DE
under20 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
A good organized tour with breathtaking animal sightings.
The whole experience was very well organized so that everything ran smoothly, and we had really fantastic game drives. We did a tour consisting of three parts (1. Kenya safari, 2. Tanzania safari, 3. hike on Mount Kenya). All sections and all transfers were well organized and everything worked without a problem. It was great that the organizer could be reached 24/7 via WhatsApp or telephone. The entire experience was breathtakingly beautiful, and I can only recommend everyone to come to Kenya and choose this tour guide.
CN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Responsible and reliable driver, humanized tour guide, super cost-effective experience
The price of the tour we signed up for was very low and there weren't a lot of reviews on the website, so we hadn't set our expectations too high and thought we would just see the animals. But the trip struck me as super cost effective and far exceeded expectations.
First of all, the driver, david, is a superb driver, doesn't talk much, but every time he is especially punctual, which makes me feel like a reliable Chinese parent. And! One night because of the hotel did not provide us with a single room according to the advance booking, susan took the initiative to upgrade our accommodation, that hotel is made of recycled waste, the owner took the initiative to take us to visit, gave us a lot of he wanted to improve the local environment through waste recycling, bring water to the nearby villages, to provide employment opportunities for women, he said that his hotel is not open to the public, only for the He said that his hotel is not open to the public, only to acquaintances, he said that because our driver david is the teacher who taught him safari many years ago, so the relationship is very good, he told us that david is a very experienced driver. We were really lucky to find this travel agency at such a low price, so I must write this review to share my experience!
As soon as we met Susan, she sent us each a gift, of which the Maasai blanket worked wonders for us throughout the trip. We tried to arrange other trips and susan was very patient with us on all of them.
Finally the accommodation, much better than I expected, looking at the photos on google, I was expecting the accommodation and food to be very poor (because of the really cheap prices), but every hotel was much better than the pictures, very clean, I think the local people's photo taking skills should be upgraded.
And finally Susan also said to send us postcards, I really very sad to leave, we carry a lot of luggage, Susan said she became small into one of the bags with us back to China.
IT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
masai mara lake nakuru
Be careful of this company. They make you believe you’re booking a lodge like Sofa Lodge and Lake Nakuru, but then they come up with excuses and put you in tent camps at different places. They pull tricks like overbooking or sometimes don’t say anything at all. We tried writing to get our money back for the difference, but they go silent after 5 or 6 days, being vague. Don't book with them; they’ll ruin your safari.
(automatic translation from Italian)
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Horrible experience with Apodiformes Adventures, can't recommend
We had a very bad experience with Apodiformes Adventures.
The communication and booking process prior to the tour was very smooth, up until it was time to pay the second part of the tour price in cash at pickup. After that, everything changed drastically. First of all, the game drive vehicle they provided was very different from what was promised. It was much much older and extremely uncomfortable. All other game drive jeeps we saw were much more modern & comfortable so we felt that the company tried to save money here, even though their tour is advertised as a luxury tour.
I asked Apodiformes Adventures about this but they ignored my messages!
Our safari guides (which were arranged by Apodiformes Adventures) told us that they only received our booking a day before our arrival, despite us booking several months before with Apodiformes Adventures, which is why they were not prepared for us. Also, our safari guides picked us up in Nairobi & had no idea how to get out of the city, which lead us to drive around for hours within Nairobi, before I had to give them my phone, as their Google Maps did not work properly. I contacted Apodiformes Adventures several times during this & they did not reply.
Also, we were sold a masai village tour through Apodiformes, which felt extremely unethical and like a scam to us. We paid 90 USD for being shown around a village for 10 minutes and later harrased to buy little magnets for 25 USD per piece. Once again, when we contacted our tour operator about this, they did not reply. It again seemed to us that everything goes very smooth up until you've paid the second part of the payment in person at the start of the tour.
The "luxury" lodge they booked for us had no idea we would be 3 people, since apparentely the tour operator failed to communicate this to them, which lead to another problem at room configuration at check-in, which took nearly one hour to resolve in order for us to get the extra bed in an already tiny room, since they had no other rooms available. I've taken 3 safaris in Africa, this one was by far the worst & I can only warn people against wasting your precious vacation with a tour operator that is quite seemingly not taking bookings seriously anymore.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Smooth communication
The communication with them was very easy and smooth. They found a spot for me even just one day before the trip. I didn’t have any problems and had a great safari trip.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Bad tour company
Me and my wife booked an 13 day safari in Nairobi Kenya with African Sunset Safari. After the 3rd day into the safari, we was told we couldn't continue because the owner Haron. had not payed for the rest of our trip. The owner was payed Months in advance by us,but did not use our money to pay for our accommodation and game drives. On the 3rd day we had to pay out of pocket for the nights we stayed in order to leave the hotel. This company had good reviews is why we went with them. Now I don't know how thy got the reviews they have. We did report him Kenyan Tourist Police and File report to US embassy. If you get an quote from this company beware.
TW
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A reliable and comprehensive travel agency.
This is my first time to Kenya the tour enriched my views and experiences.I would recommend other tourists to Remesa Adventures as ther first choice.
CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Do not book
My wife and I booked and fully paid for a 15 day tour (Kenya/Tanzania/Zanzibar) with African Sunset Safaris which began on Sept 15. There was communication issues with them since day 1. They only paid for 3 days worth of the contracted services, changed hotels last minute, did not answer calls or messages, never provided itinerary to our guide, etc.
By day 4, we learned they never paid for our park fees in Masai Mara.
By day 5, we learned they never paid for our lodge in Masai Mara, and they sent us an email saying they are cancelling the remainder of the tour.
By night of day 5, we learned that the owner of the company has ended his own life. They must have ran out of money.
We were stuck paying for the park fees and lodge in Masai Mara and now are going back to Nairobi instead of going to Serengeti. We will file police report, and we know there are many other people in our situation that have also filed reports.
They should be removed from SafariBookings
BE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Disgraceful agency. Don't use them at any cost.
We booked with Image Travel Ltd the following package : 4-Day Luxury Lionhill Camp & Mara Serena Lodge Safari with 4X4WD LandCruiser Jeep for 2 persons costing 3,996 $.
This is a highly negative review for this agency which surprisingly has otherwise very favorable reviews.
1) First of all, the booking process was good, I got several quotes from multiple agencies from safaribookings website and compared them, did a lot of research using different reviews websites and finally choose Image Travel. Booking was made in July 2024 for a safari in September 2024. Paid initially a deposit then full payment using wire transfer. Up until then all good with smooth communication.
2) As we are approaching the start day of our safari, there was no communication from the agency. They didn't know our hotel in Nairobi, neither did they have my phone number, nor did we know the pick up time. So 2 days before the start day I email them in the morning letting them know my hotel and to confirm pick up time. No reply. I send a WhatsApp message in the evening. No reply. 1 day before start of trip, still nothing. I was in Nairobi already so call them around 9 am to ask. A man picked up and when I asked about pick up time he said 8 am, and I told him I sent email with our hotel name, he said ok I will reply to you. It's now 2 pm and no acknowledgement or reply to my email. Having wire transfered 4000 $ and just hours before the safari start, I decided to go check out their office in Nairobi CBD area. There were 2 girls, and I told them I come here to confirm the trip, she is ok, took her dairy and noted the hotel name. When queried how would she have known our hotel if I didn't come, the answer given was "most our guests come the day before start so we send them email 5/6 pm the day before to confirm the hotel and time"... ok but that's not a reason to not reply to email or WhatsApp message. Poor communication. Red flag was raised here.
3) Next day luckily the safari driver is on time to pick us. We go to lake nakuru, but the agency hasn't paid the entrance fee. So we wait at the front entrance waiting for them to pay. That seems normal since other safari vehicles also stopped waiting for payment. But they waited at most 15 min. We waited almost 2 hours... the driver had to make several calls to them to get it done, with excuses such as "she is going to the bank make payment "... meanwhile dozens of cars entered the park. Arrived at park entrance 12 pm and entered at 2 pm. Due to this we missed lunch, no big deal but still, and it started raining. So we skipped the hotel and directly went for the game drive. The game ended being much shorter than planned due to this delay.
They also changed the hotel to sopa lodge and booked double room when I clearly asked twin bedroom and they confirmed it. Luckily the hotel was good enough and they gave us twin room.
4) Next day, going to Masai Mara, the driver and us made a clear plan to press Image Travel office to pay the entrance fee to masai mara early to avoid the same issue as Lake nakuru. We left Lake nakuru at 7 am. We arrived at Masai Mara entrance at 1.30 pm. And Serena park entrance at 3.30 pm. The driver told us it should take 5/6 hours. It took 8h30... the driver was driving slowly, he even made the following remark "I am driving slowly to buy us time so they can make the payment of the park"... that was so, so frustrating, so I paid 4000 $ and flew all the way to Kenya just to enjoy a slow ride in a jeep going to Masai Mara ? Seriously ? According to the safari plan, we were to supposed to arrive at Masai mara for lunch... completely wrong.
Now ofcourse despite the driver several calls, the fees was not paid when we arrived at Masai mara entrance, but the driver got a "transit pass" to go to the Mara triangle entrance. Then the agency told the driver due to "payment system issue " we should pay the entrance fee, which is 800$ for 2 persons for 2 days by ourselves and they will refund that amount later. I got an email from them stating that also, "promising" to refund the amount once "the issue is solved". Now I am no fool, and I don't believe I would ever see that amount back, living in Europe dealing with a Kenyan travel agency on basis of "promise" in an email. I flat out refused and told them to sort it out. I paid 4000$ and I am not expected to fork out another 800 $ because of their problem (or atleast that's what they say). I got a number from the email to call, and I told them I paid a full package, they are member of the KATO (Kenya Association Of Tour Operators), have good review and rankings and this is completely unacceptable and unprofessional. I told them I don't have 800 $, so either they pay the fee or we go back to Nairobi and next morning I register my complaint with KATO, the tourism police and Tourism regulatory authority, in addition to negative reviews. She said ok give me 30 min to find an alternative to solve issue. Keep in mind that it's approaching 4 pm and we are wasting time dealing with this instead of a game drive... 5 min later, the driver found a solution : his boss (who is a contractor working for Image Travel) will pay and Image Travel will reimburse him later. Because of this we once again only a short game drive lasting less than 2 hours.
5) On day 4, going back to Nairobi. Upon checkout at Mara Serana Hotel in Masai Mara, we were informed Image Travel did not pay the hotel. They will not release us and let us leave until it is paid. That was at 7 am. The driver made several calls to get it sorted, without success. I managed to directly call Image Travel, and they repeated the same excuses "payment system issue", which doesn't mean anything. I strongly objected to him about the handling of this situation and threatened to report to KATO and the TRA. I also argued with the hotel that they should pursue the matter with Image Travel Ltd directly and not keep us "hostages" here because I paid everything to them. They refused to let us go. At this point with the risk of missing our flight I was about to pay myself the 1100$ hotel invoice, since it was nearly 9 am, but at the same time the person from Image Travel Ltd wrote an email to the hotel and they let us go. I have been told that the email was once again just a "promise" to pay. Due to this the driver had to rush to the exit gate of Masai Mara before 10 am to avoid having pay extra fee which led us to miss the exit game drive.
All the issues led us to miss most of the time which should have been devoted to the game drives, in addition to headache, frustration and anger. This is completely unacceptable from a accredited tour operator in Kenya. Nothing in the schedule of the plan they gave us was respected. The driver told us 3 other vehicles of Image Travel were facing the same issue that day and not being released. Furthermore he said in his opinion the person in charge at Image Travel most likely run out of money and he is not paying anyone and just "promising" to pay everyone by email. This is completely unacceptable after having spent over 4000 $ for a safari and projects a very negative image of Kenyan tourism. I have submitted a complaint to the KATO and the TRA with appropriate documentation. Additionally it seems this issues are arising very frequently at this company based on recent online reviews.
Please save yourself the trouble and don't choose this agency at any cost.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
First class personal service
When we decided to visit Namibia we started reading up on tour operators and Blue Crane Safaris had such good reviews we decided to email them with an idea of where we wanted to go/see/do and asked if they could provide an itinerary. Derek Jacobs the owner replied very quickly and that was the start of a 10 month communication when we decided to book a self drive tour with them. Nothing was too much trouble and any emails were replied to promptly.
When we arrived in Windhoek we were picked up by a company representative and taken to their offices to pick up our car and go over the itinerary. Jamie did the handover which was very in-depth and she gave us all the relevant information we needed as well as a WhatsApp contact number. Some of the accommodation on tour was suggested by Blue Crane and some we chose ourselves, it was a good mix.
We had an absolutely fantastic holiday it couldn’t have been better, everything went like clockwork thanks to Blue Crane. Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better to we were upgraded to the Bush Camp at Okonjima on our last three nights which was a fantastic surprise, it was amazing.
The personal service the Blue Crane Safaris team provide is second to none and we highly recommend them.
