US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Thiefs and liars
Going on safari was a lifetime dream of mine. When my husband finally agreed to embark on this adventure I could not be happier. We had used African Adventure specialists and were excited that we were allowing an experienced company create our itinerary. My husband specified which lodge he wanted to stay in as well as his expectations and we thought the rest would be taken care of.
During our trip we started questioning the total cost of our trip because it was off season as well as the prices seemed outrageous compared to people we were talking to who had similar trips planned as us.
We started investigating and speaking to hotel managers and lodge owners and when they saw our furry they all printed out the exact invoices as well as the transfer amounts made by African adventure specialists.
After receiving all the invoices and transfer statements we realized that we had truly been taken advantage off and we were way too trusting.
African adventure specialists overcharged us $9,654.
On top of that, after we had confronted them, instead of making it right they proceeded with fake promises and then completely ignoring us.
The last day of my trip was spent waiting at the lobby of the hotel for “proof” from African adventure specialists and after reassuring the hotel they were on the way nobody showed up.
It’s been two weeks of running after someone to get some answers and there is no responses.
I would never recommend this company to anyone if you don’t want to be robbed..
I’m sad that my dream trip had to end this way.
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Scammers
Our experience was terrible. We booked spontaneous and asked if it would be ok to pay online. Peter agreed but as soon as we arrived his Partner said its not and so we spend the first day with looking for an ATM. After we couldnt find any it was ok again to pay online. In the middle of the Night Peters Gang woke us up to ask for the money again - it was not ok anymore..
The following trip was a nightmare. The Car broke (we had the oldest one), booked events were skipped and all things had to be paid in addition because the money we transferred did not reach in time (they seem to be broke). They said we will get the money back since we transferred money and paid everything by our own too. They dont reply anymore but we knew this when we left. Good for them that we just want to forget this nightmare instead of taking any legal actions.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
NTABA is best describe as "lack of communication".
I took a Tanzania/Rwanda trip with NTABA in October. Throughout the booking process it was a struggle to get any communication from them and it continued on the Trip. I constantly had to reach out to them by phone, email, chat, Messenger... and it took days for a response or no response at all. They constantly blamed COVID, but really? Also, we had to take care of a lot of things on our own that they should of taken care of.
Once the trip started, the communication did not improve. We were told at Dinner what the schedule was for the next day, usually.
Throughout the trip I wondered who the trip was for. On numerous occasions, we searched for animals, stopped for photos, marketing opportunities, .... of what the tour operator was interested in; not the client.
Another bad thing from NTABA is the tour operator's lack of any form of professionalism. There were numerous comments made during the trip that were highly unprofessional. Another thing they continually did was try to push their other trips.
However, the Itinerary of the trip was FANTASTIC and I look forward to going again. My next booking will be with Maasai Wanderings LTD. This is who NTABA contracted the trip. This company is professional, great guides, great accommodations and food.
Go to East Africa! But, check your options.
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Never again!!!
Never again! I booked a 3day Safari and paid a Deposition of 600 Dollar.
Because of Covid i had to cancel the Safari 1 week before the Safari start. Ktosh told me they give me 400 Dollar back. Since 2 month I ask about my Money and nothing happens!!!
In future i book by „VIATOR“ there you get your Full Money back and you can cancel 24 hours before the trip start! And you get your Money back within 3 days.
So think about if you want to Book your tour
With the Ktosh Goup. I will never Book again!!!
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Stay away. We paid, but Taste of Malawi Safaris never showed up.
We paid for a tour that included 7 people, more than $4,000. On the day of the trip no one showed. Taste of Malawi continued to say someone was coming. After 9 hours waiting in a parking lot we were force to make last minute arrangements. We have been promised a refund, but 3 months later, no refund and no response to our attempts to contact.
CH
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Never again
+ The organisation is very well and they‘re very fast in responding
+ They were always on time for the pick up
- The car was in a very bad condition. Also it was not a Land Cruiser. They took us to safari in a very old bus. The seat belt was broken, some electrical cable were falling down and also some parts of the roof were falling down what made it difficult to look for animals while on safari with the open roof. Also we had to be towed two times.
- The driver only spoke limited english
- The driver‘s phone was ringing very loud every 5 Minutes (I‘m not talking about the radio microphone he used to communicate with other guides) and he was answering to private calls
- We paid USD 990.00 for the tour. On the internet I saw that the tour only costs USD 950.00.
- In their 3 days maasai mara tour they advertise that you do 3 game drives (day 1: evening game drive, day 2: fully day game drive, day 3: morning game drive). Once you get there they don‘t want to take you to another game drive on the third day. We had to discuss for hours with the driver and the office until they agreed to bring us to the game drive on the third day. However, they kept the third game drive very short (2 hours), even we had more time because we agreed to drop us off at Nairobi Airport at 6pm. At the end of the game drive we saw cheetahs getting ready to attack wildebeests. There were other 20 cars around to wait until the cheetahs attacked. After 10 minutes our driver said, we got to go back to Nairobi. We didn‘t understand, as we had so much time left until our flight left. On our way back the driver told us, that we will pick up 2 other guests and bring them back to Nairobi (even we booked private safari…). So we had to make space for them. When we got to Nairobi, we first stopped at their apartment to drop off their luggage, then they got back in the car and after we dropped them off in the Nairobi West Hospital for their Covid Test. Traffic in Nairobi is really bad and this stops in Nairobi cost us about 2 hours. Finally we got to the airport and it was clear to us why we made only such a short game drive in the morning: It was because of the 2 People we had to pick up and this wasn‘t told us in advance. Don‘t get me wrong, the 2 people were really nice, but we expected our day to be different.
In general, be carefull with all tours: They advertise all 3 days Maasai Mara Tours with 3 days Safari (Evening game drive the first day, fully day game drive the second day and morning game drive the third day). But most of the cheap tours like this try to skip the last morning tour and tell you „you‘ve already seen everything yesterday bla bla bla“. The reason they do this is, that the Park Fee for Maasai Mara is paid per 24 hours. This means, if you go to the first game drive in the evening from 4pm to 6pm and the next day you do a full day game drive from 7 am to 4 pm they only pay one day park fee. If you do a game drive on the third day, they would have to pay additional USD 80.00 for each guest (hope my explanation makes sence). So always make sure to clarify in advance what you will pay and what you will get. We met spanish people on a similar tour and they had to pay the park fee seperately for 48 hours (USD 160.00 each). They gave the money directly to the guide and I guess he only buyed tickets for 24 hours and told them that they‘re not going to do a third game drive. So he kept 80 USD of each passenger for himself.
LV
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Be careful with this company
It's very sad because previously travelling with Karumuna (we did it three times) had no big problems. This time, however, the unpleasantness overcame everything. A number of services were not paid. So we had to pay for a second time in several places for accommodation and food. There were also no paid hikes for chimpanzees and gorillas. The owner of the Karumuna kept promising that the money issues would settle. Right away. An hour later. Two hours later. Tomorrow. Even now that we are already returning home, it is still promising that the money will be returned. We don't believe it anymore. It is a great pity that the visions of many travelers of the beautiful country, Uganda- Pearl of Africa, have been ruined.It's not exactly a clear reason why our money was missing. The most unpleasant, though, are the empty promises. I now i will travel Uganda again. Becose of very beauty and nice country and friendly people. But not with Karumuna. Never.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
The gravel roads are the worst of SANParks and not suited for sedan vehicle at all. Shame on you!!!
Don't go there, the gravel roads are so bad all attention needs to be on driving the bad road condition's , it's impossible to do game viewing at the same time. Sedan vehicles should not be allowed to enter the park!!!!
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
!!!WARNING FROM SEKA GONDWE (owner of Taste of Afrika)!!!
!!!WARNING FROM SEKA GONDWE (owner of Taste of Afrika)!!!
1.) FAKE REVIEWS!
Seka writes fake reviews himself under alias names! I know it 100% and I can even prove it, because the Google rating of the user "lil-emky" includes the pictures shot by me! I only provided these photos to Seka so he could create a video of our hike for extra payment. NOBODY except seka and me is in possession of these pictures. SO SEKA MUST HAVE WRITTEN THE RATING HIMSELF! I explicitly told Seka to delete the photos after creating the video and not to use them elsewhere.
When I look at the reviews so also noticed that very many positive reviews were written by users who have only written a single review... funny that people specially create a new Google account to write a single review or...? (but can also be a coincidence)
2.) SERVICE NOT PROVIDED, PROMISES REFUND FOR MONTHS, BUT DOES NOT REFUND!
We had booked some extras for additional payment. One of these extras did not take place and it does not matter what reason Seka comes up with all of a sudden for the failure of the extra. It's annoying enough when something you were looking forward to doesn't happen, but for Seka not to refund the extra cost is FRAUD! He has been promising me reimbursement since June and postponing it until the following week every time...SINCE JUNE, for 4 months!!!! By now I know I will not get the money back.
3.) His employees are not salaried, but are contracted as "self-employed".
He does not discuss what has been agreed with the customer with the "employees", so they get into difficult and unpleasant situations with the customer.
4.) He tries to save money even during the tours: e.g. booked beverage flats are suddenly to be paid by the customer (only clarified after discussions).
(supposedly) positive:
5.) At the beginning (online booking) and when you talk to him (Seka) personally on site, he always seemed very friendly and customer-oriented. He planned our tour according to our wishes and took a lot of time. However, the moment he got the money transferred, the contact already became less.
I think we were very lucky. Probably the special occasion of our trip - which Seka knew about - led to the fact that Seka didn't cheat us completely and that our trip was carried out at least to a large extent as planned. (Cheaters apparently sometimes still have a bit of heart!).
6.) What was really SUPER were the super dedicated staff (=self-employed) of our crew during the ascent of Kili (including Nickson and Brison + all porters) as well as our safari-guide Moses! Thank you for giving us a beautiful and successful climb as well as a unique safari despite the problems with Seka!
Without these people our tour at Taste of Africa would probably have been a total failure.
Conclusion: Taste of Africa and especially the owner Seka Gondwe are NOT TO RECOMMEND! Seka only wants the customers' money. We were lucky in our misfortune, but other reviews show that this is unfortunately not the case with everyone.
BE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Plagued by admin issues.
My experience with Achieve global safaris wasn't great. After some back and forths with the team an itinerary was agreed on and 50% was paid in advance, it was mentioned that the remaining 50% would be paid on arrival with my Amex.
Here's a summary of the issues I faced:
I was told my Amex would work, it didn't, I had to dig around for another card
During the Rwanda part, of the trip, the driver saw and commented on my headphones, upon returning from the chimp safari he told me he used them and they were great. Not cool. He'd also eaten my lunch so I ended up with his choices. Again not cool.
For the Congo part, I needed my yellow card to show my vaccines, I wasn't informed about this but took it anyway. Feedback from admin was 'oh we thought you knew'.
For the flight from Rwanda to Uganda, I was not informed beforehand that I needed a visa. I escalated that to the admin contact and again she said 'it's not our fault, we thought you knew'. A shocking response, they informed me about the Congo visa but not the Uganda one? Madness
The Uganda itinerary wasn't accurate, there was confusion between admin and the driver, luckily I hadn't booked the hotel myself or else i'd have lost money.
The Uganda seemed to be more concerned with working on his preference of timing. I missed an activity because he didn't want to eat at a certain time, which meant us waiting around for 2 hours in the roasting heat doing nothing.
The Uganda driver asked if it was OK to pick up his wife on the way back from Queen Elizabeth park to Kampala. I said OK but this actually added 2 hours to the trip that he didn't tell me about.
Overall it was pretty disappointing. I also voiced my concern that there were no internal flight options proposed, the admin contact came back saying 'I didn't know your budget'. Another odd response considering 3 hotel budget options were proposed.
Avoid, the whole experience was pretty disappointing.