MT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Ruined experience
This was the worst trip ever in our ecperience and i apologise for the long write up but too much happened...So here it goes...
We booked 11 days shared Kenya and Tanzania safari with this company. The quotation was provided by and communication was held with Evelyn.
While said quotation was provided swiftly, we had to chase her to acknowledge/issue an official confirmation of the deposit payment, as according to her such are not typically provided (weird, isn't?). Since I insisted, some sort of confirmation was issued and she then disappeared without providing any details in terms of pick up or any other details. This silence continued up until the very last moment where although I requested information regarding the time of pick up (she didn't ask about our flights at any point before this), who shall be picking us up and where(it was our first trip to Nairobi, so we were not experts) by email to which no reply was received up until literally last day when I then messaged her again on whatsup (communication couldnt have been attached herewith unfortunately). So on this point a reply was sent and we communicated well upon arrival, where we were picked up by Evelyn at the terminal and 'handed over' to William who took us to their so called office which was closed so we were waiting for the driver outside(at this point we were saying how nice of her to meet us and William was great _he provided so much info on trips, acrivities, etc). Some half hr later the druver arrived and we thought we will proceed but no. We've been sitting and waiting for over 2 hrs and none carred to explain what's that we are waiting for since all 6 people were in the jeep. Here to our surprise although in all our agreed terms we were told that we will be up to 6 persons, 7th person joins instead of a guide! We the proceed to Masai Mara. Since we departed late, on the first day we only had 1.5hrs game drive close to our lodge despite itinerary indicated whole afternoon drive.
The following day we had a full day in the park, but to our all disappointment we were then advised that the 3rd day game drives in Masai Mara will not happen as parks changed the rules ( instead of 24hr to 12hrs ticket validity). None of the 7 people on this trip had been informed of this ahead and none had been reimbursed for this either! we were not even given an option to purchase a new ticket ourselves (some 80 USD for the jeep would be nothing between 7 people when we already spent so much on the whole trip).Instead, the driver advertised a trip to Naivasha Lake as being great 1.5 hrs boat ride to observe birds with a stop on the island to feed animals. Since nothing else except for driving was to happen on that day (since 3rd day of Masai Mara game drives had been cancelled by the company) we decided to go and see the highly recommended lake (note that we didnt have internet so couldn't have checked ourselves and relied on the driver). To cut the story shorth we paid 30 USD each at the place in cash (only accepted in such manner) no tickets or receipts were issued. we spent 53 min exactly on that and saw a max of 10 birds, the lake looked dead and none stoped us at any islands for any animals. Upon return to the shoar the driver bluntly asked if we saw hipos and crocodiles to which quite shockingly we replied that no such live there and he shouldn't have advertised something unless he knew what that really is! Perhaps a suggestion to the company at this point to send your drivers for such trips so they know exactly what is happening?! So even more disappointed we move to the hotel to yet again be shocked to hear that we will be left at some other place than the one we paid for (as specified in the itinerary)! Since this was stated when we were dropping of 2 guys at that place we took the opportunity to connect to the internet and check what's being offered to see that the place we booked showed eur 67 on booking.com while the one the driver told us to stay was 36 eur! We then refused to leave the jeep explaining that it's not our hotel and we want to go where we should! The driver following numerous calls with the office advised that the place we booked is fully booked so we must stay in this new cheaper place which all 5 of us yet again rejected. After some 45 min arguments the driver agreed to take us to the place we actually booked as we insisted that the place showed being available on booking.com and if anything, it must have been booked for us already. We arrive and...the place is nearly empty (why tell us its fully booked???) and we were also given options to change rooms! So lie no1 and we were not only disappointed regarding the cancellation of 1 day of Masay Mara, lost time and money to see dead lake and even more time wasted on arguments regarding the accommodation that we paid for!
The last day in Kenya we went to lake Nakuru where we only had 2.5 hrs so yet again disappointed with the schedule as we should have had more time we proceed to Nairobi to be put on a public bus!!!!! For the transfer to Arusha. At no point in time were any of us informed that the transfer to Arusha will be through a public bus!!but surely it cost peanuts so more money to the company!
When in Arusha, the bus driver surprisingly dropped us at the hotel directly and we were informed regarding the pick up times for the following morning. So far so good.
In the morning the guy comes on time (impressive!) I told him my name and the name of my fellow traveler, he checked his phone and put our bags in the jeep. Here we were informed that since we will be going to the bush, he will stop at the shops if we want to buy some wine and beer so he offerd to get it for us cheaper. We wondered how come he suggested we buy drinks ourselves when drinks were listed in our itinerary as all included but we just let it go and went to withdraw some money to buy something. In the meantime he comes back stating that we should be going back as we are not his passengers! Why did I give him our names and what he checked remained mystery but here we are again wasting our time which we could have spent driving in the park. When he drives us to the office to exchange us, a guy there shows us a map and explains that we will be going to serengeti, ngorongoro and etc. I then specifically open my itinerary and read with him to confirm the details and accommodation which he confirms to me and to my fellow traveller. All good we proceed. In the evening, the driver announces that we shall be going to again diferent hotel than that indicated in the itinerary!!! Again no Internet and same explanation _ fully booked! We endup there where we didnt like to also then get to know during dinner that another 5 people ended up the same as us_we had to be at the hotel that the company stated was fully booked when it was showing yet again available and same story was now sold to 7 people! Although we had water, beverages and wine and beer included in our package, when we asked for water/wine during the dinner we were all told that we must pay for them.
The following morning I decided to write to Evelyn regarding all the above and ONLY asked her to ensure that the remaining part of the trip remains unchanged. She never replied but she asked the driver to pass his mobile to me and she started explaining that nothing changed, that the drinks had to be provided by our chef not the place itself (like we would have known who and what and why he didn't offer if he had to?) that according to her when in the office, we were explained that the accommodation was changed and we never complained about anything etc. At this point I got seriously annoyed with her and their lies and I told her bluntly that i do not trust one single word she says as I told her in facts what happened and there were more people with me who heard all this. She then treated me to cancel the safari as according to her I was lying, none of this what i was saying was true and that in their T&Cs there is indicated that they can cancel safari for whatever reason should they wish so. She told me that she will send the car to pick us up and bring us to the office where she will refund us for the safari to which again I explained to her that I didn't ask her for anything but just to stick to our itinerary and provide what we paid for! She insisted that this is impossible as I said that I don't trust her so consequently i cannot go on safari with their driver and she just cut the cinversation. We then spoak to the driver as he seemed lost and she called again and again and from the treats to cancel us she then decided to proceed with us and while on speaker she confirmed that we shall continue as per schedule and even herself named the places that we go and stay at. This as you can already imagine was another lie as on the way back from ngorongoro we were told that we are going to be taken to that same place where our argument started!! Here we refused to go again, another call another useless chat where she for the second time accused me of lying when the only lier was her and none else and we ended up in the situation where I stated on speaker that her driver also heard her confirming that we will be going to the place that its written in the itinerary and he confirmed this to her in front of us! After some shouting and screaming by her at the driver we were told Nsya (the place we had in the itinerary) is not happening in any case and we were offered 2 other places.i insisted that if she wants to put us in diferent place again she must then upgrade us as we fed up having all these issues after paying for something that we are not getting! Guess what_ no point taken. Here we try to check on booking.com but the Internet was awful so we struggled. When asked the driver to check on his phone all of a sudden his Internet wasn't working and the only options were we were to go where he wanted to take us and we said no. He then took us to yet another diferent place to show it to us but we didn't like it and there was no Internet, he then took us to another place where the office stated that only 1 double room was available while we needed a twin room and when arrived _ triple room was showed! Another lie! Here we were just sick and tired so we said fine we'll stay there but we want dinner and breakfast with all drinks as per itinerary. The hotel rep stated that this is not happening as the company only agreed to accommodate us on room only basis! Another half hr arguments and they decide to leave the company's chef to cook for us but we won't get hotel's food, and also that we won't get any wine as that according to the driver we finished already while on safari! On this point when we were to proceed to serengeti the driver asked us if we like beer, wine or konjak and we told him that no strong alcohol is needed some like beer but mostly wine so we asked to get an extra bottle of wine (he had 1 box of beer in the jeep) and he came back with 2 bottles_ 1 red and 1 white (this for 6 people for 3 days). As said on day one we were not given any wine and the company said that the chef forgot to offer but then they only got the wine the following morning so something doesn't click again! Anyone is still surprised?
So during the dinners on these next 3 days we only saw 1 bottle of white wine and some remaining little of white from the other jeep, while red wine disappeared. When we asked on the last night, the driver stated that he give 2 bottles to the lodge (which wasn't the case as we spoke to people who stayed there and they were paying for their drinks there, it would be weird that someone paying 200 eur a night would gake a bottle of cheap wine to tbe lodge
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Subcontracted our Private tour to the Lowest Bidder
In January ’22 (6 months before our departure date) we booked The Great Kenya & Tanzania PRIVATE Circuit - 13 Days Safari and Cultural Experience offered by Sunsets in Africa.
FIRSTLY, before our complaints are listed, We want to make it clear that WE HAVE NO COMPLAINT with our KENYAN DRIVER/ GUIDE. (His real name is Safari) Safari was informative, polite, and quite a good driver – he made sure we had a great vantage point to view the animals. All the other Kenyan drivers seemed to know and like him. We missed him once we arrived in Tanzania.
The majority of our complaints are a result of Sunsets in Africa's subcontracting our PRIVATE tour to the lowest bidder: TOPHANSTANZANIAADVENTURE.COM
The owner of TOPHANSTANZANIAADVENTURE.COM who also became our “guide” in Tanzania was named Hans. After returning home, we researched his company and found that Hans’ offers a 12 day tour of Kenya & Tanzania(not 13) with a minimum of 5-6 people (NOT PRIVATE) for 1/3 $ of what we had paid to Sunsets in Africa. This explains A LOT!
We blame both SUNSETS IN AFRICA AND TOPHANSTANZANIAADVENTURE.COM for this following, (condensed) negative review:
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Our tour was booked and paid for as a PRIVATE party of two, but upon meeting Hans he informed us that we would be traveling with another private party of 2! (Neither party agreed with that arrangement but we were stuck!)
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Our PRIVATE tour was also supposed to included nice 4* lodges (Yes, they were nice in Kenya) but when Hans himself took over in Tanzania he took us to a Tent cabin on the outskirts of Serengeti which had a picnic table for a restaurant/bar!! This was Not at all Similar to the Serengeti Serena Lodge on our itinerary!
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Hans was NOT a professional guide (he almost never had his radio on in the parks to communicate with the other guides and was always talking or texting on his phone instead of talking to/informing us)
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I inquired about the cost of a Night Game Drive and Hans told me that would cost $950.00 USD for 4 people. I declined saying it was out of my budget… Hans replied by asking “what is your budget?” At that point I had a feeling there was a possibility of a scam so I ended the conversation. A few days later on day 7 of out tour, at Lake Manyara Lodge they offered a night drive for $55.00 USD per person!!!
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On day 11, Hans LEFT US STRANDED at our Lake Manyara Lodge until 4pm (1600 hrs.)! He wasted an entire day!
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Instead of transporting us from Arusha to the Nairobi airport himself, he hired a man w a VERY SMALL car to take the 4 of us and our luggage from the border to the Nairobi airport. (We had luggage on our laps! for several hours)
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We have gone on many private tours around the world, but never had a "guide" as rude, devious, and unprofessional as Hans of TOPHANSTANZANIAADVENTURE.COM .
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THE BEST TIP I WOULD GIVE THIS “GUIDE” WOULD BE “HANS GET OUT OF THE TOUR INDUSTRY!”
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Possible scam
Possible scam! RUN AWAY from this company! Save your hard-earned money! Please don't be fooled by Glorious Tanzania Tours and Glory. Right before leaving for our trip, my friends and I found out Glory was part of a suspected ring of scammers. We feel scammed out of our trip to Kenya and Tanzania. We have invested thousands into this trip and it has been devastating. It has been taxing trying to get our money back after many failed promises from Glory. Instead of a trip, we were left with dealing with police reports and trying to get our money from our credit card company.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Total Ripoff/Dishonest/Unbothered/Dubious
I'm a very disappointed client on 2 occasions the latest on for Mara being the worse than the first trip to Salt lick and it's a wrap for me with this said company. I booked my sister and her family via the the agent Xavier and on the day of and during the trip his true colors were out without a doubt. Having paid for landcruiser option for pick and drop off...the dude shows up with a Noah with excuses from here to tumbuktu in the name of maandamano n promises to fix the mishap. At Narok he takes them to a bar setup for lunch with kids yet the booking included lunch at Jambo Mara hotel...as if this was not enough they end up being picked from Narok in a rundown canvas landcruiser that's was nothing but utterly disrespectful. I don't even want to mention the state of the rooms booked despite paying extra to ensure even the children would get meaningful space...instead the rooms were all squished in wooden cabins contrary to glass accommodation that had been shared to us during booking...anytime they sought help from the hotel they kept being referred back to their the so called agent with cared less about them. Seeking refunds for the substandard services offered versus what we paid for all landed in deaf ears and there's totally nothing good to write about this company from our experience. We leave it all to Karma as conversations bore zero fruit...
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Do not go with them on safari!
Don't go with 3 wonders! I would not recommend it at all.
Broken equipment (chairs, sleeping bags with no zip, tents with holes), poor organization (3h lunch, no dynamism), risky behavior (the driver had no tent not sleeping bag so did not sleep for 3 days).
Very packed car with a lot of problems (motor, windshield, wheels).
We had to build ourselves the tents, waiting 4h for food, doing very few game driving with the guide who had no knowledge of the wild life and did not bother stopping to see animals.
When confronting them, they did not acknowledge the poor service provided, although we all paid 200$/day/pers. for a zero level safari service, moreover putting our lives in danger with risky behavior (driving fast, equipment on the roof not secured, one door broken etc.)
There are plenty other companies who will do a lot better with the same amount of money!
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
They reduced program without warning
After we paid them, they told us they would not do the game drive in the morning of the last day, because 2 months ago the government increased the price of the park entrances. It feels like a scam.
SG
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
the worst operator ever, irresponsible and never solve the issues, only want to earn Chinese money
After a 30-hour flight, we discovered that our hotel rooms were not booked. I want to make it clear from the start that I don't want private messages asking for post deletion, nor do I need money to delete posts. I'm not lacking money.
We've just finished a 2-week trip to East Africa, where the natural beauty and adorable animals were stunning. However, the local tour agency, Africa Joy Tours, was a disappointment, greatly diminishing our experience.
In February of this year, our group of 8 people booked a customized 10-day trip to Kenya and Tanzania through Africa Joy Tours, starting in mid-July. We finalized the itinerary and paid the deposit in March. Subsequently, the agency's responses became increasingly slow, but due to numerous positive reviews on platforms like Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book), we attributed it to the laid-back African style and didn't raise concerns.
The first issue arose when, just before departure, we were informed that three of the hotels we were supposed to stay at had no available rooms (we needed 4 rooms for 8 people). Despite having paid the deposit in March, the hotels were not confirmed before our departure. Moreover, some of the replacement hotels were virtually unknown, and we couldn't find much information about them on various platforms, leading to concerns about our accommodation experience.
The second issue was with the unreliable drivers. Our first interaction with the tour agency was when we were picked up from Nairobi to head to Masai Mara. As per our agreement, the driver was supposed to pick us up at 6 am. However, one driver arrived an hour late, and we had to wait in the cold hotel lobby for him. During the journey, this driver stopped for coffee, making us wait for more than 30 minutes while he indulged himself. He also had a heated phone argument with the tour agency's owner while on the road. The journey that was supposed to take 5 hours ended up taking 8 hours. Both drivers seemed completely lost throughout the trip, not knowing where to go or what to do, relying on us to recognize our own group members. They repeatedly asked us what our next steps were, which was frustrating since we expected them to lead as paid guides. They even had us get off the vehicle to arrange our own lunch instead of taking us to the contracted hotel as planned.
The third and most significant issue: after an 8-hour journey, we arrived at our Masai Mara hotel at around 2 pm, only to find out that our rooms were not available. We were tired, hungry, and frustrated. We contacted the tour agency repeatedly, but they were slow to respond and kept telling us to wait while they were supposedly confirming. Eventually, they informed us that they had booked the rooms for the same dates in August, effectively leaving us without accommodation for that day and the next. We were left in disbelief and shock. We couldn't even have lunch at the hotel because we didn't have a confirmation. After a lengthy ordeal, three of us shared a room that night, and the agency arranged alternative accommodation for the next day. We kept requesting confirmation for the remaining hotels, but the agency was unresponsive and lacked an apologetic attitude. We managed to squeeze through the first night.
The fourth issue: the replacement hotel didn't have our reservation either. The next day, we were told that two rooms were arranged in a nearby hotel, which turned out to be over 30 kilometers away, taking over an hour to reach. After our game drive, we rushed to the new hotel, only to find out that our rooms were once again not booked. Despite our repeated requests for hotel confirmation documents, the agency never provided them. Two consecutive days of such problems left us infuriated, prompting us to threaten with negative reviews online. Suddenly, the agency's representative, Thompson, became more attentive, and communication improved, with promises of actively resolving the issues. After much back and forth, we learned that the hotels were not booked under the agency's name (which they failed to communicate), making it difficult for us to verify our reservations. After prolonged discussions, they finally managed to sort out our check-in. The agency finally apologized and mentioned considering a refund for the first day's accommodation that we couldn't use. I firmly insisted that they must refund rather than just considering it. We agreed to meet in person in Arusha to discuss further.
The fifth issue: pushing for a refund for the unused hotel room and an additional $100 as compensation. In total, the refund amounted to $480 for our group of 8 people, translating to $60 per person (out of a total tour cost of $3400 per person). As agreed, the refund was supposed to be provided in cash on a specific day. However, Thompson, the agency's representative, disappeared and didn't show up. We repeatedly tried to contact him, but he never responded. We then had to contact Clinton, the agency's owner. He claimed they didn't have enough cash for the refund and hadn't prepared it yet. This was unacceptable since they had promised to provide the refund on that particular day. Their attitude towards resolving the issue was disheartening. We had to press Clinton to come and provide a partial refund in the evening, and he promised to complete the rest the next day. He was supposed to arrive at 10 am the next day but ended up arriving close to 12 pm. With this, our ordeal with Africa Joy Tours finally concluded. As an additional note, the agency initially claimed that lunch on the final day was included, but the hotel demanded $25 per person. We had to contact Clinton again to resolve this issue before we could have the lunch that should have been provided for free.
All the above incidents are documented through chat records. This is not an attempt to defame the tour agency. One peculiar aspect of Africa Joy Tours is their eagerness to attract Chinese tourists and promote their services, even repeatedly asking us to help them with promotion. Are we being treated as naive tourists, especially considering the experience we had? Not to mention the instances of sexual harassment by a driver in Tanzania who consistently made inappropriate comments and even shared his home address with female members of our group.
If the agency wishes to profit from Chinese tourists, they must enhance their services and improve their attitude. East Africa is stunning, but the tour agency's poor service greatly detracted from our experience. We spent days on end dealing with communication issues and disappointment, resulting in frustration and discontent.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Either a scam or terrible customer service
Watch out! I had been discussing our boat safari via email with Xaa Safaris since January of 2023 just to arrive in Maun in July of 2023 to find that my deposit had been stolen and no boat was waiting for us. I accepted a quote, completed the paperwork, signed and sent it through as requested, then on the same email string, banking details were provided for me to pay the deposit. Upon phoning them a day prior to the excursion, they said no payment had been received, and this is when it came to light that right after I emailed the signed contract, the correspondence address changed from [email protected] to [email protected]. In the same string replying, this was not noticeable, so the money was paid via EFT and the receiving account was emptied - nothing I can do to have the funds returned. I have no proof that Xaa Safari is the culprit. However, considering the timing at which the fake email address became active and the fact that they never tried to follow up on our booking, despite having (via the legitimate email address) received a signed contract with all our personal details, this is either extremely poor customer service, or more likely an inside job.
AE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Disappointing services … we feel that we have been cheated !!!
We had reached out to the Company Morning Star Safaris Founder and Chairman Mr Nicholas and Operations Head Mr Robert, but they did not at all care about our concerns. I kept sending them reminder emails and even asked for a video call but they did not have the courtesy to do so. After repeated reminders, when they chose not to respond to us, I told them clearly that now I will find ways through my ownself and expose them in public through this feedback. I was keeping it very very professional and expected the Company Founder to take a stance and come in front, however, it’s very disappointing that the danger that his company had put my family in, did not matter to him at all. I told him I will reach out to the highest authority in Kenya even if it’s the government itself and will fight till I get the Company Founder accept his mistakes and compensate me for the trouble he put my family through, especially my two daughters.
Please note that this experience was no where comfortable and most importantly very unsafe, despite of all rosy assurances from Mr Joseph. Even before starting the tour, almost a month prior to our travel, my husband made 40% payment to Morning Star as asked by Mr Joseph. Mr Joseph informed us a day after this 40% payment that Jambo Mara property is not honouring its commitment of the room it had agreed with Morning Star. My husband was forced to make an additional payment of USD 210 for a higher category room which was not required and was way above our budget. But we had no choice as Mr Joseph only sounded helpless.
Everyone makes mistakes and if you accept mistakes and compensate for your wrong decisions and move on, it’s understandable and worth forgiveness but when you stay stubborn and keep making your point without even understanding the customer’s situation, it is alarming!!
I had emailed Morning Star Safaris on July 4th, 2023 marking Urgent Attention to: Mr Nicholas (Founder - CEO of Morning Star Safaris) and Mr Robert (Operations Manager)
We had a very terrible experience with the company Morning Star Safaris. We were being serviced by their representative Mr Joseph and as we had also mentioned to him in the initial days of our vacation reservation with him that we were extremely happy and impressed with the way he dealt with our bookings and also through his communication etiquettes.
However, if anything on my vacation happens that challenges the safety and peace of my family, I just don't buy the fact that Mr Joseph is good at sending itineraries or writing long and reassuring emails and messages, it just DOES NOT MATTER TO ME.
I must say that Morning Star Safaris may have invested in this company to make profits but it failed in grooming its people to be well behaved, courteous and mindful when interacting with its customers.
I do not accept the way the Company’s operations head camouflaged the whole scenario with his assessment of things.
Let me ask you first, if you are in my position and have your spouse and two kids off to a vacation, would you take nonsense from your travel partner or your chauffeur? Unfortunately, this is what Morning Star did to us. We left Dubai and arrived in Kenya with all hopes of having a lifetime experience with Morning Star. Mr Joseph kept us in the dark by not informing us that the Land Cruiser that he had assigned to us was not in a well-maintained condition. Can you imagine the Land Cruiser that gets assigned to you for game drives in the jungle at any odd times of the day / night getting stopped on its own in the middle of the road, with no hopes to start again !!! Only when someone pushes the cruiser from behind, it would then start. This was our Day 1 experience with your Land Cruiser that was being driven by Driver Joseph. Even the window panes were so loose and not kept well that it would be difficult to put them up and down.
Very sad to see the company say that they got us the best Land Cruiser and that they never got any complaints from that vehicle from their past customers.
I wouldn’t have known the true face of your driver or your staff on the very first day. Ofcourse I told Mr Joseph that the vehicle was not appropriate and that the driver was fine. How do you expect me to screen your driver’s intentions the very first day ??
On top of it, there were no binoculars in the Land Cruiser that was assured to us by Mr Joseph while fixing the itinerary.
I raised this with Driver Joseph the same day and he just said that his vehicle is just fine and maybe this was just a one off instance. I told him clearly that the vehicle should not stop again. I told him about the windows too, ofcourse, but he had no answer. All he said was that his clients had done them bad. On binoculars he said that the travel company never gave him one! Anyway, since it was our first day with Driver Joseph, we thought let's see what he has to offer in terms of the day. One thing I noticed him saying always is that other drivers know very little about the game drive routes through the jungle, so he needs to guide them and be with those vehicles. Ofcourse, we trusted what he said. First day went and we did miss our binoculars, so we told Driver Joseph to speak to the travel company and get one as that was assured to us already. He kept saying that the travel company should do the needful well in time and keep its promises so that the client does not have to suffer. He said he will try to arrange binoculars.
The same evening we called Mr Joseph and told him about the missing binoculars and even the car getting stopped in the middle of the road. As usual, he started with his over sweet sugar coated words and said that he will send his Operations Manager to handover the binoculars to us at sharp 10 am wherever we will be as he will be in touch with Driver Joseph. He also made a note that the car stopped and that he will speak with Driver Joseph. Thinking this may go against Driver Joseph, we told Mr Joseph that the only good thing that happened to us was that he had assigned Driver Joseph as he seems to be quite aware of the routes and can give us a good safari experience, but yes we told him that he must pay attention for the missing binoculars and the poor vehicle condition. He assured us he will look into this.
Day 2 and Driver Joseph again came with no binoculars, no news from Mr Joseph or his Operations Manager. The vehicle in the same condition, poor windows, poor hand brakes and no guarantee if it will stop again and not restart on its own. Moreover, we were supposed to have a packed lunch that we had already placed the order through Mr Joseph 2 weeks prior!! The Hotel Chef during breakfast time came to us asking what we would like to carry for packed lunch as he had no information about it. We were surprised as we expected packed lunch for 4 of us family members, they told us that no one from the travel company or the driver informed them so they did not prepare anything and worst of all the hotel was totally out of stock of any fruits even at 8 am. All the hotel chef could assure us was fried rice and vegetable sandwiches. We were still okay with his offer and agreed and thanked him. But when we opened the packed lunch in the jungle, all we found was white bread with pathetic cucumber and tomatoes and plain boiled white rice (see pics attached).
When we mentioned this to Driver Joseph, he started putting all the blame on Morning Star for not keeping its promises, he even said that he was not informed by Mr Joseph regarding the packed lunch else he would have coordinated with the hotel staff. He also said that he feels bad to see how travel agencies cheat on their clients. By now, we felt Driver Joseph is innocent and is trying his best to help us in every situation.
We went to the game drive but suddenly we felt odd as we noticed Driver Joseph was only following other vehicles, not trying to explore any known route by himself. In fact he said that other drivers are unaware of the routes so they have requested him to stick along with them. Anyway, we still felt he was being truthful. There came a time when we saw two vehicles stopping near a pack of 5 female lions. Driver Joseph followed the vehicles and took us to the spot. While we were glaring at the lion coming closer to us, suddenly our land cruiser stopped. I didn't realise anything till Driver Joseph muttered the word 'Shit'. He tried to restart and as always it would not turn on. I then realised our vehicle had now stopped and was not restarting.
Believe me, I froze for those few minutes. He kept trying to restart the vehicle but it would just not start. The driver of other vehicles kept looking at us, and in their own language they started to say something. None of the drivers could get down from the vehicles as the lions were right in front of us and very close. Driver Joseph realised I was in panic, and kept saying that it would restart in a minute. It never did. My husband kept telling me that I should not worry and Driver Joseph would surely have his own way of rescue etc. He kept supporting Driver Joseph as he felt it wasn't his mistake. But my point is, why did our vehicle stop and did not restart ? Why was it malfunctioning in the middle of the jungle, and this was not the first incident. I had already raised this vehicle condition issue with Driver Joseph and Mr Joseph, so definitely they were to be questioned. Those 10 mins, my entire life flashed in front of my eyes, I remembered my parents and I apologised to myself for putting my family, especially my kids in this terrible situation. Did they deserve this on a vacation ?????????????
Since no one could get out of the vehicle, one of the other vehicles pushed our vehicle and after a few tries, it restarted. I sighed and thanked God immensely. By now, I was absolutely speechless with not a word from me. When Driver Joseph turned the vehicle around, he started asking me for forgiveness and requested me to not complain to Morning Star or Mr Joseph about this incident as has a family to look after, he said the car's condition was not his fault, it is all the company's responsibility. I just kept quiet as I was recovering from the recent shock. Later I just told him to get his vehicle completely repaired no matter what, and he promised me that it would not stop again.
Our Land Cruiser was the only vehicle in the entire Kenya without any company branding!! Look at its covers, stepney covers. I have the pictures with me.
He again started following the other vehicles for further game drive. He then noticed a big deep puddle that had to be crossed as many cruisers were standing across the puddle to witness some more lions and leopards. But Driver Joseph said we should not take the risk with the vehicle and avoid that route. My younger daughter kept crying all through the way as she wanted to see those animals too along with other land cruisers. Of Course we said nothing, as we didnt want another trouble for us. The sun was almost setting down by now.
On his way back, he kept saying that it wasn't his fault, in fact he is taking us to all the routes which no one else knows, rather other drivers are following him. We kept quiet the entire way. He said the next day as per our itinerary, he will take us to Lake Nakuru National Park for sightings of Flamingos and Rhinos. We were excited about it and thought of forgetting the past and enjoying the rest of our game drives.
Day 3 he took us to Lake Nakuru and we had to just eat lunch and leave. We had informed the hotel 2 hours in advance and pre-ordered our lunch menu. But when we arrived, the food wasn't ready. We had to wait for more than an hour after having pre-ordered our food, informing our travel agent Mr Joseph and even Driver Joseph. We therefore wasted a lot of our time as food came very late and of course I wouldn't ask my kids to gulp everything quickly just because of the game drive.
After food, when we met Driver Joseph, we told him how mismanaged the hotel staff was and that the food wasn't ready when we checked in. At this Driver Joseph said that the lady at reception is very rude and people are complaining about her bad attitude so this has happened to us possibly because of that. We still trusted every word of Driver Joseph as we felt he was trying to be kind and supportive to us in every situation. He took us for a game drive, but he took a very short route where we could not spot any pink flamingos and not a single rhino to be seen. This time he was not following any vehicle and that possibly is the reason we could not spot anything and he finished the game drive in less than an hour!!! We saw the other vehicle taking a different route but our Driver Joseph started going back. We asked him what happened and he just said that it's already 545 pm and we need to exit as it's getting closed at 6 pm. We were very disappointed as we had not seen a single pink flamingo nor a single rhino, forget about lions and leopards. It was a very disappointing game drive as we just wasted our time watching plants and trees and monkeys and a few zebras. On our drive back to the hotel, he kept blaming Morning Star for misleading the clients with wrong game drives, he said the lake Nakuru National Park does not have any flamingos or rhinos. He said instead the travel agent should have booked us on a different game drive and not the Lake Nakuru National Park. He said he felt very bad to see the travel agents cheating on clients like this!! We came back to the hotel very early. Somehow we felt Driver Joseph was in a hurry that day, realising it only later that he had his home in Nakuru.
During dinner time, we happened to meet this other family at the hotel who went for the same game drive and they mentioned they saw plenty of pink flamingos and even the rhinos though they were sleeping at that time. By now I was furious. I immediately called up Driver Joseph and told him that the other driver took the other family deep inside to spot the flamingos as well as the rhinos. I asked him to speak to the other driver and call me back. He said he will check and call me. 30 mins passed and he never called me, I called Driver Joseph again, and he kept saying that he is trying to speak with Morning Star Mr Joseph but there is no response yet, he said he will try to call Mr Joseph again and call me back. I agreed and waited again. He still did not call me back for the next 30 mins. I was respecting the fact that Driver Joseph had asked us not to report anything about him to the travel agent as it might affect his job. But now I felt something fishy.
This time I called up Mr Joseph. I informed him about the disappointing game drive. He said he was surprised to know that we did not spot any flamingos and rhinos for which Lake Nakuru is known for. He said he will speak to Driver Joseph and call me back. After sometime Mr Joseph called me back and told me that he had spoken with Driver Joseph and asked him to take us to the game driver again early in the morning so we don't miss out on flamingos and rhinos. He asked us to be ready by 630 am the next day. I told Mr Joseph that breakfast will not be served that early, however, even if we start early we can be ready by 730 am. He agreed. I thanked Mr Joseph and also told him clearly that we don't want any more surprises now. Mr Joseph kept repeating his sugar coated words and statements - 'We are there to help you ma'am and we will make sure you have an unforgettable experience to cherish for our Kenya vacation.' He kept on requesting that we should be ready early in the morning next day so we don't miss out on the game drive.
I thought let's not look at the past now and instead focus on times ahead. We immediately informed the F&B staff that we will come for breakfast early and they can be ready. They took our pre-order. Next morning I woke up my kids at 445 am so they can freshen up and use the toilet before we ask them to have breakfast. Poor them, they listened to us and we were all ready to go for breakfast. We finished our breakfast quickly, and while we were winding up, my husband called Driver Joseph, and to our surprise he was sleeping!!! He said he had no idea about today's morning game drive. We were shocked to hear this. Now I called Mr Joseph and asked him what's the matter, he again confirmed that he had clearly instructed Driver Joseph last evening and he was supposed to report at 730 am or at best 8 am next day. I really did not understand who was lying between the two.
Mr Joseph said he will call Driver Joseph again and ask him to reach the hotel. Driver Joseph reached very late, 835 am!!! The first thing he uttered from his mouth - 'Not my fault, the company Morning Star never informed me earlier. They told me just now, today morning!!' I lost it by now, I was very angry with Mr Joseph because I thought he lied to us. We told Driver Joseph that how come the other driver could take the other family to spot flamingos and rhinos and we could not. He said he has spoken with the driver and will try today.
When we reached the Lake Nakuru National Park gate, Driver Joseph told us that entry needs payment again. I refused as this was not us but Morning Star who had misorganized everything and put us in this situation. Driver Joseph stopped the vehicle and said that Mr Joseph has told him clearly not to go as he was consu;ting with his management. He started to close down the roof and turn back the vehicle to which we objected. He did not listen and said he could not have entered as Mr Joseph was discussing with management. I now called Mr Joseph and asked him what's happening. I was not able to understand who is lying between the two of them as Mr Joseph said that he has asked Driver Joseph that he is paying at his end and to take us inside. I decided to put both of them on a conference call and asked Driver Joseph to converse in English so we could understand what they were speaking. I kept questioning Mr Joseph on a loudspeaker conference call that why did you not inform the driver about all this payment and today's game drive last night. Mr Joseph confirmed again that he did speak and inform Driver Joseph last night itself and he does not understand why Driver Joseph is refuting that. I now asked Driver Joseph to respond to this statement of Mr Joseph in English. Would you believe he NEVER SPOKE IN ENGLISH!! We understood it was Driver Joseph who had been lying to us since Day 1. He could not once see me straight to my eyes as he was lying. I kept asking Driver Joseph why he was cheating on us all this while. He had no answer at all. You know what he did with us in the middle of the road in the hot sun!!!! He came out of the vehicle and vanished. He pretended he was on call speaking with Mr Joseph but it was my husband Mr Hrishkesh Bawa who was speaking with Mr Joseph on the other line. The vehicle seemed to be even moving as the hand brakes were not perfect. We were now very worried and started to feel unsafe. We called Mr Joseph multiple times and told him to either tell him to enter the Lake Nakuru National Park or tell the Driver to take us to Lake Naivasha which was our next destination.
Driver Joseph by now was extremely adamant and just was ignoring us big time. He realised we had caught him red handed speaking lies and putting all blame to others. But the way he was behaving with us, leaving the vehicle and disappearing, not telling us way forward, not even bothering to switch on the vehicle AC, not caring at all about two little girls sitting under the hot sun, was making us feel unsafe. We were getting a feeling that this driver can go to any extent of speaking lies and just does not care about anything. He just said that Mr Joseph has not yet made any payment for Lake Nakuru again so he cannot proceed. We had no choice and were stuck in this situation for more than an hour!!!!! After countless back and forth with Mr Joseph, finally the payment was done by him and we entered the Lake Nakuru National Park but imagine the time by now. We had wasted almost 4 hours and don't forget my kids have been awake since 445 am !!!!! They were literally in tears and crying witnessing this whole event, they were not able to understand why this driver was behaving so badly and lying. They told me that they were getting scared of this driver. I told them not to worry and that if anything wrong happens, I will go straight to the police, so they then felt we were all safe and the driver cannot harm us.
Now driver Joseph was really misbehaving as he was not guiding us at all in the game drive route but intentionally was taking us through the same route as the previous day where we had spotted no animals at all. By now, my husband lost his cool and asked him firmly where he was taking us to. Driver Joseph was not even responding. I told him firmly to behave well with us as I was feeling unsafe with him especially with my two daughters. Then he just muttered - 'He is making too much noise and putting pressure on me.'. Now I realised that this driver is acting very oversmart. I was very loud and clear with him that he has been so painful with us and unreasonably difficult and speaking lies all the time that if he misbehaves again or blames anyone else, I will report to the police immediately and tell them how he has harassed us so far and continues to do so.
Driver Joseph realised that I have understood his strategy of fooling us around and can really take action and report to police. He immediately said sorry and then spoke to the other driver who told us to go to the route which my husband Mr Hrishikesh Bawa had already mentioned to him as we had noticed the other vehicle that side, the evening before, and so finally we could see plenty of flamingos. We also, on the way, spotted 3 Rhinos (though only for a few seconds as they were rushing inside the bushes). But this proved that he had NOT TAKEN US TO THE RIGHT ROUTE the previous day nor he was ready to take us till the time we literally urged him to. Imagine such a waste of time just because of poor coordination between Mr Joseph and Driver Joseph. All they both did was blame each other very conveniently, not realising the damage they were doing to the customer. I told Mr Joseph that I will not leave this matter and will definitely escalate the matter to the senior management of Morning Star. I told him he cannot take this entire experience as a joke as it was a matter of my family's safety and care.
Mr Joseph kept apologizing but not sure if he really understood the gravity of the situation. I also told him that the way these two people had dealt with us, made us believe they did not have kids themselves. He just kept using his sweet sugar coated words and this was only annoying me by now.
We left Lake Nakuru and then went to Naivaisha for our next sightseeing. We had a boat ride and a safari walk booked but when we went there, we were told at the counter that our safari walk was not paid by the travel agent. We immediately called up Mr Joseph asking him about the confusion and then he said he will sort it out. We were super frustrated by now but who cared ? Neither Mr Joseph nor Driver Joseph. After a back and forth of a few calls, we were told we will be taken for the safari walk.
But the point is why so much discomfort and dishonesty to the customer? Morning Star charges all money in advance to torture us later ?? I told Mr Joseph that I need to speak with the Founder and Managing Director of Morning Star so I can tell him what mental stress he gave to me and my family. I don't care what you did for us in the itinerary but the fact you gave us such a horrifying experience, I simply ask you to refund every single penny that you had charged me for this trip. I should rather ask you for more compensation for such a pathetic experience and suffering to my family.
And by the way, Mr Joseph had offered us company branded T-Shirts before our Masai Mara trip had to start, he took all the sizes assuring that he will handover the TShirts either before the start of the trip or after the trip gets over. But eventually he never even bothered to inform us or apologise for why he has not handed over the T-Shirts to us. He did not even talk about the T-Shirts after our trip.
So now I ask you Mr Nicholas and Mr Robert,- What would you have done if this had happened to your wife and kids ? Would you be okay? Would you live your life normal? Would you spare such scoundrels. I will go to every possible social media and share all my recorded phone conversations and chats with Morning Star and its associated staff. The least you could have done was to accept your mistake, take accountability and make a complete refund of my package amounting to USD 2348/-.
I marked an email to Mr Joseph as I had already informed him about this and I believe in being truthful and transparent in my interactions. He is also aware of the fact that none of the rooms that he had assured us during the bookings were made available to us, instead he charged us additional for one of the hotel rooms. I don't care what you organized for us on the trip and what all you funded because ultimately you put our lives in danger and utmost threatening situations which is absolutely UNACCEPTABLE AND HAS ZERO TOLERANCE
You owe me a response Mr Nicholas and Mr Robert and I look forward to your urgent attention to this matter and immediate action in the form of a complete refund to me. What you tell your representative Mr Joseph and the driver is not of my concern anymore. I need my refund of USD 2348/- , AND THAT IS IT!!!!!
Extremely disappointed and devastated,
Kshitiza Bawa
(Wife of Mr Hrishikesh Bawa)
AE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Tour operator was ok, guide was horrible.
First we would like thank you for always replying quickly and the driver always being on time.
Secondly I would like to tell you what happened on our first day:
- We landed on time and were stuck in traffic on the way to Lake Navaisha so we couldn’t do the tour on that day so it was postponed for the next morning.
- Because it we did the next morning we arrived late at our hotel in Masai Maraa which resulted in not doing any game drive on day 2, which we payed you for (80 dollars x 6)
We believe we have the right to get refunded for this. In the future you should not do a heavy planning like this for your guests as with the traffic and condition of the roads it’s not doable.
We also were extremely unhappy about our driver. The driver really breaks or makes your holiday as we spend so much time together. Ours was not providing us any basic information about our day or Kenya, got irritated by our questions, sensitive as not having a sense of humor, demotivated (example: he told us there was a rhino but it was very far meaning he didn’t want to bring us eventhough he knew how much we wanted to see a rhino).
In Masai Maraa he was doing the same routes for 3 days always bringing us at the same spots.
We were the only safari bus with broken binoculars. All other drivers has binoculars looking for the animals for their guests.
He was wearing the same clothes for 5 days so I can’t even begin to describe the smell we had to endure all these hours.
Our driver clearly shows he does not want to do his job and the we were not welcome.
He also got irritated when we were giving away our extra food to the children we would see because he said they would litter.
Eventhough we were extremely unhappy with him we still gave him a generous tip which he also showed us how unhappy he was with.
We had a fun holiday because we were a fun group not thanks to our driver or accommodation.
I really do not understand all the other 5 star’s reviews and really wished we had a 5 star experience as we paid a lot of money for this holiday.
The lunch box in the accommodation in Masai Maraa was every day the same! Very poor selection for breakfast too. There should be also be mosquitonets as the room is full with mosquitoes and other bugs. We were not so bothered by the accommodation as it’s fairly for the price we paid.