HU
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A good start with a terrible end game...
In the beginning everything was good with this company. I have spoken with Jimmy and he was so nice. I paid half part of the money in the summer. Then he told me my reservation is guaranteed. A few months later in September I got an other message and he wanted the other half of the price because my reservation was not guaranteed anymore. I didn’t want to pay everything in advance but finally I just accepted his argument and we wanted to go there.
After everything was ok. In the first few days our safari was amazing with our guide (Christopher). But after when we were going to back Arusha our experience has become terrible. John (Christopher’s boss) called us because something was wrong with the money and fees on the border of Ngorongoro. So we had to pay more 430 dollar. It was the only one way to go back Arusha. Finally John promised us we will meet in Arusha and he will give back our money in cash. Of course it wasn’t true. John just disappeared and when we arrived to Arusha Christopher got out of the car and ran away.
After this experience we realized these guys weren’t from Swahili directly. It was a no and company and Swahili just gave us for them. So I can’t understand what happened exactly that day. But we have a really bad experience with this safari so be careful and don’t pay in advance!!!
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Needs improvement
The Masai Mara is an incredible place with incredible animals and landscapes. Peter was excellent at communicating with us in a timely manner to answer all our questions and set up our itinerary for our safari trip.
However we were not satisfied with the behavior of our driver who tried to convince us to enter and exit the park at the times we suggested. We think he was doing this in order to avoid paying the park fees for one day (each entry fee is valid for 24 hours). However we wanted to have as much time as possible in the park, as per what we had paid for, and in accordance with park timings. When we asked to stay in the park a bit longer than the time the driver was suggesting, he proceeded to avoid driving us out of the park through the main gate and instead drove us off track and trespassed through the Masai village at high speed. There were small children on the path and adult men and women (who carry sticks) started yelling at our van and throwing stones as the driver sped through. This was extremely embarrassing for us, as well as dangerous, as it was very dark and there were small children in the way.
Then the driver stopped and a man who seemed to be a Masai chief entered our car and spoke to our driver the entire way back to our hotel. We don't know what they negotiated or what they were talking about, since we don't speak their language and our driver wasn't communicating anything with us.
We hope Flash McTours will work on improving their services. This kind of experience is not conducive for a pleasant safari experience. It is unsafe and likely to make your visitors feel very nervous and uncomfortable. Furthermore,
It is essential that safari companies follow park rules and regulations and respect the Masai community, and their land.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Seth Vincent is a fraud
Seth Vincent of tripadvisor africa safari or right choice safari is a FRAUD.He does not accept credit card payments so the traveler has no protection. There were 14 of us on a custom 12 day safari. He provided two beat up land cruisers, one of which lost its rear axel in the middle of nowhere on our second day, and one passenger was slightly hurt. Few days later the front left tire came completely off on a vehicle and we hit a soft dirt bank, lucky for us. To top it all, complete break failure on a vehicle in Tanzania. We were VERY LUCKY to have a skilled driver who maneuvered his way through a parking lot full of land cruisers and into a ditch, a few feet away from a cell tower, while 8 of us were hanging onto our dear lives, a harrowing experience. One of us had a sprained wrist and a hairline crack and still recovering. We missed out on some of the safari experience due to these accidents and multiple flat tires. We missed out on Ngorongoro. He shorted us two rooms in several places, booked us in a cheap hotel in Arusha, in spite of having paid for expensive accommodations. We had good spirited travelers who shared rooms. He is NOT A MEMBER of Kenya Association of Tour Operators.
Highly discourage you to plan a trip with him.
Some of us are glad to be alive.
FR
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
mixed feeling
We booked a 11 days Safari with Chabo including Selous, Mikumi, Ruaha and Udzungwa. We had very good time with our guide (who was not the supposed this one at first) and lodging and food were great. However the relationship with Chabo has not been really friendship. After 3 days our guide was still not there (fortunately the woman at our lodge in Selous was a wonderful person and guide) and they lied to us several time on the reason why. We finally understand that they had problems with the car. Chabo then rented a cheap open car (without seat belts) to take us from Selous to Mikumi that was not really adapted for the long drive to Mikumi. We finally met our guide at Mikumi rather than at Selous as first programmed. Later, without explanation either, they replaced a correct car, which we only kept for two days, with another car in quite poor condition. We realized also that our planing was not quite logical since it would have been less waste of time to go first to Udzungwa after Mikumu and not after Ruaha. Nevertheless we had a really great time because the parks in the South are all fantastic with not too many people, all the guides we had were great, professional, kind and helpful and because tanzanian people are really welcoming in general. Most of Chabo's good reviews are certainly deserved, but it would be a pity if the reputation they have built up over the years were to begin to fall apart through a certain lack of respect and consideration for customers.
GR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Far below expectations
I did the 1-night stay tour and it was quite a disappointment. Game drives are too short in duration (overall 5 hours) while 11+ hours are needed to go to Masai Mara and back. Period is supposed to be ideal to see the great migration, but we didn't get the chance to see it, as "there was not enough time to go to the river", which is practically a matter of tour guide decision! Staying at the outskirts of the reserve, close to the gate, automatically meant less chances of seeing all the animals. In fact we got to see just 3 out of the big 5 (lion, buffalo, elephant), and not even other animals that are supposed to be present in large numbers (cheetahs, crocodiles, hyenas etc), which doesn't make any real difference compared to going to Nairobi National Park which is right next to the capital. No comment on the accomodation or food, as these are definetely secondary issues for all visitors. If i knew before, I wouldn't do it.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
So much work to get our safari!
We would not recommend Tree Africa Safaris at all. Throughout the booking process, we thought the company was wonderfully responsive—we dealt with Victor Nagol, who told us we would get a wonderful three-day safari, just as we dreamed of. But as soon as we made our 50% deposit, Victor stopped communicating with us. A few weeks before we were scheduled to arrive in Tanzania, we emailed him to confirm our plans—but our emails bounced back, time and time again. Then we discovered that his company’s website was no longer live, and he was no longer advertising on Safari Bookings. Fearing that we might have been scammed, we asked our son (who is living in Tanzania) to visit Arusha (where Victor’s office was) to figure out what the problem was. He wasn’t able to find Victor, but after spending several days in Arusha, dealing with the police and the other tour company that processed our payment, our son was able to get Victor to follow through with our safari. Victor finally outsourced us to another tour operator (who was wonderful, and who gave us a delightful safari), but every part of it that Victor was involved with was a struggle. Our first two nights in Arusha were supposed to be included in the cost of our safari—but Victor did not pay for them; we had to pay for the hotel and wait to be reimbursed by Victor. He didn’t pre-arrange our accommodations during the safari itself—each night, we had to wait hours until he finally communicated with our tour guide before we knew where we would be sleeping each night. And finally on the last night, Victor did not pay for the hotel we were staying in (in Arusha), which was supposed to be included in the amount we had paid—we had to pay for the hotel when we checked out, and Victor said he would reimburse us for the cost. He did so—but it was weeks after we had left Tanzania and had already returned home.
We ultimately did get a wonderful safari—thanks to the skill and knowledge of the tour guide that we were outsourced to. But every part of the safari that involved Victor Nagol was hard work for us. We have to wonder if the only reason we got any safari at all was because we had our son there, in Arusha, talking to the police on our behalf and putting pressure on Victor to give us the safari we had paid for.
We cannot in good faith recommend the services of Tree Africa Safaris or Victor Nagol.
AE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Not reliable
The actaul itenerary is not same as discussed in email.
It’s understood that it’s was shared tour basis, I could accept some changes but lying to customer is not acceptable.
However the drivers/ guides are okay. I have changed 4 mini van for 7days tour.
If you are flexible and ready to change the plan then it’s fine to book this tour as it’s cheap.
TH
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
First time safari with unsatisfy opertator
We choosed smile with us tour for our tour operator in Tanzania. We felt that Jacob was very active on the communication for planning of the tour and accommodation. On the first day he picked us up late 1 hour and said that our guide will be changed without informing us the reason. We knew later that our guide has just been contacted that morning! Since there has been a change in guide and car and also the poor operation of smile with us tour on the reservation and permit to go to each national park, we spent more than 1.30 hour at each gates (i.e. serengeti and ngorongoro). The worst is that we didn't do the game drive as we spent too much time dealing with all these problems which should not exist if the tour operator is professional enough. Our iternerary was ruined. Our guide tried to manage all problems and planned new itenerary. We felt that this tour operator is very unprofessional.
CN
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
What they did last year, we paid $28965 for 9 person in 2017. Read my story
2 Stars for how lucky we are....Mr.OT disappeared almost the same time last year. I try to contacted everyone in the contract despairly one day before departure. Right now, if you have not flight to Kenya, FIND PLAN B. Below is the e-mail I sent to them in 1 Aug, 2019....
Well, Dear OT Team,
It's my last time to mail you, just lost my patience.
Attched is your so called "Promise" "Apology"....which turned to be a lie.
If you rememberd you cried on the phone begging me to let your tourism package back to SafairBooking. I believed you.
If you rememberd how eagerly you want to back to SafairBooking even sent me a "confidential mail" promised refund with interests. I responded we don't want interests, we just need our money back!
If you rememberd you claimed yourself is a Christian, lying is a sin, you got family to support, you got housing mortgage, you have to back to SafairBooking to keep you alive.
Oh, find the attachment "mail", sometimes I just joking with my friends, I said "Hi, Merry Christsmas Mr.OT, where is my refund? " " Hi, happy new year Mr. OT, where is my refund?" "Hi, happy Valentien's Day Mr.OT, where is my refund? ".....well, this time maybe Happy Anniversary Ruined Vacation 2018, right? where is my refund?
Hush.....145 mails between us, oh plus this one is 146...sorry, you are not Tom Hanks, I am not Meg Ryan either.(you know the movie "You've Got Mail", if not, just watch it , definitely you deserve best actor reward)
The last but not least, Hakuna Matata, I understand debt is a old friend to you. I just go back to SafariBooking, TripAdvisor, kenya tourism authority, kenya tourism police, again~~~~
Above is the mail. I bet they promised everyone get refund in 90 days. He, Mr.OT, will try to persuad everyone withdard the bad comment that he will speed the refund. (DO NOT BELIEVE IT).
In my situation, they did refund in a very long time. For almost one year, still have $1961 arrearages.
I really doubt I can have the money back right now.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Misleading Information + Unprofessional Response... Can book same safari with more reliable company
If you want to skip reading the review, here's just a quick list of reasons you shouldn't book with Seth Vincent and things that were PROMISED TO BE INCLUDED in our safari package that WERE NOT: First nights stay in Nairobi, visit to elephant orphanage, giraffe sanctuary, farewell dinner at Carnivore, a limited number of people in a van, and adequate amounts of daily drinking water. He just wants to find any way to take your money!
As two college students who booked a "budget" safari, and have been to Africa before, we went into our trip with no expectation, knowing that traveling over there is an adventure of it's own! We booked a 6 day safari through Seth Vincent and initial communication was clear. Once the deposit was paid, however, his communication became a little more sporadic and it was unclear how we were going to transfer the remaining balance, as we made it known we did not want to travel with that much cash. Anytime we sent an email asking questions about anything prior to landing in Nairobi his response was nothing other than "it will be fine."
In the email he sent with our itinerary, he said that our first nights stay upon landing in Kenya was paid for in the cost of our safari. He never booked us a place to stay, or gave us money from the safari package to put towards a hotel, so we booked and paid for our own hotel in Nairobi (which wouldn't have been a big deal if he wouldn't have told us that a room was included in the package and then lied when we asked him about it)
Upon landing in Kenya we were picked up by a driver named Samuel! He was great and according to him, and the itinerary that Seth Vincent had sent us, someone would be meeting us at our hotel to go over what the rest of the week was going to be and someone was going to take us to the elephant orphanage and giraffe sanctuary. No one ever came and we were instructed to be ready for pickup the following morning.
Seth arrived as we were departing for our safari and took us to an ATM where he had us withdraw the remaining balance for our safari after we had asked multiple times if we could just wire the money the same way we had paid the deposit.
After taking our cash he dropped us off at a van where he told us that the van would exceed no more than 6 people. Well, after just a few minutes of waiting the van was completely full (9 people) and we were stuffed elbow to elbow with people from a different tour company that Seth evidently partners with. So, the number of people he told us would be on safari was false, which at the start wasn't a huge deal, but after being stuffed into a van for numerous days on bumpy roads, it got a little too crowded and very uncomfortable.
Then the amount of water that was promised to us each day was not given... to the point that I was so dehydrated I was vomiting (there is water available for purchase at the camps so we just ended up buying water for ourselves... which also wouldn't have been a big deal if Seth Vincent would have just been honest about the amount of water we were going to receive)
Upon returning to Nairobi after the safari, we never heard from Seth (he would have never known if we even made it back to Nairobi) so we reached out about the "complimentary dinner at Carnivore" that is promised in the itinerary, along with the visits to the elephant orphanage and giraffe sanctuary. He told us that because we didn't go on the first day (BUT THE REASON WE DIDNT GO IS BECAUSE HE NEVER SHOWED UP) he wasn't required to take us to see the elephants and giraffes (and was incredibly rude about it), but he offered to arrange to take us AT AN ADDITIONAL COST (to something we already paid for!!) and when I asked about the farewell dinner at Carnivore he flat out told me no. When I asked to be compensated for the first night's stay in Nairobi he also told me no, even though HIS INITIAL EMAIL STATES THAT HE WILL PAY FOR IT. He asked for additional money to arrange visits to the elephants and the giraffes and dinner. So we just took an uber and planned a day for ourselves.
The safari itself was magical. We absolutely loved our first driver, Jeffery Bruce. Everything about the Maasi Mara is absolutely breathtaking, but you can book the same safari with other companies for cheaper (: We were put into a van with another company and everyone who booked through them paid less than we did (and seemed to be given what they were told in their itineraries)
Our second driver, James, was AWFUL. He drove on the wrong side of the road on a busy highway on the way to Amboseli and didn't notice until someone told him... and FELL ASLEEP multiple times while driving on the safari.
Our safari went to the Mara, Nakuru, and Amboseli... we both agreed that if we had to do it all over again we would book a 5 day safari (through a different company) and only go to the Mara and Nakuru (: Amboseli is cool, but not nearly as fascinating as the Maasi Mara and a lot more work to get to than it is worth!
Go on a safari... just book it through someone that's honest!