Safari Reviews

Sort By: Date Most Helpful Rating 116,151-116,160 of 117,268 Reviews
John   –  
United Kingdom UK
Visited: August 2023 Reviewed: Aug 17, 2023

50-65 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

They reduced program without warning
1/5

After we paid them, they told us they would not do the game drive in the morning of the last day, because 2 months ago the government increased the price of the park entrances. It feels like a scam.

stayawayfromthisoperator   –  
Singapore SG
Visited: July 2023 Reviewed: Aug 16, 2023

20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

the worst operator ever, irresponsible and never solve the issues, only want to earn Chinese money
1/5

After a 30-hour flight, we discovered that our hotel rooms were not booked. I want to make it clear from the start that I don't want private messages asking for post deletion, nor do I need money to delete posts. I'm not lacking money.

We've just finished a 2-week trip to East Africa, where the natural beauty and adorable animals were stunning. However, the local tour agency, Africa Joy Tours, was a disappointment, greatly diminishing our experience.

In February of this year, our group of 8 people booked a customized 10-day trip to Kenya and Tanzania through Africa Joy Tours, starting in mid-July. We finalized the itinerary and paid the deposit in March. Subsequently, the agency's responses became increasingly slow, but due to numerous positive reviews on platforms like Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book), we attributed it to the laid-back African style and didn't raise concerns.

The first issue arose when, just before departure, we were informed that three of the hotels we were supposed to stay at had no available rooms (we needed 4 rooms for 8 people). Despite having paid the deposit in March, the hotels were not confirmed before our departure. Moreover, some of the replacement hotels were virtually unknown, and we couldn't find much information about them on various platforms, leading to concerns about our accommodation experience.

The second issue was with the unreliable drivers. Our first interaction with the tour agency was when we were picked up from Nairobi to head to Masai Mara. As per our agreement, the driver was supposed to pick us up at 6 am. However, one driver arrived an hour late, and we had to wait in the cold hotel lobby for him. During the journey, this driver stopped for coffee, making us wait for more than 30 minutes while he indulged himself. He also had a heated phone argument with the tour agency's owner while on the road. The journey that was supposed to take 5 hours ended up taking 8 hours. Both drivers seemed completely lost throughout the trip, not knowing where to go or what to do, relying on us to recognize our own group members. They repeatedly asked us what our next steps were, which was frustrating since we expected them to lead as paid guides. They even had us get off the vehicle to arrange our own lunch instead of taking us to the contracted hotel as planned.

The third and most significant issue: after an 8-hour journey, we arrived at our Masai Mara hotel at around 2 pm, only to find out that our rooms were not available. We were tired, hungry, and frustrated. We contacted the tour agency repeatedly, but they were slow to respond and kept telling us to wait while they were supposedly confirming. Eventually, they informed us that they had booked the rooms for the same dates in August, effectively leaving us without accommodation for that day and the next. We were left in disbelief and shock. We couldn't even have lunch at the hotel because we didn't have a confirmation. After a lengthy ordeal, three of us shared a room that night, and the agency arranged alternative accommodation for the next day. We kept requesting confirmation for the remaining hotels, but the agency was unresponsive and lacked an apologetic attitude. We managed to squeeze through the first night.

The fourth issue: the replacement hotel didn't have our reservation either. The next day, we were told that two rooms were arranged in a nearby hotel, which turned out to be over 30 kilometers away, taking over an hour to reach. After our game drive, we rushed to the new hotel, only to find out that our rooms were once again not booked. Despite our repeated requests for hotel confirmation documents, the agency never provided them. Two consecutive days of such problems left us infuriated, prompting us to threaten with negative reviews online. Suddenly, the agency's representative, Thompson, became more attentive, and communication improved, with promises of actively resolving the issues. After much back and forth, we learned that the hotels were not booked under the agency's name (which they failed to communicate), making it difficult for us to verify our reservations. After prolonged discussions, they finally managed to sort out our check-in. The agency finally apologized and mentioned considering a refund for the first day's accommodation that we couldn't use. I firmly insisted that they must refund rather than just considering it. We agreed to meet in person in Arusha to discuss further.

The fifth issue: pushing for a refund for the unused hotel room and an additional $100 as compensation. In total, the refund amounted to $480 for our group of 8 people, translating to $60 per person (out of a total tour cost of $3400 per person). As agreed, the refund was supposed to be provided in cash on a specific day. However, Thompson, the agency's representative, disappeared and didn't show up. We repeatedly tried to contact him, but he never responded. We then had to contact Clinton, the agency's owner. He claimed they didn't have enough cash for the refund and hadn't prepared it yet. This was unacceptable since they had promised to provide the refund on that particular day. Their attitude towards resolving the issue was disheartening. We had to press Clinton to come and provide a partial refund in the evening, and he promised to complete the rest the next day. He was supposed to arrive at 10 am the next day but ended up arriving close to 12 pm. With this, our ordeal with Africa Joy Tours finally concluded. As an additional note, the agency initially claimed that lunch on the final day was included, but the hotel demanded $25 per person. We had to contact Clinton again to resolve this issue before we could have the lunch that should have been provided for free.

All the above incidents are documented through chat records. This is not an attempt to defame the tour agency. One peculiar aspect of Africa Joy Tours is their eagerness to attract Chinese tourists and promote their services, even repeatedly asking us to help them with promotion. Are we being treated as naive tourists, especially considering the experience we had? Not to mention the instances of sexual harassment by a driver in Tanzania who consistently made inappropriate comments and even shared his home address with female members of our group.

If the agency wishes to profit from Chinese tourists, they must enhance their services and improve their attitude. East Africa is stunning, but the tour agency's poor service greatly detracted from our experience. We spent days on end dealing with communication issues and disappointment, resulting in frustration and discontent.

Mieke   –  
South Africa ZA
Visited: July 2023 Reviewed: Aug 13, 2023

35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

Either a scam or terrible customer service
1/5

Watch out! I had been discussing our boat safari via email with Xaa Safaris since January of 2023 just to arrive in Maun in July of 2023 to find that my deposit had been stolen and no boat was waiting for us. I accepted a quote, completed the paperwork, signed and sent it through as requested, then on the same email string, banking details were provided for me to pay the deposit. Upon phoning them a day prior to the excursion, they said no payment had been received, and this is when it came to light that right after I emailed the signed contract, the correspondence address changed from [email protected] to [email protected]. In the same string replying, this was not noticeable, so the money was paid via EFT and the receiving account was emptied - nothing I can do to have the funds returned. I have no proof that Xaa Safari is the culprit. However, considering the timing at which the fake email address became active and the fact that they never tried to follow up on our booking, despite having (via the legitimate email address) received a signed contract with all our personal details, this is either extremely poor customer service, or more likely an inside job.

Hrishikesh   –  
United Arab Emirates AE
Visited: June 2023 Reviewed: Aug 13, 2023

35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

Disappointing services … we feel that we have been cheated !!!
1/5

We had reached out to the Company Morning Star Safaris Founder and Chairman Mr Nicholas and Operations Head Mr Robert, but they did not at all care about our concerns. I kept sending them reminder emails and even asked for a video call but they did not have the courtesy to do so. After repeated reminders, when they chose not to respond to us, I told them clearly that now I will find ways through my ownself and expose them in public through this feedback. I was keeping it very very professional and expected the Company Founder to take a stance and come in front, however, it’s very disappointing that the danger that his company had put my family in, did not matter to him at all. I told him I will reach out to the highest authority in Kenya even if it’s the government itself and will fight till I get the Company Founder accept his mistakes and compensate me for the trouble he put my family through, especially my two daughters.

Please note that this experience was no where comfortable and most importantly very unsafe, despite of all rosy assurances from Mr Joseph. Even before starting the tour, almost a month prior to our travel, my husband made 40% payment to Morning Star as asked by Mr Joseph. Mr Joseph informed us a day after this 40% payment that Jambo Mara property is not honouring its commitment of the room it had agreed with Morning Star. My husband was forced to make an additional payment of USD 210 for a higher category room which was not required and was way above our budget. But we had no choice as Mr Joseph only sounded helpless.

Everyone makes mistakes and if you accept mistakes and compensate for your wrong decisions and move on, it’s understandable and worth forgiveness but when you stay stubborn and keep making your point without even understanding the customer’s situation, it is alarming!!

I had emailed Morning Star Safaris on July 4th, 2023 marking Urgent Attention to: Mr Nicholas (Founder - CEO of Morning Star Safaris) and Mr Robert (Operations Manager)

We had a very terrible experience with the company Morning Star Safaris. We were being serviced by their representative Mr Joseph and as we had also mentioned to him in the initial days of our vacation reservation with him that we were extremely happy and impressed with the way he dealt with our bookings and also through his communication etiquettes.

However, if anything on my vacation happens that challenges the safety and peace of my family, I just don't buy the fact that Mr Joseph is good at sending itineraries or writing long and reassuring emails and messages, it just DOES NOT MATTER TO ME.

I must say that Morning Star Safaris may have invested in this company to make profits but it failed in grooming its people to be well behaved, courteous and mindful when interacting with its customers.

I do not accept the way the Company’s operations head camouflaged the whole scenario with his assessment of things.

Let me ask you first, if you are in my position and have your spouse and two kids off to a vacation, would you take nonsense from your travel partner or your chauffeur? Unfortunately, this is what Morning Star did to us. We left Dubai and arrived in Kenya with all hopes of having a lifetime experience with Morning Star. Mr Joseph kept us in the dark by not informing us that the Land Cruiser that he had assigned to us was not in a well-maintained condition. Can you imagine the Land Cruiser that gets assigned to you for game drives in the jungle at any odd times of the day / night getting stopped on its own in the middle of the road, with no hopes to start again !!! Only when someone pushes the cruiser from behind, it would then start. This was our Day 1 experience with your Land Cruiser that was being driven by Driver Joseph. Even the window panes were so loose and not kept well that it would be difficult to put them up and down.

Very sad to see the company say that they got us the best Land Cruiser and that they never got any complaints from that vehicle from their past customers.

I wouldn’t have known the true face of your driver or your staff on the very first day. Ofcourse I told Mr Joseph that the vehicle was not appropriate and that the driver was fine. How do you expect me to screen your driver’s intentions the very first day ??

On top of it, there were no binoculars in the Land Cruiser that was assured to us by Mr Joseph while fixing the itinerary.

I raised this with Driver Joseph the same day and he just said that his vehicle is just fine and maybe this was just a one off instance. I told him clearly that the vehicle should not stop again. I told him about the windows too, ofcourse, but he had no answer. All he said was that his clients had done them bad. On binoculars he said that the travel company never gave him one! Anyway, since it was our first day with Driver Joseph, we thought let's see what he has to offer in terms of the day. One thing I noticed him saying always is that other drivers know very little about the game drive routes through the jungle, so he needs to guide them and be with those vehicles. Ofcourse, we trusted what he said. First day went and we did miss our binoculars, so we told Driver Joseph to speak to the travel company and get one as that was assured to us already. He kept saying that the travel company should do the needful well in time and keep its promises so that the client does not have to suffer. He said he will try to arrange binoculars.

The same evening we called Mr Joseph and told him about the missing binoculars and even the car getting stopped in the middle of the road. As usual, he started with his over sweet sugar coated words and said that he will send his Operations Manager to handover the binoculars to us at sharp 10 am wherever we will be as he will be in touch with Driver Joseph. He also made a note that the car stopped and that he will speak with Driver Joseph. Thinking this may go against Driver Joseph, we told Mr Joseph that the only good thing that happened to us was that he had assigned Driver Joseph as he seems to be quite aware of the routes and can give us a good safari experience, but yes we told him that he must pay attention for the missing binoculars and the poor vehicle condition. He assured us he will look into this.

Day 2 and Driver Joseph again came with no binoculars, no news from Mr Joseph or his Operations Manager. The vehicle in the same condition, poor windows, poor hand brakes and no guarantee if it will stop again and not restart on its own. Moreover, we were supposed to have a packed lunch that we had already placed the order through Mr Joseph 2 weeks prior!! The Hotel Chef during breakfast time came to us asking what we would like to carry for packed lunch as he had no information about it. We were surprised as we expected packed lunch for 4 of us family members, they told us that no one from the travel company or the driver informed them so they did not prepare anything and worst of all the hotel was totally out of stock of any fruits even at 8 am. All the hotel chef could assure us was fried rice and vegetable sandwiches. We were still okay with his offer and agreed and thanked him. But when we opened the packed lunch in the jungle, all we found was white bread with pathetic cucumber and tomatoes and plain boiled white rice (see pics attached).

When we mentioned this to Driver Joseph, he started putting all the blame on Morning Star for not keeping its promises, he even said that he was not informed by Mr Joseph regarding the packed lunch else he would have coordinated with the hotel staff. He also said that he feels bad to see how travel agencies cheat on their clients. By now, we felt Driver Joseph is innocent and is trying his best to help us in every situation.

We went to the game drive but suddenly we felt odd as we noticed Driver Joseph was only following other vehicles, not trying to explore any known route by himself. In fact he said that other drivers are unaware of the routes so they have requested him to stick along with them. Anyway, we still felt he was being truthful. There came a time when we saw two vehicles stopping near a pack of 5 female lions. Driver Joseph followed the vehicles and took us to the spot. While we were glaring at the lion coming closer to us, suddenly our land cruiser stopped. I didn't realise anything till Driver Joseph muttered the word 'Shit'. He tried to restart and as always it would not turn on. I then realised our vehicle had now stopped and was not restarting.

Believe me, I froze for those few minutes. He kept trying to restart the vehicle but it would just not start. The driver of other vehicles kept looking at us, and in their own language they started to say something. None of the drivers could get down from the vehicles as the lions were right in front of us and very close. Driver Joseph realised I was in panic, and kept saying that it would restart in a minute. It never did. My husband kept telling me that I should not worry and Driver Joseph would surely have his own way of rescue etc. He kept supporting Driver Joseph as he felt it wasn't his mistake. But my point is, why did our vehicle stop and did not restart ? Why was it malfunctioning in the middle of the jungle, and this was not the first incident. I had already raised this vehicle condition issue with Driver Joseph and Mr Joseph, so definitely they were to be questioned. Those 10 mins, my entire life flashed in front of my eyes, I remembered my parents and I apologised to myself for putting my family, especially my kids in this terrible situation. Did they deserve this on a vacation ?????????????

Since no one could get out of the vehicle, one of the other vehicles pushed our vehicle and after a few tries, it restarted. I sighed and thanked God immensely. By now, I was absolutely speechless with not a word from me. When Driver Joseph turned the vehicle around, he started asking me for forgiveness and requested me to not complain to Morning Star or Mr Joseph about this incident as has a family to look after, he said the car's condition was not his fault, it is all the company's responsibility. I just kept quiet as I was recovering from the recent shock. Later I just told him to get his vehicle completely repaired no matter what, and he promised me that it would not stop again.

Our Land Cruiser was the only vehicle in the entire Kenya without any company branding!! Look at its covers, stepney covers. I have the pictures with me.

He again started following the other vehicles for further game drive. He then noticed a big deep puddle that had to be crossed as many cruisers were standing across the puddle to witness some more lions and leopards. But Driver Joseph said we should not take the risk with the vehicle and avoid that route. My younger daughter kept crying all through the way as she wanted to see those animals too along with other land cruisers. Of Course we said nothing, as we didnt want another trouble for us. The sun was almost setting down by now.

On his way back, he kept saying that it wasn't his fault, in fact he is taking us to all the routes which no one else knows, rather other drivers are following him. We kept quiet the entire way. He said the next day as per our itinerary, he will take us to Lake Nakuru National Park for sightings of Flamingos and Rhinos. We were excited about it and thought of forgetting the past and enjoying the rest of our game drives.

Day 3 he took us to Lake Nakuru and we had to just eat lunch and leave. We had informed the hotel 2 hours in advance and pre-ordered our lunch menu. But when we arrived, the food wasn't ready. We had to wait for more than an hour after having pre-ordered our food, informing our travel agent Mr Joseph and even Driver Joseph. We therefore wasted a lot of our time as food came very late and of course I wouldn't ask my kids to gulp everything quickly just because of the game drive.

After food, when we met Driver Joseph, we told him how mismanaged the hotel staff was and that the food wasn't ready when we checked in. At this Driver Joseph said that the lady at reception is very rude and people are complaining about her bad attitude so this has happened to us possibly because of that. We still trusted every word of Driver Joseph as we felt he was trying to be kind and supportive to us in every situation. He took us for a game drive, but he took a very short route where we could not spot any pink flamingos and not a single rhino to be seen. This time he was not following any vehicle and that possibly is the reason we could not spot anything and he finished the game drive in less than an hour!!! We saw the other vehicle taking a different route but our Driver Joseph started going back. We asked him what happened and he just said that it's already 545 pm and we need to exit as it's getting closed at 6 pm. We were very disappointed as we had not seen a single pink flamingo nor a single rhino, forget about lions and leopards. It was a very disappointing game drive as we just wasted our time watching plants and trees and monkeys and a few zebras. On our drive back to the hotel, he kept blaming Morning Star for misleading the clients with wrong game drives, he said the lake Nakuru National Park does not have any flamingos or rhinos. He said instead the travel agent should have booked us on a different game drive and not the Lake Nakuru National Park. He said he felt very bad to see the travel agents cheating on clients like this!! We came back to the hotel very early. Somehow we felt Driver Joseph was in a hurry that day, realising it only later that he had his home in Nakuru.

During dinner time, we happened to meet this other family at the hotel who went for the same game drive and they mentioned they saw plenty of pink flamingos and even the rhinos though they were sleeping at that time. By now I was furious. I immediately called up Driver Joseph and told him that the other driver took the other family deep inside to spot the flamingos as well as the rhinos. I asked him to speak to the other driver and call me back. He said he will check and call me. 30 mins passed and he never called me, I called Driver Joseph again, and he kept saying that he is trying to speak with Morning Star Mr Joseph but there is no response yet, he said he will try to call Mr Joseph again and call me back. I agreed and waited again. He still did not call me back for the next 30 mins. I was respecting the fact that Driver Joseph had asked us not to report anything about him to the travel agent as it might affect his job. But now I felt something fishy.

This time I called up Mr Joseph. I informed him about the disappointing game drive. He said he was surprised to know that we did not spot any flamingos and rhinos for which Lake Nakuru is known for. He said he will speak to Driver Joseph and call me back. After sometime Mr Joseph called me back and told me that he had spoken with Driver Joseph and asked him to take us to the game driver again early in the morning so we don't miss out on flamingos and rhinos. He asked us to be ready by 630 am the next day. I told Mr Joseph that breakfast will not be served that early, however, even if we start early we can be ready by 730 am. He agreed. I thanked Mr Joseph and also told him clearly that we don't want any more surprises now. Mr Joseph kept repeating his sugar coated words and statements - 'We are there to help you ma'am and we will make sure you have an unforgettable experience to cherish for our Kenya vacation.' He kept on requesting that we should be ready early in the morning next day so we don't miss out on the game drive.

I thought let's not look at the past now and instead focus on times ahead. We immediately informed the F&B staff that we will come for breakfast early and they can be ready. They took our pre-order. Next morning I woke up my kids at 445 am so they can freshen up and use the toilet before we ask them to have breakfast. Poor them, they listened to us and we were all ready to go for breakfast. We finished our breakfast quickly, and while we were winding up, my husband called Driver Joseph, and to our surprise he was sleeping!!! He said he had no idea about today's morning game drive. We were shocked to hear this. Now I called Mr Joseph and asked him what's the matter, he again confirmed that he had clearly instructed Driver Joseph last evening and he was supposed to report at 730 am or at best 8 am next day. I really did not understand who was lying between the two.

Mr Joseph said he will call Driver Joseph again and ask him to reach the hotel. Driver Joseph reached very late, 835 am!!! The first thing he uttered from his mouth - 'Not my fault, the company Morning Star never informed me earlier. They told me just now, today morning!!' I lost it by now, I was very angry with Mr Joseph because I thought he lied to us. We told Driver Joseph that how come the other driver could take the other family to spot flamingos and rhinos and we could not. He said he has spoken with the driver and will try today.

When we reached the Lake Nakuru National Park gate, Driver Joseph told us that entry needs payment again. I refused as this was not us but Morning Star who had misorganized everything and put us in this situation. Driver Joseph stopped the vehicle and said that Mr Joseph has told him clearly not to go as he was consu;ting with his management. He started to close down the roof and turn back the vehicle to which we objected. He did not listen and said he could not have entered as Mr Joseph was discussing with management. I now called Mr Joseph and asked him what's happening. I was not able to understand who is lying between the two of them as Mr Joseph said that he has asked Driver Joseph that he is paying at his end and to take us inside. I decided to put both of them on a conference call and asked Driver Joseph to converse in English so we could understand what they were speaking. I kept questioning Mr Joseph on a loudspeaker conference call that why did you not inform the driver about all this payment and today's game drive last night. Mr Joseph confirmed again that he did speak and inform Driver Joseph last night itself and he does not understand why Driver Joseph is refuting that. I now asked Driver Joseph to respond to this statement of Mr Joseph in English. Would you believe he NEVER SPOKE IN ENGLISH!! We understood it was Driver Joseph who had been lying to us since Day 1. He could not once see me straight to my eyes as he was lying. I kept asking Driver Joseph why he was cheating on us all this while. He had no answer at all. You know what he did with us in the middle of the road in the hot sun!!!! He came out of the vehicle and vanished. He pretended he was on call speaking with Mr Joseph but it was my husband Mr Hrishkesh Bawa who was speaking with Mr Joseph on the other line. The vehicle seemed to be even moving as the hand brakes were not perfect. We were now very worried and started to feel unsafe. We called Mr Joseph multiple times and told him to either tell him to enter the Lake Nakuru National Park or tell the Driver to take us to Lake Naivasha which was our next destination.

Driver Joseph by now was extremely adamant and just was ignoring us big time. He realised we had caught him red handed speaking lies and putting all blame to others. But the way he was behaving with us, leaving the vehicle and disappearing, not telling us way forward, not even bothering to switch on the vehicle AC, not caring at all about two little girls sitting under the hot sun, was making us feel unsafe. We were getting a feeling that this driver can go to any extent of speaking lies and just does not care about anything. He just said that Mr Joseph has not yet made any payment for Lake Nakuru again so he cannot proceed. We had no choice and were stuck in this situation for more than an hour!!!!! After countless back and forth with Mr Joseph, finally the payment was done by him and we entered the Lake Nakuru National Park but imagine the time by now. We had wasted almost 4 hours and don't forget my kids have been awake since 445 am !!!!! They were literally in tears and crying witnessing this whole event, they were not able to understand why this driver was behaving so badly and lying. They told me that they were getting scared of this driver. I told them not to worry and that if anything wrong happens, I will go straight to the police, so they then felt we were all safe and the driver cannot harm us.

Now driver Joseph was really misbehaving as he was not guiding us at all in the game drive route but intentionally was taking us through the same route as the previous day where we had spotted no animals at all. By now, my husband lost his cool and asked him firmly where he was taking us to. Driver Joseph was not even responding. I told him firmly to behave well with us as I was feeling unsafe with him especially with my two daughters. Then he just muttered - 'He is making too much noise and putting pressure on me.'. Now I realised that this driver is acting very oversmart. I was very loud and clear with him that he has been so painful with us and unreasonably difficult and speaking lies all the time that if he misbehaves again or blames anyone else, I will report to the police immediately and tell them how he has harassed us so far and continues to do so.

Driver Joseph realised that I have understood his strategy of fooling us around and can really take action and report to police. He immediately said sorry and then spoke to the other driver who told us to go to the route which my husband Mr Hrishikesh Bawa had already mentioned to him as we had noticed the other vehicle that side, the evening before, and so finally we could see plenty of flamingos. We also, on the way, spotted 3 Rhinos (though only for a few seconds as they were rushing inside the bushes). But this proved that he had NOT TAKEN US TO THE RIGHT ROUTE the previous day nor he was ready to take us till the time we literally urged him to. Imagine such a waste of time just because of poor coordination between Mr Joseph and Driver Joseph. All they both did was blame each other very conveniently, not realising the damage they were doing to the customer. I told Mr Joseph that I will not leave this matter and will definitely escalate the matter to the senior management of Morning Star. I told him he cannot take this entire experience as a joke as it was a matter of my family's safety and care.

Mr Joseph kept apologizing but not sure if he really understood the gravity of the situation. I also told him that the way these two people had dealt with us, made us believe they did not have kids themselves. He just kept using his sweet sugar coated words and this was only annoying me by now.

We left Lake Nakuru and then went to Naivaisha for our next sightseeing. We had a boat ride and a safari walk booked but when we went there, we were told at the counter that our safari walk was not paid by the travel agent. We immediately called up Mr Joseph asking him about the confusion and then he said he will sort it out. We were super frustrated by now but who cared ? Neither Mr Joseph nor Driver Joseph. After a back and forth of a few calls, we were told we will be taken for the safari walk.

But the point is why so much discomfort and dishonesty to the customer? Morning Star charges all money in advance to torture us later ?? I told Mr Joseph that I need to speak with the Founder and Managing Director of Morning Star so I can tell him what mental stress he gave to me and my family. I don't care what you did for us in the itinerary but the fact you gave us such a horrifying experience, I simply ask you to refund every single penny that you had charged me for this trip. I should rather ask you for more compensation for such a pathetic experience and suffering to my family.

And by the way, Mr Joseph had offered us company branded T-Shirts before our Masai Mara trip had to start, he took all the sizes assuring that he will handover the TShirts either before the start of the trip or after the trip gets over. But eventually he never even bothered to inform us or apologise for why he has not handed over the T-Shirts to us. He did not even talk about the T-Shirts after our trip.

So now I ask you Mr Nicholas and Mr Robert,- What would you have done if this had happened to your wife and kids ? Would you be okay? Would you live your life normal? Would you spare such scoundrels. I will go to every possible social media and share all my recorded phone conversations and chats with Morning Star and its associated staff. The least you could have done was to accept your mistake, take accountability and make a complete refund of my package amounting to USD 2348/-.

I marked an email to Mr Joseph as I had already informed him about this and I believe in being truthful and transparent in my interactions. He is also aware of the fact that none of the rooms that he had assured us during the bookings were made available to us, instead he charged us additional for one of the hotel rooms. I don't care what you organized for us on the trip and what all you funded because ultimately you put our lives in danger and utmost threatening situations which is absolutely UNACCEPTABLE AND HAS ZERO TOLERANCE

You owe me a response Mr Nicholas and Mr Robert and I look forward to your urgent attention to this matter and immediate action in the form of a complete refund to me. What you tell your representative Mr Joseph and the driver is not of my concern anymore. I need my refund of USD 2348/- , AND THAT IS IT!!!!!

Extremely disappointed and devastated,

Kshitiza Bawa
(Wife of Mr Hrishikesh Bawa)

Hulya   –  
United Arab Emirates AE
Visited: August 2023 Reviewed: Aug 13, 2023

35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

Tour operator was ok, guide was horrible.
1/5

First we would like thank you for always replying quickly and the driver always being on time.

Secondly I would like to tell you what happened on our first day:
- We landed on time and were stuck in traffic on the way to Lake Navaisha so we couldn’t do the tour on that day so it was postponed for the next morning.
- Because it we did the next morning we arrived late at our hotel in Masai Maraa which resulted in not doing any game drive on day 2, which we payed you for (80 dollars x 6)
We believe we have the right to get refunded for this. In the future you should not do a heavy planning like this for your guests as with the traffic and condition of the roads it’s not doable.

We also were extremely unhappy about our driver. The driver really breaks or makes your holiday as we spend so much time together. Ours was not providing us any basic information about our day or Kenya, got irritated by our questions, sensitive as not having a sense of humor, demotivated (example: he told us there was a rhino but it was very far meaning he didn’t want to bring us eventhough he knew how much we wanted to see a rhino).
In Masai Maraa he was doing the same routes for 3 days always bringing us at the same spots.
We were the only safari bus with broken binoculars. All other drivers has binoculars looking for the animals for their guests.
He was wearing the same clothes for 5 days so I can’t even begin to describe the smell we had to endure all these hours.
Our driver clearly shows he does not want to do his job and the we were not welcome.
He also got irritated when we were giving away our extra food to the children we would see because he said they would litter.
Eventhough we were extremely unhappy with him we still gave him a generous tip which he also showed us how unhappy he was with.
We had a fun holiday because we were a fun group not thanks to our driver or accommodation.
I really do not understand all the other 5 star’s reviews and really wished we had a 5 star experience as we paid a lot of money for this holiday.

The lunch box in the accommodation in Masai Maraa was every day the same! Very poor selection for breakfast too. There should be also be mosquitonets as the room is full with mosquitoes and other bugs. We were not so bothered by the accommodation as it’s fairly for the price we paid.

Suman   –  
United States US
Visited: July 2023 Reviewed: Aug 12, 2023

65+ years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

Our Safari experience was a mixed bag..
1/5

we recently returned from a 14 day Kenya and Tanzania trip with this operator.
Overall our safari experience was overshadowed by the multiple negative experiences our group faced due to poor planning by the tour operator.

It started day one in Nairobi..with confusion regarding number of rooms, and number of days they were booked for..confusion regarding number
veg Vs non veg eaters...etc

there were booking confusions practically at every location...every evening after we had reached our destination, we were to deal with a new problem ..change of itinerary / cancellation for the next day...

Hot air balloon ride over Masai Mara was promised...which got cancelled the previous night, and we were told we would enjoy that at at the end of the trip at Amboseli park...Once at Amboselli, we were told only 28 folks out of 30 can take the ride...which again was sprung as a surprise... at the last minute the balloon operator very casually and callously told us , decide which two of the group would miss the ride...

the tour coordinator travelling with us was not given proper information and authority to resolve the issues...

On the positive side...all the guides/ drivers provided were very good, with deep understanding of the park , animals and environment they were introducing to us...they made sure we got all the experiences of the safari..and were genuinely interested in our trip...

please be very careful if you are planning a trip with Seven By Far Safari...

Louise   –  
Ireland IE
Visited: August 2023 Reviewed: Aug 12, 2023

20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

Terrible company
1/5

I was unfortunately really disappointed with this tour company. They are almost con artists and extremely unprofessional.
I was doing this tour as a solo female traveller. I requested to be part of a group and waited until other people were booked before booking myself. I was told that there were other people booked in for the same dates and I could join that tour. When I was collected by the tour company, I was very casually told that everyone else had cancelled and I would be alone for the entire trip. This was never communicated to me before being collected in Entebbe. I specifically asked when booking to be a part of a group as I wanted to meet other people on my travels and wanted to have company for meals and long car journeys. Eddie’s attitude about this was very disrespectful and casual, as if it was not a big deal. It appears this company does not understand that a tour is supposed to be more than one person.
Day 1 of the itinerary was a 40 minute drive from Entebbe to Kampala. I was not offered a city tour. Day 1 started at 10am and was finished at 11am and I was in the room alone until day 2. As I was the only person on the tour, I couldn’t go for a walk with people or eat in company and meet new people as I had planned and had to stay in my room all day. When checking out of the accommodation on day 3, I had to very uncomfortably ask my guide to pay for my dinners numerous times as I was told these were included in the price. There was a breakdown in language here that meant I had to go back and forth with him to get him to pay. A very uncomfortable situation that could have easily been avoided if the tour company communicated with their staff better.
On Day 3, it was a total of 11.5 hours to get to the accommodation. We stopped for 15mins at the equator to take a picture and use the toilet. There was no informative talk as it said in my itinerary. My driver got lost twice and asked me to use my Google maps for him as he had no data? When I eventually arrived at the camp and began check in, my guide told me that a different camp had called to ask where we were. Then Eddie called to say we were at the wrong camp even though I had the name of the camp in my itinerary from Northern Fox. My accommodation had been changed without any notice and we then had to drive back the way we came from to get to the new accommodation. I was then texted by Eddie to say that I would only be staying for 1 night instead of 2 and I was being moved to a different accommodation again for the last night which was not the plan I was given. I was told the new camp would be “better” but I was the only person staying at the entire camp and again, did not get to meet any other travellers.
Day 4 was finished by 3pm and I was taken to my accommodation which looked nice and I was happy to hear there was a pool. The pool was absolutely filthy. I could not swim in it. Again, I was the only person from a tour staying at this accommodation so I ate alone again in an empty restaurant and did not get to meet anyone.
On Day 5, while travelling back towards Entebbe, my guide mentioned we were 2 hours from the Forest Cottages. I asked how far that was from Entebbe and he said “no we are going to Kampala”. I told him I needed to be dropped at a specific hotel in Entebbe, as I had an early morning flight, and I had already told Eddie this prior to booking the tour. I had also told my guide this the day that he collected me. Again, he just laughed casually and said “no problem”.
I am very disappointed with this tour and I am very confused why it cost $1540. I know the gorilla permit cost $740, but given the poor quality accommodation on day 1,2 and 3 I don’t know why this trip was so expensive. There were no bottles of water available for me in the car either, which I always had on my tour in Kenya so this was very annoying as it was supposed to be covered in the cost and I had to keep asking for it to be provided.
A warning to people considering booking this - this is NOT a 5 day itinerary. It is 2 days of activities and 3 days of travel.
I had good intentions to support a local company rather than an international travel company but I will not do it again. This company were very unprofessional and treated everything very casually when it was clearly causing me upset. If this were an international company I would be seeking a partial refund but given how carelessly Northern Fox treated my custom, I know they would not provide it. I understand there is a large cultural difference and that Ugandan people are very calm and take things very easy, but this approach does not meet international or European standards for service. You do not get what you pay for here. The issues I encountered while traveling alone were stressful and I would never book with them again. The two days of activities were fun, but this company ruined my trip.

Bettina   –  
Germany DE
Visited: March 2023 Reviewed: Aug 11, 2023

20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

This whole Company seems like one big scam
1/5

Dont book with SCB Tours and Travel!
My friend Andrea and I fell for them and feel that we got scammed!
We booked a trip with them for March 2023 to do a round trip in Uganda. We decided to book it because of the attractive pricing. We checked with them whats included and they told us, that everything is already included in the price (permits, car, tourguide, accomodation, food...), so we did the initial payment. Right after that the let us know that the offer was sent by a IT guy and he forgot to put tax in the offer, but as its their fault, we don't have to pay anything extra.
The tour started and it was good for the first few days. We even asked if we could extend the reip for 2 more days and paid 500€ extra in cash for that. But right before we should go to see the gorillas Solomon (owner of the company) told us, that our vegetarian diet exceeds the budget and he has no money left to pay during the trip if we go one like this. We were stupid enough (and maybe annoyed enough) that we made a deal with him: we agreed we would pay for the accomodation and he would manage the rest so we can go on with our trip as planned.
The next day we had a long drive and I remember waking up in the car because it stopped. The other guide (abraham) and the driver left the car and now it was only Solomon and us. We were standing at the roadside in the middle of no where and Solomon told us we need to pay 900€ extra to proceed the trip, otherwise he hasn't any money left. He put such high pressure on us that we considered paying for a second. After lots of tears the trip was being canceled. And they brought us back to Kampala (btw we even had to pay for the gas).
In Kampala we had a lot oft extra costs and we contacted Solomon to ask for a refund of at least the 500€ for the extension if the trip, that obviously did not take place. We are discussing this with him since March. We didn't want to give bad reviews immediately as we were still hoping for our money.
Solomon will answer to our comments and threathens us to contact our workplace to leave bad comments about us, he threatens that he will let my friend be arrested in Kenya and he tells lies about us being racists. He even tells people that we are lesbians which is concerning due to the fact that homosexuals can go to prison for that in Uganda or even get sentenced with death penalty. He not only seem to be a scammer but threatens us as persons and considering to harm us.

*Screenshots removed for privacy reasons.

Andrea   –  
Germany DE
Visited: March 2023 Reviewed: Aug 10, 2023

20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

CAUTION! My friend and I felt scammed by SCB Tours and Travel, lost Money & where forced to pay
1/5

CAUTION! We cannot recommend SCB Tours and Travel under any circumstances, as we believe that we have been severely scammed and coerced, leading to the cancellation of our safari. We are now left with over €800 in additional costs and were almost forced to pay another €900 on top. Allegedly, no one had ever encountered problems before, and we truly hope this is the case, because we wouldn't wish what happened to us on anyone. Here's our entire story.

First I would like to say, for the first days of the trip I would have given 5 stars because it was amazing – but what happened afterwards was one of the worst things that could happen.

Due to the attractive offer from SCB Tours and Travel, we decided to choose them, as the price seemed relatively affordable. We inquired multiple times to confirm that everything was truly included, and we were assured that chimpanzee and gorilla trekking, transportation, meals, non-alcoholic beverages, entrance fees, etc., were all completely included. After accepting the offer and making the initial payment, we were informed that taxes were not accounted for. Allegedly, the offer was created by an IT employee who wasn't authorized to do so. Despite the deposit being made, we were told that no further charges would be applied due to goodwill.

Just a few days into our trip, Solomon began blaming us for the high costs, asserting that we should have known that the taxes were not included. (We still wonder how we were supposed to know this, as when presented with an offer explicitly stating that everything is included for a specific price, we assume everything is indeed included. Unfortunately, our knowledge doesn't extend to Ugandan tax law.) We were also repeatedly blamed for the expenses of our vegetarian diet, and even when we ordered an additional pot of tea in a cold location, we were again reprimanded for how expensive everything was.

The situation escalated the day before our gorilla trekking, and we were essentially coerced into either paying for our accommodation here because the funds were depleted, or optionally, paying for entrance fees to the next parks since the money was simply not enough. Solomon cited reasons like accommodations demanding double the agreed amount, among others. However, this is also something beyond our control, and being in the off-season, we could have easily chosen alternative accommodations.

With the agreement that if we paid for our accommodation before the gorilla trekking, we could continue the trip without further discussions, we paid for the accommodation ourselves. However, in the preceding days, we had already paid for some of our meals (which were supposed to be included in the offer) out of pocket.

After the gorilla trekking, during our journey, we were suddenly stopped in a small town and more or less coerced into paying an additional $900, as we were told the trip couldn't be financed otherwise. Feeling uneasy about the situation and considering $900 to be a significant amount, we decided to terminate the trip. We also had to cover the fuel cost to return home, as we wouldn't have been able to make it back to Kampala otherwise and would have been stranded in the middle of nowhere.

The fact that we were stopped on the roadside and almost forced by Solomon to pay an additional $900 to continue the trip amounts to coercion and is illegal.

In Kampala itself, we incurred many extra costs as we had to independently cover accommodation, food, and drinks, which were supposed to be included.

Since April, we've made regular attempts to receive a response, all in vain.

Whenever we contacted Solomon recently, he shifted the blame and came up with various excuses. He has written that he will send us the $500, but we still haven't received a response regarding when this will happen.

Consequently, we cannot recommend SCB Tours and Travel under any circumstances and hope that no one else gets scammed like we did – this will forever be our impression of Uganda.

Screenshots are available in the images, unless they are deleted. Our trip started on March 6 and had to be prematurely terminated on March 18.

Since the end of the trip, we have made multiple attempts to get answers, at least regarding WHEN we will finally receive the money. We were only ever blamed for everything, Solomon even started playing mind games at times. Among other things, he told us that he hadn't even eaten because of us for a long time, and asked if we wanted him to kill himself because of us. In the end, he told us that he has a million-dollar business and he doesn't even care about SCB Tours and Travel because he doesn't need the money. Well, we are still stuck with our extra costs to this day, and most likely forever.

In conclusion, all things come back in life, or as Solomon said in his last message to us: "God (...) knows the truth and he will judge us all."

*Screenshots removed for privacy reasons.

Daniele   –  
Italy IT
Visited: July 2023 Reviewed: Aug 9, 2023

20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

Nightmare
1/5

Terrible experience. Totally disorganized. They don't even give you a receipt when you give them money, they didn't book the rooms they told you or the flights. Unreliable! They don't give you back a single euro of what they promised you. Rely on an agency that rather charges you more but doesn't screw you over because it ruins a beautiful experience.

Average User Rating

  • 4.8/5

Rating Breakdown

Write a User Review