DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
RS
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Zero star
I hope you guys who are interested in traveling in Uganda find this review useful and won't make the same mistake as me and my friend did. In this review i will share the part of my experience with Karumuna Safaris and it's owner Richard who we believe is a fraud and a thief.
From the first moment i contacted Richard he was very fast in answering my mails and whatsapp messages,which i liked because that is how an agency should behave with clients. I applied for the journey inDecember and was supposed to arrive in Uganda in March!! It was like that until the moment I paid him the 50% down payment which he requested because he wanted to make sure the gorilla tracking permits are secured. The same story was with my friend who applied for the trip one month after me. The moment I paid him the money, no answers no mails, nothing! Every info I needed I had to wait 3 or 4 days for a response i called him and told him this is not professional. I asked him to make me another trip plan because i had less days in Uganda because of my ticket.
He sent me the plan 2 days before my trip and also found a guide for me and my friend day before our arrival. When we arrived and gave him the rest of the money the problems started. In the Lodge in Queen Elizabeth our guide approached us and told us thar Richard had an accident and hit the boda boda (motorcycle taxi) with his car and the motorcycle driver didn't survived so Richard was detained in prison. My friend and me were concerned but as the gorilla tracking was approaching i was starting to be suspicious about everything because Richard couldn't be reached on any phone and they apparently didn't know which prison he was detained and he was the only one who knew where the gorilla permits are. Our guides brother was searching for permits in his office and he was able to find only one permit. This one permit was paid on March 8th the day we arrived! And he told me in December to pay so he can secure the permit. At this point we knew that we were scammed! With the help of our guide Herbert we managed to pay for another permit 700usd because we came in Uganda specifically for the gorilla tracking. Richard was not answering any calls from our guide and the warden in the gorilla tracking office told us that he know Richard and that the chief of tourist operations in Uganda are awared that he scammed people before.
There was a lot more happening which I could write and if anyone is interested in hearing this can contact me.
This is not a fake profile, which he claims on other reviews of people that were also scammed and according to him want to damage KARUMUNA SAFARIS reputation. If you look the negative reviews it was never his fault!! . The ranger in Kibale national park told us that his driver by the name Dona went to Chimpanzee tracking with fake permits left the clients there and ran away with the car keys. If you don't want things like this to happen to you avoid Karumuna Safaris and Richard.
God sees everything, if Richard is really in prison he should stay there. But if he lied about hitting someone with his car in order to get 700usd speaks volumes about him as a person.
I tried to attach valuable photos (the payment of the permit,screenshots of our chats and more) but the site won't publish them, so if anyone needs to see them I can send them.
KR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Tour was different from what I booked
I was looking for a tour sleeping in a ngorongoro campsite. and this was the only one, so i contacted and confirmed the accommodation. but the real tour, we stayed in a budget accommodation which was not where i really wanted. Moreover, other travellers we had tour together paid much less than we paid. I didn't need tour in tanzania cuz i did in kenya for several days. but i wanted to stay in the accommodation and that's why i chose to have one more tour but I wasted of time and money. What's more, I liked the guide but the car was too old that it broke down. and it took a long long time for us to drop off which was the worst time in tanzania.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Was Far From Honest
We used Honest Travel Experience in Cape Town for a trip in Aquila Reserve. It was supposed to be a private tour. But the owner, Franck, upsold us to a VIP tour, then did not deliver AT ALL. We got merged in with all our cruise passengers, after paying the extra money for a personal tour. After trying for several weeks to contact Franck, I gave up. We felt scammed. Beware!!
PH
The company did not deliver the 5-day trip as agreed upon, and until now is unable to refund us.
We booked a 5-day Meru-Samburu tour with the Malindi-based Afrikan Buffalo Wildlife Safaris Ltd. on 09-13 March 2024. We chose it because it is one of the few companies we found that offer such package, and we saw good reviews online.
We have already paid the full amount for the tour at least a month before the scheduled trip. The trip commenced on 09 March, in Meru National Park, but it got cut short on 11 March. As we were trying to check out from the camp in Meru in the morning, we were informed by the camp management that the tour company had not yet settled our bill. The camp did not allow us to leave the premises until the company is able to pay the balance.
The company's representative told us that he was still on his way to the bank, and later on, said they were scammed by another tourist so they are at a police station in Malindi, and many other excuses. It took the company seven (7) hours to send the payment to the hotel (not even full payment, and we even had to cover some remaining amount). This meant we were stuck in the hotel parking lot for seven hours, much to our embarrassment in front of other hotel guests and staff. It also meant that the next leg of the trip, going to Samburu, was no longer feasible, so we headed back to Nairobi in the afternoon of 11 March.
We even had to pay for the gas money for our trip back to Nairobi as we found out that the company had not given the driver enough money for fuel for the whole duration of the 5-day trip.
The company expressed its apologies and promised to provide a refund within 10 days, but until today (almost a month) has not made any.
The company also insists on providing only partial refund, but according to its very own Contract and Booking and Cancellation Policy, we are entitled not only to full refund, but also to compensation, as the cancellation of the rest of the trip was the company's fault.
We had a horrible experience with Afrikan Buffalo Wildlife Safaris Ltd. They made the decision to send us to Meru, fully knowing that they have not paid the hotel yet, and they concealed this information to us, the clients. The company has also been unresponsive and non-committal about its timeline for refunding us. We sought the intervention of the TRA, but despite this, the company remains unable to give us our refund, in accordance with the terms of the company's contract/booking and cancellation policy.
AT
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Not recommendable
I've booked 4 days safari ( 1 night Tsavo East , 2 nights Amboseli NP ) with Victor Tours. I was charged full entry fee for NP's although my partner was Kenyan citizen - Mr. Victor refused to refund money. The driver, Mr. Michael, was driving so slowly through Amboseli NP so that we could not reach Observation Hill in one of our 3 game drives. It was the worst safari in my life, and before I had safaris for around 90 days in Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Keep your fingers off this tour operator.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Horrible
I had by far the worst experience with this agency!! If i was to give 0 stars i would. I planned my mombasa trip at Sunset paradise shanzu a month prior my travel with MORAJ AGENCY and paid full price, she had all the time to plan and make sure everything was right and in place prior to her guests arrival but she did nothing! First the WiFi was not working, sockets were all faulty, it was a 4 bedroom airbnb and we only had 3 towels whilst there were 12 of us, the lights were going off since the the tokens were never enough, we had to keep calling for them to top up the tokens for the 4 nights we were there, how ridiculous! We had cockroaches as well, remotes were all broken and not working.. the list can go on! She was not sorry nor was she taking any accountability. I feel like i was robbed off my money. I would NEVER EVER recommend MORAJ AGENCY!
SE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Non-delivery and bad delivery of promised service
I really cannot recommend this company Tall Masai. My pickup at the airport for which I paid extra was 20 min. too late. My free pick-up from the hotel which was included in the price was 40 min. too late, because they combined it with another paid airport pickup. Be very careful which pick-ups are included in the price and quote they offer.
However, free pick-up from the hotel was included in the quote of Tall Masai, but suddenly Bensson wanted extra money for this.
I selected Tall Masai for an 8 days tour because Bensson indicated in the quote that safari start at 6.30 in the morning. On the first morning, they did not get one customer placed in another accommodation into the care in time, thus, the safari in Masai Mara started at 7.00. Then, the 2WD car got stuck in a mud-hole and we were lucky that there was another car around to pull us out. On the second day at 15.30 the second car broke, they managed to continue to drive slowly on the straight way back to the camp reaching already there around 5pm while the parks closes at 6.30 (and the walki-talki was turned off, thus, not hearing where interesting animals could be to drive to). Hence, the “late afternoon/early evening game drive was no real one” because no walki-talki was used and because they indicated if we stop we might not be able to continue. Thus, we hardly dare to even asked them to drive slower as they already did for taking photos.
The worst thing was in Amboseli where the (fourth or fifth) driver I had indicated already in the evening that the game drive the next morning starts at 8.30 (despite the agreement mentioned above to start at 6.30). Bensson did not intervene despite being reminded about the contract but tried afterward to justify this very late start with some Amboseli entrance fee issues, but he apparently does not understand what it means to agree on terms. But he just promises and then does not deliver.
They also work together with a hotel in Naivasha called Leisure Apex Resort. When I need to get medicine with a five-minute one way car ride, the receptionist told me that he called a driver who does it for 500 Kenyan Shillings in total for both ways. But then he informed me that he has to inform his manager "Sylvia" about this. And afterwards he suddenly informed me that the trip now costs 1000 Kenyan Shillings .... . And when that driver arrived he immediately also claimed 1000 Kenyan Shillings. Guess what happened.... . I cannot recommend to stay there. Even not jam or honey was provided, also not upon request, for the breakfast bread with butter.
Apparently, Tall Masai works together with a bunch of other companies, and you feel like cars are filled up every day newly just to maximize profit. For example, People who have seen for six days Zebras are suddenly confronted with one person of a one-day safari who's main goal it is to find a Zebra (not that easy in our case in Amboseli). Customers in the same van who contracted with one of the other companies (Karibu) said that they were promised that there would be only 6 people in the car during their 7-days tour but occasionally we were 9 people in the car.
I took the 8 days tour with two full days Massai Mara at the beginning. I ended up having the same route two times (main road via the viewing point to Mara River and back). They just put me consecutively on two vans which start in the Mara.
On the vans: they provide 2WD vans also during the rather rainy and muddy season in April. While you get what you pay, it is rather inappropriate in my opinion to offer at all 2WD cars in this weather conditions. And then get stuck in the mud in the first morning and the breaking down of the van on the second day just supports this opinion. In general, I got the impression that 2WD vans tend to stay mainly on the main roads, which reduces the covering range of the safari.
I asked for a financial compensation proposal after the journey, and since then I have not heard for several days from Bensson/Tall Masai.
As mentioned, I really cannot recommend Tall Masai safari, or you should try to at least not to pay the full amount.
I do not understand how a company like Tall Masai with such an opinion about an agreement can be further listed on this webpage.
CA
50-65 years of age
Joseph the owner/ operator of Kennafrica does not operate his business in a professional manner.
Our group of 6 adults coming from Canada, booked and paid in full for a 5 day safari. The day prior to being picked up from our hotel we phoned, emailed and texted Joseph to confirm our pick-up time. We did not hear from him or anyone else from this company. The next morning we all got up early and waited in the lobby for a couple of hours until we came to the shocking realization that they were not going to show up. We returned to Canada and began reaching out to Joseph regarding getting our money back for the safari that never happened. So far we have received a portion of what we paid to Kennafrica Adventures. Promises were made from Joseph via email to refund us the remaining of the balance 2 weeks ago. We have not received the money nor have we heard from Joseph since the last email where he promised to pay the balance of $1300 US owed to us. We are very disappointed and cannot recommend that anyone book with this safari tour company.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
We were defrauded over $6000 US Dollars
We and another couple booked a custom safari package with Safari Lift Africa through Calvin, the owner of the company. Mr Gibson did not apply our last payment to many of the services described in our safari package and we were required to pay again in order to continue with the safari.
More specifically, after we arrived, we learned that Mr Gibson had not paid for our booking at Pom Pom Lodge; our flights to and from Pom Pom on Mack Air; airport transport at Dar es Salaam airport; park entry and concession fees to Victoria Falls, Ngorongoro Crater, and Serengeti Parks; transport from Arusha to Mosha (a 2 hour drive); a hot air balloon ride in the Serengeti, a Masai experience, a Materuni waterfall tour at Kilimanjaro and a Mto Wa Mbu cooking class; and another meal that should have been paid for as part of the package. In addition, the safari vehicle used in Tanzania was rented by Mr Gibson and the vehicle owner had not been paid so we had to pay that rental fee as well as gas in order to continue with the safari. All were promised as part of our safari package.
We made repeated inquiries to Mr. Gibson as did our Tanzanian guide who also did not get paid. As a result, we paid the guide on our departure from the Serengeti to make up for his lost salary since he had done the best he could in a very difficult situation.
Overall each couple paid $6286.55 US dollars for these unpaid services. Interestingly, Mr Gibson promised to “pay us back” (while claiming his company is in bankruptcy). We have never received a dime of reimbursement from Mr. Gibson. As you can imagine, to be left high and dry in the middle of Africa was incredibly stressful. Mr. Gibson’s fraudulent actions ruined what should have been a once on a lifetime experience. We later learned that we were not the first to be defrauded. We talked to someone else who had lost over $5000 on his safari from this company. There are many reputable operators that run wonderful African safaris. Do yourself a favor and use one of them.