DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A mediocre experience at best
So the tour started about 1hour and 30 minutes late because the initial driver could not pick us up because the safari car broke down on the way to our hotel. So we got assigned a new driver and this driver was supposed to arrive at our hotel 20 minutes later than the actual pickup time. But he arrived over 1 hour later and the boss of the travel agency promised us to extend the game drive for the amount of the time the driver was delayed. So when the driver arrived he was in not so good of a mood because he had been woken up in his sleep to do the tour instead of the other driver. So his bad mood was understandable to us at first. We continued with the tour and tried to make the best out of the situation. The Safari tour felt rushed and the actual Safari was very underwhelming because we just rushed through the main paths of the national park for about 2 hours and did not get any explanation of the driver whatsoever without us actually asking him specific questions. We did not see many animals and our requests during the drive were not regarded. The Safari was expensive (500$ and more for 2 people) and it was not worth the money at all. We spent 25$ per person for a meal which was just rice and vegetables and the driver even was rude to us when we asked him why he was making us rush through everything when actually we were promised a longer Safari tour because of the delay. We can’t recommend this agency although not everything was bad.
GH
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Poor management, lack of flexibility but great guide
Before confirming our tour with Bienvenido Kenya Tours and Safaris, I made sure to ask explicitly if the place we were going to stay at was the one I had mentioned, even sending a link for reference. To our surprise, the camp they confirmed via email had nothing to do with the one I had asked about. They offered us another camp for a much higher price. We suggested splitting the additional costs, but they refused.
I don't think they intended to scam us, but their lack of flexibility and taking responsibility for their mistake left a bad taste. However, the two employees we dealt with remained polite, but it was not their call to make things right. I blame the director/CEO who didn't want to discuss the matter at all or take any final accountability despite recognizing their mistake.
On a positive note, Nico, our guide, was fantastic. He knew a lot, was happy to answer questions, and was just a really nice person to spend time with during those two days.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Promised More Than Delivered
It is my opinion that this tour operator has been adversely impacted by Covid and has had some challenges since. The staff was very cordial and well informed and made our Safari experience special however many aspects of the trip were not as represented or not delivered.
TH
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Unprofessional and thoughtless safari operator.
For anyone thinking about using African Chitah for their Tanzanian dream Safari I would think twice. Below are some of the highlights, or I should say "lowlights" from our recent safari in Tanzania.
1) When we arrived at Kilimanjaro Airport there was no one there to meet us. After a half day of flying, to emerge from the airport with luggage in hand and no one there to meet us was most disconcerting. The driver did finally arrive 20 minutes later, but this was 20 minutes of un-necessary anxiety. The driver apologized with the excuse that there was "traffic." While that may have been true, there were literally hundreds of other tour operators at the airport holding placards with their guest's names. Why did these hundreds of other operators manage to arrive on time but not our driver?
2) On the first day or our tour, the driver arrived at our hotel very early. He asked us to finish our breakfast quickly as there were three other groups to pick up. When we arrived at the first pickup the driver asked us to sit in the car while he retrieved the guests. After 20 minutes no one returned. I found the driver waiting in the lobby and asked him what was going on. He told me that these other guests were still eating breakfast. I explained to him that this was not a private tour and we were sitting in a hot car waiting while someone else was casually eating their breakfast. He told us he would go and get the other guests and I returned to the car. Another 10 minutes passed and still no one had returned. I returned to the lobby and found the driver still sitting in the lobby. I then insisted that he come with me and get the other guests which he finally did. If I hadn't been so insistent, who knows how long I would have been sitting in the hot car while the other members of the group tour casually enjoyed breakfast and coffee. And he didn't even apologize for this at all.
3) Twice we were given hotels of noticeably lower quality than what we were promised on our itinerary. If we had been equivalent quality hotels it would not have been an issue. However, when we complained to the company about this they utterly dismissed our complaints. They did not offer to change the hotel to one of similar quality nor did they offer us a refund. While it may not have been the operator's intention, the outcome left us with the feeling that we had been hoodwinked in a "bait and switch" scheme.
4) The vehicle appeared to be noticeably older than those of other companies. We spent 20 minutes having to repair the door as it would not open properly.
Given the above I would normally give "1" star. I have generously given "2" stars due to the quality of our driver Steven. He was knowledgeable and helpful and went above and beyond to make sure that all the guests had an enjoyable safari experience. And perhaps most importantly, he was a skillful driver which cannot be discounted given the challenging and punishing terrain and roads.
PT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Tour operator with unreliable equipment and trust issues
Having booked a family safari trip, we were provided with a malfunctioning vehicle. Indeed, the first thing we did after being picked up at the hotel in Arusha was to go to the mechanic to fix the gear....a full morning lost...shameful and not professional at all to be greeted with a non-conforming car...
Afterwards, when accessing Manyara Park, we were informed that the entrance was blocked due to severe rain. This is understandable. What is not acceptable is that Rupia kept the USD300 of the ticket entrance and, until today, did not return the money....shameful and again not professional...
I definitely not recommend Rupia and, in particular, found that Matt did not honour his word.
Bad omens for a tourism business...
IE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Poor experience
We thougt it was a good price for a safari but showed to be a really bad experience. Do not recommend.
CA
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Better speak to your manager at the camp , she was not very happy to serve us , the food no good
We have nothing to say about our guide PITA , he was excellent , he try hard to find animals in the safari to show us, he explain everything , I recommandent him , his the best. But about the camp , the ladies there were not very at there place to received tourists, always said , wait a minute…no smile, they laughed together, they said that the power is on at 6 to 10 , but it was not that. And the food , so bad for the price Jocky Tours charge us. We have the same night meal , 2 times, the beef was too hard in our mouth, you have to review your meals and the staff at the camp. We were 2 couples and my friends had a frog in his bathroom and ants in his mattress…
NL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Good accommodation, unmotivated guide
We did Masai Mara, Lake Naivasha, Amboseli and Tsavo.
Contact with Silas was good before the trip. Accommodation was good and we had a wonderful Christmas at Lake Naivasha. I would give 4 stars for this, but we went to Kenya for the safaris.
On arrival in Masai Mara we would have a late afternoon safari. However, because of too many and ong stops, a lot of traffic and bad road conditions we arrived too late. We were disappointed we missed our first safari. Our guide/driver Isaiah promised we would get a long game drive the next day in Masai Mara till closing time 6.30pm. However, after a good day game driving we arrived at the gate at 5pm. I said Isaiah this is not what he promised us and then he got mad. He first did not want to go back into the park, but when I asked it again he turned around, clearly demotivated and driving very slowly. He also spoke ill over us against other drivers.
After this, all safaris were very disappointing. Isaiah did not even try to look for wildlife anymore. He kept on driving very slowly, did not communicate wit us at all and followed roads in the park were no other driver went.
In tsavo we really had it and I contacted Silas through Whatsapp. He said sorry to hear and he would talk to Isaiah soon. Our last day was a little better, although we did not see much game.
I did not get any response from Silas after this. We really feel it was a very poor trip thanks to isaiah. I did 22 trips in Africa before, but I never experienced such a terrible guide.
Our trip could have been much better
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Poor communicators, frustrating with many changes
We felt that communication was a huge issue in dealing with Sunsets during the tour. There did not seem to be a single point of contact for the group (e.g. various contact points via Gladys, Haron, Lucy, using the Messages function in the booking app). There were times when calls were not taken, and promised return calls not received.
Changes to the itinerary prior to the tour were not specifically pointed out, and still there were more changes during the tour that were not communicated - these changes impacted some of the key highlights that we had all expected from the original itinerary we had paid for.
It was emotionally and physically exhausting having to deal with all the recurrent problems during the tour, even till late at night.
Initial itineraries indicated that a meeting would be held on Day 1 at 18:00 with the guide and that all members of the group should attend that meeting so as not to miss out on any critical information. This did not occur - we met our guide at the start of day 2. He was surprised to have 7 people on the tour in one vehicle and also at the amount of luggage - which was a problem for him to accomodate safely and securely. No ”PRE-TOUR” information was provided about luggage or clothing requirements, although this had been requested by many of the group members. This resulted in the tour truck being overcrowded with luggage.
There was confusion about where the tour ended - Arusha or Nairobi. 4 of the 7 people on the tour had confirmed that the tour was to end in Arusha and it was up to them to arrange return either to Nairobi or elsewhere. This was not consistent with the name being called a “Circuit” and as it transpired, it became clear (once on the tour) that we could have all been transported back to Nairobi by road to end the tour - but this was not known to those of us who paid additional money to fly from Arusha to Nairobi.
The drivers/tour guides in both Kenya and Tanzania were friendly and helpful, but they were not employed by Sunsets and had limited ability to fix operational issues - other than be the go -between with the company. However the safari drives were good and we saw lots of wonderful animals thankfully.
I would recommend being very careful about arranging a tour with Sunsets of Africa based on our experience.
We had booked through Tourradar who did help us with some monetary compensation on our return - as all 7 of us agreed we had not received what we had paid for.
BE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Bad organisation
Sorry but I wasn’t that happy with how the safari went .. Everyday another jeep with another driver and other peoples, the planning changed totally from day 1 without any communication or plan. I slept on other campsites then my planning said, every morning I had to search by myself to my driver and nobody knew anything. Everyday we left very late (also not on the planning). And my driver forgot to pick me up at lake manyara to Serengeti so I’m not that happy