EE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Choose another company
I am somewhat experienced in Kenya/Tanzania budget safaris and therefore have some basis for comparison. And this safari left me dissatisfied in so many nuances. That said, the attitude and paperwork of office is professional. No complains.
But almost everything else left to be very much desired. The weakest point was the camp Blue Mountain is using. Short list of disadvantages:
- First day we arrived to camp after 4 o'clock and were at the gate 15 minutes before 5 in the evening.
- No mobile signal in the camp at all. When you need to organise other things in Kenya, this drives you simply crazy.
- No bar or restaurant to relax after safari.
- Oh yes, the service. When you ask something, you can count you are left to your own devices.
- You can charge your electronic devices in separate house (locked, try to find smb with a key!) where most time all limited number of sockets are used by camp people.
- Hot water (or water at all) was decided by a no-name maasai, who simply decided to close water - no morning shower, no evening shower. Imagine, when you arrive after safari, you are dirty as hell - and there is no water.
- the stuff clearly lacks training , have limited English skills and no understanding what their visitors want.
Can't recommend this company at all.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
If you want a budget safari, this is definitely a budget safari.
Tour itinerary looked great and Cate was very friendly, but she neglected to tell us that the total payment for the tour was due on Day 1. This resulted in some scrambling to withdraw cash from an ATM but we were limited by ATM withdrawal limits. There was no option to pay online with paypal or with credit card! Finally at the end of the tour Cate had told or driver a different amount than what I truly owed (a $10 USD difference) and also told the driver that was should pay him extra for dropping us off where we were staying in Nairobi even though this was included on the itinerary (in addition to a regular tip).
Our itinerary told us to be picked up at George's Cafe at noon, by 12:30 we were still waiting and called Cate. Cate had apparently (forgotten?!) to call a driver and our driver finally showed up at 2:00pm with no clue about what our itinerary was. To his credit, he was able to take one look at our itinerary and then figure out what hotels he wanted to take us to. There were a lot of extra costs that were not described in the itinerary unfortunately. I ultimately didn't mind paying, but if a boat ride was listed on the itinerary I would have appreciated knowing that it would cost me $100 in cash. While the extra expenses were no big deal, a heads up would have been nice, unexpected expenses can be frustrating.
Our tour driver, Johnny, was friendly but apparently lies to KWS to try and get resident rates for non-residents (this was from a story he told us making fun of the stupid white people who "forgot" they were supposed to be going by fake names). This was disheartening to hear about because this is a big loss of money to wildlife conservation. I'm a resident and my traveling partner was not and luckily Johnny did not try to lie to get resident rates for her. It was a slightly odd interaction.
The hotels we stayed in were clean with excellent food but no hot water in any of them unfortunately. Johnny seemed to have a poor understanding of when meal times should be and how often people need to eat because lunch was at 4pm on Day 2 (he seemed to think we could skip it?!). He also tried to skip lunch on another day right before a long hike (who skips lunch before a long hike?!). He often told us dinner couldn't be ordered before 7:30 (resulting in multiple meals at 8:30 PM!) but the kitchens seemed to be open and working as early as 6 because there was always waitstaff ready to take our order when we arrived. He also often ate with us, which I normally wouldn't mind, but he would order too much food for us (even when we told him we couldn't eat that much) and then guilt us with cultural values if we didn't clean our plates. He subsequently also couldn't clean his plate, but would then offer up some excuse about the food being bad. Overall a bit odd.
Johnny was also getting a bit old and in failing health (coughing and wheezing which made us a bit uncomfortable) and it was clear by his driving sometimes that his eyesight is no longer the greatest. There were a few speed bumps he missed slowing down for and game driving in parks is not his forte! I spotted the rhinos and lions we saw and he stopped at a buffalo once thinking it was a rhino. He also bragged that he would find us a leopard but never did. (I've seen leopards before but the boasting was strange). In general our driver was friendly, but nothing like the kind of service I've had on other budget safaris.
We stopped at multiple curio shops and they are usually expensive, but I've never had someone try to sell me a shuka (usually cost 600ksh and never worth more than 700ksh) for 4,000ksh. I was surprised that knowing that I'm a Kenyan resident Johnny would still try and take us to a place this ridiculously expensive. After they tried to scam us once Johnny actually took us there a second time. (???). He also added in a random stop at a girl scout memorial for people that I know nothing about and the man there asked for donations of any size so I at least thought offer 100ksh but he then turned around and said that wasn't enough. Was getting a bit sick of Johnny taking us to people who were just going to ask us for too much money. Especially since we told him that were not interesting in gift shopping as we were planning on doing that in Nairobi.
The itinerary was great, but at the end of the trip I wouldn't recommend trying to cram as much as we did into one week. Spend at least two nights at every location so that you get a full day at each. Cate added a few extra things to my itinerary beyond what I requested and I trusted her to know what would make a good trip but now I wish I'd asked to cut some of those extra locations.
Good things: Because it was budget we ate a lot of ugali and nyama choma which I love. Food was always delicious. Parks themselves were beautiful and wonderful.
TL;DR: The organization and communication was poor. Driver friendly but not very skilled and in bad health/bad eyesight. Would not recommend. You can find better budget safaris than this, or just rent a car and do it yourself.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Call it the Tourist tax on pricing, especially when you see what you get for it
The safari's and guides themselves were great. Thank God I only did the 2 night, 3 day stay. The accommodations are terrible! I'd met a couple on the way down that did the cheaper "tented" version. There experience was much better- and cleaner. For the price you pay, you'd think it would be a stunning room. It is not. The locals I know in Cape Town informed me what it actually costs a local to do this for them. They tourist price us of course and
I'd be fine if I had a beautiful room with an amazing bed and stunning accommodations. This was 2 dirty not even the size of single bed beds, no frame to them, no skirt on the bottom box spring showing it for all it's dirtiness, a dirty shower, dirty walls, old dirty looking towels (they were clean but the vibe felt gross), everything felt dirty. I paid almost $800 for those two nights & not really 3 days. I thought that would mean a beautiful sleep in beauty. We all chatted over dinner on the condition of what we got and felt the same. My recommendation- book a stunning hotel separately. Book the safari's separately. it'll be the same or cheaper. And you can self drive as well but you'll miss out on the amazing information the guides give. You don't need to be suckered into this - some research and a tiny bit of effort and you can avoid all this bs.
was not Impressed
Nothing to say much but it was very unfortunate experience
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Do not use Tembea East Africa
Never use Tembea East Africa Safaris out if Nairobi. What should have been a once in a lifetime, carefree trip turned into a stress-filled experience as a result of the firm's poor cash management, incompetence and the deceitful customer service. In the end to continue with our trip I had to pay over $850 in additional costs to cover their admitted mistakes and they have not refunded me. From my perspective they have stolen cash. Full story below.
We recently returned from an 8 day safari tour in Kenya and Tanzania through Tembea East Africa Safaris. Throughout the planning process the owner operator Issa S was helpful and responsive. As required bY Issa we paid our deposit well in advance of our trip to secure our lodgings and park entrance reservations. Two weeks prior to our arrival we confirmed our trip and wired the final payment. Although we were met at the airport and taken to our first night's accommodations we had considerable issues with Issa as the trip progressed.
We did not have the luxury accommodation reservations in the Masai Mara park as contracted and only learned of a change while en route to an inferior substitute -AA Lodges- (our room had no hot water, the lock on door was broken, the toilet in the room didn't flush, and the pool was out of service). When I told him I was not happy with this change Issa said he would call and make reservations for us at the contracted Mara Sopa Lodge. He ultimately called and said there was nothing he could do since he called but they weren't answering their phone. Unlikely story? We ended staying two nights in the inferior lodge.
Things deteriorated further when we were at the entrance gate of Serengeti Park. Issa had failed to deposit the appropriate amount of cash required in advance and after more than 2 hours waiting at the gate for resolution, the only solution was for me to use my personal credit card and charge $400 for one days entrance. Both the guide and I reached out to Issa several times by phone but after our initial discussion where he blamed the problem on the "banks being closed on Sunday" and not that he failed to deposit the cash on time, he simply refused to pick up his phone. We missed our evening safari drive and arrived at our camp late, frazzled and $400 lighter. No money was available the next day in time to pay day two fees so we spent additional hours riding to various entry points (taking away from our safari time) and ultimately I had to pay an additional $400 in park fees. Issa sent an email apologizing and told me he would meet me at the Kenyan border upon our return with $800 in cash.
Things got worse upon leaving Serengeti to enter Ngorogoro Crater. He again delayed cash arrangements so we needed to wait at the entrance 2 hours until the transfer cleared. Unfortunately he didn't deposit the correct amount and because of the park payment system we could not use cash or credit card to make up the difference. As a result we waited another several hours at the entrance for the transfer. Because of this delay we were only able to spend 2 hours in the park (versus the 6 hours scheduled) and missed a good portion of our safari drive that day in the Crater. Everyone in our party was disappointed since this was a key part of our trip. Again, Issa refused to respond by email, text or phone in spite of the guide's and my attempt to reach him for some explanation. To add insult to injury we arrived at the Ngorogoro Farmhouse for our overnight and they couldn't find our reservations. They ultimately came back and said that reservations were only made that day so we were initially not on the list. Luckily they had accommodations.
We did make it to the Kenyan border the next day but Issa was not there with the money. He sent an email apologizing and said he would meet me in Nairobi at our hotel with the cash. Our last day at Amboselli went well but upon checkout there was a cash shortage and for us to leave at a reasonable time to return to Nairobi (5 hour drive) I once again had to personally charge $66. I was now owed $866.
I was obviously angry with Issa and his lack of professionalism in managing this safari trip. When we arrived at the hotel (6:30 pm) he was not there. He finally answered his phone and when I confronted him about these issues and his absence at the hotel as promised he said he would be there shortly with the cash refund and we could discuss. We waited until 8 pm and he never showed. His guide, the hotel clerk and I tried to reach him. He simply let the phone ring and then would not pick up. He eventually emailed me around 10 pm that he didn't show because I was too aggressive when I spoke to him. He guaranteed that I would be refunded the $866 by the time I returned home.
I have been home for more than a month and have received numerous emails from his finance person Damien assuring me that I will receive a refund. After reading comments on Trip Advisor (and Damien's recent silence) it is apparent that no refund is forthcoming.
I need to be fair and say that the trip was saved from total disaster because of the knowledge and professionalism of our guides, Abraham in Kenya and Dennis in Tanzania. When we were on safari rides they were excellent, answering all our questions and seemingly blessed with a sixth sense to ferret out the animals. We have no complaints on that end.
Issa is an obvious incompetent who lacks professionalism and unless I get refunded, an obvious crook as well. He never offered any sympathy, apologies and definitely compensation for the downgrade in hotel and for our time lost from our safaris because of his failure to transfer adequate funds for hotels and park fees. We planned a long time for this very costly trip and were very disappointed with our decision to go with Tembea. Do not make the same mistake.
I am glad to answer any further questions on my experience.
IT
Safari in tarangire
the safari tour was very well organized and our guide/ driver Godfrey was exceptional. but unfortunately the tour finel the head of the agency has not complied with the agreements by refusing to transport us in the agreed point. little seriousness.
DE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
OK but lots of room for improvement
Value for money is only moderate. I found their tour preperation was not adequate, leading to a car break-down which cost us several hours. Not good when your time is limited. Some more time was wasted in a Police control, where it turned out that the car did not have proper insurance with some documentation missing. The driver was definitely striving to do his best, yet he was not qualified as a guide during our game drive. Fortunately and by chance we had a local helping out, otherwise we would have missed lots of interesting sights and information.
ES
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
I haven't like this tour operator
We booked a five days safari to Masai Mara, Nakuru and Naivasha. The driver , and he didnt take us to see the migration. It happened the 4th of August. Later, a person who was in Masai Mara that day, said me that all tourists were seeing the migration. Instead it, he "sell" us a "walking" to see Mara river. the price (the tip) was 5 dollars. Besides, he was very dangerous driving.
QA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Disappointed a real shame and ruined honeymoon
I never want to write a negative review but on this occasion I must as we were badly let down. Despite being notified at an early stage Somak failed to register that this was our honeymoon trip. In our group of 6 there was another honeymoon couple and they received special treatment but my wife and I did not, this lasted for the 7 days of our safari. This culminated with the last stage of our trip on Zanzibar when we arrived at the hotel and I told staff it was our honeymoon. However, they told us that they had not been notified of this, so we were denied the honeymoon package. I spoke with the Somak rep and he said he would pass the complaint on to his manager, and that the manager would meet us at the hotel the following day. He never came, in fact they just avoided us for the duration of the stay and did nothing. Thankfully the hotel guest relations manager became aware of the situation and stepped in to made our last three days special.
It is a real shame that we suffered this negligent communication error as the safari driver was great and he was tireless in searching for the fauna we wanted to see. Another plus was the Serena lodges we stayed at which were fantastic. To date we still have not even had a reply from Somak to offer an apology...
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Bad expierence with Malcolm
We just returned from touring Botswana with Malcom.
Our experience with him as a tour guide was not positive.
At every border control post, he neglected to inform us of the procedure and necessary requirements.
This was also the case during the tour, we were not informed about when to take along water, diesel/petrol etc.
His cell phone was also not roamed.
With regards to confronting him with our problems, he was not approachable and dismissive.