AT
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
unreliable, untrustworthy and careless
I am writing to express my extreme dissatisfaction with my recent safari experience in Tanzania with Kipok Africa Adventures
I booked 3-day safari package for 2 people, including one airport transfer, transfers to and from accommodation before and after the safari, and full 3-day safari with guide and accommodation.
Itinerary: 1.day Tarangire, 2.day Ngorongoro and 3.day Lake Manyara
Contact person: Amani
Specific Feedback
• Communication: After we paid for our trip, we received very little communication from Kipok Adventures. We were not informed that we would be with a different group/company each day, even though we paid for a package that should have included the same guide for the entire trip. They also charged us extra for the airport transfer, which should be included in the price of our package.
• Plan changes: The original safari plan included visiting Tarangire National Park on day one, Ngorongoro Crater National Park on day two, and Lake Manyara National Park on day three. At the last minute, we were informed that the plan was changing and we would be visiting Lake Manyara on day two and Ngorongoro Crater on day three. Due to these changes, on the second day of our safari, we had too much free time because we were very close to Lake Manyara, and on the last day, we had to rush through Ngorongoro Crater (the highlight of safari) in order to make it to Arusha on time. This made the trip feel rushed and stressful.
• Guides: We had a different guide from a different company every day. We never knew for sure who would be leading us. For two days, the car had no company markings. The guide on the last day was very unprofessional and did not organize the taxi to our hotel properly. We had difficulty getting back to our hotel and had to ask the guide from the previous day, John from Crater Explorer Tours, for help. John was the only one responding and actually the only really professional guide on our trip. I am very grateful to him for helping us even though he was not our guide on the last day.
Additional Feedback
I would also like to add that I sent a complaint letter to Kipok Africa Adventures but I did not receive a response until few days later, after I sent a warning to write a review based on my experience. This is already 2 weeks and since then I did not hear from the company. I believe that this shows that Kipok is not serious about addressing customer complaints.
Conclusion
I am very disappointed with the service that I received from Kipok Africa Adventures. I would not recommend them to anyone.
CN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
We believe we are trapped and treaded unfairly
We are 4 friends and booked our trip to Tanzania from 09/24 - 10/4. And we’ve planned our trip like more than half year ago, we are so looking forward to have an impressive and unforgettable trip. But it turned out that we are just trapped and treated unfairly:
1) Request are neglected
during the book，we have highlighted that we need twin room(2 beds in 1 room), and the company had confirmed the request in our itinerary in the email. But it turned out that the company just ignored the request and there are always only 1 bed in 1 room.
During the Serengeti safari, we can overcome the difficulty as there is only 1 night and with the help of receptionist, we finally have 2 beds in one room. Although 1 is king size the other is baby size.
But when we arrived at Zanzibar, there are straight 3 nights! And when we turn to receptionist, he confirmed that there is no request for the room and it cannot be arranged. At the time I called Mirene, our customer service representative from the company, she just said I NEVER request!!!
2) forgot to arrange activities with payment
We booked dolphin adventure and but there no one knows the schedule onsite.
We check with the reception desk, they let us ask the excursions and taxi office. And the office asked us to wait at the front desk today at 6 am….
We just wait at front desk today at 6 am as we are told, but there is no driver, the receptionist tried to call someone to help. And we are waiting half an hour. The driver finally showed up and took us to the North saying the staff forgot to arrange the adventure to us. And because it is too late, cannot take us to the south, which list in our itinerary, he can only take us to the north as it is closer.
3) Payment change without notice
We are informed fully that the credit card payment rate is 2.5%, but when we pay it was updated to 3%. We find the balance is not right and reached out to the company and only when they told us that because the government changed the rate.
4) careless and time wasting
We have reported to the company on 10/1 and want to have a solution of the unhappiness, and till now 11/11 we don’t have the solution. And the reply just keep saying they are contacting accountant (don’t understand why need to contact the person) and asking the same question even though we have demonstrated exactly in the email of what we need and what happened.
the route of keeping letting us down in summary
A. the credit card payment rate rise from 2.5% to 3% without notice until we find the difference. And we accept it;
B. Full of lies: One of my friends reached out to Mirene to help know who is our pickup guy at airport. And Mirene replied she will contact me to confirm. And I never received her email so I have to write to her. And she wrote me back” she never got message from my friend” ( we have both WhatsApp and email record if you need). Again we accept it.
C. During the safari, the room is also only 1 bed. As you may know already. We accept it with the receptionist help.
When we back to Arusha, we immediately write back to Mirene that we are very happy with our arrangement as we want to know the time that pick up tomorrow! And of course, you may need to give credit to wild animals who help erase our unhappiness.
D. And finally our disappointment has reached to its ultimate level in Zanzibar when we step into our room. So I immediately write email to the company but they just keep pulling back and forth.
We truly want to know, the difficulty the company set for us is because we are Asian? or more specifically speaking, we are treated unfairly is because we are Chinese?
ID
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Avoid this agent, a real shame !
We booked a trip for 4 people for August 2023 – Kenya Tanzania with this agency Bleu Ranger Safari Kenya for 11 days in the largest parks (7 in total), a still substantial budget. But it seems that this agency does not provide quality at all - the guides are drivers who barely speak English, have no knowledge, and do not even have the program in hand to follow it at least the vehicles are in poor condition, and the assistance when things start to go wrong, completely non-existent… We had to complain constantly to finally get a response from their office…….
The accommodations were 80% modified each evening and without any information even before arrival... it's pure amateurism for a trip that was supposed to be superb...
The impression we have is that they cut back on all the services from the start, driver as cheap as possible (he was not aware of the program, did not speak English at all, a real disaster) – the poorly maintained, dirty and uncomfortable vehicles – meals on the side of the road in dens where the menu must cost 1USD/person no more – hotels not at all up to standard and constantly dislodged from start to finish. We got so fed up that we cut it short and asked to send us back to Nairobi earlier at our expense at a last hotel (Radisson Blue) for the exceptional cost which saved us the end of the trip... With the last driver who almost came to blows with us because of the lack of tip..
This agency has completely put us off Africa... we are disappointed by this experience - don't trust it, because they are not professionals at all, just offering the worst services to improve their margins, to the detriment of the client! !!! Scandal !
NL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A Ruined Honeymoon Safari: Expectation vs. Reality
I hesitated before writing this review, not because I doubted the validity of my complaints, but because I was so angered and disappointed right after our trip that I feared my emotions might cloud my judgment. Now, with some time passed and my sentiments cooled, I believe it's crucial to share our experience honestly and openly. When posting this, my anger and frustration is again boiling up....something I have never had before.
Our honeymoon was meant to be memorable, and indeed it will be, but for all the wrong reasons. We booked a three-day, two-night safari full of promise and excitement. The itinerary was detailed, and the experiences it described were dreamlike. However, our dreams were quickly dashed upon arrival. The first day, a highlight and crucial part of our adventure, was completely lost. What should have been our introduction to the wonders of the safari—a game drive, followed by a magical lunch on the steppe—was nothing more than a simple transit from the airstrip to our camp for lunch. The game drives? Nonexistent. The lunch on the steppe? Replaced by a mundane meal inside the restaurant at the camp, whereby we also got the question what we wanted to do. One of the main reasons for booking Honcho was the detailed itinerary, so it was super frustrating that all of a sudden we had to figure out what the plan should be. We pointed to the itinerary, but since we had already deviated so much, it could not be resolved anymore on the first day, which completely ruined that day... We paid $6000 for a 3 day trip, so losing one day, is just unacceptable.
The frustration was further fed when we had our first of many encounters over an issue as trivial as drink charges. Despite being assured that all beverages were included—indeed, this was confirmed several times in our itinerary— we got the message during our lunch inside the restaurant that they weren't included. Only after a heated discussion on the phone, thereby pointing to the itinerary which stated multiple times that drinks were included, they agreed to this.
Though our second day did include a lunch on the steppe, it was overshadowed by the previous day's disappointment and a continued discussions about drink charges... We had to advocate for ourselves repeatedly, an unnecessary stressor during what was supposed to be a relaxing retreat into nature.
Our final day brought the culmination of our grievances. After days of back-and-forth, the unresolved issues with the drink charges peaked again during our last game drive. Rather than savoring our final moments with the rhino's, we were again embroiled in a heated debate over the phone. Honcho had called our driver, asked him to put them through and they again started debating the drink charges... Honcho's representative not only failed to offer any apologies but also managed to ruin our last hours on safari by insisting we deal with a matter that we had been told was already settled.
But if you think the discussion ended there.... No it didn't. Upon arrival back at the airstrip for our hotel (Diani Beach), we were supposed to be picked up by a taxi, but there was no driver. Honcho had given the wrong information to the taxi, so we first ended up waiting before taking our own taxi. After finding out, Honcho instructed the taxi driver who would pick us up to go to our resort and offer apologies, which he did. But, he also gave me the phone and then somebody from Honcho started talking. He did make an apology for the taxi, but of course I was expecting an apology for all other things that had went wrong. Instead he again began a discussion about the drinks!!! So, then I hang up, again feeling frustrated and angry.
The troubles didn't end with poor communication or administrative errors; there was also a distinct lack of the small touches that were supposed to make our honeymoon special. The promised chocolates and tropical fruits? Never seen. And let's not forget the advice of our guide, in hindsight, about booking a camp inside the reserve for a more immersive experience—advice that came too late and only highlighted what we had missed out on due to a lack of transparency and proper guidance from Honcho. Our camp was situated about an hour and a half drive away from the park, thereby wasting precious time we could have spent inside the park enjoying wildlife.
In closing, not once were we offered a sincere apology, nor was there any attempt at a gesture to make amends for the multiple failings. Instead, we were met with deflection, blame-shifting, and an utter lack of accountability. This was not the dream honeymoon safari we had envisioned and paid handsomely for. It was a lesson in how a lack of customer care and service can turn a dream trip into a series of frustrating events that we are now eager to forget.
I share this not out of a lingering anger, but in the hopes that our story can serve as a cautionary tale for others seeking to embark on a safari adventure. The wild is unpredictable, yes, but the service around it shouldn't be.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The name says it all: RUN RUN (Mbio Mbio)
I'm pretty sure that the good reviews here are from David himself. We had a bad experience with our safari tour. It would be too much text to list everything but now the worst: When we wanted to leave the Serengeti National Park, we waited longer than the other groups until our guide came to us and asked if we could pay the fee, because there is a system error and David's payment is therefore not registered there. We were skeptical because we had already paid everything in advance and the other groups had no problems. After asking several times, it turned out that David had kept the fee for himself and never intended to pay it. In a phone call, he simply said: "Either you pay the fee or you're out of luck and have to spend the night there without accommodation". After hours of waiting and many phone calls back and forth, we finally made it out. We had to drive through the park in the dark, our car broke down (we also had to pay for the repairs ourselves, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to get out of there) and so we only arrived back in Arusha late at night. During a phone call with David, we mentioned that we would give him a bad review because of all the things that had happened. He didn't wanted this under any circumstances and offered to pay for an overnight stay in the hotel. We emphasized several times that we didn't need an overnight stay because we already booked one. We also told our safari guide that we wanted to go to our hotel. When we arrived in Arusha, we were driven to a creepy backyard and it turned out that we were driven against our will to the "hotel" that David had booked. We were three young women and were now quite scared and had to exert real pressure to get out of there. After we asked our guide why he had taken us there against our will, he said that he had been instructed to do so by David, even if we didn't want it. After we confronted David on the phone, he offered us a refund. We will probably never see the money. I can imagine that David will try to deceive people again in the future under a different name. I can only recommend booking Safari Tours, which has been around for several years and has many reviews.
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very disappointed with our tour guide
This was our family's first time to an African country and we were so looking forward to our safari with Kiboko Tours and Travels. Sadly, we were very disappointed. Due to budget constraints, we did choose the budget option for our safari and for that reason we were not disappointed with the vehicle or the lodges. Both seemed like they had seen better days, but when you go budget, we know you don't get top of the line transportation or accommodation. However, what we were really disappointed with was our guide. I don't like to be critical of other people and know that it can be difficult being a tour guide, but during and after our safari, we wondered why our guide had chosen to be a tour guide and why you, as a safari company, had hired him for the position. He didn't seem to want to be a safari guide, as he spent more time on his phone (especially on the first day) than sharing with us his knowledge about the parks we’re in, animals we’re seeing and general information about what to expect on each tour. We learned more from the signs at the park and our own background research than we did from our guide. Our guide did not engage with us, ask us about ourselves and what we’d like to get out of our first experience here in your beautiful country. I would think it good practice for tour guides to let their guests to know what to expect each day, and ask them what they’d like to see (keeping in mind, of course, that nothing is guaranteed with a safari). I would expect a tour guide to think of themselves as an ambassador for their country, wanting to share with their guests their enthusiasm and knowledge about their country and what they are able to show their guests. Our guide was not like this at all. In fact, when we asked him questions about the parks we were visiting and wildlife we were seeing he often misinformed us as we found out later through our own online research. I would ask that Kiboko Tours and Travel either provide their guides with training or only hire guides that have been trained and qualified as tour guides. For this reason, I would not recommend this company for your safari.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
We think this is either a scam or they have gone bust - do not book
Supposed to have a Safari in December but after paying the second half of the invoice we have heard nothing. Cannot get in touch. Communication was initially great and now they have fallen off the face of the earth. A lot of money wasted
BE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Warning! Seems like a scam under a new name Xplore2Africa
I traveled with Xplore2Africa (previously Sunsets in Africa) in August 2023. The tour was a terrible experience. No accomodation corresponded to the itinerary I paid for. I was constantly downgraded to the hotels of far lower quality and far lower price. My driver was not booked for the first day. The same applies to safaris. They were booked in the last minute resulting in stress and total chaos when we arrived in Etosha. MY NAMIBIAN GUIDE, subcontacted by Xplore2Africa, HAS TILL NOW NOT BEEN PAID for his work. Whenever I complained about something, the reaction of the agency was very agressive, or there was no reaction, or they gave like totally absurd excuses to justify the lower price of the accomodation (e.g. the lawn, called by them 'a garden', at the B&B at the outskirts of Swakopmund was supposed to offer me better comfort than a prestigious hotel in the city centre. After I complained to the TourRadar through which I found the tour, I got a small compensation, but the feeling of being scammed and cheated cannot be justified in any way. Moreover, the breach of labour law (no payment to my guide) should be legally sanctionned, and I am planning further legal action on that matter. For your own safety and calm, dont book your holidays with this operator.
FR
RUN AWAY
Absolutely avoid!!!!
This company is not reliable!! due to illness I had to cancel 1 month before. According to the cancellation conditions provided, they should have refunded me a part and yet they kept my $4000!!!!!!
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Bad experience
Still waiting for a $ 1250 refund since 2020
At each reminder, we always receive a response that the balance will be refunded quickly. To date, we have not received the amount due to us.