20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Scam Company
Do not book through this company if you dont want to ruin your holidays. This guy Jose will take your money and will never provide the service. And you will never be able to get him on the phone as he will switch it off as soon as the payment is made. He will ask for advance payment and payment on the first day. Don’t ruin your holidays by booking with him no matter what he tells you. He is a good speaker ! This guy is bag of lies. He should be in jail for escroqueries !
ES
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Scam!
We are a family of 6 people who booked a 15 days trip through Kenya, Tanzania and Zanzibar. The first week in Kenya went well, but with quite a few issues in the plan, that always got sorted out thanks to our driver.
From day 8 they just let us down, the driver informed us that the boss Mr. Otieno had left with the money and all employees and clients were left with no bookings, no money and no info... We basically had to pay the rest of the trip ourselves. When going to the police station they informed us that many other groups of tourists had filed a report against the company for the same reasons. We then got informed that Otieno got arrested and is now under investigation. We have not yet gotten our money back, and waiting for more news on what is happening next.
KWSS was a successful business, all it took to ruin this was a BAD and selfish person. The employees lost their jobs (and God knows that jobs are gold in Africa) and certainly some lives got ruined, all this for a few $$$... Shame.
PT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very bad!!!
Hi guys,
I just saw all the comments in This page. I recived the same e-mail , i paid a lot of money, i booked this in January!!!!!
They dont answer this e-mail , and dont pick up all the phone numbers.
I think that we all shoud make a watsup group and put all the information together and give that to the autorities!
Who is with me??
Joana,
CZ
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Bad safari, not lunch, shouting rude owner,left on Maasai Mara roadside,
I was with my family in Kenya, East Africa, my husband and daughter going to Maasai Mara on 11th February until 14th February. For me and my family members, all the fees were paid. We had problems from first day, I was sick and I could not get free lunch, I’m not sure why not, I was sick and I didn’t even get some free lunch. I missed the safari anyway but it was my decision to miss it. On 14th February, our driver didn’t want going on the journey, our friends we travelling with told that driver not paid his money but we had paid in full. We asked if they can calling this owner of company, we had seen her in the first day, her name is Lilian. Our friends and the driver tried calling her but she was always shouting, and we not speak English good. We stopped many times because driver didn’t want continue with journey but we still must going to Nakuru park. Our friends told us that lady we met on first day, Lilian, from Lians Travel said we must “sort ourselves out” meaning that it was our problem and she said on phone, “I don’t care”. I have video of it and I will make it on all social media because it was very bad day, everyone frustrated, poor safari and we must pay for transport and entrance for Nakuru. Our friends after safari which we paid alone went to police station but no justice and no refund for our money. It was a terrible experience for my family and my first time in Africa. I not speak English and if I alone, I would in big big problems. Is many travel companies, please do not using Lians Travel because they make my family safari very horrible. I not recommend this company!
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Disappointing troublesome, frustrating and extremely dishonest in his services and dealings with us,
AFRICAN NIGHTMARE: AVOID THIS BUSINESS AT ALL COSTS
Michael Ahabwe Mugerwa of Mushra Travel, located in Uganda, has provided the WORST travel experience in our 35 years of roaming the globe.. After carefully planning out a 2 week dream vacation to Africa with our best friends (costing in the mid-20k range) our dream journey turned into a horrible nightmare as we discovered that our travel agent had run off with our money.
Michael, who had had made a number of glowing promises in his initial proposal and final itinerary and took our our deposits and told us everything had been arranged and reservations had been made. But while on our trip we soon discovered that was not true and that there were no reservations or payments made, leaving us having to pay twice for most of our hotels and activities promised in our carefully planned itinerary (e.g.the surprise of downgraded hotels, canceled flights, two days of gorilla trekking). So our dream visit to East Africa quickly melted into a pool of disappointment, frustration and uncertainty as to what problems we might encounter next.
Initially we tried to give Michael the benefit of the doubt. But after recurring problems over several days it become evident that these were not simple mistakes or accidental errors but were intentional actions by Michael to deceive, confuse and scam us as he had done with prior clients.
As problems kept recurring and we confronted Michael, he either lied, blamed others, and made excuses, all as a way of not taking any responsibility for these problems Being trusting souls, It took us a few days to realize that we had been scammed and did what we could to salvage some semblance of our planned African vacation. As before on our visits to Africa, we found the people to be warm and friendly and the animals and game drives fascinating
Honesty, integrity, direct communication, dedication, are all traits you would look for in a good travel agent and are critical to a well planned and executed vacation . Sadly, these are traits that do not exist in Michael Ahabwe Muge or Mushra Travel. Currently we are trying to recover some of the thousands of dollars taken from us .But that will never restore or change the complete picture. For Michael not only scammed us and stole our money, but more importantly, he broke our trust and tainted our dream of a wonderful African vacation.
Gary Buffone
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Tour cancelled half way through; disgraceful communication throughout
We booked two tours with Mushra: 6 days in Uganda (2 people) and 7 days in Tanzania (3 people) in September / October. Big mistake.
There were so many issues and disappointments it’s difficult to wrap up into a review. To try and keep it simple, I’ve tried to focus on the key areas. Tanzania was the ultimate disaster where we were left fearing for our safety as a result of Mushra’s actions.
The individuals within our group have travelled extensively across the globe for 15 years and never encountered anything like the horrible experience we had with Mushra. We do not recommend their services to anyone.
Communication - things were going well throughout the sales process and all our queries were answered very quickly. However as soon as we paid the money (~USD8000) all communication stopped. To the point where we were unsure if the company really existed and if tours would go ahead. None of our final questions were answered and there was no recognition of final logistical information like pick up locations.
Uganda - although we were told we had the top female guide in the country we struggled the entire trip from a continued lack of communication from both Mushra and the guide (Safinah). Multiple activities had been promised to us as part of the itinerary we paid for but were not included in the itinerary Safinah had been given to deliver (Batwe/pygmies cultural tour, three game drives). When we asked for these things to be corrected we were made to feel that we were being demanding and difficult - when actually all we were doing was politely asking to get what we paid for. This caused us anxiety on a daily basis. In addition, Safinah lacked charisma and energy, it felt she was in a rush to get everywhere so she could hang out with the other guides. On one occasion she dropped us off at a random table in the middle of nowhere to have our picnic lunch. After unpacking our food she said she had to get petrol - over two hours later she finally returned, surprised that we were eager to go do something with our day. These things might sound relatively petty as complaints but they are simply scratching the surface of an overall 6 day experience.
Tanzania - the tour started incredibly well. We were having an amazing time. Our guide was fantastic, teaching us lots about the country and wildlife, we received unexpected accommodation upgrades and were having fabulous game drives. We thought Michael must be putting in extra effort to improve things after our poor Ugandan experience. However, this all came crashing down on the fourth night when we received a visit from the local tour manager. Turns out his small company had partnered with Mushra to deliver our safari tour. Yet, despite us having paid Mushra USD5400 for this component of the trip, the partner company had not received any compensation. Everything was being paid for out of their pocket and his funds had come to an end. He could not afford to continue our tour and Mushra were not sending any money through. Putting aside the fact it was a poor business decision on the Tanzanian partners behalf to commence a service that had no deposit paid, the unwillingness of Mushra to pay the money ultimately compromised our trip and the tour was cancelled by Michael half way through. At this time things really heated up. We received a text from Michael saying the tour had been cancelled - he did not apologise at any point or help us get back to Arusha. The Tanzanian tour manager then created a very distressing situation for us, we were taken to a private location and an attempt was made to coerce us into paying him in lieu of the payment he had not received from Mushra. The way this whole scenario played out was exceptionally threatening and we feared for our safety. With the help of a third party we did manage to get out of the situation and return to Arusha on our own account. At this point we are still fighting for a refund from Mushra of the services not received - however none of this will be taken by us, we have committed to giving this to the Tanzanian company in compensation for their loss. Ultimately we will have lost out on both the experience and expense of half of our trip - all because of Michael and Mushra’s actions.
As mentioned above, we recognise this is a long story with many elements that may make us seem difficult customers. All we can do to mitigate for this is suggest you look at our other reviews and contact us for more information - nothing of this sort has ever happened to us before. Unfortunately it really tainted our overall trip.
We also suspect Michael Ahabwe (the owner of Mushra) will dispute our review. However we have proof of everything that took place and are happy to share more information directly with travellers.
We do not recommend Mushra.
US
Experience level: first safari
Shady business practices and scam
John Williams and his partner in Tanzania, Dilunga, cannot guarantee itineraries that are booked. I booked and paid for my safari tour and ended up with a join in tour group that did not book the same tour I paid for. Only upon arrival to Kilamanjaro was I informed that my itinerary changed. Also, no one met me at the airport for the transfer. Total BS and scam.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The worst experience of my life
I don’t recommend this agency at all. I work in tourism and travelled around the world and never in my life I got such a bad experience. Seth Vicent the one who sold us the package Safari Kenia and Tanzania just Cheat on us with many lies regarding our tour. He was not paying the entrance at the parks, accommodations were never the ones we agreed and the last day we couldn’t check out of the hotel because he didn’t pay it. We paid everything in advance. We were having such a bad time. He was all the time aware of that but he didn’t fix it he was just playing with us telling that he will refund the services that we paid for and we never get. Now we are dealing with the police and embassy for some justice , and also because this type of no -professionals are not good for a country neither for tourists that want to enjoy.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Don't book!!!!
This company is not fair and not human in case of problems.
I had an accident and needed to cancel the tour.
There was no good communication.
There was no support and interest in the customers.
Nearly no repayment.
Don't book!
There are enough other companies that can show you animals in nationalparks or organize a tour to Kilimanjaro for the same (or better) price.
UA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Stay away from this travel agency
I had a terrible experience of a 6-days safari, booked through the Open Africa Safaris.
All that it's representative John Williams said about the tour, was a lie.
In particular, I asked the following questions before paying:
1) Will all six-day safari be the car of your company and run by your employees?
Yes, all six days will be operated by our company's vehicle and employees.
Will there be a safari in mixed with other companies car?
No, all customers will go under our company but from different places ..
But in fact I was attached to a mixed group of tourists from different companies with different programs. The trip took place on the cars of various guides-freelancers. For six days I was transplanted into 4 different cars. None of these machines had the mark of Open Africa Safaris. Two of them did not have a promised chargers, no working fridge and no promised Coffee boxes, Wildlife books and Maps.
2) Do you provide a sleeping bag and a tent?
Yes indeed, we provide all camping equipment including, tents, sleeping bags, mattresses and pollows for each client.
But in fact nobody from our group took sleeping bags for two nights in a row. Only the mattresses and the dirty torn sheet with a dirty blanket. The next night was given only to the mattress itself.
3) Does the safari program have a visit to any river?
Big chences, yes and good news is that our driver will try his best to make sure that you see the wildebeest migration in Serengeti NP.
But in fact in fact neither migration nor rivers have been seen.
4) Do you already know the number of people in the safari group to which I will join?
You will join 5 more people, so total will be 6 people in the vehicle for the trip.
In fact, two days in the car there were 7 tourists, and I had to sit near the driver without a rooftop.
5) Open Africa Safaris is not ASTA member. Information on this site is false. You can check it on ASTA website.
6) But the worst was not even the above.
Day 1. At the entrance to Tarangire, we lost an hour, since the fee for entering the park was not paid.
Day 2. At the entrance to Serengeti, we lost two hours, as the entrance fee to the park was not paid again. Another hour we lost because of a car breakdown (the battery was down, not some force majeure). Accordingly, there was no game drive this day.
In the evening, we found out that there are no sleeping bags for us. Every other tourist from other companies in camp had sleeping bags.
Day 3. Sunrise game drive until 11:00. After that the guide said that entrance fee for second day in Serengeti not paid and we cannot move on game drive around the park. The half of day was held at Serengeti Airstrip near the payment office, waiting for payment, which was never done on that day. The evening was held in the ranger's office by filing applications and explanations. The half of night was at the police station.
Lost a day, no gaming drive. There are no sleeping bags again, only tent and mattress. Very cold.
In addition, it turned out that in one car three groups of people with completely different itineraries on the next day.
Day 4. Got a short game drive only at 12:00, after which there was a road to the camp near Ngorongoro. They submerged me into another car as a seventh tourist, in which I was sitting near driver without access to rooftop.
Day 5. Still in car as 7th tourist without rooftop access. Lost again 40 minutes through unpaid entrance to the Ngorongoro conservation area. They brought to the camp already at 15:00, that is, the half of day of the safari was lost.
Day 6. I began game drive only at 11:30, because there was no group to which I could join this day. As a result, they sent me a separate car, but they did not even give me water with me. Already at 14:00 I was back in the camp.
Besides, I was never in the evening, but even during breakfast I did not know which guides and cars I would go to safari that day.
When I wrote to John Williams about a refund for at least a lost 1 full day, he replied that he did not have the money and that I would contact a the subcontractor with whom he shared me and who actually carried out the safari, which I do not even have contacts with.
