CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Terrible Safari Experience and Unprofessional Tour Guides
This is probably the worst safari experiences I ever had with Startluck Travel. We had a group of 8 people and booked a 10-day package service with the company. The two drivers (also the guides) assigned to us were totally unprofessional, especially one of the drivers who name is Carlos. Carlos had been playing a game during the safari with us all the time. During one of the safari days, he left and dropped us in the middle of the game drive and requested us to join the other group to continue the drive, as he needed to go to pick up the park tickets and had his car have maintenance service. Also, on one of the days, he just disappeared and remained unreachable for the entire day. As a result, we lost one day to experience the game drive and were left in the hotel for doing nothing. The company Starluck however did NOTHING and was unable to resolve the issue after receiving our complaints, which was totally a disappointment.
That being said, this is ABSOLUTLY not a company to recommend.
RO
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Uncoordinated, rushed and disappointing experience.
Having such a beautiful country, this should be such an easy job. Well it was not, it appears that the group I was in was too large for the company so they had to hire an external contractor, 3 busses from the conpany, one outsider. The best experience was the outside contractor. There was no coordination between the drivers, it almost appeared that the 3 drivers from the company had a problem with the outside contractor and did not support him in any way. The 4th driver with the people he had in his care were abandoned 2 times on the safari, one time for 1 hour and a half, when the bus could not move and see anything because the papers for the bus were with the other drivers. So 7 people out of 27 missed a part of the safari, the only encounter with a leopard. After all this, at the end of the safari we were suppose to cross the river and see the big migration, but the car we were in could not cross, luckily we were taken by a total stranger group ... otherwise we would have missed it. Last but not least our driver kept being harrassed by the others to drive faster on public roads, break the speed limit and really put our lives in dager with unsafe driving, I have seen him being called literally every 5 minutes, I felt UNSAFE! So yes ... poor experience in one of the most amazing places in the world!
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The worst thing that happened to us was you guys
You lied to us from airport pick up with a land cruiser n sent us a smaller car n squeezed us in with kids. Booked wrong rooms from ones promised during advance booking.worst experience by far
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
BEWARE- Did not refund whole deposit for TZ after referring us to a tour operator in Kenya who scamm
Beware of the company and proceed with caution if you need help with major issues. I reached out to Glory around May of 2022 to start planning my trip. The trip was revolved around getting a stay at the Giraffe Manor.
She referred me to her partner in Kenya who she raved about. Lucy with Splendor Holidays, she seemed very responsive and provided a decent itinerary, price and promised she got the room for June 5, 2023. Glory planned her side, and I paid both deposits. There were three people going and I paid $10,477 for Kenya and $2850 for TZ USD.
Everything seemed fine and we kept in touch here and there and as the date inched closer, Lucy claimed in March that her sister passed. By the end of April I started chatting more frequently. On May 2, we were trying to fill out the visa when the website on Splendor Holidays was down. We found out that Lucy wasn’t being responsive or making up excuses. Glory went up to Kenya to have Lucy arrested and she documented everything. Glory provided a police number and the court documents, which was a little off. People on social media and a journalist had pointed out the number wasn’t right, but I gave the benefit of the doubt that there was no way Glory was involved.
Glory said she felt so terrible and that she wasn’t attentive to our tour. She said she had personal reasons and that she let us converse directly with Lucy. Normally, she would arrange things with Lucy (Splendor Holidays) and take the money. I asked her multiple times, why did she change protocol on us, and this happened?
Glory tried to suggest another tour guide to do driving and to pay nearly another $1000. When I reached out to the company, their website was down as well for “reconstruction.” Glory promised she was going to come meet us when we landed in Kenya and she didn’t. Glory did not reach out to us at any point during our Kenya trip, she was silent. We received help from strangers in Kenya.
Due to the complete change in itinerary, my friend and I had originally booked to fly from two different airports in TZ. There was no way to make it work and be able to fly home with a reasonable price. When I reached out to Glory, she only gave us 50% of the deposit back. When I asked why, she said last minute cancellations are very difficult. I asked her to provide the cancellation invoice to submit for my travel insurance or something. She then stated that she doesn’t have them, and it is very exhausting to get the evidence I need.
I told her if I can reach out to the hotels, I think anyone knowing I got scammed would make an exception. She said that her reputation is already ruined, and she will not give me access to the hotels and ruin it by reaching out to them. She also claimed that she respects the hotel’s time and policy. I got upset and said so you don’t respect me and the money I’ve lost. How I spent my dream vacation going to the police, embassy, and running around trying to get my money back from her “wonderful Kenyan partner.” Glory claims she had no idea that Lucy could do this and that she did what she could. She kept saying no one else would do this for me when she caught Lucy.
I finally called Glory out on the fact that she never checked in on me in Kenya and broke her promise of being there. She stated she was following me on social media and gave me space to deal with the embassy and that they would help. She said she had stuff back in TZ to manage and she lost money. I told her it costs $0 to check in.
I had been warned before that there was a chance Glory could be involved and I gave a benefit of a doubt because she was friends for so long with my best friend in the States. There is a chance she has nothing to do with it, but the way she handled it has been terrible and she will not give you back money. She said she’ll make me whole, but in November. It is very odd that she will pay out of her own pocket versus trying to reach out to the hotels to get the deposit back. There is another person on tripadvisor that left very similar feedback about her lack of help. She had mentioned this, and I thought she only had one bad review, but I do believe the validity at this point.
I can give the benefit of the doubt that she had no idea all these tour operators weren’t scammers as she claimed, but the way she responded was unacceptable and because I had questioned Pesapal, the payment platform why Glory required all my banking account including my SWIFT to give my deposit back, she blamed me for the delay. She sent emails calling me a liar, etc…gaslighting me.
EC
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
do not perform scheduled tour
chose by rating, not my first safari. feeling that the comments are paid. instead of 3 promised visits to Maasai Mara. only 1, they got underweight back to the hotel, the guide did not hug anything, pulled from the place so that everyone flew around the cabin. people were stuffed into the car like sardines in a jar.
LT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Unreliable and defensive service in Coastal Kenya
I wouldn’t recommend this company for the following reasons:
1. The company doesn’t keep its promises. I wanted to book a tour with them, and we agreed I could make a bank transfer. Yet, since it was a public holiday in my country and the tour was just in the next few days, I warned them they might not receive the funds in their account before the tour, so I asked if I could send a bank statement and a screenshot to prove the transaction. They agreed. However, when I transferred the money and sent the statement with a screenshot, they refused to accept the evidence and said they wouldn’t confirm the tour until they received the funds in their account.
2. Their employees are unprofessional and extremely defensive. Whenever I tried to explain to them that they don’t keep their promises (as described above), they were quick to blame me for everything. For example, they said that I “guaranteed” they would receive the funds on time, which never happened and which is why I asked if they accept statements as evidence of payment. The other day, they emailed me, claiming I used offensive language when talking with them over the phone. However, I saw the phone number they said I called for the first time, and I always contacted them using a different number, so apparently, they mixed me with someone else that was using abusive language with them. No apologies were made on their side for making these false statements about me. The only answer I got from them was that I was “wasting their time.”
3. The company’s approach to receiving client payments seems shady. I paid 110.00 USD for a tour by bank transfer, which was successfully processed by my bank and correctly accepted by their bank. However, they reverted my payment without an explanation. This would be fine, but they refunded only 70.00 USD, meaning 40.00 USD was deducted from my account. When I brought this situation to the company’s attention, they refused to accept that they even got my payment, blaming the banks for not transferring the money to their account. However, I contacted both my and their banks, and both banks confirmed that Travel Shore Africa did receive my money but decided to return it partially without providing any explanation.
All in all, my experience in Mombasa could have been better if I hadn’t contacted Travel Shore Africa. All I got from them was empty promises, disrespect, and lost money.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
BEWARE OF THIS SCAMMER/CON ARTIST! Stole < $10K from US tourists
BEWARE OF THIS SCAMMER/CON ARTIST! If you come across Splendor Holidays and the owner Lucy Njeri- RUN. We made a mistake of trusting her partner Glory with Glorious Tanzania, who my best friend in the states has known for a decade. Glory was only able to provide services for TZ, so she referred me to her “amazing partner” in Kenya. We started planning this trip back in May of 2022.
At first Lucy was very responsive, the price was fair, and the itinerary seemed decent. Our entire trip was planned around the Giraffe Manor in Nairobi. She promised us that she got us a slot on June 5, 2023. We also requested a stay at Mahali Mzuri and she confirmed the dates were free. She confirmed that she had already booked these, and she asked for 50% deposit, which we sent. I sent the funds for a group of three travelers totaling $10,477. We had some conversations throughout the year, and she promised the trip was well planned and in March she claimed her sister died and she would get us a final itinerary.
On May 2, 2023, we were doing the visas when we found out her website was down. When we discovered that, I reached out. She stated that her friend’s mother had died, and she would get back to us. Glory went to Kenya to take Lucy to jail, she supposedly spent 3 days in jail. She admitted on video and via messages she used the money for personal reasons. She claimed that it was for funeral expenses.
When I was in Kenya I went to the embassy and the had me go to the police station, which is how we found out the police report number and court documents were fake. They watched the video of her “arrest” and find it very difficult to believe it was a police station. When Lucy was released, Glory sent me a photo of herself, Lucy, her mom and another person all smiling in a selfie, which is absolutely bizarre.
When I took it up on social media, a few people mentioned her sister died a few years ago. Not in March and Glory confirmed her mother stated the sister died before as well. Lucy, her cousin, and daughter have all been reaching to me and no funds has been returned. They sent a “contract” stating that they would pay it back in 10 months, it’s July and I haven’t seen a penny. The last conversation at the beginning on July, Lucy claimed she is still selling the land and it’s taking time.
She is still doing business and I am here to warn people to stay clear. Through my research, I found out she scammed a local tour operator in 2018 and he was unable to recoup funds. She also stole almost $3,000 USD from a tour agent in Uganda and wanted by police there. She also scammed a Canadian tourist out of a few thousand dollars too.
I hope reading this saves you from the trouble we have encountered.
ES
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Bad experience. We feel abandoned and unprotected by this company.
Terrible experience! I went with my family to try to see the great migration and thanks to local guides and not our driver we found it but our driver Linos refused to go. First, he asks us for money and they didn't say anything in the company, which we refused, then he began to speak violently and kept us standing for two hours.
When we got internet we called 7 wonders and they informed us that for the 3 hours we had already lost we should book another hotel in the area where the great migration was and pay 2 taxes from the natural parks.
We agreed to pay, we reserved the hotel on our own and when we said to go, the driver Linos refused again, demanding payment in cash. We call 7 Wonders again and they tell us that we must pay in cash.
We take out all the money we have in cash and we are missing 160 USD to reach the amount of 1050 USD that they ask us to pay the park taxes and we inform them that when we go through an ATM we will pay them the amount that is missing.
It is at this time that the situation becomes totally surreal. The driver Linos calls the company and makes up a story that we have insulted him and that he is not going to take us to the area of the great migration where we had already reserved and paid for a hotel minutes before. We called the company and he told us, to our surprise, that we had offended his driver and that the new plan was cancelling.
I insist, at no time did anyone say anything offensive to the driver Linos.
We missed the chance to see the great migration.
We lost 662 USD from the hotel we had booked.
We had to put up with another day and a half with this driver and his derogatory comments about what he called our white money.
We had to see Ngorongoro with a negative environment and with 0 explanations.
We had three car breakdowns along the way.
Tanzania is beautiful. There are many Safari companies.
I think that in our case, perhaps more than being a problem with 7 Wonders, it was a manipulation and attitude of the driver.
He wanted to share the experience because no one should go through the situation that we live.
CA
Dishonest, manipulative, careless and impolite
We selected Silas based on 20 reviewed from Tripadvisor. That was a big mistake. Silas made us believe that our agreement would be honoured. Unfortunately, we spent most of the tour begging him to provide us what we agreed on. It never happened. Some of the planned activities were delayed until it was impossible to do. We paid for these activities but never received them. We almost missed the gorilla tracking activity.
Horrible experience with Silas. I will certainly report his unprofessional and dishonest activities to the authorities.
Beware of the tour operator. He will put you in positions to force you to pay twice for accommodations and activities . He will try to borrow money from you and you will hear about his banks blocking his accounts. Don’t trust or believe him. Silas does not represent Uganda tourism industry. He is a bad apply that should be removed from the box and thrown away.
Uganda is highly recommended as a destination but beware of the likes of Silas.
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Horrible tour operator silas be aware
BE AWARE!!!!! Horrible experience with this agency Silas. in SUMMARY
1. He took more than $1000 extra from us than what we agreed upon arrival.
2. He downgraded our hotels
3. Continued lying about many things including rturning our money
4. Car broke down more than 3 times when we were there and we had to wait in the heat. Also window broke and we suffered throughout with a black cover and cant open it.
5. He pretends to be someone he is NOT. decieving and lies and shows a different side that is charming and funny BE CAREFUL
6. played a whole trick on us to change one item in the itenary inorder to cancel and downgrade hotels and pocket the money.
Dont let him decieve you with his answers. We filed a POLICE reporton him upon our departure.
This person should be stripped from his license and not be able to do tours anymore due to his deception to tourists. USE A DIFFERENT AGENcy THAN SILAS.
Uganda is a beautiful place if it wasnt for people like him.
