US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unethical
I booked a 12 day safari in Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania in September 2023 for a trip scheduled the end of June 2024 (fully paid for April 2024). At the time of booking I was promised all confirmations of lodges, flights. The beginning of June, I reached out to their office to request the promised confirmations 3 times. When I did finally receive the confirmations, they were only for the Uganda portion. I repeatedly requested the confirmations for Kenya and Tanzania and was repeatedly told “everything is reserved.” This turned out to be the first of many lies made by the head of the company, Simon. The day before my flight to Kenya, with no evidence of a flight from Entebbe to Nairobi, I contacted the lodge in Kenya to confirm my reservation. I discovered the reservation had been made but was not paid for, so they had not released the confirmation. Additionally, I was informed the Kenya agent they outsourced (they contacted her the DAY I ARRIVED to organize that portion!!) had not been paid for the additional 7 nights (lodging, flights, activities) in Kenya and Tanzania. My flight from Uganda to Kenya, which I was also told conflicting lies and excuses about, was purchased by an office worker 6 hours before scheduled departure. As of this time, the payment (which is significant) to the agent in Kenya (who is beyond superb) is unpaid by Azas. Avoid this company at all costs.
NL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Ngorongoro Crater by Joost
The Ngorongoro crater was the biggest disappointment for me. I imagined a crater full of wildlife but it was mainly a crater full of tourists. To see lions it is a good place but again, like the other popular parks in Tanzania, you will always have to share it with 70 other cars. In addition, I found the practical aspect of the crater a real obstacle. If you are not staying on the edge of the crater, but like most people in Karatu, it will easily take you 2.5 hours one way to get to the crater from your lodge. The crater is very small, so you can explore the vast majority of it in 2 hours. If there is something to see somewhere, you can recognize it by the dust cloud moving in the direction of the sighting...
I would strongly advise skipping this destination. It's better to stay an extra day in the Serengeti...(which I didn't like that much as well)
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Tour operator did not consider my interests and what I wanted to see.
The director of operations for this tour company (Safaricare International) inserted himself into my trip instead of providing a knowledgeable guide. While we MOSTLY followed the proposed itinerary; we did no birding along the way to various destinations as described. The director of operations claimed he did not know I was interested in birding. That was a false statement. On many occasions I asked the driver to stop so I could take a photo of a bird or other wildlife. I was often told "we'll see that tomorrow" or statements such as "that bird is too small". On other occasions he was driving so fast that if he did stop it was meters away from the bird/animal or we were consumed by a cloud of dust. The director of operations did not correct this behavior. When I confronted the director of operations about why he was along on my safari he indicated that he was there on business to check out the lodges and some of the tours. He is a marketing professional and not a skilled guide. That was not what I paid for. Later he claimed it was for my safety (I travelled solo). Neither situation warrants not having a skilled guide as promised.
Lastly, I will say I would have rated this company as POOR (2 stars) since most of my itinerary was followed, but the fact that the director of operations purchased bananas for the sole purpose of feeding the baboons along the road in Kibale National Park makes this company a 1 star (which is still too high). He and the driver tossed the bananas one by one out the window. Driver would speed up, so the baboons gave chase, then tossed more bananas. To any responsible eco-tourist this action should cause alarm. This is not an organization that is interested in good stewardship, sustainability or the promoting of eco-tourism in Africa. Would NOT recommend.
AE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Unprofessional Tour Operator - suspect him of cheating on money
The driver and the guide (not sure if the person was a guide as he did not volunteer with any information or describe any game through the two and a half days) couldn’t have been worse . Took us more than 10 hours to reach Emaiyan Camp from Nairobi , as we were brought in from an inconvenient road - Sekenani Gate is what should have been used , we came through Talek gate (which you must avoid if you are getting to your stay place). As we reached the gate at 5 pm (after starting at 830 am at Nairobi airport - we did breaks of about 60-90 mins total on the way) , the driver took a transit pass - which is free of charge . However , our driver took 100 USD per person (5 of us were there ) - taking money like this is cheating (to me !) .
Emaiyan Camp was great - always out to make you comfortable . And the game sightings were also great - made for a great trip overall , despite bonfire !
EG
Does not fulfil promises
We believe we have been scammed. After being promised a full refund if we pay early, we did not get our full refund. Also, after being promised a reservation after payment, we checked with the hotel and no reservation was made.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Bait and switch
We are 3 weeks into a trip with Wayfairer. So far they have greatly disappointed us. We requested, had confirmed and paid for 5 star lodgings. The average price we paid is $3,500 per day. They have put us in primarily $200-300 a night hotels.
We have multiple times asked them to correct hotels. They have corrected 2 hotels after we pointed out the big discrepancy. They have done nothing proactively.
Today we are checking into a $200 a night hotel by the airport. We are staying over night in Johannesburg for no reason. Their lack of planning has us here needlessly. We are taking a shuttle to a distant hotel when there is a hotel at the airport.
I am with my pregnant wife and our two children. I could not even have imagined such a bad experience for our family.
We feel ripped off. They claim to be a luxury travel company and they demand full payment up front. Then they book you in cheap hotels.
We believe that we have been scammed. Be warned.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unprofessional
We were told we had to pay an additional $1600.00 per person once we arrived in Tanzania in order to get into the parks. Supposedly there was a change in government regulations the week before. We were told if we did not pay we would not be able to get into and out of the parks where we were on safari. The trip had just started so we paid as we were not going to turn around and go home.
Safari legacy (Pratik) promised us we would be refunded the money within a few days. None of us have received the refund and we are now having to fighty with our Credit Card companies to dispute the charges. Safari Legacy is fighting the claim saying we did go on safari so there should not be a charge. Pratik is now radio silent and obviously 3 months later has no intention of paying us back. Also the vehicles you will be traveling in on safari are very old and have no suspension. Very rough ride each and everyday.
Be careful of this company!
I would urge HIGH LEVEL of CAUTION interacting with the main point of contact, Erastus.
He was incredibly evasive when trying to get information regarding the tour from him, and did not provide any details of the itinerary at any point.
We had agreed to pay the remainder of the deposit at the start of our safari. However, within minutes of us arriving at our hotel the day before the safari, he sent someone to demand we pay the remainder of the deposit... very suspicious on how he would know where we were staying! As this information wasn't provided to him yet.
I had organised drop off at the airport with him for 40USD. On the last day, no one, whether that be Erastus or the driver told us how we would get to the airport. At one point, Erastus said we will get picked up by the clock tower in Arusha.... no one (including the driver) knew where the clock tower was. Eventually, a fellow traveler told us that we were getting dropped off at his hotel.
At this point, Erastus appears out of nowhere and says he will accompany us to the airport with the driver. Throughout this whole time, he was trying to intimidate us and eventually forced us to pay him 50USD for the trip.
I would highly recommend you consider another operator than mafie adventures.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Nice safari, but the overall interaction with the company was terrible.
The safari was a great experience, however, the experience outside of that was horrendous. The tour operator that we dealt with was very inconsistent and unreliable, not keeping agreements that were made prior to travelling to Arusha. Following from that, there were certain shady behaviours that were displayed throughout the experience, such as never confirming transfers post-safari, demanding cash the night prior to the safari (rather than at the beginning of the safari - as agreed upon), intimidating us on the way to the airport, asking for a sum of cash for the transfer to the airport, even though it was agreed that this sum was apart of the lump value we paid prior to the safari. All these actions left a blight on what was a great safari, so if you can go with a better operator I would highly recommend that for a bit of peace of mind that it may go a bit smoother.
AE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It was not nice trip at all
The guides guy wasted time as much he could. He didn't pay attention to our question and
we didn't get a chance to find the male lion at the same day another car got this chance. We saw some animals from far destination coz of the bad coordinating with the others. He didn't make any effort to give us a nice tour . Finally he requested to get tip for the good job!!!