US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
For your own safety and money worthy, DON'T choose this fraud
I and my friends (4 persons) booked the 14 days Kenya&Tanzania trip(Sep 10 - Sep 23), and the whole trip became a nightmare since Day 6 until the end. Below are what happened to us, which might happen on you too. For your own safety and money worthy, NEVER EVER choose Seven by Far.
1. Became the hostage in the wilderness:
Seven by Far outsourced our Tanzania part to the local tour agency without telling us, and had payment issues with the local agency. The local agency refused to provide the service unless they received the full payments from Seven by Far. During the time, Seven by far just left us there. We had to communicate and negotiate with the local agency and pushed Seven to talk with THEIR OWN agency. They had the same payment issues with the Safari camp, the camp hold us there because they also did not receive the full payment. Instead of sending money to the camp, Seven asked us to pay the rest by our own and said they would refund us at the end of trip. This... Read more mess last 4 days and we lost 5 safari drives in Serengeti and had to change our rest of trip. In those 4 days, we were sucked there in anxiety and nervous and had to keep calling Seven by Far to resolve their own payment issues, but they just left us there. At the end, the Camp argued with Seven by Far and finally got full payment and allow us leave, and we paid by our own to the local tour agency to move our trip forward.
2. Never notify you when they made change in your trip:
They changed our accommodation from North Serengeti to Central Serengeti without any notification, downgraded from Rive Camp to Ikoma Camp for 2 nights, also downgraded the accommodation from AA lodge(4 stars) to the Kamala camp(1 star) for 2 nights in Amboseli. After we called them, their explanation was the original accommodations were not available. But should you notify the customers in advance instead of directly throwing the customers to a place they never expect?
3. Same story again, suck in any place you never expect:
In last day, Seven by Far booked the local driver to take us to the airport. Same story again that the local driver said they did not receive full payment so they would not provide us the transportation to the airport. We called Seven by far multiples times, they can't resolve it, then we paid our own to catch the flight.
4. Refund?
2 hrs before our flight, they showed us a paper and said they would refund. Since we were back from the trip, we spend 1 month to negotiate with them and finally reached agreement on the refund amount $1857. Then another round battle start, they kept saying they were processing the refund but until today(Nov 24), we did not receive even 1 penny and they become unreachable.
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Irresponsible; callous; unapologetic; indifferent to fact we paid for a service he could not deliver
Sold safari itinerary that proved to be undeliverable.
Driven in land cruiser with several major defects, many of which were significant safety risks.
The most harrowing part of the journey was during 14-hour drive from Makumi to Selous (which should have taken no more than 7 hours).
Just after 7pm on this drive, the headlights on the vehicle failed. It was dark and very remote where it happened.
The road was potholed and riven (a truck had been stuck in the mud earlier and we had waited an hour while villagers dug it out before we could pass).
The driver resorted to holding his mobile phone out of the window in his right hand,to shine the light from his screen on to road. His left hand held the wheel and he drove one-handed, with very little light from his phone, with hazard lights on.
The journey was completed agonisingly slowly in this dangerous one-handed fashion.
Because of the rain, it was also hard to distinguish the road from water on both sides.... Read more
We both thought we would die.
The following day we saw Steven, the company owner, at the river safari where he was with a group (from the hotel where we had been staying). He was in a more superior vehicle.
We were rightly angry. We tried to tell him about some of our experience of the tour, but he offered not one word of sympathy, still less any apology or acceptance of responsibility.
When we said our lives had been endangered, he said we should take it as an adventure! I am in my 70s and my wife is nearly 70. We do not need this kind of adventure at this stage in our lives. We are well-travelled and had ‘slummed it’ in our twenties.
When my wife mentioned that the hand rail came off when she held on to it as the vehicle tipped at 45degrees going through a rut, Steven said that it was probably because of her weight!!!
We pointed out to him that it was his responsibility to provide us with a vehicle that was fit-for-purpose. He responded that it was the rain that posed a problem to our journey having taken so long.
This is just an account of the worst part of the tour.
We bought a 4-day safari (84 hours) but spent spent a total of 31.5 hours travelling in the vehicle, with a mere 8 hours on actual safari in the two parks, Makumi and Selous.
We paid USD1800 and were provided with an unroadworthy, not fit-for-purpose vehicle.
The accommodation was changed at the last minute on the first day and we were put up in a place with no fan, air-conditioning or hot water.
The accommodation at Selous did have a fan, but no hot water for a shower after our gruelling journey or for an early morning shower. (They did provide hot water later in the day but no hot shower before our walking Safari before breakfast.)
It was a terrifying experience.
Clearly not value for money.
TW
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Terrible
I think Seven by Far Tours is a cheat agent. They didn’t apply VISA for me, so I can't get into Kenya. They promised me they would return my money 1795 USD, but they always said they were processing now. It has been three months, I still haven’t gotten my money. If you want to go to Kenya Safari, don’t consider this agent. I think they are cheaters.
CN
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A terrible company and one that all travelers should beware of
I have always thought that the second-selling travel agency on SafariBooking has basic service guarantees,！
but I am wrong!
The trip was very bad. I changed three cars and three drivers in a row on the road. I didn't have any notices or reminders before, which made me feel at a loss, and there was no apology and explanation afterwards, especially the last driver was not prepared any water for us and we were all thirsty and unbearable, and we couldn't buy any water. The most exaggerated thing was that the driver was unwilling to take me to the airport. The 7-day itinerary included the last delivery to the airport. He asked me to call Uber by myself!
All future travelers！
please don't be blinded by the so-called sales volume and are blinded by more than 1,000 comments, choose this company carefully, and choose a travel agency carefully!
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... Read more 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... Read more 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... Read more 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... Read more 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... Read more 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... Read more 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.