US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Joshua and Mohamed we great!!!!
Felt very safe. Tour guides were curtious, polite, educational, and explained things very well.
Accomodations were as described. I would recommend this tour to others.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
We started our safari in kenya with tour guide Joshua who is outstanding. He explained everything
Joshua was our guide in kenya and Mobommad was our guide in tanzania they both are outstanding guides
Meru slopes is a great company they did everything the said they would do and much more from special pickups and drop offs to helping understand how animals
50-65 years of age
Fabulous day very interesting , educational and fun
I had some time to fill before I had to go to the airport and the SOWETO tour was suggested . I am so glad I did this what a wonderful experience , your guide Tinyiko was marvellous . Thoroughly recommend this to everyone .
IN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
One of the best
I had an unforgettable experience in Kenya, all thanks to Milana Tours. Antonio helped me plan my itinerary and was super helpful. He ensured we were comfortable during the entire trip. My friend and I had an amazing time in Masai Mara and Naivasha, and we are grateful to Antonio, our driver and guide in Naivasha, Laban and our Masai Mara safari guide Kikitu - they were so friendly and welcoming. Kenya will always hold a special place in my heart and I would recommend Milana Tours to all my friends and family. They are one of the best!!
CN
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An unforgettable safari trip
Our guide, Evans is highly experienced and attentive, helping us to catch all five African Specials and the Five African Dominators in one go. We also witnessed the thrilling process of lions hunting water buffalo, where we secured the C position. Additionally, the driver's driving skills are exceptional, ensuring a smooth ride even on bumpy roads. Overall, it was both enjoyable and perfect.
PL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
AVOID - they ruined our holiday!!
Highly unprofessional agency with aggresive and impolite customer rep. He was only nice by the time I confirmed booking and paid for gorilla permits online. Later the catastrophe started.
Our tour was: Kigali-Akagera (2nights/3days) - Lake Bunyonyi (1night) - gorilla trekking in Bwindi (1night) - back to Kigali
They overcharge and do not stick to agreements and arangements. I asked few times for final price and inclusions&exclusions because I realize we could be scammed.
Final Price:
The final price for this safari adventure is $1898 per person. This price includes all the inclusions mentioned in the itinerary, including gorilla trekking permits, park entrance fees, game drives, and more.
The final offer excluded :
1. Accommodations in Akagera and Lake Bunyonyi
2. International flights
3. Tips
4. Personal items
5. Government-imposed increase of taxes and/or park fees
6. Soft drinks
So other things and fees were included as agreed. It looked similarly in other agencies I dealt with. Here it turned out that they forgot about $80!! processing fee. All companies I talked to included fees in the final price (sometimes they charged even 150USD !!) but SEMU was different in the end (probably scam to get more money). They forgot to exclude it and wanted us to pay although it should be already in the price. So be ready for surprises and as a result aggresive staff who cannot admit to make mistake and apologize for it!
Unfortunately it was not the only surprise. During our tour :
- day 1 – our evening safari was planned for 2,5h but lasted only 50minutes where 30 minutes took the way to hotel, so effectively safari lasted 20 minutes instead of 2,5 hour included in the Plan. I immediately complained and got no answer. No sorry or refund or provide other activity.
- day 4 – company was bullying at me from early morning, all the time calls on whatsapp, I could not relax at Lake Bunyonyi. If you are looking for aggresive and impolite customer rep, this is the place ! He started to threaten us and I was really scary if the tour will get to the end or maybe we will have to look for transport to get back to Kigali. If you look for these kinds of challenges when you pay $$$$$ SEMU is definitely good call :)
Moreover our Plan included - Activities in Lake Bunyonyi:
- Bird watching
- Swimming
- Visit a local market
- Hikes
- Village visits
Except bird watching during boat tour nothing was provided. We did not visit local market or hiked. Boat tour lasted 2h and it was the only activity.
- day 5 – creme de la creme :) I found out that we are making troubles at lodge booked and arranged by SEMU because.... we asked for price of lodge!! although we had not asked anyone from the lodge. I asked driver and lodge staff for clarification and no one could help. The only price we asked was of beer (btw it costs 8k UGX). Customer rep offended me many times and was inventing stories that did not take place.
Moverover our plan included :
Day 5:
- Gorilla trekking
- Tea plantation experience (if time allows)
And when I asked for tea experince it turned out it is just stop by the road and look at tea leaves, if we want to visit plantation we need to pay extra $25 per person.
- overpriced hotels offered by SEMU – SEMU loves charging hefty fees for arranging even lodge :) full customer friendly attitude. Fees are 40-100 USD per night :)
Their offer :
For Lake Bunyonyi, we'd be happy to recommend some accommodations for you. Here are a few options:
1. BirdNest Resort Lake Bunyonyi: $190 per night (Double/Twin room) on a bed and breakfast basis. Meals like lunch and dinner would be an additional $40 per person. - booking directly is $120
2. Lake Bunyonyi Eco Resort: $200 per night on a full-board basis (lunch, dinner, and breakfast) – booking directly is $155 full board,
3. Arcadia Lake Bunyonyi: $300 per night on a full-board basis (lunch, dinner, and breakfast). – price $230
- last thing - data protection - they do not care about your personal data! They sent me data of other customers to prove they charge extra fees!! If you really like you data to be spread widely in Africa do not hesitate to book with SEMU Gorilla. Problems are guaranteed!!
Also they took picture of us without our consent for compercial use!!
They charged us over 1000USD just for service and offended us, threaten us, were aggresive and impolite and did not allow you to enjoy our holidays.
THEY JUST RUINED OUR HOLIDAYS!!! I cried few times and wanted to end this tour as soon as possible because I did not feel safe and secure. I was afraid they will leave us somewhere on the road.
Definitely when you pay so much money and want to have unforgettable memories the service should be at least fine. Here your experience will be unforgetable but not in the way you expect it !
IN
Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very hospitable from the booking to execution
Cynthia has been kind and patient to us from the start and was responsive towards any queries we had on the trip booked. Moses our guide was absolutely amazing. His knowledge on Nairobi and the route to Masai Mara kept us engaged on the rich landscape of Kenya. His passion for the wildlife homed in masai mara combined with his grit to ensure we saw the animals we came here to see truly made us have the BEST experience. Possibly the best tour guide we could have had.
IN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Value for money Trip
Trip is really awesome.
Our guide also good knowledge about Forest so it’s very easy to spout the animal.
Our guide name is Saddam
AM
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Masai Mara, Wildlife
We went on this 4-day safari together, and I'm forced to say it was the best adventure of our lives. It was wonderful to see the flamingos and rhinos of Lake Nakuru and a herd of lions at Masai Mara. The guide Austin is very professional, and his knowledge of animals is excellent. Although it was a budget trip, the service was top-notch.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
extremely professional
We can not thank Cultural Vibes enough for organizing our tour for us in such short notice (4 days before we arrived in Zimbabwe) Tongasai is very professional and easy to get along with the tour he arranged was second to none the Ivory lodge is just amazing there is nothing they haven't thought about to make your stay perfect from the unbelievable food to the wonderful game drives (special mention to Patrick he is just the greatest) and then onto vic falls where Tongasai guided us around and shared his knowledge wonderfully then onto Chobe where we had a great morning game drive then a nice lunch and a small boat ride on the river which was the highlight of the day all in all it couldn't have been better organized thank you so much