US
This company runs a scam business and will steal your money
I paid $1200 USD deposit to go on safari with the company and per our contract it was stated I would receive a refund if the trip had to be cancelled as long as it was within 60 days of travel. I cancelled the trip well before the 60 days and for months and month attempted to obtain a refund from this company. They continue to lie and refuse to refund my deposit. Pesapal (third party business who processed the transaction) has done nothing to protect the transaction. They are thieves and will steal your money.
NL
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Alex Shembago is a big cheater
At the beginning of July this year i had arranged with Alex a 24 day all inclusive (safaris, visit some tribes, transport , hotels, food etc.) private roundtrip from Dar es Salaam as well final Moshi. About 40% of the agreed amount i payed Alex, the rest i payed the driver/guide during the trip. The old car Alex give us broke down 3 times. The trip from Bukoba to Bokoba and Bokoba to Mwanza was canceled by Alex, because according to him the road was dangerous and the boat did not sail. On day 19 Alex phoned me and say that the money i give to driver is up and ask me to borrow 300 US for the last 5 days of the trip. I did not do this and told him that he still have 40 % of the travel sum in his pocket and that he easy can sent money to the driver. He didnt do that . The last 5 days i had made a 2 trips with an other person and my driver and have to pay for the hotel and food by myself. I said Alex that I want to have at least the hotel and food costs reimbursed for the last 5 days reimbursed from him. He promised to tranfer these charges to me within a few days. I reminds Alex later 2 times of this. Now after 7 weeks i still received nothing. I Moshi i told my expierence to an other man. This man said that he knew Alex and that its not believed that Alex will refund me any money.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
AVOID this unethical company
There are many honest and ethical tour companies in Tanzania and Impatiens Tours is definitely not one of them. I use to consider Enock and Yesaya friends so didn't hesitate to book there vehicles for a humanitarian aid project. When the trip had end I was promised my money back for months and 6 months later still have not received a cent. Initially they blamed DPO saying they never got the money, they stated they had reported the problem to the Tourism police but when asked for a copy of the paperwork they never sent it. Turns out it was all lies. They do have the money and due to massive unpaid tax bill there bank accounts have been frozen according to Yesaya. No idea if even that is true. Do not trust these guys and don't spend a cent with them. If they will happily take money from a humanitarian project operating in Arusha to help locals they will not hesitate to keep money off unsuspecting tourists. Avoid this company at all costs!
ES
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Worst safari company. RUN AWAY!
We had a terrible experience with 3 Wonders. It was not communication at all, they did what they wanted after they got the money, changing all the schedule. They mixed 4 different safaris in one group, so it was absolutely a mess. They even tried to squeeze 9 people (it was max. 6 people) plus the driver and the cook in one car. As far as we said we were not going into the car and after a long discussion, two person went in another car, finally we were 9 persons and only 8 seat belts. It was not enough room for luggage, so some luggage was inside the car what it wasn't very comfortable.
The car was very old, more than 500.000 kms and very bad tires without tread, we were not safe on that car. You can see the pictures. The driver had to deal with the engine several times because it was failing, the way back from Serengeti took more than 8 hs. because he had to drive maximum 40 km/hr, we were passed for all cars!
I never got the sunrise game drive at Serengeti and they tried to change my accommodation the last night at a Lodge for a camping, again a long discussion with a very rude and disrespectful driver Kindu.
Everyday we were asked to have breakfast at 6:30 am and never started the game drive before 9:00 am.
Don't trust this company, you are only a way to make cash, they don't care for anything but money.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very Shady Company - AVOID!
If you are looking for a reputable tour operator AVOID 3 Wonders. Omari and the management team created a bad experience from day 1 that left everybody unhappy:
* Communication from management was poor to non-existent
* They changed everybody’s itinerary around without asking or even telling - mashing 4 separate plans into one to pinch pennies
* They tried to squeeze 10 people in an 8 person car after promising a 6 person tour - we had to argue for 30 mins for a second car and still ended up with 9 people in one after the first day
* We lost 2+ hours first day because they were late - didn’t get into Ngorongoro until almost 1pm after being asked to wake up at 6:45am from a camp site 2 hours away
* Vehicle was old (over 500,000km) with a broken heat and gas gauge, we had to travel 40km/hr on the way back from serengeti which took 10+ hours, getting passed by every other car
* We were held up for 90 minutes at Serengeti because they hadn't paid the fee
* We only got 1 hour game driving the last day in Serengeti because they wanted to save a second day park fee (even though we all paid)
Omari, Fabian, Ali and the 3 wonders management team are shady people and this company cannot be trusted. Once they get your money they don't care about customer experience in any sense.
DE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
WARNING! $ 14,000 fraud and embezzlement
Almost a year in advance, we had booked an almost three-week safari via GATATU for five people in July / August 2019. The trip should cost a total of around 35,500 US dollars. As agreed, US $ 20,000 were transferred in advance. The rest should be handed over on site.
We were promised 2 safari vehicles, which should accompany us on the almost three-week tour, when we arrived at the airport there was only an old and neglected mini-bus that picked us up at the airport in Kigali in the late evening and then did not pick us up agreed boutique hotel but moved to another hotel.
After long discussions I was able to convince the otherwise very nice driver to take us to the agreed boutique hotel. We couldn't reach Richard, the manager of GATATU.
The next day we met the manager Richard in the office of GATATU Safaris in Kabale. It turned out there that not a single one of the agreed lodges was reserved. Richard received from us $ 1,500 for a 5th Gorilla Permit.
Since the owner of the first lodge warned us not to give Richard more money, we agreed that I would pay for all the lodges within the next three weeks on site and use the remaining US $ 14,000 for it.
The next evening it turned out that everything else was not paid for, e.g. the chimpanzee permits, entry to the national parks, accommodation and food for the driver, fuel, costs for the rented minibus etc. etc.
Of the 21,500 US dollars that GATATU received from us, only 7,500 US dollars were used for the gorilla permits, the rest (14,000 US dollars) was pocketed by the manager for no consideration. Richard could not be reached by phone, so on the third day we had to file a report with the tourism police in Kabale.
Richard was on the run, arrested three weeks later and jailed for three weeks. With one of his representatives, who visited us together with a senior officer, we agreed that Richard would repay the embezzled money in payment installments, which has not yet happened. At this point I do not want to report anything about our very negative experiences with the police in Uganda.
I can only warn you strongly against making any deals and especially advance payments to GATATU.
https://www.softpower.ug/tour-operator-who-defrauded-german-tourists-of-shs-81m-arrested-in-kabale/
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Booked pre-COVID, haven't received a single response since June from Perfect Africa.
Perfect Africa has gone completely dark ever since we asked to help us cancel/refund our trip due to COVID travel restrictions. The last email I received from the company was on June 16. It has been two months of me emailing them to help me fix what we thought would have been a wonderful vacation starting on Sept. 5, 2020. They have not offered a refund, trip credits or any other communication to me despite me asking what we can do to remedy the situation. I have emailed on numerous accounts and am beyond frustrated by their lack of response. The trip that Jo Anne Nicholson helped me plan was a dream and we couldn't wait to take our vacation. Due to circumstances out of our hands, I would hope that a professional company and Jo Anne would respond and help us recover over $5,000.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Be careful
Do not recommend. We planned a 2 week safari and spent thousands of dollars upfront. We had to cancel the safari months in advance due to Covid. Antony would not give us our money back as stated in the contract. We had to go to collections. Be careful.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
SCAM: Discovery Transfer and Tours Cancellation Policy
Due to COVID-19, we cancelled our tour scheduled for August 18 via email on June 29. Our message was ignored. Consequently, I contacted SafariBookings on Facebook about this unprofessional behavior. Shortly after the FB posting, a representative of DTT acknowledged our email after 40 days. He informed us the company would not issue a refund. Their Terms and Conditions contain a section entitled "Cancellation Policy".
The wording are explicit in this paragraph and states "the following charges will apply ....30 or more days prior to departure 10% of the total reservation amount". The company is retaining the full 20% of the total reservation amount instead. The cancellation policy is a SCAM! It is intended to lure customers into a false sense of security and trust.This company SHOULD NOT BE TRUSTED. Furthermore, it should be delisted from SafariBookings' website otherwise potential customers will assume they are an ethical. company.
In addition, we told the rep "no further communication is needed". However, Fanuel sent us another repetitive message. This is harassment.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
awful
Do not use this travel agency. Go Touch Down and Deon Barnard have used the COVID-19 crises to defraud us of all monies we spent with them for a trip to South Africa. They essentially contend that because our trip, which was scheduled to begin on May 12, 2020, could NOT happen because of the COVID-19 lockdown in South Africa, they should keep all of the $24,513 we had paid to them in December 2019. When pressed as why we were not to receive a full refund, or at a minimum that amount less the Sales Agreement’s specified 20% cancellation fee, Barnard replied, “get a lawyer.” We will shortly be bringing a civil action against Go Touch Down, Barnard and all associated entities. FYI: we received a full refund from Delta Airlines for the airfare purchased for this trip.