3 Wonders Expedition
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2013)
- Member Of:
- TATO, TTB & BRELA
- Tour Types:
- Small & medium group tours (Budget & mid-range)
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $180 to $2,800 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
US
Email travel_maniac_duo at Instagram | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Terrible Experience with 3 Wonders - Avoid at All Costs!
Our trip with 3 Wonders was a complete disaster from start to finish. Here are the main issues we encountered:
Serengeti Entry Delay: We faced a frustrating 2-hour delay at the Serengeti entry due to incomplete paperwork, causing us to miss our evening game drive. This is there typical reason because they don’t pay the park fees and somehow expect to get around it. In some reviews, travelers have paid parks which is their strategy .
Accommodation Downgrade: Upon arrival at the camp around 8 pm, we found that our booking at the Serengeti Heritage Lodge had been downgraded to Engiterata Camp, a very basic camp, without any prior notification. Being stuck in the forest with no other options made this situation completely unacceptable.
Grouped with Campers: We were grouped with campers, wasting our time waiting for their activities, which was not what we had signed up for.
Wasted Time in Serengeti: The next day, we were dropped at the campsite around 11 am for an early lunch, only for the driver to leave and return after 2.5 hours, wasting our time and ruining our experience.
Limited Game Drives: We had no game drive on the first day and only a short one on the morning of the second day, which was a huge letdown.
Terrible Safari Vehicle: The safari vehicle was in terrible condition, constantly breaking down and needing to be pushed by other vehicles.
Broken Passenger Door: The passenger door of the jeep was broken, creating a serious safety hazard.
Rude Driver: The driver was extremely rude, lacked information, and appeared upset with us for no reason, which was very frustrating.
Broken Radio: The jeep's radio was broken, preventing the driver from communicating with others to locate animals, making the safari pointless.
Missed Excursions: Our itinerary included excursions like the Olduvai Gorge museum, but there was no plan for these, which was incredibly disappointing.
Fuel Tank Hazard: The fuel tank in the jeep was broken, which was very dangerous. Despite this, the driver continued to drive the same jeep for three hours. It was late evening and dark, and we were in the deep jungle where wild animals roam. Anything could have happened to us, and the rescue jeep arrived very late.
Actually no one now books with 3 wonders because of bad reviews but in some cases your safari company might sell your booking to 3wonders. If your safari company assigns you to 3 Wonders, please don't go with them because you will either die or, at the very least, not enjoy the game drive because there will be none done. Save yourself and ask your safari company who they are going to sell your booking to because that is what they do.
AE
Email Ahmad | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Didn’t meet the expectations
The experience overall was not the best. Very few things could have made it a lot better.
I have to say the driver (guide) was very nice and helpful. All else wasn’t up to the expectations.
The car had too many issues, we had to stop at least three times to fix things. Each of course wasted time. Almost everything in the car was shaking and with the roads it was a lot worse.
The food tasted bad, the quantity in the was very little, but when i complained, they fixed this. And then came the tents, mattresses and sleeping bags. This was horrible. They smelled like pure sweat. It was raining at night and tents were leaking water. My mattress was soaking wet, my bag got wet, almost everything got wet. One of the guys who were with us got everything wet even her passport.
Investing in a better car, some tents and some more organization could have made the experience a lot better
IL
Email Fatoh | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Everything was right on point
We had a 3 days Safari to Serengeti and Ngorongoro crater. the trip was perfect, Omari, the main guide and the driver was great, his timings were on points and his spotting skills were perfect, we were the only car to see a rhino and all big five on that day thanks to him. Osman, the stomach doctor (chef) was amazing, we had some of the best meals during our stay in Tanzania.
If I ever come back to the country, they will be my first choice no doubt.
Highly recommended!!
SE
Email Sanaa spangberg | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
BLUFFERS AND CALMERS
3 days safari ,,, NIGHTMARE West I have been with, if you want to die then you can choose this safari
FR
Email Jessica | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Do not go with them on safari!
Don't go with 3 wonders! I would not recommend it at all.
Broken equipment (chairs, sleeping bags with no zip, tents with holes), poor organization (3h lunch, no dynamism), risky behavior (the driver had no tent not sleeping bag so did not sleep for 3 days).
Very packed car with a lot of problems (motor, windshield, wheels).
We had to build ourselves the tents, waiting 4h for food, doing very few game driving with the guide who had no knowledge of the wild life and did not bother stopping to see animals.
When confronting them, they did not acknowledge the poor service provided, although we all paid 200$/day/pers. for a zero level safari service, moreover putting our lives in danger with risky behavior (driving fast, equipment on the roof not secured, one door broken etc.)
There are plenty other companies who will do a lot better with the same amount of money!
SE
Email Susanna | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Poor planning and communication
I spent three days doing a joint safari with this company and I'm very disappointed in their poor planning and bad communication. On my first day I ended up alone, pleasant surprise. I was however told that I would stay with the same car and driver all the three days. On my second day I was told we would meet some other people at a junction at 9-9.30. Then I was told they were a bit delayed. Then I was told that we would also swap cars and guide. When we arrived at the junction we found another group in a safari car and we swapped. I asked the other group what happened. They told me there was a problem with the car shaking. I asked the driver and he said "no, not a big problem". I was told the people who would join me were a bit late but they would join me in 30 min. I waited 1,5 hours at the junction. And when they told me 30 min the people still hadn't landed at Arusha airport which was more than an hour away. I was told they were delayed. The company lied.
I eventually reached the park in my shaking car at 12 o'clock. The park was less than an hour away from my accomodation. The shaking was not a small problem, it was a big problem. At the end of the day I had pain in my back.
On my third day new people arrived..this time they arrived on time. When we finished the safari I asked to be dropped off at my previous hostel since I had arranged a transfer to the airport a few hours later. In the same a car from the safari were a couple who were on a tight deadline to reach their flight on time. The safari company communicates with my hostel and asked them to send the taxi to meet us, so that we could go straight to the airport. I was never consulted. Due to the time pressure of the other people I felt obliged to jump into the car. I arrived at the airport four hours before my departure time and my plans to shower, charge my phone and relax at the hostel vanished. And the safari company 3wonders who charged the couple for the airport transfer conveniantely used my taxi to ship them of to the airport.
I was promised a nice accommodation but I got a very basic one. No hot water unless you told the staff to turn on a switch. No internet.
The guides/drivers did their best to compensate for their managers lack of planning and communication, but unfortunately it wasn't good enough.
CH
Email Raimund | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
I recommend this company
We expected more communications and info with the driver/ Guide. Many times we had to ask.. from himself did not come much. That is all the Negativety
The organization was good, we were surprised that we slept the first night in a lodge, expected 3 nights in a tent. The cook gave his best, cooked always more then we needed, made veg. and not veg. Menues. He took his time, but surprised us everytime positively. He made us even Pizza and Pop corn..A very nice man.
The guide took well care of us, the first thing he did was taking care of our tents, that we are comfortable and safe..The car was old, but it worked, good tires and overall a good experience. At the Ngorongo park he ordered us to be at 5.30 at the table for breakfast and at 6 am ro be in the car.Thanks to that we saw a wonderful sunrise at the crater...All other companies came to late for that..The guide was not lazy or to comfortable for anything, even asked if we need drinks once he had to leave the camping to get a matresss for the cook..Besides the price was good.We were 4 in a car and had so plenty space.
SE
Email Daniel | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Flexible operator - adapting to my requests as a solo traveller.
I liked that the tour operator Ally(Ali?) showed me the camping gear in their office and was able to adapt the solo safari to my requests.
I really recommend that you ask for the driver "Abduhl" (Full name: Abdilah Hamad Kisio). You will hardly find a more trustworthy and nice driver, and his English is very good as well.
ES
Email Ali | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Worst safari company. RUN AWAY!
We had a terrible experience with 3 Wonders. It was not communication at all, they did what they wanted after they got the money, changing all the schedule. They mixed 4 different safaris in one group, so it was absolutely a mess. They even tried to squeeze 9 people (it was max. 6 people) plus the driver and the cook in one car. As far as we said we were not going into the car and after a long discussion, two person went in another car, finally we were 9 persons and only 8 seat belts. It was not enough room for luggage, so some luggage was inside the car what it wasn't very comfortable.
The car was very old, more than 500.000 kms and very bad tires without tread, we were not safe on that car. You can see the pictures. The driver had to deal with the engine several times because it was failing, the way back from Serengeti took more than 8 hs. because he had to drive maximum 40 km/hr, we were passed for all cars!
I never got the sunrise game drive at Serengeti and they tried to change my accommodation the last night at a Lodge for a camping, again a long discussion with a very rude and disrespectful driver Kindu.
Everyday we were asked to have breakfast at 6:30 am and never started the game drive before 9:00 am.
Don't trust this company, you are only a way to make cash, they don't care for anything but money.
US
Email Carey | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very Shady Company - AVOID!
If you are looking for a reputable tour operator AVOID 3 Wonders. Omari and the management team created a bad experience from day 1 that left everybody unhappy:
* Communication from management was poor to non-existent
* They changed everybody’s itinerary around without asking or even telling - mashing 4 separate plans into one to pinch pennies
* They tried to squeeze 10 people in an 8 person car after promising a 6 person tour - we had to argue for 30 mins for a second car and still ended up with 9 people in one after the first day
* We lost 2+ hours first day because they were late - didn’t get into Ngorongoro until almost 1pm after being asked to wake up at 6:45am from a camp site 2 hours away
* Vehicle was old (over 500,000km) with a broken heat and gas gauge, we had to travel 40km/hr on the way back from serengeti which took 10+ hours, getting passed by every other car
* We were held up for 90 minutes at Serengeti because they hadn't paid the fee
* We only got 1 hour game driving the last day in Serengeti because they wanted to save a second day park fee (even though we all paid)
Omari, Fabian, Ali and the 3 wonders management team are shady people and this company cannot be trusted. Once they get your money they don't care about customer experience in any sense.