50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Terrible experience & customer service
I recently embarked on what was supposed to be an unforgettable adventure with Expeditions Adventures and Safaris, but unfortunately, it turned out to be a complete disaster. From start to finish, my experience with this company was riddled with numerous issues and disappointments that left me frustrated and regretful.
First and foremost, the communication with Expeditions Adventures and Safaris was abysmal. Prior to the trip, I had several inquiries and concerns that I needed clarification on, but their customer service was unresponsive and lacked any sense of urgency. It took weeks and multiple attempts for them to finally address my questions, leaving me feeling neglected and uncertain about the trip.
Upon arriving at my destination, the problems only escalated. The accommodations that were promised during the booking process were far from what was delivered. The room was dirty, with stained bedding and a strong odor that made it unbearable to spend any time in. The bathroom was in a deplorable state, with broken fixtures and a lack of essential toiletries. It was evident that the property had not been properly maintained, and it was a far cry from the advertised luxurious experience.
The tour guides provided by Expeditions Adventures and Safaris were equally disappointing. They seemed disinterested and lacked knowledge about the destinations we visited. Their lack of professionalism was evident in their disorganized approach and inability to provide insightful information. I had hoped to learn and experience the local culture, but instead, I was met with apathy and a mere surface-level tour.
To add insult to injury, the transportation arrangements were a complete nightmare. The vehicles provided were outdated, uncomfortable, and in dire need of maintenance. On multiple occasions, the vehicles broke down, leaving us stranded in remote locations for hours. This not only wasted precious time but also put our safety at risk. The negligence shown by the company in maintaining their vehicles was truly alarming.
Lastly, a lack of empathy and accountability was evident in the owner response. Rather than taking responsibility for the shortcomings of his company, he seemed more interested in deflecting blame or downplaying the severity of the problems we encountered. This lack of ownership and willingness to rectify the situation demonstrated a profound disregard for customer well-being. I have to say the he seemed drunk.
In conclusion, my experience with Expeditions Adventures and Safaris was nothing short of a nightmare. The lack of communication, subpar accommodations, unprofessional guides, unreliable transportation, and poorly executed itinerary all contributed to a deeply disappointing and frustrating journey. I would strongly advise against booking any trips with this company, as they failed to deliver on their promises and left me with a lasting negative impression.
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Never again...
Very bad service, long response times (if any) and non-supportive team. Almost a month since my last message and still no answer...
We asked to change our tour guide, since we didn't get along too well because he was just driving up and down the main road in Kruger National Park all the time. We asked him many time to go somewhere else, even saying which roads to drive, and he did want he wanted... We tracked the route with the app Komoot to verify our assumptions, and we were always driving the same main roads. We have seen twice as many animals when we drove through the Park ourselves with our Rental Car, leaving the main Road - without official tour guides.
Brendon & Rene (the owners, I think) were kind while booking, but once it was booked, they were really unfriendly, disrespectful and inflexible.
I would never recommend someone to book with them.
FR
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Run away Tanganyika
The two of us went privately to Tanzania for a 7-day safari with Tanganyika which had been chosen by our travel agency in France Marco Vasco. We complained about having a vehicle over 20 years old with windows and doors that no longer opened, a guide constantly preoccupied with his phone, and Tanganyika explained that the vehicle was perfect for a safari and to explain the malfunction of the vehicle, it was our fault who had broken the mechanism, and disputed our statements. What we noticed, however, was that our vehicle was the oldest of all the other vehicles we encountered on safari. In short, don't believe this safari organizer when he tells you that the vehicles are recent and perfectly in working order, this is not the case, and the chosen guides are more concerned with their phones than explaining wildlife to you.
(automatic translation from French)
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Bad experience
Still waiting for a $ 1250 refund since 2020
At each reminder, we always receive a response that the balance will be refunded quickly. To date, we have not received the amount due to us.
FR
RUN AWAY
Absolutely avoid!!!!
This company is not reliable!! due to illness I had to cancel 1 month before. According to the cancellation conditions provided, they should have refunded me a part and yet they kept my $4000!!!!!!
BE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Warning! Seems like a scam under a new name Xplore2Africa
I traveled with Xplore2Africa (previously Sunsets in Africa) in August 2023. The tour was a terrible experience. No accomodation corresponded to the itinerary I paid for. I was constantly downgraded to the hotels of far lower quality and far lower price. My driver was not booked for the first day. The same applies to safaris. They were booked in the last minute resulting in stress and total chaos when we arrived in Etosha. MY NAMIBIAN GUIDE, subcontacted by Xplore2Africa, HAS TILL NOW NOT BEEN PAID for his work. Whenever I complained about something, the reaction of the agency was very agressive, or there was no reaction, or they gave like totally absurd excuses to justify the lower price of the accomodation (e.g. the lawn, called by them 'a garden', at the B&B at the outskirts of Swakopmund was supposed to offer me better comfort than a prestigious hotel in the city centre. After I complained to the TourRadar through which I found the tour, I got a small compensation, but the feeling of being scammed and cheated cannot be justified in any way. Moreover, the breach of labour law (no payment to my guide) should be legally sanctionned, and I am planning further legal action on that matter. For your own safety and calm, dont book your holidays with this operator.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
We think this is either a scam or they have gone bust - do not book
Supposed to have a Safari in December but after paying the second half of the invoice we have heard nothing. Cannot get in touch. Communication was initially great and now they have fallen off the face of the earth. A lot of money wasted
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very disappointed with our tour guide
This was our family's first time to an African country and we were so looking forward to our safari with Kiboko Tours and Travels. Sadly, we were very disappointed. Due to budget constraints, we did choose the budget option for our safari and for that reason we were not disappointed with the vehicle or the lodges. Both seemed like they had seen better days, but when you go budget, we know you don't get top of the line transportation or accommodation. However, what we were really disappointed with was our guide. I don't like to be critical of other people and know that it can be difficult being a tour guide, but during and after our safari, we wondered why our guide had chosen to be a tour guide and why you, as a safari company, had hired him for the position. He didn't seem to want to be a safari guide, as he spent more time on his phone (especially on the first day) than sharing with us his knowledge about the parks we’re in, animals we’re seeing and general information about what to expect on each tour. We learned more from the signs at the park and our own background research than we did from our guide. Our guide did not engage with us, ask us about ourselves and what we’d like to get out of our first experience here in your beautiful country. I would think it good practice for tour guides to let their guests to know what to expect each day, and ask them what they’d like to see (keeping in mind, of course, that nothing is guaranteed with a safari). I would expect a tour guide to think of themselves as an ambassador for their country, wanting to share with their guests their enthusiasm and knowledge about their country and what they are able to show their guests. Our guide was not like this at all. In fact, when we asked him questions about the parks we were visiting and wildlife we were seeing he often misinformed us as we found out later through our own online research. I would ask that Kiboko Tours and Travel either provide their guides with training or only hire guides that have been trained and qualified as tour guides. For this reason, I would not recommend this company for your safari.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The name says it all: RUN RUN (Mbio Mbio)
I'm pretty sure that the good reviews here are from David himself. We had a bad experience with our safari tour. It would be too much text to list everything but now the worst: When we wanted to leave the Serengeti National Park, we waited longer than the other groups until our guide came to us and asked if we could pay the fee, because there is a system error and David's payment is therefore not registered there. We were skeptical because we had already paid everything in advance and the other groups had no problems. After asking several times, it turned out that David had kept the fee for himself and never intended to pay it. In a phone call, he simply said: "Either you pay the fee or you're out of luck and have to spend the night there without accommodation". After hours of waiting and many phone calls back and forth, we finally made it out. We had to drive through the park in the dark, our car broke down (we also had to pay for the repairs ourselves, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to get out of there) and so we only arrived back in Arusha late at night. During a phone call with David, we mentioned that we would give him a bad review because of all the things that had happened. He didn't wanted this under any circumstances and offered to pay for an overnight stay in the hotel. We emphasized several times that we didn't need an overnight stay because we already booked one. We also told our safari guide that we wanted to go to our hotel. When we arrived in Arusha, we were driven to a creepy backyard and it turned out that we were driven against our will to the "hotel" that David had booked. We were three young women and were now quite scared and had to exert real pressure to get out of there. After we asked our guide why he had taken us there against our will, he said that he had been instructed to do so by David, even if we didn't want it. After we confronted David on the phone, he offered us a refund. We will probably never see the money. I can imagine that David will try to deceive people again in the future under a different name. I can only recommend booking Safari Tours, which has been around for several years and has many reviews.
NL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A Ruined Honeymoon Safari: Expectation vs. Reality
I hesitated before writing this review, not because I doubted the validity of my complaints, but because I was so angered and disappointed right after our trip that I feared my emotions might cloud my judgment. Now, with some time passed and my sentiments cooled, I believe it's crucial to share our experience honestly and openly. When posting this, my anger and frustration is again boiling up....something I have never had before.
Our honeymoon was meant to be memorable, and indeed it will be, but for all the wrong reasons. We booked a three-day, two-night safari full of promise and excitement. The itinerary was detailed, and the experiences it described were dreamlike. However, our dreams were quickly dashed upon arrival. The first day, a highlight and crucial part of our adventure, was completely lost. What should have been our introduction to the wonders of the safari—a game drive, followed by a magical lunch on the steppe—was nothing more than a simple transit from the airstrip to our camp for lunch. The game drives? Nonexistent. The lunch on the steppe? Replaced by a mundane meal inside the restaurant at the camp, whereby we also got the question what we wanted to do. One of the main reasons for booking Honcho was the detailed itinerary, so it was super frustrating that all of a sudden we had to figure out what the plan should be. We pointed to the itinerary, but since we had already deviated so much, it could not be resolved anymore on the first day, which completely ruined that day... We paid $6000 for a 3 day trip, so losing one day, is just unacceptable.
The frustration was further fed when we had our first of many encounters over an issue as trivial as drink charges. Despite being assured that all beverages were included—indeed, this was confirmed several times in our itinerary— we got the message during our lunch inside the restaurant that they weren't included. Only after a heated discussion on the phone, thereby pointing to the itinerary which stated multiple times that drinks were included, they agreed to this.
Though our second day did include a lunch on the steppe, it was overshadowed by the previous day's disappointment and a continued discussions about drink charges... We had to advocate for ourselves repeatedly, an unnecessary stressor during what was supposed to be a relaxing retreat into nature.
Our final day brought the culmination of our grievances. After days of back-and-forth, the unresolved issues with the drink charges peaked again during our last game drive. Rather than savoring our final moments with the rhino's, we were again embroiled in a heated debate over the phone. Honcho had called our driver, asked him to put them through and they again started debating the drink charges... Honcho's representative not only failed to offer any apologies but also managed to ruin our last hours on safari by insisting we deal with a matter that we had been told was already settled.
But if you think the discussion ended there.... No it didn't. Upon arrival back at the airstrip for our hotel (Diani Beach), we were supposed to be picked up by a taxi, but there was no driver. Honcho had given the wrong information to the taxi, so we first ended up waiting before taking our own taxi. After finding out, Honcho instructed the taxi driver who would pick us up to go to our resort and offer apologies, which he did. But, he also gave me the phone and then somebody from Honcho started talking. He did make an apology for the taxi, but of course I was expecting an apology for all other things that had went wrong. Instead he again began a discussion about the drinks!!! So, then I hang up, again feeling frustrated and angry.
The troubles didn't end with poor communication or administrative errors; there was also a distinct lack of the small touches that were supposed to make our honeymoon special. The promised chocolates and tropical fruits? Never seen. And let's not forget the advice of our guide, in hindsight, about booking a camp inside the reserve for a more immersive experience—advice that came too late and only highlighted what we had missed out on due to a lack of transparency and proper guidance from Honcho. Our camp was situated about an hour and a half drive away from the park, thereby wasting precious time we could have spent inside the park enjoying wildlife.
In closing, not once were we offered a sincere apology, nor was there any attempt at a gesture to make amends for the multiple failings. Instead, we were met with deflection, blame-shifting, and an utter lack of accountability. This was not the dream honeymoon safari we had envisioned and paid handsomely for. It was a lesson in how a lack of customer care and service can turn a dream trip into a series of frustrating events that we are now eager to forget.
I share this not out of a lingering anger, but in the hopes that our story can serve as a cautionary tale for others seeking to embark on a safari adventure. The wild is unpredictable, yes, but the service around it shouldn't be.