US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great
Once again you lived up to my expectations. I love this Safari club concept with the yearly discount system. Will be in touch once I get home.
OM
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fraud Travel Agent in Kenya duping international tourists.
This review is about LIANS Travel – actually LIA'R'S Travel,
Run by a woman named Lilian Maina – actually Lie-Liar.
BEWARE BEWARE BEWARE BEWARE
This company and the woman are a big dirty fraud, playing with international tourist’s money and time and taking them for a ride completely sabotaging their holiday plans.
Unfortunately, me and my wife (Indians) availed their services for a 10 days tour in 2nd week of August-19, but had to return home within 2 days, courtesy Lie-Liar.
Lilian Maina (Lie-Liar) has absolutely no knowleage of her own country's geography, parks, attractions, logistics, flight network, hotel availability, etc., etc. and is incapable of organizing any tours for the discerning international tourists. They are here only to con international tourists and earn a fast buck. Lie-Liar is an epitome of disrespect, arrogance, rudeness, selfishness and impoliteness and does not care a hoot about international visitors.
Everything went wrong once we paid the initial 30% advance.
1. The responses from Lilian (Lie-Liar) became slow & required follow up for getting things done
2. There was no sense of urgency in booking the hotels and internal flights although our tour was to start in a week’s time. Finally, Lilian (Lie-Liar) sent fake unconfirmed hotel vouchers.
3. Lilian (Lie-Liar) abruptly moved our first hotel stay to a remote location of her choice at the last moment with total disregard to our itinerary. This resulted in compromising our 1st day's itenerary plan and settle for something that we did not want – but which Lie-Liar wanted !!
4. Lilian (Lie-Liar) advised somebody would pick us up at Nairobi airport on arrival. However, nobody turned up for an hour and until we called her up.
5. Lilian (Lie-Liar) demanded for the 70% balance payment on arrival in cash, without providing any confirmed hotel bookings for the entire itinerary. By this time, we had realized that we might not get the services that we are paying for, and deferred this payment for a day, telling Lie-Liar that we shall pay online when we reach the 1st night’s destination.
6. Incidentally, our fears/doubts turned out to be true -
- Lilian (Lie-Liar) had agreed for a 4x4 Land Cruiser initially, but on reaching Kilaguni Airstrip, gave us the oldest possible rickety van (and of course the cheapest possible) which was so uncomfortable & noisy that it frightened all animals from afar making any sightings impossible.
- Lilian (Lie-Liar) had advised the name of particular Guide cum Driver initially but instead sent a shady character at the last moment with whom we felt very unsafe and unsecure. His main agenda was to take us to the lodge as soon as possible so that we can make payment to Lilian (Lie-Liar) who was eagerly expecting her 70% payment.
- Lilian (Lie-Liar) had agreed that all Park Fees are included in the package price, but when we landed at Kilaguni airstrip and entered Tsavo-West National Park, she asked us to pay them instead.
- Lie-Liar had mentioned that bottled water is included in the price, but did not provide any.
7. Lilian (Lie-Liar) had thanked us initially for the business and said she will not disappoint us. However, as soon as she got the 30% advance, she gave us only disappointment after disappointment. What a shame for a woman.
8. Once Lie-Liar realized that we are not falling prey to her tactics and accepting whatever she is doling out to us, she became angry and abusive saying that she does not trust Indians. For a tourist service provider, these comments are in poor taste and clearly reflect that she hardly cares for her international clients and is here just want to make a fast buck.
9. Completely exhausted with her tantrums and upset with the proceedings, we were in no mood to go ahead with the tour and therefore decided to abort the trip and returned home within 2 days.
We are sure this must have happened with many international tourists who may not have posted their reviews for various reasons or would have ignored whatever sub-standard stuff was thrown at them. All the good reviews 4/5 and 5/5 that we read about LIANS (LIARS) Travel on various travel sites are fake and just cannot be true. These are definitely posted by Lilian (Lie-Liar) herself. One personal meeting with her is enough to understand what a criminal woman she is, but by then it is too late for the hapless traveler.
To cut the long story short, once the international tourists have paid the 25% - 30% advance, they are caught in the web of LIANS (LIARS) Travels and are compelled to accept whatever is doled out to them. Thus, their tour is completely deranged and they may even have to return empty-handed as we had to in 2 days.
We would therefore strongly urge all international tourists to refrain from taking LIANS (Lilian Lie-Liar) Travel's services for organizing any safaris in Kenya. There are similar bad reviews and experiences from many international tourists about LIANS (LIARS) Travel that are very clear warnings to all. We therefore urge all travelers not to trust LIANS Lilian (Lie-Liar) in any case and BOYCOTT LIANS (Lilian Lie-Liar) FOREVER.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
4 days/ 3 nights safari
My mom and me went in a 4 days/ 3 nights safari to celebrate her 60th birthday. We went to lake Nakuru and stayed a night there, and then two nights in Maasai Mara.
The agenda for our trip was exactly what we wanted and our guide was outstanding. However, we had paid for a “comfort” room in Maasai Mara ($420 per person each night) and when we got to our hotel (Azure Mara Haven) they told us Spirit of Kenya had only reserved a budget tent for us. I talked with employees of Spirit of Kenya but they only solved the problem until the next day when we had already gone over a hard and cold night in the tent. Second day fortunately we were upgraded to a room like the one we had paid for. Despite asking them for a refund or a compensation for their mistake on the first night, I did not get a positive reply and was just ignored by their employees.
Hope this doesn’t happen to other people traveling with Spirit of Kenya and that you stress out that they should make the hotel reservations for what you are asking and the value you are paying.
DE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A trip of a lifetime with the most experienced Guides
African Jacana Safari Tours is citizen-owned safari company started by Gideon Kamutati, one of the most experienced Guides in Northern Botswana. Gideon and his Sales & Reservations Manager Gally helped me to organise the tour for our group (8 persons) very professionally. They promptly replied back on every email, provided me with a helpful informations about the safari, guided us very smoothly with incredible efficiency and patience through the decision making process. Their itinerary fulfilled all our needs for a very competitive price. Upon arrival, Gideon and Gally were expecting us at the airport and we started our incredibly memorable 14-days mobile Safari trip. The tour exceeded all our expectations. Everything was organised perfectly. Pickups and transfers were on time. We spent 3 days on a lonely island in the Okavango Delta with boat cruises in the traditional mokoro boats. We visited Moremi, Savuti and Chobe –very diverse and amazing areas in Botswana. The beautiful landscape and the amount of wildlife we saw in each place were just amazing. We spent our days with game drives and breathtaking encounters with wild animals. The huge value of an experienced professional guide is. that he will bring you at the right time to the right place. By reading their tracks, Gideon guided us very close to the predators, elephants and hippos. We felt entirely safe, because he knew their habits so well. Gideon shared his tremendous knowledge, deep understanding and respect of the nature with us. We learned a lot about wildlife and the ecologic system and about the people of Botswana. When we returned from our game drive in the afternoon to our beautiful campsites, we were welcomed by Daddy, our camp manager and our chef Wilson with coffee and tea. Our tents were clean, spacious and very comfortable. We enjoyed the luxury of a private bathroom in the back of our tent, foldable beds and mattresses, sheets and pillows, warm water and the freshly baked bread in the morning. Wilsons meals were delicous. It was a real pleasure to spend our time with Wilson, Daddy and Gideon, watching „bush TV“ around the campfire, talking, laughing and singing together. It was hard to say goodbye!
We highly recommend African Jacana Safari Tours. These guys are extremely professional, friendly, environmentally-conscious and caring. Support local entrepreneurs in Botswana and have your trip of a lifetime!
HU
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Super 1 day trip to Mt. Kilimanjaro
We spent a wonderful 1 day trip to Mt. Kilimanjaro from Arusha, Freddy, the owner of Moonlight Tours organized our trip from Arusha, we started early in the morning from our hotel, we (a driver and a guide came with us, both very very nice and informative persons) drove to Kilimanjaro National Park (around 2,5h drive), we hiked to the first camp (Mandara hut) on the Marangu route (around 3h hike), we had a nice luch close to the rim of the Maundi Crater then we walked back to the entrance of the National Park (again around 3h walk). We arrived back to arusha around 8pm, so it was a full day program in the beautiful nature with a little taste of Mt. Kilimanjaro! Freddy is a perfect organizer, we absolutely reccomend Moonlight Tours to anyone!!!
Iza & Mark
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Maraka safaris! Simply unforgettable. Breathtaking excursion to the Murchison Falls and game drives.
Maraka Safaris were simply efficient and their selection of spots to be visited was simply amazing. The staff were courteous and knowledgeable about the areas. An unforgettable experience.
HK
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A wonderful and memorable trip
It was a wonderful and memorable trip. Mr Dennis the director of Baboon Budget Safaris Ltd has been very helpful and flexible in arranging the private tour for us. Our drivers in both Kenya and Tanzania was very knowledgable who brought us to see a lot of animals. All in all, the tour is excellent
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing people, very professional
I worked with Mambo Gorilla Safari Uganda to plan gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and they were nothing short of amazing. Communication was fast to answer any questions and the information provided was plentiful. The entire experience at their accommodation at Lake Bunyonyi was great and their entire staff is fantastic and super friendly. I highly recommend working with this company to have an amazing experience while in Uganda.
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
It was an absolutely great safari
I was traveling alone, but they found a small group for me to join. It was very nice and the driver was great and above all very flexible and helpful. We could almost see everything in the park! The selected lodges were very good! I would recommend them anytime.
GH
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
It was a perfect blend of fun, friendship and professionalism. It was absolute thrill.
The tour guide was very expressive, did all his best to make our tour fun and memorable. Sedric has a great customer oriented approach to make visitors feel welcomed and cherished on the trip.
He is very well blended in his culture and shared the richness of Uganda with us on the trip every step of the way. I will gladly recommend him as a tour guide to my friends and anyone looking forward to having great adventure in Uganda.