Our Guide David with one of our Landcruisers
Unscripted Safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2012)
- Member Of:
- Eco Tourism Kenya & Tourism Regulatory Authority
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $150 to $300 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
Email Max | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Do not recommend. Dishonest business practices, poor communication
We booked a 3 day Masai Mara safari with Unscripted Safaris. While our time in the park itself was good, the whole experience was marked by poor communication and shady business practices. The first point of suspicion was that the tour informed us several months after booking that our costs would be increased by nearly $300 a person due to an increase in park fees. However, these fee increases had been announced well in advance of our booking and we had assumed that they were already included in the price of our safari. We had no choice but to pay. On the day of our safari, the guide that we specifically had requested was not there, and was replaced with someone else. This was done without any prior warning or communication. Most critically, our itinerary at the time of booking that our tour would a 3 day safari that included an afternoon game drive the first day, a full day the second, and a morning game drive on the final morning. Halfway through our safari, we were told by our guide that this was not possible, and we would have to leave immediately in the morning of day 3 and depart the park. This was supposedly due to park policy, but none of this was communicated to us in advance. Our tour was cut short of what was promised, and our request for a partial refund was refused.
It was clear that Unscripted was simply telling us whatever we wanted to hear in order to make the sale. Once we had booked, all sense of customer service went out the window. Next time, I will go with a more honest company.
US
Email David | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Standard safari with some annoyances
Overall, the safari seems to follow a standard itinerary that many other companies also offer. We did see a lot of animals including the Big 5 and in that sense the safari was great. I only give 2 stars because of some annoyances:
1) My wife is short and wasn't able to see out of the pop up roof of the Landcruiser (for which you pay extra). She wanted to stand on top of a seat when we were looking at a cheetah that was barely visible (covered by grass) but was told by our driver that that is not allowed because it can damage them and that it's his boss Lewis' rule, with whom we had made the booking. I then wrote to Lewis and he told me it's not allowed because it's illegal and fined heavily by the park authorities. We saw many other safari companies allowing their customers to stand on their seat. So I then looked up the park rules online and it didn't say anything about it being illegal. Lewis doubled down and told me to ask a park official at the gate. I did just that (he probably didn't expect me to) and they told me, amused that I'd even ask, that it's perfectly legal and makes sense for short people. Nevertheless, we decided to let it rest, until my wife got neck pain two days later from always craning it while tip toing to be able to see. At that point I again wrote to Lewis pleading that he allows it for the last two days and he finally did. However, he never admitted that he lied about it being illegal. TLDR: if you're short find a different safari company
2) Our flight on the last day was quite late at 11pm. The original itinerary had us be at the airport around 5pm after visiting the giraffe center at 3pm. Before booking, I had asked Lewis about adding extra things in Nairobi and he told me that we can also visit the Nairobi museum and eat at a famous restaurant and then be dropped off at the airport at 7pm which sounded good to us. Then, on the last day our driver told us that he has to keep going immediately after arriving with us in Nairobi but that a different driver from the company can take us. However, after talking with his Boss there apparently was no different driver available. Our driver rushed us through the giraffe center (urging us to leave) and then dropped us of at the airport at 4:15 pm. We were okay with skipping the museum and the restaurant because we were tired and saw how stressed the driver was, but we didn't appreciate being rushed through the giraffe center which was supposed to be a nice stop on the last day and then bring dropped off at the airport super early.
A couple words on our driver/guide Daniel: he definitely knows the parks inside and out and is a good driver and very good at finding many animals. He also knows a lot about the animals when asked. However, I wish he would be more outgoing in sharing information about animals without us asking. And I wish he would be a bit friendlier and above all not rush us so much on the last day.