Sandland Tours and Safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2015)
- Tour Types:
- Small & medium group tours (Budget & mid-range)
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $170 to $350 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
US
Email John | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
We would book again so long as we can get China again as our guide.
We didn't book with Sandland. Our booking agent was Seth Vincent with Trip Advisor Africa Safari. When we arrived in Arusha and paid we were kind of surprised to see that our receipt of payment was issued by Sandland Tours and Safaris. Our confusion turned to panic when we looked up the reviews for Sandland. I immediately got ahold of Seth Vincent who reassured me for like 2 minutes that everything was going to be okay and that we could count on the reputation of his form Trip Advisor African Safari. He'd personally selected or guide and we could count on a good experience.
In short, he was correct. Our China was incredible. He had 9 years experience, was knowledgeable, funny, and very hospitable. I couldn't imagine a better guide. There was someone on our trip that was challenging at times and China was always extraordinarily patient with her beyond what I would have been. I always felt taken care of and we saw 4 of the big 5 in 4 days. (Plus we got three different lion hunts.)
That said, conditions remain fairly primitive and things come up. Showers were cold, we had a flat tire, the temperature dropped to 40 degrees, and roads were really rough. But we booked an adventure not a resort and we definitely got our adventure.
I also want to commend our cook Simon. My wife and I are vegetarian as were 3 other people on our trip. The food was delicious, plentiful, and nobody on our group got sick.
So our experience with Sandland was amazing. We'd book with them again, but only if China was part of the deal given that the reviews for this firm are hit or miss.
BE
Email Agnieszka | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The agency is FRAUD!
Me and my friend, we ended up with the Abraham Shaidi’s company (Sandland) as a third part booking. We booked a 5 days safari trip with the Three Peaks Safari agency which sub-contracted our trip to Abraham’s company without asking us.
Our experience was terrible. We have never seen the migration in the North part of the Serengeti neither the Ngorongoro crater as it was in our plan.
Our guide, Albert Lema drove like crazy, broke the safari rules several times by disturbing animals’ peace and put us in danger. We did not feel safe in the car and in the campsites (e.g. driving 90km/h, texting us in the middle of night when we slept, putting us between lion cubs and making noises etc).
On the 3rd/ 4th day, Albert and his boss became very rude to us, blaming us that we cost a lot. Albert also yelled at me in the front of clients, he left the camp at 8pm with our suitcases and without debriefing us. Next day at 08:30am, he came back to the camp without saying any word. He gave us his phone and asked us to speak with his “director”. Albert and Abraham asked us for EXTRA MONEY in order to go to the Ngorongoro crater or we would come back to Arusha. I called the Three Peaks Safari agency and explained the situation. The agency called the police….at the end, we have never seen the crater...
Moreover, the chef, Hilda pretended to be a 26 years old single Maasai mother from Arusha (while she was from the village Mto Wa Mbu as well as Albert) was also a very rude, aggressive and laud person.
The owner is crook and the safari guide with a chef – liars! PLEASE AVOID IT
US
Email Confidential | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
It was an awful experience. They lie and steal your money.
Awful!!!The owner is a crook and the tour guide a liar.
AR
Email Ines | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Horrible experience
Me and a friend ended up with Abraham Shaidi's company (Sandland) as a third party booking. We didn't knew about them at the beginning.
The first day it took us 12 hours to arrive from Arusha to Serengeti, because we made like 6 stops waiting for everything that was supposed to be arranged before (the chef, the food, the vegetables, going to the office, etc).. so we only got to see the animals that day for only one hour.
In the meanwhile, in the same car there was a lady that had a totally different itinerary than ours. We were supposed to be 2 days in Serengeti and 1 in Nogorongo, in campsites. Hers was 3 days in Serengeti and 1 in Nogorongo, in lodges. Nobody (even the guide) knew what will happen with this differences..
Finally it happened that our third day we were supposed to go very early to nogorongo and spent the day there, but we had to wait for almost 4 hours for Shaidi to pay the Lodge of the lady so they would let her and the guide go. For that reason, we couldn't do the crater that day so we had to stay one more day. The chef didn't have food enough because he calculated for 3 days, not 4. And we didn't have any mattress for the third night!
The guide was payed only for three days so he had to return to Arusha an leave us in nogorongo de third night. We didn't know what was going to happen the next day. Finally when we woke up the 4day the other lady was again waiting for Shaidi to pay the Lodge. Another driver went to pick her up and pay for it. Then they came to pick us up, but the crater permit wasn't payed.. so we have to wait again almost 3 hours, and finally we had been in the crater only for 2.
The new driver was just a driver, he didn't know anything about animals.
To sum up, this company and Abraham Shaidi are a shame. Please don't book with them. Nobody knows what he does with the money. Is nonsense.
US
Email Chris | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Abraham and his crew cheated me out pf $360
I was on a 10 day safari intending to go to Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Amboseli and Massai Mara. Abraham's driver picked me up promptly on day one and drove me to a supermarket where I was informed that I must pay "as much as I could" towards the trip. Very strange as I had already made arrangements to pay the balance when I got to Amboseli. I paid him $360 USD to help pay for his crew. He did not even count it ... just stuffed it into his pocket. When we approached Ngorongoro Crater, I was told to pay another $800 "entry fee" and I refused. Other problems included that I was promised "mid-range lodges", but only received budget tents and the fact that even the tents were not available at Ngorongoro. On a brighter note, the driver did an excellent job and the cook did as well. STEER CLEAR OF SANDLAND TOURS.
