CN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Last minute hotel change and no refund for hotel difference
The night before our tour after receiving our full payment, agency informed us of the hotels for our tour, two-thirds of which were different from the hotels we had initially confirmed. The point is that when we booked our trip more than three months ago, agency clearly wrote the hotels to be stayed at and broke down our total cost into each individual item, including the hotel cost of $3,210. Therefore, it is reasonable for us to know the actual cost of the changed hotels and ask for a refund of the difference, if any. However, when we asked agency to provide the relevant invoice, agency only provided an invoice for one hotel and then never responded again.
They never explained the reason for the hotel change. We had booked and paid a deposit more than three months in advance, but never received notice until the night before our trip. One of the hotels that was in the nature reserve was replaced with one in a town, so we had to spend an extra half day on transportation instead of game-driving. Most importantly, when we wanted to know the actual cost of the hotel, they responded with ignorance and silence.
CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Good but problem with payment and price
We booked in 2019 with them for a safari in Tanzania and everything was perfect. This time, it was for a safari in Kenya. The safari was perfect too, but we deal the price severals months before the departure and 2 weeks before the safari, they said that we will need to pay more money. They said it was because of troubles with the municipal council and the payment of taxes. They were supposed to return the extra money we paid, but since now we lost 1400$. I don't recommend Kiliholidays since you will not be sure the price you will pay at the end.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Not suitable for a couple's getaway
My fiancé and I booked a 6-day Kruger safari with Wild Planet Safari and we were so excited! Unfortunately, we were disappointed and ultimately, I do not recommend this company.
I will say that the safari guide was super knowledgeable and was able to answer all of our questions regarding wildlife.
I think the biggest problem we had is that we went as a couple, and it was not specified that all three meals would be eaten with the guide and his assistant. We were looking for a more intimate experience at dinnertime under the stars with a bottle of wine.
In general, we also had problems with the included food; the “friendly coffee gatherings” – as to quote the day-by-day itinerary– in the early mornings, for instance, consisted of instant coffee served in tin cups. (All coffee drinkers will agree that instant coffee is terrible). I had pictured sharing a hot thermos filled with freshly brewed coffee. There were coffee shops at the camp sites, so this could’ve easily been arranged.
Some of our food and drink requests (which were approved prior to the safari) were not met; and there were no crackling fires and bonfire glows at nighttime, as to quote the safari description. The owner (who was very defensive when I emailed her afterwards) told me that because of a cold front (which only started at the end of our safari), it got very windy and they could not risk lighting bond fires. She also said our opinions were molded by the cold weather when we had packed long layers, gloves, jackets, etc. just to be on the safe side.
Whoever wrote the safari description is a fantastic writer because we didn’t even think about asking questions re: coffee and fires (etc). I really fell for the beautiful, idealized descriptions of the itinerary.
There were a couple of other little things, such as a missing bottle of wine, some terribly overcooked steaks (I find that mind boggling, because the cook asked us how we wanted it prepared and we said “rare” and “medium”, yet everything steak came out identical); and I still don’t know what happened to a dinner salad that supposedly went bad. I eat TONS of fruit and veggies, so yes, it was THAT important to me.
They do get 5 stars for providing us with great wine in the evening though :).
So if your heart is set on visiting Kruger, I strongly urge you to choose another company.
PL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
not reliable
Overall, we do not recommend this company due to the dishonesty of the owner.
The opinion is based on experiences during an 8-day safari including Parks in Botswana and Victoria Falls.
Cons: Why do we rate the Owner of Lucky as dishonest? We had to buy our own entrance tickets to Victoria Falls, which he confirmed were included in the safari fees. Furthermore, even though he promised to refund these tickets, we never received our money back. An additional minus were the cars we drove - they were not properly checked and prepared, so one of the two vehicles broke down halfway through the safari, and Laky ineptly repaired them after two days.
Pros: It should be noted that the service team itself is great and we highly recommend them. A very good and committed guide, he tracked down every animal and always got very close to it. He was very nice and took care of us at every step. We would also like to thank the chef and assistant for the super tasty food and good organization of the camp, it was delicious, clean and very nice.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Watch for the bait and switch on the safari vehicle.
The accommodations were nicer than expected and the food at the accommodations was very good. Our guide,Peter, was good. The reason for only 2 stars had to do with the safari vehicle. It was a minivan. Their quote included pictures and description of a Land Cruiser so I was surprised when the vehicle that showed up to pick us up was a minivan. I asked them about the change and they said that land cruisers are available for an up charge. I’ve never known a tour company to have up charge items available but not list them anywhere. Usually selling upgrades is a prime goal. Therefore since this information was not provided and misleading photos were included, it felt like a simple bait and switch. If you use Laxa Trails, make sure you ask what kind of vehicle you will be in. You will spend more than 75% of your time awake in the vehicle, so it is pretty important.
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unreliable people. Unfortunately we paid for everything at the beginning
Improvised agency. We take home good memories because the safari (with whichever agency you do it with) is exciting
We had a lot of problem considering what we paid:
1) in the agreed plan there was 8 Moment of game drive, at the end we did 5! We lost 3 moments to have game drive due to fault/problem in the organization of this agency....(as you know games drive are the main reason of this trip and the reason why the people pay a lot of money)
2) Jasto Safari has included in our plan the a specific day trip (guided nature walk). It was in the "included activities" not in the “extra activties” , but also if it was in our plan we had to pay 70$. Not a nice surprise
3) we spent 1 night in an hotel completly different comparing what we paid. In general this in not a problem for us, but after 8 hour in the car, if we have paid for a 4/5 stars hotel with spa, we were not happy to discover that it was a very dirty 1/2 star hotel (they told us, the same day, that our was overbooking...)
4) In our plan there was a dinner included in Nairobi but we found out the same day that we had to paid for that (other 70$....)
5) They completly forgot to organize accomodation and meals for the entire last day, for this reason we paid also one lunch, one dinner and one accomodation more… (other 150$)
6) an entire day lost due to issue with the Van (From 7:00am to 7:00pm on the road: no lunch, just bought some chocolate on the road).. I know that it could happen but it is inconceivable to be told that it can happen and not to take it personally!
7) In the safari all people had a jeep and only us an old Van…
8) Our arrival at 5:30am we wait outside the airport around 50 minutes for the pick up...
Considering all these problem we tried to ask a partial refund. They proposed us 140$, I think that is not proportionate, but I accepted...I asked 6 times for an update on payment (in 3 months) and each time they (I spoke to Jared) told me ‘we will do it next week’. Obviously this refund was never made....
The last comment is about Steve, our driver. He is a good man and good worker. Considering all problems he helped us every time
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Guide super , organisation terrible
if it were only for the guide (Thomas) I would give top marks(we saw all the big five and several action of animals). super, he made us experience the Serengeti to the full
I will give two star for the company.
Mr Amos, the owner, gave a jeep to the driver with almost 500,000 km
every day was a problem:
radiator broken(the streets are bad that’s true, but also the car), fuel missing. all this wasted 4 hours(almost one day of game drive, who refund me this?)
mr amos made me pay the balance 150 euros (when it was 112 dollars) telling me that for him changing euros was expensive (the rate exchange is 1€=1.10$)
He also charged 5% of transaction fee(other companies make 3%)
what's even more serious: on the first and last day we had different accommodation compared to the itinerary that we paid. (of lower quality)
The last one was awful (ngorongoro inn): no light and electricity for hours.
if you want to live an “hakuna matata" experience don't book with “migration venture Africa”
I renew my compliments to the guide Thomas. super
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
A travel agent who does not listen based on my experience
Super disappointed about the experience: a travel agent who does not listen, empty promises, long wait after 5 hours of drive, another 2 hours for a room ( triple for a person)
Definitely not an agency which I recommend, try and get someone who is really professional and tries to do something for you
No value for money, despite promises of a good experience, just excuses
BE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Generaly bad food, lunch prepared in the morning stay al the way in a hot jeep.
Good driver but we lost a lot of time for all kind of reasons
Accommodation average
Jeep was in poor condition, dinner cold served, Mouses and cockroach in the rooms.
IT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Wonderful trip to Kenya, but bad experience with driver
We spent 11 days in August with Amazing Memories Safari between Masai Mara, Lake Nakuru and Amboseli, after spending 6 days in Tanzania with a very good guide (Karim) from an excellent tour operator (Amazing Memories Safaris).
The trip in Kenya was overall very nice, the parks visited were undoubtedly amazing.
Coming to talk about the organization of the trip, it is fair to mention some positive aspects:
- the tour operator was always prompt in responding to emails;
- the accommodations where we stayed were very nice (even if very expensive, but of course we knew that);
- the 4x4 car was in good condition.
The strongly negative aspects, on the other hand, concern the driver/guide. Indeed:
- he spoke difficult-to-understand English;
- he had a fair knowledge of the parks, but still a not acceptable level for a guide (e.g., at the first lodge in the Masai Mara he arrived using Google Maps; he struggled to locate the locations indicated by other guides where sightings were taking place, with the result that sometimes we were late and almost missed important moments of the sightings);
- he had just an elementary knowledge of animals (e.g., he struggled to distinguish different types of birds or even antelopes from each other, and gave us systematically wrong information about animal behavior);
- he had no strategy for exploring the parks and looking for animals. On the second day we realized that we had to organize our tour independently (we have a fair knowledge of African nature, having traveled a lot, watched for documentaries, "Wild Earth" and read books) and, in fact, we managed to make excellent sightings (but always struggling to get the guide to go to the best places possible);
- he did not know how to position himself in the best ways for sightings (which is certainly complex in Kenya due to the large number of vehicles, but which should still be a prerogative of a good guide);
- we never managed to start the game drive at dawn because he needed at least 30 minutes to eat breakfast.
We did game drives in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Argentina, USA, Norway, Poland, Italy, India, Indonesia, Australia: we never saw such a low level of guiding, especially if compared to the high cost of the trip. In conclusion, our substantially negative opinion of the tour operator is conditioned by the guide (for the rest, we have no particular complaints). However, we believe that in a trip of this type the real added value is the guide and, therefore, as said before, we can only express a negative opinion on the tour operator as well.