AT
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
I get what they offered. Payment platform is not working
Delayd Tour start do to complicated payment process. Reachead Lodge in night time. Ichumbi Lodge - nice place to stay closed to the park entrace. Gorilla Treck was fantastic - face to face with the Silverback.
Comment to the Ichumbi Lodge - beautyfull location, food is god.
Big minus ➖ personal does steeling. Minus ➖ Driver Innoncence knowes about this. Did not inform me to be carefull. This Evenening we where only 3 guests at this place.
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very pleased-Baboon Budget Came Through with some Compensation For changed itinerary in Tanzania.
I wrote a review for my tour in March 2018 and this is my followup to it. Baboon Budget Safaris was honorable in compensating me for the change in itinerary in Tanzania. I also found out that the Tanzanian part of my tour was in the hands of another operator and it would seem this tour operator is no longer being used by Baboon Safaris due to the poor service they provide to clients, I am very glad to hear this. Baboon has pretty good reviews, so I was very shocked with my tour in Tanzania. It would be wise I think to verify if you are being handed off to another tour operator in the future, then, we, as tourists are able to research that company too. I was unable to edit my previous review unfortunately, so I have done this update.
I appreciate your efforts Mr. Dennis, and thank you again for the compensation.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Bargain Groupon delivr what we paid for - 4 off-season Kenya resorts, +game drives but long xfer
It was a bargain Groupon trip WELL WORTH the MONEY - especially incl. air travel. Four quality Kenya game Park resorts (no Tanzania) about 2 days at each but transfers between each (plus repack/ checkout) rather grueling for 8 days game safaris ("10d/9n" package). Long resort transfer travel times included rest-stops (even some box-lunch stops) at the ubiquitous curio shops. Had we been in the market for negotiating carving/artwork prices I might have looked forward to stopping but with 5-6 hr travel times between Parks, "running the gauntlet" of sellers to use the [very clean, BTW] bathrooms in the back got rather old, fast. But I'd be singing different tune if I bought more trinkets.
Choice of Game Parks and resorts quite good. Nice mix. Amboseli. Lake Naivashu (even Lake Nakuru without Flamingoes) and the top Masai Maru NR delivered all that was promised. Just transport between them was grueling.
[perhaps "road travel" transfers could be done at night?]
Other safaris have flown us by prop plane to the grass strip at Masai Mara, but not at these prices (or gear weight limits) - so once again, this was well worth the price.
Other pluses included roomy Land Cruisers - only 4 pax in our vehicle + guide. Great! Guide (Francis) was tops. Vehicles maintained well. Food was great with variety. Photo ops at the resorts themselves were great - game right outside windows.
Extras requiring cash (~$30) included Maasai Village visit, the water safari by boat, tips, curios, plus the $50 cash entry visa fee.
Plus we sort of lost a day of touring Nairobi by arriving from US so late in the evening. Due to 9 pm arrival, traffic jams at the airport and streets of Nairobi, there was nothing to do but sleep at first Nairobi motel.
Communication-
Could have used more communication between Odyssey vehicles (our radio was down) and...once we paid Groupon, I was apprehensive about lack of communication from Mark at main office (is there one? or just an answering service?). The "Odyssey Chatter" link to help us prepare was broken. Beatrice was unreachable. I had fears about "hidden extras" - there were none. I had questions for Mark about Entry Visa, Immunizations, cash needed - but, when needed, Mark really delivered on Emirates tickets from our home gateway city. That too, was a great deal.
Time of year - April - for Kenya not the greatest but we saw the big 5, numerous cheetah cubs, Hippos, Snake, colorful big and little birds. Even dung beetles. Great backdrops of Kilimanjaro. Fish eagle fishing on Lake Naivashu was quite unique.
Long story short - I would book Odyssey again. I would recommend them. They could improve on communication to customers and between drivers.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
It is was a very interesting tour because we had it all as we wished it.
The communications services are up to standard, they have WiFi in all the rooms, swimming pool, a good kitchen stand for self-catering, the bar is very unique.
NO
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Well-organized safari trip with a old, tired and bad maintained SUV
Positive: Safari company that has good deals with accommodations. Nice places to stay at, both in Ruaha and Mikumi. The guide we received (Ibra) was good and familiar with the local community. We were picked up at the agreed time from the airport and the manager was good at answering questions before we ordered the safari tour.
The whole trip went well and we saw what we wanted to see. The trip followed this plan we received in advance, not completely but almost. For example, in one of the days it was unrealistic to go for a game drive after driving to the next national park (Ruaha). Although it was in the program.
Negative: On a safari tour you spend most of your day in the car, So the car is essential and vital for a successful trip.
The car was not in a proper condition. It is a reasonably well-used land-cruiser that has not been maintained for a long while.
The left window shook all the time while the car was running and the ventilation system did not work. We noticed that especially when it rained and the front-window from within became foggy because there was no air. Fortunately, it stopped raining after half an hour. It also leaked water from the ceiling down to the feet on the left side of the frontseat.
If you had to close the windows for an unknown reason in the wild and there is no air coming from the cars ventilation system. This should have been fixed before the car was sent on a longer safari ride. Remarkable that this was not taken seriously.
All four tires were in bad condition, hard and old. Particularly the right rear wheel, was not far from bald tyre on the sides. And was directly illegal to use. completely worn out. Especially when driving on longer trips on motorway, rainy days and on rough terrain good tyres is crucial for safety.
Scream sounds were heard when the car braked.. It came from the brake pads. Probably due to very bad brakes.
The left backdoor was very worn out, and one had to pull the lock up/down firmly to make sure it was actually locked. And there was no doorhandle in the innside either if it suddenly opened and one had to close quickly. It may also be unfortunate in a safari situation, in case of dangerous situation where you have to close the door quickly. For example, if an unexpected animal is approaching.
This puts passengers and clients' safety at risk and these are small obligatory car-expenses every Safari company must have 100 percent in order.
CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing safari, not the most professional company
I travelled alone to Tanzania and booked through Baboon Budget. Let me state that the guides were great and the location amazing. What was not the best was the communication ahead of time. I chose a total of 4 lodges for my 10 days safari between Serengeti and area and Selous. I only stayed at 1 of the 4 I chose. Abram who handles trips in Tanzania seemed a little sketchy. He tried to change my itinerary and changed my lodges. Warranted I ended up in better places. I would go back there in a heartbeat but I probably would not book with them again. I didn't appreciate itinerary changes and not knowing where I was going to be staying.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It was a great experience.
I like the hospitality of the drivers and the experience we had with the safari itself!
just had few comments on:
food - a little bit repetitive.
person-in-charge in the camp - I feel like he should be a little less serious and should make the tourists more feel at home.
Masai Mara Village- I had a traumatic experience here when we entered the house of the tribe. They showed me some "souvenirs" but then eventually they said it's for sale. You have to advise other travellers not to visit this village anymore as this will affect your credibility. I already saw some comments in the internet discussing about this matter.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great camp, delicious food but guide was just a driver and did not explain anything.
Good communication and very punctual. Excellent food throughout especially at the camp. No water was provided however even though this was supposed to be included. Beautiful camp but guide was utterly useless - very good driver but he did not explain anything at all so really disappointing.
BR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A good experience. But would not do it again.
The service was very good. The hotels were great and the guide had enough knowledge about the nature and the animals of the parks, despite of been too serious. But I expected more. I thought it was going inside an savage reserve but it was a park, with demarked paths. And we saw many animals but not too many species. We didn't see leopards and Cheetahs, for example, neither any hunting. Wouldn't do it again.
SE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
rather average compared to other safaris we did in the greater Krüger area
The flights and accommodation were arranged according to our bookings. Unfortunately, we could not do the promised last morning game drive, but dit a rather disappointing Panorama tour ( short stop the waterfall, not the Potholes ...) on our way to the airport instead. The other game drives were rather 'a hunt for the Sabi leopard' whilst kind of sometimes missing the overall safari experience .