US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
DO NOT BOOK With this company - they are thieves!!
Do NOT book with this company! Michael and Nelson took our money for the trip months in advance and then came up with numerous excuses about why we needed to pay more each day of the trip. They did not pay for transfers or park entrance fees multiple days and held us in parking lots until we paid more money. We booked a safari with this company for our 10th wedding anniversary trip and it was ruined.
CA
Experience level: first safari
This was one of the worst travel and tour agencies I have ever dealt with.
My review is based SOLELY on the experience I had in booking my tour. The actual tour guides and other people in South Africa were amazing.
My mother had purchased the safari tour In 2019, but was unable to travel due to Covid. In July of 2022 she was advised that she needed to rebook her tour soon or she would lose her money. For personal health reasons, my mother was no longer able to make the trip, so we contacted GTD to make the transfer.
There was a lot of communication between GTD, my mother and I, and it took almost 2 full weeks before anything could be done. GTD would communicate with my mother, without cc’ing me on emails, and vice versa. She had been told to include both of us on all emails so we could ensure that we were all on the same page.
The biggest “bottleneck” was I needed to confirm that what I wanted to do and when I could do it would be available before we did the transfer. I was not going to confirm anything or assume a travel package without knowing if I could do what I wanted. I finally got an email apologizing for the delays with an explanation that there were protocols that needed to be followed.
A quick explanation at the beginning would have provided clarification and I would not have been compelled to follow up so often. And yet, GTD didn’t seem to understand that I wasn’t going to agree to take on my mother’s trip if I couldn’t confirm what I wanted to do
The transfer was finalized at the end of July.
When it came time to pay, I only had AMEX or through my bank. No one had mentioned this beforehand. I had paid off my visa to pay for this trip, and then had to wait until I got paid again, because I didn’t have the cash. Knowing this at the beginning of the conversation would have been helpful so I could have planned better. Not everyone has $3000 cash sitting in their bank account at a moment’s notice.
I chose the tour that I wanted – Johannesburg and Cape Town, and then chose the add-ons that I wanted to do.
I stated that I wanted to do the Cradle of Humankind in Cape Town and then the Lesedi Cultural Village. GTD emailed me back to say that the Cradle of Mankind is in the Safari region and I would need an additional day to do it. I asked if I could cancel one of my safari days while I am in Johannesburg doing the safaris, and she said it was not an option. She said that it was too far away. I was a bit confused and upset because I didn’t understand why I was being presented with an option that wasn’t viable. I was willing to give up one of my safari days to do this but was told it couldn’t happen. And yet, when I was there, I was told that it was closed to public because of flooding - so what was it? Too far? flooding?
On August 11 we discussed the add-ons again, and I heard nothing back from GTD until October 5th when I emailed her (a third time) and cc’d the general email address as well. GTD called me and apologised sating that she had Covid and the hurricane had caused delays. Then she said that she had sent my add on request to someone else and that they hadn’t done it, and that it was now coming back to her to do, and she was overwhelmed with everything. I indicated that I recognize that there are problems everywhere, but a response of any kind would have been appreciated. The hurricane and her having covid did not happen in August or September. And quite frankly, I was getting extremely fed up with the delays and excuses.
On Oct 13 we talked about two other add ons (endangered species and District 6 Bo Kapp) and the shuttle and hotel I would need to pay for as I was arriving early. On Oct 14 I paid for everything that we had talked about … or so I thought.
On October 18 I emailed GTD saying that now that EVERYTHING is paid for, could you please send me a detailed itinerary. She replied back that she was happy everything was in order, and my detailed itinerary would only be available about 30 days prior to my trip.
On October 20 I received an email from GTD with the information and price for the District 6 excursion. I emailed her back indicating that I was confused … we had confirmed on Oct 14 that EVERYTHING was paid for, and all I needed was my detailed itinerary. She said no, she would have discussed this with me before she got me to pay. I replied that we had had this discussion, and I had confirmed everything on October 14. She called me on the phone and I explained it to her again, and I sent her the email again showing her where I said EVERYING and it was in bold. She apologized and said she misunderstood. At this point my frustration level in dealing with GTD was at it’s peak. I was done. I told her to forget it, I’m done, I’m not booking any more trips. And that was the end of it.
On December 1, I received my itinerary and was reviewing it and all of the other information. I was VERY surprised to read that I would need to tip about $10-14 USD a day per guide / ranger. It would have been nice for me to be told this at the beginning when I was speaking with Marie. Not a deal breaker, but advance information would be appreciated.
I have travelled extensively in the last 30 years, and I must admit, I have never had a more challenging time booking a trip as I have had with GTD.
1. The lack of understanding / clarification
2. Missing out on two excursions that I really wanted to do (Cradle of Humankind – I still don’t understand why this was presented as an option and then removed, and then District 6, because she misunderstood)
3. The delays between emails, and no follow up from her end – I was always the one following up to make sure everything was completed
4. Not providing valuable information at the beginning – i.e how to pay for the trip (no VISA option)
5. Not providing valuable information during the booking – i.e extra things that I will be paying for $10-$14 USD a day = $14-$19 CDN for me at 10 days, that’s an extra $200 roughly.
The above information was provided to GTD prior to my departure (I have updated it with some current info) in November. I was told I would receive a response as soon as possible. I got nothing - absolutely nothing. I even followed up two other occasions. On the third occasion I "threatened" to leave a negative review if I didn't' receive a response by Jan 26.
I got an email from Deon Barnard at Corporate. His response? Oh sorry? I've explain to her what she should have done, and that Canadian files are complicated. She should have gone to her supervisor. I don't think she realized how frustrated you were.
His response was a slap in the face, and I emailed him back, itemizing in detail the inconsistencies in his email. I have yet to hear anything back from him, and I highly doubt I will.
The trip itself was fabulous - South Africa is a gorgeous country - the big 5 are enthralling and the people are wonderful. But do yourself a favour and book with a different travel agency. Save yourself the heartache of missing out of things you wanted to see because of lack of communication, mis reading emails and flat out ignoring you.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
More Money for Less Value
Save money and frustration by skipping Natural World Safaris and go to the actual operator. Natural World Safaris charged us a premium for our Antarctica expedition, yet, does not operate this expedition and has no employees on location. Making matters worse they attract adventurous customers with the lure of camping, kayaking and other expedition compliments without adequately informing you that these require separate bookings (and more money). When we arrived in Ushuaia (after traveling 7,000 miles) we discovered they separated my family into two different hotels, several miles apart. They say they did not know we were a family; however, they got this detail correct on my invoice and contract? Sharing an amazing adventure with my family justified the considerable investment traveling to Antarctica requires; yet I'm asked to say goodbye to part of my family on the first night? Save money and frustration and skip Natural World Safaris. To be clear actual operator, based in Canada and Ushuaia, is fantastic.
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Terrible experience, stay away!
I had an unacceptable experience with Okoa tour, don’t ever book with them!! They changed last minute our reservation (2 nights in the hotel planned instead of 2 and one in a new one not chosen) notifying us only at the airport when we reached. Then, Michael drop the agency started raising his voice and was so disrespectful talking to me. He tried to scam me giving me back my change after I paid (giving me less in local money). In the end, the hotel that wasn’t planned keekorok was not satisfying at all, the room was small, dirty it really affected our trip. This agency is not reliable at all please stay away!!!
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Complete Nightmare & worst tour operator in EAST AFRICA
This tour has been the worst tour of my life. The guide was aggressive and lying to us about park-openings, schedule etc. He turned up late 1 hour in the morning, so everyday we missed the best time of the safari. We were not briefed upon what was the schedule going to be. In the end our old car broke down and we were left without food or water in the heat. I strongly urge you to stay away from this operator. There are amazing safari companies in Kenya. This is not one of them.
CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
You can not trust this person
I am very disappointed by this company. We arrived in Tanzania full of excitement and with the best intentions to share my adventure with local people. It is why I trusted Rewald Moshi to organize our Kilimanjaro summit.
The issues we had with Rewald and his team:
- The company doesn't accept transfers. We had to travel from Canada to Tanzania with $6000 US cash on us. After talking to many people and other companies while we were traveling in Tanzania, we learned the legitimate companies accept transfer.
- Issues in communication. We asked Rewald to add one day for acclimatization, to increase our chances of summitting Kilimanjaro. He replied thumb up on our what's app group. When we arrived we realized he didn't add the 7th day. After reading many websites saying our chance to summit will increase if we spend 7 days on the mountain (5 up 2 down, we texted Rewald asking if we could add one day, he replied yes it will be $270 per person. We paid the extra day because our goal was to summit. After 2 days on Kilimanjaro our guide told us the extra day we paid was to go down, not to go up. We were so disappointed, what is the goal to add an extra day if not to go up and take our time to acclimate. We decided not to spend 3 days going down and asked for a refund minus the salary for the guides and porters. We didn't want the team to be penalized because of the issue in our communication with Rewald. After a long conversation Rewald refunded us $70 per person. So we paid $200 for a day we didn't do just because of poor communication.
- one of the big scams on Kilimanjaro is the team adds a porter on the last day when it is time to pay the tips. We spent 6 days making sure we talked to all our team and learned the names of everyone. On the last day we were tired and when it was time to pay the tips the team sang and danced for us. While I was paying the tips I realized someone I didn't know was in the line of porters. I gave him money thinking I never saw this guy the last 6 days but I was not 100% sure so I gave him a tip (and I Trusted Baraka, our guide). We were missing one person for the tips. We were so confused and sorry for missing one so very quickly we grabbed more cash to pay an extra person. On the way back I was thinking how odd the situation was. I showed the photo of the misterious porter to the other porters asking his name and no one knew his name. When I showed to the guide, Baraka, he said it is Steve the cooks assistant but he left because he is going somewhere else tomorrow. Everyone was so uncomfortable and the energy changed. After googling we learned of the scam of the extra porters at the tips ceremony. Advice ask the name of all the team on the first day to make sure you have the same amount of people when you pay tips.
- we paid to Rewald's friend $30 to get a sim card. Not sure if it was a good price but because we lost trust in him not sure we are not sure
- no oxygen or radio on the mountain. After talking to many guides they all told us we have oxygen and radios if anything happens. Better to ask before choosing your company to make sure you will be safe on the mountain.
I am mad and disappointed by Rewald Moshi and Baraka. We trusted them and they saw us as money on legs, nothing more. I am glad we didn't do the safari and other activities with them.
Check out Tanzania Choice Safari and nomad exploration tours for a way better experience.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Thief, liar and conman
We booked with Forche Tours & Travel in Nuly last year. In the beginning, Fortune was accommodating and helpful however, as soon as he received full payment from us, his communications became less frequent and he continually experienced “wifi” or “internet” issues which he used as an excuse to not respond to us.
Upon discovering some bad reviews made after we booked, we followed up
With the hotels and lodges that Fortune had apparently booked for us only to find that they had not been paid for. We asked when the payment was due by and called to speak with Fortune. He “assured” us that payment would be made in full and that we could relax and just look forward to our holiday.
He never paid and with two weeks before we were due to fly out, we had to scramble to not only borrow money to cover this additional unexpected expense, we also had to find new accommodation, tours and transfers as the ones that Fortune had booked for us were way out of our price range now we had to repay for our holiday.
We have asked on numerous occasions now for a refund and of course, we have received nothing.
My advise… STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY!
CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Do not book with Edward! He is not honest.
I had a terrible experience with Edward. I had booked the 6 days Masai mara>Nakuru>Amboseli trip.
He was very accommodating when we planned things before the trip and then he went back on his word.
- I was subcontracted twice over to join a group safari. This is fine and what I expected. However, I did NOT expect that I would be sleeping in a different place than my group. So at the end of the game drive, I am dumped at once place and everyone else goes to another place.
- On Day 3, he promised me a game drive when we arrive in Nakuru. (After 5+ hours driving to Nakuru). He then told me it wasnt possible. So there was no game drive.
- Day 4, was supposed to be a morning game drive and then "later" drive to amboseli. Turns out that morning game drive means ~1-2 hours and the drive is cut short so you can drive 7+ hours to Amobseli. He was not clear in the itinerary that this is what it meant, I would not have agreed to spend a second day, all day driving.
We argued a lot and he would not back down. He would barely even apologize to me for lying about Day 3.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Avoid this company
Avoid this company! We booked and paid upfront for a 4 day safari during our honeymoon in Kenya, on the day of the safari we were told by the company that no accommodation or park fees had been booked for us and we were required to pay an additional $1500 for the safari to happen. When we refused we were told the safari would not be going ahead. A month on we have been promised a full refund, however on the date we were told the refund would be paid, we were asked to wait another month.
This experience soured our honeymoon and has left us thousands of pounds out of pocket. We would advise people to not use this company.
DE
Not a trustworthy provider, better pick one of the many others.
I booked a one-day trip to Ngorongoro Crater with Erastus and we agreed that we would meet the day before to make the payment. We met and Erastus told me that he might not be able to arrange the trip for me because other guests had changed their plans. However, he personally, sitting in front of me, promised to make it work and told me not to worry about it.
The same day, at 8 pm, he informed me that I could not do the safari the next day (NB: I had only come to Arusha for one day to do exactly this safari). Despite me calling a bunch of other operators, it was too late to find an alternative for the next day. I ended up not being able to do the safari that I had come for.
Don't trust Erastus. My whole trip to Arusha was useless because he promised things he couldn't keep.