50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Fraudsters
They defrauded my group that paid for a trip to St Andrews. Matter now a police case but they should neither be in the hospitality or golf industry. David Meiring and his partner are crooks be very careful dealing with them
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Scammer
I have had the same experience as so many others. Paid for a trip, tried to go on the trip and no response from Gemma and no trip. It was not a cheap trip so what happened to all the money she stole from so many people and is there some way to retrieve the money through the legal system? She didn’t even bother to contact us to tell us we could not go on the trip. Beware if you see her name linked to any tours or companies.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Hyrax Safari functions as a middle man in Tanzania
Hyrax is not a real tour operator for Tanzania.
Roselyne, who runs Hyrax, was recommended to me by a safari guide my friend used. I booked a 4 day safari and a Kilimanjaro trek with her.
She quoted me $1000 for a safari. I paid her a deposit of $300 and, upon arrival to Arusha, I paid another $700 in person to a tour operator of a different name (strange right?).
During my safari of the past 4 days, I learned that everyone else on the trip paid $650 to a different company (instead of the $1000 I paid to Hyrax). I pointed this out to Hyrax and explained that I wished to be paid the $350 I was up charged. Roselyne said that we should no longer conduct business if I feel I was cheated and cancelled my Kilimanjaro trek that was supposed to start tomorrow.
The Kilimanjaro trek was quoted at $1700 ($200 as a deposit and $1500 once I arrived here in Tanzania). She kept my $200 Kilimanjaro deposit and would have kept the $1500 I had en route (had I not deactivated my visa).
Moral of the story:
-Hyrax is not a real tour operator in Tanzania (they are in Nairobi I believe). They place you on trips with existing operators out of Arusha and then charge you hundreds of dollars more than local companies you could have just booked directly with.
-If you notify Hyrax of the upcharge and complain about them secretly acting as a middle man, then you could get the rest of your trip cancelled and your security deposit stolen like I did.
-Tanzania is a wonderful place to visit and my safari over the past 4 days was incredible; just book with a real company in the area for a cheaper rate.
Disclaimer: Roselyne did un-cancel my trip hours after doing so (and likely after realizing I cancelled that $1500 bank transfer she could have stolen). By that time I had already found another company to go with.
SI
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
We regret booking with this safari company
We are two backpackers who allways trying to see good things on our trips. We ordered safari trip (Tarangire, Ngorongoro) which included a flight from Znz to Arusha.
The only bright spot was unforgetable experience seeing those beautiful animals at the parks and our safari guide Molel because of his knowledge about wildlife.
The rest of the organization was a disaster. We were directed to the wrong flight at Znz airport. If we wouldn't figure it out last minutes before departure, the plane would leave without us. The guy working for company didn't even look at our tickets, he just send us to the wrong group. When we came to Arusha, nobody was there to pick us up. We spend 1 hour browsing on the web for their contacts with the local people. The whole thing looked like their company didn't even exist. That morning was extremely stressful for us. Thanks for the kind-hearted locals who helped us find a guide who was 1 hour late and airport employee who stopped the flight for us.
When we came to the safari we said: "Okay, let's forget about this, we solved this out." But at the end of the trip again there were problems with transportation back to Znz. Also the things that were written in the plan about the trip weren't real (both days the park ride was shorter than it was written, they wanted the money from us for the dinner which was included in the plan.)
We had a deal that we will fly back to Znz in the morning. We didn't recieved info about the flight till late evening and we were asking them for informations all the time. We got the flight tickets at the airport.
They were telling us there were so many mistakes because we ordered this trip "last minute" (3 days before). We did get an apollogy from a driver.
We could write more, but we believe you allready got an impression why we don't recommend this company.
US
Poor Value for Total Cost of Trip
I would reccomend staying clear of Go2Africa. The trips are overpriced and the customer service leaves alot to be desired. When they asked us for feedback after our trip we expressed our unhappiness and the customer service team wouldn't provide us with the link to post our review.
BH
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Non reliable
I planned a family trip with my daughter and Kenyan friend to Kenya for first time. I used safari booking to find the right operator.
I selected safari updates based on reviews which was completely misleading.
Silas sounded professional by providing pricing but he did not change the pricing for my Kenyan friend and took 1700 dollars for 3 days trip to masa marai.
Since we were ladies on own, I requested him for reliable car and he mentioned it 4x4 top luxury which was completely the opposite.
The car stopped 3 to 4 times because of the battery. It was full of dirty masks, broken handles and the driver Charles didn't knew how to open the socket switches to charge our mobiles. The car provided was not anywhere close the to the pictures.
I was frustrated by first day and it was too late to change the plan. Then our driver Charles did not know where animals were, he was just roaming around the park following our operator cars.
When I called Silas, he offered us a free trip to masai village as part of the package which Charles did not have clue about.
The only positive thing about this trip was the hotel people at jambo mara in masa marai. I have to mentioned that they went beyond and above to make us feel comfortable which was completely opposite to what Charles and silas provided.
If I had the option I would rate Silas 0, I don't appreciate dishonesty specially when I had planned my trip in July and paid 50%.
I finished my trip yesterday and I called him expressing all of this, he has vanished and never called back.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Stole my money
Seca the owner was initially helpful and responsive, but after having to reschedule a few times due to covid she just stopped responding to my emails for the safari I'd already paid $1000 for, stealing my money. Tried calling and contacting via IG with no luck. Avoid this company.
FR
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Irresponsible and chaotic
My safari was « subcontracted » out to Big Five. I was supposed to go to Tarengire, Serengeti and Ngorongoro crater with an experienced guide-driver. The first day, we went to Lake Manyara (huh???) with a « guide driver » that didn’t know the place ( he kept going around in circles until we pointed this out, with pictures to prove it) or the animals (he tried to brush up with some borrowed notes when he thought we weren’t looking). The next day, he drive too fast, missed a bend and ended up ploughing through a ridge. While the passengers were more scared than anything else, he apparently damaged the radiator. The last part of the very long drive to a Serengeti campground was dangerous for the cook and driver, since they had to get out and refill the radiator several times. The last was in the dark, and we discovered afterwards that a mother lion and her three cubs had been very close. We arrived very late to the campground. The cook managed everything (setting up the tents, calling for another vehicle, cooking a very late meal) while the driver pretend to be busy. Big Five did not call to let us know about a replacement vehicle. I had been in contact with the people who I booked with, and they put pressure on Big Five. The next day, we had another car and driver (yaaay) and the day after yet another. The people I booked were surprised to find out that I had not gone to Tanengire. They came and got me and took me to Tanengire instead of an initially planned cultural visit.
This company is irresponsible !
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Don't have a tour with this company. Don't give them any money until tour is over.
My wife and I were supposed to have a 17 day Kenya and Tanzania Safari from June 26 through July 14 2022. Heritage of African Jungles (Naomi Kemboi or sometimes Kigen) contacted me through Safari Booking. We shared a lot of emails between their email address ([email protected]) and mine. After then I transferred money twice in Apil and June through wire (more than $12,000) because they insisted wire transfer. After receiving final payment, they stopped responding to my emails. I called Naomi, and she said that she had not received any money and money was sent to the wrong place because their email was hacked by somebody and she thought that I had cancelled my reservation. she insisted that money was received by somebody else. However cancellation letter Naomi said she received was classified as a spam mail and my email address was not mine. Investigations through many sources are under progress to find out who has committed this fraud crime. I think there is only one or two people working inside the company. This fraud case was completely caused by Heritage of African Jungles and they should be responsible for the loss, but Heritage of African Jungles does not respond to me. I want to inform everybody of this serious fraud case in order for him or her not to have monetary and mental damage like me. My wife and my dreams for the last two years have been completely broken away due to this fraud.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
There is an error which needs to be corrected.
We booked Waterberg Plateau Lodge in February 2020 for November of that year. The trip has been postponed multiple times and is now rescheduled for April 2023. Upon contacting Waterberg to change our dates, we were informed they never received payment for the original visit. We had submitted our payment to Discover Namibia Tours and Safaris on February 10, 2020, directly to Gemma Dry. We have been unable to contact her to either have our funds reimbursed to us or transferred to Waterberg Plateau Lodge as they should have been in 2020. I have read in Trip Advisor of others having similar issues with contacting her or the company.