East African Safari & Touring Company
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 1992)
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $230 to $2,000 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
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Email Kate | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Simon of EastCo still owes us more than $9,000 after three years. DO NOT BOOK.
It is absolutely criminal that Simon and EastCo are still taking bookings. I should have written this review earlier, but every time I think about it I get a terrible pit in my stomach. My husband and I organized a 30 day safari with Simon in July 2015. The reviews were all good, so we felt okay about it. But then the first day, no one came to pick us up at our hotel, which should have been the first sign of trouble. The next week and a half was probably some of the most stressful travel I've ever experienced. I won't get into the nitty gritty, but I will give one detail: our safari vehicle got repossessed in the middle of the night when we were at a remote safari camp, because Simon hadn't paid the bills. At every turn we were asked to pay out of pocket or held behind, because Simon and Eastco hadn't paid. Finally, we cut our trip short. We ended with a copy of Simon's passport and a statement, in writing, and signed, that he would repay us for services not rendered. He's paid us back only $900 of over $10,000 owed. We're still waiting. DO NOT BOOK WITH EASTCO. You will have your money stolen. I would be happy to discuss more with anyone who has questions, and to share the written document of Simon's promising us our money back (you can email me using the link above this review). This company should be flagged as fraudulent on all safari sites. Terrible. Just terrible.
Reply from East African Safari & Touring Company
Posted on May 1, 2018Hi Kate, let me start by introducing myself, my name is David from Eastco.
As of the 1/01/18 I was appointed by the Directors of Eastco (East African Safari and Touring Company) as the Managing Director.
Are you able to email me at [email protected] regarding the circumstances of your safari.
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Email Jeff | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
August 2015 Safari with Eastco – Issues and Warnings
My wife, Robin, and I recently returned from a 22 day (Aug. 6 – Aug. 27) northern circuit safari arranged through Eastco. Being our first time in Africa I would like to thank all of the contributors here for the information they provided while I trolled around the forums researching and planning our trip. I’ve been waiting to post this review while negotiating a refund with Simon King, owner of Eastco.
First let me say that the Tanzanian people are wonderful to be around and the parks and animals are truly amazing. We never once felt unsafe or threatened in our travels. I believe our guide James was outstanding, not only did he find a ton of animals for us but he also imparted a tremendous amount of knowledge to us. He is also just a great person to be around.
While we did have a “Trip of a Lifetime” we both feel that it was in spite of Eastco and not because of them. The only good thing we can say about them is James. He was put in some tough situations by Simon and worked hard to get us the best experience possible. We booked with Eastco because Simon said he could provide everything we wanted in our itinerary and get us into the accommodations we requested while the other providers we talked to were hesitant on some things. Back in 2014 when we started the booking process there weren’t as many negative reviews of Eastco as there seem to be now. After going with them for our safari my advice would be to find another company to book your trip through. The people, parks and animals of Tanzania are a given while the tour operator should enhance your experiences; however the failures by Eastco added stress into our trip. I only wish I could recommend James as a guide separate from Eastco.
Here was our final itinerary as negotiated and agreed upon with Simon.
day 1 - Evening arrival Arusha (jro) w/ overnight African Tulip Hotel
day 2 - Explore Arusha with EastCo Guide w/ overnight African Tulip Hotel
day 3 - Morning drive to Tarangire, afternoon game drive w/ overnight Tarangire Safari Lodge
day 4 - Morning, afternoon game drive, Tarangire w/ overnight Boundary Hill Lodge
day 5 - Morning Maasai visit Tarangire Conservation Area, afternoon game drive Tarangire
Night game drive Tarangire Conservation Area w/ overnight Boundary Hill Lodge
day 6 - Morning walking safari, Tarangire Conservation Area
Afternoon drive to Babati for canoe ride on Lake w/ overnight White Rose Guest House
day 7 - Day Trip to Kolo rock art w/ overnight White Rose Guest House
day 8 - Morning, afternoon cultural visits Babati (TBD) w/ overnight White Rose Guest House
day 9 - Morning drive to Mto Wa Mbu, cultural walk around town w/ lunch
Afternoon drive to Lake Eyasi w/ overnight Tindiga Camp
day 10 - Morning Hadzabe visit, afternoon Datoga visit w/ overnight Gibbs Farm
day 11 - Late morning drive to Ngorongoro, hike in Conservation area w/overnight Sopa Lodge
day 12 - Early morning Ngorongoro Crater Game Drive
Afternoon drive to Serengeti Seronera valley w/ overnight Kati Kati Camp
day 13 - Morning, afternoon game drive Serengeti Central w/ overnight Kati Kati Camp
day 14 - Morning, afternoon game drive Serengeti Central w/ overnight Kati Kati Camp
day 15 - Drive to Serengeti Mara w/ overnight Serengeti North Wilderness Camp
day 16 - Morning, afternoon game drive Serengeti Mara w/ overnight Serengeti North Wilderness Camp
day 17 - Morning, afternoon game drive Serengeti Mara w/ overnight Serengeti North Wilderness Camp
day 18 - Morning, afternoon game drive Serengeti Mara w/ overnight Serengeti North Wilderness Camp
day 19 - Drive to Lake Natron through Klein's Gate w/ overnight Lake Natron Camp
day 20 - Morning Fossil footprints, flamingos on Lake Natron
Afternoon drive to Tarangire Conservation Area w/ overnight Naitolia Camp
day 21 - Morning walking safari along Sand River, w/ overnight Boundary Hill Lodge
day 22 - Morning transfer to Arusha, dayroom at Arusha Hotel, afternoon transfer to jro
Here is a short list of what failed to meet our expectations or didn’t happen according to our itinerary.
day2 - Simon showed up late at the hotel for final payment, after which he called to let James know to
stop by and pick us up. We didn’t get started exploring Arusha until almost noon.
day4 - Charged for additional (Un-purchased) Tarangire entrance permit.
day6 - Accommodations changed without notice from the White Rose Guest House to The Winners Hotel.
day7 - Accommodations changed without notice from the White Rose Guest House to The Winners Hotel.
day7 - Accommodations changed without notice from the White Rose Guest House to The Winners Hotel.
Cultural visit in Babati consisted of a walk around town.
day9 - Eastco made no reservation for us to stay at Tindiga Camp.
day10 - We had to pay Tindiga Camp fee ourselves even though we had already paid Eastco in advance.
Range Rover broke down and we were delayed for a few hours.
day11 - Accommodations changed without notice from Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge to Wildlife Lodge.
We had requested the Sopa Lodge specifically to allow an early morning start into the Crater.
Eastco booked us into the worst room at Wildlife Lodge, directly under the dining area so we
could hear all the chairs, tables and people moving about right over our heads.
day12 - No early morning start into the Crater as Eastco didn’t pay for the permit until after 10:00.
We didn’t enter the Crater until 11:30 and were leaving by 1:30 including a lunch break. We
only had 1 ½ hours in the crater an then because of the late start it was a mad dash to get out
of Ngorongoro Conservation Area on the one 24 hour permit.
Charged for additional (Un-purchased) Ngorongoro Conservation Area entrance permit.
Acquired Serengeti permit good for only one 24 hour period instead of all seven planed days.
We specifically requested at the tented camps to be at the far end of the row away from the
main gathering areas. We were put in tent number one right next to the dinning tent.
day13 - Returned to airport twice to extend Serengeti permit for one extra 24 hour period
because the first time there was not enough money on card.
day14 - At lunch we were told that we would have to go back to camp, pack up and change camps
because KatiKati was full and Eastco had only booked us for two nights not the three that we
paid for. Only the efforts of the camp manager allowed us to stay, Eastco would have made us
move. We both felt that the camp manager was working harder for us than Eastco.
Returned to airport to extend Serengeti permit for one extra 24 hour period.
day15 - On the drive to the Mara area we were told that we didn’t have a place to stay yet but they
were working on booking two nights each at two different camp, not the four nights at
Serengeti North Wilderness Camp like we had paid for. This meant an extra move in between
camps. We stayed at Savanna Mara Camp.
Stopped at the airport to extend Serengeti permit for one extra 24 hour period.
day16 – Accommodations changed from Serengeti North Wilderness Camp to Savanna Mara Camp.
Returned to airport to extend Serengeti permit for one extra 24 hour period.
day17 - Had to pack up in the morning because of the change in camps.
Accommodations changed from Serengeti North Wilderness Camp to Kenzan Mara Camp.
Put into tent that smelled like it had a sewer leak.
Returned to airport to extend Serengeti permit for one extra 24 hour period.
day18 - Accommodations changed from Serengeti North Wilderness Camp to Kenzan Mara Camp.
day20 - Range Rover broke down and was not fixable. We were stranded beside the road for several
hours until a friend of James showed up to drive us onto our next destination while he
stayed with the vehicle in order to get it repaired.
day22 – When James arrived to take us into Arusha the Range Rover had a broken motor mount so
we had to drive very carefully back to town.
Eastco did not book a dayroom for us at the Arusha Hotel that we paid them for in advance.
Simon was “out of town” and unavailable for a review of how our trip went or to reimburse us .
We feel one of the biggest failures was not being booked into the accommodations we requested and paid for in advance. This was one of the very reasons we chose Eastco because Simon said he would put us into the places we wanted to stay. By the end of the trip I got the feeling that they were waiting until the last minute to book our camps and trying to get the cheapest place they could find. It would explain why we almost got kicked out of KatiKati Camp, didn’t get into Wilderness Camp, Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge, the White Rose and in general got such bad rooms and tent locations. We paid deposits more than a year in advance to reserve these locations and specific dates with payment in full being made before leaving Arusha so there is no excuse for our accommodations being changed without warning. Of course, worst of all was having to pay twice at Tindiga Camp. We paid Eastco in advance and then we had to pay again at the camp because of Eastco’s nonpayment. Not only that, but we paid Eastco a markup for the privilege of paying twice. The uncertainty of where we would be staying each night definitely added stress into our trip.
Another big failure, there was never enough money to pay for entrance permits. Again it seemed to be a day to day thing even though we paid the total amount to Simon in cash. This meant that we only got to spend 1 ½ hours in Ngorongoro Crater and while in the Serengeti our days were arranged around daily trips back to the airports to renew our permit. The constant permit renewal situation, never knowing if we were going to get into or be able to stay in a particular park just added a little more stress. Eventually we began questioning what experiences we were missing because of the frequent airport stops.
Now a few words about the general condition of the Range Rover we were in. But first let me say that I grew up in rural Oregon in a small logging town so I know what beat up trucks are like and what rough roads can do to them. I have ridden in and driven them my whole life. That being said, this vehicle was in terrible shape and ill equipped to send paying clients out in the bush for an extended trip. It only had one spare tire, no radio, no air conditioner and no shovel or any other recovery equipment. While the tires did have decent tread on them they were street tires not traction tires. Two of the four doors didn’t open properly and neither did the tail gate. The weather seals around the doors, windows and tail gate were all in bad shape. This allowed dust to flow into the interior and coat everything inside including us, not to mention the constant rattling. The motor was so worn out that it had no power when pulling up even the smallest hill and the shocks were so weak that they could not control the wheel bounce on the wash boarded roads making for some long and rough travel days. I know this might sound like a lot of nit picking, but you spend the majority of your time in the vehicle so its condition is important.
We first started noticing that every time there was a small hill the Range Rover would lose power, slow way down and a huge amount of black diesel smoke would pour out of the tail pipe. This became acute climbing up Ngorongoro from Karatu and then out of the crater the next day and it only seemed to get worse as the trip went along. I really didn’t think it would last the entire trip.
We had two break downs, the first occurred on the way back from Lake Eyasi to Karatu on Day10, one of the water hoses sprung a leak and the motor began to overheat. After some time James was able to make a bush repair and we were able to limp into Karatu where he fixed it properly the next day.
The second was on Day20 when we drove from Lake Natron back to Boundary Hill Lodge. Just after passing through Mto Wa Mbu the front pinion gear ate itself and locked up the differential. We were stranded along the road side until one of James’s friends came to take Robin and myself on to Boundary Hill. We didn’t see James again until the morning of Day22 when he showed up to take us to the airport. However as we loaded up James informed us that the Range Rover now had a broken motor mount so we would have to take it nice and slow on the way back to Arusha. We feel very lucky the breakdowns didn’t happen far out in the bush because that would have left us stranded for much longer periods of time than we were.
Our biggest disappointment was that Simon didn’t feel it was necessary to contact us once while we were on the trip to explain what was going on, nor did he feel compelled to meet with us afterwards. The uncertainty of Eastco’s multiple failures added so much stress to our trip that it made it difficult at times to enjoy the incredible places we were traveling through.
Upon returning home I’ve been in email contact with Simon and negotiated a refund payment of $800 for all the things we were charged for but Eastco didn’t deliver. It’s been over a month now and all I get from him is one excuse after another. At this point in time I feel that I will not receive compensation for the over charges and forced double payments. Simon will tell you want you want to hear when you are planning a trip but he doesn’t feel obligated in any way to deliver what he charges for. After considering everything that happened to us on our trip we feel that he is dishonest and someone we would never do business with again. If you have booked a trip through him good luck, if you are considering using him, don’t.
Email Rosemary White | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Still waiting to be reimbursed US$982
James and Costa were wonderful. Will withhold further details of our trip until our money is reimbursed, as my review will definitely change for the better at that time. eg. All will be forgiven.
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20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Nightmare Safari with EASTCO
Our trip with EASTCO is one that we will struggle to look back on with anything other than frustration. We were stuck with a guide who was rude, unprofessional, unsafe, had terrible communication and clearly cared nothing for us. And we were stuck with a company operating broken down vehicles, run down camps, and that clearly cared nothing for us. We found ourselves counting down the days until we could go home, and by the end of the trip, going along with ridiculous outings and schedules simply because it felt like the path of least resistance and our only survival mechanism.
Our troubles with EASTCO started before we even got out of Arusha when our guide, Melk, arrived 45 minutes later than our agreed upon time from the evening before and then spend an additional 20 minutes preparing the car while we waited. Then before we left the city, the engine started over heating causing him to pull over suddenly. After looking at the engine for a bit, Melk said that it would take an hour to fix. Assuming this was a low estimate – in fact he didn’t get to the crater until the next day – I said that this was not acceptable. Without saying a word to us that he was leaving, Melk then hopped on a motorcycle and road off leaving us in the truck surrounded by several guys that we hadn’t met. He came back after a few minutes and another truck arrived to take us to our hotel. It wasn’t the hotel listed on our itinerary, but it was nice so we didn’t say anything. The replacement driver suddenly stated that he was leaving as the hotel staff was greeting us. We tried to stop him to get more information on what was happening but all we could get out of him was that Melk had fixed the truck, was on the way, and would be here shortly. That turned out to be a lie since if Melk was on the road at that point he would have made it to the gate well before it closed at 6 pm. The replacement driver then quickly jumped in his truck and left before we could get his, Melk’s, or EASTCO’s contact info. We then enlisted the help of several of the staff at the hotel over the course of the evening and the next morning trying to contact EASTCO. The emergency contact number we were given didn’t answer. EASTCO’s number is not posted on their website. The hotel staff talked to folks at the hotel’s central office to try to find out who made the booking. Working with them before and after dinner and despite the hotel’s best efforts we got nowhere that night. The next morning we still had nothing and it was starting to eat into our time in the crater. Exploring Ngorongoro Crater has been a dream of mine for most of my life. I can see it from the hotel but I don’t have a way to get down there. Do we try to hire another company? Are there any guides that can take us into the crater at short notice? Suddenly Melk shows up and says – and this is an exact quote – “Ready to go?” “That’s all you have to say?” “The truck broke down. This happens.” “You couldn’t call the hotel?” “I didn’t have the hotel’s number.” This was an unprofessional and rude response, to say the least. This is a good time to point out that Melk would make 30 – 40 calls during a day of driving. He often claimed they were to the EASTCO office. Here’s five seconds of my time on the Internet hitting the front page of the hotel’s website. Their number is: (+255) 272545555. It is ironic that Melk continually took credit for being the car’s mechanic, and yet complained that it was not his fault when the car broke down.
After 30 minutes or so of awkward silence in the car Melk pulled over to offer a half-hearted apology which he followed with a rebuttal of my complaint that we paid a lot of money for the safari and we deserved to be treated better. Melk said that we may have paid a lot to EASTCO but we didn’t pay him a lot so it wasn’t relevant to him. He also offered that if he was unhappy then he would just follow exactly what’s on the itinerary and we wouldn’t see much game – basically what he did our second day in the crater.
It was clear that Melk had no ability to empathize with us – particularly when it came to us feeling safe. On our way out of Arusha he talked about how safe the city was and that anyone could walk alone any time of day – certainly not matching any other source of information we had heard. He would regularly pull over in villages without explaining, hop out of the car, and walk away with the keys in the ignition. On the way from the crater to Serengeti Horizons he pulled over and we were surrounded by several guys. One of them then jumped in the car with us. My wife asked “What’s going on?!” I said I had no idea. Melk then gave us a detailed explanation of the situation: “We give him ride.” At which point, we proceeded to drive into the desert, off the roads, and away from civilization. With a guide who clearly hated us, a complete stranger, no way of contacting the outside world, and no explanation or even a mention of “the camp is this way.” My wife has stated that she has never felt so unsafe in her life.
The accommodations at Serengeti Horizons did nothing to make us feel better. Our itinerary stated “semi-luxury” and EASTCO’s description of Serengeti Horizons included “full-size stylish wrought-iron or wooden beds with six-inch mattresses and all bedding”. In reality the mattress didn’t even cover the bed frame with the foot of the bed using a rolled pillow and cut up foam to form the mattress. The sheets had holes in them to match the level of quality. EASTCO’s tent “from the golden age of safaris” included a light plugged into a car battery – but no trash can so we pilled the trash in the corner of the tent. I was a bit nervous leaving our bags unprotected as we went off on safari so I made sure I left the zippers in exactly the same place for all bags so I would know if they were touched. When we came back one of the bags had been moved and the zippers were all the way to the other side of the bag. We couldn’t find anything missing so I didn’t bring it up, but what possible excuse could there be for this?
Our itinerary states that “the ecosystem is defined by the annual migration”. The migration was farther north than expected and Melk was apparently not going to take us to it or even bring it up. As he started to drive around the mostly barren plains the first morning at Serengeti Horizons we asked what the plan was. He detailed the day’s activities with “We do game drive.” No information was going to come from him but thankfully another couple at the camp had found out that the migration was in the central Serengeti. When we said we wanted to go there to see the migration Melk said nothing in return. Was he just ignoring us? Unbeknown to us one of his next phone calls was to the head office and they said it was ok but we had to pay the $131 entrance fee to the park. We agreed given that it would be our only chance to see the migration. At the gate we ran into one of the couples from the camp the previous night. They were more successful in their complaints. EASTCO had moved them north to another camp closer to the migration and was paying the park fee. There was no such deal for us though. Inside the park Melk started driving slowly and staring at trees along the main road near the entrance. When we asked he explained that he was looking for cats. If a leopard was in one of those trees right next to this busy road it would be surrounded by cars. When we complained that we wanted to see the migration instead - which is why we paid the park fee – he got mad. After finding the migration we stopped at a picnic site for lunch. When we got out of the car he drove off without explanation. We really weren’t sure if he was coming back.
At Serengeti Horizons we spoke with other EASTCO victims and heard stories about how their vehicles broke down and how one couple had to push their vehicle each time to get it started. We then heard complaints about the lack of radios in cars both for security and game viewing. Our second time into Ngorongoro Crater we were focused on getting a good look at a rhino. Cars started flying by us and Melk went off on one of his lectures about the evils of radio calls. We finally got a view of what everyone was headed toward and it was a rhino. We went over and got an ok view of it though it was slowly headed away. With a radio call we might have gotten a better view. Melk said that just one EASTCO car has a radio and that’s for security reasons. If we breakdown outside of cellphone coverage how does another EASTCO vehicle having a radio help us?
Our second day in the crater didn’t hold much interest for Melk. He drove past the hippo pool lunch spot and when we started getting hungry he sped past most of the second half of the crater. The lunch spot was in the forest near the exit. He parked us under a tree with the roof open. A monkey came down trying to get our food and I asked if we should close the roof. Melk explained “No”. The monkey jumped in the car a few minutes later and my wife and I jumped out with Melk chuckling. The monkey stole some of our lunch and Melk wanted us to get back in the car to finish the rest. I said “No” and Melk finally moved the car away from the tree. Melk was already on the phone again when my wife asked me what I wanted to do. I said “I just want this week to be over.” I’m not sure if Melk heard but when he got off the phone he left the vehicle to pout for a while. We ended up buying our own replacement lunch back at the hotel. Melk certainly wasn’t going to. He drove us the last bit of forest and then turned around to leave. I believe he put lunch near the end of the loop so he could hurry getting us to lunch and then claim that he “already drove all the roads”. My wife – who had continuously gone out of her way to be outrageously nice to him – said that we wanted to spend a bit more time in the forest. Melk replied with an ugly “Do you see any other roads in the forest?” When we agreed to leave after a bit Melk committed what I believe was his worst act of the week. He punched the gas with us standing in the back and wildly drove up the switchbacks no doubt angry at us. My wife sat down first and I was trying to catch a few last pictures of the crater. She had to warn me that a big turn was coming and I barely sat down in time. Melk whipped around the corner and I’m sure I would have been injured without her warning.
EASTCO held other nasty surprises for us to finish out the trip. In Mosquito Town our tour included being dropped in a tourist trap where we were asked to look around because we were their first customers in 4 weeks! We then went to Boundary Hill where we were taken on a nature walk. I managed to get all the way up Kilimanjaro and back without falling but I fell on their trail – as did my wife. She was uninjured but I was dealing with a shoulder injury for the next month. The last part of the climb involved 30 minutes of climbing back up the hill while walking through thick vegetation. The binder in the hotel room states that you shouldn’t walk through plants because they contain ticks and dangerous snakes. Something we seriously doubted our “guides” could protect us against at the pace they were moving. They apparently take every guest on this hike but they can’t cut a path or find one that doesn’t involve being in almost continuous contact with one bush or another.
Reply from East African Safari & Touring Company
Posted on Jul 8, 2015This is what Brian K wrote to the agent second day of safari after Meliki had picked them up to head into the crater.
Meliki knew what was said, and tried to behave professionally in the face of personal abuse for the rest of the safari.
March 7th "Eastco's PIECE OF SHIT driver just arrived and refuses to even give an apology. We'll go with the scum but this is far from over."
The client was also upgraded to Ngorongoro Serena two nights, and Manyara Serena for one night.
I refused to give any other refund as no services where missed, and in fact we gave him several upgrades.
A safari is a personal contract between the guide and the client, if there is no respect on either side, or worse, if there is verbal abuse, then it places everyone in a difficult situation.