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.
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Kruger safari good but expensive but the Go Self Drive Tour arranged by the same owner disappointing
Hennie was a superb safari guide. He was a fine host and it was a great 3 day safari. His company Go Self Drive Tours provided us with an itinerary driving from Joberg to CT. It was poorly planned with many navigation mistakes; drives were too long and we felt unsafe often. The car provided was inadequate for the terrain as roads in SA are very poor. Throughout our 4 weeks of driving we were warned repeatedly of corruption, theft and being in unsafe areas. We were heavily charged for mediocre accommodation. We have travelled expensively and this trip was stressful and we would not recommend for anyone from a First World country to do a Self Drive tour in South Africa. It is not a safe country. Don’t do it!!
US
Not like our last trip
We previously went on a great East Africans Safari with Born Free. We asked them to help with another trip a year later. This did not go at all well and Born Free did not take appropriate responsibility for the clear errors that occurred, which significantly and negatively affected our trip.
They did not stand behind their travel product and I can no longer recommend Born Free.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Badly planned itinerary
Travelled from Vic Falls in Zimbabwe to Zanzibar. Apart from the first two and last two days the itenerary was planned very poorly. Back to back days of 7-13 hrs driving with 4AM wake up and getting to the next camp just to have dinner and go to bed is far from the great experience we expected from trip notes. The whole group felt the same. Half of camps were completely unnecessary and this trip requires serious improvement to make it at least half enjoyable.
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
We enjoyed the trip but were dissatisfied with the constant ramming of creatation theory down our th
Tour was satisfactory but accomodation in Kruger was awful
IT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent driver but problems with agency
Our guide was really nice and made us able to appreciate Masai Mara park. We were able to see most of the expected animals. I have only a concern with the agency who asked us an extra of 45 euros not planned. They said the payment provided from my bank was less than expected. Verified with the bank and it was not true (I don't know if the fault was on their bank or on the agency but my bank showed me the amount of money trasferred and the taxes paid). Never use again this agency also if the guide was fantastic.
AE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very disappointed
In view of the increasing popularity of online reviews I decided to go with magical retreat safaris. I cannot convey how disgusting experience we had on those 10 days. Hotels were not good and the driver (Anthony) one of the laziest I have ever seen in my life. Didn’t go by the itinerary And he picked us at around 9AM for a early morning game drive
ES
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It could have been better
We didn't have the best experience with Kiliholidays Tours & Safari.
We booked a three-day-safari at Mikumi Park. The first day we couldn't access to the park. They told us "drive to Mikumi National Park which is approximately 5 hours from Dar es Salaam". It's totally false. It was 8 hours and a half. The driver drove at 45 km/hour and the arrival to the park was almost sunset. They saved the access to the park of the first day (which is included in the safari price). So we paid for something that we didn't enjoy.
Additionally, the car broke down several times. The first time it had refrigerator problems. It was solved and we continued. The second day, the car stop and it ran out the battery , we push the car in the middle of the safari :) . The third day we spent 8 hours and a half to Dar Es Salaam. There was a huge jam and the car spent all the battery.
So, we had to take OTHER CAR with a non-known driver, and 3 minutes later ALSO the new car ran out of gas. Really? The driver (who didn't speak english) left the car in the middle of the darkness and 30 minutes later he appeared again with a bottle with gas. We stay alone waiting for him without knowing what to do.
The only positive point was the safari driver, he was nice.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
not recommendable
Arrangements before starting the trip were managed well. The trip started with a delay of 2,5 hours. No explanations were provided, neither an information about the timing of the later departure. The accommodation in the tent lodge was not good at all: the mosquito net was not arranged, the bathroom was really dirty, food was acceptable, service personal rather rude. The bus we were transported in was not comfortable and noisy. The driver drove safely, was friendly and adapted to our wishes along the game drive. The game drive was nice as the wildlife we could observe was stunning.
NO
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Some issues during the stay - The experience got worse after contacting Outlook
I visited Outlook in Pretoriuskop camp in April 2018, together with three other travelers.
Although unfortunate for us, I understand unforeseen things and misunderstandings can happen. So I contacted Outlook to discuss these things, instead of going directly online to post a negative review. I also asked Outlookfor a compensation.
I received quite an aggressive, insulting an unprofessional reply from their general manager, Steven. This leads me to give them a lot lower rating than I initially would have based on the issues during our trip only. Instead of being credited by the fact that I reached out to them, I was told that "it is in poor taste to hold us to ransom with a threat of a review online. Please note that your decision to do so was the convincing reason in our decision as to how to conclude this matter."!
With the conclusion being that Outlook takes no responsibility of any of our issues and that we get no apology or compensation at all.
I would say that all in all, Outlook safari offers an ok safari package: Guides are good(we enjoyed our game drives with Jojo and especially Jeremiah). We saw quite a lot of game despite some bad weather. Tents are good, (really appreciated the night stand with power supply in each tent). Food and wine was ok to good. If you are looking for a group trip to meet new people, the setting is good for that. Beds were uncomfortable though (a standard canvas field bed would have been better than the option we got).
Our issues though:
We were not informed before arrival that we were joining a group trip(only for the very first game drive was it mentioned that we would be together with other guests from the camp). That, despite the fact that I was from the beginning requesting a camping safari in a private camp. Once I realized that a private camp is not possible in the Kruger, I booked with Outlook still, since their daily itinerary looked quite exclusive. We were therefore surprised to arrive and see that the set-up was in a group with shared meals and safari vehicles.
The general manager addressed this issue by saying that Outlook has no control over how customers interpret the info they were given.....
...and by saying that he had looked through the information we were given, and that he could not see that it under normal circumstances could be misinterpreted by any normal people...
....he also said that it had been clear for their booking staff, that since we were asking for a camping option, clearly we were not willing to pay the price that a private safari costs. I think that should be up to the customer itself to decide.
Three of us got very sick during our stay. We all ate the same food, but the three that got sick all drank the dispenser water offered in the dinner-tent. And the fourth person that stayed healthy did not. After getting sick we saw the water being filled from a garden hose in the park. Outlook states the water is thoroughly filtered and therefore it is completely safe to drink. Even though water is filtered, that doesn't mean all bacteria have been removed and that everyone from around the world can safely drink it. Also, there is some question about the routine of refilling this dispenser bottle(hygiene of the bottle and the hose that they refil it from). We would have appreciated to have been informed that this was actually not prepared bottled water. Had we known, we would not have drunk it.
Because we got sick, we missed out on meals and game drives almost equivalent to an entire 4-day safari for one of us. Reports from us that we were sick were met with comments like: "That sucks!" No one checked in with us to figure out what made us sick or if any of us needed help. According to Outlook though, this is our own fault. As we were in a setting that was different from what we expected(we weren't looking to be in a group) and as we found some behavior of the guides weird, we were being a bit reserved and tried to make the best of it and enjoy the trip together with our chosen travel mates. We didn't ask anyone to "Leave us alone", but we weren't being personable with the guides. By doing that, they were apparently not supposed to follow up on us when we had a problem.
As mentioned, we reacted to some of the behavior of a couple of the guides, resulting in us taking some distance to them for the rest of our stay:
a) If you at dinner said "No thank you!" to another glass of wine, the guide try to convince you to drink more. Which could be innocent enough. but it's just unnecessary.
b) One of the guides came to our group one evening and loudly commented that we were not chatting or drinking enough. Then filled one of my travel companions glass even though she had turned it down. They could also say that this is only the guide trying to be friendly, but it's again unnecessary and unprofessional behavior.
c) One guide got intoxicated one evening in the dinner-tent. We only heard it as we were busy being sick, but other guests had been present.
Outlook stated further in their reply to me that their goal is to give customers their best holiday experience of their life. That experience we had last year while doing a private mobile safari with our own crew of three in Botswana. That experience cost us about the same as we payed for our stay with Outlook and not 10 times more as stated by Outlook that a private option would have cost us.
We also stayed at a lodge in Sabie after our stay with Outlook. It was better and at the same price that Outlook offers(stayed in tents there as well).
I realize and accept as stated by Outlook themselves, that most of their guests probably are happy after their stay. I guess I will also have to accept, as also stated by Outlook, that we are unfortunately part of the 1% of unhappy guests that they choose not to care about because they can "live with it".
All in all I would rate their safari package(not including our issues) as an ok to good budget option. Their way of handling customers on the other hand....Unprofessional and disrespectful!