Tree Africa Safaris

So much work to get our safari!

We would not recommend Tree Africa Safaris at all. Throughout the booking process, we thought the company was wonderfully responsive—we dealt with Victor Nagol, who told us we would get a wonderful three-day safari, just as we dreamed of. But as soon as we made our 50% deposit, Victor stopped communicating with us. A few weeks before we were scheduled to arrive in Tanzania, we emailed him to confirm our plans—but our emails bounced back, time and time again. Then we discovered that his company’s website was no longer live, and he was no longer advertising on Safari Bookings. Fearing that we might have been scammed, we asked our son (who is living in Tanzania) to visit Arusha (where Victor’s office was) to figure out what the problem was. He wasn’t able to find Victor, but after spending several days in Arusha, dealing with the police and the other tour company that processed our payment, our son was able to get Victor to follow through with our safari. Victor finally outsourced us to another tour operator (who was wonderful, and who gave us a delightful safari), but every part of it that Victor was involved with was a struggle. Our first two nights in Arusha were supposed to be included in the cost of our safari—but Victor did not pay for them; we had to pay for the hotel and wait to be reimbursed by Victor. He didn’t pre-arrange our accommodations during the safari itself—each night, we had to wait hours until he finally communicated with our tour guide before we knew where we would be sleeping each night. And finally on the last night, Victor did not pay for the hotel we were staying in (in Arusha), which was supposed to be included in the amount we had paid—we had to pay for the hotel when we checked out, and Victor said he would reimburse us for the cost. He did so—but it was weeks after we had left Tanzania and had already returned home.

We ultimately did get a wonderful safari—thanks to the skill and knowledge of the tour guide that we were outsourced to. But every part of the safari that involved Victor Nagol was hard work for us. We have to wonder if the only reason we got any safari at all was because we had our son there, in Arusha, talking to the police on our behalf and putting pressure on Victor to give us the safari we had paid for.

We cannot in good faith recommend the services of Tree Africa Safaris or Victor Nagol.