JASTRO SAFARIS LIMITED STAFF
Jastro Safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2017)
- Member Of:
- Kenya Tourism Regulatory Authority, TOURISM PROFESSIONALS ASSOCIATION & NAIROBI TOUR OPERATORS ASSOCIATION
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $150 to $1,200 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
IT
Email Andrea | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unreliable people. Unfortunately we paid for everything at the beginning
Improvised agency. We take home good memories because the safari (with whichever agency you do it with) is exciting
We had a lot of problem considering what we paid:
1) in the agreed plan there was 8 Moment of game drive, at the end we did 5! We lost 3 moments to have game drive due to fault/problem in the organization of this agency....(as you know games drive are the main reason of this trip and the reason why the people pay a lot of money)
2) Jasto Safari has included in our plan the a specific day trip (guided nature walk). It was in the "included activities" not in the “extra activties” , but also if it was in our plan we had to pay 70$. Not a nice surprise
3) we spent 1 night in an hotel completly different comparing what we paid. In general this in not a problem for us, but after 8 hour in the car, if we have paid for a 4/5 stars hotel with spa, we were not happy to discover that it was a very dirty 1/2 star hotel (they told us, the same day, that our was overbooking...)
4) In our plan there was a dinner included in Nairobi but we found out the same day that we had to paid for that (other 70$....)
5) They completly forgot to organize accomodation and meals for the entire last day, for this reason we paid also one lunch, one dinner and one accomodation more… (other 150$)
6) an entire day lost due to issue with the Van (From 7:00am to 7:00pm on the road: no lunch, just bought some chocolate on the road).. I know that it could happen but it is inconceivable to be told that it can happen and not to take it personally!
7) In the safari all people had a jeep and only us an old Van…
8) Our arrival at 5:30am we wait outside the airport around 50 minutes for the pick up...
Considering all these problem we tried to ask a partial refund. They proposed us 140$, I think that is not proportionate, but I accepted...I asked 6 times for an update on payment (in 3 months) and each time they (I spoke to Jared) told me ‘we will do it next week’. Obviously this refund was never made....
The last comment is about Steve, our driver. He is a good man and good worker. Considering all problems he helped us every time
Reply from Jastro Safaris
Posted on Oct 23, 2024Dear Andrea
We are glad to have received your review, and most importantly having indicated that our driver Steve did an excellent job.
The change of accommodation, which was communicated to you at a good time, happened because of the unavailability at you originally suggested facility.
You were informed about the choice between a tour van and a land cruiser before you booked, you are the one who choose the tour van for your safari, seemingly because of the cost.
The van developed a mechanical issue(this was unforeseen) and caused some delay during your trip, we really apologized for this. The driver acted as swiftly as he could and solved this.
Your quotation was not including meals and accommodation for the last day in Nairobi and we requested if you could book that by yourselves, directly sir.
We spoke about the refund and we agreed that we would send you the said amount.
CN
Email Rachel | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A team worth recommending
It was really a memorable trip. Thanks for our driver, Jonathan, who has excellent wildlife experience and driving skills, and can also arrange the trip well every day. He deserves high praise. Also thanks
for victor, our itinerary planner, for planning such a wonderful and rich trip for us. Thanks you guys very much❤️
CN
Email Martin | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
wonderful
It was a perfect trip, and the travel agency arranged everything for us very well. The most impressive was our driver, Jonathan. He drove very hard every day and took good care of us. He introduced the animals very professionally and humorously, and we learned a lot.
CN
Email Xutong liu | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very well planned, easy communication, fast reply
It is really fantastic experience seafaring with jastro, we had a good communication with Victor, who is responsible for our travel plan construction and earlier connections. Victor always responded rapidly with any changes of our trip. Then Jonathan, our tour guide, who excellently delivered a fantastic safari experience during the 7 days, is so responsible and enthusiastic, always trying to find rare animals like Leopard for us.
Five star recommended!
CN
Email Gina | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
competitive prize and well organised
Victor listen to my needs and help orgniased as we wish. Although we changed some of hotels after we pay 50% fees but we were informed early and hotels replace is at the same standard so i am happy about it. Although we had some hiccup during the trip but victor help to solve quickly. About the night and morning game drives, all of them fulfill as promised. I am deeply thank you for Jonathan our tour guide, he made our trip perfect. He is an experienced driver, always get us to destination on time and safe. He also planed very well and we saw really nice sunset and have beer in the park. He is also acknowledged professional about animals. We all love him!
HK
Email GL | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent guide but Jastro has to be more detail minded
We decided to book a safari tour with Jastro with their competitive quote. Before paying them, everything was good and smooth. And yet after deposit communication became difficult. They were quite irresponsive so you had to keep texting them if you had any requests or changes. They made several mistakes in bookings. Eg originally we rent 2 binoculars and 2 cameras and it turned out only 1 of each were available… it was a pretty big miss
But wells our driver Jonathan was very experienced and we saw the big 5 in 2 days! Highly recommend him to be your safari guide
Reply from Jastro Safaris
Posted on Oct 23, 2024Dear GL
We are really sorry for the unresponsiveness.
I have discussed this with the team and we promise a better experience next time.
Kind regards
Jared
Safari / diani beach trip Sep 2024
We booked a safari / Diani Beach trip through Jastros in late August / early September. Jastros we're responsive and competitive on price and they adapted quickly to changes to our preliminary itinerary as our trip planning progressed. There were a few difficulties with flight and accommodation times and dates so it's important to check these and stay on top of the details and the booking process. Jared engaged with us constructively and did his best to resolve the issues, and things turned out well in the end. Transfers between airports are challenging at the best of times but Jastros did a good job on these. Our game driver, John, was absolutely fantastic and we saw 4 of the big 5 within several hours of our first game drive - partly down to luck but also in large part due to John's skills and relationships with other game drivers.
US
Email Gavin | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful customized safari
What an incredible experience. You have many companies to choose from as far as safari booking agents, and we chose Jastro because of the ability to customize to our needs. Communication was excellent. Whenever there was an update, we were readily notified. The experience felt very personal, and that was reiterated by Victor meeting us from the airport on the final day to shake our hands, get an in-person review of our experience and ask for any feedback on how they could improve. That's how you run a business! We recommend and will use Jastro again for future bookings!
CN
Email Miyo | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A professional operator with patience
It took me nearly half a year to walk through the whole progress, Thanks Victor for his patient replies and continuous efforts on the arrangement for my solo safari. Single travelers sometimes have to fit in the other group, but the results turned good and I really enjoyed the so many amazing animals I've seen and the hotels that Victor helped me booked. Next time I will come with my friends.
Reply from Jastro Safaris
Posted on Sep 27, 2024Dear Miyo
Thank you for your understanding. You really make life easier on our side as well during the execution of your safari.
See you in future. Many thanks and be blessed.
Victor, Jastro
CN
Email Shawn | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Awful experience, not professional, no integrity
It is quite an annoying experience. I can list three main mistake they maid:
During the trip
1. Change our accommodation during the safari. We were supposed to stay in Naivasha Sopa, also we expected most for the whole trip. However when we arrived in the hotel, they told us no room booked for us. I argued with both the hotel and jastro for one hour and forced to transfer to Naivasha simba. Simba has no giraffe(we want to take photos with giraffes), food is terrible. We even self paid to go back to sopa to have dinner. Every one, including our driver and sopa hotel manager, say they never encounter this before. The only reason is jastro didn’t pay the hotel in required time even though I have paid for everything.
what’s more, before this trip I saw some negative review about they change customer’s hotels. So I told victor several time before the trip to confirm my accommodation and I don’t want to see anything changes. However it still happens and this ruined the whole trip. Sopa is fancy and simba is terrible and they insist they are the same level.
I get 50 dollar refund at the end of the trip at my insiste but this cann’t compensate for anything.
Before the trip
2. One week after we paid the deposit, victor suddenly told me I have to pay more 200usd for each person because he forgot to add first day game drive in massi mara. This is cheating! I don’t agree and so we cut 8 day trip to 7 days, and still make up another 500 dollar.
3. Then I asked victor to list details for my total cash balance in case he made any more mistakes, which turned out to be another nightmare. He keep making mistakes for everything. For the first version, he say the government tax is 3%, but list 800usd more for my hotel cost(not match hotel receipt). After I point out the hotel overcharge, he make that 800usd to government tax, raised it to 6% instead of return back to me. So haha jastro can decide government tax rate?? All under their control and customer has no choice.
The only cons is our guide Jonathon is good. But he also annoyed when they change our hotels and know nothing during the trip, he is also innocent.
All in all, before u pay them, they reply quick and say all good. After the deposit, everything just change. They became robbery and cost u too much energy to argue with them.
I would recommend you don't choose them. They're not professional at all.
(images removed for privacy reasons)
Reply from Jastro Safaris
Posted on Oct 23, 2024Dear Shawn, we appreciate your review and the opportunity you gave us to serve you.
We are a very professional team, very much concerned with good communication and general customer satisfaction.
Than you for recommending our driver Jonathan.
Victor realized that there was an issue on initial costing which was ineligible and could interfere with the services provision, and so he got back to you over the same. Some errors may occur at times and we are all humans so we beg for your understanding.
Just to make you understand, the percentage in question is the government tax on the amount paid through our online payment system.
Sopa informed us of the change at the very last minute and we had to get a solution immediately to avoid inconveniences.
With all that did not go well, we offered you the refund that you requested.
Kind regards