ES
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
DON’T BOOK WITH THEM
Purity was the operator that I was talking to by email. At the beginning she was answering quickly to my questions so I decided to book and pay the amount she told me. Once I paid I had to wait since 31st May to 29th June to have my confirmation. I had to send several emails (without answer) and that was feeling like a scam. After that, I had to write her a few days before to make sure everything was fine and that was when she told me the planning had changed “because the government increased the price of the entrance fee”, so we had 1 day of 5 without visit to any park. Even that happened and I was informed two days before arrival, the price stayed the same. When we arrived there hopefully we met the best driver ever, Ken, who was working for another company and took care of us with all his love. The last day he informed us that we were going to change into another car to arrive at Namanga border where we were supposed to take a bus that would bring us to our hotel in Arusha (final destination). We met that second driver at Amboseli’a date. He came driving his van very fast and shouting at us and at Ken. We couldn’t understand anything but finally he left us there without explanation and left driving unsafe. That was a nightmare for us, that were about to lose our shuttle bus and were scared. We had to change into a third van and arrived at Namanga border where we met Abbas, the man that was going to “help” us within there. He asked us the name of the hotel in Arusha and said Arusha wasn’t safe so they will going to bring us our hotel. Finally we took the bus but our destination changed again without explanation as he left us somewhere in Arusha. We had to take a taxi after being in the middle of 20-30 men trying to force us to go with them on their “taxis”, in a very unsafe area. When I reached Purity on WhatsApp she seemed surprised and worried but when I asked for the amount of the taxi she turned the same: no answer, no help, so I had to talk to my lawyer to start a process against the company. Sometimes you go for the cheapest and that turns into the most expensive experience. Think twice before booking…
IE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Terrible company
I was unfortunately really disappointed with this tour company. They are almost con artists and extremely unprofessional.
I was doing this tour as a solo female traveller. I requested to be part of a group and waited until other people were booked before booking myself. I was told that there were other people booked in for the same dates and I could join that tour. When I was collected by the tour company, I was very casually told that everyone else had cancelled and I would be alone for the entire trip. This was never communicated to me before being collected in Entebbe. I specifically asked when booking to be a part of a group as I wanted to meet other people on my travels and wanted to have company for meals and long car journeys. Eddie’s attitude about this was very disrespectful and casual, as if it was not a big deal. It appears this company does not understand that a tour is supposed to be more than one person.
Day 1 of the itinerary was a 40 minute drive from Entebbe to Kampala. I was not offered a city tour. Day 1 started at 10am and was finished at 11am and I was in the room alone until day 2. As I was the only person on the tour, I couldn’t go for a walk with people or eat in company and meet new people as I had planned and had to stay in my room all day. When checking out of the accommodation on day 3, I had to very uncomfortably ask my guide to pay for my dinners numerous times as I was told these were included in the price. There was a breakdown in language here that meant I had to go back and forth with him to get him to pay. A very uncomfortable situation that could have easily been avoided if the tour company communicated with their staff better.
On Day 3, it was a total of 11.5 hours to get to the accommodation. We stopped for 15mins at the equator to take a picture and use the toilet. There was no informative talk as it said in my itinerary. My driver got lost twice and asked me to use my Google maps for him as he had no data? When I eventually arrived at the camp and began check in, my guide told me that a different camp had called to ask where we were. Then Eddie called to say we were at the wrong camp even though I had the name of the camp in my itinerary from Northern Fox. My accommodation had been changed without any notice and we then had to drive back the way we came from to get to the new accommodation. I was then texted by Eddie to say that I would only be staying for 1 night instead of 2 and I was being moved to a different accommodation again for the last night which was not the plan I was given. I was told the new camp would be “better” but I was the only person staying at the entire camp and again, did not get to meet any other travellers.
Day 4 was finished by 3pm and I was taken to my accommodation which looked nice and I was happy to hear there was a pool. The pool was absolutely filthy. I could not swim in it. Again, I was the only person from a tour staying at this accommodation so I ate alone again in an empty restaurant and did not get to meet anyone.
On Day 5, while travelling back towards Entebbe, my guide mentioned we were 2 hours from the Forest Cottages. I asked how far that was from Entebbe and he said “no we are going to Kampala”. I told him I needed to be dropped at a specific hotel in Entebbe, as I had an early morning flight, and I had already told Eddie this prior to booking the tour. I had also told my guide this the day that he collected me. Again, he just laughed casually and said “no problem”.
I am very disappointed with this tour and I am very confused why it cost $1540. I know the gorilla permit cost $740, but given the poor quality accommodation on day 1,2 and 3 I don’t know why this trip was so expensive. There were no bottles of water available for me in the car either, which I always had on my tour in Kenya so this was very annoying as it was supposed to be covered in the cost and I had to keep asking for it to be provided.
A warning to people considering booking this - this is NOT a 5 day itinerary. It is 2 days of activities and 3 days of travel.
I had good intentions to support a local company rather than an international travel company but I will not do it again. This company were very unprofessional and treated everything very casually when it was clearly causing me upset. If this were an international company I would be seeking a partial refund but given how carelessly Northern Fox treated my custom, I know they would not provide it. I understand there is a large cultural difference and that Ugandan people are very calm and take things very easy, but this approach does not meet international or European standards for service. You do not get what you pay for here. The issues I encountered while traveling alone were stressful and I would never book with them again. The two days of activities were fun, but this company ruined my trip.
DE
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Warning! Suspected insolvency! Capture Tanzania Adventure LTD ARUSHA
On 14.07.22 I booked a 2-day safari from Zanzibar to Tanzania (Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangire NP) on the recommendation of a regional TUI travel agency in Cottbus. The contacts to the above-mentioned tour operators took place exclusively through the local travel agency. On the eve of the departure for the safari in Zanzibar, the first cancellation (due to accident of the GF) with the alternative for an AWT took place on 23./24.09.22. Here, too, the cancellation was made by EMAIL the evening before to the local travel agency in Cottbus. On 22.09.22 there was an EMAIL with "comforting words" and the notification of the repayment of the travel price signed by the "booking team" of the above mentioned company. Since then, the owner has only sent a regrettable message to my travel agency because of my report in various travel portals and the substantive notification of insolvency combined with the threat of legal action, I should continue to warn against this above-mentioned company and have filed a criminal complaint against the mentioned company.
CZ
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Follow up on awful February safari, Contacted by Lilian, turned out to be more games
I will be brief this time. We were contacted by Lilian who wanted to apologize for what she did. She was asking for forgiveness, that she had learnt her lesson. It really didn't mean much to us because the damage had been done, ruined safari, stuck with driver, all that, not showing up to the police station. She said she would refund the money in full on the condition that we remove the reviews so the group something was up. We told her at least half of the amount because we are not cruel people to demand the whole amount, and based on the circumstances of our ruined safari, we were being unbelievably fair. She went on about how hard things were and of course we are human and were ready to put in a word for her attempt to right the wrong. She offered to give 300 dollars to take down the reviews and for our group of 7 is 42 dollars per person. a fraction of what we had to pay extra on those few horrible days. We weren't gonna start haggling over how much lower we could go but the haggling started again. It was simple, pay the refund she wanted to pay then we put in a good word over the attempt to right the wrong. She mentioned she had a few clients coming in August and that would help her get the money for refunds, (That is the excuse she will use to let you believe she will fix things). She sent the 300 dollars and asked that we remove the reviews??That wasn't even what we had agreed on but then she said that in her own way it was "giving us the money for park fees". She then said her conscience was clear since she had finally given us the park fees.How absurd!!! The other twist was that she had the rest of the money actually and that she would pay it in full only if we removed the reviews. We were done with the games and we told her she could run her business however she liked. I said i would write this here to which i received the reply "I have an alternative I will just pay $300 and have a new website"."Write as many reviews as you can my dear". She has quite the taste for mockery. It seems she has done it again to other tourists so avoid Lians Travel.
AT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
WHAT IS HAPPENING?
Safari is supposed to start on 29th August, trip got cancelled today. What is happening? What is there to be done? What are all of you doing now? How and where to apply for a refund and how can we make complaints at the police?
Shame and horrible treatment of tourists.
CZ
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Terrible woman, very rude, non professional, stole our money, left us stranded
Dear reader, as you read this, please scroll to the review under this one. March 4th, a 5 star review of a ten-day safari with one picture of like 2 buffaloes, March 2nd, two days earlier, a one star review, might not seem odd. February 24th, one star review, followed two days by well what do you know, a five star review. From August 2018 to February 24th, zero reviews.And after two one star reviews, 2 days later a 5 star review shows up? The reason I’m pointing this is out is what I have to say about Lians Travel Africa. We met Lilian, the owner of Lians Travel in our estate, who had just arrived with the driver. They were slightly later than expected but nevertheless we were happy that they had come, we left and had to go to the bank to pay the driver presumably. This was on 11th February, long drive, thought we were stopping for lunch in a town called Narok but apparently after clients pay for all inclusive, they also pay for their own lunch. (I have the text message provided to me from Lilian’s confirmed number, check even on Lians Travel Africa at the bottom and see the Mobile phone number ending in 710 111. One passenger was sick but poor her, she didn’t even get lunch, priority was to get her to camp to relax. We saw the Maasai performance which was nice, safari on 12th was very nice too, it was a pleasant day and I can’t complain.
13th February was went it all went bad. We had no safari in the morning and I saw the itinerary and noticed a few issues that the driver had pointed out. I will mention these later. The driver was looking nervous and was talking to my daughter and her husband. We were just standing on the side of the road, not knowing what’s going on. A few phone calls in the car, messages exchanged, my daughter and her husband were getting concerned and from what they told me, the driver didn’t wanna go on the journey, it seems that driver was not paid his full money. We didn’t really know that but I just wanted to continue with the journey.
My daughter called this woman, her husband did too, the driver and at some point it was just shouting and shouting even when they told her to calm down. The woman called Lilian. From what I have been told, she accused my daughter’s husband of being on the same side as the driver who were apparently running the safari. I have the message to prove it. It’s funny because my son in law also paid for this safari so I didn’t understand why she accused him. Later he explained that Lilian sent a text message saying that “You are from Kikuyu tribe so I know you also stole something from the safari.” Kikuyu tribe is one of the biggest tribes in Kenya and apparently the stereotype is that Kikuyus love money and Lilian was by a long shot, trying to say that my daughter’s husband was stealing from us too. I think she thought that he was some travel agent who booked the holiday for us, in Europe we are not saying this to people, I just don’t understand why she said it. What kind of person is this or what kind of country is it where someone judges another by tribal basis? I really didn’t understand this. I will attach this message here and you will see with your own eyes. It’s unbelievable that after ditching us in Narok, she was trying to secretly find out if we paid the park fees for ourselves, hello? She had just ditched us a few hours earlier! Anyway,I’ve got a video of her telling us to “sort ourselves out”, it’s a shame I cannot post it here, but IF YOU ARE READING THIS,JUST GOOGLE LIANS TRAVEL and you will see even on YouTube.There is just something terrible about seeing your loved ones and family members looking despondent, it really gets you. it was very bad day, everyone frustrated, poor safari and we had to pay for transport and entrance for Nakuru. A police report was made but I understand that Lilian just hid from the authorities, no justice in Africa. It was a terrible experience for my family and my first time in Africa. You have seen the suspicious reviews here, and on no other platform will you find Lians Travel Africa, just on safari bookings, that should be your first red flag. Check the top of my post and see the reviews from August 2018 to now, see if they make any sense, 2 days after this, another 5 star review might show up. Since 4th March, no review yet, strange indeed. I shall attach the text messages here as proof.
I will give some advice too, there are many good travel companies, with good reviews all over the internet, much more trustworthy, do you wanna risk it with this company? I’m sure you don’t. I don’t recommend this company at all!
ES
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Worst than worst!!!Police do something!!
My first safari. I was saving many months and now I feel robbed! The owner still writes to me today asking not to write wrong review but doesnt care that everything went wrong , is a liar and like the rest of the comments said, is true he does not care. I did ask before booking if he had partners in Tanzania and said no, well that is a lie, Mr.Seth Vincent is partner with SANDLAND ( Abraham Shaidi who also ruin us). I see on another review that he lies again, he still has same partner. Same story first you pay (for us was 1750euros each for 8days safari) then he changes the itinerary. we did less than half of the games we paid for, one day car broke, (waited 5h) another day no entrance to park paid waited 4h, even we were stucked half a day on one accommodation Panorama camp"because it was not been paid for, the police had to come to rescue us, sounds incredible but this are only a few examples, I am sure I will get a reply full of lies but this company needs to be stopped , people save money to come to this beautiful countries to have the dream holidays and they are ruined like this is not right!
CA
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Terrible. Worse vacation ever. John Williams scammer.
I had the worse experience with John Williams. We landed in Serengeti to find out the parks fee was not paid nor the hotels. I can't even write down my thoughts because I'm so upset with the whole situation. I trusted John. Pls guts be careful about this agent.
IE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY - THEY WILL ROB YOU!
Do not use Bella Africa Safaris as Bella basically took our money and left us hanging high and dry.
We found this out the day after our arrival in Kigali when it turned out that nothing was paid for: no car, no permits, no activities. We did have phone calls with Bella herself who told us that she had financial problems, but all would be solved within 3 days and we just needed to advance $2000 for the first 3 days so that she could sort herself out. She would meet us in person back in Kigali, apologize and ensure us we will have a fantastic trip. Needless to say that never happened. We had no choice but to pay for everything all over again it was that or taking the next flight home. We were lucky to still be able to get gorilla permits and I wont mention the financial impact of having to pay for this trip of a life time twice.
We sent the deposit back in February to ensure all permits would be bought well in advance but nothing was done. So this was not a last minute problem with cash flow as one of the versions of the story we were provided with
I repeat DO NOT use this company they are a sham. Rwanda is amazing but our trip was spoilt by Bella’s dishonesty and greed. We went to Rwanda and have been back for 3 weeks and the last thing we heard she was going to ask for a loan and reimburse us every penny. This was 2 weeks ago. We will never see our money again don't waste yours as well, find another company.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fraudulent Thief- Don’t Risk It
Here are the reasons why choosing this safari option is just not worth risking for your once in a lifetime trip:
1. Broken down cars (ours broke down and needed to be serviced mid-trip). He will try to say this didn’t happen - well, it did, and we have photos and videos to prove it. We had to wait so long before it was repaired.
2. Broken radio, You will be the only car in the park that can't communicate with other other guides in the park (which will severely limit your ability to see wildlife). We had agreed that a radio would be in the car - and he guaranteed this, but told us it was broken after we had driven 5 hours and were in the park so there was no turning back.
3, Tiny windows (like being in a plane), other operators have jeeps with windows twice the size. Im 5'9 and had to hunch to see anything. He will try to say Tanzania requires all cars must be the same model, this is just not true. Look at photos yourself!
4. Philemon tried to put up into a budget lodge after we specifically discussed the lodges we wanted to be in (and had a written contract). We agreed to the lodges and then he tried to make last minute changes to get us in a cheaper one. What a joke!
5. Philemon tried to cut out a full day of our itinerary (we paid for 5 days, but to save money on park fees etc, he tried to persuade us the safari was only a 4 day trip). We agreed to itinerary e tried to change when we were mid way through!
6. Philemon will require you pay in full upfront. And he is very sweet to work with to start, but once he gets paid in full, he will ignore you and you will receive terrible service from him.
There are so many other operators, just dont risk your once in a lifetime trip. We chose this company because of the tripadvisor reviews, but it appears that they may not all be true. While out on safari, we did meet several couples/families who had chosen Leopard Tours and seemed to love it. They had modern cars, working radios, and very intelligent and knowledgeable guides. We cant vouch for them since we didnt use them, but I would try anything else but this!
Really disappointed.
Just don't risk it.