20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Avoid at all costs this safari company if you do not want to be hassled by the owner Richard Papa
We booked a 5 days and 4 nights safari Tarangire/Serengeti/Ngorongoro camping safari with World Tours & Safaris from Arusha to Mwanza. We needed to be picked up in Arusha and dropped off in Mwanza as we had plans to visit Lake Victoria. We contacted Richard Papa who was responsive but a bit short in his anwers. We didn’t think of it as it’s so easy to misinterpret the tone of someone by email so we decided to go with the company.
We were quoted for this private safari (as apparently no one wants to be dropped in Mwanza so it had to be a private one) my friend and I respectively $1000 and $920 (my husband was not traveling with us). I am a resident in Dar es Salaam and Tanzanian national parks charge residents slighty less than tourists this is why I was offered a $80 discount on the whole amount providing I could prove my residency in the country. If I failed to do so, Richard told me I would have to pay the difference at the gate which was fine with me since I had all documents in order.
We paid for the full safari by bank transfers, twice, the first time for the 40% deposit and the second time the remaining 60%. Richard told us we could only pay the remaining of the sum in cash with US dollars if paid on the first day of the safari. Since I live in Dar with my husband, we do not have US dollars so we did the second bank transfer to avoid any hassle.
The safari went well, we left the day after a night in Arusha Precious Inn, a very basic hotel but conveniently located a block behind the company’s office. Stanley, our guide and Gadi our chef, were good and professional. They made the best with what they had, which wasn’t so easy considering that the car was quite old and used (515 0000 km at the counter) and that their equipments were quite basic (for e.g after reading reviews on this website we decided to take our own sleeping bags). We enjoyed the 4 days trip even if the last day didn’t go as planned. We were indeed meant to go through the Serengenti again but we did not and drove straight back to Mwanza after reaching the last Serengeti gate. Still, we were quite happy with the trip and gave each of them (Stanley and Gadi) a nice tip once at our hotel in Mwanza. As previously explained, before entering each park I had to give Stanley my passport and visa exemption certificate (residency permit) so he could go and pay the entrance fees. I always asked him whether he needed them and except for Ngorongoro crater where he told me he didn’t have to show the documents.
Once the safari finished, this is when the problems started with Richard. We were eating our lunch in Mwanza when Gadi the chef came back to us saying that we needed to pay more. When I asked him to explain why, he told me that I needed to speak to Richard. I took the phone and then Richard literally started yelling at me telling me that this was the deal : I needed to pay $45 more for the Ngorongoro crater since I did not present my documents. He then told me that $45 was missing from his account (Stanley was apparently given pre-paid credit cards to pay the entrance fees) and that I should know where the money went. I told him that I was not one of his employees, that I did not know what happened with his credit cards and that so far only guides enter the park’s office to pay entrance fees. I do not even know what’s the entrance fee for each park since we always pick organised safaris. As a passenger you either stay in the car or go to the bathroom until the guide comes back and tells you to go back into the car. Richard said I did not present my documents so Stanley paid the fee for a tourist. I told him that when I asked Stanley before and he replied to me that for Ngorongoro there was no need for such document. As soon as I told this to Richard he started shouting : ‘Then Stanley lied to me, pass me Stanley now I will take the money off his wages….’ and hung up on me. Now I have been living long enough in Tanzania to know that $45 is a lot of money for a local. Stanley also explained to me that the mistake was coming from Richard for another reason that I did not get. I felt bad and Richard kept texting me saying I needed to pay or Stanley would have to (which felt like emotional blackmail to be honest) – I had done nothing wrong however unless I paid up then Stanley, who had been very professional the whole trip, would be forced to pay $45 - a lot of money for him. Stanley literally told me that if he had to pay the money the next safari he drove would essentially be done for free. Therefore I paid $45 on top of the $920 already paid not knowing whose mistake it was, Richard or Stanley. I thought that I could retrieve the money after speaking calmly to Richard since he was just shouting on the phone but I couldnt get a calm conversation out of him.
When I spoke again to Richard and told him that it seemed quite unfair I had to pay an extra $45 for the Ngorongoro crater since I could prove my residency in the country (which I did for Tarengire and Serengeti) and that this would affect my review of this trip (I was quite annoyed by this point, I did not like him shouting at me or at his staff on the phone) he wrote me back an sms (I quote) : ‘ I will reply to your review as you wish to write and give all breakdown to the World since you said you have permit. GOD will judge. Thanks’.
Our following exchanges were quite a roller coaster of emotions from Richard since it seems my possible review of the company was really annoying him. He successively threatened me to expose that we were staying illegally in the country (we have been living in Dar for 7 months, my husband works for an European NGO), then told me (I quote) : ‘I know you are a very good girl. You will not put us in trouble’ (I’m 30 by the way), then wrote ‘I am not sure why you want even my family and other staff to miss daily bread…’ (it’s not like we do safaris in order to write bad reviews) and then also accused us not have done the right bank transfers (which was very silly since we have evidence of our bank transfers and knew they had gone through correctly) and that we had cheated him.
Additionally, Richard constantly blamed his employee Stanley when he realized I was having none of this and wrote (I quote) : ‘Stanley is putting me and you in trouble…’ One of Richard’s email’s object is literally called ‘Stanley’ and is just a succession of accusations against poor Stanley.
When I last told Richard I could not accept the refund coming from Stanley’s salary (because to me it wasn’t clear whether he or Stanley did the mistake and also because it will result on an unfair burden on Stanley) he told me I should have reminded Stanley of the residency (which I did but also I do not work for the safari company so that should not have been my responsibility). And then the last email coming from Richard states (I’m just copying and pasting it because it is too good to be true) : ‘I will attache the same letter and the permit and my lawyer will write a letter to your Embassy, with copy to Ministry of Natural Resource, and another copy to Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority to show them the way you want to mistreat us.They will judge who has problem between me and you. We made a deal and nothing went wrong to my agreement between me and you. All arrangements was in order’.
I told Richard he was a dishonest person who’s been seemingly treated harshly his hardworking staff. Also, an important point, I did not understand his calculation : as a resident I had to pay $920 and my friend (a tourist) $1000.Since according to Richard I did not show my documents in Ngorongoro I had to pay another $45 on top of the $920 which makes it $965. Stanley told me that if I did not have the paper as well in Serengeti I would have had to pay another $45. Which amounts to $1010. Which makes it $10 more than the fee for a tourist and this not even taking into account if I had to pay an extra for Tarengire. When I asked Richard to explain how I would have had to pay more than my friend despite getting a residency discount (which does exist for national parks) if I had to pay the difference at each gate, he did not bother answering.
In a nutshell : I’m just baffled by the whole experience with Richard and his company World Tours & Safaris. Richard Papa strikes me as a very dishonest man and not a very professional one, not treating his staff nicely or even his customers. I would strongly recommend any potential customer to stay away from this company and to go with another safari company because you do not want to experience what we experienced. Besides, there are a lot of other safari companies out there that do provide the same service and the same trip without the hassle we went through.
US
Experience level: over 5 safaris
Worst experience ever
DO NOT BOOK. We just visited Masai Mara and after seeing the reviews booked it with Noah. We experienced a lot of trouble as both the tour guide and Noah were just trying to fleece money out of us. They did not pre book anything and would not accept card payments. We were not informed till the day of the tour that they could not take card payments. On top of that, they did not check if we had resident status and charged us non resident prices while paying the hotel only resident rates. When we asked them to reimburse the difference, Noah started yelling at us. The guide (Youstas) seemed experienced but very disincentivized because we found out how they were cheating people. He did not have a radio like other cars and did not tie up with other drivers. We are very dissappointed overall and would not recommend them.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
The worst holiday experience of my life
Before reading this please place 'Sunrise Eco Tours - Uganda tripadvisor' in search and read the review posted by Lauren V dated 19/1/16 on the Tripadvisor site....
I have waited until now before posting a review in the vain hope the owner of Sunrise EcoTours, Clement Kanamugire, may turn out to be an honourable and decent man and pay back what he owes. How wrong can you be!
To describe how this man acts - when emailing about compensation, he wanted me to forget the cost of the Gorilla permits, as, in his words the loan made to the tour leader had nothing to do with Sunrise Eco Tours and they had no knowledge of such a transaction. When i said this would mean he would have to pay the $750 back that had already been paid for the permits by each of the 5 people on the tour, (and that we would then send the money to the poor guy that loaned the money for us to attend the trek), he simply refused to reply.
To my knowledge he owes money to the 5 people on the tour described by Lauren above, the Australian couple who have had their tour cancelled, Kavos, the man that lent our guide the money for the Gorilla permits and also a travel agency which he should have paid commission to
Please please please do not book with this company.
SG
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Horrible Horrible Service from Hennie - Avoid at all cost!!
We booked a trip with Fleet Foot Safaris for 6D5N Vic Falls and Chobe National Park with Hennie last year in December. Once everything was finalised and payment was done promptly, there were delays in our vouchers and when the vouchers were given to us, we were told that the initial quote cannot be matched and there were reduction of activities given to us and no airport transfers for us!! It was explained to us that it was due to the changes we made earlier as there were supposed to be 3 person instead of 2. The initial plan was 3 of us and we were quoted with single sharing premium which doesn't make sense at all, we didnt want any trouble and wanted to make sure that was all the changes from the itinerary, Hennie confirmed that only reduction of 2 activities and no airport transfer. However, when we reached Chobe National Park, we were told from the resort that our lunches are not included as opposed to what's stated in the itinerary. We called Hennie and he told us he will only be back in office in a few days' time and by that time we will be finished with the trip and back home!!
Horrible horrible service from Hennie and please do not trust him on his final itinerary until you get all the vouchers. There are multiple shortchange and it was unfair to holidaygoers.
UA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Terrible organisation, many animals.
The good:
We have seen a lot of animals.
Chief has perfect cooking skills. All food were delicious. But not a lunch boxes. They need to do something with lunch boxes.
Parks are amazing.
No matter what you will see bellow, that was a great experience and we are happy.
The Bad:
To be honest, we confirmed our booking a day before safari had to start. And it could cause some issues along the way...
1. We spent half a day in the hotel because guys, as they said, had to go to bank and put money into account. So we lost half the first day. But ok, I understand if so. That is our bad. Also they changed plan without notice. Instead of Tarangire we drove to Lake Manyara.
2. When we came to lake ticketing, I had to pay with my card cuz as it appeared guys didn't put any money into account, so who knows where did they spend half a day. And I had to pay from my card all other park fees also. We tried to solve this small issue with the manager, but they refused to participate.
3. On the line to Ngorongoro entrance we spend 2 and a half hours, while all other drivers did it much faster. Even those who arrived after us. Not sure, driver may had some issues with ticketing. Not a big deal!
4. On the camping side. Tents were very old, no other camping equipment were provided. By saying no I mean we had only tent and dirty-old mattress to sleep on. No slipping bags, covers or anything that could worm us up in the nigh. While all other tents were fully equipped. For info I'm hiking like 15 years, and never ever had such a bad experience. The very next morning I got sick. Likely girls were fine.
5. Because we didn't have camping equipment we had to change our plan and spent less time in Serengeti and Ngorongoro. And get back to our first camping place near lake which were quite nice.
6. On the last day driver said that he doesn't have fuel and no money for park fees, refused to go anywhere no matter that we had paid for day #4. So I had to come up with idea what to do in the last day. I bought gas, paid for park fee in Tarangire for me, friends and driver with chief.
7. Some issues from the list above I have tried to discuss with manager of Tembia Safaris to find solution. No results, after I have been asked to stop complaining I gave up trying repeating my attempts and we did what we could.
After all that is amazing experience. But maybe with another company.
Yeah, that was sort of complicated 4 days :)
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A disorganized, dishonest and dishonorable company. Run away as fast as you can!
I usually don’t write negative reviews as most of my traveling experiences have been positive up until now. I used this company as a recommendation from a friend who previously booked and had a marvelous climb with Kunda (mountain guide). Despite reading just mediocre reviews we booked with Elkan Safari. We booked both a 4 day safari/ Kilimanjaro climb w Kunda Kilimanjaro guide). The cost was all inclusive w gate prices but the end of tour the owner ripped us off an additional $460 usd. The original price was all inclusive, including entrance fees but as we went along with itinerary there were several “Surprise costs” along the way. Stranded at the gate w crew and other tour guest we were basically forced to pay beyond agreed amount. We confronted him several days prior to departure about error, he confirmed to meet us to refund money. He did not show up, was unreachable and did not fulfill the rest of the itinerary leaving us stranded for a place to stay. The kicker and deal breaker for me is not only did he not pay us our outstanding $460, but he not to pay the climb team or bus driver upon returning from climb leaving exhausted men stranded with no money after 7 grueling days of hard work. It is one thing to cheat and hustle tourists, but it is a whole another thing to cheat your own people and employees. These men practically killed themselves climbing up and down difficult Mt. Kilimanjaro w 23+ kg of supplies each on their heads. They left their families and home for 7 day and received no pay. That is the ultimate low. Victor Goodman, owner of Elkan Safari, Ltd, lied and stole from his clients and employees. Stay away from this company and his other listings Kilimanjaro Champion. As of today, he still hasn’t paid his employees or the money he owed to us. Truthfully there are literally hundreds of companies out there for safari and mountain climbs so why take a chance with one that clearly has a reputation for ripping people off!!!
On a positive note, porters and mountain guides contracted, Kunda & Omary were simply magnificent. They took care of us and helped us reach the top!!! They salvaged our ruined holiday by making our climbing experience once in a lifetime. Kunda and Omary (mountain guides), went upon and beyond and assisted us when Victor left us stranded and them salary-less. They even met us the following day to make sure we made it out of Arusha safely to our next destination. We are forever thankful to them.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
worst arrange and rude driver
We visited Serengeti and Ngorongoro, but our driver (Eric) of JJ Tour and Safari always lied and hide bad information for him to rest. JJ Tour and Safari also never let us know information after making a payment.
When we asked some question, he always replied in a derisive tone, and some time tap for chip.
I strongly recommend you to avoid him and this company in order to enjoy your trip.
IT
The worst experience of our life
Hereby I signed Ludovico Canovai want to report a fraud suffered against me during my stay for the Christmas holidays.
The day on December 13 of 2015 to prepare for my trip to Tanzania I booked and paid a rent of 2 bikes for 4 days (24-27 December) in Zanzibar through Kiango Adventure Safaris from the Lord David in Dar Es Salaam.
When I landed at the Port of Zanzibar where I had the 'date for delivery of the bikes, unfortunately the' Agency did not show up.
After several attempts to contact them, we could speak with the head of the Society of hire who admitted he had not paid the 'intermediary and that in 3 days. Would reimburse payment 289 USD
Afther three days from the day of repayment we were still waiting for the refund.
Concerned about what happened, I went directly to 'address of the agency, which unfortunately did not exist. Even though David has answered the phone but did not want to meet us personally.
At January 17 I have not yet received payment
IT
20-35 years of age
The worst experience of our life
Re.: Report of fraud in Tanzania
Hereby I signed Ludovico Canovai want to report a fraud suffered against me during my stay for the Christmas holidays.
The day on December 13 of 2015 to prepare for my trip to Tanzania I booked and paid a rent of 2 bikes for 4 days (24-27 December) in Zanzibar through Kiango Adventure Safaris from the Lord David in Dar Es Salaam.
When I landed at the Port of Zanzibar where I had the 'date for delivery of the bikes, unfortunately the' Agency did not show up.
After several attempts to contact them, we could speak with the head of the Society of hire who admitted he had not paid the 'intermediary and that in 3 days. Would reimburse payment 289 USD
Afther three days from the day of repayment we were still waiting for the refund.
Concerned about what happened, I went directly to 'address of the agency, which unfortunately did not exist. Even though David has answered the phone but did not want to meet us personally.
At January 17 I have not yet received payment
AE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
The tour guide was only interested to get his job done asap. Low knowledge about animals and nature.
Booking was easy and professional. We were picked up by the wrong tour operator which had almost the same name but this was sorted out quickly. The car which we booked had technical issues so we ended up with an alternative for the first day. Our driver and guide was the worst ever. Very bad experience.