DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
They turned the jeep into a matatu for profit
I was hoping that the good reviews are real, but I was a fool to think so. Karibu Safaris put us 9 people in a jeep when the maximum is always 7 people. They breach their specific promise since we asked multiple times to make sure that no more than 7 people will be in the jeep. They simply surprised us in the morning and we couldn't do anything about it.
It should be 6 in the back and one next to the driver maximum, but they decided to make extra money on our back and had 8 people (one sat in the back with no window view) and also a small kid ( so 9 people in total ). Moreover, they tried to lodge two of us in a single room where we clearly booked private rooms.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Give them a miss
I booked a 12 day tour through Kenya and Tanzania. Seven wonders managed the Tanzanian side and I couldn't have been happier with them. The Kenyan side( Nakuru, Masai, Amboeseli) was managed by Baboon budget who the booking was made through. It started of badly with being collected late at the airport and having to run around in trying to find a person, who wasn't there. The accommodations throughout were poor esp the Eco camp in Masai with very poor quality food. The worst was the lack of personal attention, we were passed like luggage from one driver and group to another depending on their schedules, groups, etc. one traveler had been with 5 different drivers/guides in 5 days! The quality of drivers was potluck. Michael our initial guide tried really hard, but was with us for only one day. Another driver/guide, Jackson, (apparently quite senior )who had previously been haring around at ridiculous speeds , all of a sudden started going at a crawl in circles for more than an hour and included a pitstop an hour into the trip "to stretch our legs". We later determined that a vehicle transporting a traveler who was due to join our group after a balloon ride got stuck in some mud and teh driver was unable to provide co ordinates so we drove in circles trying to connect with them. Jackson initially tried to deny this but i had my GPS on so showed it to him. His response was that the tour hadn't stopped as we were "moving". The point of this trip was to observe a river crossing. It was clear to all that the second day this may happen. Approximately 20 othre vehicles waited patiently along the Mara for this to start. Jackson in his wisdom decided it wouldn't happen and drove off. Needless to say he was connected on radio to say it had started and we raced back . already an eighth of the herd of thousands of wildebeest had crossed. WE all thought we wre in for a treat as so many more had to make their way across. Again Jackson surprised us, we observed for about 5mins( I filmed it, so it was actually less) and he started driving off. We though this was to secure a better vantage point. But no, he drove out the park! Then proceeded to dump us outside the accommodation to await another person to conduct the tour to the Masai village. Clearly he had another pressing appointment!
Things just went downhill...
There's many other companies available , however it seems that they operate differently from other countries group tours. Schedules and people interconnect throughout, with no personalised service or accountability.
They should take some tips from Seven Wonders on how to operate...
MX
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Poor experience
We didn’t have a good experience with this tourist operator.
First they offer a guide Spanish spoken and it wasn’t true, the guide just know some words in Spanish so our communication was so complicated.
We bought the safari 5 day, in the service description they include two days safari at the Masai Mara (including some hours at the 5th day) and our guide said, no the last day is just for go back to Nairobi, we had to show him the description of the service to had the complete service.
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Not a reliable tour operator. They will try their best to over-charge you.
I received different accommodation than what I originally ordered.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
No professionalism
The points given are only for the itinerary. I thoroughly enjoyed the activities planned and the company of fellow travellers who organised themselves and kept themselves in high spirits throughout the trip. The management team lacked the basics of professionalism organisation and customer care. Their ability to handle crisis situations was abysmal given how many obstacles we faced. No mention of complimentary anything or compensation for things going wrong. As a first time client, I was greatly disappointed. I would try them again in a few years when they are more focused and organised because I believe they have great potential.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Avoid at all costs
The one (and only) good part of the safari was the driver Charles. He was incredibly knowledgeable, charismatic, talented wildlife spotter, and a safe driver.
Everything else about the safari was a scam - one lie after another. I was told we'd have 4 nights of lodges, but ended up with 1 night in a lodge and the rest in cheap camps/hotels. I was told the lodges were closed, but I called the lodge and confirmed they were open. I was told we couldn't visit a lake due to the weather forecast, but the forecast was perfect. The other tour members were told that we were skipping the lake because I didn't want to go there (outright lies). The itinerary was changed multiple times before we departed, with many destinations removed. To top it off, the owner told me he would meet me at the end of the tour to refund me, and unsurprisingly he never showed up.
Avoid this tour company at all costs. It's not worth ruining your Kenya experience.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Disappointing so far...
We have had to postpone our trip to 2022 due to Covid and because the price was increased by several thousand dollars, we elected to reduce the number of days from 17 to 12 (basically eliminating a post safari trip to the beach); however, Mahlatini is stating that the moneys paid can not be refunded despite the fact that the hotel has stated that they would cancel the stay without any penalty and refund the money. We also had some trouble ensuring that the trip was child-friendly - Very disappointing so far..
RU
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Сonstant fraud
I ordered a tour from Yusuf in this company. The conditions and the price were clearly agreed in advance, the money was transferred according to the agreement. However, upon arrival at the site of the tour, messages from the tour operator immediately began to arrive, demanding to pay extra for excursions on the spot. The explanation was one - he has done a mistake in the calculations. Instead of enjoying the trip and resting calmly, I constantly had to solve financial issues even late at night. And each time he said that it would not happen again and again demanded money. I feel myself used and deceived.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Not professionnal or serious enough
I booked two different safari tours with this company. I had to pay cash for the 2 tours and the tour operator applies a strange conversion rate (440$ -> 48400 KES). I did'nt complain at the time.
The first tour was a 3 days in Masai Mara tour - safari joining group : it went quite well, especially thanks to our guide James who really did his best to help us find the Big Five.
However, we didn't get water as planned on the website. When I asked the company, they put responsability on the guide.
The second tour was a One Day solo in Amboseli: the guide was supposed to pick me up at 5am at the hotel. He arrived at 5:40 because of a technical problem with the car. This car was so old that it was already amazing that it could still drive. The first guide drove at a gas station and I had to wait for another 15 minutes for a second driver to come and pick me up. A lunch box was supposed to be included so we could have lunch in the park but it was'nt. So we headed to the park and had nothing to eat before 5 pm, at a gas station, when we came back to Nairobi.
When I wrote to the tour operator to complain and ask for compensation, they didn't even bother to answer and at least apologize.
I know I booked cheap tours, but even when it's cheap you can expect the basic professionalism from a tour operator.
CH
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Nice park, poor guide
We went for a 4 days safari in Selous game reserve (in fact Julius Nyerere NP). Mid range accomodation was nice with kind staff. Park itself was nice even if some ways were unpraticable do to the rain. Even if he is a nice guy, our guide is probably the worse we met in Africa. He seems more interested by his freetime than by guiding, "full day game drive" ended after lunch break, on the way back, he drove 60km/h making quite impossible to spot anything. Almost all animal seen were spot by others cars or by ourselves. During a game drive our "guide" wrote messages on his phone while driving in the park, very unrespectful attitude for the guests who paid to see wildlife and not only move in a park.