ES
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
A Nightmare in Botswana
We spent last year 12 days with MG and his team and our experience was really bad. We had to pay the entrance to chobe and the manager MG never paid to us. Our driver didn´t found our camp in Khwai and we had to sleep in a local cottage. The guide was estressed all time and our camp in Kalahari desert was diferente that the camp for which we have paid. A total disaster of company!!
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The worst experience of my life
I don’t recommend this agency at all. I work in tourism and travelled around the world and never in my life I got such a bad experience. Seth Vicent the one who sold us the package Safari Kenia and Tanzania just Cheat on us with many lies regarding our tour. He was not paying the entrance at the parks, accommodations were never the ones we agreed and the last day we couldn’t check out of the hotel because he didn’t pay it. We paid everything in advance. We were having such a bad time. He was all the time aware of that but he didn’t fix it he was just playing with us telling that he will refund the services that we paid for and we never get. Now we are dealing with the police and embassy for some justice , and also because this type of no -professionals are not good for a country neither for tourists that want to enjoy.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Booked and paid for safari with private camping, received overcrowded public camping & no refund
We booked and paid for a Safari at Serengeti National Park with a guide & private camping (larger tents with a bed & private bathroom).
We ended up staying in an overcrowded public campground, with a toilet shared between 50+ people and no protection against wild animals at night, which were fighting in front of the tents. If that was what we booked, fair enough, but we paid for private accommodation, which we didn't receive.
The tour guide was great and very knowledgeable, however, the owner of the company, Calvin, is unfortunately very dishonest. He claimed the government was responsible for putting us on the wrong campground and that he could only refund us once the government had refunded him.
We doubt this is true as the tour guide was paying all accommodation in cash and had even picked up equipment for the public camp site. It is very clear the plan was to let us stay in the public camp site from the time we left Arusha.
Calvin has promised a partial refund but has to this date (10 months after the tour) not made any efforts to refund us .
Avoid this company unless you want to put up with unreliable and dishonest business practice.
US
Experience level: first safari
Shady business practices and scam
John Williams and his partner in Tanzania, Dilunga, cannot guarantee itineraries that are booked. I booked and paid for my safari tour and ended up with a join in tour group that did not book the same tour I paid for. Only upon arrival to Kilamanjaro was I informed that my itinerary changed. Also, no one met me at the airport for the transfer. Total BS and scam.
CA
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Terrible. Worse vacation ever. John Williams scammer.
I had the worse experience with John Williams. We landed in Serengeti to find out the parks fee was not paid nor the hotels. I can't even write down my thoughts because I'm so upset with the whole situation. I trusted John. Pls guts be careful about this agent.
ES
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Terrible. Choose other options. Don't let this company cheat you
I purchased a 8 day and 7 nights Safari with this company and it had been the worst experience of my live. I am an experienced traveller who have visited more than 40 countries and 8 different in Africa, and ner happened something like this.
This operator is a cheater who will try to scam you and take the money from your pocket. Remember: They don't get what you pay. They also scam you with the rate exchange what rise the price of the tour, They have ruined our holiday.
The van is overcrowded (9 people), fake itinerary, they don't go where they promise, not experienced staff, they make changes in the itinarary and hotels without considering what you paid. They spent a lot of time in logistics like an ordinary bus changing people to reduce their costs and don't get you what you paid. The accomodattions don't have the minimum standards, no hot water, broken mosquito nets, dirty room, terrible food.
They manage well the social networks to cheat you, but be aware that these people are cheaters and will ruin your safari.
Choose another option in order to avoid they mess you up and ruin your holiday.
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Horrible !!!!!
The worst experience I had with a company. I’m not use to write reviews but in this case i need to do it to inform potential futur customers.
DO NOT BOOK with them.
When you ask quotation there are really professional and kind but when you start the safari it’s the mess trouble everyday!!!
A few point amour a lot of others:
-Schedule not respected (they change the plan without inform us)
-they ask money to some customers to pay the park entrance!!!!! (Cause they didn’t got enough money !)
-we went for 5 days others in the car for 3 days we lost half day to change cars
-Hotel is a fake they didn’t respect the hotel the gave in the schedule
Nothing works well there is plenty of other companies so book anywhere else.
The headquarter is located in Kenya We did in Tanzania so don’t believe this guy and his subcontractor friends in Tanzania!
It’s maybe not the direct fault of Kenya office. But anyway with book with wild race Africa so you are responsible of the reliability of your subcontractors !
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Not what was advertised
We booked a safari to Kreuger Park in South Africa, a 4-day and 3-night stay. Our first night was in Tremisana Lodge, which is a budget lodge. The rooms were nothing fancy but were fine. The food was decent and the staff was helpful. The guides in the reserve were knowledgeable. We spent the next 2 nights at Marc's Treehouse Lodge. The treehouse experience was great, the food again was decent and the staff helpful. I was incredibly disappointed with our booking experience with Swahili Paradise. We were quoted in USD, which makes it easy for us but since the exchange rate changes we were told on arrival that we had to pay 5,000 rand more than we thought we needed to pay. We went back and forth with the woman at reception, she had to call Jimmy and clarify so that we paid what we had been quoted...which we found out was about 3,000 rand above what the price would have been if we had booked directly with Viva Safaris (the operators that actually provide the tour). We were told in our package that we would have 3 meals provided every day...the first day our pickup was at breakfast time so we didn't really expect much of anything for breakfast but we were surprised and quite irritated when we had to buy our lunch. Then on the day we went to Kreuger we again had to buy our lunch. And on the way back to Johannesburg we had to buy lunch a third time. This was simply false advertising. Also, our quote said we would have 2 full days in Kreuger park. Again, not true. We spent 1 day in Kreuger park - and we didn't even get there until after 10am (best animal viewing time is sunrise and sunset so this is TERRIBLE logistical timing). The other day that we thought we would be in Kreuger we spent 5 hours sitting at Tremisana lodge doing nothing, waiting for a short 90 minute game drive before they transferred us to Marc's camp. Incredibly disappointed that I spent >$1500 on this experience and it was not what we were told we were getting. Since then I have tried to contact Jimmy to ask about the above complaints and have received no response. This tells me that once they got our payment our experience means nothing to them. Strongly discourage you from booking with them. Do a self drive in Kreuger or book directly with Viva since they're the ones that actually service the trip. DO NOT waste your money booking with Swahili Paradise for Kreuger park.
LV
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Stole money from us!
Took our money for the tour. Said that the driver has run away with our deposit so we have to pay more. We did not pay and never got our money back. Don't choose this company!!
IN
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Terrible experience Drive Tanzania Ltd, safaris not as agreed on at all.
We had a very bad experience with Drive Tanzania Ltd. The safari was not as promised at all. First of all, we had agreed on 4 hour gamedrives on the both first and the third day. Both these days we only spent only 2 hours in the national park. Secondly, our guide did not interact with the clients at all and did not treat the animals with respect. He went off road very often, which is prohibited, and disturbed animals by getting extremely close. Third, our 'semi-luxury camp' had no electricity and no running water most of the time and if there was, the water had a brown color.
When we emailed Yoeni Japheth to express our disappointment after our safari, all he did was offer us to go with his company again on our next trip, which is something I would never do again. Yoeni Japheth said he mixed up the itinerary of a private and a joined safari, however, the itinerary he sent us before was named joined safari and he had confirmed about lengths of the gamedrives after I had specifically asked him. When we insisted on a partial refund for missing out on half of the safari time on two days, Drive Tanzania Ltd simply ignored this and stopped replying.
I won't recommend anyone to ever use this company for a safari.