US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Advise needed
I am leaving soon to go on Mr. OT's pre-paid Safari on 9/3. He has stopped respond to my email/text at the beginning of this week. I am worried about getting stranded at the Nairobi airport. Should I proceed to flight there?
Very open with their visitor
It's a perfect place where you can take your family, students to enjoy their vacation like we do.though their is some challenges we faced from airport to viola in terms of taxi I would like to keep their time towards visitors and they should add more tents and African cultures a tires like other companies under their logo VIOLA as we planned to visit on December our staying was great with a very talker tive tour guard and very humble meanwhile we very happy to tour with you guys at affordable price can't wait to travel with you guys on December again.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It was so amazing and had beautiful experience with them
Viola Tours and Travel are the most amazing people to your around with.There services are up to point and well reserved.If you want to have the most amazing services and the most enjoyable tour,try Viola Tours and Travel.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Nice tour with a need of improvement
We booked a five day tour in Selous Game Reserve and Mikumi National Park with this operator.
Before departure, communication was easy and quick with the office in Dar Es Salaam.
Upon request I was told that we have a private room and bathroom in a cabin/large tent, power and WiFi in all the camps. Also I was told that we could store our suitcases in the operator’s office while being on the safari and that we would be able to catch the last ferry to Zanzibar (4pm) on the return day.
However, none of these expectations were fulfilled.
Luckily, we could store our luggage at the hotel and I decided to book a flight to Zanzibar in the evening of return day instead of taking the ferry, which we never would have made in time.
As to the other promises: when we finally got to the first camp in Selous the first day after driving for 6 hours, our expectations were not fulfilled at all. Our cabin was rundown, there was no water in the sink and very little (and only cold) water in the shower. Power kept failing and of course there was no WiFi, which is fine but could have been told us in advance instead of lying to us. Provided food was eatable but not great (both nights for dinner we had rice with a little bit of vegetables and sauce).
In the afternoon of the first day we had a boat safari (as stated in the itinerary) which was quite disappointing because we merely saw a few hippos from great distance somewhere in the water.
The full day Game Drive the next day, however, was great!
Our driver Michael did a great job showing us lots of animals like giraffes, zebras, elephants, hippos, wildebeest, impalas and lions. This day as well as the full day tour in Mikumi Nationalpark two days later were a really great adventure for all of us.
What‘s really disappointing is the fact that three out of five days are spent in the car driving from one spot to another. So besides the 6 hours on day 1 we had to drive 10 hours from Selous to Mikumi on day 3 and then again 7 hours on the last day to get back to Dar Es Salaam. Surely, the operator cannot be blamed for bad road conditions, but it would be nice to know in advance how much time is really spent in the car.
Last but not least: the Bastian Camp in Mikumi is a great place, I would definitely stay there again! Even though we only got a tent with a shared bathroom on the camp site (instead of the promised private bathroom) this place was much nicer and cleaner than the camp before. For dinner there was a small buffet with soup, various main dishes and desert and for breakfast you could choose among various options.
It was mostly for this place and our great driver Michael that I decided to rate three stars for the tour.
CH
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Good relationship with price and service
It went really well as both the guide and cook were nice. However, the only complaint is that for our stay in Nakuru we ended up staying at another hotel which was not planned. The hotel where we stayed was old, dirty and not what we expected. I would recommend that the safari tour informs people before about this change because it came as a surprise . I think paying 100 usd per person for one night in this hotel was too expensive.
SA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
5 STAR to the drivers/tour guide of the itinerary, dissatisfied with the tour operator Robert
PLZ READ MY REVIEW AS A REFERENCE BEFORE YOUR BOOKING
Overral it's a fantastic experience of safaris in Kenya, I went different national parks or reserves with 3 different drivers, Stanley, Leban, Manifest, under their expertise, I saw all the BIG FIVE and other species of wild animals and birds, even stepping on Tanzania for couples of hours.
But I still wanted to highlight the problems I was facing, leaving other travelers a kind reminder.
1. Generally speaking, there is NO big difference to book a tour from any operator from this website. Cuz all budget tour they mix ppl with different group, for example, my Masai Mara tour, 8 ppl from 6 agencies, my Ambselli tour, other 6 ppl from 4 agencies.
2. Dishonesty of Robert: Operator Robert PROMISED me in email, his agency is the operator, but actually not even 1 driver is working for him. He's the guy attracting customers from website, hotels, streets etc. then he handled ppl to drivers/ tour guides. Therefore, the experience of safari good or not, definitely depends on your luck to meet a driver. So why spend so much time to compare different agencies here?
3. Robert PROMISED in email, single room is provided during the whole itinerary. But in Masai Mara, Ambesselli, 4 nights I stayed in a shared room (tripple room in Masai, the worst room in Ambesselli). even in Nakuru & Naivasha, i need to negotiate with hotels by myself to get a single room, reception said never receive the request from Robert! WHAT A BIG SHAME! After paying off the money, Robert broke all the promises and disappeared, no replying my emails and phone calls
4. the first day is diastrous, they picked up at 7am from my hotel, then we started the tour 10am, Robert spent 3 hours in downtown to looking for ppl and agencies to make up a group. then he asked 8 ppl packed in a 7 seated sedan, 4 ppl seated on 3 chair, 2 hour driving to meeting point... it was HORRIBLE... thanks God Koreans travellers are slim
IN
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Not bad
Had booked for Masai Mara with Kenamoti tours for 3D/2N but was asked in Nairobi to join with guests of Safarisinkenya tours.
Edward (Driver cum guide) was a nice person. Always very cooperative and friendly. In the morning of third day no activities was implemented. However, overall not a bad experience.
BE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
They need to improve certain areas
I did a 7 day tour with Karumuna Safaris as solo traveller. The good points:
- The cost was much lower compared to other agencies... But be aware that you get what you pay for. They delivered, but the accommodation was quite basic most of the times, and the guide and driver quite young and unexperienced
- They managed to organize everything in a very short notice. Richard went the extra mile to make sure I did not miss a thing, even though a lot of the attractions were fully booked. I missed the chimps during the chimpanzee tracking, but it's not their fault
- Flexibility with payment methods
The bad points:
- Henry, the guide, was quite unexperienced and he lacks customer service skills. There was a constant lack of communication, he was late (90min late on one ocassion) and disaorganized quite often (not even aware of the plan for next day). I communicated with him to find a solution together and he simply did not care and became even more aloof. He even got quite arrogant, i.e. I asked him why we were stopping so often when actually we were late to reach our destination, and he said "all the stops are strictly necessary". Truth is, some of the stops were for them to buy food for their families... Should not be a problem if you communicate it in a different way.
- Driving issues: we were driving quite fast in many occasions, to the point that we run once into a bumper without braking off and I literally went flying towards the front. They were stopped by the police and got a fine (not sure why) and also the van had mechanical issues which forced us to stop to get it repaired
- Trying to save money on silly things: for example, refusing to use the A/C in the car when it was quite hot and opening windows instead (so you are breathing fumes be getting dust inside) saying that the airco consumes too much petrol, or stopping to get bananas as a snack and asking you to pay 1000 ugx out of total cost of 2000, when 7 out of the 10 bananas were eaten by the guide and the driver
I personally found the experience a bit unfortunate, because with little effort it could have been much better... But I got the impression that they did not care anymore at some point (I haven't heard again from anyone in the agency, even though I'm still around in Kampala). The trip was quite ok but those small things sometimes can make a big difference... You might think I may sound picky, but I have worked and travelled in many countries in Africa, so my standards are quite low compared to the classic Western tourist. To summarize, go for them if you are in a very low budget but if you can pay more, I recommend you look for other options
MX
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Lake Manyara National Park by Carmen Morelos
Lake Manyara is beautiful , but i see more monkeys , than any other anÃmals.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Hotels and luxurious camps were excellent but not happy with the guide provided by Savannah Explorer
We booked our safari with Savannah Explorers whose service was excellent when booking etc. The land cruiser provided could be improved. We saw a lot of wildlife except including gazelles, antelopes, zebras, wildebeest, giraffes but the lions, lionesses, leopards, cheetahs were extremely rare. The best wildlife was in North Serengeti and Central Serengeti. Not much wildlife Ngorongoro and Lake Manyara was a waste of time - did not sea any tree lions. We stayed in Wellcome lodges and camps which were excellent, top class. The food was great when in the lodges and camps but unfortunately got fed of up picnic lunches, so carry your own foodstuff as well, as there is very limited stuff they can offer for picnic lunch boxes. Make sure when you book, you mention to the company to give you a knowledgeable guide who is familiar with the surroundings, knowledgeable of the wildlife, and all the roads in the park as unfortunately our guard was not up the standard and hence were disappointed somewhat regarding e service we got from him. Overall we were happy with the company but there is room for improvement in certain areas. I am happy to recommend this company provided an excellent guide/driver is provided. Make sure you have a good camera with excellent zoom to take good pictures.