BE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Unfriendly and unprofessional people : very bad communication and they are just a reseller.
While the content of the safari (4 days/3 nights) was good, as for the driver and for the accommodations and food, I want to make following remarks :
-Lobo Safaris (part of Vimic group) does not organize itself the safari. The safari itself was done by Sandland Tours
-The start was disastrous : (day before start of the safari) :
- There were 2 different taxidrivers waiting for us at the airport of Arusha !!!
- We were dropped in an hotel outside Arusha (Mercury hotel) in the middle of local habitations and no decent road, and in front of a local discotheque (noise at night) !
- While the driver told us that Lobo safaris would contact us the same afternoon, we didn’t hear anything from them until the morning after. Meaning we spent an whole afternoon, waiting in a desolate hotel (there was only another African couple as client of the hotel).
- Also the payment was not what we expected : we had to pay cash, while Lobo and Vimic group advertise that they accept credit cards.
-The safari itself was good. Good driver/guide : Simon and good accomodation. The program was not followed but this was not a problem (Tarangire in place of Lake Manyara). Only the vehicle was in bad condition (old vehicle from 1996 : front lights not working, no hand brake, starter not always working and a lot of dust entering the cabin)
-The end of the safari was also not really good : the door of the luggage compartiment could no more open (after one of the two spare tires break off the car ….)
-The transfer to Moshi was OK but the hotel in Moshi was not up of the quality of the accommodations during the safari (hotel Kinodroko)
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
miscommunication with a single traveler
So first of all, I have been on 2 other safaris. This wasn't my first.
So to begin, I chose ACZ because of their good reviews. Also, John was very communicative and helpful before I went. He answered all of my questions in a timely manner and seemed professional. I traveled as a single so I was nervous about this but John eased my fears.
I was supposed to stay at the Lenchada camp with the group but there was a mix up. I assumed John would have put me in a single since he knew I was traveling as a single. He did not. I didn't want to share a tent with strangers. It wasn't clear in our communication beforehand that I would be made to share a tent with strangers. In fact, they wanted to put me in a tent with 3 other people! No. I didn't realize this would be like a hostel. So they sent me to another camp where I spent a night in a single. But it wasn't a good situation since I was separated from the group. I think John should have admitted his error (instead he argued with me about it) and arranged for a single at the correct camp. He didn't. The next day our driver told me I'd have to stay in the other camp alone again- and I got very upset. Finally, they let me stay at the correct camp but I had to share at tent. I was so tired of arguing I agreed to it. This all left me very disappointed, though. What bad customer service!
Our driver was below average as well. On my other safaris the drivers engaged with us, told us lots of facts about the animals, and were very friendly. This driver only spoke to us when we asked him direct questions. He seemed bored. We got minimal information out of him about anything. While driving he never gave us an itinerary, didn't say when we'd stop to use the toilets, eat, etc. We would just stop and then he'd tell us what was going on. Some advanced notice would have been good. He also talked on his phone constantly while driving and this felt very unsafe, especially on the roads in Kenya. He was good, however, at bringing us to see the animals. He gets 4 stars for that. But his attitude was definitely below average.
The food at the Lenchada camp was good and the place as a good deal for the price. I would stay there again. The highlight of the trip were the other members of my safari.
Single travelers- make sure you are clear about what you are paying for.
IN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
not living upto the promise
we booked selous game reserve 3 days tour with them .. 7 adults 4 kids ..
first thing .. leina was very quick to respond to any queiries .. she collected the payments from me from my place and was swift with responses ..
but from the start of safari the service looked glitched.. first day one vehicle arrived and we had to wait one hour for the second vehicle
after reaching the camp we had booked 3 rooms 3rd tent wasnt ready even after 3 hours of arriving and when the tent was given it was clearly a makeshift arrangement as the camp looked overbooked.. a tent of 2 was turned into tent of 4 with extra beds cramped in it with no mosquito nets.. they gave us a better tent next day but out of 2 nights one night was wasted and our mood spoiled
on 3rd morning we didnt want a walking safari instead an extra game drive but drivers werent informed about it so we had to inform drivers on our own and then they rechecked with the company.. it was all messy
on whole 3 days or even after the safari the tour operator didnt call even once to ask how were we doing or were the arrangements fine..
on last day she called me and asked for an extra 40 usd .. she said my wife ( who is tanzanian) didnt present her ppt on the park gate so she had to pay her full fees .. i told her nobody asked me for any documents and my wife was carrying her passport with her all the time .. if asked to present the passports it was on hand .. it was a communication mistake between them and the drivers which she was trying to put on me and extract money ..
last day the drivers were told not to give us lunch .. i said the lunch is included in package .. so the drivers arranged a lunch in completely horrible place where none of us could manage to eat.. we had carried foodstuffs with us that came handy
so with msafiri travels the experience was horrible.. i wouldnt advise anyone to go with them .. i have been on safari before and some people provide much better service
on the positive side Butembo selous camp was very cosy .. it gives u a great feel of jungle .. and the walk from restaurant to tents is like walking in real jungle .. ameneties are nice .. tents are good .. exceptionally clean hygenic and in great shape .. its real luxurious..though in summers a fan would be handy in tents as it gets very hot during summers..
the staff was super polite and saw to every demands of us..
food was average .. but in a camp which has only 7 tents u cant expect a buffet .. they had limited menu in dinners but it was fine ..
the drivers peter and ramdani were fabulous .. specially peter was so fearless .. they werent at all tired of driving whole day to try and spot animals .. they really went out of the way and made this trip memorable .. were also very polite and friendly
over all we had great time due to the camp and drivers .. hence 2 stars to msafiri for providing us this camp and drivers .. or else there isnt much about msafiri to recommend
ES
Slow service on the trip
We booked a 2 night/3 day walking tour to Mount Meru. The communication before the trip was very good. The two porters/chefs/guides we met originally seemed good fun and very helpful. We were told we would have 4 porters for our trip. When we arrived at the National Park, we were told to sit and eat our lunch, then told, we needed to hurry as the ranger ( who we had never met) was leaving. We then realised we were in a group with 20 other people(I had originally inquired whether we could join another group and have a discount and was told no). The 2 men we had arrived with, did not walk with us on that first day. We had nobody from Bobby tours with us. When we arrived at the camp, the other people were given tea, but our representatives were not there. They arrived an hour after us and we had tea approx 2 hours after everyone else. The next day started the same way, we walked with a group of 20 people with no representatives from Bobby Tours. That afternoon we climbed Mount Meru with one representative from Bobby tours and a local porter. Mount Meru is an amazing climb. The next day we walked down off the mountain with our Bobby tour representative. They then asked us for tips for 5 people ( we had already had to tip the ranger) I explained that we had not seen these 5 people. We agreed to give tips for 4 people when we got to our hotel. The Bobby tour representatives' attitude towards their tips was simply not good enough. They were pushy and questioning constantly and when we gave them their tips, they became quite unfriendly, greedy and close to abusive. Afterwards we rang Kassim in the office to explain our problems with his workers, he said the greediness is to be expected and is fairly normal and he apologised for their behaviour.
AE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Hide a lot of informations
The only concern I have with this company in Uganda, that they don't explain to you everything, for example no one told us there is direct flights to our destination, in addittion when you request to visit a place they don't give you a recommandation that it does not worth a two night stay. We were obliged to change the program when we arrived because of the lack in information and experience, it seems they are experienced in Uganda not in other countries. Thanks good we were not in a family
DE
A loveless performance of the tour with poor information
The tour has a great potential for a very good safari, but it's not used! For example: 3 hole-day-trips by bus occur on 4 succesive days (10 of the 12 participiants were mostly reading, sleeping oder gaming with smartphone during the bus-trips). Therefore the order of events should be changed. The information about land and people was poor.
The highlights of the trip were performed from other business-men (lodges, guides), not from land and lake safaris!
IT
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Tsavo East National Park by Filippo
Very touristic, very little animals, maybe it is too big, but compared to the others it's like being in the desert....
US
Disorganized
The safari was ok. Not the best safari but not the worst.
The problem with the company was they were not organized. There were errors such as in flight details that I pointed out before my itinerary was finalized. The worst of all was they forgot to book one leg of my flights even though they confirmed everything was booked and I realized that I don't have a ticket for the next flight on the plane. Really subpar.
IE
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Serengeti National Park by Karl Senn
Too many cars and dust, stress for the animals, large distances covered with high speed
PT
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Lake Manyara National Park by Antonio Alves
Very few fauna and few specimen of animal. Time lost. May be a place to beguin a safari, baut not to finish after Serengueti or ngorongoro