CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Terrible and unprofessional
Feel like going on safari and having a great vacation? Then DO NOT use this company. Douglas took our money and then demanded we pay him more throughout the entire 4 days we were trying to enjoy our vacation.He used our money elsewhere and then asked us to keep paying for services he was suppose to have paid for.We ended up forking over $2000 usd after paying him over $5000. He was unprofessional and didn’t even pay the driver, we had to!?! Go elsewhere and find a more reputable company, save yourself a lot of stress.
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Worst experience ever while travelling
We booked a boat cruise, a VicFalls trip and a private safari to Moremi with Afrinature aka African Drifters.
All of them were operated by third party operators or freelancers, so rather book with others.
This company totally spoilt our holidays instead of having a relaxed trip which we actually paid a lot of money for. I already complained during the trip but I was asked by the owner to send my complaints on email, then we would talk about a refund. Since I have sent the report to him I was ghosted - no replies on Whatsapp, no one picked up the phone. After all: No refund - no excuse - nothing than disappointment with this company.
We paid 5k USD for the private safari for 2 people for 5 nights. We had a lot of issues with the company like delays, hotel change, changes in the prearranged schedule, one day we didn't even arrive at the camp that was booked before it got dark. Only one day was ok for us. Everything seemed to be happening due to a lack of planning, organisation and communication.
KR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Not trustworthy
Treats foreign customers like an ATM. The attitude towards you dramatically changes before and after the payment.
1. Last minute itinerary change
Other tour operators notified me that due to the recent change in the park entrance policy, they only offer two-day safari tour. But Exciting Africa Holidays said their tour is three-day. To confirm this, I sent them an email and received a positive response, which influenced my choice for this tour. But, on the day of the tour, i was told that there will only be a two-day program due to the 'recent' change in park policy. That just spoiled my day.
2. Lying about drinking water
At the Nairobi tour office, I was verbally assured that the package included '1 litre of bottled water per person per day'. But upon my arrival in Masai Mara, I was told that there is no water to give us... I mean, why lie about water? If it's not included, just tell me, and I'll grab some in town! (fwiw, they did provide water at day2 after my complaint, but the emotional stress i had to go through on day1 was immense)
3. Lack of communication
They dropped us off at some random place, not the one we were supposed to stay at. We were totally lost. After I paid, communication between me, the tour operator, and our driver went from great to non-existent. If they had to switch the accommodation, that's fine, but give us a heads up! And there's even a signal in Masai Mara if you're with Safaricom.
When I brought up these issues with the tour operator after the tour, he raised his voice, telling me to send a formal written complaint. So here's my formal complaint.
This safari tour was supposed to be a once-in-a-lifetime adventure, but picking this operator was a major mistake.
For the record, I was more than satisfied with our driver Shadi, he was very kind and professional. I had issues only with the tour operator, Exciting Africa Holidays. (It seems like multiple tour operators pool the tourists and assign them to different vehicles)
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Horrible experience
We booked this company for both Kenya and Tanzania safaris, They completely spoiled our Kenya Masai Mara experience, the guide we got name called Ole spoiled our complete experience by misguiding us and when we tried to call the tour company owner George, he was not at all responsive while we were in Kenya.
They treated us well while we were in Tanzania got a very good guide name called Omar but our Kenya and Masai Mara experience was horrible.
And when we were suppose to get AA Lodge at Ambosali National park, they gave one basic room where it was not a finished room with open nails and all, the beds were not even equipped with mosquito nets and my kids were bitten by at least 50 Mosquitos on that night.
Summary: Our experience in Tanzania is ok but definitely spoiled my Kenya experience.
I recommend you to avoid this company.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Look Elsewhere
My husband and I just completed a 6 day safari through Kenya from Nairobi to Mombasa with drives through Maasai Mara, Lake Nakuru, Amboseli and a sanctuary bordering Tsavo West. We advise you stay away. When we booked the tour, our itinerary listed two game drives through Tsavo West, Tsavo was a bucket list park for both of us, so we were really excited to explore this historical place. Unfortunately on the days of Tsavo, our guide gave us the plan and we were only going to be doing game drives through a resort sanctuary, not through the national park. We felt the company completely misled us about the itinerary and what we thought paid for. Once we expressed our frustration, they told us we were now too far from the actual national park entrance to have any game drives there. This was all after being deceived a couple of days prior about the entrance fee and cost of visiting Lake Naivasha and Crescent Island. Hyrax tried to charge my husband and I $150 USD for this short, optional excursion. We told Hyrax they were overcharging and the entrance to the island wasn’t that much - we checked Crescent Island’s official website which openly lists the price, but we were told by Hyrax that they were being honest with the prices. Once we got to the lake, we took matters into our own hands with what the boat ride and entrance fee actually costs and of course - Hyrax was grossly overcharging us along with the boat company. When we brought this to their attention, they feigned ignorance to the prices or knowledge about the island’s website and listed prices. On our way out of Voi to Mombasa, we discovered they overcharged again for the train ride. They told us they charged us $5 per ticket but the tickets only costs 290KSh (About $2). We were ultimately quite disappointed and frustrated but tried our best to enjoy the animals anyways. Tourists anticipate being overcharged but not disrespected so thoroughly with an apparent professional safari. Look elsewhere.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Unprofessional
AVOID SAFARI UPDATES IF YOU CAN BY ALL MEANS!!
Safari Updates from the airport picked us in a small car with babies when we paid for a landcruiser to and fro pinning it on non existent chaos. Stalled us at a bar with kids while we waited for a second car on the way to transfer into. At the hotel they had us in a cabin with three beds instead of the promised and paid for new builds in the hotel we were staying. Once we checked in, our contact person went MIA, didnt pick any calls after that. We asked for the difference in refunds and they said nothing.
All these just made the trip not worth it at all!
CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Terrible Safari Experience and Unprofessional Tour Guides
This is probably the worst safari experiences I ever had with Startluck Travel. We had a group of 8 people and booked a 10-day package service with the company. The two drivers (also the guides) assigned to us were totally unprofessional, especially one of the drivers who name is Carlos. Carlos had been playing a game during the safari with us all the time. During one of the safari days, he left and dropped us in the middle of the game drive and requested us to join the other group to continue the drive, as he needed to go to pick up the park tickets and had his car have maintenance service. Also, on one of the days, he just disappeared and remained unreachable for the entire day. As a result, we lost one day to experience the game drive and were left in the hotel for doing nothing. The company Starluck however did NOTHING and was unable to resolve the issue after receiving our complaints, which was totally a disappointment.
That being said, this is ABSOLUTLY not a company to recommend.
RO
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Uncoordinated, rushed and disappointing experience.
Having such a beautiful country, this should be such an easy job. Well it was not, it appears that the group I was in was too large for the company so they had to hire an external contractor, 3 busses from the conpany, one outsider. The best experience was the outside contractor. There was no coordination between the drivers, it almost appeared that the 3 drivers from the company had a problem with the outside contractor and did not support him in any way. The 4th driver with the people he had in his care were abandoned 2 times on the safari, one time for 1 hour and a half, when the bus could not move and see anything because the papers for the bus were with the other drivers. So 7 people out of 27 missed a part of the safari, the only encounter with a leopard. After all this, at the end of the safari we were suppose to cross the river and see the big migration, but the car we were in could not cross, luckily we were taken by a total stranger group ... otherwise we would have missed it. Last but not least our driver kept being harrassed by the others to drive faster on public roads, break the speed limit and really put our lives in dager with unsafe driving, I have seen him being called literally every 5 minutes, I felt UNSAFE! So yes ... poor experience in one of the most amazing places in the world!
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The worst thing that happened to us was you guys
You lied to us from airport pick up with a land cruiser n sent us a smaller car n squeezed us in with kids. Booked wrong rooms from ones promised during advance booking.worst experience by far
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
BEWARE- Did not refund whole deposit for TZ after referring us to a tour operator in Kenya who scamm
Beware of the company and proceed with caution if you need help with major issues. I reached out to Glory around May of 2022 to start planning my trip. The trip was revolved around getting a stay at the Giraffe Manor.
She referred me to her partner in Kenya who she raved about. Lucy with Splendor Holidays, she seemed very responsive and provided a decent itinerary, price and promised she got the room for June 5, 2023. Glory planned her side, and I paid both deposits. There were three people going and I paid $10,477 for Kenya and $2850 for TZ USD.
Everything seemed fine and we kept in touch here and there and as the date inched closer, Lucy claimed in March that her sister passed. By the end of April I started chatting more frequently. On May 2, we were trying to fill out the visa when the website on Splendor Holidays was down. We found out that Lucy wasn’t being responsive or making up excuses. Glory went up to Kenya to have Lucy arrested and she documented everything. Glory provided a police number and the court documents, which was a little off. People on social media and a journalist had pointed out the number wasn’t right, but I gave the benefit of the doubt that there was no way Glory was involved.
Glory said she felt so terrible and that she wasn’t attentive to our tour. She said she had personal reasons and that she let us converse directly with Lucy. Normally, she would arrange things with Lucy (Splendor Holidays) and take the money. I asked her multiple times, why did she change protocol on us, and this happened?
Glory tried to suggest another tour guide to do driving and to pay nearly another $1000. When I reached out to the company, their website was down as well for “reconstruction.” Glory promised she was going to come meet us when we landed in Kenya and she didn’t. Glory did not reach out to us at any point during our Kenya trip, she was silent. We received help from strangers in Kenya.
Due to the complete change in itinerary, my friend and I had originally booked to fly from two different airports in TZ. There was no way to make it work and be able to fly home with a reasonable price. When I reached out to Glory, she only gave us 50% of the deposit back. When I asked why, she said last minute cancellations are very difficult. I asked her to provide the cancellation invoice to submit for my travel insurance or something. She then stated that she doesn’t have them, and it is very exhausting to get the evidence I need.
I told her if I can reach out to the hotels, I think anyone knowing I got scammed would make an exception. She said that her reputation is already ruined, and she will not give me access to the hotels and ruin it by reaching out to them. She also claimed that she respects the hotel’s time and policy. I got upset and said so you don’t respect me and the money I’ve lost. How I spent my dream vacation going to the police, embassy, and running around trying to get my money back from her “wonderful Kenyan partner.” Glory claims she had no idea that Lucy could do this and that she did what she could. She kept saying no one else would do this for me when she caught Lucy.
I finally called Glory out on the fact that she never checked in on me in Kenya and broke her promise of being there. She stated she was following me on social media and gave me space to deal with the embassy and that they would help. She said she had stuff back in TZ to manage and she lost money. I told her it costs $0 to check in.
I had been warned before that there was a chance Glory could be involved and I gave a benefit of a doubt because she was friends for so long with my best friend in the States. There is a chance she has nothing to do with it, but the way she handled it has been terrible and she will not give you back money. She said she’ll make me whole, but in November. It is very odd that she will pay out of her own pocket versus trying to reach out to the hotels to get the deposit back. There is another person on tripadvisor that left very similar feedback about her lack of help. She had mentioned this, and I thought she only had one bad review, but I do believe the validity at this point.
I can give the benefit of the doubt that she had no idea all these tour operators weren’t scammers as she claimed, but the way she responded was unacceptable and because I had questioned Pesapal, the payment platform why Glory required all my banking account including my SWIFT to give my deposit back, she blamed me for the delay. She sent emails calling me a liar, etc…gaslighting me.