US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Guides very good, accommodations and food in Cape Town terrible!!
It's too bad that we have not gotten much of a response from go touch down on our intial complaint and no refund on the less than accepble hotel in Cape Town. The Stillness manor and spa was a 2 star rating at best rooms were dirty mold in bathroom (shower) and food was poor.
We were promised the Bel Moroc a upscale hotel and at the last moment changed to the Stillness. We were very disappointed at this change and not being offered compensation for the change!
Two of the complainers about the van being cramped have been compensated!
it's too bad that such a nice tour turned out at the end to be so disappointing!
We await your response.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Professional, very nice.
It was a pretty involved tour. Was amazing to see all the animals (Big 5).
The driver Zayree and the guide and cook Magoma were very nice.
Just a few issues with this tour. Accommodations were very or “below” average. Especially since I booked for a totally PRIVATE Safari for only TWO people. I’m sure they could’ve given Better Accommodations.
Also in the Serengeti we were in a lodge that seemed like the”Boonies”. So that one day all we saw was just prey animals. Nothing else. I repeatedly asked the driver to go to Central Serengeti, but he refused, saying it was 2 hours away. But we were just driving around in ONE Boring Area for around 8 hours. Could have easily taken the trip to Central Serengeti, I felt. To me that was a TOTAL Waste of our Precious time, since we were on a ONE week tour for Tanzania.
I even offered to pay extra for a Nicer Room in Arusha, but I was refused. Don’t Understand WHY??
Hopefully in future the company realizes these issues travelers may have and provide somewhat Better Service? Cause people travel from very Far distances and would like to make the Best of the time and days on hand.
IN
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Lake Nakuru National Park by Anil Kumar
The lake is getting deeper and bigger with every passing year, making it more salty and less desirable for flamingoes. Almost half of flamingoes have started going to other nearby lakes, trees in and around the lake are dying. The only positive thing is the population of Rhinos is growing and you can see them early in the morning from close range.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Lake Manyara National Park by Charlie
Thick bush that makes it difficult to see many animals. Also very small park.
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Amboseli National Park by Keith Jacquard
The area is in a severe drought, it was sad to see the amount of dead and dying animals.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Masai Mara National Reserve by Halee
Being a popular tourist destination it’s hard to enjoy the sightings as there are marred by the dozens of other vehicles maneuvering for the best shot. This takes away from the wild element unless you’re the first vehicle to spot the animal. But the changing landscapes are breathtaking, especially for sundowners or morning coffee in the bush.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Nice Tour but not like description
Thank you for organizing our safari days. We were very much looking forward to the great accommodation "Eco Lodge" as described in the offer. Therefore we were disappointed with the "replacement accommodation" which was not of the same standard.
Danke für die Organisation unserer Safari-Tage.
Wir haben uns im Vorhinein sehr auf die tolle Unterkunft „Eco Lodge“ wie im Angebot beschrieben, gefreut. Deshalb waren wir von der “Ersatz-Unterkunft”, welche nicht dem selben Niveau entsprach, enttäuscht.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Beauftiful nature, but greedy guide
We had a three night tour from Laka Manyara over Ngorongoro Crater to the Tarangire park. The tour was organized perfectly — we could make some neat adaptions to our tour without any issues (concerning the airport transfer and the accommodations). If you ever plan to do this tour, we would highly recommend the Tarangire Simba Lodge, we had really magical moments there!
However, our guide had a negative impact on our experience there. We know that tipping is expected in these activities and never refused to do so. At the beginning of our tour the guide directly demanded a 120$ tip at the end of the trip. Talking in some way always came back to tips (and why to give even more). Multiple times we were asked how much we would be giving for his alleged wedding.
After the tour we decided to give a tip inside the recommended range by Lion Kind Adventures. Afterwards, the guide send angry text messages to us and even called me on my private phone number. To me, this is a huge no-go and made us feel quite uncomfortable.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Lake Nakuru National Park by Tara
Lake Nakuru is a great spot but you're limited to what you can see because the roads don't go very far into the bush. We saw tons of monkeys, rhinos, flamingos, giraffes and other birds. Masai Mara is hard to beat once you've experienced it.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Ngorongoro and Tarangire were good, Lake Manyara canoeing was a scam
We went on a 3 day safari trip to Tarangire, Ngorongoro and canoeing on Lake Manyara.
The first two days were really great - Mollel was a really good guide, answered all my questions and his driving skills are great. We saw a lot of animals in Tarangire and Ngorongoro.
The third day was supposed to be canoeing on Lake Manyara which I was very excited about. We paid extra to arrange this experience. However, I thought it was a joke at first: For one, we were brought to a spot that wasn't even inside the national park (and I have checked online before booking the safari - Lake Manyara National Park does canoe tours and since we're talking about safaris and national parks, we naturally thought we would be canoeing inside the park with professional guides). The starting place was a muddy, dark spot where local men were chopping down trees. Our guides, local fishermen, brought canoes that honestly look like life hazards - rusty, old, full of water. But since we were already there, we got in, hoping we would sail a bit further from the shore and see some wildlife. My guide didn't say a single word to me the entire time - I am unsure he even spoke English.
It was also very windy and we couldn't really go out very far and had to stay very close to the shore where the locals were cutting down trees so expecting much of wildlife in that location is a strange idea (we did see some hippos which we appreciate).
All these things aside - lack of proper equipment, disappointing location, unprofessional guides - I would have assumed that if the weather didn't permit canoeing, we would be warned and offered an alternative, such as a drive through the Lake Manyara National Park. I would have no issues paying the entrance fees - rather than having a questionable canoeing experience.
We turned back after around 45 minutes (instead of 2 hours) for the above mentioned reasons.
Like I said the first two days were nice. Mollel was a great driver and guide, the accommodation was awesome (the service and staff were great) and the pick up and drop off were smooth. However, I do consider the third day a scam to be honest - it's not really about the fee (although 60 dollars extra per person for that experience is strange), as it was about having ruined expectations.
I do not recommend booking canoeing trips with this operator.
