50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
This company misappropriates client funds
The itinerary looked good, with 3-4 star hotels on a 14 day safari in Kenya and Tanzania. The reality was a disaster.
1. The itinerary offered a 4WD. In Kenya, we were given a 2WD van (for 6 of us). Had 8 seats so only room for 2 to stand at a time. Van very uncomfortable and not suited AT ALL to Kenyan conditions. Masai Mara in particular has many 4WD roads only, including the road to the border. Because of the van, we were forced to spend 9 hours going around the park to the border instead of 3 hours through the park. Cost us a day as we didn't get through the border until 6 p.m. and couldn't then drive 5 hours to our next stop in Serengeti until next day.
2. Driver/guide in Kenya was a disgrace. His driving was downright terrifying, and his guiding non-existent. He didn't communicate with us and I didn't even know he spoke english until the end of the second day when there was an accommodation problem. My requests to Solaris to replace the driver and vehicle were ignored.
3. We only stayed in the hotels shown in our itinerary for 5 of the 13 nights. All others were a downgrade, once to a place with no water in showers. Looking on TA, the prices for the quoted hotels was about $300+ pn pp, the ones we stayed in as low as $120. Once in Tanzania, our guide there (fortunately we'd left Joe and his van in Kenya) tried his best to get us accommodated each night, and spent hours on the phone cajoling and fighting with the Solaris office staff. He was terrific and his company Cross to Africa to be recommended.
4. Game park fees, included in our itinerary, were paid in Kenya but not in Tanzania. We ended up more than US$2100 out of pocket as we had to pay our own way in. There have been repeated promises to repay the amounts, but of course nothing came of them.
5. I have reported this company to the Kenyan Tourism Regulatory Authority, and trust that they will soon be out of business. The best outcome would be to see the "Boss" and the directors charged with misappropriation of funds and theft. I live in hope! Sadly, when people ask about our East Africa experience, my response is that Uganda and Tanzania are fantastic, but tread warily in Kenya.
QA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Poor service and knowledge of the package they are selling.
At the beginning, everything went smooth: Allan replied to all my emails very quickly but the problem is that nearly all the information he gave me were wrong. I spent 8hours in the van from Nairobi to Masai Mara (Allan told me it takes 4hours) and nearly 10 hours from Mara to lake Nakuru. ( was told 6 hours by Allan).
I asked Allan if they have a 4wheel drive car instead of the van he told me yes with a 350$ extra per person. We chose the van as it’s cheaper: the problem is that the roads all around Mara were off roads: ( and Allan didn’t tell us of course) we got stuck maybe 4 times in the Mara reserve and twice when we head to lake Nakuru. We lost lots of time: I spent more time in the van than in the parks I came to visit.
Another thing I didn’t like: as soon as we sent the deposit to book the package, Allan send me an email with what is included and what is not. He wrote that tips are not included and between parenthesis : 10$ per person per day is the minimum. When we arrived to Nairobi and he met us in the hotel, he spent nearly half an hour to convince us to pay the 120$ tips to the driver at the end of the trip. A tip is not a fee or a tax: we are free to pay what we want depending on the service given.
Last thing: in the program there was the lake Nakuru known for the many flamingos that live and feed from it. But flamingos can be seen only in summer, as during the rainy season the level of the lake goes up and flamingos have to go else where to have some food. This of course was not mentioned by Allan: we spent 10hours in the road from Mara to lake Nakuru only to see the animals that we already have seen in Mara.
At the end I felt that the only objective for Allan is to sell his package and make money during the low season.
IN
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
A LIAR AND CHEAT
Below is my letter of complaint to Mr Viktor Ketansi of Tanzania National Park Authority against the fraud, cheating and lies perpetrated by Mr Edgar Sirikwa of Jiwe Adventures:
"Dear Mr. Ketansi,
I am an established explorer and author, Fellow of Explorers Club USA Fellow of Royal Geographical Society, and Editor of Indian Mountaineer. In 2006, when I was leading the Gondwanaland Expedition - a scientific mission and a 25,000km motoring adventure from Indian Himalaya to Cape Agulhus, the southernmost point of Africa, we were provided excellent support in Tanzania National Parks Authority and all our vehicles carried their logo during the course of the three-month expedition.
This is to bring to your kind attention fraud and deceit perpetrated by Mr. Edgar Sirikwa, proprietor of Jiwe Adventures in Moshi.
The facts of the matter are as below:
1. In 2016, I had engaged the services of Jiwe Adventures for my Kilimanjaro climb. As he had provided a reasonable service, I engaged them for my forthcoming visit to Ngorongoro Crater and Lake Manyara with my wife.
2. Edgar agreed to provide the following services:
- pick-up from Arusha airport and drop off at Serena Manyara
- hotel booking at Serena Manyara for two nights
- half-day safari at Lake Manyara on Day 1
- full day safari at Lake Manyara on Day 2
- transfer to Serena Ngorongoro on Day 3
- hotel booking at Serena Ngorongoro for two nights
- half-day carter safari on Day 3
- full day crater safari on Day 4
- transfer to Moshi on Day 5
- hotel booking at Moshi for one night
- transfer to Kilimanjaro airport on Day 6
3. Edgar wrote that he would send me the hotel booking confirmations as soon as he received an advance of US$335.
4. The deposit amount was sent to his account by bank transfer in January 2018.
5. After confirming receipt of advance on January 18, Edgar stopped replying to my emails and to my Whatsapp messages. I finally called him, and he assured me that he would send the hotel vouchers within a day. However, nothing came.
6. After checking directly with Serena Hotels, I was informed that a booking had been made - but for the wrong dates. Edgar apologised for the mistake.
7. Since February 13 I had been writing to Edgar to confirm if the dates had been changed and a fresh booking made. He did not reply for a month!
8. On March 13, I sent him the following email:
Dear Edgar,
I called you three days ago and you promised to send me the hotel confirmation vouchers by the evening.
Further, you had said that the bookings were made under "Edgar".
Serena Hotels has already confirmed that there are no bookings under that name.
I have forwarded you their email.
As I feel that I am being deceived by you for a long time, I am CANCELLING my visit.
I do not get a good feeling about this - and due to this sad and frustrating experience have no desire to visit Tanzania.
You are requested to kindly return the advance of US$ 335 that I transferred to your bank and acknowledged by you.
Incidentally, after receiving the advance you have not replied to a single mail of mine - I must have sent you over twenty of them. You answered the four phone calls I made to you and each time you promised to email the hotel confirmation vouchers. Sadly, you never kept your word. And, moreover, never made the hotel bookings.
In view of the above, please transfer the amount of $335 to my bank.
Look forward to your early action."
Threatened with cancellation, Edgar replied saying everything will be ok and I should not worry.
9. Meanwhile, Serena Ngorongoro was full on the days we wanted. Edgar suggested, on March 15, we revise our itinerary and first visit Ngorongoro and then Manyara. I agreed. However, he did not send any hotel vouchers - but assured on phone that everything was done.
10. Another couple - Mr and Mrs Ravinder Jain wanted to join us on the trip and transferred US$ 330 to Jiwe Adventures as advance deposit. The payslip conforming transfer of funds was emailed to Edgar on March 30.
11. On March 31, Edgar informs me that we can only do one full day crater drive!!! I sent him copies of his emails of January 15 and March 15 - in which he had confirmed one-half-day and one full day crater drive. That is how the tour was priced. Now he was not honouring his agreement.
12. On April 4, Edgar sends me a Whatsapp saying that since Serena Ngorongoro is full, he will book us at Sopa Lodge - to which I agreed. He said that Sopa had been booked. When I checked directly with Sopa, they said NO booking had been made.
13. On April 12, Edgar Whatsapps me saying Sopa is fully booked and he will now book us in Ngorongoro Wildlife Lodge. I checked with Sopa again and Ms Innocent confirmed that they had rooms available for the days we wanted. Again and again, Edgar had been lying to me, misleading me.
14. The same day I wrote to Edgar saying that it seemed beyond him to make the hotel bookings for us - so I offered to make the hotel bookings myself directly with the hotels - and he should provide only the ground services - and we would adjust the deposit paid to him against that. Edgar agreed to this proposal.
15. Accordingly, I made the bookings directly with Serena Manyara and Sopa Ngorongoro.
16. Between April 13-26, Edgar again did not respond to my emails and text messages.
17. On April 27, he again texted that we would go down into the crater only once - again retracting on his agreement.
18. As he had been consistently lying, misleading me, not keeping his words or honouring the agreement - I felt uncomfortable dealing with him and informed him on April 28 that I did not wish to deal with him and he should return the deposit amount totalling US$665.
19. Edgar kept insisting through Whatsapp messages that he will provide the services and see us at the Arusha airport on May 26.
20. My last email to him was on May 4:
Dear Edgar,
As I have cancelled the arrangements with you, as you have not adhered to our agreement and have been consistently misleading me about the arrangements, you are requested to kindly refund the deposit amount of US$ 635 paid by Mr Ravinder Jain and me. This amount may kindly be handed over to Mr. Donald (Tel: 78*****81).
If this is not done in the next three days.ie. by Monday, May 7, 2018, I will be reporting the matter to Mr. Victor Ketansi at the Tanzania National Park Authority.
I look forward to your early and positive response.
Best wishes.
21. He has not responded after this. Meanwhile, I have arranged with Mr Donald of Friendship Adventures to provide the ground services.
In view of the above, Tanzania National Parks Authority may like to take appropriate action against Jiwe Adventures and assist me in getting the deposit amount back, so I can pay Friendship Adventures.
Mr Edgar Sirikwa's mobile number is: +255 75***1075
Many thanks and regards.
TR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Terrible Experience
We had a 5 day safari tour with Jocky Tour. First two days were as it was on the program but when it was our 3rd day things started to change. Driver canceled our early game drive because he simply didn’t want to. When we complained he said we can discuss and never showed up (we didn’t even need to discuss because we already paid for the whole thing). We let it go for the sake of the other days because we only depend on that driver and we didn’t feel safe. Next day he wanted to keep our game drive short (it was till late afternoon from 7:30 am but he wanted to finish the game drive at 10:30 and transfer us to the other location). This time we didn’t want to let ot go and told him that we paid for this service and we want to stick to the program. He found it offensive and gave us attitude the rest of the trip. Last day we had a boat tour on the river and he said it wasn’t included and we said he should call the office he went against it first and then he called and let us to the boat ride. This is not how it should be. No one has to fight to get the value that they already paid for and plus receive bad attitude for it. If you can get the value out of the program it would be a nice budget safari tour try not to shop from the shops in Kenya they stop frequently because they are overpriced. (you can buy the same stuff im Tanzania for almost %20 of the price tags in Kenya). Overall I would go for another tour company next time for sure (with more reviews and higher ratings) and maybe pay a little more for it. Maybe thats when you don’t have to worry about if they will try to screw you somehow the next day.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Solaris is an absolute fraud, DO NOT BOOK YOUR SAFARI WITH THEM. If I could give 0 stars, I would.
Solaris Safaris is an absolute fraud, DO NOT BOOK YOUR SAFARI WITH THEM.
We booked a 6-night safari with Solaris in Tanzania. We prepaid everything in two installments, as they required, and they promised to provide 6 nights of hotels, all of our park fees, a private car/driver for the two of us, and all of our meals while on safari. In short, they provided almost none of these things and we ended up paying additional thousands of dollars to keep our safari going that has not been refunded to us despite many promises from the company that it would be.
Hours after we arrived, the problems began. Our driver (who was not a Solaris employee, but rather a local guide contracted by Solaris) was several hours late to pick us up because Solaris did not provide the necessary funds and information for our trip to begin. We missed out on a few hours of game drives that day, and Solaris had not organized our lunch for us. Later that evening, our local driver came to find us at the lodge to tell us that Solaris was supposed to have sent him money that evening for the next day but had not yet. We had to call Solaris several times to try and figure out the issue and they wouldn't do anything for us. The next morning, our driver was again several hours late because Solaris kept telling him they'd send money and never did. We ended up having to pay our driver directly for 4 of the 6 days out of pocket on top of what we had already paid - this was required up front to allow our driver to get enough fuel for our 4 days in the Serengeti where there are only dirt roads and no gas stations. We also had to pay for all of our park entrance fees, which were supposed to have been included, plus a balance on our final hotel. We ended up paying another 50% on top of the total trip cost while on the ground in Tanzania just to continue our trip. Meanwhile, Solaris kept telling us everything would be fine and they would sort it out and this never, ever happened. We wasted several expensive hours on the phone with them instead of in the parks doing game drives.
At the end of our safari, Solaris agreed to refund us everything we paid out of pocket and set a date to do so a few weeks later. We never received the refund after several reminders and emails to them, and they have stopped responding to our emails. This company is an absolute fraud. We have reason to believe they embezzled this money for their own personal gain.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Do not do business with African Paradise Safaris
I bought a 7-day 6-night group safaris from African Paradise Safaris. It turned out there was no such safaris.
They subcontracted my safaris to Africa Natural Safaris, which does not have a license to operate. I was shuffled between 4 different safaris groups in seven days. It was a disaster. Do not do business with this company
AR
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Not too good an MIRKA was the worst
The hotels quite good but the guide called MIRKA was very very unpolite and rude at all times. She didn´t want to take us to the places we had paid for and instead she took us to two places in order to buy... She wanted us to leave very expensive tips (more tan 20%) In Kruger the ranger explained in English in order that she could explain it to us but she never translated. The group was in Spanish and most of them couldn´t understand the ranger (she was very polite and the dirver too). MIRKA got confused with the timetable and was rude to us because of her mistakes. Awful experience. First time I got such a bad guide.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Terrible Experience - Felt cheated out of our money
Went on a Kruger Park tour with Blue Chilli Adventures after a visit to Kapama Game Reserve. We had the most awful experiences as the guide cooked our dinner himself and we had to share our room with other people which felt awkward. We were promised 2 full day Kruger safari in an open vehicle but ended up with only one and the second day was in a van with a small window so we couldn't take photos!
Please save your money & time and don't travel with Blue Chilli Adventures so you don't end up being disappointed.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fraudulent Thief- Don’t Risk It
Here are the reasons why choosing this safari option is just not worth risking for your once in a lifetime trip:
1. Broken down cars (ours broke down and needed to be serviced mid-trip). He will try to say this didn’t happen - well, it did, and we have photos and videos to prove it. We had to wait so long before it was repaired.
2. Broken radio, You will be the only car in the park that can't communicate with other other guides in the park (which will severely limit your ability to see wildlife). We had agreed that a radio would be in the car - and he guaranteed this, but told us it was broken after we had driven 5 hours and were in the park so there was no turning back.
3, Tiny windows (like being in a plane), other operators have jeeps with windows twice the size. Im 5'9 and had to hunch to see anything. He will try to say Tanzania requires all cars must be the same model, this is just not true. Look at photos yourself!
4. Philemon tried to put up into a budget lodge after we specifically discussed the lodges we wanted to be in (and had a written contract). We agreed to the lodges and then he tried to make last minute changes to get us in a cheaper one. What a joke!
5. Philemon tried to cut out a full day of our itinerary (we paid for 5 days, but to save money on park fees etc, he tried to persuade us the safari was only a 4 day trip). We agreed to itinerary e tried to change when we were mid way through!
6. Philemon will require you pay in full upfront. And he is very sweet to work with to start, but once he gets paid in full, he will ignore you and you will receive terrible service from him.
There are so many other operators, just dont risk your once in a lifetime trip. We chose this company because of the tripadvisor reviews, but it appears that they may not all be true. While out on safari, we did meet several couples/families who had chosen Leopard Tours and seemed to love it. They had modern cars, working radios, and very intelligent and knowledgeable guides. We cant vouch for them since we didnt use them, but I would try anything else but this!
Really disappointed.
Just don't risk it.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
It was an awful experience. They lie and steal your money.
Awful!!!The owner is a crook and the tour guide a liar.