Asseri the founder with clients at Ngorongoro
Orongai Africa Safari
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2013)
- Member Of:
- Tanzania Tourist Board
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $145 to $750 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
GH
Email mi | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent safari tour in safri
As for total safari tour, it is very nice. Tour schedule is good and the driver is very good.I appriciate his hospitality.He acted according to the circumstances and our expectation. As for hotel,lodge and tent, they are great! It was beyond our expectation. But I want to say only one thing to the tour company. The accomodation was changed from Web booking.We saw the accomodation on the Web site and we booked.If you change the accomodation, in this case you changed lodge to the luxually tent, please let me know before we leave our country.We have to prepare against cold.It turned out to be a nice day.We could see so many stars at the luxually tent. But I ask you tell your customers any changes in advance.Finally Thank you for good arrangement.
AT
Email Andreas | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Orongai Africa Safari gave us an awesome experience
I booked our 5 day Safari via Internet with Orongai Africa Safari. From the first time I was corresponding with Martha I had a good feeling that I can trust the company. Everything with the payment worked. On the airport we were warmly welcomed. Then we had a meeting were she told us what will happen the next days. Our guide Frank was very very nice and friendly. We could ask him everything and he had to nearly all questions an answer. Frank has a very good knowledge from Serengeti. So we were lucky to see a lot of animals without other cars around. And we saw the big five!
From Orongai Africa Safari everything was organized very well and we have nothing to complain about! We can recommend this company to everyone who is interested in a Safari in Tansania.
Email Desmond | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The amazing tour guide defines the tour. Overall, great tour and nearly perfect.
My girlfriend and I went on a 4 day tour covering Lake Manyara, The Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti NP. Overall, the trip was amazing and the company left an extremely positive impression on me and my girlfriend, although it wasn't perfect. To get the negatives out of the way, there is room for improvement in areas of communication during the planning stages of the trip. When we arrived in Tanzania, we were informed of floodings in our booked accommodation in the past week, where we had to relocate and some pricing adjustments were made. Given that this was not previously communicated to us, we were caught off guard. Given that we were able to confirm the unusual severity of the floods this year in Tanzania from extra research and other local sources, we believe there was no malice involved but it was genuine miscommunication. I suggest that if you do book a tour with Orongai, it is very important that you regularly reach out to the tour company about itinerary changes and pricing. It should also be noted that even after the pricing adjustment, we found the price to be extremely competitive for the level of hospitality offered.
With that out of the way, the tour itself blew our minds. The guide, Charles, was extremely friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. He went out of his way to accommodate some special requests we had (we needed medical attention at some point due to a previous incident unrelated to the tour) and the connections he had with other guides meant that we were always able to spot the right animals at the right time. Although we only went for four days and it was during low season (May), we spotted all the big 5, including a whole tree of lions in the Serengeti and a rhino at a far distance (admittedly, we got very lucky in general as the weather was great for the season). He also had an impressive knowledge of local animals and gave the right amount of context to the beasts we were spotting. The level of accommodation and food offered were at and exceeded our level of expectations and definitely worth the price we were paying for. The company representative also met with us after the tour and was genuinely interested in our feedback regarding our experience, which we felt was a great touch. As with all tours, understandably, there were times when we were gently suggested to shop in some areas, but this was not done in an aggressive or forceful way.
In general, I am very glad to have Orgonai to be the guide to my first Safari and my third time to Africa. I would not hesitate to recommend them to my friends and family should they want to do a Safari in Tzn one day (with the emphasis on the communication part).
DE
Email Steffen | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Not recommendable. Don't go with them.
We had two safaris with them. Actually one is still running. The first was in Tansania. Besides humiliating toilets on campsites the tour was ok. Our driver Fred is really the best. Very nice, professional and funny. Our chef Abu is awesome aswell. Very humble friendly and a great chef. In total I think the price for a low budget safari (210$ per day p.P.) is to much. Besides they don't have so good jeeps. We had an accident and I scratched my head kind of badly. They didn't have a first aid kit, so I took some napkins to calm down the blood from my forehead.
Our second safari was/is a mess. Our first day was an eleven hour bus trip from Mombasa to Nairobi. We wanted to start our trip from Mombassa because the Zawo East is just around the corner. But no chance. The woman who managed everything (Ann) said it would only be a four hours drive... that was obviously a lie because it took us eleven. So no safari the first day. Of course we paid for the whole day including the food we didn't get. The accommodations are a mess aswell. No warm water, almost no wifi and the food is really bad. The last day of our trip is again just a 5 hours trip from Amboselli to Nairobi, so no safari again.
All in all, do yourself a favour and book with some other organisation.
ES
Email LARA | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
We don’t recommend orongai at all!
The safari itselfs was fine, because Frankly, the guide is amazing! But we had many problems with Orongai. When we arrived to arusha they changed the payment method, ALL the hotels and the itinerary without asking or inform us. The last day we spoke with the manager and he said that was unusual, but reading the reviews we think that they usually work in that way. We don’t recommend work with orongai because you can’t trust them if they are changing everything without inform you in advance and you can’t do anything. We had the feeling that they were cheating us all the time!
TR
Email Betsyada | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The hotel was changed to a very bad one with no info ,no resv made for the night we arrived,norefun
We planned, communicated through mail, skyp for months.
We told our expectations and hotels we wanted very clearly,many times.
The day before our arrival, upon our call to the agency learned that the hotel at Zanzibar wasnt available, it was changed to a place which is like a hostel.After a 7 hr flight,2 hr drive, we arrived that place at 4 midnight and found out that no resv made for that night.We paid the sama amount that was told, eventhough it was a ver bad cheap hotel, no refunds was offered.
We were not given any proper info about the road conditions and distance in terms of hours, between parks
So the trip was very tiring and far below our expectations
Reply from Orongai Africa Safari
Posted on Sep 2, 2018Hey Besyada
We thank you for this review and we apologise for not getting good accommodations in Zanzibar this was due to the cap putted up by Z hotel that no less than 3 nights booking is accepted ,and as you can remember we offered to give you Verde hotel 5 star in Zanzibar but you declined this off by Cero and i Quote that was not your style and we hand to look for something simple in Nugwi beach ,
We were surprised that it was not up to your expectation and we apologised for that inconvenience caused in Zanzibar ,as per the road safari we send the itinerary early so as to read and check the distance between one park to another and if you have any question you ask in advance ,and as you all know the roads to National parks are all rough roads this is done so as not to interfere with the Ecosystem of the nature
Apologies on our part
Email Alex | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Bait and Switch Scam - AVOID
We booked a 12 day Luxury+ tour through Kenya and Tanzania with Orongai. Despite Orongai confirming all the lodges were booked and paid for (included a number of the high end luxury AndBeyond lodges), itinerary we were promised was nothing like what we got. After 4 days of the 12 days, we cancelled the trip in the middle of the Masai Mara due to serious safety concerns and made our own arrangements to get home. We have never received a dollar of refund from Orongai despite multiple attempts.
Some key experiences:
- The vehicle provided was an old and unroadworthy 2WD van completely unfit for driving through national parks. Side door did not open from the inside, so you couldn’t get out without being let out from the outside. Driver was not a qualified safari guide, but a Nairobi taxi/van driver.
- We had our accommodations changed last minute or without notice from high-end luxury lodges to cheap tent accommodation. After this, we called ahead to the lodges booked according to our itinerary, and only 3 of the 9 remaining nights had been booked. Orongai was unable to be contacted and dismissed emails requesting the confirmation of bookings. We were stuck in the Masai Mara without knowing where we would be sleeping the following night.
- On the second day, we were forced to leave the lodge at 6am, missed the planned game drive, and had to sit in the unairconditioned van for 8 hours till we arrived at the next lodge. We had to use a pit in a village for a toilet break, which felt far from safe. When we arrived at the lodge, they had no record of our booking and hadn’t heard of Orongai. After an hour of the driver trying to contact Orongai to find out where we were staying, we then had to spend another 3 hours in the van to drive to a grossly inferior tent camp on the other side of the Masai Mara.
- Attempts to contact Orongai to confirm our lodgings and provide booking vouchers were futile. At this point, we discovered from reviews that others who had booked this trip had been held against their will, demanded more money be paid for fuel concessions, park fees etc, extorted, made to miss international flights and been in serious car accidents. Note: we couldn’t get out of the van from the inside!
- We realised at this stage that not only had we been completely scammed on the promised accommodation, activities included and itinerary in general, but we were not safe remaining on the tour, and informed our driver we would not be continuing. He became distressed and seemed petrified of what might happen to him if he did not deliver us to the Tanzanian border the following day. This only reinforced our fears, and we had another lodge come to pick us up as soon as possible.
We have been unable to get any refund from Orongai, and since the trip, I have experienced a large amount of serious fraudulent/scam activity on my email and personal accounts. This may be unrelated to Orongai, but seems more than coincidental.
I am sure if we continued the trip, this review would likely have far more sinister content. Glad we got out safely, despite out of pocket a very large some of money.
Bottom line: AVOID. Book your dream trip with a reputable travel agent.
EC
Email ESTEBAN CELI | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
THIEFS LADRONES TOTALES
ARE THE REAL THIEFS , SCAMMERS, LIARS AND MORE, BE CAREFULL
NL
Email Hhhmmm | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Scam
We booked with them based on a friend’s recommendation. We booked for 6 days, and we booked a balloon ride. Upon arrival we discussed the planning. However on the balloon trip it was weird they said we had to go to the balloon center when we got in the Serengeti. And make an appointment. Serengeti was day 3. So we visited some parks and upon arrival at the Serengeti it was already weird. We had to wait 2 hours for cash. So we go in the park and ask our driver to go the balloon centers. He confessed that everything was booked months in advance. Okay fine, but then we expect the money back as they didn’t book it. So on our ride back to the airport we would meet the owner. He stalls it, making us wait an hour and almost missing our flight. He didn’t want to pay/didn’t have the money. So we were scammed out 1000 usd. Before flying out of Tanzania I emailed the firm for a compensation. After some pressure from my end they agreed to pay in installments. 4 installments of 250$. The first 2 went fine, the 3rd took 4 months and the last one I am still awaiting. For over 6 months. They said they could not pay the last installment due to cash shortage but that was 6 months ago. Since then they are not replying on emails.
So DO NOT BOOK ANYTHING WITH THIS FIRM. THEY SCAM YOU AND ARE PROBABLY BANKRUPT.
DE
Email Pia | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Horrible
We are so sad about our Safari with this Organisation. Our honeymoon was an desaster. Ann promised a lot, but it was expensive for a holy shit trip. We booked a safari for five days in Kenia and we got three times to go safari. Our driver was drunken vodka on the drive, smoked a lot of cigarettes and fliped it out in the nature of the Nationalparks and filmed the street while he drove our jeep. We had an accident with another driver on the safari in Tansania. After this we wanted to cancel the rest of our safari, but they didn't get money back. Horrible, horrible, horrible...
