US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great animals everything else is ehh
Uganda is a large poor country, The national parts have lots and lots of animals. Customer service, food, hotels, roads, are all poor. Ugandan people are very friendly.
CH
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Shiwa Ng'andu Estate by Achim
A wonderful place for a one-day-visit.
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
No go Operator!!
I got offer from this company by email. On arrival in Kampala they changed the itininerary at once and gave me lower value als before. The guide Erick was lazy, almost driving to fast and not safe, coming late for departure, not want to stand up early in morning. I missing completly the knowlodge about how to make a tour with foreign guests.
May be other guides are better, but please never go with Erick!
FR
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Disappointed.
We chose Kazinga for their flexibility, good reviews and prices. With another couple of friends we spent 9 days of game drives in three parks of Tanzania.
When we saw the 4X4 car picked us up from the airport in Dar, we already said it started badly. It was an old 4X4, 18 years old, in poor condition, with smooth tires! Of course we had a puncture. In addition to the nine days, he broke down twice and stopped two days.
The organization safari was bad, with trip totally undervalued times (4 hour trip turned into an exhausting 11-hour trip!)
The guides were friendly and reservations had been made and paid.
Finally, we cut and preferred to fly at our expense, to go from Ruaha park to our hotel on the Indian Ocean.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amzing wildlife
I enjoyed my trip, but there are few things I must say.
Safaris are overbooked. We had 10 people in the van ( including driver). For people sitting in the back or front sit (next to the driver) it was difficult to enjoy the experience. It was too crowded, sometimes I couldn't even turn or stand up for the view. Missed quite a lot because of that. Bare in mind people in the van won't just let you see.They want to enjoy as well and they won't just sit and say 'your turn now'. Vans should be bigger or less crowded.
People here will give you a price after looking at you and judging how much money you have. Prices are visible only in supermarkets.
Be careful what you buy. Souvenirs often contain bone, skin or plant fragments that are illegal to bring back home.
If you decide to stay in Nairoibi, avoid city centre. It's overcrowded, easy to get mugged. I alsao have beed sexually harrased and called names for no reason. Racist.
Rubbish everywhere. It was heartbreaking to see so much plastic and other stuff along the road. Very bad for environment.
Avoid raw fruits and vegetables, eat only what's been cooked. You never know what kind of water they used to wash.
Food was often cold. We stopped for lunches on our way from one park to another and never had a hot meal. Easy to get food poisoning.
Be prepared to spend a lot of money for tipping people. Every little thing they do for you they will expect you to tip them, some will even tell you how much.
On the good side wildlife is amazing.
You see the same animal many times and still don't have enough.
Most of the parks are really big. You just keep driving.
I liked the fact that they are kept as natural as possible (no modern roads, few stops with actual toilets etc.) Gives you real wild experience.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
ATC 57 Day African Adventure
We have just finished ATC 57 Day Cape Town to Nairobi overland trip, and though the staff on the ground for the most part were very good, the actual organisation of the trip certainly does not provide the best value or experience on the market. Parts of the trip were disorganised, very expensive comparative with other companies, meals paid for were not made available, suppliers used by ATC were slipshod in their attention to detail and expensive.
Booking through On The Go Tours we were informed that there was no way that optional excursions could be paid for in advance, we were therefore surprised and annoyed to find that other travellers on our trip using a Dutch Agent had all major excursions included in the price.
Itineraries supplied by different agents for the tour were slightly different and this caused confusion with at least one out of the three trip leaders we had, and meant last minute changes in plan.
Changes in tour leaders, cooks and driver also meant meals paid for were not provided, and we actually had to pay for a meal at the ATC Nairobi campsite that was included in our package. The new tour leader indicated he would investigate this with the office but no further comment was provided by the tour leader or ATC.
Campsites had been changed comparative to the itinerary supplied and due to not camping inside national park game viewing opportunities were lost. If using ATC ensure that any changes in itinerary do not affect the paid for activities.
Equipment used especially on the first two parts of the trip were "well used" to say the least, and in my opinion the cooks knives on the final part were dangerous to use and unhygienic with handles falling apart.
Optional tours with third party supplies were found to be 25% more expensive than other operators offering better value both at Victoria Falls and Swakopmund, which given the amount of business generated by the overland tours was disappointing to learn. If you use ATC I would strongly urge you to shop around at both these places.
Tour teeshirts out of the four ordered from ATC recommended supplies two in Kampala and two in Vic falls, none were provided as agreed with the suppliers representative, which was very disappointing.
We did go to all the places within the itinerary, and much of the trip was enjoyable, however, if we were to repeat this trip we would use alternative companies which offer similar itineraries. Do not be fooled by the cheap upfront price, by the time all optional extras are included it is certainly no cheaper than going with others who include these in the upfront price.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Did not fullfill our expectations and what we have booked
We were 2 persons and booked 3 days hiking Mt. Meru and 4 days safari for approx. USD 1500 each person.
Every day we had discussions with the guides or persons who conducted the tours. They wanted too high tips for average or under average services. We had acrid discussions about the tips.
In our mentally and physically worst moment on Mt. Meru on the summit day when we slept only 3 hours, climbed 1300 vertical meters up to 4500m and 1300 down, had still another 2000 vertical meters down towards us and BEFORE we got a meal, they asked us how about the tipping and if we already know their tipping guidelines and if we now could give the tips.
On safari, we booked 2 days Serengeti, 1 day Ngorongoro and 1 Tarangire National Park. The truth is, you only get half of these days because the rest of these days is travel time to the next destination or camping site. Our guide did not explain anything. Just nothing. He just drove the car and did no else "guiding service". But afterwards, he expected a high tip.
Transkibo has subcontracted the whole safari tour, meaning personnel of a different safari company or freelancer conduct the safari guides. But these persons don't have a strong connection to the company we have booked (transkibo) which is why they do not care about providing good services.
The truth is Tanzania is not a backpacking country. The country is spoiled of rich tourists who spent a lot of money to get carried on Kilimandjaro with chairs and portable toilets.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
not well-organized and put me into cheaper hotel than what was quoted in the itinerary
I did a two-week Kenya and Tanzania safari with Kairi Tours in late Sept 2014. (My agent tour is Java Africa Safaris Ltd, but then I found out everything was arranged through Kairi Tours & Safaris Ltd. ) There were some dramas that never happened during my other international trips. When my flight arrived in Samburu, there was no driver to pick me up. The Safari Link pilot had to stay with me for more than one hour in a hot stuffy plane in a dry and windy desert-like wilderness. He was so kind not to leave me along since there were animals all around the air strip. The driver finally turned up after the pilot had to fly away and leave me with a local gun-carrying soldier. It was such a horrible wait under the sun, sweating with dust on my face. Then when I arrived in Tanzania, their tour agent in Tanzania put me into a much cheaper and much lower quality camp site instead of the lodge I booked in my itinerary. They also tried to change my activities to suit their profit without following the itinerary. So basically, every morning before the car started, there would be an argument after I was suddenly notified that I couldn't go to the place as listed in the itinerary. This experience totally spoiled my fun for my Africa safari tour. I have been asking them to provide refund for cost difference between the quoted lodge and the cheap camp site lodge. But they have kept ignoring my request. I would say if anyone making a good comment on this tour company, it would be their pure luck.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Masaai Mara Safari
Let’s start with the Mara Lodge 5***** lodge service and 3*** food
The pickup was seamless
The drive took 8.5 hours as we got stuck in Mud after entering very rough Terrain in the Mara and it’s a single lane hi way with numerous stops for random construction
Every tour driver stops to help the stranded driver
Nice when we got stuck but after three others got stuck it wasted 2-3 hours of day1
Unfortunately the roads were so bad that in no time my back was out of sync
The rest of the two days was at the wonderful lodge getting pampered by the staff as the only guest on the premises.
The ride back was equally long but after complaining a lot I was given the front seat
Also asked for a refund for the 2 Nd day entry which was given unwillingly
Take the LandRover or Jeeps DO NOT take the MINI VANS
They are uncomfortable unreliable and the drivers are a clique
Ensure you enter the park all 3 days as the charge is for 24 hr entry from first entry
This tour Co only entered the park in the first 24 hours and pocketed $80 USD for 7 passengers
Would not use them again