DK
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Poor planning, no responsibility for their mistakes.
I'm sad to write that unlike most I had a poor experience with Afrishare.
The guide was ok, but manager Ibrahim was not. Because of poor planning on Ibrahims side we didnt meet the agreed itenerary on the first day. I call Ibrahim with whom I planned the itenerary and tell him that because of this i wnat to pay the last 30% on the last day, so Im sure that I will get what I paid for. This he is absolotely NOT ok with, and he accuses me of trying to avoid payment.
Also he claims that I should pay more than agreed upon in the written agreement. We only managed to reach a solution late on the third day meaning that the first three days was marred by hours of discussion and IT-mistakes by his company leading to us not having time for the planned game drive.
The arguments got very childish on Ibrahims part:
1) He argued that I made up IT-issues in order to avoid payment, when in fact his online payment-system was not working, which he in the end admitted, and I was made to make a bank transfer (I had to pay all 80USD bank charges).
2) He said that he knew my "personality type" and that I was making up issues to avoid paying - he said he had had many bad customers like me before.
3) In the end he kept switching between that I should only pay 700 USD in what he sarcasticly called a "free safari" or, that I should pay 2200. I stuck with the 1900 that was in the written agreement in the e-mail.
4) after spending the first three hours of the second day discussing and trying to work out his IT problems, I asked if we could part ways, and I could pay some of his expenses + take the paid hotel stays with me to another operater. He declined this offer saying I had to pay 2200 because he had paid everything already. Later I found out that he had NOT paid all expenses incl. the 300 USD park fees to Ngorongoro crater.
I ended up paying 1900 + 80 USD bank/creditcard charges + 50USD tip for the driver for a genuinely bad experience, only after involving hotel manager and threataning with police. My four year old son and I had been looking forward to this for months, and this was both the worst and most expensive holiday ever. Luckily - and most importantly - my son seemed to enjoy most of the safari. Writing this, however, I feel like I should have accepted Ibrahim's 700 USD "free safari", though I doubt he would have kept his word.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Superb
My girlfriend and I booked the 3 night tamarind canoe safari with Martin from Kingfisher Safaris and we absolutely loved it. We started at Chirundu and canoed around 70km to Mana Pools (only an average level of fitness is required) with nights spent on sand islands in the middle of the Zambezi river. As soon as we set off we were greeted with a large pod of hippos and then a herd of elephants on a sand bank ahead of us. That was the start of an incredible experience viewing so much wildlife including gliding just 5 yards away from a 14ft crocodile sun bathing on the bank! There were hundreds of hippos, many crocodiles, elephants, birdlife and also zebras, impala and waterbuck viewed on the banks to name a few. The feeling of being in a canoe sat 6 inches above the water and feeling so close to the animals was amazing and something we’ll never forget.
Since I booked the trip Martin has been first class in his rapid response to emails (mostly within an hour/couple of hours) and arranging extras not even part of our canoe trip such as charter flights and transfers. His fast and helpful replies really put my mind at ease, he is so well organised and always contactable if you have any problems or questions so right away the stress of waiting for a response is removed.
We certainly recommend people do the tamarind canoe trip as we had an unforgettable experience, and without doubt I would advise people to book with Martin of Kingfisher Safaris, I can’t recommend him enough.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unforgettable experience
My girlfriend and I recently spent 10 days in Mana Pools (5 nights river camp, 4 nights Chitake Spring) with Khangela Safaris and it was absolutely incredible. Mike and Bernard were a brilliant team who’ve known each other for decades, helped in camp by Bernard’s brother Memba. Their knowledge of the animal and plant life was amazing and our experience was also helped enormously by their superb tracking ability, once they had picked up a track we would end up with a brilliant sighting 9 times out of 10. We saw lions 6 times, a leopard, wild dogs with 9 puppies, hyenas, buffalo, elephants, hippos, zebras to name just a few. They were very warm and friendly and helped prepare us great food at meal times (we’re both vegan and they were a great help). We will miss getting up at sunrise for our morning walks, mid-day drives, evening walks, Mike and Bernard’s stories round the fire at night, hyenas and elephants walking through camp while we eat and lying in our tent listening to the sounds of the bush at night.
It was truly an incredible experience and without doubt would recommend Khangela Safaris to anyone, we would love to return.
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
An amazing adventure
We did a ten day safari with Leopard Tours, arranged with Lion World Travel. We travel often and I am typically very 'hands on' in the planning, but I also knew my limitations on working on a vacation with NO knowledge of what to expect.
Everything from the pick up at Arusha airport, to the final drop at Arusha airport was top notch. Being met at the airport and handing off the VISA required docs and money and then having our luggage handled by Leopard was excellent. Jet lag made us all a bit out of it, and we felt very cared for immediately.
We were a group of 14, shared over three vans. Each of our drivers, Daniel, Edwin and Peter were outstanding. We were assigned to Peter, and he was soft spoken, knowledgeable, open to suggestions, and very concerned with our comfort and providing an excellent experience.
We actually saw the Big Seven in ONE DAY! Fantastic. I did not know what to expect as far as the driving/roads, and although it was a very bumpy, dusty situation, Peter was very cautious and a careful driver. There were many hours spent with him and he spoke often about Tanzania's culture/economy/eco-systems and we learned a great deal.
We did an 'add on' and said goodbye to our group after eight days, and were in Peter's hands for the remainder of our trip. Unfortunately, my husband took a fall and cut his mouth pretty badly. Peter was amazing. (I immediately felt sick seeing my husband.) He took control, helped him staunch the bleeding and arranged to find a doctor at the Serengeti Central area. His concern and kindness helped immensely with calming my and our daughter's fears.
I highly recommend Leopard Tours. Not once did I have any qualms about the decision we had made to book with this wonderful company.
MK
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great Nairobi city tour, and amazing giraffe, elephants and bomas experience
Today we had an awesome tour of the city and the surrounding wildlife attractions. Our guide Paul picked us up from our accomodation sharp at the agreed pickup time (even a few minutes earlier), and continued to a pleasant drive around town in spacious and comfortable Nissan Serena. We visited the Giraffe centre, the Elephant orphanage and Bomas of Kenya, all of which were amazing experiences. Needless to say how transformative experience was to be kissed by a giraffe. But the important part for this tour was the fact that Paul knew exactly when were the overcrowded periods and managed to avoid all of them, thus providing us more time for bonding with animals and unique experiences. Because of the great efficiency we managed to visit some extra spots outside of our agreed schedule, like the Kazuri beads factory and the Karen Blixen museum. Had some super tasty burgers for lunch and ended the day with great show at the Bomas of Kenya. Paul was super knowledgable about the bomas (eng. Villages) and gave us a great tour inside the compound. We are extremely happy for choosing Twinkle Star Tours for this city tour and looking forward to our safari tomorrow.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It was the trip of a lifetime!
It was the trip of a lifetime. I had never gone on a trip like this and I was nervous about staying in tents, food, showers, toilets. But we were treated like kings and there were no issues with any of the facilities. The food was wonderful, the drinks were plentiful and always cold. Plenty of beer and liquor if you desired it. Took and fulfilled drink requests before the trip. Hot showers every day. Comfortable bedding, roomy tents. The guide, Newman, was outstanding. We called him Dr Dolittle as he always knew what the animals were going to do before they did it! Other trucks would follow animals from behind, he would go where the animals would be in a few minutes! He knew everything about the animals, he has been a guide for 30+ years.
I highly recommend this company without reservations.
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very friendly and attentive tour operator
Me and my wife went on a 8 day personalized Safari through Kenya and Tanzania as part of our honeymoon and can fully recommend Kenan for the services they provide. We were more than happy with our Safari, the communication and the care we received from the entire Kenan team - starting with Jane and Geophrey and not forgetting the drivers.
Geophrey took care of the booking and communicated permanently with us from the first enquiry and including coming to our hotel in the evening of our arrival to greet us. He answered all my detailed questions patiently and was always very friendly in his replyis. Jane even came and picked us up personally from the airport at our arrival and the next day in the morning went with us once more through the itinerary before our departure.
The cars were exactly as expected and the drivers were very friendly during the whole trip. They were responsive and adapted to our requests. Our first driver in Kenya, Thomas, was by far the most attentive and friendly and we engaged during the whole trip in extensive and interesting conversations. Also, the accommodation was exactly the one promissed and according to our expectations. We later found out that Geophrey would call every place to make sure we arrived and that everything was ok.
At the end, Geophrey even came to the airport to wish us farewell and took a lot of time to discuss our impressions from the Safari. He asked detailed questions about each driver, the cars and the accommodation to capture any potetial room for improvement in the future. He and Jane seem to really care about the experience they offer to their guests. I appreciated this a lot!
Thank you Kenan for a great trip!
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Awesome 4 days private safari in Kenya
Our private safari with Australken was an amazing experience. We went to the Hell's gate, lake Navasha and then Masai Mara.
During our trip organisation Zippy was very helpful, she did everything so that we could have the safari we wanted. We felt safe going on a safari even though we are two young women.
During the safari, Simon was a super guide. He knew a lot about the wildlife and took good care of us. We manage to see many animals and he was able to find even the most difficult ones like elephants hiding during the great migration of gnus, and many lions.
I highly recommand this tour operator and especially their private safaris!
CL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good experience
All the organisation was very good, all tha was palned was done. Food was realy good!!
AE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Andy was professional in his approach and very prompt in his resons time
I got a good and responsive service for booking the hotels. However, for booking at Sun city, I wasn't informed that the swimming pool was under renovation. I chose this expensive hotel over others in Sun city mainly to have a quieter and cleanet private pool. Also for the booking at Mjejane river lodge. I wasnt informed that we would have to pay additional charges for entry to Kruger Park at R250pp. We paid R1000 additionally. Also the transparency was not clear in the billing for Mjejane boarding and transport costs.