FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
I had to tell myself not to be mad and enjoy this honey moon private tour
I'm here to note the tour operator so I'd like to state several facts dealing with Back of Africa:
1. Allan asked me to pay the balance in cash but we don't have any USD, so he added 40 dollars (I can't remember how much excatly) bank fee in order to pay by card.
2. Three hours after departure we realized that it's not the direction to our first destination Amboseli so asked our driver. He told us we're actually going to Masai Mara.
3. I contacted Allan, he replied sorry for not telling us, and the program change is due to non availability at a lodge. Given that we were asked to pay the deposit 3 months ago "in order to secure the logistics", it's simply NOT acceptable to make the reservations at the last minute then realize that it's full. After carefully studying and made this tailored grogram together, imagine my furstration when Allan reversed our itinerary without informing us at all.
4. Since the itininary is reversed, I asked for a new full program. He said ok but I never recieved anything until the end of the trip.
5. On the initial program is included 3 hot meals per day, except for the full day safari in Masai Mara. Surprisingly we were given 3 times this non editable and completly non hygiene lunch box (imagine a toast sandwich with cheese and a greasy chicken leg after 5 hours under the sun). So we didn't have lunch and starved the whole day until I suffered from stomachache every evening. For the 3rd time I had to complain and fight for a real meal during our 7 hours drive from Naivasha to Ambosali.
(Allan told us later that full board hotel booking is only 5 dollars more expensive than half board, so it's more interesting for him to book with in-hotel lunch or lunch box. Again, since our program is changed, the road trips don't allow a in-hotel lunch. Since he never sent over the new program, we always needed to figure out by ourselves where we go the next day, and have no clue of lunch arrangement.)
6. On the last day back to Nairobi, Allan joined us for lunch, and asked us to express ourselves. He said sorry again, gave us loads of excuses that we as customers find it hard to accept. I asked on D1 some form of compensation which he refused, because he is too busy, and "miastake is human", and he "learned the lesson". This meeting is a pointless loss of time for our holiday.
7. I felt offended during this whole meeting. Allan was adressing only to my boyfriend and never looked at me, even when saying goodbye.
I would definately recommend Kenya and loved the breath taking scenaries and amazing animals.
Our driver and guide George is quiet and doesn't really smile, but has adequate knowlege and did his job.
These moments of frustration were not expected especially given the price we paid, we need to at least have the service we booked.
If I have any advice to give, do check every detail with him before you pay, and do not trust.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Like a family
From the moment I first contacted Zohar to the last (actually there isn't a last yet as we are still exchanging messages) I felt welcomed and important to the Zohar family. Lilian has been amazing in organizing and accommodating my group. We had to postpone our initial trip (July 2018) due to an injury to one of the members of the group and Lilian had no problem with this. She allowed us to give dates for a year later at no extra cost. We were welcomed into their homes with home cooked meals the night before we started our climb up Mt. Kilimanjaro. The staff that supported us in the climb were first rate with all of them being friendly and helpful. The guides (Imran and Gideon) were very knowledgeable and experienced. The cook (Haruna) prepared excellent meals with more food than we could eat. The porters were very strong and honest. From the first moment to the last on the climb, it was an outstanding experience.
I am planning on organizing another trip with Zohar next year to see the Serengeti and I know it will be excellent.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic and Organized tour operators!
Compass Odyssey was a great and reliable company to work with. They were always timely and provided much needed information in a timely fashion. Our guide was great and timely as well. We were provided with amazing accommodations. They were able to provide us with so many opportunities and sights to see in the short amount of time we had available. Overall, great tour and great tour operations. I will be using Compass Odyssey again.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
magical two day chobe tour
very well organised ,friendly staff, knowledgable guides ,great accommodation. Particularly enjoyed the boat ride in the Chobe .
I would thoroughly recommend this company
BY
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Touring Rwanda- A truly beautiful country full of natural wonders
Rwanda is truly an amazingly beautiful country full of natural wonders and amazing people. Our four days safari exploring Rwanda last week were out of this world. Our guide Herbert was an asset during the tour, he is a gentleman and very passionate about his job. He made sure that we were happy, comfortable and satisfied. His knowledge of wildlife, plants and birds is very impressive. He could describe everything that we saw in detail. We visted Akagera where we had game drives and a boat ride, Genocide Memorial and finished off with an amazing experience with Gorillas in Volcanoes.
We enjoyed our trip very much that we would have loved to stay for a few more days.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
ABSOLUTELY BREATHTAKING!
My boyfriend and I had a wonderful experience on a 2-day safari organized by Zohar African Tour. We went to Tarangire National Park, Ngorongoro Crater, and a Masai Village. The level of attention was oustanding from all, including Lilian, Jackline, and Frank. Lilian is the big boss and she gave us a warm welcome as soon as we arrived and even had organized a home cooked meal from her house for our first day at the safari! Jackline was attentive since day one with helping organize this adventure, getting us the best accommodation, giving us a warm welcome as well and personally checking up with us after the safari was over. Frank was our ranger - an absolutely AMAZING, funny, genuine, and honest man. He spent both days with us making sure we get the best experience possible, accommodating the vehicle to get the best pictures of the animals, and being extremely flexible with our wants! A safari is a breathtaking experience, which can only get better if you let the right people organize it for you. Thank you to the Zohar African Safari team for letting us trust you with this! THANK YOU! We would 100% recommend them and would love to go back ourselves for a longer safari trip to the Serengeti!
ABSOLUTELY BREATHTAKING!
My boyfriend and I had a wonderful experience on a 2-day safari organized by Zohar African Tour. We went to Tarangire National Park, Ngorongoro Crater, and a Masai Village. The level of attention was oustanding from all, including Lilian, Jackline, and Frank. Lilian is the big boss and she gave us a warm welcome as soon as we arrived and even had organized a home cooked meal from her house for our first day at the safari! Jackline was attentive since day one with helping organize this adventure, getting us the best accommodation, giving us a warm welcome as well and personally checking up with us after the safari was over. Frank was our ranger - an absolutely AMAZING, funny, genuine, and honest man. He spent both days with us making sure we get the best experience possible, accommodating the vehicle to get the best pictures of the animals, and being extremely flexible with our wants! A safari is a breathtaking experience, which can only get better if you let the right people organize it for you. Thank you to the Zohar African Safari team for letting us trust you with this! THANK YOU! We would 100% recommend them and would love to go back ourselves for a longer safari trip to the Serengeti!
AT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fantastic Holiday
We had a fantastic time on our holiday in Tanzania. From the time we arrived in Tanzania, it was just great! Goodluck our guide was excellent company and real fun to be with. He told us so much about Tanzania culture, history and the people. In the 3 days took to some very nice places, like the Urithi Tanga Museum, Tanga city tour, Pangani beach, Amboni caves and a trek in a coastal forest. We met the local people in towns and enjoyed chatting with the locals.
Our accommodation at Tanga beach Resort was exquisite. A great place with excellent food, nice comfortable rooms and great service.
Excellent Holiday! Good Service! Friendly People!=KWESA!!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing opportunity to see the wildlife in East Africa!
This trip was well planned from the beginning. Jolie was extremely prompt and clear with all of her emails. Every time I asked a question she would get back to me within a day. The final itinerary included everything we wanted to do and see. Jolie worked with us to add a few extra activities and was very accommodating.
As far as the trip goes, we were in the car for very long periods of time, but it was definitely worth it in order to see so many different amazing things!
Dominick was our driver/guide in Kenya. He was very patient and accommodating as our group seemed to be late every single time we were supposed to leave. He always made the trip all about us and never seemed to mind. He was very knowledgeable about the roads and where to see the animals while on safari. Masai Mara was the most incredible place to see basically everything except for the rhino. Luckily, we also got to visit Lake Nakuru and saw the rhinos there.
After Kenya we met our guide Tom who stayed with us during our time in Uganda and Rwanda. I can’t say enough nice things about him. He is so kind, caring, and made us feel safe at all times. He was extremely encouraging and reassuring of our group and helped us with any information we needed or any reservations we might have had. There were less animals on safari in Uganda, but we were lucky enough to see everything in Kenya. Our main focus here were the tracking experiences (golden monkeys, mountain gorillas, and chimpanzees), and they did not disappoint. Seeing the silverback gorillas was the highlight of our entire trip and made the difficult hike worth it.
Overall, all members of our group highly recommend traveling with Achieve Global Safaris as they are extremely reliable. We all felt safe throughout the entire trip. If you have the time and can handle the car rides, make sure you go to all 3 countries as they all offer unique experiences.
FI
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Awesome tours but poor tour management !
I spent some awesome time when exploring Tanzania. I joined into 2 tours operated by Kili Slopes, Mt. Kilimanjaro tour and Serengeti NP tour.
Im giving only 3 stars because of poor tour management.
+ guides + other personnel were awesome
+ landscapes were memorable
+ tour programmes were cool
Kilimanjaro:
- As a tipping culture not being common in my country, i was totally surprised when i was asked to pay extra 350 USD after my tour as a tip for the guide and personnel. I wasn't given any information about this arrangement beforehand, which annoyed me a lot. Im not definitely denying the staff wouldn't deserve and need the tip usually given, but as me being the only tourist joining the tour and still asked to pay for the normal tipping sum made this situation absurd. Moreover, I imagined the staff being paid enough for a decent income, obviously not. As a compromise, i gave them 100 usd.
- Again, when discussing about the matter of tipping, I was given the feeling by the tour operator, that as a tourist (and a white person ??) I'm supposed to be rich and afford to give away random extra 350 USD ! Oh, I am surely a millionaire, but only in my dreams.
Serengeti:
- My Serengeti tour was awesome, but bit messy. Considering this tour too, i wasn't given enough information beforehand, again including the thing with tipping. Other customers were having some more information, like list of equipment needed, which i never had. What comes to both of my trips, i thought i was having all the information in needed. Well, I didn't (even though asking for every possible information needed couple of times).
- Overall 6 customers attending to this Serengeti tour, and every person was having a different tour program. It was obvious right from the beginning that it would be impossible to coordinate everything. This is why some ppl didn't get what they were looking for - but ill let them to write their reviews on their own behalf, if they wish to do so. ++Our awesome guide Jackson did his best trying to fix it all ! ++