US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
What a disappointment!!!!
I booked through African Budget Safari and they contracted with Land and Lakes Safaris ( L&L) in Malawi. I had a good experience with African Budget Safari. I would use them again in a heartbeat. But I would never use Land and Lakes again.
We had one major issue occurred 3 days into our 7 day tour. We are seasoned travelers having visited over 140 countries and we often travel up to 4 months a year. The major issue we encountered was unique but strange things happen while traveling. We had driven from Malawi to Zambia and arrived at Thornicroft Lodge ( which is wonderful). After checking emails we received 2 of significance. One from African Budget Safari saying that our tour might get screwed up because of civil unrest and demonstrations which were expected to block flights out of Malawi the following week including the day of our departure. An email from the US State Department strongly suggested not flying in or out that week. This major event was beyond anyone’s control, which we understand, but what we don’t understand is why Land and Lakes did nothing to assist us in making alternative arrangements.
I asked our guide, Eric, to check into the situation at dinner that night. He was already aware of the situation but seemed nonplussed. I asked him to follow up with the L&L home office and get back to me after our game drive the next morning.
I also sent the email from the state department to the (L&L) home office saying we may need to change our itinerary to fly out of Lusaka, Zambia instead of Llongwe 4 days later ( airport closures were suppose to start the day before our departure). We were flying on to Uganda so we could not afford to be delayed 3 extra days.
When we got back from the game drive the next morning our guide had no suggestions for what to do, no alternatives, and the home office took until 12:30 to speak to me and say basically “ we know this is serious but you are on your own. You either follow the itinerary and see what happens or you lose what you have already paid plus all costs and inconveniences and changes in hotels, flights and transportation are your responsibility. File with your insurance.”
This was not about insurance! This was about being in a remote place with very spotty internet, trying to book lodges, book a new flight, change an existing flight and arrange transportation! Thank goodness for Thornicroft Lodge ( Nadia and Dylan). They could not accommodate us but they called another lodge and got us a room. They loaned me their phone to call South African Air. They helped me book a flight from the local airport to Lusaka. Are you getting the picture? They did everything over 5 hours that Land and Lakes,which had better phones and constant internet at the home office, should have done. We understand it was our financial responsibility and we will deal with the insurance when we get home but where was Land and Lakes, our tour company?
Why no suggestion such as stay one more night nearby and your guide will drive you to Lusaka and see sights along the way? It is no further than Lake Malawi. Or suggest another itinerary of sights within Zambia? Again Thornicroft got info on driving to Lusaka $80 US pp versus flying $300pp so all the options were provided by them and not Land and Lakes.
Our guide was not allowed to accompany us into the game park and he had meals with us but otherwise was unoccupied. After we reworked our schedule, he informed us he was going back to LLongwe.
I asked our guide what would have happen if we had followed the original itinerary and the airports did shut down - would his company have left us to our own devices? His answer was of course not. So why did they leave us to our own devices in a remote location ? Malawi has been experiencing turmoil since the election in May and I believe any responsible tour company would have an emergency plan in place to assist when problem occurs. If not, they have the resources and should have offered to rework our schedule, at our cost, and see us safely on out way,
As I am writing this it is still a day away from the planned demonstrations and for Malawi’s sake I hope they do not happen. But whatever occurs, safety is first and and L & L let us down on that
front.
SA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Not recommended Safari organizer
I booked with this company based on the many positive reviews I read on this website. I arrived on the first day, the pick up was OK, I spent the whole day in Arusha as per the trip schedule. The second (trip first day) was generally OK. By end of day, however, our guide Malaki dropped me off at Kilimamoja lodge and immediately left, I went to the reception to check in, but the responsible person there advised there is no reservation in my name, I tried to contract Malaki but he did not answer, and it almost took 1 hour to check in, while all other guests of other companies checked in smoothly without any issues. Rhino response on WhatsApp is too slow.
The pick up time on the second day was set by Malaki at 7:00-7:30 AM. I waked up at 5:30 to be ready on time, he texted me at 7:17 AM saying that a couple from the same group who were on camping accommodation asked to buy some camping stuff, they also requested not to wake up early since they were on honeymoon. The driver eventually arrived for pick up on 10:40 AM although we had a long way driving to Serengeti.
At this point, I preferred not to continue the trip with this company, and I arranged for private Safari with Savannah Explorer & I was lucky to do so.
I met with other couple of the same group by coincidence at a lodge in Northern Serengeti, they advised that Rhino were just cheating, the couple who were on honeymoon never asked for buying stuff or waking up late & this was Malaki's arrangement. Similarly, Malaki informed this couple that the pick delay came at my request.
On other side, I contacted Malaki after withdrawal from the group trip to contact Danial to confirm the balance due to Rhino since I did not pay any of the due amount from the very beginning, Malaki told the group that I am in contact with him asking to re-join the group since no other company accepted to arrange a trip for me. In addition, he sent me a video on WhatsApp of 2 lions hunting a Wildebeest as if he took this video during the trip to show me that I missed a lot due to my leave, Malaki did not notice that the car hood that appeared in the video had a logo other than Rhino's logo, which is indicating that the video was not taken by him at all.
Finally, Daniel contacted me during my stay in Tanzania threatening me that he will refer to the governmental authorities in order not to let me go out of Tanzania until I pay his money although he asked to pay through the website & the website delayed in sending the payment link. I left Tanzania on 21.08.2019 and remained in contact with him to pay his money. I paid him on 26.08.2019 and had the option not to pay him at all, but I finally paid him $861 as per his request from a moral perspective only.
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Safari in Tanzania is great, but not with Rhino Explorer Tours
A safari in Tanzania is really recommendable, because you can observe really many different animals. However, this is true for all companies that organize safaris, so we would like to review the company Rhino Explorer Tours with their boss Daniel. The organization was unsatisfactory for us for the following reasons:
- On the day of arrival no one came to pick us up from the airport in Arusha, although we send the relevant information in advance by e-mail. We had to organize a taxi ourselves, which Daniel then paid.
- On the second day we should be picked up 8:40 from the hotel. Finally we started around 11 o'clock and after many telephone calls. That was very frustrating as we were not sure if we would be picked up at all.
- On the second day there was no drinking water available. Since we had not prepared ourselves for it and did not bring our own water with us, this was very unpleasant for us. In the end we bought it ourselves after the game drive, although it was actually included in the price.
- On the third day there was no game drive, although it was included in the program. This was due to the fact that we always had to wait on a second Rhino Explorer Tours vehicle had, which never showed up. This led to the fact that we arrived late at the campsite and hat our dinner after 22 o'clock.
- On the fourth day the breakfast was omitted.
- On the last day in Arusha Daniel wanted to come for dinner, but he never showed up. One should not rely on him.
- We did not receive several other things that were promised by e-mail, such as sim card and Masai blanket. We recommend Rhino Explorer Tours therefore not to promise these things in advance if they are not adhered to.
We would also like to add the following points for the sake of completeness:
- We liked the Venice Hotel in Arusha and also the accommodation at Lake Manyara very much.
- We were very satisfied with our driver and guide Francis, a freelancer who was hired by Daniel for the time of our tour.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Did not prepare us for our trip to Africa
We returned from our trip to Africa feeling like Cazenova and Loyd had not properly prepared us. There were numerous ways that we felt let down - our skeptical side suggests that Cazenova and Loyd was more interested in getting their fee rather than providing important, helpful information that we needed for our trip. Will not recommend Cazenova and Loyd!
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Lake Manyara National Park by Premlata Shah
hardly any game except baboons and some birds. Did not see a single tree lion for which the park is famous for. Very disappointed.
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.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
My experience was at bookings very poorly coordinated. I feel I was overcharged not Professional
As a parent I felt cheated. Got a raw deal.The SGR booking was a mess
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Not recommendable. Don't go with them.
We had two safaris with them. Actually one is still running. The first was in Tansania. Besides humiliating toilets on campsites the tour was ok. Our driver Fred is really the best. Very nice, professional and funny. Our chef Abu is awesome aswell. Very humble friendly and a great chef. In total I think the price for a low budget safari (210$ per day p.P.) is to much. Besides they don't have so good jeeps. We had an accident and I scratched my head kind of badly. They didn't have a first aid kit, so I took some napkins to calm down the blood from my forehead.
Our second safari was/is a mess. Our first day was an eleven hour bus trip from Mombasa to Nairobi. We wanted to start our trip from Mombassa because the Zawo East is just around the corner. But no chance. The woman who managed everything (Ann) said it would only be a four hours drive... that was obviously a lie because it took us eleven. So no safari the first day. Of course we paid for the whole day including the food we didn't get. The accommodations are a mess aswell. No warm water, almost no wifi and the food is really bad. The last day of our trip is again just a 5 hours trip from Amboselli to Nairobi, so no safari again.
All in all, do yourself a favour and book with some other organisation.
IT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Unprofessional as they did not follow the agreed plan
I have contacted Fig Tree for the positive reviews and for the reasonable prices, though, I did not have a good experience for a number of reasons. First of all I was given a program and ended up doing another! So a piece of advise, make sure you are very specific on your requirements, making plenty of research and you get a program confirmed in writing exactly as you have understood it and you want it. I have asked for a 5 nights budget camping safari with 3 nights inside the parks (2 in serengeti and 1 in Ngorongoro) and I got instead a 5 nights with only 2 days inside the parks (1 in serengeti and 1 in Ngorongoro) I never asked to go to Tarangine and we found ourselves spending the first day there instead of Serengeti and slept outside the park. Serengeti is big, if you do not spend at least 2 nights inside you waste a lot of time traveling between parks and you don’t enjoy much time game viewing! In fact out of so called 5 days in reality you do 4 days of which 1.5 days game viewing and the rest is traveling or waiting). Second of all you need to know if you are going with the actual company car and driver for the whole trip or not. In our case they just gave us a freelancer driver with other people from other agencies, sometimes they do this in case they don’t find enough people to fill the car and they don’t have drivers available. Funny enough we were 6 people coming from different agencies and we all had the same program but ended up doing another one. Or we were all stupid or it is common for agencies to be unclear and unprofessional. We got 2 different drivers in 3 days while another couple which stayed longer got 3 drivers in 4 days ending up wasting time and therefore money (we got delayed a couple of times during the trip for missing payments from the company to the driver, literally 2 hours waiting!). Third of all you need to make sure you clarify in advance the amount of tips to give to the staff; we were told we had to give 10 usd per day per person to the driver but we ended up having to give tips also to the cooker, which was not expected. Ref. Tips it would be much better for the company to pay for the drivers and cookers and include that amount in the overall price! It would avoid misunderstandings and uncomfortable situations and leave the customers choosing if a tip is worth to be given (tips should not be forced!). Fourth of all, be aware of the extremely bad conditions of the public camp sites, overcrowded with dirty facilities! I have been camping several times in Zimbabwe and other places and the experience of the camping is incredible, you are immersed in nature, hearing the animals around you after a nice meal cooked on the fire. In Tanzania the experience is far from this; I have never experienced such crowded camps and you loose completely the connection with nature (if you are in a safari for this reason!). You will only hear people talking, and more, all night and no sound of animal! Also, be aware of the commercialization of the safari and expect many cars around; if you are sensitive about animals conservation it can be quite overwhelming seeing how many cars can surround a lion surely disturbing them... Our driver was old school and very sensitive about this matter which I have appreciated. After all I could not recommend this company as after the trip and discussing the program issue they are still insisting they did nothing wrong. And note I have confirmation in writing of the 3 nights camping from them! Literally unprofessional.
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.