HU
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Luxury price, budget experience with plenty of lies and excuses (AVOID!)
I want to share my disappointing experience with the 5-day Kenyan safari my wife and I went on. To put it bluntly, it was far from the “luxury” experience we were promised. I’m sharing this to hopefully save others from the frustration we went through.
0. Lies and Excuses: I first shared my review back in September, and we eventually reached an agreement with the agency for compensation. They claimed to have transferred the funds, but guess what? It never arrived. For nearly a month, we were strung along with endless excuses. Safe to say, our trust in them evaporated.
1. Guide (or rather, driver): We had a “driver-guide” who seemed to only focus on the “driver” part. We expected a knowledgeable guide for the price we paid, but instead, we got someone who could barely tell us the names of animals. We learned more from Google and ChatGPT than from him. His English was poor, and he couldn’t answer basic questions. To top it off, on the first day, he was 20 minutes late, and the vehicle’s fuel tank was empty, so we had to stop for gas. Water for the trip? Had to pick that up, too. Not the best start to a “luxury” safari.
The worst part? The guide didn’t even know the way around. He managed to get us lost in the Maasai Mara on Day 1, and we arrived at our hotel over two hours late. He wasn’t particularly attentive either—no door-opening, lots of time on his phone (without a headset, mind you), and some reckless moves, like speeding through a busy market.
2. Dietary Disregard: Both my wife and I are vegan, and I also need to avoid gluten. I made this clear to Silas multiple times on WhatsApp. He assured us everything was in order. But of course, neither the guide nor the hotel staff had a clue. We had to re-explain at every meal. For three days, we ended up searching shopping malls for vegan food to eat on the go. The “picnic” lunch we got on the last day? A random assortment from a supermarket that cost them maybe $3 per person. Luxury, indeed.
3. Ignored Anniversary Request: I’d told Silas several times that our wedding anniversary would be during the trip, and we’d like a special dinner. He promised to set it up, but the lodge staff had no idea when we arrived. We eventually arranged a bush dinner ourselves, costing us an extra $180.
4. Payment Surprises: Initially, we planned to pay the balance with a card, only to be told there would be an extra 4% fee—something that wasn’t mentioned when we paid the deposit. We ended up doing a bank transfer instead, but the lack of transparency was frustrating.
5. Lack of Pre-Trip Info: There was no pre-trip info about the country, packing tips, or what to expect. While it might seem minor on its own, given the other issues, it was just another sign of how little they cared.
There were other smaller annoyances, but these were the main issues. Right from Day 1, it was clear things were going downhill. I messaged Silas immediately, requesting a different guide. His response? The guide “knew the park” and “breakfast wasn’t typically provided on Day 1” (so why was it on the itinerary?).
All in all, this was a complete letdown. The agency is responsible for hiring competent guides and ensuring dietary requests are communicated, especially when they’ve been assured in advance. My advice? Avoid this agency. Find a reputable company that delivers on its promises.
The cherry on top? We’re still waiting on that “compensation” that never arrived.
HU
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Poor Service, Unprofessional guide, and lies about compensation
I would like to share my experience with the 5-day Kenyan safari my husband and I went on. Unfortunately, we were both extremely disappointed with the services, and I feel it’s important to share this feedback so others can avoid similar issues.
0. Lies all around: First of all, I shared my review in September. After writing this review on September 1st, we reached an agreement with the agency for compensation. They claimed to have sent the money, but it never arrived, and they continued to give us excuses for almost another month. This only deepened our disappointment and frustration, and we find the entire situation outrageous.
1. Guide: The driver-guide we had throughout the safari did not meet our expectations at all. He acted mostly as a driver, which was disappointing given the price we paid for this trip. He barely provided any information, and when he did, it was limited to just naming animals. We didn’t receive any insights into their behavior, reproduction, or diet, nor did we learn anything about Kenya’s cultural or natural highlights. At one point, we resorted to using Google and ChatGPT for information. I asked many questions, but the guide often couldn’t answer, and sometimes he didn’t even understand due to his poor English skills. We were also left in the dark regarding the itinerary and how to prepare for the next day.
On the first day, the guide arrived 20 minutes late, and the vehicle had an empty fuel tank, so we had to stop for gas and even had to pick up water for the tour. These could have been arranged beforehand, and it felt unprofessional to have our experience delayed this way.
The guide also wasn’t familiar with the locations, which resulted in us getting lost in the Maasai Mara on the first day, causing us to arrive more than two hours late at the hotel. His inexperience was further evident in his driving—he didn’t open the door for us, spent too much time on his phone without a headset, and even made dangerous maneuvers, like cutting through a crowded market.
2. Ignoring Dietary Requests: Both my husband and I are vegan, and I also follow a gluten-free diet. I informed Silas multiple times via WhatsApp about our dietary needs, and he assured me there would be no issues. However, neither the guide nor the hotel staff were aware of these requests. We had to explain our preferences at every meal, catching them off guard. For three days, we had to spend hours looking for vegan options in shopping malls for our "picnic" lunch, only to end up eating in the car. On the last day, we were given ham sandwiches, eggs, and milk, which the driver later replaced with supermarket food costing only $3 per person. This was far below what we expected for a "luxury" trip.
3. Ignoring Anniversary Dinner Request: I had informed Silas several times that our wedding anniversary would take place during the trip, and we wanted a special dinner at the lodge. Silas assured us it would be arranged, but when we arrived, the lodge knew nothing about it. We ended up organizing a bush dinner ourselves, which cost $180.
4. Payment Issue: We initially planned to pay the balance of the trip by card, but Silas informed us of a 4% card fee, which was not mentioned or charged when we paid the deposit. This hidden fee only became apparent when we had no other option, and we felt this was unfair. Instead, we opted for a bank transfer, but this situation further eroded our trust in the agency.
5. Lack of Pre-Trip Information: We received no information or briefing about the country, what to pack, or other important details before the trip. While this might not seem like a major issue on its own, given all the other problems we encountered, it reflected the overall lack of care from the agency.
There are many other small details I could mention, but what was most disappointing was that these issues were evident from the very first day. I immediately informed Silas and requested a different guide. Unfortunately, his response was minimal—he simply stated that the guide was familiar with the national park and that breakfast is typically not provided on the first day (so why was it included in the itinerary?).
Overall, we are incredibly disappointed with the service. It is the agency’s responsibility to provide a competent guide and at the very least communicate special dietary needs to the accommodations, especially when these have been promised in advance. I strongly recommend that others avoid this agency and find a more reliable and established travel company.
The "cherry on top" is the we were scammed about receiving a compensation which never happened.
CN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It's really a terrible experience! We feel that we have been cheated !!!
Before our trip to Kenya on September 28th, we had paid the full amount for the tour. However, on the morning of October 5th, the last day of our stay, we were informed by the hotel that Morningstar had not paid them, and therefore we were not allowed to leave. We were forced to stay at the hotel for nearly 2 hours. During this unexpected situation, our contact person Alice completely disappeared and refused to answer our calls and WeChat messages. In order to catch our flight back home, we had to pay nearly $4500 for the hotel fees in advance. But right after we paid, Alice showed up and claimed that she had an emergency and would refund us later. Out of trust in this company, we kept communicating with them actively after returning home. But until today, we haven't received any refund, and the people from this company are full of lies! They said the refund had been sent to us at one moment, and then claimed they needed to confirm the specific details of the expenses with the driver at another moment. They always put off giving us the remittance receipt! We also confirmed with the bank over the phone that we hadn't received any remittance information.
If you don't want to advance payment for a fraudulent company and don't want to be helpless in a foreign country, please don't choose this company. It's really a terrible experience!
CN
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Shocking Experience with Morning Star - Held at Hotel Due to Unpaid Bills
On the final day of our African safari tour , we experienced an unacceptable situation with Morning Star Travel Agency. At check-out time (8 AM), the hotel staff informed us that Morning Star had never paid for our stay, despite us having paid the full tour amount two weeks before the trip.
After two hours of unsuccessful attempts to contact Morning Star (our agent Alice became mysteriously unreachable), we were forced to pay $4,532 out of pocket for the hotel bill to avoid missing our afternoon flight. This was the second time during our trip that we had to cover Morning Star's unpaid fees, following a $1,600 payment we were forced to make for Masai Mara park entrance fees.
Most concerning facts:
Morning Star had received full payment from us two weeks before the trip
Their agent disappeared when the payment issue arose, only to reappear after we paid
One month has passed with no refund or explanation
I am sharing this to warn others about Morning Star's practices and will continue to pursue this matter until I receive a full refund.
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unpaid and changed Lodges
I would not book JT Safaris again. Almost the whole safari was paid in advance and I had a confimation for all Camps and Lodges we were planning to stay. But when we arrived in Mombasa the first information we got was that we will not stay at Salt Lick Lodge but had to switch to another camp.
"Ok, that might happen in Kenia" we thought. But then, after four days of safari we came to Kibo camp in Amboseli and the booked rooms had not been paid for.
I phoned JT Safaris but nothing happened. It was really, really frustrating, especially if you are all dusty and a bit exhausted from the trip...
It took hours and in the end our guide paid the rooms, that we already paid for in advance.
Finally we made sure, that he got the money back - but without him - I am sure - we would have paid twice without any chance of getting our money back.
FR
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
I believe this company is fraudulent
This company offers a rate of 350e/day. In high season for one person. It makes you take the plane ticket so that you choose your dates and then it asks you for 500euros/day. As the ticket is taken, you are obliged to accept the rate. !!!!@@
Be careful, it continues to advertise this scam.
(automatic translation from French)
CN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Morning Star is a big cheater.
Morning Star is a big cheater. They owe me a total refund of $8,372 which hasn't been returned yet. During the process, they kept telling us that they would transfer the money to us, but they kept delaying it. It has been almost a month since the trip ended, but we still haven’t seen the remittance.
I would like to ask if this company still has any integrity and if it is so difficult to bear its own mistakes. Why should tourists pay for your so-called hacker mistakes? This is outrageous.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Terribly dissapponted by our agent ,from transport,hotel bookings and check in ,he was just off
We were truly dissappointed on our first experience booking with bonfire to Diani Baobab.
1.Transport -
a)On arrival at Miritini 3am ,we had a pickup challenge ,2 different guys having our contacts ,ready 2 pick us up and confusing us .We couldnt reach our agent for clarification.So frustrating .
b)The one transport means we settled for was so old and uncomfortable.This was after making so many calls with differents guys .
3. Checking in-Upon arrival ,we were not able to be checked in since our agent had not communicated to us that the hotel checkin time is 10am and we couldnt access the all inclusive facility as his early communication until checked in .Mind you we reached the hotel 5am ,only to wait at the reception till 10 am.
Having to pay an extra cost to access breakfast yet we could have done flights and got to the hotel in good time with no challenges .Old parents and kids tired after a long trip in the night .Then wait for long hours to check in.
-Clear communication on checking timings should be passed to clients
-Agent should not rush in closing business
- Agent should confirm about laggages and maximum kgs to br carried per person .Some of us had to pay extra for laggage.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
This guide abandoned us on Day 2 of our safari, I recommend you beware
My wife and I (from Sydney, Australia) organised and pre-paid USD 6,750 in late 2023 for a primate safari tour with Explore Uganda with Dan for a trip in August 2024, We booked with Explore Uganda with Dan based on their 71 fantastic 5-star Trip Advisor reviews over 8 years, and on the basis he was a fully registered guide company with the Uganda Tourism Board.
We arrived in Uganda on 5 August and the tour commenced the next day. The tour included three expensive full day habituation permits for gorillas, chimpanzees and golden monkeys (this totalled USD 3,500 of the total USD 6,750 we paid Dan and we paid him those monies way back in November 2023 so he could make sure he obtained the permits which are hard to get).
Daniel (the owner of Explore Uganda with Dan) picked us up from our Kampala hotel and we had a long 7 hour drive to Kibale NP where we were going to do the chimpanzee habituation tour the next day. We arrived at the car park at 6am the next morning and Dan was not there. He had left us a voicemail at 5am saying that there was an issue with the permits and he was driving back to Kampala "to fix things". I eventually got onto Dan that evening on WhatsApp and he said he was nearly back at Kibale NP and that things should be OK - he told us to be at the car park at 6am the next morning. We turned up again at 6am and Dan was not there again. This time he had left us a voicemail at 4am saying he was extremely sorry but he could not continue our tour, that he was headed back to Kampala, and that he would refund all our money paid (note: he has not paid us back anything 6 weeks later). So he just abandoned us at the Treetops hotel in Kibale NP with no transport and no accommodation (Treetops hotel was full up that night and beyond). We spoke to several experienced guides at Treetops that morning that were looking after their own clients , and they were in disbelief that Dan could just abandon us at the start of our tour - they had never seen anything like it in all their years of tourism in Uganda.
Dan did eventually admit to us that he had bought our three habituation permits on the dodgy Ugandan secondary market for permits, and that he had been sold fake permits. He obviously then couldn't rectify the situation, panicked, and then just abandoned us. We understand that the Uganda Tourism Board which is the body that licences and regulates operators like Travel Uganda with Dan, will soon revoke his tourism licence. We now know of three other couples that Dan ripped off for large sums of money that he did not complete tours for. It seems that unfortunately our tour was the start of when it all fell apart for Dan.
Thanks for reading through our long, sorry tale, and please do not use this disreputable operator.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Lost $3K USD to the company - I recommend you stay away like the plague
TLDR: In my opinion Amani is a professional liar and it shocks me as to how he has been given 5 star ratings on this page. He collects the full tour's payment upfront but fails to deliver parts of the tour and pockets the cash for himself. We have many instances of Amani confirming the money will be refunded for the parts of the tour that could not be arranged, however we have yet to see the refund come through. We have been scammed of $3k USD and have filed a police report and are in conversations with the regulatory bodies in Tanzania requesting for aid in recovering this money. I am writing this review to create awareness of this premeditated disgusting scam that all current and future travelers should stay away from. Screenshots attached.
Tour Details
Tour Operator: Amani
Company Name: Kipok Africa Adventures
Tour Dates: August 17 - August 23, 2024
Booking and Payment Summary
I paid 50% of the total package fee ($4,285 USD) prior to the start date, with the remaining 50% paid in cash on August 17.
We were asked to pay an additional $550 USD in cash for a night game drive and a visit to a Maasai village on August 17. These activities, however, were never delivered, and the hotels confirmed that night game drives were not possible. Amani definitely knew this and yet promised to deliver a night game drive, indicating a beginning of the scam.
Daily Itinerary & Incident Summary
August 17 - 19: Amani Mara Camp, Masai Mara, Kenya – No issues; services provided as agreed. However, the night game drive and Maasai village visit, for which we paid $550 USD, were not delivered.
August 19 - 22: Kubu Kubu Tented Luxury Lodge, Serengeti, Tanzania (Screenshots attached)
Before our arrival at Kubu Kubu, Mr. Laizer informed us of a payment issue on his end and requested that we pay the hotel directly for our three nights. He assured us we would be refunded at the end of the tour.
Despite repeated follow-ups, we have yet to receive this refund.
August 22 - 23: Neptune Lodge, Ngorongoro, Tanzania – No issues; payment covered as agreed.
Incident at Ngorongoro Park (screenshots attached)
Upon arrival at Ngorongoro, Mr. Laizer cited a “technical issue” with his payment to the park and instructed us to pay the park fees directly. We complied, incurring additional costs.
Between these incidents, the extra payments totaled $3,076 USD, revealing a consistent pattern of fraudulent requests for money. We had already paid the tour fee in full, and the additional payments were unjustified and based on false pretenses.
I am sharing this to alert other travelers to the fraudulent practices of Amani Laizer & Kipok Africa Adventures. Please be cautious and consider other, more reputable safari operators. I would be giving 0 stars if I could.
