Kilipath African Safari
- Office In:
- Size:
- 1-5 employees (Founded in 2022)
- Member Of:
- TALA & AITA
- Tour Types:
- Customizable private tours and fixed group tours
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $180 to $600 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
CZ
Email Martin | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great tour operator!
Kilipath African Safari was great tour operator. Everything was great....communication, accommodation etc.
Our driver was friendly and helpful.
He was always trying to get us as close as possible to animals. I can recommend Kilipath African Safari to other travelers.
You will be in good hands.
FR
Email Thomas et Aurélie | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
listening and always ready to answer our questions with a lot of kindness thank you judith and Assou
excellent value for money. We were accompanied by Judith our organizer who did everything to make us feel good. She and our guide Assou were very kind and a perfect pair for us. Indeed we felt among friends and safe with Assou who was the best at finding all the animals for us and responding to all our requests. a dedication also to judith who prepared a birthday meal for us in the middle of the Ngonrogoro crater. thank you Kilipath who made our safari an extraordinary experience that we will remember for the rest of our lives. It would never have been possible without Judith and Assou, thank you too.
DE
Email Anna Zielinska | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
I recommend you go for another agency!
We (my sister and myself) were discussing what score would be the most appropriate here.
We were hesitating between 1 and 2.
And eventually decided to evaluate our experience with Kilipath for one star.
Pity but we couldn’t have found any positive aspect of our most anticipated trip.
I started browsing safari options a bit more than 1 month before our journey to Tanzania. I sent out several inquiries and eventually decided for Kilipath that was able to accommodate my requests quite promptly.
My contact with Judith (coordinator) was efficient. She was very responsive. I was really amazed by how quickly she agreed to embrace my ideas and come up with a satisfactory itinerary.
But it turned out that this quick agreement has its own price…
Once she confirmed she can accommodate all my requests, I paid the required deposit (20% of the full price) and I was happy I finally got it sorted.
The day before the planned start of our North safari, we flew from Dar es Salaam and very late in the evening landed on the Kilimanjaro airport where we have been picked up by Judith and then we headed to Arusha.
We were extremely tired.
The very first thing Judith told us was that our itinerary has been changed and instead of visiting Tarangire Park first we’ll be traveling to Serengeti Park (that is much farther) and Tarangire was put at the end of the trip (not logical at all since Tarangire is the closest destination from Arusha). She said it has been requested by the rest of the group (it was a joining safari). I know the logistics is tough & tight and the accommodation bookings and also parks’ permits need to be managed in advance. However the fact she didn’t tell us that asking for our consent was outrageous. She changed the plan without our approval. She decided on our behalf that is in my opinion unacceptable.
The second info she provided us with was… a tipping guidance. She said it’s expected to tip everyone, including herself (!!!) 10$ per PERSON per day (sic!). That was too much for us.
We know what are recommended tips in Tanzania and 10$ are always appreciated as an amount per group and not per person, especially that there were only two of us (not a big group at all).
At this very moment I got speechless and stopped being chatty.
She also told us that we need to pay for breakfast in our hotel in Arusha (accommodation provided by the agency).
The next day we have been picked up by our “guide” (quotation mark on purpose; explained in another review) and realized there were two other people with us, so only the four of us were going to travel.
It turned out the agenda was changed on request of some other people who were supposed to participate in the safari, but they didn’t show up (either their flight has been cancelled or they missed their flight).
So the agenda was adjusted to people who eventually didn’t take part in the safari and all other people who were traveling were forced to go for it although no one was happy with that.
Another thing was that we were put into a safari group organized by another agency (not Kilipath) and we also haven’t been notified on this; needless to say: asked for our consent. Just shocking.
About the other agency we were on safari with (Serengeti African Tours) I posted a separate review.
This was our first joining safari experience in Tanzania and we didn’t realize that some definitions used by Kilipath in the quote we got (with the detailed plan of the safari) was very ‚tricky’ or better said: misleading.
Later (after another, private safari) when we realized how safari logistics looks like (or should look like, at least), we found some very weird terms in our Kilipath quote, e.g.: ‚transfer game drive’.
There is ‚a game drive’ (driving at a slow pace when you can find animals and observe them) and there is ‚a transfer’ where you are heading to another destination (a normal driving at a normal speed, so: no way you can contemplate animals, because you’re in hurry to reach next place).
There is ‚a game drive’ and there is ‚a transfer’. There is not such a thing like ‚a transfer game drive’! Be aware and cautious! Read your quotes very carefully before agreeing on anything!
Our safari (led by another company) was also a very unfortunate affair (I wrote another review that points out its reasons).
After second day in Serengeti we were so sour, disappointed, angry or even furious that we were considering dropping the safari and asking for a partially refund from Kilipath. Really. Eventually did Kilipath offer a 50$ refund which we declined.
To Kilipath: please do not take advantage of the fact you’re local (in a bad or even in a nasty way). Although we are outsiders, we see things and can easily and quickly realize if someone is trying to cheat on us.
I don’t recommend Kilipath at all. Very poor customer service.
I never gave that low score to anyone.
I tried to mention all the aspects of our experience and explain why we didn’t enjoy it, hence the length of the review
US
Email Kristi | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Attentive
The booking process was very easy and Judith was helpful and flexible throughout. Our guide Hamza was knowledgeable and funny, and made sure we were well taken care of. Overall a great experience!
Email John | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent tour operator
I enjoyed travel with Kilipath,communication was good,Time oriented,services was good,Hotel selection and booking was awesome depending on your budget you can see value of money you paid.
Reply from Kilipath African Safari
Posted on Feb 15, 2023we are so much appriciate for your feeback John thanks for your unforgatble safari