Angose Travel
- Located In:
- Size:
- 1-5 employees (Founded in 2017)
- Tour Types:
- Budget & mid-range tours with set start dates and a fixed itinerary
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $160 to $500 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
US
Email Al | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Dishonest Company
I'm going to keep it brief, but in general, Ibrahim is dishonest with his customers and unfair to his staff. People considering booking with him should understand the risk of booking the cheapest option.
Three major issues:
1- When we were leaving Serengeti to go to Ngorogoro, we were told at the gate that Angose had not paid our park fees. Ibrahim's solution (by telephone) was for one of us to put the fees (about $700) on our personal credit card and then be reimbursed in cash when we got back. No one was interested in doing this because we felt it seemed like a scam. There's an online portal for safari operators to pay these fees online if they're not able to do it the usual way (pay in cash at the local bank) so it shouldn't have been an issue. We waited at the gate for several hours for Ibrahim to come up with a better solution. Eventually we went to park rangers ourselves and explained the situation and they told us that all we had to do was fill out a form and we everything would be fine as long as they paid the following day before we left the park. If the solution was that simple, and this has happened before (it's noted in another review on TA), then why did we have to lose an entire afternoon game drive because of it?
After my safari, I met another backpacker who used this company and the same thing happened to them.
2- Unbeknownst to anyone, I was booked for a 5 day safari and everyone else was booked for a 6 day safari. No one told us this and we didn't figure it out until the fourth night. On the fifth night, Ibrahim called me and told me, "Ok, your safari is over. You can either pay $150 more and do the last day with the group or take the public bus back to Arusha (2 hours at night)." I told him there was no way I was going to do either of those things. We hadn't gone to Manyara yet which was on my itinerary, I had spent all the money I had budgeted for this portion of my trip, and the bus is not especially safe for tourists (especially at night). He yelled at me and threatened me over the phone. It wasn't until I mentioned the police that he backed down.
3- The way they treat the staff is much worse than other safari companies I have worked with. There's no tent or meals for the staff. They sleep in the car and eat leftovers. Our guide told us that they're paid almost nothing and rely on tips to make a living. He also said that they weren't given enough money for the supplies so he had to pay for our bottled water out of his own pocket.
In conclusion, I think there would be more negative reviews but people either want to put the situation behind them or they're embarrassed to admit they've been scammed.
DE
Email Larissa | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Don't do your Safari with Ibrahim, he screwed with us!!!
I was looking to do a 4 Day safari with a group. During my search I met a girl who was looking for the same thing. We both decided to do the safari with Angose Travel limited, because a friend referred her to this company with the Guide Jojo. We agreed with Ibrahim that Jojo will be our guide. When I met Ibrahim in the office, he seemed very friendly and answered all my questions. I asked about the camping situation and if people would share a tent. He told me that nobody has to share a tent with someone they don't know.
On the day of the safari I was supposed to be picked up in town, I texted Jojo where I am waiting. Jojo responded that he is not coming, someone else is. Apparently he and Ibrahim had an argument, so Ibrahim decided to change the guide even though we specifically asked for Jojo. When I asked why, Ibrahim told me that Jojo is at a funeral. Jojo texted me at the same time that he is in town and told me to tell Ibrahim that we want him as a guide. The other girl also told me that Jojo was at the office in the morning, so clearly Ibrahim was lying to me.
I decided not to get upset about it and we started with the safari. After the first day in Tarangire we arrived in our camp and we all have been told that we have to share a tent with another person even though we did not know each other before the trip. We called Ibrahim and he only responded that it would be to much to bring a tent for everyone. Remind you, I specifically asked about this.
The safari goes on we saw many animals in the Serengeti and were about to cross over to Ngorongoro. Arriving in the Transit area we had to wait, because Ibrahim had not yet paid the entrance fee. After half an hour our guide came to us and told us that Ibrahim can't pay the fee as the banks are closed (it was Christmas) and asked us to pay 400$ so we could continue the tour. We were all shocked, as we have all paid for everything in advance and it should have been clear that banks are closed on Christmas. We were afraid that we would not get our money back and did not want to pay. We told Ibrahim that we need him to find a solution, as we could not use our credit cards. After almost 2 hours we called him as he still hasn't found a solution. We offered him that he could wire the money over via mobile money(these shops are always open) and we would use the credit card but he only had a bunch of excuses why he could not send over the money. We were even more convinced at this point that using our own cards would mean we would lose the money. After 3 hours Ibrahim told us that we just need to camp at the gate. Camping at the gate is not allowed and as we were stuck between serengeti and ngorongoro we had no where to go. So we had no chance than calling the police. We went inside the office of the gate and asked for the number. Luckily these guys wanted to see if they can help us. The park ranger from the office came to an agreement with our guide that we could go in and do our activities and before we leave ngorongoro crater conservation we have to come to head quarters to see if the fee has been paid by Ibrahim otherwise they would keep the safari car. The ranger also told us that we should not pay the fee, if we had already paid everything in advance, because the chance is high that we would not get the money back. Because of this we lost our whole afternoon and as it was about to get dark we had to rush to our camp which was 3 hours away. We drove so fast that we almost killed the animals on the road. We needed to set up our tents in the dark, were the last to eat dinner and got only very little sleep.
The next day we went to head quarters after our activities and there we still had to wait a lil while as Ibrahim had still not paid. Ibrahim had at this point no other option than paying the fees so he finally did and we could move on.
After my experience with the company I can only tell you do yourself a favor and go with a different company. We were not the only ones at this trip that got screwed over as another group we talked to had also a lot of trouble with Ibrahim.
AT
Email Kevin | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Utmost disappointing
I have been on a 4 day Safari in 2015. Same route, same price, different company, amazing experience.
So I wanted to share this experience with my girlfriend but this time unfortunately the safari was not good at all due to very poor organization and customer care.
So I booked with a company called "Goshawk Tours". The Safari they offered sounded quite exactly like the one I did three years ago and it was about the same price (50€ more expensive this time). A guy named Eric sent me a few emails and I told him that we need to be transfered to Kilimanjaro airport on the last day of safari because we already booked the flight. The transfer was another 50$.
We spent the week before safari on Zanzibar and there i got a text from Eric. He said he will not be there next week so his business partner Ibrahim will organize it "just as we agreed".
So we travelled to Arusha and spent the night in a hotel and the next day we were supposed to get picked up at the hotel. We did, around 30 minutes late and then we were taken to the office. I was suprised because it was the office of Angose Travel Limited. There we met 2 other girls who also came with us. So we were sitting in the office and it passed another 1 hour until the driver arrived and we headed to Tarangire National park. It was agreed that we will go there pitch up at tent, go on a quick game drive before we get lunch at the campsite and the head for another game drive after lunch.
This was not the case. Our guide, an elderly gentleman called Adrian who was not the talkative kind of guy went really slowly to the park. All the other cars were overtaking and when we went uphill we hardly moved faster than 10 km/h. But this was not really the drivers fault. Because as it turned out later, the car was in a dangerously poor condition.
So we arrived in the afternoon at Tarangire National Park, we didn't pitch up a tent, we went directly in the park, where we were for only about 3 hours. Very disappointing, because we could have seen so much more. The driver just said "This is enough for today.". We disagreed. We headed for Sunblight Campsite where we got a room. But it was so dirty that we hoped we could've slept in a tent as agreed. Dinner was good. The driver said breakfast 8pm, departure 9pm.
After a loud night with hardly any sleep we had breakfast and then we went to the car. The driver and the cook were already inside, engine running and they said, they will come back soon. So they drove off. A lot of time passed until they came back and when we left the campsite it was already 11am!!
It was agreed that we would have an early game drive in Tarangire Park on this day again but that was not the case at all. When we left, we headed directly to the Serengeti. Going annoyingly slowly we lost a lot of time on the way there.
At the gate of Ngorongoro coservation area the driver had to patch a tire because there was brake fluid leaking out of it.
We were promised an evening game drive after pitching the tent but all we really saw were some animals on the way to the campsite where we arrived so late, that we had to pitch up the tent in the dark. By the way, 2 of 4 tents were broken and we had hardly had any hooks to place the tents so the driver just said "2 hooks are enough".
After that there was no game drive. So we had no game drive in the morning, no game drive in the evening. We had no game drive at all this day!!!
Next day we missed the sunrise in the Serengeti which we were promised because the driver didn't want to start so early. So we finally headed out for our game drive. The driver often took the wrong path and we got lost so many times (he said he was a guide for 30 years which i found hard to believe after that). Unfortunately we didn't see too many animals and when we came across some we had to yell STOP so many times until he finally did so. After a short drive we headed to a tourism center where we got an informational tour. It was nice but not really neccessary. Instead we would have prefered to see more of the Serengeti itself, not hear from it. After that we had to drive directly to the camp, pack up and leave for Ngornongoro Crater. It just felt so unsatisfying because we had so little time. On the way out, the driver asked the chef where to go at every crossroad. So we left Serengeti and headed to the crater at snail's pace. When we arrived at the camp, it was already dark and the guide and the cook didn't help us to put up the broken tents in the dark at first. So we had to tell them a couple of times that we need help until they finally did so. There was again no possibility to take a shower because it was already dark and freezing cold.
So we thought it couldn't be any worse but then the last day of safari came.
We got up early this time to descend the crater so we will be out in time to get to Arusha. On the way we had to get diesel but on the way to the gas station the car already ran out of gas and we stopped in an uphill grade. The car didn't have any hand break so he sent one of us to get one big rock and put it behind one of the back wheels. Then he went off to get the gas. After half an hour later he returned with a maasai who helped us to get the car running again. So we were late once again and I had a really bad feeling about getting OUT of the crater again with this car. So we had a game drive in the crater and left with quite some delay because the driver didn't know where he was going. Remember - we had to catch a flight in the evening.
So on the way up the car broke down again. But this time he didn't get it running again. And again we were standing in a really steep uphill grade with only one rock to prevent us from rolling backwards into our certain death.
So a car that stopped behind us took us to a place called Wildlife Lodge. I called Ibrahim, the guy from the office, a couple of times and he said there will be a rescue car coming for us. I also told him that I want them to refund the money for the flight if we wouldn't make it in time and he only said he won't because he didn't know of any flight (Eric said Ibrahim would organize everything just as we agreed, so he must have known of the flight). Anyway, after about 1.5 hours the car finally arrived and we already had a huge delay and we though we wouldn't make it. Furthermore the driver said he will only drive us to Arusha and from there we will get another car. On the way there we had to stop at the gate of Lake Manyara National park to pick up 2 other tourists from the UK and Spain who also went with Angose. They were also really disapointed with the organization and they also had a bad driver and the car was also in bad shape.
So after around 3 hours we arrived at rush hour in Arusha and we only had little time to get to the airport. We got in the other car and this driver was our rescue! After the traffic jam in Arusha he went up to 160 km/h to get to the airport in time. There could have gone so much wrong. The seatbelts didn't work and he was going really fast over speedbumps, overtaking left and right but we were used to nearly getting killed anyway. But because of him we arrived just in time! 10 minutes later and we would have missed the flight. When we got out he called Ibrahim who told me that Eric and I agreed that the airport transfer will be 50$. Weird. He didn't know of any flight but he knew of the money. We had no time to argue so I gave the money to the driver.
The other 5 guys from our car stayed in Arusha and went to the company to complain and they got 50$ back each. They told us so I texted Ibrahim that I also want my money back. He agreed, but only sent it via Mpesa (mobile phone transaction via local phones). So asked him to send it to my brother of my host family in Dar. There will be large fees now when transfers the money to my bank account now.
Summing up, it is really sad that the one thing you are really looking forward to the whole year is getting ruined by very bad organization and customer care. There could have gone so much wrong and we have been in some really dangerous situations due to non-existent maintainance. I'm asking myself - where does all the money go to? I know a lot goes into the admission for the park but the rest?
Our guide, well, for doing this job for 30 years he shared almost no knowledge with us and it often seemed that he just would not care.
The cook, Zaidi (I hope the spelling is right) was a nice guy. The food was ok. Even though it has almost always been quite the same.
Because of all that all of us were utmost disappointed. And we wouldn't recommend booking with Angose at all.
