65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
We asked FS to reserve a room at The Gorges which they appeared to handle effectively.
We were bumped from The Gorges (they said they had been overbooked) despite us having a confirmed and paid reservation. Falcon offered us an alternative night at Vic Falls Hotel which we declined and accepted a much more expensive night at Khulu Ivory Safari Lodge. As we got short notice of this situation it was a hassle to provide proof of payment of the additional amount required. We enjoyed our stay at Khulu very much but were disappointed that we missed out on The Gorges.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Beautiful experience; stressful circumstances
First, I must thank Kenya Walking for helping my husband and I have the experience of a lifetime. We visited Tanzania and Uganda and were sincerely amazed by the African wildlife, scenery, and people.
We chose Kenya Walking because of Otieno's quick communication, the ability to customize our itinerary, and the price. We are still grateful to have experienced so much for the price, but feel that it's important for other prospective travelers to be aware of some aspects of unprofessionalism we encountered. They are mostly small things that added up to create an atmosphere of distrust for us.
Examples of unprofessionalism:
-Multiple last-minute hotel changes, including skipping Lake Bunyonyi in Uganda to stay at a poorly rated, loud city motel with water problems (original hotel was around $100, changed to $10 room)
-Incorrect itinerary dates. Even after reviewing our itinerary upon arrival in Uganda, both Otieno and our driver forgot that we were staying two days in the gorilla park to do extra hiking. We had to fight pretty hard to convince them to correct this.
-Over-worked, tired driver speeding considerably and close to nodding off during long drives (I would highly recommend flying into Kisoro to do gorilla trek, or at least requesting a Ugandan guide. Our Kenyan guide had to drive overnight from Nairobi before picking us up and continuing the drive. We also suspect he took a wrong turn which we followed for 90minutes before correcting.)
-Borrowing gas money from us. This favor was asked as a loan until our driver found an ATM, though we never found one. We ended up letting him keep the money as part of his tip, but the company never followed up to thank us or ask whether we got our money back.
-Other small inconveniences included late departures (2hours on our first morning in Tanzania with no communication on their end), spotty attitudes from guides (our Kenyan guide did not like Ugandans... and we were in Uganda), considerable time waiting for guides to deal with problems in banks, broken jeep roof in Tanzania (fortunately this didn't happen until our last day there).
I hate to make this list, because until Otieno asked me to write this review, I had managed to forget all the negative aspects of our trip and only think of the magic moments we had with elephants, lions, gorillas, mountains, and new friends. Even with all the drama of our trip, I don't regret choosing Kenya Walking as I'm not sure we could have packed everything into our time and budget with a different tour operator. I also suspect travelling with Kenya Walking Survivors may be an entirely different experience in Kenya, rather than Tanzania and Uganda where we visited. I have only the best wishes for our guides Mike and Jonas and for Otieno.
If you decide Kenya Walking Survivors is the best fit for your trip, please be prepared to respectfully advocate for yourself and your itinerary.
AE
Experience level: first safari
masai mara the best tour and safari
I love your response, friendly staff and affordable price
my safari was excellent, your really world class,i cant wait
to come with my friend, thank you East Africa Tour and Safari.
thank to Peter i appreciated your assistance
They paid back the $240
** UPDATE MARCH 2015
Peter paid us back today. He called me a few times in the past weeks to explain he was sorting out the financial trouble he got into, and promised he would pay back the money. So he did, the full amount. I am writing this update to do justice to him and his company. Despite the trouble, he's now trying to sort this, as he has done with me and my family.
** ORIGINAL REVIEW
Be aware if you consider to book with this company - I / my family still hasn't received the $240 refund. We paid up-front for a number of things including a safari (and park fees) to Amboseli. The deal was my family would visit Amboseli for 2 days, but they ended up going only 1 day. As the park fees for 2 adults and 2 children were already paid, Africa Flash Mc Tours need to pay us back the $240. Despite NUMEROUS emails, phone calls (Peter's number and the hotline number on their website), whatsapp messages to Peter etc I still haven't received anything. I got a few promises ("you'll get it tomorrow because I have reached my ATM limit", or "I will get it to you by Monday", etc etc) but still no refund... This refund is what obviously concerns me most. But, I'd like to add that generally their services are not great either. My family was supposed to be picked up for the Masai Mara at 8.30am (which I felt was a bit late, but Peter said this was fine), but the van showed up at 10.00am! I didn't get a justification why they were 1,5 hours late (yeah traffic....). I do want to do justice to two of their guides for the Masai Mara and Amboseli - my family did really like them.
PH
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Be detailed
Mwanje the owner is fast in answering query, we were able to agree on the price as early as November 2013 and the terms of payment, I send my deposit as a guarantee of my travel, but after a month he ask again for additional deposit which is not our agreement, nevertheless I sent the money. On the later months he said again that the price rise up due to additional park taxes which based in my research it was implemented Sept. of 2013 way behind before we agreed on the price, he add the price US$ 125.00 pr person which I don't have a choice since I already send 2 times partial payment. I also make clear that I want car with aircon and he agreed to give us a Land Cruiser car with aircon, but during our tour, the aircon is not functioning. So my advice before sending money is to have a contract that in case all your agreement be change, he will return the money or you have the option to cancel your tour.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
bad food, and not enough of it
We stayed at two safari places in Selous Game Reserve, Sable Lodge and Rufiji River Lodge, selected by Gecko. Sable had OK food, but small portions that left you hungry. Rufiji River Lodge had food that was not at all pleasant or appetizing -- you just ate a bare minimum to stave off hunger. At $300/pp/day, I expected better.
Also, the train trip to Selous was not pleasant. 3rd Class or whatever it was is a real surprise for Westerners. Nothing bad happened, but it felt on edge.
Other than these, Gecko did a fine job. I wouldn't use them again, though, I don't think.
IN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good accommodation, Good people, Poor planning
Let me start with Positives:
I started planning for my safari about 2+ months before my travel and that's when I contacted Simon from Wild Race Africa. He has been fantastic with answering queries and clearing all the doubts you may have about your travel plans.
The accommodations provided were good (except for Kimana lodge in Ambseli, where the lady who was managing the lodge seemed least bothered about the guests) for budget safari. Best one was in Masai Mara (Mara Wildebeest camp).
Negatives:
I was kinda asked to change my itinerary just couple of days before my travel (which was fixed from couple of months), which resulted spending one day less in safari.
I was told that as soon as I land at Nairobi, we'll be going to Amboseli. Actually, we were first taken to Wild Race Africa office and then after couple of hours we started for Amboseli.
Time to cover distances were wrongly told, I was told about time taken from Nairobi to Amboseli would be 2.5 to 3 hours and I'll be able to take an evening safari there. Our driver drove for 120 kmph on highway and still we reached after 5 hours. Day wasted.
Itinerary said, after morning game drive in Nakuru we start towards Masai mara for evening game drive. We started on time (after a hurried game drive in Nakuru) and reached Mara by 7 pm. Which means no evening game drive.
We were clubbed with a family which had different itinerary than us. It was left to us on how we manage that. Fortunately the other family decided to change their plans to suit our itinerary. Just wondering what would have happened if they had not changed their plans.
Booked the cab from Wild Race Africa again for Nairobi city tour. Driver came an hour late.
Fortunately I had checked on google maps about the distance between the places and based on that I had calculated the time to travel. Had we planned according to timings provided the driver then we would have completely missed #1 attraction in Nairobi, David Sheldrick elephant orphanage. Being locals there, they were completely unaware of best sequence to cover all attractions in good way.
We had to finish National museum in one hour (we could easily spend 3 hours there) and then we were free by 4 pm in the evening.
I would say again, they give good accommodations, very nice people they have as staff who'll help you plan your trip but many tiny little goof-ups can make difference.
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Beautiful place … too many tourists !
Amazing place with so many animals to observe !
However too many jeeps, too many tourists. Some time you feel like you are in an amusement park queuing for a picture … sad impression !
BE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amboseli 2 days, 1 night at Kimana Tented camp
Let me start by saying that the communication with Peter went good.
He replies very quickly on his e-mails.
(Which, in my opinion, gives you confidence that it's not a scam)
When I had to pay half upfront, I started wondering if it would be a scam or not.
After paying I received a receipt. 2 days later, the driver was at my door to start the Safari as aggreed.
Conclusion: No scam
In our original itinerary it said we would be staying at Kibo.
I decided to stay in my own tent. Peter forgot to mention that it was not posible at Kibo. Therefore he booked us at a less luxurious camp. With, lets be honest, basic facilities. That was a dissapointment since I was expecting Kibo. Which, according to the website, looks very nice.
The driver was friendly.
I also liked the fact that he didn't take many crazy risks on the busy road towards the park.
In the end, I had a good safari.
FR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
20 days in Uganda, including Ruwenzori hike
First of all, we were very pleased with our driver / guide: sociable, friendly, humble, non-intrusive, flexible, humorous, AND a cautious driver. Nothing but good about him.
lodgings:
Recommendations:
- Mutanda lake resort near Bwindi Forest, for its pleasant restaurant, nice location, although still an hour away from the starting point of the gorilla tracking, but very good food.
- Bush lodge near Queen Elizabeth NP for the quality of the accommodation, beautiful location and cuisine.
- Kibale Forest Camp was also fine.
- Kontiki hotel was clearly a place of transit .... Ok, but not more than that.
- Bwana Tembo near Murchison Falls was ok for a middle class logde, but I suspect that some tourists do not appreciate that bats can enter the room ...
- Rwakobo Rock: Ok, if you absolutely want to visit Lake Mburo ... Nice and pleasant dining room, good kitchen, but the maintenance of the huts leaves something to be desired ....
THE disappointment: Cassia Lodge: an outdated hotel with no charm, no personality, with furniture that has seen better days, leaking plumbing. The only thing this hotel offer is the view on Kampala. How much we would have preferred staying in the excellent Boma Guest House in Entebbe ...
The local transport: 7 people in a 4x4 van, that was OK. But why are the windows with black plastic embezzled?? This complicates the visibility, requires even more to drive with open windows, but when sitting where the windows are overlapping each other, forming two layers of blackplastic, the visibility is close to zero....
A cooler (coolbox) would have been welcome: for a sundowner 'en route' fot excemple.
The program put well together, we enjoyed it, the wildlife in Murchison Falls, the hike in Ruwenzori Mountains, the chimpanzees (in great shape!), the gorillas. ..
However, surely not insignificant downsides:
- In Murchison Falls was a boattrip foreseen on a fairly large boat, in the afternoon, and the boat was nearly full. We could have done with it: on chairs put in the middle of the aisle (with limited visibility) or put in the hot afternoon sun. Instead we took another boattrip the next morning. The boot halts, to return, just far enough from the falls, in order not to be impressed. We have seen that, if arranged in advance, you can leave boat and continue walking to the falls... Unfortunately we were not informed of this possibility.
Queen Elizabeth NP: Safari in the morning was a complete fiasco. Never seen so few animals during a safari. The guide said that this was because of the drought. Well, normally this is known in advance....So why was no other part of the park visited? The southern part of the lions hanging in trees for example (we afterwards heard many good things about)? The boat trip in the afternoon was worthwhile.
Lake Mburo NP: The walk in the morning was definitely interesting. But in the itinerary was another boattrip foreseen, and it was mentionned that elephants could be seen. Well, Matoke should do that homework better again because in that park there are absolutely NO elephants. So that boat trip was really a letdown.
Overall it was a nice trip, with beautiful scenery, friendly people everywhere, good food, generally good lodges, but I am a bit disappointed: when working trough a tour organisator, I expect better, acurate and complete information.
For further info (I refer to a question I asked you during the preparation of the trip) for the 6 day hiking in the Ruwenzori Mountains, the carriers prefer rather backpacks rather than the common travel bags.