Staff on game drive at Nairobi National Park
Fabrics of Adventure Safaris
- Office In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2020)
- Member Of:
- Eco Tourism Kenya, Tourism Regulatory Authority of Kenya & Kenya Association of Tour Operators(KATO)
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $50 to $420 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
for a custom tour
Your request will be sent directly to the operator
If preferred, you can contact the operator directly
Reviews
BR
Email Fred | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Bad safari, indifferent to the clients
The agency didn't provide value added to our trip. On the contrary, they ruined it from the beginning.
1. Misleading statement. I booked this agency because its competitive price given the same package. But unfortunately they didn't provide what they promised. I asked for an open-sided vehicle, which is more expensive than the normal Landcruiser. To make it happen within my budget, I even asked them to downgrade the hotels. They confirmed they can provide the open-sided one as I asked. However, what they provided is just a Landcruiser with the windows replaced with canvas cover. This was not even closer what we wanted. How they explained? They told me the open-sided vehicle that I asked can only be used in the park. Do you think it justified that you claimed you have the open-sided one? If you don't, why not telling me in the first place?? Moreover, at least other 2 agencies provided this option(opene vehicle) with extra fees over than the normal land cruiser.
2. Overpriced package. To have an open-sided vehicle, I proposed to downgrade the hotels. After their recalculation, the total price was almost the same. However, as I said above, they didn't provide the "upgraded" vehicle but they downgraded my hotels range. In terms of the same package with a normal landcruiser, this agency charged USD500 more than the quotes we received from other agencies. I wouldn't booked with them if I could know their open-sided vehicle was a lie.
3. Vehicle with bad conditions. You know what? They can not even provide a normal vehicle. What they provided was one without popped-up roof, which means you either close the top cover or leave it completely open. Among the vehicles we saw, ours was the ONLY ONE that didn't have the popped-up roof . If you want to stand up to see the animal, you have to suffer the strong sunlight for the whole game drive because it's not adjustable on on the road.
3.Unprofessional and undevoted guide. The guide hired by the agency was unprofessional and undevoted because
1) He is always on the phone calls, private ones, joking on the calls. When the vehicle stopped to wait for the animal to move. Other guides usually were explaining the animal to the clients or kept silent, but you know what our guide was doing? Making calls. Sometimes we had to interrupt him to ask him to move forward. Even when we were quite close to a lion, he was still talking with someone in the phone. Using phone always made him distracted, so he drove very slow. When I doubted the slow drive, he responded safety was the priority. How come using phone while driving could be safe?
2) he was not experienced enough to know where to find the animals, we were often wandering somewhere not even had any aninals at all. When we only missed leopard and chitah, what he did was just idling away in the park Instead of trying to find the animals. Of course we were not demanding that he must find every beasts, but we didn't feel he was devoted to meet clients' expectations.
3) He was not customer-driven. Since the 3rd day, never opened the door for us. In Nakuru, we started safari inthe morning, however we didn't go for flamingo first, instead, he chose a way in the woods to wander about. Until we saw flamingo, it's noon, which the sunlight was not good for taking pictures. When I doubted why we didn't go to see flamingos first, he questioned if I know the way and asked me to trust him.
4. Bad problem-solving altitude. The agency never solved problem we raised, only explained and pretended to understand your feelings. They provided a Landcruser without popped up roof, I asked them to solve. Then they told me the driver will sort it out. However the driver was not able to sort it out. And they just ignored our complaints. This is how they treated the clients.
Never ever choose this agency!
Reply from Fabrics of Adventure Safaris
Posted on Aug 29, 2023Fred was just petty. I accompanied the driver to pick them from their Nairobi hotel on the first day of the tour and once he saw the land cruiser, which was open sided as he wanted, his problems started immediately. He insisted that he paid extra for the open sided vehicle which is not the case, all the land cruisers are of the same price, the open sided one he claimed that the other tour operator showed him, can only be used inside the parks which he did not want to understand despite us explaining that to him. So even before they reached their destination he was already causing trouble. I was in communication with him and his wife but at no time did they complain about seeing the animals.
The guide is one of our best drivers, very professional and knowledgeable. Of course he knows his way around the parks and where to spot the animals. Fred was just problematic and was looking for anything and everything to complain about.
We did not overprice him neither did we downgrade his accommodations, he was just a difficult client to deal with.
We did all that was possible to make Fred and Ines happy but they couldn't listen and take our advices. It was a nightmare working with Fred but we did our best. We tried to solve the issue but our efforts were not appreciated.
BR
Email Ines | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Biggest flop of my trip.
1. Agreement discrepancy.
They did not deliver the service they promised. We paid more for an upgraded open-sided vehicle as they promised they would provide, but they sent us a Landcruiser without a popped-up roof and below industry standards. One day during the Safari, because there was no roof to cover, I got sunstroke and ended the day's trip early.
2. Cover up problems and shirk responsibility.
When we questioned that the vehicle they provided was not what we required, they kept trying to cover it up, telling us that the Landcruiser was the industry standard and that no guest had ever questioned it (with an ironic tone), and requiring us to bear it as there was no other option. However, we were not questioning Landcruiser, but that they did not provide an open-sided vehicle as they promised.
3. Their quotation is more expensive for the same services.
Taking the price we paid as a reference, they did not provide an open-sided vehicle which generally requires an additional $700, therefore, in fact, their quotation was $500 higher than other agencies for the same services. Don’t choose them and save your money！
4. Irresponsible and lazy tour guide.
The tour guide they arranged for us was extremely irresponsible, often driving while making personal phone calls.
Example 1: In Mara, it is 20 kilometers from our hotel to a gate of the park, and it took him 70 minutes to drive us there. Then wandered 2 kilometers near the gate for a whole morning and we saw almost nothing.
Example 2: When we parked just 1 meter away from a lion ready to hunt, he kept talking and laughing loudly. We tried to stop him, but he continued on the phone for 40 minutes. At last, the antelopes were scared away by his voice, and the lion gave up hunting. We missed a great scene that could have happened, which made us very upset.
Example 3: He lacked a basic sense of service and courtesy. Firstly, I want to clarify that we have treated him politely and respectly. However, he didn't share enough information with us, didn't thank us for tips and snacks, interrupted us, and argued loudly with us.
Do not choose this travel agency, they will ruin your trip!!!
Reply from Fabrics of Adventure Safaris
Posted on Aug 30, 2023Ines and her husband Fred were very stubborn nothing we said made sense to them , they kept comparing us with other agency till the very last minute. They ruined their own trip since they did not want to understand what we were saying about the land cruiser from day one. The open sided land cruiser they insisted they paid for can only be used inside the parks of which we did not promise that and we did not overprice neither did we downgrade their accommodations. Our guide is one of the best and is very professional and knowledgeable. That is all lies, our guide cannot be rude to our clients.
They were difficult to deal with.