Office Staffs
Pride of Africa Adventures
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2014)
- Tour Types:
- Customizable private tours and fixed group tours
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $50 to $350 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
UY
Email Alicia | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
I felt scamed. They did not comply with the agreement
At first Stephen responded quickly and provided me with an itinerary according to my requirements and clearly stating what was included and what was not and the price. I had requested other quotes and made my choice by ranking the number of safaris proposed, a room for myself and accommodations in nature environments. All this in the month of January I also contracted with them for 8 days in Uganda (which they subcontracted to another company) After having sent the signal, I have questions specific to the trip to which Stephen does not answer directly and that is where my distrust begins when I see that there is no transparency and clarity in the communication on his part.
After requesting an invitation letter from both countries for the purposes of applying for the visa, I found out from the Ugandan agency that my room was going to be shared. It wasn't what we had agreed upon. Words come and go, 2 weeks away I am leaving for Nairobi. I don't know what happened between them but in Uganda I was always in a private room. I will go on to detail what was established in the itinerary and I did not have:
- pre and post accommodation. I had pre but no post. I insisted on that, it should have been in Uganda (I paid Pride of Africa, so they had to have arranged it) but I had to pay for the accommodation myself. - They charged me U$30 for the deposit transaction, which should have corresponded to them, (this is stated in our WhatsApp conversation), having already paid the part that corresponded to me here. - the most serious. They took away 4 safaris from me...4!!! One in Masai Mara, another in the morning in Nakuru, another in the afternoon and a night safari in Bothelli (which was the only night safari there was) Instead, on the day we were supposed to have a safari in the afternoon and evening, they take us back to Naivasha and leave us at a lodge at 1:30 p.m. (a place with no park or anything to do), "to rest." ". I'm not going to Kenya from Uruguay for 7 days to rest, needless to say. The day we went to Hells Gate, they gave us 1 hour by bicycle, they did not take us to one of the parts that are allowed to go in the Devil's Throat itself, (they took many people there and it is a spectacular view) and then to drive to Amboselli to get there and do nothing again. When I wrote to Stephen complaining about these things, he always told me about other things and never responded. I told him I felt cheated. The group was 7 people that we had hired from different agencies. The itinerary responded to what they had but my itinerary was different
- The first 2 days they put me to sleep in a room with another person, it was not what was agreed upon either. - It is not my first safari experience. The animals will be notified very early in the morning, 6:30, and in the evening. We always left after 8 am and long before sunset we had returned to the rooms, greatly reducing the safari times. This also greatly reduced the chances of seeing animals. - drivers are drivers, they are not guides. They don't explain anything to you and they don't show anything that doesn't break your eyes either. By the way, they are not at all friendly in their treatment either. - They have a radio in the car to communicate with other cars in case they see animals. One of the safaris left with the radio not working. - on the last day, we were supposed to have a picnic lunch on the way but we rushed it and dropped us directly at the airport - The pack lunch, the times we had it, in my case I am a vegetarian, consisted of 2 loaves that inside had, literally, a very small slice of finely cut tomato and an equal one of cucumber, plus an egg (sometimes) and a banana Although this and eating rice and beans every day is not what worried me. As I said before, I don't go to Kenya for food or to rest.
- the only place we had accommodation in nature was at Amboselly Niati Safari Camp. A very beautiful environment with the stunning view of Kilimanjaro....full of cockroaches that walked inside the bed, through the toothbrush...tremendous I reiterate, everything was very cordial with Stephen until the sign. When I complained to him that it was not what was agreed upon, (especially my insistence was on the safaris) he told me because I was the only one complaining. I was complaining Stephen, I told you at the time and I'll tell you here too, because I was the only one who had another itinerary. It should be in another group, or you should have made it clear to me that there were changes, refunding my money or repairing it in some way. That's why I told you that I felt cheated and I still feel cheated. I am a born traveler and I have been to Africa several times, in conclusion it is the worst company I hired in my life. I have my detailed itinerary and all the WhatsApp messages available to anyone who wants them.
CA
Email John | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Worst Safari Ever
I have been on other safaris in other African countries and this has been the worst by far! Look elsewhere for a safari company.
ITINERARY
Our original itinerary looked good on paper, however, we found out, while on safari, that it involved backtracking which meant the safari had to be changed causing us to miss 2 half day game drives in Masai Mara (which was supposed to be the highlight of the trip!)
DAILY “ROUTINE”
We were told by PRIDE OF AFRICA that we would be starting at 7:00 AM each morning so we would be able to get the most of our safari while in Africa. In reality our normal start was 8:30 AM. We also noticed that other guides brought their clients back from game drives to their accommodation around 6:30 PM. Our guide brought us back at 3:30 PM. This timing was the worst possible! Wildlife is active in the mornings and evenings while we were still at our hotel! We were out at the time when most wildlife is sleeping so we saw much, much less! Our game drives were 4.5hrs shorter everyday.
The only day we did not follow our “daily routine” was the last day. On the last day we started at 6:30 AM. That was the day we were to be “Arriving in Nairobi late in the evening“ (as our itinerary stated). We went on our game drive that morning, but only for 1.5 hours so that the guide could get back home early. We asked him about it and he told us that we could have a longer game drive but we would have to pay him extra for that! A 1.5 hr game drive!!! Our guide wanted to just get home early!
GUIDE & DRIVER
We had an excellent driver. As a guide, however, he did very little communication in letting us know about what was happening and only told us about the wildlife when we asked. He was knowledgeable about the wildlife but chose not to communicate that knowledge with us.
VEHICLE UPGRADE
When we arrived we were taken to the office of PRIDE OF AFRICA and were asked if we wanted additional day tours. After not purchasing an additional tour we were told that we could upgrade our vehicle to a LAND CRUISER. We were told that it would be more comfortable and better able to handle the wet trails in the Masai Mara, We went for the vehicle upgrade and paid US$800.00 for it. When we began our safari there was no Land Cruiser but the standard (2020/21 Toyota Hiace 4x4) instead. A vehicle that was uncomfortable with poor suspension and both side doors could not be opened from the inside (the guide had to open our doors every time we wanted to get out of the vehicle). We felt scammed out of US$800.00 and were never compensated for it.
SHORTFALLS & EXTRA CHARGES
Our original safari outlined several key points that were eliminated in our actual safari.
The first paragraph of our safari description stated:
- Includes "pre and post accommodation"
(We only received pre-accommodation)
- Tour Price Includes “All park entrance fees”
(We were charged an extra $40 to enter Maasai Mara)
- Game drives as detailed in the itinerary.
(There were ignored by the driver)
The itinerary changed and we missed out on several highlights because the original itinerary involved backtracking – A poorly designed itinerary that they changed in the middle of our safari
FOOD
The food was fine. That was not the reason we went on safari in Africa.
OVERALL
Overall a badly run safari.
I would never book again with PRIDE OF AFRICA!!!!!
Reply from Pride of Africa Adventures
Posted on Mar 28, 2024Let us be honest sometimes. When we met in the office after airport pick up and we were doing our usual briefing for the next day, the clients asked us the age group of the people they are traveling with because they booked a shared safari ( Group Joining)and if they are noisy. We told the them the truth that the ages are mostly young people and due to there age which was above 60 years, we advice them to talk a private safari car for there own and we gave them 2 option of safari van and jeep and because of safari van price they chose to take the safari van at 800USD for 7 days and the van was going in the market rate of 150USD per day x 7 = 1050USD and we both agreed for the safri van at additional of 800USD NOT A JEEP. The next when I personally went to pick up with the Van they really praise the vehicle which had the current number plate in the country ( new car), we talked while they were in Masai Mara and they told me that everything exceeded there expectation. We were surprised after requesting to meet them they refused and advice the drive to drop them in there hotel which was part of the program. We were only giving them one night upon arrival before starting the safari. Therefore, we think that the clients should be very honest and truthful with what they are writing because if there could be an issue why did they refuse to meet us. Lastly there was an increment in Masai Mara entrance fee from 80USD to 100USD per day and we knew this after the clients had already booked and we ended up sharing the difference 50/50 and this was done on gentlemen agreement and we were both happy.
IE
Email Sean | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Didn't Deliver Purchased Safari Itinerary
Unfortunately we chose Pride of Africa (PoA) Safaris, as we believed they were an actual safari operator and they would be able to deliver the itinerary that they offered us when we contacted them by email. Sadly, they turned out to be more of a travel agent then anything. In our 10 day safari, we found ourselves pushed along from one operator to the next, as we experienced 5 different groups and 5 different guides. This created a very incohesive experience, where on occasion, lots of time was wasted and lost, and we did not get to visit all the locations and do all the drives on the purchased itinerary.
On the first day, the taxi driver who collected us from the airport affirmed that he had not been paid by PoA, when that was supposed to be included in the tour, so we paid him again. When we met Stephen, he had previously said over email that I could pay by card on arrival - but failed to be transparent about his physical card machine charging a significant fee. Considering that the safari was several thousand USD, the fee was very high. This caused quite some hassle as I walked around Nairobi to ATMs to withdraw a significant amount of cash and incurred almost as much fees in ATM transactions.
Stephen advised us there was a slight change to our itinerary. It wasn't immediately apparent what it was. It ended up being that they had downgraded one of our accommodations from a resort-type accommodation to a tented camp. Thanks to the power of the internet I could clearly see there was a price difference, so I requested they change it back to what we had purchased, which was completed.
The safari guides themselves (not PoA staff) varied significantly in customer service skill and knowledge about the wildlife. Amolo in particular was absolutely outstanding, where as Richard was somewhat short-tempered and ending up arguing with some of the tourists... which was peculiar.
We travelled all the way to the Serengeti just to do one morning drive. The itinerary suggested two days at this location. This was a result of being in placed into a school group of 14 students (who had probably paid a much lower price than we paid PoA) and there was numerous delays resulting from being in this large group. Getting into the national park alone took over two hours, due to some administrative error on all the passengers and vehicles paperwork. PoA had promised small group (max 8) safaris. They did not deliver.
Since travelling to Africa, I have held back on leaving a review. There felt like there was some discouragement to review our experience online. However, I have noticed that quite a number of Pride of Africa's online reviews are likely not genuine. This is apparent once you have travelled because you can recognise several office staff members names on review accounts, or notice that a number of review profiles have only ever left one single review. Be more careful than us. When people ask me which provider I chose in Africa, I encourage them to do their own research.
You'll have a great time if you choose wisely.
Reply from Pride of Africa Adventures
Posted on Mar 13, 2024Thank you Sean for your review and this is 2 years after your safari and for the period of 2 years we fail to understand where you have been all this time only to think of writing this,please as I told you when we met that its was low season and with a group joining safari you will share car with others and due to the fact that in low season we us operators do put join hands when the clients are less so that anyone don't miss paid safari.
Sean need to be honest and the capacity of our cars are maximum 8 people so I fail to understand where 14 people fit in one car and how they sat.
There was no pressure we put on the clients and after safari they told us everything was okay and now after 2 years they are saying other things. I want to know why they took 2 year before writing the review meaning the client lied to me on good services and she said she will recommend us now I fail to understand why this or was there ill motive behind this.
Email Alice | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Upsetting: 5 different guides and groups during our 10 day safari
My partner and I did a 10 day safari booked through Pride of Africa Adventures and Safaris in June 2022. It has taken some time to leave our review as we were pressured by the staff at this company not to leave any negative feedback for them. I would like to share my experience, as I would hate for someone else to have a dream safari trip to include as much stress and tears as ours did. My partner and I were so excited to go on our safari, it was a dream for both of us as we are passionate about wildlife. However, once we arrived in Nairobi we realised this trip was not what we expected. We were passed between different companies, and over the 10 days we were with 5 different tour guides and groups of travellers. We were not told that this would happen, we were only expecting two guides one in Kenya and the other in Tanzania. It caused a lot of stress and upset throughout our trip as we were left not knowing where or who we would be meeting next, and we were sad to leave our fellow travellers who we'd met. One of these groups included a tour of two cars with 14 students, when our booking ensured we would be only in a group of 8 people maximum. This part of our trip was in the Serengeti and due to the large group everything was delayed and we did not get to experience the Serengeti as we hoped due to the wasted time trying to organised the students who were not that interested in the safari as they had come to Africa to study micro finance on a gap year. Although some of our guides were great and put a huge amount of effort into their job, others did not put the same effort which was upsetting. The wildlife was incredible and we hope to return to Africa and have a much more positive memory. We will not be booking again with Pride of Africa Adventures and Safaris and would not be able to recommend them