Reservations staff
Right Choice Tours & Safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2005)
- Member Of:
- ASTA, KATO & KWS
- Tour Types:
- Custom luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $130 to $345 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
CA
Email Kristin | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
All good except Zanzibar
We did the 14 day safari, 3 camps in Kenya and 3 in Tanzania, finishing with 3 nights in Zanzibar. The accommodations were superb as were the jeeps. The Kenyan guides were great and made sure that we had opportunities to see all of the animals. The Tanzanian guides were very kind and did their best for us but unfortunately their English wasn’t great. This meant that our opportunities to ask questions and learn were limited.
Unfortunately things fell apart in Zanzibar. When we arrived at the resort we found that Right Choice had not paid for the accommodations. The resort obviously wanted to be paid so was unwilling to provide rooms until payment was made. That meant that one of our party had to provide a guarantee for payment while “negotiations” ensued with George for payment. Many promises and excuses were provided until finally payment came through some days after we’d checked out. Ultimately no one in our group was out any money but this left a sour taste. I would suggest that there’s a good chance that Right Choice is suffering from financial difficulties. With all the safari choices out there, it might be wise to go with someone else.
Reply from Right Choice Tours & Safaris
Posted on Oct 26, 2024Dear Kris,
I’m so sorry. We’re normally known for our exceptional attention to detail, and we regret that we missed the mark. This was a seamless journey for nearly over 12 days, Kenya and Tanzania combined wildlife safari. The final segment of about 4 nights beach relaxation in Zanzibar is where things started going to the south.
Your booking at the resort in Zanzibar was done through our affiliate ground operator in Zanzibar and this is a standard practice. My agent in Zanzibar had only partially paid the resort and this lead to the stalemate during the check inn time. The matter was brought to my attention during the long weekend and the Nyerere holiday in Tanzania thereon.
I pursued this matter with my agent who settled the payment later and there’s no dispute about full payments coming later. This left a sour taste to everyone. We're so glad you enjoyed your time during the safari.
Please know that your situation was an exception. As you can see on other reviews, we are known for taking ownership and caring deeply about our customers. We can’t fix the past but you have my personal commitment to improve on who to work with in Zanzibar. Until then, please accept my sincerest apologies on behalf of everyone here as a team.
CA
Email Anna | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Right Choice? Not really
TLDR:
-1 star for lack of transparency and poor communication
-1 star for 5 nights of downgraded lodgings but only 3 nights of upgrades later in the trip. Would have rather had 5 nights of better comfort.
We booked a 15 day safari trip in Kenya and Tanzania through Right Choice. Initially, George was very responsive and seemed very organized, and that was why we chose to book with him. We were not happy with the lodging but were mostly happy with the guide and driver we had.
For lodgings, we noticed that George stopped being responsive once we started asking for hotel confirmations to apply for the Kenya ETA. After a few weeks of following up, he finally sent us a confirmation for just the first night in Nairobi, and nothing for the remaining nights.
After we started the safari, the guide drove past the accommodation on our itinerary, and we were only informed of the lodging change at that point. There was zero communication from George himself, even though we had been in contact for other questions. The lodging in Amboseli was a significant downgrade (farther from the park and worse than most budget hostels in other parts of the world). The three of us were also stuffed into one tent even though we paid for 2 rooms. We tried to communicate with George and he just freaked out and shut down. The lodge manager was also pressuring us to stay even though we were clearly unhappy and wanted to move to a place that was equivalent to the place we were promised on the itinerary. George was no help there and dealing with him and the lodge manager cut into our game drive times.
When George finally responded again, we discovered that all of our lodgings in the Kenya portion were downgraded from the original itinerary. We had to be very forceful in our communication and even then, we only got 1 night of our original lodging back at Lake Naivasha. He then promised to upgrade us in Zanzibar to a 5 star all inclusive resort for 3 nights.
At this point, I started reaching out to the lodgings myself to confirm the bookings and found out that for the 3 nights in Masai Mara, the price difference was over $300 USD per person per night between what we were promised on the itinerary vs. where we actually stayed.
We had to confront George with all the information again and then he told us he was going to upgrade us for 2 nights in the Serengeti and 1 night in Tarangire, and that he was unable to upgrade in Zanzibar. However, based on the photos from Google reviews, I'm not sure how much the upgrade really was, but it was too exhausting to continue to deal with him. And at the end of the day, we would have rather just had the 5 nights of our original lodging for better comfort.
There may have been availability issues but George never told us anything. It also didn't seem like he was proactive with correcting the issues - we don't think that he would have upgraded us later if we hadn't called him out on the price differences. It was not fun to have to reach out to various lodgings while on safari drives to advocate for ourselves.
The guide & driver in Kenya were contracted out to a different company, but they were sociable and nice. The guide could have given more explanations for the animals we saw, and point out interesting things along the way like the guides we had later on. However, they did work hard to find animals inside the parks and gave us many great photo opportunities. Our guide helped us with communications when we had trouble reaching George, and was also nice enough to let us visit his home when we asked. We really enjoyed meeting his family and his wife gave a great tour of a traditional Maasai household (much better and thorough than the tourist trap that people get taken to).
The Tanzania portion of the trip was organized through different affiliate partners for the safari portion and Zanzibar portion. The Tanzania part of the trip went pretty well but I feel like most of the credit should be given to those respective companies. George didn't even give us the Zanzibar contact until we arrived at the airport.
Reply from Right Choice Tours & Safaris
Posted on Sep 2, 2024Dear Anna,
Thank you for your review. I’m so sorry. We’re normally known for our exceptional attention to detail, and we regret that we missed the mark. Let me start my remarks with the eTA online application requirements. One hotel confirmation voucher was just OK for this exercise. The issue of not having the confirmed vouchers was not in bad faith.
Yes, the Sungura camp in Amboseli. This camp is located outside the park just like other mid range outfits in Amboseli. I want to categorically say, there is no price difference between Kibo and this camp. Due to unavailability at Kibo camp, we managed securing two rooms at Sungura camp and fully PAID for two nights. The sleeping arrangements you got were frustrating and unacceptable. The camp manager was not helpful neither did he ever denied that Right choice never paid for two rooms.
I hope you will give them a befitting review too! I think this camp was overbooked as there were many tourist during your visit. To say it was worse more than most budget hostels in other parts of the world is an overstretch to the imagination of this online community.
The rest of your trip covered Lake Naivasha, Masai mara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Tarangire and Zanzibar. Following the bad experience in Amboseli, I promised compensation by way of upgrades where possible.
Accommodation in Lake Naivasha was retained as per the itinerary (Lake Naivasha Sopa resort)
Accommodation in Masai Mara was moved to Talek Bush camp following unavailability at Zebra Plains. The two camp offers a various sizes of double & single tents. The Talek camps enjoys great location. In terms of cost, honestly there were some savings which I promised to throw into upgrades as the journey progresses.
In Serengeti, the itinerary accommodation was Heritage Serengeti. Upgrade to Suenos De Africa luxury camp.
Itinerary accommodation in Ngorongoro was retained at Ngorongoro Rhino lodge.
Itinerary accommodation in Tarangire was Tarangire Simba lodge. This was upgraded to 4 star lodge, the Tarangre sopa lodge.
Accommodation in Zanzibar was Nungwi Dreams By mantis and this was retained. I kept my promise on upgrades. On a balancing ratio, the accommodation cost difference in Mara was solved with upgrade in Tarangire. This response is open to my worthy players in the industry. So I have no room lie here.
After several WhatsApp messages reassuring you about the accommodation status, you still went a head to make direct calls to the said lodges which was not bad. I really sympathize with all the energy you spent on these calls which was not really necessary. I was equally overwhelmed with calls from the lodges/camp asking me what is going on with my clients.
That was the time I started going silent because I knew you will get what I had promised after the Amboseli incident. To be fair, that's exactly what you got Anna. Since you had trust issues, the best I could do was to remain calm and get vindicated at the end of the trip.
On the communication aspect of this review, I sincerely apologize. This was a very let down from my corner. I promise to improve and do more on this area. I missed on telling you small logistical information like this tour will be run by Right choice safaris in Kenya and our affiliate partner in Tanzania.
In Zanzibar you will be met by Mr. so & so and more importantly, the changes on accommodation should have been communicated to you in good time.
Take note, it's a standard practice tours covering Kenya and Tanzania or Uganda (the entire East Africa) are run by different operators. Kenya vehicles for example are not allowed to access the Tanzania national parks.
My representative in Zanzibar met your party upon arrival at the airport. All the transfers on arrival and departure days were done accordingly. We’re so glad that our diver guides met your needs and thank you for your kind words.
Please know that your situation was an exception. As you can see on other reviews, we are known for taking ownership and caring deeply about our customers. We can’t fix the past but you have my personal commitment to improve on the way we serve every customer. Until then, please accept my sincerest apologies on behalf of everyone here at Right choice safaris.
NZ
Email Enatha | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The contact were amazing, immediate replies all the time and they were so lovely in every step
not the best time for a safari... we didnt get to see a lot but our driver tried his best to hunt the animals down for us. really loved and appreciated his service
CA
Email Sushant | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Did work out at the end !
The company may be a good tour company but certainly can’t carter to luxury travellers. The communication was nonexistent but most things happened as they our itinerary stipulated. Safaris’s experience was rushed for later part of the trip but that’s because of wrong flights booked and so on.
Tanzania safari good, but...
I booked a 4 days safari in Lake Manyara, Serengeti and Ngorongoro with Right Choice.
On the day of the departure, I discovered:
1 The tour was to Tarangire and not Lake Manyara.
2 I had to travel with "Meru Slopes" and not with Right Choice.
3 The other travellers of my safari booked directly with Meru Slopes and had free pick up at the airport, hotel included...
So, if you travel in Tanzania, book with Meru Slopes directly!