RO
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Never again with Lilac Adventures Limited from Kenya, known also as East Africa Holidays!
We contracted them for a safari in Kenya and Tanzania in July 2014. In Tanzania our fundamental rights have been put at risk by being forced to drive in the dark, to remain without fuel in the savanna, very far from the lodge, just before the sunset, to be forced to use a broken and technically precarious and unsafe car and so on. To any of our or driver phone calls it was no answer from the company! We can easily say: we have been abandoned!
During the 4 days for which we paid luxury conditions, we experienced hours of waiting at the border for the car that was supposed to transfer us to the first location, one day without food, no visits at the Maasai village in Serengeti, no visit to the Old Uvai, although both included in the safari cost, and all in all, the game drives rendered to us could be counted as lasting only for one day instead of the four we paid. We have been spent the rest of the days waiting for payments never done in time or for repairing the car or even worse waiting for someone to tow the car without fuel in the middle of nowhere, but plenty of wild animals ready for hunting!
CN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Last minute hotel change and no refund for hotel difference
The night before our tour after receiving our full payment, agency informed us of the hotels for our tour, two-thirds of which were different from the hotels we had initially confirmed. The point is that when we booked our trip more than three months ago, agency clearly wrote the hotels to be stayed at and broke down our total cost into each individual item, including the hotel cost of $3,210. Therefore, it is reasonable for us to know the actual cost of the changed hotels and ask for a refund of the difference, if any. However, when we asked agency to provide the relevant invoice, agency only provided an invoice for one hotel and then never responded again.
They never explained the reason for the hotel change. We had booked and paid a deposit more than three months in advance, but never received notice until the night before our trip. One of the hotels that was in the nature reserve was replaced with one in a town, so we had to spend an extra half day on transportation instead of game-driving. Most importantly, when we wanted to know the actual cost of the hotel, they responded with ignorance and silence.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Not suitable for a couple's getaway
My fiancé and I booked a 6-day Kruger safari with Wild Planet Safari and we were so excited! Unfortunately, we were disappointed and ultimately, I do not recommend this company.
I will say that the safari guide was super knowledgeable and was able to answer all of our questions regarding wildlife.
I think the biggest problem we had is that we went as a couple, and it was not specified that all three meals would be eaten with the guide and his assistant. We were looking for a more intimate experience at dinnertime under the stars with a bottle of wine.
In general, we also had problems with the included food; the “friendly coffee gatherings” – as to quote the day-by-day itinerary– in the early mornings, for instance, consisted of instant coffee served in tin cups. (All coffee drinkers will agree that instant coffee is terrible). I had pictured sharing a hot thermos filled with freshly brewed coffee. There were coffee shops at the camp sites, so this could’ve easily been arranged.
Some of our food and drink requests (which were approved prior to the safari) were not met; and there were no crackling fires and bonfire glows at nighttime, as to quote the safari description. The owner (who was very defensive when I emailed her afterwards) told me that because of a cold front (which only started at the end of our safari), it got very windy and they could not risk lighting bond fires. She also said our opinions were molded by the cold weather when we had packed long layers, gloves, jackets, etc. just to be on the safe side.
Whoever wrote the safari description is a fantastic writer because we didn’t even think about asking questions re: coffee and fires (etc). I really fell for the beautiful, idealized descriptions of the itinerary.
There were a couple of other little things, such as a missing bottle of wine, some terribly overcooked steaks (I find that mind boggling, because the cook asked us how we wanted it prepared and we said “rare” and “medium”, yet everything steak came out identical); and I still don’t know what happened to a dinner salad that supposedly went bad. I eat TONS of fruit and veggies, so yes, it was THAT important to me.
They do get 5 stars for providing us with great wine in the evening though :).
So if your heart is set on visiting Kruger, I strongly urge you to choose another company.
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The company could benefit from updating their equipment. Shop around.
Communication was quick but it was troubling that the lodges advertised, one of the reason this company was chosen, were suddenly unavailable once the deposit was made. Even after a change to those accommodations there was a further change. The first and last accommodations were phenomenal but the second was below the standard of any place I stayed in Tanzania despite being called a luxury lodge. I am not sure if the driver was skilled or just very lucky. The speed at which we travelled on dirt roads in my opinion far exceeded the capabilities of the vehicle and placed my safety at risk. It was difficult to appreciate the stunning animals and the incredible scenery while veering across the road avoiding oncoming vehicles who were in their own lane.
NL
Several things didn’t went as promised, although we paid for it. We are not satisfied at all.
We got a very nice offer, that we accepted and paid all in advance. Tsavo East was skipped at the day of departure. Although that parkeer was paid. The lodge we paid for was, as they say, full. Allthough we booked in february, later us was told that in february that lodge wasn’t full, and we had to stay in another lodge, 18 km outside the park and very poor. Therefor we also missed the sunrise gamedrive. And our time in the park was also less. We had several times contact and asked for an explanation. And there were some more things. Untill now we didn’t get any compensation. We will never book at Jastro Safaris again.
GR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Mixed Feelings
So me and my friend , booked a 10 days safari trip in both kenya and tanzania.
That included : masai mara, amboseli national park, lake nakuru and lake naivasha (kenya ) and serengeti national park, ngorogoro crater ( tanzania ) . Food , camps and hotels as well as transportation were all included . The total cost was around 1850usd . For starters, the kenya side was perfect, the driver-guide was always on time and did everything he could to make us have a great time and see as many animals as we could as close as possible.
Then it was tanzanias turn. To begin with , the driven wasnt on time as the hotel the first day when we were in arusha( before going to serengeti) . Secondly, we were supposed to do a 3 hours afternoon drive , before restinf at the camp. Not only didnt we do that but in addition on of the girl with whom we were having the safari , asked for a stop to see some hippos, the driver completely ignored her and continued going towards the camp. The driver-guide didnt seem to know how to drive, we stopped multiple times , during our 3 days in tanzania in order for him to find another driver and help him with his gear transmission. He also got lost multiple times going in and out of serengeti park making u turns every time until he finally finds the way. To sum up to this , at our first night at simba a camp in serengeti, regardless the fact that we have seen fire occuring at 17:00 when we reached the camp at 18:30 and we decided to inform the company( which knew nothing about the fire) we full understood the extent of the disaster. The camp was full of gas due to the fire and it was literally impossible to stay there ,beacuse we were only inhaling gas. After multiple messages and phone calls with the company , they told us that the lodge campa are way too expensive to pay(400 usd per person) and that all other camps were full . The result was that we werr forced to sleep there all night,putting our health at risk by the huge amount of gas he inhaled.
The company told ua that the tanzanian part wasnt run by them, but by another partner , the 7wonders, so they cant practically control all things
After returning back in nairobi, we told the office about how terrible the driver in tanzania was( he was a free lancer with 3 more times in the serengeti park as he told us) and about the fire etc and we demanded a compensation at least for the days we lost in Tanzania. They offered us either a day at the giraffe centre in nairobi or 50usd as a compensation.
Regardless the fact that the kenya part was perfect the real reason about this rating is that when you pay 1850usd for a safari in kenya you are hoping for better solutions when a huge problem appears.
QA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Bad Driver makes a tour disaster
we had 3 days safari for Massai Marra. Our driver was an old man that has no eager to stop for any good view, any animal or even enough explanation about any things. He just liked to drive whole day! First day and the last day will be just road driving and the fact is only the middle day is a real SAFARI. The funniest part is that at the end of the trip, he asked tip from all of us, not as a request, but as an order to pay! I dont want to say his name and better this company survey and monitor the drivers and tour guides.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Not the "luxury" we were expecting (Capetown)
This is my experience and my opinion of my latest trip booked with Kanyezi. This is my 2nd time I booked through Kanyezi. The first was a last minute trip (2-3 weeks notice) my flights were my only gripe and I take partial blame for that due to my last-minute booking, so this time I booked my flights myself to solve that issue.
I was expecting luxury or at least upper end accommodations based on their sales of a "luxury" trip, their contract and my previous experience. Our accommodations in Cape town were changed the last few days prior to us leaving on this trip, they were changed from a wine estate to a golf resort? This was not what we had been planning, we don't play golf but we were to go with this change as we were told the other accommodation (Spier or Lanzerac) were not available. The resort, which I will call a "motel" was def not upper end/luxury. We did not even have a/c one night as it didn't work, mold in bathrooms, hairs in the bathrooms, a kitchenette (like an inn suites) also there were private residences on this property, so dogs were barking constantly, laundry hung out to dry all over the place, dust an inch thick on the plastic plants, you get the drift. When I called Chris to express my discontentment he really didn't care and said when he stayed here (10 years ago) it was a nice place. He would rather argue with me than try to sort out our stay somewhere else that was more of what we felt we paid for and were expecting. He was NOT customer service oriented and had a lot of excuses, some were just downright untruths.
There actually was room at the other resorts as we checked, and another couple booked also through Kanyezi actually moved to one of the "unavailable" resorts, however our funds were paid to Kanyezi and we simply didn't have extra funds to make the move to the nicer and what was expected accommodations.
The way were treated by Chris was unacceptable and honestly shocking! This was 4 nights (33%) of our 12 night trip spent in unacceptable accommodations.
Also, I will also say their communication was poor and often took days to respond to emails and most often didn't answer my questions I had asked in my emails. The lists of restaurants to book for dinners given by Kanyezi had not been updated and most of them I called were now permanently closed, because they had not even bothered to check to update their recommendations. Our contract was not updated throughout after they changed our accommodations in Capetown still saying the original "Spier Wine Estate" throughout. Chris is very "contract" driven and mentions his contract regularly.
Given the response and treatment to our situation I would never use Kanyezi again and would not recommend!
I will say Dulini, the safari resort, and The Palms in Zimbabwe were both excellent! I will book direct next time and save myself the hassle of being treated like crap not to mention the anger and frustration I experienced the first days of our long awaited and expensive trip to South Africa. Never again KANYEZI!!
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
First impression good, then dissapointing
The first contact was quite good! We booked the trip in advance and had some few conversations via WhatsApp where all questions got answered.
The owner of the company picked us up from airport and told us that he proudly founded this company some month ago. We are also quite young and thought it is a good choice to support young companies.
What we booked and were aware about:
A shared safari for 6 days with lodges/ hotels and which Nationalparks we will visit
What we didn't know:
That all people who were sitting in the same car have booked different packages which caused the following negative facts:
1. Picking up people for 2 hours in the morning & dropping off people at the end of the day because every couple or single traveller was sleeping in another accommodation. This is not what you want when you do safari and pay for daily entrance fees in the national parks!
2. All people in the car have booked different trips (one day we visited a massai village because of two other people in our car who have booked just 1/2 day safari and afternoon massai village) The driver informed us about the afternoon plans at lunch the day itself. So there was no option to say "no" due to the fact that we were all sitting in one car. I liked the experience of the massai village and we had fun. But it is not the best experience when you don't have a choice! We paid originally for one day in the crater!
At the end of the trip the tour operator offered us to drop us off at the airport. We suggested a pick up time which was to early in his opinion so he picked us up 45 min later. The driver drove really slow and we needed to stop due to problems with the car. At the end we run into the airport and had no time left and has confirmed again how bad this company is organized!
We were really disappointed regarding communication and organization of Mousebird Safari. Its not about having the best cars or best food. Its about informing the customer in the best way so expectations are met.
One last sentence regarding the driver: Barton was excellent driving and explaining the wild life. I would recommend a trip with him (he is a freelancer) but not the safari company.
I hope this feedback helps the company to learn and improve!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Poorly organised & we still haven't been refunded for cancelled activity
- Before the trip even started, communication (regarding payment & our pickup arrangement) with our booking agent was so terrible to a point where we suspected the legitimacy of this company.
- We had to chase our booking agent numerous times (payment has been made at this point) before he finally sent us a pickup driver's contact details
- Before we departed, we sent the pickup driver a message to confirm. He was surprised to hear from us as he wasn't aware of this pickup arrangement and said no-one had contacted him, nevertheless he still agreed to pick us up when we arrive (thank god).
- We we arrived, the pickup driver had no idea where to drop us off as he did not know anything about our itinerary. After many phone calls, he finally found out where we were staying and managed to drop us off at out accommodation. However he did not work for this company and it was still unclear why our booking agent had given us his details.
- the next day we found out one of our activities in Arusha wasn't booked and we had no idea until we arrived (after driving aimlessly for 2 hours).
- We requested for a refund for this cancelled activity as well as our accommodation for the night (as we wouldn't have booked accommodation for that night if it wasn't for the activity mentioned above).
- Staff agreed to refund the activity and suggested they would confirm with their management team and try to refund the accommodation, and promised to sort this out for us before our trip ends. We believe their words.
- After coming back from safari, we returned to Arusha for 1 extra day, We contacted the staff regarding our refund, they said they were still working on it.
- It's been a month since we are back from the trip, we have been contacting the company regarding this matter, and we have been ignored.
- It's been a really dodgy experience overall. Do yourself a favour and avoid this company.