35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
What an awesome experience!!
Wow from beginning to end! The thing that really stood out for me was the personal service we received. My partner and I were collected by the most warm and friendly tour guide Blessing. We had the kombi all to ourselves - no squashing and trying to fit in with others. The tour really was all about us and what we wanted to do and when we wanted to do it. Africa Zim Travel are focussed on being flexible and accommodating and prefer to take small or well acquainted groups - that really does make for a far more enjoyable trip. This really was a trip to remember and I would highly recommend using Africa Zim Travel to plan your next memorable experience.
DK
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The best budget safari our family could have
Thank you!!!! - says the family from Denmark!
My family and I had the best budget safari in Maasai Mare, Amboseli (Nakuru was disappointing no flamingos, but many rhino)
David is as everybody write very quick on mails and he is very friendly and extremely helpfull in real life to :-)
The budget tent camp was very fine in Maasai Mara, bit more "rustic" in Ambolseli - but it worked fine.
Patric our driver was a very good driver, and told us a lot about the animals, and had an answer to all our questions.
We were a Danish family who found this company on the Internet, took the chance by the reviews and that's why I write this..... You can count on these people! They handle all were well:
Pick up in airport
Hotel in Nairobi (budget, but ok)
Tours in Nairobi with Bon'fiss a nice young driver, who drove us round town.
I highly recommend this company!
ES
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic honeymoon organized with the help of Suburbs Adventures!
Lamech and his team were fantastic! They helped us to organize an unforgettable honeymoon in Kenya (3 days safari and some days on the beach in Watamu). Everything was perfect and we felt very special! We will definitely book through them again when we go back to Kenya. Thank you all again! Annalisa & Anders
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
My Safari in Kenya
My Safari to Kenya was Excellent from beginning to end. I was extremely anxious about this trip. The staff of Odyssey Tours allayed my fears. Then provided the most wonderful experience of my life. James our Tour Guide was knowledgeable, patient and compassionate. Our Game Drives were spectacular and fun!. I would not hesitate to recommend Odyssey Safaris, my tour guide James, and the staff. The Kenyan people made our stay an outstanding experience. Thank you again and again!
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
great advice, great adventure
our safari experience was wonderful, and Marianne helped us to make it possible, giving us great advice on the lodge, activities, travel, health, timing ... She even helped us sorting out our international money transfer (no small feat when money gets trapped between banks). At our lodge, the Ngala ranger-tracker team of Mike and Fanny was amazingly professional and competent. We learnt and viewed so much for such a short period of time. Highly recommended!
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Best Safari Company in Botswana!!!
Slow but sure safari is an unique company. starting from the organization until the last minute!!! First Ms. Denise has bees super nice replying to all the question by email and real time by whatsapp!!Oscar is a senior guide with unique experience in driving and spot animals and location!!! Ken and Sec provided a 5 star camping and a really delicious food making our stays very comfortable. I strongly suggest this company for the effort they put in their job, their experience and their very honest cost!!!
NZ
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Wild South Africa; absolutely brilliant, and I would highly recommend this trip as a "must do".
This was my 4th trip with Masihambe Afrika and as with all the others, it was absolutely fantastic and a laugh a minute. From the game parks, to the quirky little towns and villages(thanks to the small detours made along the way!,)the gorgeous coastline and whales, the spectacular Drakensberg Mountains we drove through, the bush and forests, made it such a memorable time. South Africa is a beautiful country with very welcoming and friendly people. Cape Town is so colourful and vibrant,I could easily have stayed another week or two. The Lodges we stayed in were lovely with great service and the food fantastic.
To Jude and Ant, thanks for the memories! And thank you Ant, for your amazing knowledge of all things African, your stories that had everyone in fits of laughter,and that sense of humour! I'll be smiling for months to come.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Worst tour company experience I have ever had - steer clear and save yourself a headache
So I don't even know where to begin. Stay as far away as possible from booking with this company. This was the most upsetting and stressful experience I have ever had traveling abroad and we travel to a different country every other year. I am a well seasoned traveler and this is by far the worst experience I have ever had! Steer clear!
I have been long dreading writing this review but I feel that if I don't, I would be partially responsible for another traveler to have the same terrible experience that my husband and I did. In a nutshell, we booked our tour almost one year in advance, everything we were promised/told we would get - we only got half of it, our trip was re-arranged to accommodate another couple but the problem was were staying at different locations - one was up to 52 km away, were downgraded everywhere we stayed when our "places were booked" (we payed for 5 star but got 2 star), in the end we were not offered any type of consolation other than endless promises during our trip and a "I'm sorry", and the communication with our operator was terrible since he never told us any of our places were "overbooked" until it happened and we had to call him... the list goes on. Our guess is that he spent our money and used it on other people. We were also told we could pay by credit card for the remainder of our trip upon arrival but we were forced to go to a bank instead to take out money (which cost us money too), and we paid for our the remainder of our trip using our credit card as the tour progressed around Tanzania. Very unprofessional!!!!
Let's start with our arrival day. Flying from US to Africa was a long trek, upon arrival we were greeted at the airport by a gentleman holding up a sign with our names on it. As everyone is loading up in their professional safari van's with logos on them, we were directed to a small toyota corolla with no room for our luggage because the driver had a large subwoofer in the trunk. No biggie right? We just put our luggage in the car - but oh yeah, we were also waiting for two additional people who would be sharing the car with us. Now where and how do you expect to fit four people in a toyota corolla with at least four pieces of luggage?? After about an hour at the airport trying to arrange our luggage, we ended up with some luggage on our laps, including the driver's subwoofer while my husband sat in the middle of the back seat. Oh yeah, did I mention the trunk was broken? That was why it took us almost an hour too - we were trying to tie his trunk shut with a scarf. So off we go to our hotels - or so we thought. Our driver was very nice but spoke almost no English at all - and he was not the "representative from the company" that was supposed to meet us, he was a hired taxi driver. So the first couple gets dropped off at their hotel but it was not the hotel they were supposed to be staying at and paid for. It was a downgrade and they were told "This is where I was told to drop you off." Next we were driven around for almost 2 hours, at 11 o'clock at night, and told that he did not know where our hotel was but we were not staying at "Kibo palace". We were staying somewhere else and he had never been to that hotel and did not know where it was. He gets on the phone with somebody by the name of Peter who tells him how to get to the new hotel we are supposed to be staying at, and the driver still couldn't find it. Who the hell is Peter? I tell him to get this "Peter" on the phone and I find out that Peter is not even a representative with our company but with a different company entirely. Oh, but Peter is friends with our hotel owner/operator. Peter tells us that this hotel is much nicer ( what a load of crap that was). In the end we were taken to a downgraded version of our hotel, even though we paid for something more expensive Don't you think the owner should have contacted us prior to our arrival date and let us know that we weren't staying where we paid to stay? For someone traveling from the USA to visit Africa and then while in a taxi, be driven around and told they are not going to the hotel they were told they were is a bit nerve-wrecking and scary. Needless to say the lack of communication is very unprofessional on the company's end. What happened to the extra money we paid for the nicer hotel? But wait! It gets better...
Day two, we meet with Julias, the owner of the company who tells us that our 5 star hotel is booked because the UN was in town and they get to bump whomever they want at the hotel regardless of whether or not the people have reservations. (We later found out that this was a lie and our tour operator/owner never booked us there to begin with!!!!!) So we were able to get one night at the nice hotel we paid for - at this time we are told that the lodge we were supposed to stay at in the serengeti burned down and we were being upgraded to a luxury tent camp. The problem is that the lodge burned down 8 months before we were supposed to start our vacation. You would think the owner/company would have told us or asked us where we wanted to stay instead?? When we told him we did not want to stay in a tent camp we were told we had no other options because the other lodges were more money than what we paid for. Don't you think at this point we deserved an upgrade, and why is this issue our problem?? We decided it was out of our control and went with the only choice we were given. So we drive all the way from Arusha to the Serengeti (now the trip is being done in reverse too, to accommodate a couple from China who booked their trip 4 days prior). When we get to the Serengeti we find out that the couple on the trip with us is not staying in the tent camp the second night, but rather at a nice lodge which was 52 km away on a bumpy road (1.5 hr drive each way for our driver). So we had to end our game drive early that day so he could drop US off and have time to get the couple to their lodge. Then he has to drive back to pick us the next morning. During this time in the Serengeti we met another couple who were having the exact same experience we were having with the same company.
The next few days go as planned (other than our driver not being given enough money to cover our trip and we have to foot the bill by credit card and get reimbursed). Then we get to another bump in the road. We return to Arusha to find out that we are receiving a complimentary downgrade and we will not be spending our last two nights in the 5-star hotel that we were promised we would be staying at, and that we paid to stay at. Noooo - we are staying at a place that is a lot less nice, the food was terrible, we had no A/C and brown water coming out of the shower. All the owner can say to us upon our arrival to this hotel is, "I have bad news." Surprise!!! This owner has not had ANY good news for us during our entire trip! He tells us that our hotel was booked and we will be staying at a different hotel (the downgrade). He apologizes and offers to make it up to us by offering a free tour of a Massai Village for the next day. At this point we are tired, sick and tired, of all the surprises and "let-downs" and we just want to leave. We tell him that we do not want to go on a tour but appreciate the offer. He asks what he can do to fix the matter and tells us he is concerned about getting a bad review. but rather we would like a partial refund. He of course ignored that notion. We asked him about the price difference between the two hotels and he tells us the one were staying at was $30 less per day. We told him he owed us $60 for the two nights we were "downgraded". In the end he gave us $60 back. This would not have happened if we did not ask for it so he was going to keep the extra money we paid for a much nicer hotel.
Stay as far away from this company as possible - it is not worth it!
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Outstanding safari!
I couldn't expect less from the response we had on overall response and planning phase being my second time in Kenya . We had a great and excellent safari guide who new where to be at a given time, good knowledge of the wild animals...I would therefore recommend thus company to fellow travelers looking.to doing a Kenyan safari.
CH
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Bwindi Impenetrable National park It’s a Great Park
Our journey from Bwindi Impenetrable National park to Queen Elizabeth National park was enjoyable. I did some bird watching although it was not included in the activities. What I mean is as were traveling to Bwindi, I saw different species of birds and all I did was to gaze at them. At Bwindi Impenetrable National park, I enjoyed the trekking. I came already prepared for it. As we were trekking we received news that the group which were tracking was somewhere so it didn’t take us long before we had an actual view of these great animals. This was really enjoyable. What more could I ask for. The journey was seamless. Thank you Gorilla Tour Booking Safaris for a wonderful adventure