Kofi Travel Safaris

Terrible company, old cars with zero mainenance

I want to share our experience with Kofi Travel with you. We rented a Toyota Camper Cruiser for 16 days. Everything went perfectly until we accepted the car at the airport. When booking, I clearly asked if the A/C worked. "Yes, this one works perfect," it was said. I found out 10 minutes after picking up the car that the front windshield wiper wasn't working. I created this in the group app and reported it immediately. The answer was promptly given. However, we didn't have time to wait and started driving towards Amboseli. This ride was a horror. The car bounced enormously. The tires were at more than 4.5 bar. This is more than twice as high. This causes the car to move in a dangerous manner. While braking at +/- 60 km/h, the car pulled enormously to the right. The front brake calipers did not work properly; it was very dangerous. The A/C did not work at all, even though they said it would. To be fair, they made proposals to solve the problems. However, these problems were already present when we received the car. This means to me that the car receives no maintenance at all before they give it to customers.
We soon found out that the Camper Cruiser consumed a lot of fuel—1 liter of petrol for 3 km driving. Extremely high consumption if you visit remote places. There was a jerry can in the back of the car, which is nice, but a loose jerry can full of fuel in the car does not seem safe to me. Another negligence from a rental company that continuously says they consider safety the most important thing for their customers. I found a garage near Amboseli and had the windshield wiper motor repaired. They checked the A/C, but the compressor was broken, so it could not be repaired quickly. I had to pay 20,000 Ksh total. I passed all this on via WhatsApp. "This will all be refunded," they said. So far, all friendly and helpful.
After Amboseli, we had a stopover near Nairobi. I was notified that there was another car for us. We were super happy. The car was delivered to the agreed location on time. I had asked if they wanted to bring the second car with a full tank because we already had the Camper Cruiser filled up with petrol. This had not happened; they siphoned the fuel with a hose. Problem solved, we thought. With the second car, we drove towards Shomphole, a remote area where we had booked two accommodations. This was on an asphalt road. During a stop, I discovered that we had a fuel leak at the tank. They had tried to close it with pieces of rubber from slippers. I reported this and received the response that we had punctured the tank by driving over a rock. They started to lie, and I don't like that. We had power problems on the way to Laikipia. I looked at the air filter; it was full of holes, and we got dust on the airflow meter. The throttle cable was loose and had been tightened amateurishly.
Overtaking trucks was dramatic and dangerous without power. The 4x4 lever was broken off in the car, making shifting difficult. I reported all this. A proposal was made by the management to return the car to Nairobi and get the remaining money back. I wasn't friendly anymore. I did not agree with this proposal. Returning the car to Nairobi would take me two days. We had booked a camp in Laikipia to see the black panther. This costs $2,000 per night for two people. Do you really think I'll just come to Nairobi to return the car? I was later told that I was out to get money from them and that I had lied about the 20,000 Ksh. After a conversation with the owner, we agreed that we would receive a 5-day refund. He suggested 3; I wanted 5. This was verbally agreed upon; he did not give this either and said I was lying. We booked Shomphole Wildersniss, Lentorre Lodge, and Laikipia Wildersniss in Kenya for $18,000. If it was a matter of money, I wouldn't have booked these expensive accommodations. So folks, I could go on and on. Be careful when renting a car from this company.
They are friendly, which is nice. But the cars are terrible, dangerous, without any maintenance, and extremely old. On another review page, the owner responded that we chose the budget car and they suggested the Land Cruiser 78, which was the best option. This never ever happened; he was lying again. And then, this means they offer low-budget cars that are terribly unsafe and with zero maintenance. Think carefully before doing business with these guys.