50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Appalling vehicle
We completed a tour in a vehicle that had no air conditioning into the sixth day, despite being repaired once. No attempt made to replace the vehicle with a substitute. Uncomfortable and too small for size of group and terrain covered. Poor viewing from vehicle. Road conditions and vehicle meant we were frequently too late for scheduled itinerary features. Driver very knowledgeable but spent too much time telling us we should have been going elsewhere and staying in other accommodation! I completed their review form and heard absolutely nothing in the way of explanation or apology. Poor value.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Be aware of this tour company
I had a very stressful and disappointed experience with this this tour and Tom Ocharo as organizer of this mess.
Tour was for 10 nights and after 3 nights many things went wrong. My itirinary was changed doni had to spend senseless long hours on a bus going back and forth.
Tom itself spoke very bad English and communication with him was exhausting.
He was very responsive when he wanted my money but then when trouble arises he went silent.
Tom mixed up a lot of things and made my vacation very stressful.
Tour itself is not worth the money. Accommodation in fact are very cheap if you book them directly. Food was very bad.
First night after transatlantic flight I was put in a really horrible hotel and spent sleepless night listening to all night music from next door night club.
I specifically asked how many people will be in a safari car and was told by Tom no more than 7.
In fact there was 9 of us which made the whole trip very uncomfortable.
I do not recommend this company to anyone. Lots of things went wrong and there were lots of misrepresentations of what company is offering. Not worth even remotely the money spent
CL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Horrible experience, they cheated on the service and stole money
Through safari booking we contacted Tembea East Africa Safaris, and at beginning everything worked perfect; Responded to our emails immediately and also we managed all the details to make our trip perfect. We were also quoted in another company that had been recommended by a friend from Chile, but we finally opted for this, as they looked like a serious company and was also "backed up" by Safari Booking.
The first problem we had was closing the payment method, because although on its page expressly shows that you can pay by Pay Pal, they told us that we could not pay that way, since for them it was very expensive the commission, So we had to pay with Western Union. We were scared with this response, so we told them that we could not take the Safari with them, but seeing that we were hesitant, Evangelina (Tambea East) immediately wrote to us saying that finally there was no problem and we could pay with pay pal If we wanted.
Thus, we agreed with them that we would pay the total of the tour with Pay Pal equivalent to 4,590 USD (50% before arriving and 50% when arriving there) and we were assured by mail that we would have no problems with that. Once this was closed, Evangelina started sending us several emails, noting that we had to pay 50% as soon as possible, because they had to buy airline tickets and book hotels with that money, otherwise if we delayed they could being full the hotels we had specially selected.
So in a few days we paid through Pay Pal 50% (2,295 USD) of the tour in advance (this was two months in advance). The tour included tickets from Dar Es Salaam to Zanzibar and from Zanzibar to Arusha, all hotels, all transfers, safari (guide and car) and almost all meals. That is to say, we would arrive in Tanzania, pay the remaining 50% with Pay Pal (2,295 USD) and we would just enjoy ourselves, without having to worry about anything, or to spend an extra coin.
But this was what actually happened:
1) Upon arriving in Tanzania, they told us that we can not pay the remaining 50% with Pay Pal, because they are out of their annual quota to receive payments there (clearly a lie since that does not exist) and tell us that we have to go paying in different places with the credit card as they tell us. This already annoyed us quite a bit, but we preferred not to complain to not ruin our holiday.
2) Upon arriving in Zanzibar, it was supposed to be arranged a transfer to pick us up and take us to our hotel which was 1.5 hours away. We were waiting for 40 minutes at the airport, it was night without anyone appearing, so we had to pay a taxi to take us to the hotel.
3) Once in Zanzibar, Evangenila sends us for whatsapp a list of places we have to pay ourselves upon arrival (some hotels and entrances to the parks, which were supposed to be reserved and had to be paid by them) and tell us That the rest (what is missing to complement the remaining 50%) we have to pay in cash, although they had expressly agreed that that would not happen because we were not going to carry cash on our trip.
Although we claimed and said that we were not going to pay in cash, as we took out a high commission in our country and we had agreed that we would pay with Pay Pal (there was already a claim on Safari Booking against this company For the same issue, so we were especially careful to confirm that we could pay with Pay Pal), we were told there was no other option, so we were afraid to miss the safari, ande we had to accept it.
4) Arriving in Arusha in Tanzania, as soon as we arrived we were taken to a bank, where we could not withdraw money, then in the afternoon they pick us up again at the hotel to go to another bank, in this place the exchange rate was Very high, so they wanted us to go to a third bank. At that moment I was enraged, seeing that I was using a whole day of my vacations to go to different banks instead of enjoying, so I told them that I would not go to any other bank. At that time talk directly to Issa (owner of Tembea East), who finally agreed to change the money there.
We gave them $ 899 in cash, supposedly with that money plus the payment of Planet Lodge hotels, Octagon Lodge, Tortilis Camps and tickets to the parks of Manyara Lake and Serengeti (1,396 USD), it was all paid for.
5) It was already quite annoying, to change all the same day we arrived, when we could not do anything else, and having to go paying in different places, when supposedly the grace to do this through an agency is that you pay and You forget those issues, which was what we had agreed upon. It was quite uncomfortable, since in some places the card did not work and in the parks we were the only ones doing the line, since all the other companies - as it has to be - the tourists only enjoyed and it was the company that was in charge of all the payments.
6) As for Safari itself, they hired a guide they did not even know and who had never worked with them, they hired him through a third party, so the guide did not even know the operators. That is, Tambea East had no idea who they were sending us to do the Safari (according to the guide told us), or in which car we were going to do. Luckily, within all of the poor organization, our guide was quite good and we quite enjoyed the walks with him. The problems always came in the afternoon, when tired after the Safari we had to go to the hotel.
7) The first hotel we had problems was at Tortillis Camp, as Issa (Owner of Tembea East) called us the same day we were going to Serengeti, to inform us that there was no available space at Tortilis Camp, lodge we had specially selected and for which we had even paid More (it was more expensive), so we had to go to another hotel. He only called us to communicate this, without explanation, to see if we agreed with the change, or to apologize for the incident.
This was advised on the same day that we had to go to the lodge, so we realized that they had never actually made any reservations and the 50% that we paid in advance at an early start had simply been left for them.
We realized that they were booking the hotels the day before or sometimes the same day that we were going to get to the hotel, even though we supposedly had paid 50% months in advance so they could make reservations.
In short, what happened was that they did absolutely nothing, simply received our money and stayed with it, without using it in making reservations or paying the plane tickets (also was bought the same day).
That is, the urgency of paying 50% was not to make the reservations, but because they needed the money.
8) But worst of all, it was not just what happened. In Ngorongoro when we arrived at the hotel which supposedly had already been paid directly with our money for Tembea East, we found out that Tembea had never actually paid and had just made the reservation that same day, by an email in which they told the hotel "That if they (Tembea) did not pay before we arrived at the hotel, they would charge us directly upon arrival." This was according to what the manager himself showed us. (Attach mail that Tembea East sent to Norongoto Farm House)
In the desperate place, we spent hours trying to contact someone at the agency, but they simply did not answer our calls, they didn´t respond to our messages, and the guide could not help us, since he had only been subcontracted and had no idea what was happening. Besides, he told us that he had not been paid from Tembea East either, which was due to him for the safari he was doing to us, so he was also very worried.
Finally, unable to do anything else, we had to pay again 266 USD for the hotel we had already paid to Tembea.
Then, from what happened to us in the first hotel, they sent us a message saying that we were not worried, that it was just a confusion (even though the mail they sent to the hotel was very clear) and they were going to give us back what we had paid . We were also assured that at the next hotel (Moromboi) everything was already paid, as well as the tickets to Tarangire National Park. Supposedly they had given the money to the guide, but this one told us that he had not received anything.
Upon arriving at the park, they obviously had not transferred anything to the guide, so we had to pay 119.18 USD for park fees again and the same thing happened at Maramboi Lodge, where the manager told us that they had only received half the payment ( That same day) and that they had been told that the other half would charge us when we arrived, so we had to pay 141 USD.
9) So finally with more than 535 USD we had to pay extra (although we had already paid Tembea for it), we arrived in Arusha on the last day, where we were supposed to meet with the representative of Tembea in Tanzania, who would give us back the money.
We asked all day waiting for it to arrive, instead of being able to enjoy the city, besides with the heart in the mouth, not knowing if they were going to pay us what they owed us or not. Evidently, after all the lies, we no longer trusted the agency at all. We were very scared, stressed, angry and tired of everything that happened.
Shortly before we left for the airport, they refunded us USD 350, remaining with the rest of the money which was USD 185 (which they supposedly could not transfer due to bank problems, even though they knew perfectly everything we had to pay extra since the previous day).
We have a whatsapp from Tembea East representative in Zimbabwe where he tells us that we owe 185 USD.
10) In short, they ruined our holidays, they cheated us because they never made reservations or provided any service (on the contrary, we only had different problems each day) and finally they stole more than 185 USD that we have not receive yet until today.
Everything we tell you, is backed up, with the payments, emails, messages by whatsapp and with the testimonies of all the people who witnessed this; The person they contacted in Tanzania as an intermediary, the guide they hired and the managers of the different hotels, who personally witnessed how we had been cheated.
We believe it is unlikely that such a company is part of the companies that appear on its website. Not only they did not do the work (they did not book, they did not plan, nothing!), They cheated and robbed us.
We trusted in your website (Safari Booking) and that's why we thought Tembea East was a serious company, because we thought your web site at least verified that the companies were reliable.
It is not enough in this case to put our comment about the operator on your page, but we ask you to take that company out of its publications, because we do not want anyone to happen again what happened to us.
We will not rest until this is made public so that the people who travel do not have to live such an experience. If you offer the service, you should at least check with which companies they work or which companies they publish.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Do not use Bramwel Safaris, they owe me $1100!!!!!
Do not use Bramwel Safaris!!!!!! They owe me $1100!!!!!!
I Booked a 7 day Private tour safari through them in September, I paid $5000 for this. One, our driver was terrible, he did not give us any information or facts, like a tour guide should do. When we would ask to stop to see wildlife he would ignore us and keep driving, but he would stop and talk to every other tour guide we passed. It was like we were on HIS time. When we got to the serengeti park entrance the drivers card to pay the park fees & lodging declined. Now I have already paid for this in advance so where is that money?.....they asked me to use my card and William Amon promised he would pay me in cash when we returned from the park. We had paid $530 to stay at the Ngorogoro Crater hotel which we did not get to stay in. Again, something I had already paid for. I had one request throughout the entire safari (booking a private tour they advertise you can change the itinerary to your needs, apparently not true), William had promised he would make it happen, then it was excuse after excuse as to why he could not do what I asked & it was a simple request. Our driver got fined while in the park, and that somehow was my fault. I should not have to get into an argument with the driver and William while on vacation. That is not what you expect or pay for.
They advertise ice cold water to drink throughout the safari. The so called cooler in the vehicle does not work. Since Sept 16th I have been trying to get refunded the $1100 William Amon & Bramwell Safaris owe me and I have gotten nothing but excuses. Originally he said he wired the money & it would hit in 7 business days. 7 days later of course no money, I emailed him and he said something went wrong......Yeah, bank wires do not go through if you do not have any money!!!!! Then it was going to be wired Oct 15th, It has been nothing but a series of BS excuses since!!! I am extremely dissastisfied with the service of this company & the people working for it, & the amount of lies that have been told to me. They are very dishonest and do not provide what they advertise on their website I paid a lot of money for a safari that was terrible due to the company we used, the driver, and William who ripped me off!!!!
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Still awaiting a refund of costs we incurred
Please do not book with Golden Travel.
We booked with them in 2015 and found hotels had not been paid or were only part paid.
We ended up paying an additional $6,500 having already paid in full for the holiday.
Despite reassurances 14 months later we are still waiting for Golden Travel to reimburse.
Do NOT use this Company
CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very Corrupt
We were completely taken advantage of by Tony of Kapolondo Expeditions. We inquired through this website for a 5 day safari. We were responded to promptly and given a quote for a private tour for two persons. We paid ahead of time and thought everything was fine until Tony picked us up from where we were staying and took us to a supermarket to get in the jeep. There were 3 other people in the jeep. When I told Tony that he had booked us on a private tour, he said there must have been some confusion. I didn't have the emails printed with me then so I told him we would have to look at it and fix it. What I didn't know then either was that I was being sent with a different company 'Sandlot Tours' and we would never see Tony again. I thought we would be able to work it out with him along the way. I have all the proof that says I booked a private tour and was charged for one. I also have the proof of payment from the other people on the tour who paid half the price we did. I had our guide get a hold of Tony who said that he would sort it out when we got back. He was supposed to transport us back to our hotel at the end as per his agreement with Sandlot Tours (which we didn't know), but he didn't show up and we were stranded in Arusha and had to find our own way back. I believe he didn't want to come meet us because I would have help him to his mistake. He will not respond to any emails I send him now even though he was very prompt before the tour. I just want the difference in money back. At first I thought he had just made an honest mistake and would fix it when he had the chance, but now I realize that he is very corrupt. I had an good time on the safari, we saw lots of wildlife, but we were definitely on the most budget tour I saw and if I paid the same as the other people I would be very happy. As it stands, I feel completely taken advantage of and I can't believe that safari bookings works with such a corrupt company!
IT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
We were not picked at the airport and abandoned
Eugene of Africa Exclusive Escapes is a conman. He did not pick us from the airport on 1st January 2016 and he switched off his phone. We had paid a deposit, thanks God not the full amount of the safari. We went by ourselves to the hotel in Nairobi (Hotel Boulevard) to discover it was not even booked. Finally we had to resort to another contact of tour operator in Kenya to continue our experience. This company might already be closed, most likely, but in case it is still operational, be careful that these are conmen.
IT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Booked for Tsavo est and Amboseli they changed it in 2 days in Tsavo without telling me in advance!
Once i joint Tsavo i found the agency had still to send money to pay the fuel for the second day in Tsavo. I lost 2 hours waiting for the money to come! I ve booked for a jeep but the agency at the last second told me there wasen t any jeep but a van. The price was low but how many troubles!
EE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Not reliable
We ordered 4-days safari Tarangire-Serengeti-Ngorongoro, instead of Tarangire they sent us to Lake Manyara! And in the end we did not see Tarangire National Park at all as if you are in the safari already there is nothing you can do! We wrote them and asked refund for the day we didn't get in Tarangire and there was no answer from them. I would definitely not recommend this company as you might not get to national park you wanted to go and for what you travelled to Tanzania at all! This company cannot be trusted!
US
Stay away from this company. I would give 0 stars if the site allowed
First I want to state the good:
- Lucy, the owner will respond to all e-mail inquiries very promptly before you book (remember this later, all immediate responses only come before you book and for anything after you make payment you are on your own).
- The driver Cyrus in Maasai Mara is excellent. He is really friendly and will go out of the way so you have a good game drive.
- Remember we are in Africa here. It is just beautiful and like no other place you will see. With or without a bad safari tour, you can't miss the beauty and wildlife all around.
The bad:
- Pretty much everything else.
- We paid $1000 extra to fly from Maasai Mara to Serengeti to avoid a long drive and wasting time on our short trip. Not only did Lucy screw up the flight and we still had to do extremely long drives, but she waited to tell us after we had started the trip and had paid in full in cash. Had she told us beforehand, we would have canceled and gone with another alternative. She's either dishonest or incompetent and neither is a good reason to waste your money on this tour company.
- The trip is not quite 8 days as promised. Obviously we wasted a lot of time driving to make up for the lost flight from Kenya to Tanzania, but by day 6 you are pretty much done.
- The safari driver in Tanzania was really reluctant. We were mostly done with game drives after lunch and would go back by 2:30 or 3 when other people were still out on their game drives and late afternoon is the best time to see animals. The Tanzania part is not run by Shelter tours, they just get a local company to take you around.
- After the trip was unexpectedly changed on us, we repeatedly asked Lucy for the new itinerary and didn't get one until the trip was almost finished. We were basically at the mercy of the Tanzania driver.
- The worst part was that we had paid for Sopa and Serena lodges (3-4 star equivalent) throughout the trip, and because Lucy changed the itinerary, we ended up staying in a simply terrible place in Lake Manyara on the last day. In the original trip there was going to be no stay in Lake Manyara and this was Lucy's pleasant surprise for us. It looked like a rundown dilapidated building, we were the only guests there and the food was bad as in did not taste bad but spoiled. They do not seem to have any guests so they must keep refrigeration and stuff off. simply disgusting considering how much we had paid. Any decent tour operator would have refunded us for the flight ticket and the terrible Lake Manyara hotel that we never agreed to but not Lucy. She stopped answering our desperate e-mails on about day 4 and we just gave up. Someone needs to shut her down. No conscientious person would charge for a luxury tour and give you this kind of experience. I strongly suspect the one review on this site that says they are excellent was written by Lucy herself. We really felt cheated by the whole experience.