FR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
agence to be absolutely run away from
Your experience(experiment) confirms in 2015. The man did not change.
a very unpleasant experience with Meru treks and Safari. Violent person in charge on the customers who are not satisfied.
Insufficient food, guide - driver novice. Cook hooligan and liar to get out of trouble. Never at the hour. End-of-life vehicle
We asked ourselves the question to know if he did not get back the rests of the other agencies to feed his customers. To verify.
Agency to be absolutely run away from.
You know now
Poor experience
Probably the worst tour experience I had in my life. It starts with cheap hotels, even if we paid for the good ones. Then when you arrive at the safari’s gate, the guide tells you he has no money, so you need to pay again for everything, again, and he promises he will pay you back later. Of course Tanzania Joy Tour didn’t pay us back. We dealt with Emmannuel Mremi. He always said “yes” on the phone, then “sorry” in front of us.
Bottom line, even if it appears cheap at the beginning, they’ll try to rip you off. I strongly advise everyone against Tanzania Joy Tour.
It’s sad for the country, Tanzania is amazing, and having such a bad experience with local people ruined part of our experience there.
Go to Tanzania, to Kilimandjaro and visit the parks, but do not go with Tanzania Joy Tour… !
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Ripped Off
Due to health issues we had to cancel our safari trip to Kenya…despite following all of the procedures to obtain a refund less a 10% administration fee and despite assurances our refund was being processed…the tour operator has ghosted us and we have lost our money $4,500 USD.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
High water levels have caused the flamingos to leave. This is not worth visiting at present.
High lake levels for the past 2 years have caused the flamingos to leave. Waterbuck, zebra, baboon, and other common wildlife remain, but don't go expecting to see the flamingo flock.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very disappointed
Extremely disappointed with this company. They had good reviews on tripadvisor so I signed up to a safari with this. At 9am I was excited to be leaving my hotel and going on safari. However, it became clear very quickly that I had not been picked up by a Big Time Safari car, but by another company. Big time passed me on to another company without telling me. The company they had sold my trip on to was called Right Choice, and believe me, it wasn’t the right choice. The bus was broken, and it took 9.5 hours for us to drive from Nairobi to Masai Mara. When we finally arrived it turned out that our rooms hadn’t been booked at the camp. Once that was sorted out it turned out that the driver didn’t know what time dinner would be. We went for a terrifying 1 hour game drive that evening. The rain was pelting down and the ground turned into a swamp, and the broken bus (with even less power than these buses normally have) got stuck several times. Fortunately we didn’t end up stuck in the mud in Masai Mara overnight, but between the broken bus and the rain it was more luck than anything else that we didn’t. I cancelled my trip the next morning and returned to Nairobi with a much more professional company. Big Time safari expressed no apology for selling on my trip to another company without notifying me. Nor have they been willing to refund any part of my failed safari.
Review about North Luangwa National Park by michael heyns
Very poor destination for a self travler. Needed a guide in the park. Felt like a military excursion with a armed guard in my vehicle. Not pleasant at all. If you visit Zambia, give North LUangwa a definite skip.
The worst!
I booked a 3 day safari to Masaii Mara at the last minute with Sun Splash Safaris who contracted with Kairi Tours and Safaris. I have been on safari in Kenya and since I travel to Africa for work am pretty easy going but this was the worst!
In the morning after a prompt pick up when I asked to stop to change dollars for shillings at a foreign exchange the driver insisted I change with his friend on the street. It was a bad rate and I insisted on going to the foreign exchange, but the driver was not happy.
When I arrived there had been 3 days of protest in Narok a town on the way to Masaii Mara unbeknownst to me. As we got closer to Narok the driver was on the phone constantly and there were very few safari vans which was very unusual. there were many cars and lorries pulled off to the side of the road and when the driver was questioned he was evasive. We went to the very "front" of the line to find the road blocked. and as Kenya police cleared the road of rocks and burning tires, we moved forward the road would be blocked in front of us and behind us with more rocks and burning tires. We ended up in the middle of the demonstration with tear gas and police beating people with batons. It was dangerous and totally uncalled for. There were only 2 other safari vans in sight, the rest must have been much smarter than this company.
Needless to say, we did not make our evening safari drive in the Park. Next morning we found out the walkie talkie that every safari van relies on to find the animals was broken and had been broken for 3 days! We spent the entire day driving aimlessly while the driver stopped every van he could find to question where were the animals.
The next day the driver "borrowed" shillings from me to buy an herbal remedy from the Masaii prior to leaving the park.
On the way out of the park the driver stopped at a small store to get himself a soda and surprise! someone jumped in the van for a ride to the next town. Great way to make a few shillings for the driver but not OK.
I have been on safari in Kenya in the past and this was the most unprofessional disappointing company I have ever used. When I got back to Nairobi I sent an email to the company. Their response was not their problem about the protest and while I agree they were not responsible for the protest they certainly had hours of warnings prior to our arrival and could have provided a safer trip. No response about the broken radio, shady driver, borrowed shillings or unexpected passengers in the van. Worst Safari ever!
Worst tour I have ever had the displeasure of being on!
I booked and paid through Commonwealth Bank Australia via International money transfer for a 4 day Selous Safari with the company with a contract signed and itinerary set out. (6 months in advance)
I paid extra money (above what was quoted for the tour) when I did the IMT for airport transfer and overnight accommodation before the safari.
I was picked up, accommodated overnight and the next morning I was asked how I was paying for the accommodation. I explained that I had already paid for this as part of my tour package and this was sorted out once the tour owner/operator turned up.
I asked if I could go on a night game drive added to the tour (after initial payment in July) and was quoted $150USD. When I was collected from the accommodation I was asked to pay $200USD for the organised night game drive and an additional $35USD. The $35USD was because when I was quoted the full tour amount and advised what I had to pay they did not include the bank fees charged by the tour company’s bank. I paid the quoted amount as advised by them and MY banks fees for the international money transfer. Rather than argue I paid the $235USD to the owner/operator, and I was driven to Selous, to Kinga Lodge.
After 1 night accommodation and a river safari I was told that the booking was only made by the tour company the day before I had arrived in Selous. I paid the full tour amount on 28/07/2014 and undertook the tour on 18/01/2015, so my payment was made well in advance.
The manager of the Kinga Lodge in Selous, Robert, tried to contact the owner/operator of 'time 4 Afrika' to sort out details as no money had been paid to them by the tour company and only 2 of the 3 nights I needed were available for me due to the Lodge being booked out.
Both Robert, the Lodge manager, and I, tried to contact the owner/operator of 'time 4 Afrika', and were unable to. Robert then called, Howard who was the to tour company’s driver and who was staying in the village waiting to transport me back to Dares Salaam at the end of my safari.
Howard made contact with the owner/operator of 'time 4 Afrika' who said he would forward money when the bank opened the next day (19th Jan 2015). Money was received the next day but not all of the fees that were due were sent.
I had no confirmation from anyone as to where my last night in Selous accommodation would be, no details about the night drive and the full game drive, all of which had been paid for by me.
Robert, the manager of Kinga Lodge advised that I should return to Dares Salaam as I had received no confirmation of my accommodation for that last night in Selous or confirmation of my booked activities going ahead.
Howard drove me back to Dares Salaam. On the way back we ran out of fuel and we had to wait in a small town while money was sent to him from the tour company so he could put enough fuel in the car to complete the journey.
I was delivered to the airport and told ‘things’ would be looked in to when Howard returned to the office. I have heard nothing and do not expect to, least of all do I expect be refunded for the accommodation and activities that I did not receive as I am sure this company has no morals or code of ethics.
This tour was stressful and traumatic and I would like to make other people aware of this fraudulent company!
I am 60 years old and I have travelled extensively all around the world. In all my travels this is by far the most disgraceful and dishonest tour company I have ever had the displeasure of being associated with.
They happily took my money and did not even attempt to deliver the good/services they promised!
If it could go wrong it did
I booked a 3 day safari to Masaii Mara with Sun Splash at the last minute since I would be in Kenya for work. When I arrived there had been 3 days of protest in Narok a town on the way to Masaii Mara. In the morning after a prompt pick up we were on our way, though I had been told it would be a full van there were only 3 of us. The driver was on the phone constantly. As we got closer to Narok there were many cars and lorries pulled off to the side of the road,. when the driver was questioned he was rather evasive. We went to the very "front" of the line to find the road blocked. Kenya Police eventually arrived and as they cleared the road of rocks and burning tires we moved forward. Unfortunately the road would then close behind us with more rocks and burning tires. We ended up in the middle with tear gas and police beating people with batons. It was dangerous and totally uncalled for. Since I had been in transit I had no idea what was going on. There were only 2 other safari vans in sight, the rest must have been much smarter than this company. We did not make our evening safari drive in the Park. Next morning we found out the walkie talkie that every safari van relies on to find the animals was broken and had been broken for 3 days. We spent the entire day driving aimlessly while the driver stopped every van he could find to question where were the animals. Last day the driver borrowed shillings from me to buy an herbal remedy from the Masaii prior to leaving the park. On the way out he stopped at a small store to get himself a soda and surprise! someone jumped in the van for a ride to the next town. Great way to make a few shillings for the driver but not OK. I have been on safari in Kenya in the past and this was the most unprofessional disappointing company I have ever used. When I got back to Nairobi I sent an email to the company. Their response was not their problem about the protest and while I certainly agree they were not responsible for the protest they certainly had hours of warnings prior to our arrival in Narok. No response about the broken radio, This company contracted with kairi tours so they are most likely responsible for the radio and driver. No response to the email I sent to them
RU
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Must choose another company
I had 4 days safary (lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro).
"Pole-pole" you'll heard all the time (means slowly). Did you thought you'll start at 8:30 just because they told it? No way, pole-pole, you'll have to wait till 10 o'clock. Do you think the way from Arusha to Lake Manyara just 1,5 hours? Pole-pole and akuna matata (means no problem) 4 hours way.
In Tanzania they calls cooker "Stomach engineer", but they got stomach user. First, it's really small size of food (1 egg for breakfast isn't enought for me), second they prepare everything with bouillon cube. Soup with bouillon cubes, rice with cubes, potato with cubes. Remember, cooker and driver will eat first, the rest for you. "I'm so hungry" told driver after I saw him eating meat (by the way, there was no meat for us).
Better pay 100$ for better company. You don't go to Tanzania every day.