US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fraud!
Our honeymoon trip is in 3 days and we just received an email that the company has technical problems and therefore cannot give the required services. You will receive the funds between 45-90 working days. I'm really panicking
UA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fraud!!!!
Before doing payment we examined the all feedbacks about the company. Everything was Ok. And in 1 day after we did the payment the company diaapearred and many many tourists sticked in the situation that the company did not serve it. I have no idea how can we get back our money.
IN
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
FRAUD FRAUD FRAUD....Beware
It is a fraud company. They have taken $500 as advance
Our tour is starting from 9th August and today, 2 days prior to the safari, I have received a mail to inform us that they have cancelled the tour due to some technical problems. They are saying that they will refund the money but i am pretty much sure that that would never happen.
BR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Went to the police
We went to the police station after Mr. Otieno didn’t show up as agreed.
After 3 police station the 4 was the correct place. It’s at Ngong road besides kenyatta hospital.
The policeman in charge of the case said he has 10 cases like ours at the moment.
He said that last year he had a similar problem and he payed everybody. I just don’t know how we couldn’t find coments about that on the internet.
If you are in a similar situation, I recommend you book another safari because he won’t show up. And if you come to Kenya, go to the station make a complaint so he can be sued and stop stealing from people.
AE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fraud!!!Be aware
We booked a 4 days trip safari for Kenya 3 months ago. I already payed and have received an email saying:
The company
has technical problems and therefore cannot give the required
services.You will receive the funds
between 45-90 working days...I am calling them and nobody answer..We are going to the police office.
BR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fraud
We booked a 4 day safari with Mr Otieno on May. It was supposed to start on August 4 at 8:30.
We kept contact with him throught email until August 31. On August 2 we tried to contact him without success. The website was off. All the telephones off. We read coments on trip advisor and safari bookings that he disappeared since August 1.
Today he didn’t show up to pick us up. We are going to the tourists police.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fake company
We booked in June for a 5 day safari in the mara. The communication was poor but they did answer the questions. Soon the day nobody turned up so we rang the company. They said that there had been a problem and that there would be a taxi picking us up to meet them at Maai Mahui. The taxi took us to where we were to meet the guide but they never turned up. We had to pay the taxi and we were stranded in the middle of nowhere. The company turned off their phones not long after we arrived at the meet point. The police have said that this is most likely a fake company with fake reviews. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
BEWARE: Please do not book before reading this!!
When my mom and I agreed we wanted to come to Africa this year, I contacted multiple safari companies. Kenya Walking (KW) was the fastest to respond. I also chose to go with them because they are local, the reviews online seemed great, and it was in our budget. We paid half then, and half when we got here on July 17th. We were supposed to have a 15 day Kenya and Tanzania trip.
Our first 10 days, all in Kenya, were fantastic. We were very satisfied with the experience and nothing went wrong. However, on our 11th day, when we were supposed to go to Tanzania, everything dissolved into chaos. The driver who was supposed to pick us up at the border was not there. There was a group before us to told us they had been waiting at the border a day, and they did eventually get picked up. We were worried, but we waited there like the company told us to do. KW kept saying they would be there shortly. After hours in the hot car, we finally went to the hotel. KW told us to get a room there (we paid for it), and that the driver would arrive in the morning. The next day, after calling and waiting for hours, still no driver. KW hung up on me and then just stopped answering the phone.
We were finally picked up, just as we were leaving to go back to Amboseli, and taken to Tanzania. The next 5 days there ( we stayed a day extra because of all this) were awful. No permits, hotels, or meals were paid for. We would be waiting at the park gate for hours until either a permit came through, or we paid for it ourselves (it is way more expensive to pay for permits yourself. we paid $280 just to get into serengeti). There were a couple middle men between KW and us, and all of them were calling us telling us a different story or a different plan. The hotels we did stay at, we either paid for or the owner let us stay there, despite not being paid yet. Of our 5 days in Tanzania, only 1 was very good, and we had to pay for hotels that night. Between my mom and I, KW had been paid $440 each day for us to be there. That money was nowhere to be seen. I soon found out the likely cause
Fortunately, getting back to Nairobi was smooth. There was a driver there to pick us up. By this time, I had peiced together some of the story. Our driver then told me the rest.
KW is run by a guy named OT. Last year, OT apparently spent the equivalent of $500,000 on a peice of land with tourist money. He thought the land investment would return a profit by the time the tourists arrived in june/july. The guy who sold him the land was a conman, and the money was lost. So, clients were stuck in the same situation. At the time, OT had his tour company license taken away. Somehow, perhaps with a bribe, he got it back. He also seems to have doctored his reviews online (there is warning on trip adviser now about it). This year, it seems he may have done something similar, lost all the company's money. This disaster unfolded starting on Saturday, July 28th, when the group before us got stuck at the border. It has been one week since then, and now the company's website is down, multiple guests (including myself) have filed reports in the Kenya Police office and with the Kenya Tourist Police, and the drivers are doing the same because they have not been paid. Our drivers were so kind, I feel terrible that they have not received compensation for their time and work, as this is their livelihood. I was also told there are 16 people stuck at the Tanzanian border, and more tour groups stuck around the country. We received an email from KW promising to refund us by certain dates later this year, but I have doubts that will happen.
What a terrible situation that has impacted so many people. We feel fortunate that this didn't happen before we got here or right after, because we did have a great first 10 days.
ES
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Beware!!! Fraud
We arrive today to a 10 days trip, already payed and they didn’t show up! We when to their office and there was no one. They dont get the phone... we went to the police and we found 3 more persons as us.
Now we dont have the money and we dont have vacations!
What you do in this cases?
HR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Unprofessional, unorganized and not having appropriate car
1- We arrived at Nairobi airport at midnight, no one was waiting for us, we have to call the Esther to arrange a transport
2- We booked for private game ride but one day in Masai Mara another car broke down, the driver asked us if we can help them to get them to their hotel, we said its ok but we ended up whole day with 5 people in our car. They completely ruined 1 day of our trip. When we complained the agency sincerely apologized and said it will not happen again. We asked for refund for 1 day but they refused.
3- The driver was just a driver, he didn't know anything about the animals, nature or culture, this waisted lots of our time.
4- The last accomodation had nothing in common with pictures, the rooms were absolutely dirty, it seemed they never washed them since they built the camp. No internet access although wifi signal was available.
5- The car was not appropriate for luxury safari tour. It stuck several times in the field, waiting several hours of our time.
6- In the itinerary there was a lunch for the last day but the driver dropped us at the airport without lunch.