US
Poor Communication
While I really enjoyed my safari, I felt that Mega Adventures wasn't exactly honest with us about what we were getting. This safari was a little more expensive than other options, so we were hoping it would be higher quality service. Two out of the four in our group were vegetarians, and we confirmed multiple times that we would need vegetarian food for them and were promised that this would happen - our first lunch was fried chicken and our guide & cook had no idea that any of us were vegetarian. They also convinced us to sign up for a "walking safari" and sold it as an awesome up close experience with the animals - when we started the safari the guide told us "no, we never see animals here" - so we just felt cheated. I really liked our guide and our chef Massawe was amazing, but the overall organization was poor and no one accepted any responsibility for these mistakes - no apology, just passing the blame to someone else.
ES
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A good trip... but I did not see many animals in the safari
The communication with the company has always been very fast and kind and they provided me with all the information I asked for.
The car trip to Mikumi from Dar, even if it was long, was very good as the driver was very helpful and he drove very safely.
I went for the safari on the first days of July to Mikumi and there were almost no animals, so the safari itself was not very productive.
The lodge where I spent the night, Camp Bastian, was really good as the chalet was big, very clean and confortable. Also the staff were very friendly and the food really good.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Lots of animals, some problems
Our guide was knowledgeable and we saw some great wildlife. We did have mechanical issues with the vehicle along with some delays because of permit issues and mechanical problems. The food was very good
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Customer Service Improvement Required
Our initial contact with Simon Mwema was very good. However, this deteriorated after we had paid. We had received 2 different times for the flight departure for our safari. I repeatedly tried to clarify this with no answer to my emails. It was not until 2 days before our departure from Australia that I received an email but with no departure time on the form. Finally, I received the time(1/2 hour earlier than previously stated) and the fact the flight was with a different airline. We tried to confirm the flight time just prior to the safari but did not receive an answer. This was all very unsettling.
EG
Tarangire is a nice place
Tarangire is a nice place, my recommendation if you will visit serengeti, ngorongoro and lake manyara, you will not find any thing interesting in Tarangerie.
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
They tell a better story than they can consistently deliver.
We did two safari's with Wildebeest. Masai Mara was awesome with a great guide (Andrew), vehicle and accommodations. The second one a few days later had likely their worst vehicle (doors and windows that were hard to open and dirty inside) and a guide that really did not seem to know or was unwilling to share much about Amboseli - including getting some of the animals wrong. They had many excuses (other vehicle broke down, busy time of year, no previous complaints for that guide, etc.). At least the accommodations were good. So be careful when you book with Wildebeest - you simply don't get consistent quality.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A tour guide and Land Cruiser swap the first day impacted Safari in more ways than one.
We choose Regional Tours due to stellar reviews and the fact they are based in Tanzania, Our first tour guide was a very nice and a respectful soul. He went above and beyond to make sure to point out various animals and providing the species names. He spotted a large snake neither of us would of seen. He was very concerned about the Land Cruiser's performance and requested a different one. After getting a different safari vehicle we also changed tour guides (not our choice) . Our new guide spent a lot of time during the game drives talking on his cell phone and texting. Most of my video audio is of him talking instead of the sounds of nature. A couple of times in the Serengeti he stopped along the road to conduct business at locations where he got sell service while we waited. We realize he was not scheduled to be on this trip and was not prepared for the tour. He did not have the change of clothes needed for the 6 days so I gave him some clothing to help him out. Although the experience with natural part of the Safari was good and the hotel accommodations way above average our second guide was more of just a driver than a real guide.
MY
Unique experience
Our trip to Johannesburg on May 2017 was the first time. The trip was more to personal customized. Price was reasonable. Although Malcolm expertise is in 4x4 tours but he worked hard to make our trip become memorable. We did Safaris tour and he enjoyed entertained my son, wife and I about various animals and its habitat. Instead of Safaris, we also enjoyed and appreciated to Malcolm for his willingness to tell the brief about Johannesburg and South Africa, almost everything!...
SI
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Problems with payment and organization.
Accomodatino was very good and also the food in the campsite, the car was also good, but the last day we waitede to enter to last park for five hours. The guide told us, that there were some problems with payment. Agency did not pay so we could not enter to park Tarnagire. In the end they solved problem but we have only 2 hours to see this park. This is not good and this shouldn't happen.
CA
Experience level: first safari
Rock, Rattle and Roll
I have to say that Wildebeest was a disappointment for sure. Communication before our trip was excellent. I checked references and all was great. However, following our trip, and before writing this review, I gave Noah, the owner, a chance to respond privately to my concerns and he said he would look into it, but I have not heard anything.
1. Itinerary
My instructions about what we wanted was the Big 5 and the Migration. We did not see the Big 5--missed the rhino. We understood that seeing the actual crossing of the wildebeest is not guaranteed. However, I think that too many days were scheduled to try and see the crossing both in the Mara and the Northern Serengeti. We would have been better off remaining in the Mara for another day, rather than spending a day travelling to the Northern Serengeti--essentially wasted time. We saw thousands of wildebeests, but they did not cross when we were there. It was a very expensive part of the trip and I think, having had the experience, we would have been happy with just the Mara and skipped the northern Serengeti. As i said, it took a lot of travel time, and waiting around for hours on end, for the second time, became a bit boring. The other animals were not plentiful, the accommodations were not good. It also have been better spending more time in the central Serengeti and Ngorongoro. We had less than one day of viewing in each of them and in Ngorongoro we paid extra to extend our viewing in the crater as we were only scheduled for 3 hours. It was very badly planned in this respect. Also, I would recommend staying a second night in Ngorongoro, despite some extra costs. Again, we felt that we had too much wasted time travelling to a second lodge.
2. Vehicles
We had a number of concerns about the vehicles used. The first one, in the Mara, was okay, but the seats were permanently reclined--so not wonderful, but it was only a couple of days. The second vehicle which we had for 6 or 7 days was not up to par. We rocked, rattled and rolled---and though we did survive without a breakdown, the vehicle was below standards. It was old and literally rattled all the time so it was impossible to hear the guide unless you were sitting beside him. There were no seat belts in rear seats--which we believe was not legal. The windows did not operate well and were old and blurry--not good for viewing. The walkie talkie was not fully operational--and we think this had a significant impact on communications resulting in less viewings. We will never know! There was no cooler and water supplied was in huge bottles that got warm and were covered in dust. I had inquired from Noah about an air conditioned vehicle and was told it was not necessary because it was not the hot season. This was not correct. There were parts of the journey that we would have definitely closed the windows to avoid the dirt and dust, and this was not possible without the air conditioning, which was not working in the vehicle.
3. Accommodation
Our accommodation were all very nice except the Northern Serengeti where we were lodged in the Angata Migration Camp. The facilities were a bit too basic--not even an hand towel in the public bathroom and only tissue with no waste basket--kind of ridiculous in a place that was billed as "luxury". Also no hand towels in the room, rough floors, and extremely poor lighting. But most significant was that the bed netting was poor, it had holes and was dirty. This is in an area of the Tse Tse, so I spent 15 minutes every night re-arranging the netting. Food was okay at most places, but lunch boxes were not the greatest.
4. Guide/Drivers
We had two different guides. Eustice, in Kenya was very personable. knowledgeable, helpful, but very strict about rules, which we cannot hold against him! In Tanzania, our guide, who was a contractor, was very knowledgeable, but we had to ask questions to get the information. He was quite serious in personality and our main concern with him was his extreme confidence in himself which we felt prevented him from getting information from others. He also, without informing us, decided not to go to see some rhinos that were reported spotted, thinking they were too far away. He did not consult us and others at our camp were able to view them. He told us after we were back in camp! In the end, we never did see the rhino, and we do have some resentment over this. We would have said to go to see them for sure.