in many cases. While approaching this party, I had the apprehension that perhaps such packages would make a big hole in my pocket.
Thanks God, nothing such happened and I enjoyed once-in-a-lifetime experience. Being largest online market in the African region, Drive Tanzania Ltd provides best solution to wildlife explorers. My experience was beyond the expectation because this operator equally focused on making the tour a luxury—something which used to be a taboo in practicality in the recent past. We were made to enjoy momentous moments in groups. Being provided opportunity to explore good variety in my safari excursion made me realize the value of time to assess the nature and its beauty.
A rewarding wildlife safari experience, my tour planned by Drive Tanzania Ltd team made good sense of a travel to remember in my lifetime. What more I could expect that besides fun and adventure which this package offered alongside its luxurious element as if a royal retreat.
I am so much enchanted from the uniquely designed package that I am keen to explore it more for rest destinations. Go for it to have your firsthand experience of wildlife safari which distinguishes in many ways. Luxuriousness makes it a truly appealing one for all and sundry.