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
Email Jie Shao | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A wonderful and unforgettable Kenya experience!
We had 8-day travel experience in Kenya which included all: Safari game drive in Masai Mara, Amboseli, Nakuru Lake and hot air balloon in Masai Mara and Diani beach. It’s a comprehensive package. Although tired, it’s very worthwhile. We wanted to thank David especially for his kindness, dedication and great communication as well. He obviously loves his job and provided a very good guide for us. My daughter even said “David is the highlight of this trip”! Thank you! We would highly recommend Jastro!
ES
Email Laia | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
I would advise not book with them
I recommend you avoid at all costs!
Our experience with Jastro was a complete disaster. From start to finish, their disorganization caused constant stress. We faced numerous last-minute changes to accommodations, timings, and pick-ups, leaving us in limbo about where we’d stay or when we’d be picked up next.
But what made it worse was that every change came with an extra charge—surprise, surprise! It felt like they were always trying to squeeze more money out of us. For example, they asked us to cover train tickets for $90, yet the tickets were clearly sold for $30. That level of dishonesty was infuriating.
Communication with them was another nightmare. They made several mistakes with our bookings, tickets, and timings, and when we tried to address these issues, they were dismissive and uncooperative. It felt like we were talking to a wall, and at times they treated us like idiots.
Victor (our admin contact) and Jared (the company director), were THE WORST. Both lied, withheld information, and dodged our questions. Even one of our local drivers, who tried to help resolve an issue with park tickets, mentioned how unprofessional and uncooperative Jared was.
Jastro turned what was supposed to be a relaxing holiday into a nightmare. I’ve traveled extensively and never experienced anything as chaotic and stressful as this. I strongly advise anyone considering this company to look elsewhere. They are dishonest, unprofessional, and frankly, they treat their customers like if we were idiots!
Reply from Jastro Safaris
Posted on Oct 23, 2024Dear Laia
Thank you for your review.
We communicated to you to upgrade to private safari immediately the rest of the group pulled out of the initial plan, and of course the upgrade was coming with an extra charge. You insisted that the company wanted you to pay excess and you were very uncooperative for an upgrade. Finally the company agreed to understand you request and we used part of our mark up to cover up your safari. We believe this was a good thing to do.
Upon arrival, the Euro balance that you paid to our representative was not sufficient(to the balance in USD as initially agreed during costing) because of the rate at that time. He explicitly explained this to you and you group but you were not ready to understand.
The train tickets were marked up to USD 90. You even refused to pay for the tickets.
You were just not ready to cooperate and make the safari successful as we hoped.
We ended up injecting all our profit and even adding more company`s funds to your safari.
Kind regards.
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
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
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!
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.
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
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!
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 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.