DK
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Worst Tour Operator Ever
NEVER PICK THIS TOUR OPERATOR.
We had ordered 11 days round-trip to Uganda. We met with the owner Richard who brought an itinerary and a contract stating that everything we payed for in the trip was based on the itinerary. However, during the trip, half of the nights the accommodation was changed last minute. The worst thing was that the accommodation change was often for the worse, and some nights we stayed in so filthy and bad accommodation we rather wanted to leave and pay for accommodation elsewhere by ourselves. In the trip we had also booked Chimpanzee trekking in Kibale as the big highlight. We arrived in a town near Kibale at around 3 pm the day before the trekking, where the tour operator (Richard) calls us to let us know that we are not able to make the Kibale chimpanzee trekking because he failed to get the permits, THE DAY BEFORE WE HAD TO GO. Additionally, the itinerary stated that lunch and drinking water would be included all days which we rarely got.
Besides these problems, there were a lot of other issues about Richard miscommunication with the driver/guide and confusing us and our guide several times. Richard does not care about his customers, he just wants their money and will thereafter ensure that you have a completely disorganized trip. We managed to get the money back from the chimpanzee trekking permits, but honestly, with all the change in accommodation and all the last minute changes he put us through, he should have compensated us a lot more money for a failed trip in many regards.
If I could, I would NEVER book this tour again and would AT ANY TIME pick another tour operator. Its one of the most stressful trips and dysfunctional tours I have ever been on even though we payed to have all inclusive in order to relax and not mind anything. Even though I go on vacation 4 times a year and have been pretty much everywhere in the world, I have never tried anything like this.
Luckily, the driver and guide Paddy was an extremely polite and nice young man. We had a very nice time with him, and we felt bad for him that he had to endure the constant miscommunication and our anger about the trip due to Richards incompetence.
LASTLY, there we some parts of the itinerary which was completely wrong and falsely stated. One of the days it was stated that you get to the park, go inside (which cost 40 dollars per day per person) and go for safari. This was not the case, and Richard would not pay to let us stay inside the park and go for safari even though he acknowledged that it was wrongly stated on the itinerary, so we ended up paying ourselves.
Lastly but not least, it got so bad at one time we went to the police in order to charge Richard and make him pay some of our money back for the failed experiences. We found out it was a very long process and did not want to spend vacation time on it, but I would wish now that we would have filed a complaint and charged him so he would hopefully learn that you cannot take tourists money and then piss on them afterwards.
I HOPE THAT NO ONE PICKS THIS COMPANY IF YOU WANT TO HAVE A GOOD NICE TIME AND RELAXING SAFARI.
Otherwise, Uganda is a lovely country and the nature and the parks a breathtaking.
US
Fraudulent Tour Operator
Baraka and Ken with Congo Discovery Safaris have refused to refund me for a portion of the tour they weren't permitted to take me on. I booked a 4 day gorilla trek and volcano climb in Virunga National Park with Congo Discovery Safaris last year and upon arrival in Kigali in February I found out they could not take me to Virunga as promised because of a rule change with the National Park and I would have to book directly with the National Park, which more than doubled my cost. I ended up having to pay the national park directly for my tour and only used Congo Discovery Safaris for help with my visa and transportation across the border to Goma. Because of this they promised to refund me $850 of the $1050 I paid them since I could not go with them for gorillas or the volcano. I was told they didn't have the cash because they spent it on a mineral investment and would send me a refund once I got home. For months they asked me to wait for the refund because they weren't getting a lot of business and I was patient, but it's been many months since then and they have stopped responding to any of my texts or emails. Ken and Baraka were really helpful and nice to me while I was there with the problems with the national park, but they will not refund your money if you have any problems. There is no reason to book anything in Virunga including transportation there, gorillas, and the volcano hike through Congo Discovery Safaris because you can book directly with the national park on their website.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
800 $ debts!!
James owes me 800$ since I booked a tour and a safari in 2017! I can not advise anybody to book there!!
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Scam
I am in the same boat as many people. We paid in full along with our friends to find out that the company is a scam. Has anyone had any luck recovering their money? I hope the owner goes to jail.
IT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Dangerous Dishonest Agency
We booked and partially paid in advance a 7-day safari with Uhuru Travel & Tours. When we arrived in Arusha, we met Mr. Loi, who, after asking us to literally "make him rich" with the final payment, put us on a jeep.
After few hours on the car we realized that we were supposed to go back to Arusha after a 4-day safari, against the written schedule we paid for.
We contacted Mr. Loi and the kind secretary of Uhuru Travel & Tours, Margareth, that answered Hakuna Matata, everything would have been fixed and never tried to fix the situation
When we arrived in Serengeti, where we should have spent three entire days, we were told that the next morning we would have left the next morning.
We had to spend hours at the telephone to get what we paid for, since, at the beginning, the agency did not offer compensation for the change of program, then they offered some days in Arusha park. Definitely not what we wanted and we had to receive. At the end, we were abondoned in Serengeti public camp wating an entire day for a driver to pick us up. Finally, the next day a broken and unsafe vehicle showed up without spare tyres and with a leaking tank, which had several mechanical failures and literally fell down while driving, exposing us to the risk to overnight in the middle of the Serengeti.
Once dropped in Ngorongoro we had to wait for another driver, but the authorization papers for the park disappeared with the previous driver.
So, we had an overall bad experience and we would like to advise other people who want to discover the beautiful Tanzania avoiding this dishonest agency.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Shady, Fraudulent and Untrustworthy
We booked and paid for a 6-day tour of Etosha National Park, Swakopmund and Sossusvlei (accommodated) on Viator 6-months in advance. A week before the actual trip we got a message from Enrico Safaris and Tours that the tour was cancelled as it did not meet the minimum number. They offered a private tour that was only slightly higher and we booked and paid for entire tour to Enrico Safaris and Tours including accommodation, dinner, breakfast, activities and admissions. We did not realize that we are going to be dealing with a shady and fraudulent tour agency and we are going to have a harrowing time.
On Day 1 we were picked up 2 hours later than scheduled. It was a small car (not suitable for driving on unpaved roads later) and the car’s a/c was not working. After 4 hours of uncomfortable journey the guide/driver managed to get a temporary fix. But we arrived 3 hours behind schedule and had to cut short that days’s game drive in Etosha National Park.
On Day 3 when we reached Swakopmund, the room charges for hotel was not paid for by the Enrico Safaris and Tours. Since they could not be reached, we ended up paying for the rooms for us and for the tour guide.
On days 4 and 5 in Sossusvlei, once again the hotels rooms and dinner were not paid for and also none of the activities were paid for. We had to pay for all these for us and for the tour guide.
The guide/driver (who is not an employee of the Enrico Safaris and Tours, but just hired by them for this tour) tried calling Enrico Safaris and Tours several times to address the issue. They either did not answer the call or lied to the guide about sending money, but never sent the money. The guide/driver was a very friendly and a nice person who tried his best to help us out of the harrowing experience. But Enrico Safaris and Tours did not either answer his calls or lied to him repeatedly that he is going to send the money. The guide/driver managed to get a 4x4 on day 4 for travel on unpaved roads on Day 4.
In summary, Enrico Safaris and Tours did not just mishandle the tour but were defrauding and swindling us. In spite of fully paying for the tour in advance to Enrico Safaris and Tours, we still ended up paying for more than half of the accommodation, dinner and activities.
So our recommendation is “Don’t trust Enrico Safaris and Tours and Do Not Use their services”.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Scam alert - be careful when booking this company with fake reviews
Be careful when booking this company. The agent Jose that works for this company also worked for Bimos Travel which has recently come out as a huge scam. I highly suggest checking out the reviews on Bimos Travel before booking with this company.
DK
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Do not use! The worst experience ever!
I booked a 7 day tour with Enrico safari two months in advance, and emailed him a few days before arriving to ensure that everything was organized, which he confirmed. However, the service level and organization of this company turned out to be far from professional or satisfactory. Here is a long list of reasons:
- My tour was supposed to start with an airport pick-up from where we would go straight to Etosha NP, but there was no one to meet me at the airport. Only through the help of a random friendly taxi driver did I manage to get a hold of Enrico. After two hours someone finally arrived, but this was not the guide/driver who was originally meant to do the tour. That guide had not shown up as it turned out - my new guide informed me. We ended up leaving with a 3-hour delay out of Windhoek as the new guide had to drive around and arrange different private things before leaving.
- Whereas the other guides waiting for their clients at the airport were well dressed wearing uniforms with the company logos, my guide was shabbily dressed in dirty clothes and flip flops.
- As a result of the delay in leaving from Windhoek we arrived very late in Etosha and I did not get the afternoon game drive that I had paid for. No apology or compensation offered!
- The guide did not know the itinerary of my tour and did not have it either on his phone or on paper, so basically he did not know what I was doing, where I was staying, etc. And Enrico did nothing to ensure that he did. Even on day 3 of the tour the guide was unsure about what was happening after having been on the phone with Enrico several times.
- All trough this it was very difficult to get a hold of Enrico, who had claimed to the guide that I had not given him the flight information even though I have an email saying “thank you for providing the information”. He also repeatedly kept saying he would call to sort things out with me, but he never did.
- When arriving at the lodge in Etosha on the first night I found out that the booking was wrong as only two nights had been booked, but according to the itinerary I was staying for 3. Enrico said he would fix it Friday night, but it did not get fixed until Sunday afternoon. And I had to go to a different accommodation.
- On the second day we went on a game drive in the park, but when it came to paying the park fees the guide didn’t have any money to pay as there was no money on the company card. (Enrico later claimed that there were problems with the card, but if you read other reviews here, this is apparently not the first time that has happened). After waiting for over 2 hours at the park office, and the park was closing we paid the park fees ourselves even though they had already been paid for as part of the payment for the tour. We would not have been able to leave the park otherwise and would have had nowhere to stay. During those more than two hours we tried to call Enrico repeatedly, but he did not answer. In the evening we finally spoke to him. He was extremely rude and could not see any problem and denied the problems. He said he would call us back later but never did.
- On the third day the guide was changed to another guide without any notice. On the same day we were stopped by the police and rangers in the National park. The guide did not have the required documents to prove that he was a guide, so was not actually allowed to drive in the park with me. The police let him continue with a warning.
- The guides/drivers of other companies would use part of the lunch breaks in the park to refuel and clean the car in order to maximize the clients’ time, whereas my guide would get me in the car and then spend 15 min refueling and cleaning the car.
- All the other companies used appropriate safari vehicles, whereas Enrico used a normal car used for normal roads. During the two days I was there not once did I see any company or private visitors to the park use such a car. The car was not appropriate for safaris and at the end of the day both back tires were flat.
- A lot of the information in the itinerary was wrong. E.g. it said that the drive from Etosha to Sawkopmund was 3 hours, but it was 6 1/2 hours. The pictures and description (“perched on a hill with expansive views”) used were not from Etosha Safari Lodge, but from a more expensive lodge.
- On day 4 I spoke to Enrico on the phone as the guide was trying to get money to pay for activities, petrol and accommodation, but Enrico kept not transferring enough money even though the guide pushed for it. Enrico practices a system where the guide has a company card, onto which he transfers money for the next thing - next meal, next accommodation, next activity. But sometimes the card doesn’t work and often there isn’t enough money on the card to e.g. fill up the petrol. Enrico was extremely rude to me over the phone, yelled, lied, talked over me, refused to listen to anything I said and was very arrogant. I have never by any of the tour companies I have used in any of the 60 countries I have visited been spoken to so rudely and been treated so unprofessionally.
- On day 5 when my activities had been moved to (according to the itinerary they were supposed to have been on day 4) I arranged with the guide to be picked up at 9, so that I could be at the activity center for 10. At 9.40 when he still hadn’t arrived, I called him, and he said that he was at the garage to have the tires fixed, which got broken in Etosha 2 days prior. He showed up at 10.15!
- On day 5 the car had to be changed as it was not appropriate for driving in the desert in Sesriem, and an appropriate car was to be driven from Windhoek. The day before Enrico had said on the phone that the car would be ready at 11.00. At 13.45 when I had finished my activity there was still no car, and Enrico now informs the guide over the phone that the car was in service. Again no apology or compensation.
- We set off for Sesriem in the car that was not appropriate for the desert and after driving for 10 min the car would not run. As I found out 15 min later, the guide had not put any petrol on the car. So we simply ran out of petrol in the middle of the road in swakopmund. At this point I decided to terminate the tour, as I did not feel safe in the car or with the guide or the company.
In sum, the tour was a complete mess organisationwise from beginning to the point when I’d had enough. This caused a lot of stress, hassle and a feeling of not feeling safe. Constantly having to worry about whether the guide could pay for petrol the next time, or whether the next thing on the itinerary had been booked or not, is not exactly something that makes a holiday enjoyable or relaxing. Throughout the duration of the tour Enrico acted both rudely and highly unprofessionally. E.g. shouting on the phone, not listening, not acknowledging that anything was wrong (judge yourself by the points listed above), not answering or returning calls, despite making many promises to do so. In spite of all the disorganization, no apologies or compensation were offered. On the contrary Enrico accused me of looking for things to criticize (judge for yourself by the points above - and reviews listing the exact same problems). I completely recognize the descriptions in the bad reviews that many other travelers on here have written and there is definitely a pattern of the same things happening repeatedly. So if you value your holiday, time and money, do not use Enrico! I met many professional companies along the way in Namibia - use them instead!
CZ
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
The operator didn't return app. 1000 USD to refund not received service
Arranged itinerary was not followed at all. The company didn't refund money for different accommodation and mainly for prepaid balloon safari. It means that the tour operator has stolen approximately 1000 USD what I had to pay in advance.
ES
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
is a scammer
I booked a 17-day tour with enrico, asked for a guide in Spanish and when I got there it was in English, he told me that it took 2 days to change it and it took me 7. I had to pay the gas because the guide had not given him money and if not I paid could not continue with the tour. He made fictitious reservations and does not pay to the hotels, you get there and if you want to continue you have to pay again, from Windhoek we left 6 hours later because I changed the car for a smaller one, I had 2 paid activities worth $ 600 and he did a dummy reservation and I don't pay ... you still owe me more than $ 2000 and don't pay please do not book with him, he will ruin your vacation