Classic Journeys Africa
- Located In:
-
United States
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2010)
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $280 to $600 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
Lovely safari tour in different national parks in Kenya
The safari tour was living up to expectations . Our driver/guide Geoffrey was an excellent driver and guide with a passion for the animals. We did see the big five!
NO
Email Michael | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Trustworthy and well planned.
We were picked up at the airport by a representative from the company before transferred to our guide.
The drive to Masai Mara took approx. 6 hours. We had a flat tire, and with a short game drive we didn't reach the camp before after 7,5 hours.
This drive could have been skipped as we had already traveled for 20+ hours.
It was dark when we reached the camp so we didn't see much. Received a welcome drink and escorted to our tent for some freshing up before dinner.
All the food was fantastic and the service was second to none. We felt very welcome and taken care of.
Our guide picked us up at 8 am, way later than the other guests, but seeing it was our honeymoon we didn't want to rush.
We saw A LOT of animals! Our guide obviously knew where to drive. It was really impressive to see how they remembered all the roads crossing each other. We had a whole car for our selves, which was great. Except for one time where we forgot the clock and lost track of the direction in the dark, this trip was everything we had imagined and more! The transfer back to Nairobi was well organized and everything went smoothly.
We would recommend using Classic Journeys when booking a safari in Africa.
Working with Classic Journeys Africa
As a travel planner it was good to work with Charles at Classic Journeys Africa as he was extremely prompt in getting back to me. Despite the time difference he was able to address all my questions and concerns very quickly. He was also very flexible when we had to make some changes even after finalizing the itinerary. I look forward to working with him and Classic Journeys Africa again.
PL
Email SzymonS | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Professionals
Professional service and a holiday of a lifetime. Despite the problems with transport, problems have been solved quickly and effectively. This was our first trip to Kenya, I am sure we will return. I would recommend Classic Joueys as it is a reliable operator who cares about its customers and the has a high level of service. Greetings to Elvis;-)
Not listened to, safaris cut short despite my requests.
Very disappointed with the guide David in Tanzania. Did the Manyera park safari quickly. The guide did not stop at the sight of animals and even less in time for my photographs. Transport time too long which shortens our safaris. It does not overtake heavy vehicles and maintains 40-50 km/h and necessarily reduces its speed on slopes. Parc Manyera was very quick. I had to ask him if he was in a hurry because he was driving 40km/h in the park and wouldn't stop when he saw animals. He walked back slowly to the entrance of the park to take another path. To finally turn back this way quickly and return to the entry point because he had to leave at 6 p.m. No satisfaction for this outing which was agreed in the contract with Tours Chanteclerc. A visit with the boss of Classic journey informing us of the tip to give to the guide at the amount of $20/day. In addition, no one was at the designated restaurant of the head office, I received a spaghetti with tomato sauce instead of a pizza ordered. Unnecessary meeting in my opinion. I don't need to be told how much I should pay a guide and especially when I'm dissatisfied
The guide in Kenya (Moise) was excellent in every way. Very much appreciated this guide. He also deserved an excellent tip from me.
US
Email Peter Adeogun | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Classic Overall my experience with Classic Journey was average.
Classic journeys needs to be more detail oriented.
We would get to the airport not knowing what airline we are flying, and have to call them last minute to find out.
They need to audit the hotels, they are doing business with on a regular bases. We were sent to Swahili hotel on the coast which is a dump!!! I would not send my worst Enemies to that hotel.
Tour guides were good, am not sure if it’s a wage issue or not but some tour guides had a body odor issue. The knowledge level of the tour guide was good.
Reply from Classic Journeys Africa
Posted on Mar 4, 2020Thank you for your feedback, and letting us know about the issue. We apologize that we did not meet your requirements during your July safari, we ensure to make our clients’ satisfaction and happiness are our key priorities.
In regards to the tour guide’s body odor, we do remunerate our staff before every safari as per the high industry standards we have set. We are afraid that this might be inaccurate information as all our guides are conversant and meet high hygiene and grooming standards.
In regards to the Swahili Beach Resort issue, we understand there was a misunderstanding between yourself and the hotel manager, however, the manager tried to resolve the issue. Swahili Beach Resort is one of the good resorts in South Coast as per the TripAdvisor. 791/ 971 clients who stayed there reviewed it as very Good/ excellent- 82% . (https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-s1-g656265-d1594102-Reviews-Swahili_Beach_Resort-Kizimkazi_Zanzibar_Island_Zanzibar_Archipelago.html)
We also inspect all hotel properties and get to sample their services before advising our clients to stay with them so as to make sure they meet our high standards.
We do apologize. Thank you very much we really hope to host you in the near future.
CN
Email Ran | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
We expected more animal-watching
We booked 4 day trip to Masa Mara. According to the schedule, we will have afternoon safari on first day, full day safari on 2nd and 3rd day , morning safari on the 4th day. Below are our actual activities:
1st day: We arrive hotel at 2.30pm. Our guide arrange a walk near the hotel with the hotel staff for us from 4.30-6.00. We didn't go for the game drive as the schedule said.
2nd day: We went hot air ballon. After the breakfast of balloon, other company have their guide pick them us at the breakfast place. We have no one to pick us up. The ballon company ask us where is out driver we have no idea. They try to call the hotel and the driver but he can't get in touch with the driver. He was not at hotel by then. So the ballon company let us share the car with others. After send them back to their hotel, then send us back to ours. We arrive our hotel at about 12, our car was not at the hotel, nor the driver. We talk with another guide from Classic Journey, he said our driver told him we would like to start the game drive by 4pm which is never the plan. The driver back to hotel at about 12.30 and we had game drive 1.30pm - 5.30 pm.
3rd day: We departure about 6pm, had picnic breakfast & lunch and back about 4pm.
4th day: No game drive in the morning. Check out at about 8am and back to Nairobi.
CA
Email Real Tremblay | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
In the end, satisfied with the overall expérience.
Lodging and food were appreciated. Landcruiser in Tanzania was way over it’s usefull and safe life i.e. So old that there were no headrests!
Guide Moses in Kenya very sharp and dedicated. Guide in Tanzania inexperienced and too eager to please all in party at once. Did not spot anything on his on.
Visit of Massai village turned out to be stressfull for all in party as we were submitted to pressure and intimidation by the villagers. They were after our money, all our money and gang-up on us after we were separated from each
Email Harry and Hannah | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unacceptable.
We have recently returned from your classic wonders of Kenya, Tanzania, and Zanzibar safari, our honeymoon. We in fact left for home before the end of the booking due to the poor quality of the holiday. Up to this point we have reframed from leaving any reviews about Classic Journeys on your website or on any other platform as I feel it only fair to give you an opportunity to explain why the service was so poor first.
We originally had to delay our safari due to covid (no fault of yours). However, once we had changed the dates to ensure we would be able to go, your communication was terrible, waiting days for confirmation of payment and to get questions answered.
We were informed in an email that as we arrived in Nairobi our transfer to our hotel would be waiting for us at the airport with a sign with our name on it. This was the not the case and our driver was not there. I was unable to reach the driver on the number given to me for him via email. Thankfully a local taxi driver offered to use his phone to call and when we did get though our driver was in bed. We spoke to the office of the company as well and they said that they would get a driver to us in an hour, meaning we would have been left stranded at the airport for over two hours. This is extremely poor service! Our first impression of your company and the start of our holiday ruined, and our first time in Kenya an already stressful situation made extensively worse by Classic Journeys’ awful organisation.
Eventually we arrived at Longview Suites hotel. The hotel was not up to standard in the slightest and did not look like the photo on your website. Our room was metres from a building site (which was the view from our window) and the shower did not work. We were also only provided breakfast in our package on the day of arrival bearing in mind we stayed there for 24 hours and needed four meals during this time. We therefore had to pay more for this. We paid nearly 7000 euro for this holiday and it had become outrageously disappointing at this stage. I appreciate that building work and so on needs to happen but you as a company need to be aware of where you are sending people to stay and change locations accordingly as this was not acceptable. I can send photos as proof of this.
Day one in the bush, again let down. After a long drive we arranged with out guide to go on a nature walk once we had settled in. We arrived at the meeting point but our guide did not, Classic Journeys making a habit of not showing up to where they should be. Nearly half an hour after the time agreed, our guide arrived, and then told us there was no point going for a walk because of the weather even though other walks were going out. This information could have been sent to us and saved us the trouble of getting ready to go out. At this point plans for the next day were sorted as we had become increasingly stressed about meeting drivers at agreed times (note that we had to ask the timings of the next day instead of being told in advance). This as well was very difficult to sort despite being face to face. Again, not good enough and let down.
After one game drive in Kenya with a very mediocre guide who often gave us the wrong information (this information was confirmed incorrect by our second driver), we moved onto Tanzania. Once we arrived at the border, we needed to obtain visas. The link you sent us to obtain visas before arrival did not work and no guidance on this was given. When we were applying for our visas, we were told we had to pay a fee in cash which we didn’t have (again causing more unwanted stress). We were not informed at any point that we needed to take a lot of cash to cover the time away. Cash was needed for almost everything as well as tipping every member of staff we encountered (we were not prepared for this). We were told credit cards were excessively used and they were not and that included some of the camps we were staying on.
After crossing the border and changing cars we settled in for the long drive. We were aware it was a long drive and we needed to get to our lodge for the night, however on a holiday that as previously stated cost nearly 7000 euro, the last place I thought I would be eating lunch was in a petrol station. Completely unacceptable.
When we completed the safari part of our trip. We were given tickets for our flight to Zanzibar only to find that Hannah’s ticket still had her maiden name and did not match her passport. We made it clear that this was our honeymoon a name change cannot have come as a surprise. Furthermore, you confirmed receipt of Hannah’s updated passport information on the 16th of March 2023 which gave plenty of time to change the tickets, however this never occurred. This again caused undue stress on a holiday that should have been simple and stress free.
As we arrived in Zanzibar, Classic Journeys doing their usual and not being at the airport to pick us up. Two transfers and two transfers not there. When we eventually did meet our driver, the Classic Journeys office felt the need to message me and explain how it wasn’t their fault and that the plane had arrived early which it did by a few minutes. However, this is irrelevant and it is up to you and your drivers to be tracking the flight to ensure this does not happen. If the flight was cancelled would the driver be aware of it or would he wait outside the airport for hours on end? This is yet again unacceptable and poor service. Ensuring you are at the airport on time for a transfer is one of the most basic tasks and yet Classic Journeys repeatedly failed at it.
Uroa Bay hotel. We were sold a relaxing few days on ivory sands and clear waters in a lovely hotel. What we received was an extremely bad day (only one day as we were far to annoyed at this point and we flew home early) on a filthy beach in a hotel where everything was at an extra charge including water a basic human necessity. You as a company need to go to the hotels where you send people to stay and ensure that what you are advertising matches what you are delivering as this did not. The photo of the Zanzibar beach on your web site is clearly not at Uroa Bay. Nowhere in your emails or website did it say we would have to pay extra tax on arrival to the hotel, this was not listed in the ‘not included’ section. Photos again can be sent as proof. I cannot believe how this hotel was selected for this holiday an unacceptable choice. Also, on the so-called ‘private’ beach which had a security guard, locals approached to try to sell us drugs. That is not the kind of thing I expect on a holiday resort that has cost me so much. We felt that after the safari part of the holiday, Classic Journeys no longer were responsible and we were left at a bad hotel to fend for ourselves – this is different to the expectation of a relaxing few days in a luxury hotel.
This information on your website and that which was sent to us was not good enough and in some cases just plain incorrect. A standard day on safari as described by your company was, ‘up before dawn for coffee and a drive before returning for breakfast and then to take part in other activities. All this before another game drive in the afternoon evening time.’ This was not the case, early mornings but not in time for sunrise, leave the lodge do not return till around 1600 with no time to take part in other activities. What you are advertising is not what we received.
The itinerary that was sent to us was the only information we received before the trip and this was before we even booked it (which was two years ago due to postponing). There were no updates to the itinerary to fit to the actual timetable of the week and we were not even sent any information to prepare for our trip, for example, a kit list would have been useful. This, bearing in mind, being our first time to Africa and not knowing what to expect. When we asked via email what was needed for the trip, Classic Journeys replied with ‘just luggage’. I’m sure we are not the only customers you have that haven’t been to Africa before either.
This was our honeymoon, it cost us nearly 7000 euros for your package, excluding flights.
Communication was poor.
We were left at the airport twice.
Stayed in a hotel with a not working shower and was practically on a building site.
Were left waiting for our guide only to be told our walk would not go ahead.
Were treated to a lunch in a petrol station.
Were provided tickets for a flight with an incorrect name.
Stayed in an awful hotel that was not anything like the description or photos you sent.
Paid taxes we were not informed of and that were not listed in the excluded cost list.
Were offered drugs in our resort by locals.This is awful on your part and something needs to be done. The price you charge for the standard to deliver is unacceptable.
Thankfully the one time your driver showed up on time was to get us to the air port so we could leave the horrendous holiday earlier than planned.
Also apon return to the UK I have repeatedly tried to contact you about these issues through email, WhatsApp and phone call only to have all of them ignored.