Experience level: over 5 safaris
Chitake
Went to Chitake, Zimbabwe with Natureways sharing their temporary camp with another group who had their own guide with vehicle. We therefore had the sole use of Natureways vehicle and guide who they supplied at a much lower price than if we had gone with our own guide and Andy the Natureways guide was excellent.
The camp staff were always helpful and friendly and a credit to the company, the meals were good and the drinks were nice and cold which is much needed in the heat at Chitake. The only failing was the quality of the tent whose zips were always jamming and breaking, not good when you are trying to get in in the dark so they need to upgrade or repair the zips.
Overall though thoroghly enjoyed our trip to Chitake with Natureways and would recommend them to anyone thinking of going there.
DE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent experience! Lots of animals.
- I would always recommend this park.
- I would not come again at the end of October. It was too hot!
- A park with a lot of things to do.
my trip
We had a very good trip and we are very happy to do it with Safarihub All the information that Eleanor gave us before our departure on the camps and the parks were very honest and correct. Maybe more clarification was needed on Mafia Marine park entrance fees, but it was also our mistake. Even so they made our experience a unforgettable one !
CL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Horrible experience, they cheated on the service and stole money
Through safari booking we contacted Tembea East Africa Safaris, and at beginning everything worked perfect; Responded to our emails immediately and also we managed all the details to make our trip perfect. We were also quoted in another company that had been recommended by a friend from Chile, but we finally opted for this, as they looked like a serious company and was also "backed up" by Safari Booking.
The first problem we had was closing the payment method, because although on its page expressly shows that you can pay by Pay Pal, they told us that we could not pay that way, since for them it was very expensive the commission, So we had to pay with Western Union. We were scared with this response, so we told them that we could not take the Safari with them, but seeing that we were hesitant, Evangelina (Tambea East) immediately wrote to us saying that finally there was no problem and we could pay with pay pal If we wanted.
Thus, we agreed with them that we would pay the total of the tour with Pay Pal equivalent to 4,590 USD (50% before arriving and 50% when arriving there) and we were assured by mail that we would have no problems with that. Once this was closed, Evangelina started sending us several emails, noting that we had to pay 50% as soon as possible, because they had to buy airline tickets and book hotels with that money, otherwise if we delayed they could being full the hotels we had specially selected.
So in a few days we paid through Pay Pal 50% (2,295 USD) of the tour in advance (this was two months in advance). The tour included tickets from Dar Es Salaam to Zanzibar and from Zanzibar to Arusha, all hotels, all transfers, safari (guide and car) and almost all meals. That is to say, we would arrive in Tanzania, pay the remaining 50% with Pay Pal (2,295 USD) and we would just enjoy ourselves, without having to worry about anything, or to spend an extra coin.
But this was what actually happened:
1) Upon arriving in Tanzania, they told us that we can not pay the remaining 50% with Pay Pal, because they are out of their annual quota to receive payments there (clearly a lie since that does not exist) and tell us that we have to go paying in different places with the credit card as they tell us. This already annoyed us quite a bit, but we preferred not to complain to not ruin our holiday.
2) Upon arriving in Zanzibar, it was supposed to be arranged a transfer to pick us up and take us to our hotel which was 1.5 hours away. We were waiting for 40 minutes at the airport, it was night without anyone appearing, so we had to pay a taxi to take us to the hotel.
3) Once in Zanzibar, Evangenila sends us for whatsapp a list of places we have to pay ourselves upon arrival (some hotels and entrances to the parks, which were supposed to be reserved and had to be paid by them) and tell us That the rest (what is missing to complement the remaining 50%) we have to pay in cash, although they had expressly agreed that that would not happen because we were not going to carry cash on our trip.
Although we claimed and said that we were not going to pay in cash, as we took out a high commission in our country and we had agreed that we would pay with Pay Pal (there was already a claim on Safari Booking against this company For the same issue, so we were especially careful to confirm that we could pay with Pay Pal), we were told there was no other option, so we were afraid to miss the safari, ande we had to accept it.
4) Arriving in Arusha in Tanzania, as soon as we arrived we were taken to a bank, where we could not withdraw money, then in the afternoon they pick us up again at the hotel to go to another bank, in this place the exchange rate was Very high, so they wanted us to go to a third bank. At that moment I was enraged, seeing that I was using a whole day of my vacations to go to different banks instead of enjoying, so I told them that I would not go to any other bank. At that time talk directly to Issa (owner of Tembea East), who finally agreed to change the money there.
We gave them $ 899 in cash, supposedly with that money plus the payment of Planet Lodge hotels, Octagon Lodge, Tortilis Camps and tickets to the parks of Manyara Lake and Serengeti (1,396 USD), it was all paid for.
5) It was already quite annoying, to change all the same day we arrived, when we could not do anything else, and having to go paying in different places, when supposedly the grace to do this through an agency is that you pay and You forget those issues, which was what we had agreed upon. It was quite uncomfortable, since in some places the card did not work and in the parks we were the only ones doing the line, since all the other companies - as it has to be - the tourists only enjoyed and it was the company that was in charge of all the payments.
6) As for Safari itself, they hired a guide they did not even know and who had never worked with them, they hired him through a third party, so the guide did not even know the operators. That is, Tambea East had no idea who they were sending us to do the Safari (according to the guide told us), or in which car we were going to do. Luckily, within all of the poor organization, our guide was quite good and we quite enjoyed the walks with him. The problems always came in the afternoon, when tired after the Safari we had to go to the hotel.
7) The first hotel we had problems was at Tortillis Camp, as Issa (Owner of Tembea East) called us the same day we were going to Serengeti, to inform us that there was no available space at Tortilis Camp, lodge we had specially selected and for which we had even paid More (it was more expensive), so we had to go to another hotel. He only called us to communicate this, without explanation, to see if we agreed with the change, or to apologize for the incident.
This was advised on the same day that we had to go to the lodge, so we realized that they had never actually made any reservations and the 50% that we paid in advance at an early start had simply been left for them.
We realized that they were booking the hotels the day before or sometimes the same day that we were going to get to the hotel, even though we supposedly had paid 50% months in advance so they could make reservations.
In short, what happened was that they did absolutely nothing, simply received our money and stayed with it, without using it in making reservations or paying the plane tickets (also was bought the same day).
That is, the urgency of paying 50% was not to make the reservations, but because they needed the money.
8) But worst of all, it was not just what happened. In Ngorongoro when we arrived at the hotel which supposedly had already been paid directly with our money for Tembea East, we found out that Tembea had never actually paid and had just made the reservation that same day, by an email in which they told the hotel "That if they (Tembea) did not pay before we arrived at the hotel, they would charge us directly upon arrival." This was according to what the manager himself showed us. (Attach mail that Tembea East sent to Norongoto Farm House)
In the desperate place, we spent hours trying to contact someone at the agency, but they simply did not answer our calls, they didn´t respond to our messages, and the guide could not help us, since he had only been subcontracted and had no idea what was happening. Besides, he told us that he had not been paid from Tembea East either, which was due to him for the safari he was doing to us, so he was also very worried.
Finally, unable to do anything else, we had to pay again 266 USD for the hotel we had already paid to Tembea.
Then, from what happened to us in the first hotel, they sent us a message saying that we were not worried, that it was just a confusion (even though the mail they sent to the hotel was very clear) and they were going to give us back what we had paid . We were also assured that at the next hotel (Moromboi) everything was already paid, as well as the tickets to Tarangire National Park. Supposedly they had given the money to the guide, but this one told us that he had not received anything.
Upon arriving at the park, they obviously had not transferred anything to the guide, so we had to pay 119.18 USD for park fees again and the same thing happened at Maramboi Lodge, where the manager told us that they had only received half the payment ( That same day) and that they had been told that the other half would charge us when we arrived, so we had to pay 141 USD.
9) So finally with more than 535 USD we had to pay extra (although we had already paid Tembea for it), we arrived in Arusha on the last day, where we were supposed to meet with the representative of Tembea in Tanzania, who would give us back the money.
We asked all day waiting for it to arrive, instead of being able to enjoy the city, besides with the heart in the mouth, not knowing if they were going to pay us what they owed us or not. Evidently, after all the lies, we no longer trusted the agency at all. We were very scared, stressed, angry and tired of everything that happened.
Shortly before we left for the airport, they refunded us USD 350, remaining with the rest of the money which was USD 185 (which they supposedly could not transfer due to bank problems, even though they knew perfectly everything we had to pay extra since the previous day).
We have a whatsapp from Tembea East representative in Zimbabwe where he tells us that we owe 185 USD.
10) In short, they ruined our holidays, they cheated us because they never made reservations or provided any service (on the contrary, we only had different problems each day) and finally they stole more than 185 USD that we have not receive yet until today.
Everything we tell you, is backed up, with the payments, emails, messages by whatsapp and with the testimonies of all the people who witnessed this; The person they contacted in Tanzania as an intermediary, the guide they hired and the managers of the different hotels, who personally witnessed how we had been cheated.
We believe it is unlikely that such a company is part of the companies that appear on its website. Not only they did not do the work (they did not book, they did not plan, nothing!), They cheated and robbed us.
We trusted in your website (Safari Booking) and that's why we thought Tembea East was a serious company, because we thought your web site at least verified that the companies were reliable.
It is not enough in this case to put our comment about the operator on your page, but we ask you to take that company out of its publications, because we do not want anyone to happen again what happened to us.
We will not rest until this is made public so that the people who travel do not have to live such an experience. If you offer the service, you should at least check with which companies they work or which companies they publish.
CH
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
3-day Budget safari
Booked a 3-day Budget Group Safari (in tents) with Shika based on some online reviews. While we experienced a bumpy start with quite a delay – mostly due to other customers not showing up to the trip – once we were rolling, things went totally fine. We ended up having a private safari after all, the drivers were well-informed and showed us some great animal spots, lots of game, the Big Five and colourful birds. Those three parks – Tarangire, Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro – are just unique places. The nights were spent in a simple but clean, friendly and safe Tent Lodge in Mto Wa Mbu, called Fanaka, with good food. Shika is a small, young, African-owned company that competes with big, mostly Establishment-/American-/European owned travel agencies and while honestly not everything went smooth, after all we had a great experience, got a really great value for our money and the guys are nice and try everything to make you feel good.
BR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing!
It was an amazing experience.
I had a great time at Krueger Park with Outlook Safaris / Krueger Park.com.
Everything went well, since the booking process, to the hotel pick-up/return and finally the lodging and all the service.
Luckly, I had the chance to spot the "big five", although it´s not so easy to do.
Certainly would return with them again!
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great tour through Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Tarangire
We did a 5 day camping safari with Safari Multiways. We got perfect communication by email with Romeo. He replied very fast to any question or anything I asked for, so I had a really good feeling in advance. This was topped when we where in Tanzania. Airport transfer worked perfect, we talked to Romeo the next morning and shortly after the safari starts with our guide Amos and the cook Moses. The two guys are a dream team. Amos spotted every animal we wanted to see and Moses cooked really really good food!
We saw the great migration and a lot of cats and other animals. All in all it was the perfect trip and we will think and dream about this for our whole life. Don't think twice - DO IT!
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Great company!
When choosing a safari tour operator, I started with a list of twenty companies and Anda ended up among my final three choices. Among my firm criteria were that I wanted a company with a USA office, and would answer my emails in a timely fashion. I was enormously impressed with the cheerful detailed emails I got from Anda and their prices were great. They never pressured me and were always able to give me clear explanations and answers. In the end I eventually needed certain items/services their company did not offer and I ended up booking with a different tour operator instead. I would still heartily recommend Anda for professional, cheerful prompt service and would still happily consider them for future trips when I will have different needs during those trips.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Incredible safari from an excellent safari operator
My wife and I were so impressed with every aspect of our safari. Our guide, Arosto, was absolutely brilliant. He was funny and friendly, very knowledgeable, and very good at spotting animals that we missed. He worked tirelessly and successfully to ensure we saw lots of animals, including the Big 5, and on several days kept driving until it was dark so we could make the most of each day. He seemed to know intuitively when to wait at a particular spot, and as a result we saw a lion hunt in action as well as two wildebeest river crossings during the great migration. We cannot speak highly enough of him and would ask for him specifically if we go on a safari in Tanzania again.
We were also very impressed with the all round service provided by It Started in Africa. Their responses to our questions over email were always very prompt and they were very helpful in helping us organise the details of our trip. We always felt confident with their suggestions and the help they provided us when booking our hotel on Zanzibar was very useful. We would definitely recommend It Started In Africa to all our family and friends.
SE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Knowledgable and safe
Our guide was very knowledgable and patient with all our questions. He put our safety first and was able to present the best of Africa to us by bringing us to places where we could watch the animals.
All accommodation recommended and booked by Jackpot Safaris was top notch.
We wold highly recommend this safari organizer to anyone wanting to get a real African experience.