PL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Dishonest
We had an unpleasant situation with the guide - we agreed to take additional people for our afternoon game drive in exchange for decreasing a bit the overall price of our trip. The guide took the money from them, but when we asked him about the price decrease (returning us some money) the next day he started to make excuses, eventually telling us to write to the office. So we did and the office assured us the guide will return the money after they talk to him. Eventually, the guide ran away after he left us in our hotel, avoiding confrontation and not giving us the money back. The office was not willing to help us with the situation.
The tour itself was good and we can't complain about it, but the situation with the guide and the office ruined the experience for us.
ES
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
disappointment
Travel from 22-July to 12 August.
Hi Fred,
I am providing to you a feedback about our travel.
We have been usually travelling to different Africa countries, and we have experiences with other tour companies.
The Itinerary were quite good, wildlife, community interactions, activities, natural parks, treekings, etc.
Eddie is a good chauffeur-driver, nice person, but not a tourist guide. He is mute, any explanations, not interesting information about Uganda. For instance, when I lost my mobile phone he rejected to call me to make the phone ring, etc.
Sandton Hotel in Kasese:
• room was not ready when we arrived around 13:00
• small room with two individual beds (see picture attached).
• No tap water in whole day.
…and finally we had to look for other lodge by ourselves without any compensation or reimbursement from your side.
Too wicked and ugly to make us pay breakfast first day.
We experienced 2 days with long car drive, leaving around 7:00-7:30 and arriving lodge around 16:00-16:30 without stops for lunch with my daughter starving (just to fill up the tank), and pack lunch either despite our suggestions to pick up one.
Original 2Friends Beach Hotel for last day changed by other lower category, without swimming pool,
No dinner covered last day despite all meals were included in the proposal.
No air conditioning in the car the last 5 days.
No water available last day, and we had to buy it.
Early mornings wake up (no problem) but some days arriving to the next lodge also early 15:00-16:00 without any activity in the evening (waste of time).
We did 1 hour quad instead 4 hours as stated in the itinerary.
In the contract it informed it was full meals, but we had to pay breakfast first day and dinner last day.
We are very sorry to say EAJS has not reached our expectations and it has been a disappointment. We should search other alternatives for our 2023 travel to Rwanda.
We can’t recommend it to any of our family and friends plan to travel to Africa and we hope our critics help you make it better.
Best regards,
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Sadly Disappointed.
I’ve been on mobile safari before, many times. This is the first time I’ve ever had so much anxiety on a safari and been so disappointed.
We paid for 6 nights safari, 2 nights hotel in Maun, 3 hour Mokoro ride and transport to and from the airport. We paid 7 months in advance.
3 days before leaving, we reminded them of our arrival. They asked us who was picking us up and where we were staying. That was their job. We sent them the invoice they sent to us where this was covered and they said they had it under control.
The day we were supposed to leave, our flights were cancelled (not their fault) but I tried to call and let them know of the updated flight. All calls went unanswered. They finally responded to an email saying they got the updated information and we wouldn’t get our money back for the hotel on arrival night (fine, last minute change) but that the hotel wasn’t available for the final night either because of “renovations” which was odd, the last night was never impacted. Why was it suddenly unavailable? I think it’s because they completely forgot.
We start our safari and the car is unreliable. I’m not talking old, refurbished or dusty. The car wouldn’t start half the time, there would be smoke coming out from under the hood, burning smells, random wheels stopped turning mid-drive and the passenger door would randomly open mid-ride. The guide was constantly having to put in motor oil, jump the car, be under the hood and working on the tires to get them moving again. He even had go tie the passenger door so it would stop opening while we were moving.
The guide had zero knowledge of our Mokoro ride and where we were staying in Maun. He called numerous times at each gate we passed - calls went unanswered for days. He even went to the gates while we took an afternoon naps to try to resolve everything but said no one answered or no one called him back. The Mokoro ride eventually happened, but only because we armed the guide with proof we paid for it.
The guide also said he’s worked for many mobile safaris. They usually give a print out with all the details but he didn’t get one for us. He said he was called 2 days before (conveniently around the time we reminded them of the safari) and everything was instructed over the phone.
The crew was fine, the food was good though we ate cold cuts everyday for lunch, and the guide showed us all we came to see but it felt like our safari was completely forgotten by Unlimited, then slapped together last minute. If we hadn’t reminded them, I bet we would have been stranded at the airport. How can you pay a company thousands of dollars and have to remind them you paid for a safari?
When I thought it was all over and we just go to the airport now, Unlimited had one last surprise. They didn’t pick us up from the hotel to the airport. They didn’t bother to tell us there was a problem with the car until we called, and they weren’t going to pick us up until 1 hour before the flight - leaving us no time to get through passport control, baggage, security and board. The hotel called a taxi. Thankfully we did, we arrived with only 5 minutes to spare before boarding.
When I got home, I saw they had taken a high profile client out based on their social media posts, so I guess that took priority over us. It was upsetting considering we saved up for 2 years for a mother-daughter safari and we should have just gone with someone else we knew and trusted.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Avoid at all costs
As the previous reviewer said Charles was the highlight of the trip Define itinerary was not followed hotels were canceled at the last minute balloon trip was canceled at the last minute for no reason which I actually rebooked at 10 o’clock at night as it was a surprise for the family on my own and paid for it
We were scammed with our covert test supposed to come to Our hotel intensive and do the test paid an extra thousand dollars for this And they never showed up and told us they were going to take the Antigen test it was taken three days prior at the border coming into Tanzania and turn it into a PCR test which is medically impossible
I don’t know who they paid off at the border to get us through but I know it was illegal
I have it in writing in a credit memo that they were supposed to come and give me cash the night we left but never showed It’s been four months since we left and back-and-forth they were supposed to send me a wire transfer but it never came and now they are ghosting me
Avoid them at all costs
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Avoid at all costs
The one (and only) good part of the safari was the driver Charles. He was incredibly knowledgeable, charismatic, talented wildlife spotter, and a safe driver.
Everything else about the safari was a scam - one lie after another. I was told we'd have 4 nights of lodges, but ended up with 1 night in a lodge and the rest in cheap camps/hotels. I was told the lodges were closed, but I called the lodge and confirmed they were open. I was told we couldn't visit a lake due to the weather forecast, but the forecast was perfect. The other tour members were told that we were skipping the lake because I didn't want to go there (outright lies). The itinerary was changed multiple times before we departed, with many destinations removed. To top it off, the owner told me he would meet me at the end of the tour to refund me, and unsurprisingly he never showed up.
Avoid this tour company at all costs. It's not worth ruining your Kenya experience.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Disappointing so far...
We have had to postpone our trip to 2022 due to Covid and because the price was increased by several thousand dollars, we elected to reduce the number of days from 17 to 12 (basically eliminating a post safari trip to the beach); however, Mahlatini is stating that the moneys paid can not be refunded despite the fact that the hotel has stated that they would cancel the stay without any penalty and refund the money. We also had some trouble ensuring that the trip was child-friendly - Very disappointing so far..
RU
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Сonstant fraud
I ordered a tour from Yusuf in this company. The conditions and the price were clearly agreed in advance, the money was transferred according to the agreement. However, upon arrival at the site of the tour, messages from the tour operator immediately began to arrive, demanding to pay extra for excursions on the spot. The explanation was one - he has done a mistake in the calculations. Instead of enjoying the trip and resting calmly, I constantly had to solve financial issues even late at night. And each time he said that it would not happen again and again demanded money. I feel myself used and deceived.
CH
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Nice park, poor guide
We went for a 4 days safari in Selous game reserve (in fact Julius Nyerere NP). Mid range accomodation was nice with kind staff. Park itself was nice even if some ways were unpraticable do to the rain. Even if he is a nice guy, our guide is probably the worse we met in Africa. He seems more interested by his freetime than by guiding, "full day game drive" ended after lunch break, on the way back, he drove 60km/h making quite impossible to spot anything. Almost all animal seen were spot by others cars or by ourselves. During a game drive our "guide" wrote messages on his phone while driving in the park, very unrespectful attitude for the guests who paid to see wildlife and not only move in a park.
AE
35-50 years of age
The company unethical, and money grabbing. Porters and guide great.
From the outside this company appears great, underneath the surface though is a different picture. Despite the porters and the guide being fantastic on the mountain it was overshadowed by the companies ethics, which is very much built on cutting corners. Low customer service once money was in their back pocket. Late picking me up for transfer to airport consequently missing flight, with no real apology. Trying to get refund on lost money almost impossible.
The price for the trip seems reasonable, but I guess you get what you pay for. Poor customer service, unethical, and cash grabbers. I'm sure to many this company gets away with being the real deal, don't be fooled! Choose a company that is ethical and doing it the right way.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The guide didn’t know much. He barely talked, unless I asked him a question.
The guide lacked communication skills. He didn’t have enough knowledge about birds or animals in general. The customer service was very poor, even though I was the only customer in the excursion because everyone else cancelled due to Covid 19.
A day before my last day, I found out I needed a Covid 19 test and I asked the owner to find a place in Entebbe for me to do it. We drove 8 long hours from the mountain to Entebbe. The guide never showed me or say anything, unless I asked something. I never heard from the owner. We waisted a lot of time looking for a clinic. I had to stayed in Entebbe two more days, I had to pay for another plane to Dubai and for another hotel in Dubai. I wasted a lot of money and time because the owner Couldn’t help me.
My experience with the Gorillas was great but not thanks to this company.
In general, I don’t recommend this company.