SK
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
5* unforgettable experience
The safari with Buffalo Steps Adventures was truly an unforgettable experience for us. Everything went smoothly, from the pick-up right at our accommodation, through the visits to the two safari parks, Tsavo East and West, to our return.
Our guide Geoffrey was a very friendly guy who made an effort to show us all the interesting places and animals living in the safari. In two and a half days, we had the opportunity to see a large part of this fascinating country and a great variety of animals, some even up close.
Thank you once again.
Adam & Barbora :)
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Compulsive Liar
To be clear, this is NOT a review of our visit to Kenya and Tanzania. This is a review of Features Africa Journeys. We took a 12 day safari tour and the experiences were amazing. Highly recommend visiting Kenya and Tanzania. Just don't do it with features Africa Journeys. The owner, Karanja, downplayed a lot, and made promises he did not keep. The man seems nice in person, but he's actually a shady salesman and a compulsive liar
Save yourself a lot of stress and discomfort and use someone else
Here's an abbreviated list of my issues. More detail below:
1. After first payment customer service and communication ceased.
2. Changing accommodations 3 TIMES after final payment without telling us. To lodges of signficant less quality.
3. Significantly over-promised the amount of space in the safari jeep.
4. Consistent errors in hotel reservations and park passes, risking use getting kicked out of parks.
5. Significantly downplaying the amount of time spent traveling between lodges leading to a lot of missed activities and no down time as promised in the itinerary.
There were plenty of other issues I had with them but my post is already too long.
Here's the details on the above:
1. Initial communications were great! Responsive, friendly, helpful. After our 1st deposit communications came to an end. Days of questions going unanswered, despite our literal begging for a response. The last invoice a month late. We all started researching the company because we were beginning to think it was a scam. Communications did not improve during the trip when we started having issues, detailed below.
2. Changed lodges on us, not once, not twice, but 3 TIMES!!! Without telling us!!! Over half of our trip!!! First lodge added 2 hours one way to our drive. The second lodge he changed without telling us, again, out of our way, and it was a DOWNGRADE. We were finally going to have a couple days where we would have the afternoon off (per our contracted schedule), and I was looking forward to the pool at the lodge we were promised. This place, no pool, no power, no hot water, my mom's phone would not connect to the wifi. No afternoon off. After the 2nd change we even had a discussion with Karanja about it, and again he didn't tell us then about the 3rd change. We found out when we drove past the lodge we were supposed to be at. After explicitly asking earlier that day. Another downgrade, another 2hrs out of our way. Of course the last lodges of the trip so we got to end our vacation on a sour note.
3. Said there would be plenty of room for 6 in the jeep, including the 3 people were of above average height. We were all uncomfortable and in pain, even the shorter people. I have bruised elbows and knees from the drives. Told by another tour driver that the trucks really weren't meant for more than.
4. The first hotel reservations were the wrong dates. We had to pull teeth to correct it despite being painfully explicit how many nights were needed. Find out half way thru the trip our Serengeti permit was wrong too. We were only paid in full for 2 nights instead of the planned 3. At 4pm the day before we would have been forced to leave the park, he sent us a message LYING that it's all figured out, only to find out it was paid 3 hours after his message from our driver. And then we had to drive 7 hours out of our way the next day to pick it up. At the end of our trip, turns out we don't have permit for Lake Nakuru Park either!!! Karanja claimed that "the system needed to be refreshed" but we had caught him in SO MANY LIES at this point we knew it was just more BS.
5. Drives between lodges that we were told were only going to take 3 hours took 8 hours, drives that were supposed to take 6 hours took 11 hours. All of it on water-logged, potholed, lose-your-lunch dirt roads. For 11 hours!!! We missed promised sunset dinners, assuming we didn't skip them completely due to exhaustion, there were lodges we paid a lot of money for that we never got to see during the day, almost no down time at any point, and many lunches were extremely late, 2 or 3 pm. One of our drivers said he'd never work for Features again because of how miserable the timeline was. Even when Karanja was driving us personally, he'd look us in the eye and LIE, telling us 10min when there was 2hrs of driving left.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing wildlife, friendly people, beautiful beaches!!
We took an 8 day/7 night safari with SafariSoles followed by 5 days on Zanzibar. Both were amazing, 100% positive experiences!! SafariSoles was a fantastic company that let us design our own safari with very nice and comfortable hotels and tent cabins at an incredibly reasonable price. Our driver and guide - Kennedy - was also fantastic. He knew where to look for wildlife, when to stay and watch, and when to rush to another location to catch something rare. He was very knowledgeable about the wildlife and the ecosystems and just a great all around guide. We also loved Zanzibar, both Stonetown and Matemwe Beach. We stayed at Emerson Spice hotel in Stonetown and Villa Kiva on Matemwe Beach. Both were great. We highly recommend the fish tasting menu at Emerson Spice's rooftop restaurant. It was really delicious and an incredible bargain. Villa Kiva is also great. Right on the beach with beautiful views and gardens, lots of nice places to relax, great food in the restaurant, and very helpful at arranging a dolphin boat/snorkeling strip. We loved Tanzania and would happily go back.
MY
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent Operator
If you are reading my review, I can only advise you what I know or have been through.
If you are reading a lot of reviews in tripadvisor……still confused and don’t know where to start, my only advice is GO With a Trustable Operator and A Good Guide. I still stand by this Statement after my 1st Safari in Kenya.
We had a fantastic safari with Kenan Travel & Tours. Jane was very helpful and she organised our itinerary according to our needs. A month before our Safari was due to start, Nairobi was protesting (new tax imposed) and I wrote to Jane. She replied quickly and briefed us on the situation in Nairobi and advised us accordingly. Thanks, Jane
Jane is definitely a good operator. She is a good communicator and she adds a personal touch to her service by personally been present to welcome us and to brief us on the 1st day and she was there on our last day to check on us. She knows what she is doing. Good on you, Jane
We did 1 night in Lake Nakuru and 3 nights in Masai Mara. We were hoping to see The Big 5 and we weren't disappointed at all.
Edward, our guide, was very knowledgeable and worked very hard to secure good viewing spots for us to view The Big 5…..Hakuna Matata!!! We weren't disappointed at all with him……….had a great time and could not ask any more from him. That guy really worked hard for us. Hand on tight to your safety handles……………he will zoom to secure you the right and best viewing spot in the quickest time!
We will be back………..river crossing, please!
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Liar, liar, pants on fire.
Absolutely visit Africa. The people, land, and animals are amazing. Our contracted drivers/guides for Amboseli, Kenya, and the Serengeti, Tanzania, listened and worked with us through difficult times. We saw more wildlife than we could have imagined. Absolutely visit Africa, but do NOT use the services of Features Africa Journeys.
Our final itinerary showed the list of upgraded lodging as requested and paid for. It was a LIE. Of the 6 listed, we were not informed of any changes until we drove past 4 of them. We were downgraded to tented camps, some with no amenities. One 3-night stay did not even have running hot water.
Estimated drive times were grossly underestimated. Many days were over 10 hours or longer, only leaving the vehicle for lunch. We arrived at all of the lodging as the day turned dark. For every upgraded lodging, we left after breakfast the next day. We did not have any time to enjoy the facilities or amenities. Heck, we didn't have time to even see them .
As a party of 6, with 4 being just under or over 6' tall, we we're assured the vehicle could accommodate us in comfort. We had a terrible time finding leg room. I had bruises on my wrists, head, shoulders, knees, and legs. One guide told us the vehicles are really meant for 4.
Park permits were not paid for in a timely manner. In the Serengeti, we had a 3-night stay but only a 2 night permit. We were informed, if the permit was not paid for, we would have to leave the Serengeti or risk being arrested!
The owner, became our driver when we returned to Kenya. We confronted him about his deceitfulness, asking him to be truthful with us. He looked us in the eye and lied over and over again. We ended our safari early and asked to go directly to the airport.
If I could, I would give this review a zero. I cannot say this enough. DO NOT USE FEATURES AFRICA JOURNEYS.
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Exceptional Safari in Kenya Sep’24
Exceptional Safari in Kenya
Sep 2024 • Family
Our family of seven (including a 6 year old) just returned from a 9 day safari and I wanted to write a review because it was the best experience we could ever had hoped for. Nancy was so patient with us as we went back and forth several times fine tuning our itinerary. She always replied promptly, gave us valuable advice and organized everything right down to the final airport drop off so that our vacation was stress free and enjoyable. I have to make a special mention of Bedan our guide. While Nancy saw to all the details it was Bedan who made the safari absolutely memorable. He was so friendly and so knowledgeable and went out of his way to make sure we had the best safari experience we could have hoped for. He would talk to other guides, get tips from them as to where the best animal sightings were and would joke about his “secret” which would be yet another marvellous animal sighting. He would drive around in all directions so we had the best vantage point to view and take photographs of the animals. My family and I don’t have enough words to say how incredible both Bedan and Nancy were.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Best of my 8 trips to Africa
I talked to Sam by WhatsApp and planned a 7 day tented safari tailored to my family of 5. The accommodations 9x12 main tent with a real bed and sheets, 9x6 covered porch and 9x6 private bush bathroom and service were of luxury quality at a budget price. Sam owns this small company so all of your money goes to your experience, not to a distant owner or travel agency. 6 staff took care of our every need and treated us like family. 3 meals and 2 tea breaks a day were delicious. Did our laundry and changed linens daily.
Most importantly Sam is the guide that all the other guides go to for advice. We were usually the first at important sightings. Sam went to where the animals were going to be, so we saw herds of wildebeest and prides of lions approach the water hole. We often stopped in the middle of a herd or pride to observe exciting behavior: courting, mating, nursing, young playing, fighting for dominance, stealing kill. As one of many examples, we heard lions in the night. In the morning Sam said that the lions had killed an elephant, pointed in the direction and said it was 5km. away. we drove their found the tracks and watched the Marsh Pride of 20 lions: adults feeding or resting, cubs playing, attempting to eat and nursing.
You are in the wild. The difficulty of dirt roads seldom getting out of second gear was offset by elephants and giraffes browsing in the trees 20 ft from our tents
VN
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An amazing tour
We went on our first safari tour in Pilanesberg Safari. The game drives were fantastic, with an excellent guide and safe driving. The staff went above and beyond to ensure we enjoyed our experience.
CN
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
reliable agency+experienced guide
Antonio safari is very reliable,we can fully trust them with their fair priced quote and excellent planned itinerary.our guide Anthony has more than 10 years of industrial experience,he simply can solve every problem and answer any question we had during the trip.i think any Chinese considerates safari in kennya could book with them DIRECTLY for a much better experience.
NZ
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Flexible and Affordable with Great Response Times
I think this tour was great value for money. Joseph was always friendly and prompt in his replies, checking in to make sure we were okay. James was a reliable and knowledgeable guide, and we always felt safe in Kenya. In Tanzania, we were with Abuus Tours, and both Abuus and our safari guide Suma were communicative and friendly. Suma was very knowledgeable and he and chef Asumani made us feel very welcome.
There was one night where the accommodation we stayed in was different than what we’d been shown in the proposal. This was communicated not long before the night we stayed there. But it ended up not being a big deal really. Both places were fine.
The flip side of this being the flexible, budget option (as you’ll read in other reviews) is that plans are a bit subject to change sometimes and you’ll be tossed around with people who have booked from other avenues for different journeys than you. But ultimately, they’re very good at making sure everyone gets to see the places they wanted to see in an efficient way.
