US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Buyer Beware - Gatatu lied about purchasing our Gorilla and Chimp permits in advance
After researching a few safari companies, we (group of 4) chose to work with Gatatu as they had great reviews and were a small operation located right in Uganda. Clearly something has changed with their business since these last reviews were posted, as our trip was anything but easy. We came to find out Richard and Steven never purchased our gorilla and chimp permits in advance (we found out about the gorilla permits the morning of our trek when we couldn't get in) in spite of telling us they were purchased back in August 2018, when my sister and I made a $2000 deposit (my friends made a similar deposit but I don't know the date). Richard went as far as providing FAKE copies of the gorilla permits. Please keep in mind gorilla permits and chimp habituation permits HAVE to be booked well in advance as only a limited number of ppl can get in per day. After repeated lies from both Richard (and threats via text) and Steven, we decided to part ways and hired ourselves a new driver 4 nights in. If you choose to use them, make sure to get copies of all of your permits in advance and confirm their validity with the national parks.
On a positive note, all of our accommodations were what was promised and we did have a nice $30 add on of a boat ride up the Kazinga Channel with one of Steven's friends. Also, with our evidence of being duped by Gatatu, we were able to get ourselves in for a gorilla trek at Bwindi by the game warden who took pity on us and with the assistance of two locals in Kibale, in for the chimp trek (we couldnt get in for habituation as that was full). All I can say is thank goodness we did not pay them in full and were able to walk away with a few saved dollars. If you have any questions, I have saved all of my communication and texts with Richard. Feel free to reach out.
p.s. Steven picked us up in a green safari vehicle full of roaches on the first day. We should have known what was to come...
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g673829-d10791582-r644516635-Gatatu_Safaris-Kabale_Western_Region.html#
SE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Did not get what was promised
I dont feel that i got what was promised. I booked a 2-day safari but it was just one day. We were picked up at 6.00 in the morning. It was said the trip would be 4-5 hours but took more than 7. Due to the car breaking down we didnt get to eat breakfast until 10.00. Then 2 hours later they said we should have lunch. That was to soon so we ended up eating at a ”restaurant” in the park. The food here was not good.
The drive in the park in the afternoon was great and we saw all the animals we wanted. Our guide Tony was very good.
We were driven to the acommodations TanSwiss around 18.30. The stay here was ok but when we asked our guide about day-2-plans he said we were just going home. No more safari.
In the booking i was promised ”After breakfast from lodge with the packed lunches enjoy en route game drive in Mikumi National Park before depart to Dar es Salaam in which you will arrive in evening”. This booking promises a second day and writng about lunch like that gives you the impression that it will last a couple of hours.
In the morning the guide made it feel like were going for a drive around the outskirts of the park and would see many animals.
One hour after leaving the hotell were out of the park and on our way home. Super short en route game drive with no packed lunches, just one hour on the big road.
The titel of this trip should not be ”best 2-day Mikumi safari” instead ”4 hour safari with lodge stay”
I am sure that there are other companies that offer safari with better service and that can deliver what they promised. So I would not recommend LuiTours.
FI
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very good and more than I expcted.
Very, very expencive accomodations combared to the accomodation level. Good quidening, pure roads everywhere in Tanzania.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Old decrepit vehicles and poor communication
I booked a 14-day safari with Yala – this was to cover safaris in both Uganda and Rwanda – the booking process went well and Yala was initially good in communicating promptly. When I arrived in Entebbe, they were a bit surprised as they had not seen the arrival announcement – the van that was to transport me to the hotel was an old decrepit van without an A/C (I should have seen this as a sign to come) – in any case I made it to the hotel and was told that the safari vehicle was to be another one in much better condition.
The next day, the driver showed up in another old decrepit vehicle and lo and behold, the A/C was not working in this one either (Note – most of the roads in Uganda are dirt roads so you need to keep the windows closed and wear dust masks). The driver did not speak much English, even though what was promised was an English-speaking tour guide. We decided to push on – about a couple of hours into the journey, the right rear tire developed a side bulge (this was a re-treaded tire that had developed a sidewall failure – re-treads are banned in the USA for just this reason). The jack that was in the vehicle did not work, so we had to limp back to town to get a shop to help us – this took about 3 hours in all. I contacted Yala and insisted they provide me with a better vehicle and they promised to do so. When we reached Murchison Falls, we were covered with red dust due to having to keep the windows open as the A/C did not work. All of my game drives were in this broken-down van which had a low clearance resulting in us scraping the bottom every time we went through a ditch.
Two days later, Yala had still not provided a replacement van, but they did change the driver to one who spoke better English – we made it back to the main town again on dirt roads with no A/C. I had asked for the replacement van to meet us there so we could continue on our journey – guess what – no van. We ended up leaving the decrepit van at the hotel and continued to our next stop (chimp trekking) in a small Toyota Corolla. Two days later, a replacement van showed up – guess what the windshield had a big crack in it along with pockmarked glass – it was an old van but the A/C worked. So, we continued onwards and got stuck on a mud-soaked road (the van did not have off-terrain tires and did not have a high clearance) – the villagers helped us and we resumed our sight-seeing when suddenly the engine stopped and would not start. After waiting for 2 hours for a local mechanic to show up, he discovered that is was a GPRS failure as the van was not permitted to go out of a certain area – the mechanic by-passed the GPRS device and we were able to start the engine and go on our way to the next stop. By this time, I had sent Yala about 6 emails none of which were replied to.
The next day, while climbing up a mountain road, the gear shuddered and then gave way with a loud bang – again we were stuck on a mountain dirt road for 2 hours before getting a ride to the gorilla lodge. Yala switched the gorilla lodge without my consent because it was closer to where the gear breakdown happened and did not return any of my emails on the subject.
Two days later, a different vehicle was provided – this time an SUV (which is what was agree to when I first accepted their contract), and an A/C that worked. I was told that we had to exchange this vehicle back for the one which had broken down in a couple of days when returning from Rwanda. Two days later on returning from Rwanda, we were to meet at a designated spot to exchange vehicles as the van had been repaired with a new transmission and drive shaft – at the last moment, we were told to continue onwards in the same SUV as before. Yala again changed the safari lodge I was to be staying at without informing me (this after confirming that all the lodges had been booked and that I could not change any dates given all of the issues I was having) – again no replies to any of my emails other than talking to the driver.
I finally made it back to Entebbe – no word from Yala, no apologies for all of the issues, no explanation for the 2 lodge changes (and both were terrible when compared to the original places) – nothing. Be careful when booking with this agency – they have terrible vehicles and very poor communication. I would not book with Yala again -the only reason for the 2 stars is because of the efforts of the drivers who were with me – they tried to do their best with little or no support from Yala
NL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Driver had no safari, wildlife experience
In general it was ok. Good safari car, efficient communication, the lodges including the right tents where booked however - for us the most important - the driver had no safari experience. So, he was NOT able to tell us anything about the wild life and he did not once showed wildlife based on his observation. As those organizations work with independent drivers, with a different driver experience can be completely different. Advice: ask for cv of driver.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Lack of flexibility , poor quality vehicles, sub-standard accommodation
We chose Encompass Africa to assist us with our African safari as they espoused flexibility, ensuring they were up to date with migratory patterns and were able to change their plans, itineraries and accommodation locations to cater for the unexpected and unpredictable nature of the environment. This was not the case. We spent three full days searching for the elusive big 5. Only a few wildebeest could be found. The great migration was delayed due to unseasonal weather patterns. There were very few animals. We were told this prior to traveling to the Serengeti by other travelers who had already experienced this. When we relayed this information to Encompass Africa, they refused to change the itinerary and relocate us to where the action was - central Serengeti. After the third day and only after we strongly insisted, did they move us from one camp to the other. Both of which, by the way, were well under capacity. We finally saw what we came for - animals in abundance - lions, leopards, hippos, many buffalo and of course wildebeest and antelope.
The vehicle we had was very old and run down. Roofs either did not open, or closed unexpectedly - luckily escaping serious injury. The seats were bereft of cushioning and the air conditioning did not work. Very disappointing.
Part of our trip was to visit a Maasai school at a local Maasai village. When we arrived, there were no children. They claimed it was school holidays, however, after seeing the empty classroom, it appeared the school had not been in operation for many months. Rat droppings covered all the children’s desks and the teaching materials looked ‘staged’ leading us to question the purpose of this visit.
We were told that tipping at the village was not expected, however, we were lead to their ‘jewelry’ market, where the Maasai women made and sold bracelets , earrings etc. We felt obligated to purchase many of their items, as we were lead around the area several times. The Maasai women continually appealed to us to buy their beads. We felt very uncomfortable, almost believing we may have been rude or offensive if we refused their products, leaving us in a very awkward position. It appeared we visited the village under the ruse of seeing the children in the school, when really it appeared to be all about selling Maasai beads for exorbitant prices.
I would not recommend this tour operator. We need to be honest with our reviews so that others are not left disappointed as we were.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great safari experience until we discovered we were robbed.
Great safari experience, we saw the Big 5. Accommodations and food were as you would expect for the price point. We stayed one night in Tremesana and two nights at Marc's Treehouse. Ivy and Pretty were fantastic hosts. The only reason I am giving this two stars is because we discovered after leaving Marc's Treehouse that almost $600 (yes, I know we shouldn't have had that much on us) was missing from our wallets. We were not informed that cleaning people would be entering our rooms to make the bed and that is likely when it happened. So make sure to keep your money or valuables on you at all times.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Lake Nakuru National Park by Trad Hatton
Flamingos are mostly gone.
NL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
tour was nice but costed more, and was shorter then agreed, promised shirts were not deleivered
We arived from the airport in our hotel at 8.00 a.m. We asked at the hotel reception if we could do a safari Nairobe NP. They advised us not to do because it was too hot and to late when we would arive. They called Tour Kenya Safari Heights and they offered a citty tour vissiting 1) Elephant Orphanage 2) Giraffe Centre 3) Nairobe Animal
Orphanage 4)Kenyatta International Congress Centre 5) Nairobe National Museum and a lunch somewhere during the day. The man at the reception called in my presence, saying that it would be $60 each. I agreed on the $120 for the both of us and that we would be picked up at 9.30 a.m. We unpacked our stuff and I stick $120 and a few thousend Ksh in my pocked and went down to the reception to wait. Meshack and Diana arived at 10.40 A.m. because of traffic jam. We got in the car and got on our way. Then she said that it was 120 dollar each. The elephant orphanage is opened only between 11.00-12.00 and we got there at 11.10. After that we went to the Giraffe Centre which was nice and we got a lunch in a beautiful garden. Then we went unasked to a souvenir shop. The animal orphanage was next which we had to pay with our credit card because they didn't have money on their M-Pesa system. Then going to the KICC was a beautiful vieuw on top. it was 4 p.m and no use to go to the national museum any more because it closed at 5 p.m. They brought us back to the hotel and they promised us T-shirt with the big 5 on it when we would get back to Nairobi. They would deliver it to our hotel 14 days later. I fetched the extra $ 120 and Meshack gave me his card for contact. Back in our room we had a double feeling. We had a fun day but payed far to much for what we got. 14 days later we traveled back to Nairobe. I called him at 8.a.m.to ask if he would deliver the shirts to the Hotel. He confirmed that he would. When we arived at the hotel at 6 p.m. there were no T-shirts. The hotel made the phone call another 3 times but it was not answered.
if they would have brought the T shirts then we would still have felt overcharged. But now they didn't keep their promise we really feel screwed and overcharged. We had a beautiful 2 weeks aranged with sombody else in Nakuru with Masai Mara; Lake Nakuru; Hell's Gate; boat on Lake Naivasha and more. we did not get overcharged anymore. We would not go with Tour Kenya Safari Heights again.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Lack of separation of business and private
While I cannot complain about the organization of the safari in terms of equipment and game drives what spilled the experience for me after was the unprofessional behavior of the company owner. The lack of separation of business and private matters ruined the experience completely and prompted me to give the bad rating.