SE
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Masai Mara where fantastic. Hells gate and Lake Nakuro was not much to see.
We were lead to believe that we have bought a Safari for four people in our own car. Instead we were picking up and dropping off people all the time at Transfer Hotel. This lead to many hours of unnecessary transports on very bad roads.
The driver was good at finding game with the help of the radio. But his communications skills needs a lot of improvement. He did not tell us where we were going and what will happen next. The first lunch stop was totally unnecessary. Who eats lunch at 4 pm? Because of that we missed the bird trip at Lake Navisha.
SE
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
5 day safari in Kenya
Masai mara is fantastic but the travel by car, picking up people and dropping them in places we didnt need to go to, took to much time from our 5 day safari.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
This safari company is actually a middleman
Like another review I read I was shortchanged 3 different nights. Julias, who collected part of the money up front, passed me on the second day to another crook named Victor, who took the remainder of the cost of the trip, then managed to put me in 3 different vehicles during the 7 days, put me in an igloo tent instead of a tented camp 2 different nights, put me in a $30 noisey hotel another night and somehow managed to get me to all the stops on different nights than the itinerary showed. And only one night in the Serengeti instead of promised 2. The last night I insisted to the driver to take me to Planet Lodge the last night on a hunch and it was so wonderful there I stayed there an extra night and I just dared them to make me move, which they did not. I had such a wonderful time, mainly due to some drivers that actually cared for my well being, even though I could tell they had to talk to Victor about me going to certain places I was promised, that I only asked Julias to refund me $150 for the 3 nights they cheated me out of a proper place. Two months later he keeps saying he will pay me, but let us face it, if you do not have $150 you don't have a real company. Julias has a fake safari company that just takes part of the fee and passes you on to the crook named Victor who makes most of his money by pocketing the difference in the price of the promised hotel against the crummy place he tries to put you. And feeds you to different vehicles to pocket some extra cash when drivers have extra room. But despite this I met some wonderful people on the trip and great animals . And I promised Julias if he did not pay I would write him up......so here it is. If you are going on your first safari all you have to do is make sure they are in the safari association and then you are safe......I did not know this until I talked to people in Tanzania.
US
Beware, you get what you pay for
First and foremost if you are looking for the economy version of a safari then WS Safari may be for you. Also be prepared for older Land Rovers, unexpected changes, and uniformed guides. Moses states the vehicles are well maintained and up to date which is far from the truth. Also Moses cares more about making money then customer satisfaction. He added 2 more people mid trip which made the small Land Rover we were in cramped. We were told to be at breakfast by 6am to get an early start but our guide wasp er an hour late due to picking up more guests. No one told us what was going on. Constantly there was a major lack of communication between clients and the safari company. Our guide who was nice but lacked information about parks and wildlife. He also misidentified several species of birds. More often than not the guests spotted the wildlife and had to ask to stop. On the final day we stopped at a tourist junk store and were told that another car would pick 4 of us up. This wasn't a problem but we were never told of this change. Overall we saw wildlife and if you are trying to do a safari on a budget then go for it. But Beware, you get what you pay for!
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Park fees nightmare.
Day 1: My husband and I fully paid for a 4 night 5 day safari to Amboseli, Lake Nakuru and Mara.
The park fees was included in the package, but when we arrived at Amboseli our first stop, we were notified that our park fees had not been paid. We therefore had to wait for 30 plus minutes in the heat, while our driver tried to sort out the problem. After multiple unsuccessful attempts to contact out booking agent Peter Ndambuki, we were notified that we had to pay an additional park fees so as to be let into the park!!
Day 2: We were instructed to go by the office enroute to lake Nakuru, to pick up a refund for the park fees we paid on day 1, and additional park fees for Lake Nakuru and Mara trips, this added another one hour plus to our 5 hour plus drive. When we arrived at the office, the money was not ready for pick up and we had to wait for another 30 minutes for the money, despite the fact that the booking agent is the one who scheduled the pick up!! Needless to say, we arrived in Nakuru hungry and tired and only managed to have a very short game drive.
We are waiting to see whether we have a better experience for the next two days, but we don't intend to ever, ever use or recommend this company.
TR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
I wish I had the chance to go back and change my choice of tour company.
Very poor guide, very old car. We did not feel welcome at all. Unsatisfaction from the beginning to the end. Tanzania is a heavenly country and deserves to be explored with a better company in professional hands.
Disastrous Kafue
I am afraid to say, our trip to Kafue was a disaster in terms of game, very little to see. I think when the new North/ South road was built I think most of the game was eaten/killed, we saw more game in Pilandsberg game reserve.
It was a real pity, next te we will try South Luangue.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Pilanesberg Game Reserve by thewildlifephotographer
More like a small safari park, with no feeling of being 'wild'. I won't be visiting again.
IE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Refunded for day 1 of trip
** UPDATE APRIL 2015
Thanks to peter for refunding us the cost of our first day's travel as promised
** ORIGINAL REVIEW
We booked transport from Nairobi airport to Masai Mara for 7.30am dept time so we could do an afternoon game drive. We left nairobi 8 hours late at 3:30 pm having waited all day and arrived at 9:30pm and missed entirely one of our two days of game drives. We were given continued excuses over and over again and several requests for money en route for expenses etc. We had paid upfront and in full. This company almost ruined the entire trip. Thankfully we had independently booked great accommodation who provided their own good driver and guide for our game drive the next day. This company is not anywhere near good enough and should be avoided at all costs. They have promised a refund but continuously have deferred about paying this.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Safari was fantastic but the road trip to and from was a disaster.
Helpful in booking and changing / amending booking at the last minute to an exceptionally good and exclusive safari. Picking up both times before the breakfast time at hotels and then stopping for long periods of time to pick up other passengers, once for an hour. Not stopping for food during 8-9 hours of road trip. Not friendly at all and not open to receiving feedback. Poor communication skills by the staff.