DE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Avoid the company, they are fraudsters and liars
We were cheated by that company by around 2.400 USD.
We have fixed a ten days safari with them and paid all money that was agreed onin advance by international bank transfer.
We arrived at the 29.07. 2024 very early in the morning
It was agreed upon that we should be picked up at the airport but nobody was around. All the other tourists were warmly welcomed by their safari companies. We then called the K hotels where we were supposed to spend the rest of the night and the next night before the safari.
The problems already started there because KHotel wanted us to pay extra money for the early check in although it was fixed in the contract that the accommodation before and after our trip should be paid by
AZAS, which they did not do, even the night before our departure and the trip to the airport we had to pay by ourselves.
During the trip there were a lot of irregularities that should be communicated.
From the 31.08.- 03.08. 2024 it was fixed in the programme that we should spend 3 nights at Mweya safari lodge based on full board.
When we arrived at the Mweya safari lodge the manager,
Mr Brian Maher, told us that the lodge was booked by AZAS but unfortunately not paid yet.
Staying at this lodge was a compromise Azas agreed upon before we started the trip.
The former set up contract says that we should have been accommodated at the Karambuya Gorge lodge which the did not book fast enough, so the prices went skyhigh and they could not deliver that lodge.
After that frustration and some whatsapp traffic Simon, the head of Azas, told us that the payment unfortunately bounced back to their account and he did not know what the issue was, he then requested us to pay the lodge by credit card and by arrival from the trip he assured me to give back the money, 1.856 USD at the KHotel in USD cash, before we would check in.
So finally we did the payment and when arriving at the KHotel nobody was there to give us back the promised money.
When checking in the last two nights at KHotels we heard that he did not pay for the last night either which cost us another 310 USD. + airport transfer.
He also did not pay for the trip of the top of the Murchisson falls which was agreed upon in the programme.
To make it short Azas is absolutely unreliable.
They are big pretenders that do not deliver what is fixed in the set up contract.
To make it short AZAS is absolutely unreliable. They are perfect cheaters who want to make a fool of their clients.
Avoid them!
I can prove everything that I have written, the facts are overwhelming!
TH
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Cheating, bad organized and poor services
We paid the deposit of 7 nights tour for 9 persons to them more than 6 months in advance to confirm our accommodations. In order to make sure , we asked for hotel confirmation and received vouchers from them. But the papers were fake or something, one of our accommodations were changed in last minutes a day before traveling day and they promised that is all , the rest are fine . But it was a lie. They kept changing our accommodations again 2 more times. 1 night seemed like cheating; the rooms were lost 1 room so our 2 single rooms got to be combined to 1 room. We asked for refund but no single dime were returned with so many reasons those not make sense. Our days in the masai Mara park were cheated from 3 to 2 and finally 1 day in order to save their expenses on park fee. Don’t trust this operator if you don’t want to feel like being robbed as us!
QA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
One of the worst.
One of the worst safari companies in the world! I was shocked to see how unprofessional they are as I have never faced this in any other country.
As soon as they have your money they will start showing their true color.
No food on time, all cheap/damaged products and services, entire safari trip was planned wrongly- nobody can do a morning game drive in Nakuru, do 6hrs drive and then an evening game in Masaimara- it’s practically impossible!
The driver was not informed about the itinerary and sounded so lost, long wait to enter the parks as the tickets were not purchased prior, long wait in traffic as they don’t spend a few dollars to purchase express entry passes, literally for every single thing I had to message the so called MD, rose who would send a nasty reply.
SE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Barely survived
We thought we had booked a trip to discover and experience the wild animals in Kenya and Tanzania but apparently that was not the case. The schedule of visiting several national parks and also be guided in these suited us perfectly but was a huge disappointment.
We were more or less driven around without our so called guides took care of us, guided us or talked to us. The guides or more correctly drivers showed no interest in giving us more knowledge about the wildlife or the parks where we visited. During our ten days of safari none of the drivers took full responsibility for us but just send us on our way to the next driver totally without communication and information what was happening or what was going to happen.
This was really bad but even worse was the fact that the drivers showed big lack of skills in their ability to manage the vehicles they drove us in, which resulted in a number of really dangerous traffic incidents on the savanna. Neither did they have the ability to maintain their vehicles, which was clear and almost got us driven off the track trying to ascend the Ngorongoro crate where the hill was very steep.
We managed to survive these incidents barely.
Sure we encountered the wonderful wildlife but the experience around it was just awful on every level. We can just recommend you choose another tour company.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Just a waste of money and time
Recently we had a tour with Trusit Line Safaris their service was not good at all we could not stay with their food. They were feeding us stale food and the accommodation was dirty. I advise to stay away from their services.
IE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Trip of a lifetime turned into big disappointment because of this tour operator.
Our recent 10-day Safari and Zanzibar trip with Shengena Adventures, managed by Mike, was a major disappointment. While we did see the Big Five, several issues severely marred the experience:
Poor Communication:
There were significant communication breakdowns between the tour manager and our guide. On two separate occasions, we were left waiting for hours due to miscommunication, wasting valuable game drive time.
Substandard Vehicle:
The jeep provided was in terrible condition, lacking air conditioning, with frequent breakdowns, and was extremely uncomfortable due to bad suspensions. By the end of the safari, the dashboard was falling apart, making the experience unpleasant.
Mismanaged Transfers:
Our transfer to Zanzibar was poorly planned, leaving us wasting an entire day at a hotel instead of enjoying the beach due to a late flight booking.
Failed Engagement Surprise:
I had arranged a special bush lunch for my engagement, but it was a disaster. What was promised—a beautiful setup with champagne—turned out to be a cheap, poorly executed setup with alcohol-free grape juice. Despite paying extra, the experience was far below expectations, though I eventually received a refund after several complaints. See photo comparison on what was promised and what we received.
Overall, Shengena Adventures failed to deliver the quality experience we paid for. I wouldn’t recommend this company to anyone, as there are many other options that would likely offer a better experience.
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
My advice is not to trust APS, they were dishonest and unresponsive with us
We were a group of four and wanted to do safaris in Kenya and Tanzania in July 2024 and wanted this to be a private tour. After doing a lot of research, we had a very specific itinerary in mind, including the parks we wanted to visit and the accommodations we wanted to use.
So we contacted African Paradise Safaris (APS) in July 2023 (over a year in advance) to ask if they would be able to do this itinerary and they assured us they could. They provided us with a quote for this specific itinerary and it seemed good so we booked with John Peter.
We just returned from our trip and we had a very bad experience with APS. They did not respect the contract at all, they lied, and they did not respond to our emails when we reported the problems. They were very responsive when they wanted us to book our trip with them, but after that they just ignore you.
Here are some of the very bad surprises we had with APS :
- The Land Cruiser provided in Kenya was not appropriate.
It was very dirty, very old, too small to accommodate our luggage and in very poor condition. And it did not seem safe at all. Everybody was passing us on the road and our driver could not keep up because his steering wheel was shaking hard. At some point he even left us at a roadside market to go get it fixed but it did not help a lot. This caused us to lose a lot of precious time during the Kenya part of our trip.
During our game drives we saw a lot of other Land Cruiser et we clearly had the worst, and this was not what we paid for.
- The itinerary was not respected and something fishy was going on.
One day we were scheduled to arrive at our lodge in time for lunch, relax and have an afternoon game drive later.
However, our driver told us he knew a shortcut and decided to use some back road to get there and was very evasive when we asked him questions as why we were not going to the lodge first as planned.
He got lost three times trying to figure out where he was going and we lost so much time that he finally had to stop in the middle of nowhere to ask a guy to guide us on his motorcycle, through a very rocky terrain, to a non-official questionable entrance of the Maasai Mara park. We then lost some more time while he negotiates our entry and I suspect that using this back-entrance was a way to avoid paying the full fees for the park. We finally got in the park around 16h30 for a short game drive, but with all our luggage still in the jeep so this was very uncomfortable.
We were supposed to have lunch at the lodge and then relax until our game drive, instead we lost all our afternoon driving around in bad conditions, had a late crampy game drive and got to the lodge after sunset so we could not enjoy the facilities as expected.
- We booked two nights at the Zebra Plains Mara Camp but when we got there, there was no reservation for us.
Our driver took us to the wrong lodge first, then he finally got us to the Zebra Plains but they had no reservation for us, they told us APS did not book our reservation.
We thought somebody must have made a mistake and they would fix it so we will let them figure it out. After a while the Zebra Plains representant told us that they would only be able to provide us with rooms at their sister lodge, the Zebra River camp, about 35 minutes away.
It was irritating but it was getting late and we had no other choice.
The other accommodation seemed equivalent (not as much wildlife around though) but it was not the one that we chose and paid for.
Again a lot of time was wasted.
- In our quote we asked for a french speaking guide and APS told us it would not be a problem and they would provide a guide/driver that speaks french.
APS confirmed to us more than once that there would be just one person to accompany us (guide/driver would be the same person) when we specifically ask about that. However, in the middle of our trip we learned that we would have to switch vehicle and driver for the Tanzanian part of the trip because it seems APS subcontracted this part to another company called African Natural.
When we got to the border we were surprised to see that now we had two guys, a guide and a driver, which would mean that we would now have to pay double in tips.
We tried to contact APS about that but got no response.
But on the bright side, the Land Cruiser provided for the Tanzanian part of the trip was a LOT nicer. It was clean, spacious and in good mechanical order. It had a working cooler full of water, not just a dirty non-refrigerated box like we had before. In fact, this Land Cruiser was just like the ones all the other companies use! That was exactly what we expected and did not get in Kenya.
- We booked one night at the Rhino Lodge but again when we got there, there was no reservation for us.
This was the second time APS failed to book what we asked for and this time it was really beginning to piss us off.
We asked and there were rooms available but no reservation for us.
Our driver tried to contact APS and African Natural to sort this out, but they blamed each other and told him they could not even booked the available rooms.
They relocated us to Ngorongoro Wild Camp which is about 45 minutes away and is not at all comparable (a big step down).
We paid for a room with a fireplace, a nice restaurant, a nice view and we got a camp with no view, no fireplace and a restaurant that looked like a poor cafeteria.
And this place was not convenient at all (a lot further on very bad road), so we lost more than 2 hours the first day sorting this out and getting there and lost another hour the next day to get to the Ngorongoro crater.
Again we emailed APS to get some answers and never got any response.
- Our reservation at Masailand Safari Lodge was not booked full board (all meals included).
When we got to this place they informed us that our reservation was just bed and breakfast so we would have to pay for dinner and would not have our lunchbox the next day.
Our driver had to sort this out with APS again. After a while the lodge finally told us that African Natural agreed that we could have dinner but no lunchbox.
Since our invoice was clear that we paid for full board we send proof to APS and African Natural using Whatsapp and after a while we got a response telling us we would get our lunch the next day. Again we lost a lot of time for something that should have been done right from the start.
- We booked two nights at the Kibo Safari Camp but again APS failed and did not book it.
This time we did not even had to get to Kibo Safari Camp to learn that APS did not book our reservation.
We were on the way there and we happened to ask the driver if he knew the place to which he just answered that we were not going there after all!
This was the third time APS failed to book what we asked for, this is unacceptable.
We were pissed and asked why since this is the place we booked, and he told us APS decided to upgrade us for no reason and that we were now going to the Ol Tukai Lodge.
We specifically chose the Kibo Safari Camp because it is #1 on TA but again it seemed we had no choice but to accept that APS failed and lied.
The Ol Tukai Lodge (#3 on TA) was not bad and we liked it, but when you plan a year in advance and did not get what you paid for it is very irritating.
We were still able to have a good trip since Kenya and Tanzania have a lot to offer if you want to do safaris, but just do not use African Paradise Safaris (APS) if you want to avoid the stress and the deceptions.
And make sure your driver uses his radio to communicate with other drivers. Our driver did in Kenya which was very helpful but in Tanzania the other driver did not and we think we missed a lot of opportunities because of that.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very bad service.
We all are unhappy in your service.This service is very bad.
JP
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Terrible, horrible company ，I received personal threats
We needed to end our 13-day trip early due to health reasons, but because of their mistake, they didn't tell us what we paid. After we asked the price and paid, they told us that we forgot to pay. Now when it comes to refunding, they have a very bad attitude and told us that it is our fault. They didn't tell us when we went to pay. After repeated inquiries, they gave the wrong price. When refunding, they didn't admit that they forgot the correct fee. When I refunded, they forced me to write a letter of commitment saying that I agreed to refund only 300 US dollars. It's terrible. I don't agree and I'm not satisfied, but the staff told me that I must write it, otherwise I can't leave the office. I'm scared because their office is small and dark. I'm really scared of what they will do to me if I don't write that I agree to refund. And they lie. It's bad. Very bad. After canceling the rest of the trip, the total price was $5,000, and they refunded me $300 in 13 days. They also threatened and intimidated me. I will tell everyone. This is terrible.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
I recommend avoiding this tour operator
We took a family trip with this operator in July of 2024. We paid more than was required by the operator and the operator has since refused to refund us the overcharge. The operator has also been unpleasant to deal with. I recommend avoiding this tour operator and finding a different tour.