US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Nightmare Safari with EASTCO
Our trip with EASTCO is one that we will struggle to look back on with anything other than frustration. We were stuck with a guide who was rude, unprofessional, unsafe, had terrible communication and clearly cared nothing for us. And we were stuck with a company operating broken down vehicles, run down camps, and that clearly cared nothing for us. We found ourselves counting down the days until we could go home, and by the end of the trip, going along with ridiculous outings and schedules simply because it felt like the path of least resistance and our only survival mechanism.
Our troubles with EASTCO started before we even got out of Arusha when our guide, Melk, arrived 45 minutes later than our agreed upon time from the evening before and then spend an additional 20 minutes preparing the car while we waited. Then before we left the city, the engine started over heating causing him to pull over suddenly. After looking at the engine for a bit, Melk said that it would take an hour to fix. Assuming this was a low estimate – in fact he didn’t get to the crater until the next day – I said that this was not acceptable. Without saying a word to us that he was leaving, Melk then hopped on a motorcycle and road off leaving us in the truck surrounded by several guys that we hadn’t met. He came back after a few minutes and another truck arrived to take us to our hotel. It wasn’t the hotel listed on our itinerary, but it was nice so we didn’t say anything. The replacement driver suddenly stated that he was leaving as the hotel staff was greeting us. We tried to stop him to get more information on what was happening but all we could get out of him was that Melk had fixed the truck, was on the way, and would be here shortly. That turned out to be a lie since if Melk was on the road at that point he would have made it to the gate well before it closed at 6 pm. The replacement driver then quickly jumped in his truck and left before we could get his, Melk’s, or EASTCO’s contact info. We then enlisted the help of several of the staff at the hotel over the course of the evening and the next morning trying to contact EASTCO. The emergency contact number we were given didn’t answer. EASTCO’s number is not posted on their website. The hotel staff talked to folks at the hotel’s central office to try to find out who made the booking. Working with them before and after dinner and despite the hotel’s best efforts we got nowhere that night. The next morning we still had nothing and it was starting to eat into our time in the crater. Exploring Ngorongoro Crater has been a dream of mine for most of my life. I can see it from the hotel but I don’t have a way to get down there. Do we try to hire another company? Are there any guides that can take us into the crater at short notice? Suddenly Melk shows up and says – and this is an exact quote – “Ready to go?” “That’s all you have to say?” “The truck broke down. This happens.” “You couldn’t call the hotel?” “I didn’t have the hotel’s number.” This was an unprofessional and rude response, to say the least. This is a good time to point out that Melk would make 30 – 40 calls during a day of driving. He often claimed they were to the EASTCO office. Here’s five seconds of my time on the Internet hitting the front page of the hotel’s website. Their number is: (+255) 272545555. It is ironic that Melk continually took credit for being the car’s mechanic, and yet complained that it was not his fault when the car broke down.
After 30 minutes or so of awkward silence in the car Melk pulled over to offer a half-hearted apology which he followed with a rebuttal of my complaint that we paid a lot of money for the safari and we deserved to be treated better. Melk said that we may have paid a lot to EASTCO but we didn’t pay him a lot so it wasn’t relevant to him. He also offered that if he was unhappy then he would just follow exactly what’s on the itinerary and we wouldn’t see much game – basically what he did our second day in the crater.
It was clear that Melk had no ability to empathize with us – particularly when it came to us feeling safe. On our way out of Arusha he talked about how safe the city was and that anyone could walk alone any time of day – certainly not matching any other source of information we had heard. He would regularly pull over in villages without explaining, hop out of the car, and walk away with the keys in the ignition. On the way from the crater to Serengeti Horizons he pulled over and we were surrounded by several guys. One of them then jumped in the car with us. My wife asked “What’s going on?!” I said I had no idea. Melk then gave us a detailed explanation of the situation: “We give him ride.” At which point, we proceeded to drive into the desert, off the roads, and away from civilization. With a guide who clearly hated us, a complete stranger, no way of contacting the outside world, and no explanation or even a mention of “the camp is this way.” My wife has stated that she has never felt so unsafe in her life.
The accommodations at Serengeti Horizons did nothing to make us feel better. Our itinerary stated “semi-luxury” and EASTCO’s description of Serengeti Horizons included “full-size stylish wrought-iron or wooden beds with six-inch mattresses and all bedding”. In reality the mattress didn’t even cover the bed frame with the foot of the bed using a rolled pillow and cut up foam to form the mattress. The sheets had holes in them to match the level of quality. EASTCO’s tent “from the golden age of safaris” included a light plugged into a car battery – but no trash can so we pilled the trash in the corner of the tent. I was a bit nervous leaving our bags unprotected as we went off on safari so I made sure I left the zippers in exactly the same place for all bags so I would know if they were touched. When we came back one of the bags had been moved and the zippers were all the way to the other side of the bag. We couldn’t find anything missing so I didn’t bring it up, but what possible excuse could there be for this?
Our itinerary states that “the ecosystem is defined by the annual migration”. The migration was farther north than expected and Melk was apparently not going to take us to it or even bring it up. As he started to drive around the mostly barren plains the first morning at Serengeti Horizons we asked what the plan was. He detailed the day’s activities with “We do game drive.” No information was going to come from him but thankfully another couple at the camp had found out that the migration was in the central Serengeti. When we said we wanted to go there to see the migration Melk said nothing in return. Was he just ignoring us? Unbeknown to us one of his next phone calls was to the head office and they said it was ok but we had to pay the $131 entrance fee to the park. We agreed given that it would be our only chance to see the migration. At the gate we ran into one of the couples from the camp the previous night. They were more successful in their complaints. EASTCO had moved them north to another camp closer to the migration and was paying the park fee. There was no such deal for us though. Inside the park Melk started driving slowly and staring at trees along the main road near the entrance. When we asked he explained that he was looking for cats. If a leopard was in one of those trees right next to this busy road it would be surrounded by cars. When we complained that we wanted to see the migration instead - which is why we paid the park fee – he got mad. After finding the migration we stopped at a picnic site for lunch. When we got out of the car he drove off without explanation. We really weren’t sure if he was coming back.
At Serengeti Horizons we spoke with other EASTCO victims and heard stories about how their vehicles broke down and how one couple had to push their vehicle each time to get it started. We then heard complaints about the lack of radios in cars both for security and game viewing. Our second time into Ngorongoro Crater we were focused on getting a good look at a rhino. Cars started flying by us and Melk went off on one of his lectures about the evils of radio calls. We finally got a view of what everyone was headed toward and it was a rhino. We went over and got an ok view of it though it was slowly headed away. With a radio call we might have gotten a better view. Melk said that just one EASTCO car has a radio and that’s for security reasons. If we breakdown outside of cellphone coverage how does another EASTCO vehicle having a radio help us?
Our second day in the crater didn’t hold much interest for Melk. He drove past the hippo pool lunch spot and when we started getting hungry he sped past most of the second half of the crater. The lunch spot was in the forest near the exit. He parked us under a tree with the roof open. A monkey came down trying to get our food and I asked if we should close the roof. Melk explained “No”. The monkey jumped in the car a few minutes later and my wife and I jumped out with Melk chuckling. The monkey stole some of our lunch and Melk wanted us to get back in the car to finish the rest. I said “No” and Melk finally moved the car away from the tree. Melk was already on the phone again when my wife asked me what I wanted to do. I said “I just want this week to be over.” I’m not sure if Melk heard but when he got off the phone he left the vehicle to pout for a while. We ended up buying our own replacement lunch back at the hotel. Melk certainly wasn’t going to. He drove us the last bit of forest and then turned around to leave. I believe he put lunch near the end of the loop so he could hurry getting us to lunch and then claim that he “already drove all the roads”. My wife – who had continuously gone out of her way to be outrageously nice to him – said that we wanted to spend a bit more time in the forest. Melk replied with an ugly “Do you see any other roads in the forest?” When we agreed to leave after a bit Melk committed what I believe was his worst act of the week. He punched the gas with us standing in the back and wildly drove up the switchbacks no doubt angry at us. My wife sat down first and I was trying to catch a few last pictures of the crater. She had to warn me that a big turn was coming and I barely sat down in time. Melk whipped around the corner and I’m sure I would have been injured without her warning.
EASTCO held other nasty surprises for us to finish out the trip. In Mosquito Town our tour included being dropped in a tourist trap where we were asked to look around because we were their first customers in 4 weeks! We then went to Boundary Hill where we were taken on a nature walk. I managed to get all the way up Kilimanjaro and back without falling but I fell on their trail – as did my wife. She was uninjured but I was dealing with a shoulder injury for the next month. The last part of the climb involved 30 minutes of climbing back up the hill while walking through thick vegetation. The binder in the hotel room states that you shouldn’t walk through plants because they contain ticks and dangerous snakes. Something we seriously doubted our “guides” could protect us against at the pace they were moving. They apparently take every guest on this hike but they can’t cut a path or find one that doesn’t involve being in almost continuous contact with one bush or another.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
FRAUD ALERT - this tour Company is defrauding tourists
In January 2015 “Bushtroop Tours & Safaris” company from Nairobi, Kenya refused to return the rental car deposit. We regarded this situation as a fraud and highly recommend extreme caution in any dealings with “Bushtroop Tours & Safaris” and personally with Jacqueline Mwathe and especially Moses Mutiva Ombeva.
My name is Nikolay Zagrebelnyy. I am 34 years old and I live in St. Petersburg, Russia.
In January 2015, me and my wife Natalia Klementyeva traveled in Africa: Kenya - Uganda - Rwanda - Congo - Burundi - Tanzania - Kenya together by car. The total mileage was about 5000 kilometers. This was our third visit to Kenya and sixth in Africa.
The car was rented in Bushtroop Tours & Safaris, Toyota RAV4, 2010, registration number KCB-573G. The company based in Nairobi, Kenya. Bushtroop Tours & Safaris has been selected on the Internet recommendations and the car availability. Our previous companies from Nairobi or could not be contacted or did not have the right car at the desired time. Many times we took a car in various countries and have never had problems, including previous trips to Kenya.
The car was given 31.12.2014, in good technical condition. Prospective route was agreed with Bushtroop Tours & Safaris, we made the contract and received the necessary documents. We paid the full rental price and a deposit - 1200 USD in cash.
When returning to Nairobi on 01/31/2015, we returned the car without any damage, which was confirmed by representatives of Bushtroop Tours & Safaris Jacqueline Mwathe and her colleague.
Despite this, Jacqueline Mwathe and her college refused to return the deposit, citing the fact that they put our deposit to the bank, and today is Saturday evening and the bank is closed.
At our request, the company chief Moses Mutiva Ombeva arrived and confirmed this information, also refused to return the deposit.
Bushtroop Tours & Safaris offered to transfer money to the bank card, or through Western Union. Moses Mutiva Ombeva Ombeva written receipt with a promise to transfer money and signed the contract.
The fact that the signature on the receipt does not match the signature in the other documents, I found only in the preparation of this site. Nevertheless, I guarantee that this signature of Moses Mutiva Ombeva.
The situation raises many questions, but in was already late evening and to return flight was only a few hours, so we went to the airport. At the airport Jacqueline personally promised to transfer money tomorrow. At that moment I almost believed her. We passed the car and flew home.
After four months, we have not received the money. Several times I called Jacqueline on the phone. In the last conversation, she promised to transfer the money on 28 April. This has not happened.
Conversations:
We regarded this situation as a fraud of Bushtroop Tours & Safaris and personally Moses Mutiva Ombeva. We highly recommend extreme caution in any dealings with Bushtroop Tours & Safaris and personally with Jacqueline Mwathe and especially Moses Mutiva Ombeva.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
3 day safari that really only added up to 1 day - promised refund never came!
I booked a 3 day safari to Amboseli with Karibu Safaris. I was told I would be joining a group on their way through from the Masaai Mara and be picked up at 12.00 midday. I was not picked up until 3.30, meaning that the game drive scheduled for that afternoon did not happen as we were travelling til 9.00 that night, and eating dinner almost at 10.00. I was also promised free water and a visit to a Massai village - neither happened. The group I joined had been told they would all get a window seat in the van - my arrival meant that there were 3 in a row on our seat, and we couldn't all stand up at once to do the game viewing when we finally got out into the park for a day. It was a good day, very average lunch, accommodation VERY basic, stinking toilets, 20 mins to get hot water etc The next day after a 2 hour game drive we had to drive to the Kenya / Tanzania border to drop off some of the group. This meant me sitting in the van for 2 hours in various carparks waiting for them to be sorted over the border. Not my problem, not what I paid for. So 3 days was two days driving and the equivalent of 1 day game viewing. Arrived back into Nairobi at 2.00pm - nothing like a full day there either. I asked for a refund, was told that I would be given $50 refund, I said $60 given the free water had not eventuated either, and so was told I would get $60. I sent account details, was told that it had gone to accounts, and now - typically - am not getting any replies to my enquiries. The trip was also run by Bigtime safaris, a totally different company I was just thrown onto. I have been travelling through Africa for 15 years and this was the most disappointing trip - lied to, oversold, bored sitting waiting in carparks while others had their trip sorted out and I couldn't get mine sorted, and then to be promised in various emails a refund only to have that fall by the wayside too. DO NOT GO WITH KARIBU!
US
Chobe National Park a Photographer's Paradise
Chobe National Park is a photographer's paradise. Whether you are on land or water, the photo opportunities are bountiful. I loved it----particularly the water cruise. Out on the water gave you a chance to appreciate and enjoy the beautiful sky and to relish the wonderful sense of space. I give two (2) thumbs up to Chobe, and if I had more thumbs, they would be up as well.
main camps ok nothing to write home about. Avoid Matombe at all costs!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hardly any wildlife, mainly elephants, eland, Impala, zebra, giraffe etc
In our 3 nights we never saw ANY predators. I will skip this in future, totally not worth it! Weather good, roads wet and muddy, we got stuck 3 times in mud during drives.
DO NOT TRUST THESE PEOPLE. They ripped me off TERRIBLY.
I previously wrote a review on this company for January 2015. IGNORE IT. please make your booking elsewhere. Unfortunately I discovered too late that these people ripped me off. They stole money from me which I could then not spend helping children from the poorest regions in Kenya. When they were caught out recently, they just denied everything and disappeared. I came to Kenya to set up my charity for abused children, which these people knew. They charged me what I now know to be extremely overpriced amounts for multiple driving services. Despite my best intentions for the poor children in Kenya, these people from this company still had the audacity to rip me off and steal from me. The amount they took from me has greatly deprived the little kids in my charity whose lives I am trying to save. I am ashamed that I trusted these people.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Ni Refund for Booking
I have had a really bad experience with Ambula as did a friend of mine a few years back. I booked a trip in March for a trip to Victoria Falls at the end of June. At the beginning of if April I had to cancel the booking s I will be traveling overseas in business this is virtually 3 months in advance and I was told I would get a full refund and the it would take 4 to 6 weeks and could expect the refund the first week in May. It is now end of May and I still have not been paid my refund despite repeated requests.now my emails etc are being completely ignored. I just find this completely unacceptable. So I would never chose to use them again even though the prices are more reasonable than the bigger operators at least you would not get this experience with them
JP
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Disappointed
During my tour, okavanko river is dried up and no wild animals in this region.
I was really disappointed that situation even though tour company informed in advance.
OM
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Difficult to enter
I am unable to write a review of South Africa, its wildlife, or its landscapes due to the frustrating experience with the online eVisa system.
Our first application was rejected after nearly three weeks without any update on the website, despite being notified of a decision. It took several phone calls, emails, and text messages to receive the official verdict.
We are still waiting for a decision on our second application, two weeks after submission.
Our travel plans for July had to be rescheduled for August in the hope that the visa will be approved in time.
Having traveled to numerous countries, we find this process to be the most exasperating. While most countries have their peculiarities in documentation requests, requiring copies of our deceased parents' death certificates appeared unreasonable.
Other eVisas we've applied for were processed within hours or days, but this takes weeks.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Not recommenable at all
I booked a 4-days-Safari to Lake Manyara National Park, Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti National Park and ended up doing the tour with a very friendly french family. At first, also the owner of the company seemed to be a nice guy. Later that turned out to be a false first impression.
The first day we stayed in small bomas, the dinner was reasonable and their was enough food.
We found out the next morning that a another guy would join us for the next three days. Unfortunatly, we had to wait for him, which delayed our drive to the next park, but was of course not the fault of the very friendly south korean guy, who told us that he actually didn't book his safari with the same company we did. Before he joined us, we also spend about an hour at a garage to get the shocker of the jeep repeared.
The time we spend in the parks was great, we saw many animals and really enjoyed it. The smallest problem we had, was that the zippers of the tents that the safari company provided couldn't be closed. One of the things we really got annoyed about was that the driver and the cook didn't stick to the programm which was given to us when me made the booking. One morning, we should have left at six, but they said seven would be early enough because we would have been at another park to early. This would have ment an extra payment, as it was planned for us to stay until afternoon the next day (as you might know the entrance fee is only valid for 24 hours) and only goes to show that the programm was actually full of promises that weren't kept.
Another problem was the fact that there was not enough food for 5 people. When we came to the campsites after a long day, we had to wait for our food for more than an hour twice, while all the other travellers from other companies were already served. It made me upset, when the cook even delayed our moring game drive because he obivously didn't get up early enough to prepare breakfast. The portions were small and compared to what we were served the first evening and what people from other budget safari tours were having, the choice was too.
Also, I had the impression that our driver had no idea where he was going and didn't seem to have control over the car at all. On the way out of the Serengeti we almost overturned after a speed bump and drove into the bushes. How could the driver or the cook even dare to ask for a tip after their services had been so horrible?
When we came back to Arsuha and spoke to Ibrahim, the owner of the company, he wouldn't even listen to us. I was in his office with the french lady and her son. The cook had been taking pictures of some rice and a tiny bit of sauce we left over, so Ibrahim shouted at us and said we were lying when saying there was not enough food. He wouldn't even listen when we told him that we didn't finsh the food because their was no meat, no vegetables, barely some sauce and only this pile of rice left over. It was not possible to have a proper conversion with him and after he had called me a "bitch"and said "fuck you" to me, I decided to leave the office, because this was just getting ridiculous. The french lady asked me to stay which was not a good idea at all, because Ibrahim got very aggressive. We asked him again to stop shouting at us and really felt like I was in kindergarten. When I told him he was behaving like a child, he got up, took my glasses, cracked them into pieces and threw them on the floor. He even shouted silly things about us being christans, complained about us using up to much of the milk powder, claimed he had never had any complaints like this and reproached us for having too high expectations concerning the food. I really could't believe it! Just because he didn't want to take the critism of his clients serious, especially not from a white yound lady, he got violent. Moreover, he pushed the french lady out his office and might have broke her arm. I didn't find out, because they left the next morning.
I haven't experienced anything like that in the last 7 months in Tansania and Uganda. Next time I would definetly spend a hundred dollars more to avoid this kind of hassle. There is still no guarantee that everything will work out fine then, but I think in this case it's worth spending a little bit more money!