20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Poor organisation and not true to their word
This trip was so bad that I don't know where to start. Firstly, they provided us with the wrong price online. When we went to the shop in Nairobi, they told us we had to pay extra because we were not Kenyan residents. They knew we were from the UK when we asked for a quote.
Secondly, it was the worst organised trip ever. We booked a 3 day/2 night trip in Masai Mara, and after reading about different trips, we were promised an afternoon game drive on day 1, full day game drive on day 2 and morning game driver on day 3. We were told to meet up with our driver outside the shop on Sunday at 6:45am and no later! We arrived at 6:30am on the Sunday and there was nobody in sight, nor was the office open. We stood outside in the cold for an one hour hoping that someone would come. After 30 minutes there was a random person with a bonfire adventure top on. When we spoke to him, he told us that we were not his driver and there were no more drivers today. It took us an additional 30 minutes and numerous phone calls to get in touch with our driver. He told us to walk 10 minutes to get to his car.
When we got to the car, it was not a 4x4 as promised, it was a small old-aged van that carried 7 people in the back. We told him what we were promised and he said that the company doesn't have any. We then had to wait for 2 hours because someone was running late. By the time we left, we had 7 people in the car and you literally had hardly any room for your legs.
We knew the journey would be long but because how bad the vehicle was, it was like a rollercoaster. No suspension at all.
Our hotel, Simba Oryx, was incredible! Both the room and the food. I could not recommend it more. Its worth noting though that the hotel was included in the costs but totally separately run so you book any hotel through any safari agency.
When we arrived at our hotel, it was already 4pm and he said the park closes at 6pm. As others were staying in different places, he said he would be back in 30 minutes. He arrived at 5:15 and by the time we got to the safari, we had to get park tickets and so didn't enter until 5:50. We literally drove around for 10 minutes.
The second day, he was late in the morning, picked everyone else up after us. This was after saying he would pick us up first. He gave us a different reason for why he was late to another couple and we ended up missing the run rise.
Now what annoyed me today was day 3. We were promised a morning game drive. Instead he took us to the Masai Village. I explained that this was not the plan but nobody else spoke up and he said that this is always the programme. They expect everyone who comes to the village to pay around $20 per person. I told them that I had paid for everything upfront (and it wasn't cheap!) so there was no way I was paying.
We left the mara at around 11am. Total waste of a day.
In summary, I ended up paying for one day of safari in an uncomfortable over-crowded vehicle. The company is a joke to deal with and don't stick to any promises. Do yourself a favour and stay away from Bonfire Adventures!
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
No show!
We booked and paid for this trip from the UK and were told to wait at our hotel's receprion at 8:00. We arrived early, but nobody came to pick us up at the designated time. Eventually, thanks to the help from our hotel reception staff I was able to send an email to the company. Eventually, at 8:30, somebody came to collect us for a Buggy Ride!!!!!!
Eventually, another company took us out on a desert tour, but this lasted for 3.5 hours instead of 5.5 and my husband and I were in separate vehicles. The tour was good and everyone at the new company was helpful in trying to accommodate us, but this tour was much shorter and cheaper than the one we had booked, so it was very disappointing.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Untrustworthy operator, you will not get what you were promised; STOLE my private Facebook pictures
Out of a 3-day Serengeti Safari, we disappointingly spent nearly 2 full days in transit due to delays caused by the operator and ended up in humid tents on a public campsite that was not fenced or protected against wild animals at night and offered 5 toilets for 50+ people. In contrast what we booked and were thus promised even in written format by Calvin Onkendi, the owner of World Safari Land Tours, was a protected campsite with fixed tents equipped with a bed as well as a private bathroom. It is fair to state that our budget was not extremely extensive, but it is unfair and unethical having been lied to and not having received a refund that was promised to us, clearly in retrospective to appease us in the very situation.
Additionally, I was extremely shocked to find out (by coincidence) that the named owner had stolen my private Facebook pictures, not only the ones from the Safari, but even pictures of myself at home or in different locations, and had published and used them without my permission, in one occasion even depicting me as his girlfriend // affair. This is something that has never happened to me, which is why I would like to warn against this tour operator - the business practices I have experienced are highly untrustworthy and the behavior of the owner is intolerable!!!
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Do NOT Book with This Company!
Do not book with this company! The principal, "John William" runs a scam operation - possibly in connection with others. He'll take your money and then tell you shortly before your scheduled arrival that his company is in financial trouble BUT there is another safari operator who can help - IF you pay again for the trip. Also, "John William" will tell you that he made mistakes in the day-by-day activities list that he sent you so, sorry, but you have to pay your own way, for example, to Zanzibar from Tanzania. And, oops, there is an extra safari day listed by mistake so you’ll need to find something else to do on that date at your expense. "John William" (I don't believe it's his real name!) is a liar and a scammer. Also, by the way, when he says he's "booked" a reservation, it does not mean he's paid for it. I've been told that he runs his bogus operation from the United States. After cheating so many people out of money, his website is still active as he's trying to swindle as much money out of folks that he can before he's carried off in handcuffs.
If you already have been victimized, contact your charge card company, the police, and Elly Maturo (+255 713 230 134), [email protected], from the Tanzania Cultural Tourism Program.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
BEWARE!! Poor safety practices, will con you out of money throughout tour.
Nothing can beat the wildlife of Kenya, however we had the WORST tour guide, John and would not recommend BigMac safaris or John as a guide. He rarely spoke to us and quite honestly barely acknowledged us. He put us in danger by driving insane speeds on the roads and with broken seat belts. He was on his phone ALL of the time, if not talking then texting and looked like we were bothering him anytime we asked a question. He was frequently late for us sometimes at the expense of us missing meals. Go with another company, ANY OTHER company has to be better. He only spoke to us at the end when he wanted to explain to us what a good guide he was and if we didn't believe him we should "check trip advisor".
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Tour cancelled half way through; disgraceful communication throughout
We booked two tours with Mushra: 6 days in Uganda (2 people) and 7 days in Tanzania (3 people) in September / October. Big mistake.
There were so many issues and disappointments it’s difficult to wrap up into a review. To try and keep it simple, I’ve tried to focus on the key areas. Tanzania was the ultimate disaster where we were left fearing for our safety as a result of Mushra’s actions.
The individuals within our group have travelled extensively across the globe for 15 years and never encountered anything like the horrible experience we had with Mushra. We do not recommend their services to anyone.
Communication - things were going well throughout the sales process and all our queries were answered very quickly. However as soon as we paid the money (~USD8000) all communication stopped. To the point where we were unsure if the company really existed and if tours would go ahead. None of our final questions were answered and there was no recognition of final logistical information like pick up locations.
Uganda - although we were told we had the top female guide in the country we struggled the entire trip from a continued lack of communication from both Mushra and the guide (Safinah). Multiple activities had been promised to us as part of the itinerary we paid for but were not included in the itinerary Safinah had been given to deliver (Batwe/pygmies cultural tour, three game drives). When we asked for these things to be corrected we were made to feel that we were being demanding and difficult - when actually all we were doing was politely asking to get what we paid for. This caused us anxiety on a daily basis. In addition, Safinah lacked charisma and energy, it felt she was in a rush to get everywhere so she could hang out with the other guides. On one occasion she dropped us off at a random table in the middle of nowhere to have our picnic lunch. After unpacking our food she said she had to get petrol - over two hours later she finally returned, surprised that we were eager to go do something with our day. These things might sound relatively petty as complaints but they are simply scratching the surface of an overall 6 day experience.
Tanzania - the tour started incredibly well. We were having an amazing time. Our guide was fantastic, teaching us lots about the country and wildlife, we received unexpected accommodation upgrades and were having fabulous game drives. We thought Michael must be putting in extra effort to improve things after our poor Ugandan experience. However, this all came crashing down on the fourth night when we received a visit from the local tour manager. Turns out his small company had partnered with Mushra to deliver our safari tour. Yet, despite us having paid Mushra USD5400 for this component of the trip, the partner company had not received any compensation. Everything was being paid for out of their pocket and his funds had come to an end. He could not afford to continue our tour and Mushra were not sending any money through. Putting aside the fact it was a poor business decision on the Tanzanian partners behalf to commence a service that had no deposit paid, the unwillingness of Mushra to pay the money ultimately compromised our trip and the tour was cancelled by Michael half way through. At this time things really heated up. We received a text from Michael saying the tour had been cancelled - he did not apologise at any point or help us get back to Arusha. The Tanzanian tour manager then created a very distressing situation for us, we were taken to a private location and an attempt was made to coerce us into paying him in lieu of the payment he had not received from Mushra. The way this whole scenario played out was exceptionally threatening and we feared for our safety. With the help of a third party we did manage to get out of the situation and return to Arusha on our own account. At this point we are still fighting for a refund from Mushra of the services not received - however none of this will be taken by us, we have committed to giving this to the Tanzanian company in compensation for their loss. Ultimately we will have lost out on both the experience and expense of half of our trip - all because of Michael and Mushra’s actions.
As mentioned above, we recognise this is a long story with many elements that may make us seem difficult customers. All we can do to mitigate for this is suggest you look at our other reviews and contact us for more information - nothing of this sort has ever happened to us before. Unfortunately it really tainted our overall trip.
We also suspect Michael Ahabwe (the owner of Mushra) will dispute our review. However we have proof of everything that took place and are happy to share more information directly with travellers.
We do not recommend Mushra.
FR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Tour operator not recommended
I will nerver recommend it. I have had some problems with them recently. The company is not serious and professional. The boss is not really honest.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
No help in problematic situations with Tanzanian subcontractor. Poor!
We booked a 5 day Tanzania safari (lake manyara, Serengeti, ngorogoro) through African habitat safaris who ended up subcontracting to Sandland. We prepaid 25% and were supposed to pay the rest in cash on arrival which we did. We then started our tour in a completely old car with a driver for one day of the 5 day tour, since the other driver was not available on the day of departure.
We then took of to Make manyara where we were lucky seeing lots of animals, however not so lucky with our guide. He seemed utterly disinterested and at was constantly either talking on the phone or checking Facebook. Once when we stopped to look for elephants and looked down because we heard some weird noise from his phone we even caught him watching porn.
When we arrived at our lodge for that night (Manyara wildlife lodge- amazing place) the bill was not paid and we had to wait 90 minutes for the matter to be resolved. And thus began the nightmare...
Next morning we were picked up by our new driver, Deo, who was with us for the rest of the trip, and picked up another couple from GB.
When we arrived at Serengeti entrance it turned out, that Sandland had not paid for admission so the shady guy from Sandland, Abraham, had told the British couple to settle their outstanding balance by paying the park fees. Turned out they were paying for all four of us. Here again, we were facing considerable waiting time to resolve things. After game viewing we arrived at our 2 night accommodation Kenzan tented camp (lovely place!) Where after 2 nights it had turned out - surprise - that there was an outstanding balance (which Abraham probably did not pay until this day). Luckily they let us leave based on Abrahams hollow promises, however, we had gotten up super early to do sunrise early game drive which we then missed due to having to settle this open balance. 1000 thanks to the Kenzan people for their understanding!
We then drove direction Ngorogoro where, at Serengeti exit point we had an unsettled open fee again, however everyone had at this point in time fully paid off their safari. We spent 4! hours where Deo, and all of us tries to resolve this matter with all sorts of people - Abraham himself, Derrick/Simon/Rachel from African habitat, however Abraham was only making false promises (he probably had already spent all our money on other things) and the people from African habitat were completely useless and said it was not their fault and we should talk to Abraham. Honestly, if you subcontract someone you are still responsible for a service that YOU sell to someone!
After not being able to settle the issue, we decided to overpay in order to leave and get to Ngorogoro before nine. 600$ on top and we had to drive in the dark (not the nicest thing with all the animals around). We arrived at Rhino lodge and instantly asked whether accommodation had been paid. Surprise-it had not.
However, they let us leave the next morning to see Ngorogoro based on Abrahams false promises that it would be paid by 8 in the morning.
After game drive we drove direction Lake Manyara again, however, at Ngorogoro gate they had gotten word from Rhino lodge that the accommodation had not been paid and so they would not let us leave and even confiscated the car!!!
After 2 hours of more calls and discussions we convinced the people there that we would drive straight to the police in Arusha and they let us go.
People like Abraham and Sandlands should be in Prison for the way they operate and companies like African Habitat should have to take responsibility for who they are subcontracting.
Name of the Sandland guy is Abraham Shaidi in case he changes his name or anything. Stay clear of this guy!!! And should you still want to do safari with African habitat, make sure who they subcontract to since they will not take responsibility! Neither Rachel, nor Derrick, nor Simon were of any help. Whenever the situation got bad they stopped replying on WhatsApp or were suddenly offline... poor behaviour
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
All started well, but we're completely abandoned for our stay in Zanzibar!
Avoid this company at all costs, they changed our itinerary, omitted many features of the trip, booked us into a substandard hotel, provided a vehicle which should not have been on the road, and a suicidal driver. Once we got to Zanzibar, all communications ceased, leaving us to arrange and pay for meals, drinks, outings, transfers and flights, which were supposedly included. Very disappointing. Only redeeming feature was Michael the guide who was a star.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Did not pay my accommodation in the lodges
I chose to use a local Zambian company for my holiday. I wanted to spend the entire time in South Luangwa National Park. That I did, but all within the same immediate area. A little disappointing considering the park is over 9000km2.
I was asked for payment in July to secure lodge accommodations....Mfuwe, Flatdogs, Wildlife camp, Nkozi for my holiday in October/November.
So Tafika Travel Advisor failed to pay for my accommodation at 3 lodges, although I am not sure about Nkozi. Mfuwe Lodge told me they were already owed money from the previous year and so were Wildlife camp. My dealings were with Paul Manda and Robert Zgozi