IN
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
An absolutely horrible experience.
Hi, I had booked a tour with them in 2014 for a 26 day tour to Botswana. I had paid a sum of $30,700 to them. Unfortunately, I had visa issues and due to that the agent said he will adjust it next year and also the fact that he will apply the visa from his end. Next year, we waited and waited as we had sent all documents to him, but the visa never came in 2015 also. When I went to the embassy again in 2016 as so much of my life savings was stuck, I was shocked to know that he had never applied for my visa to begin with. I was informed by the immigration officer that he has clearly cheated me. I wrote a safari review and due to their intervention, he decided to adjust my holiday again next year. Finally my visa came in July 2016 and Calvin Machekano of Love Africa Safaris said that due to non availability of lodges, he will have to book new lodges and took an additional $8615 from us. We really didnt have a choice as $30700 was already given to him earlier which now brought the total amount to approx $40,000.
I am a photographer and had requested a landcruiser for myself. Anyway after arriving there, much to our shock, a 30 year old broken vehicle with no floor and holes and a ten inch platform to sit on and totally open from all sides was provided to us by his representative and guide, Steven Bond Mubi, which we were expected to do our surface transport to various parks (some of them 6-7 hours away) as well as safaris for the next 25 days. Upon concern, we were threatened by this guide that he will not go with us. But as a woman, to travel on highways in such a vehicle when we had paid for something else was unacceptable. Upon contacting Calvin of Love Africa Safaris he failed to do anything about it and insisted that we go in that vehicle with the same guide who was very temperamental and kept threatening us. We absolutely refused to go in such a vehicle with a guide, who according to local sources suffered from some mental problem and was thrown from South Africa four years back. He came with an accomplice called Prince the morning we were to leave for the KHWAI concession in this beaten down vehicle and both of them threatened us. We were clearly now scared for our lives as with two of these characters going on a highway was impossible. We contacted the agent who refused to take our calls anymore. The guide, Steven Bond Mubi thereby left us and our luggage on the roadside and left.
We were left with no reservation, no hotel and no transportation on the roadside in a strange country. After 6 and a half hours of waiting in the sun we finally got accommodation in Airport hotel, Maun, where we spent the next three days trying to book our return journey, shocked and disappointed. After having given this agent $40,000 we just didnt have any money to hire another agent to finish our holiday. While we waited for our tickets to be rescheduled, we met with the police, consumer affairs and Botswana embassy people, who on initial investigation found that not only had he cheated us but also pocketed our $30700 and the new amount of $8615 was all for fresh bookings. We had to let go of all ur money and the entire holiday. We had to spend an additional $1000 to change our tickets back home. We have lodged an official complaint and have a letter from the embassy of Botswana as evidence. All terms and condition, including safari vehicles pictures and what vehicle was given to us - I have all the evidence. A 400 page complaint has been sent to all concerned authorities. I just want to warn everyone that never to go with this agent or his guide. I have lost all my life savings and came back empty handed. Besides this $40,000 international tickets cost us an additional $5000 . We not only lost a lot of money but also the experience of a beautiful country. As pointed out by the police commissioner of Maun, Calvin Machekano of Love Africa Safaris along with his associates, Steven Bond Mubi & Prince did this deliberately and robbed us. We have filed an official complaint of fraud and cheating against them. Please note that we have all evidence and acceptance letter by the police and consumer affairs Botswana.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Exceptional safari planners
Choosing this agency as my travel company was the best decision I made for a vacation with my mother and my brother. I reached out to them via email. Shortly after contacting them I received the information of what my trip would entail and they advised me on the Masaai Mara trip since it was during the great migration at the destination during my conversation with Paul our agent he asked many questions, very interested in finding out about my family and what we would prefer to see and do, he truly took the time to get to know us so that he could help plan a memorable experience.
I couldn't have been happier with the itinerary that Paul presented to us. It made the trip real and incredibly exciting, during the trip the driver was so much helpful nothing phased him and he seemed completely happy to help and guide us on the wildlife and every aspect we encountered. It is terribly hard to pick out the good things of our trip because everything was so stress free and amazing. This company was a blessing to us and I would use them and recommend them everywhere and they will be forever in our hearts because of the hard work they did to ensure our time and travel was perfect. My friends and I are planning another safari at the end of the year in Amboseli and Serengeti Tanzania and we will definitely book with Simba Paka safaris.
CH
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Greate 12-days budget safari in Kenya and Tanzania
I booked a 12-days budget safari in Kenya and Tanzania with my girlfriend. The trip started and ended in Nairobi. Erick and his team was well taking care of us.
The driver picked us up at the Nairobi airport and drove us to the Decasa Hotel which Erick reserved for us. We met Erick there and discussed our trip in details.
The payment had to be done partly up fron in cash which as a bit difficult but we agreed to transfer the rest by bank.
The next day we met the rest of the group in the Nairobi city center and we started our trip to Masai Mara. The driver was our main contact person during the whole trip. If we needed something they have taken care of it. We slept in basic hotels or tented camps. In Tanzania we were sleeping 2 nights in a tent and a sleeping bag. Price quality is good.
The organisation was smooth and we enjoyed very much the trip. I would book again. Thank you Erick!
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fulfilled our requests to the letter and even had great suggestions for better animal viewing venues
All the venues had great accommodation - dietary requirements were not past on to the venues and only one mix up with the room booking in four venues. Otherwise all safari sites exceeded our expectations with respect to viewing animals. Some very memorable camera moments that will last a lifetime including a coalition of male lions on a walking safari. Sleeping under the stars and the walking safari were definitely the highlights. We took the option to bus between one of the venues and it turned out to be the best decision ever with only cheetah sighting for the whole trip. Motswari and Rhino Walking Safari's were our choices and The Hide as a suggestion from Wild Africa Travel - a great place to get up 'really' close to animals.
MY
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
10 days in natures splendour
An African safari wandering the plains of Serengeti and areas around Ngorongoro crater in the company of friends under the care of the warm and hospitable crew led by CEO of Tanganyika Ancient Routes Ltd.mr Charles himself was a wonderful experience.Excellent arrangements.Highly recommended.The big 5 and more were spotted time and again by the uncanny skills of guides.Lovely photos are precious momentos of a great holiday.
FR
Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Everythin exceed our expectation ! Asanthe sana !
Karibuni Guest !
My Mother and I we had a very good safari experience. The trip from Dar es Salaam to the Selous took about 5 hours even more, but it was worth it to see the bush wild. It was a great safari trip. Every thing went good was friendly. very good in communications, service, living, in our 3-Days - 2 Nights safaris in Selous Game Reserve. The owner Ndamungu is very helpful and honestly person. Our driver guide named Mwansangila is a great person. Accomodation, we were in Hippo Camp and was good and clean, also food. Bush wild it was amazing, we saw lions (simba), girafe, zebra, crocodile, hypopotamus, we cross the river of Sélou with a lot of yellow birds.
We Hopefully it was like a dream.
Giving thanks God to live unforgettable aventure. Lalasalama Guest.
We have a good memories from Zanzibar : "Stone Town" also Safari Blue : Swimming in the Indian Ocean with a lot of colors fishs, we can touch them.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic safari
From the very first e-mail, E-Trip was excellent. They answered all of my questions very quickly. The itinerary was perfect and the lodges and tent camps were very good with excellent service. We started in Tarangire for 2 nights, then drove through Lake Manyara to stay two nights at the top of the crater Ngorongoro. We went into the crater early the next morning and spent the day there. The next morning we drove to the central Serengeti to a mobile tent camp. We spent 2 nights there and then went to the northern Serengeti for 2 nights. We saw everything! We saw so many sunrises and sunsets. Our guide, Jouseff, was outstanding.He was very knowledgeable about all the animals and plants. Also, the vehicle that we were in had wifi and a way to charge our cell phones. Sometimes the wifi was spotty, but we posted pictures eventually. We then flew from the northern Serengeti to Rwanda to see the gorillas and golden monkeys. Our guide there was also excellent with his making sure we were able to see the golden monkeys and make our 4:30 flight. This was a trip of a lifetime. I wouldn't have changed anything about our trip!
DE
my experence
Our remit was flora and landscape which we got brilliantly, but we never expected such luxury and fine dining. Many thanks for all you have done to make our short stay so wonderful and memorable.
Superb and needs to be repeated!
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Unfathomable. Outstanding!
The services were excellent in terms of the guides, drivers and coordination/communication. I had an accident which required medical attention and the company was extremely helpful in getting me to the best medical hospital and follow up assistance. I plan to return later this year now that I am better in order to complete the last half of the tour which I missed due to my accident. I found this company to be extremely organized and caring.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An Amazing Safari Experience
I started interviewing tour operators in January and chose Amazing Safaris based on their level of communication, pricing, as well as feedback from past clients. I started planning the trip with Anne in February. Amazing Safaris has a number of package tours but I chose to customize the trip based on our criteria. Throughout the entire process Anne was extremely responsive, flexible, friendly & communicative despite the time zone difference.
We ended up with a 7-night flying safari covering multiple parks in Kenya & Tanzania flying between the parks as opposed to driving. With Anne I worked out a balanced diverse itinerary that included lodges of different sizes, a luxury tented option in the Masai Mara conservancy, as well as large and small national parks.
The lodging options as well as drivers/guides suggested by Anne turned out to be excellent. Our Kenya-based driver stayed with us for 4 nights throughout the Kenya portion. As a guide he was very reliable, knowledgeable & friendly. The Tanzania Masai Mara driver was provided by our lodge. That guide was super excellent because he knew the land well and could go off road since private conservancies don't need to follow public park rules.
I could go on about the great experience we had but the critical thing is this. We had to pay up front for the entire safari so you need to have some trust even after doing a lot of due diligence. Anne and the Amazing Safaris team made us feel secure, planned a great trip, took care of attention to detail before AND during the trip, had great follow through and all at a relatively good price.
I would highly recommend Amazing Safaris to plan your African safari! I would recommend them over non Africa based operators because they provide personal service in Nairobi and can assist with travel logistics locally while in Africa.