LK
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Hell's Gate National Park by Rajiva Wijesinha
The scenery was unusual and we had a wonderful walk in the gorge, to the Devil's bedroom.
LK
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very pleasant and I am glad that Safai Bookings gave me a wide choice of programmes and prices.
I travelled with Lenchada which offered a varied tour at a very reasonable cost, including all transportation, accommodation and food. We had a full day, plus an evening and a morning, in Masai Mara, and long mornings at Lake Nakuru and Hell's Gate Reserves. I also had a delightful boat ride on Lake Naivasha.
Rhino Camp just outside Masai Mara was a delight, and young Pixie set up a campfire early to relax before dinner. The other two lodges were also comfortable, and the food good though the general menu was very much the same everywhere.
The only drawback was a terrible vehicle for the first two days, and an inexperienced driver which made it worse, though we still saw lots of lions and elephant and giraffe. And Joshua who took over with another van for Lake Nakuru was excellent. And the flamingoes there were fantastic, as were the plentiful white rhinos.
FR
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very good experience thanks to the driver and guides, poor concerning the organisation and camp
Our experience with Bushbaby call has generally been good thanks to the wonderful guide driver Messe who knows perfectly the parks and tracks to follow near the animals, thanks to him who was for us a permanent ray of sunshine, always at the listen, kind and interesting, we will never forget the wonderful moments spent with him. The other two people who looked after us were also perfect and the cook was very knowledgeable.
On the other hand, there is much to complain about the organization of the trip. We took the BBC taxi, he drove us to the border, we were cared for by a charming young woman who had to make the connection with cars and staff, we waited in vain for the boat to the meal and the cruise that never came to get us, we had thanks to the young woman was able to embark on another boat that hosted us and gave us a very pleasant time and we shared the meal of tourists on board . On our return we waited a long time for the cars
The camp proposed was summary, one of the beds could not be used because dangerous (part had been forgotten) one could say "Wild camp" whereas we had reserved in comfortable lodges and that the person in charge of BBC had told us we provide the equivalent. Fortunately we kept one of them which allowed us to sleep well, restore and wash ... a real pleasure in Mogothlo that we had paid before and accomodations for our guide. On the other hand, we had no problem rectifying the bill which included an undue performance and we spent a wonderful day in mokoro with our friends ...
We had left a tip for the mokoro staff that was not paid to the recipients when the tour took place, so we poured it a second time ...
I think that BBC is an agency that has to make a lot of progress to offer the best services and that the staff that accompanies the tourists has been perfect for us.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Refund
I have previously written a review about the difficulties I had on my safari. However, the company have since apologised once again for the mix up with the vehicle on the final day, and have refunded me the cost of the final day, which is a generous response to a genuine mistake. This also makes me feel sure that the experience I had is not at all the usual quality you can expect from them, as reflect in the other very glowing reviews below! Thanks to Jackson for sorting this out.
CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Mediocre at the best.
The Driver would take us no further than 10-15 Kms from our lodge and move in circles and follow the radio if there were any wild life sighting. Going so far from Canada we were disappointed not to go north to see the migration. Out of 3 days one day was a complete wipe out but we were fortunate on one day to see a lion pride and a Cheetah get on to a Safari jeep next to us.
They are nor trained to delight customers but rather make it routine and sometimes monotonous. We spent 3 days in the Serengeai, 1 in Tarangerine and 2 in Ngongoro crater but asides from moments of excitement the vast majority of our drive was boring. When we said that one day was lost in just driving, the driver got offended and confronted us and the rest of the trip lost all its charm.
CH
The safari itself was wonderful but the organisation was poor.
The wildlife was truly wonderful, I have to admit. The organisation and communication by the tour operator Hyrax Safary could be a lot better. On the first day to Maasai Mara we had a breakdown on one of our cars. I know it can happen, thats not the problem. But the cars could be in better condition and in a situation like that the communication is important so that all guests are informed at any whats going on. So we couldnt go on the game drive on day one as we booked it. We arrived too late at the camp. There was the next problem. There werent enough rooms for all the incoming guests; some ppl of the group had to share the room although they booked an own one. The other things were good and the driver tried his best to show us all the animals. But again his communication level was poor and he only spoke to us when he was asked something.
PT
We paid for more days on safari than the days we actually went on game drives
Everithing was really good on the begining. Maggie was very attentive, explained everithing on e-mail and whatsapp, answered to all our doubts and sent us all the documents we nedded.
It seemed that they were absolutely trustful, untill we reached the end of our safari.
First stop was Masai Mara NP, and we were supposed to do 4 game drives on 3 days. We were trapped by our guide that told us that on second day we would do a "full day game drive" and on third day we would go to visit a Masai Village (which was supposed to be optional)
Actually, on the second day we left the park by 4:30pm and didn't go game driving on the last (3rd) day.
Then we found out that the park tickets are valid by 24 hours, and although we paid for 2 days (48h), we only took a 24h ticket.
When we confronted Maggie with this issue, she didn't gave us our menoy back and even ignored our messages, not responding to them anymore.
Since we talked about this to other tourists, we found out that this scam is used by many budget operators. Anyway, stay alert!
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Race to the Bottom
73 days from Nairobi, Kenya to Cape Town, South Africa, Jan through Mar
Do you enjoy people not following rules that affect you directly?
Disregard of 10pm curfew, smoking and noise restrictions, or environmental welfare?
Recurring theft of your well-marked belongings (food, drinks, power cords, etc.)?
Repeat damages to your stuff due to negligence (sleeping bag, backpacks, etc.)?
Incessant juvenile jokes about farts, vomit, drunkenness, burps, sex, or making fun of others?
Constant loud music rather than enjoyment of nature?
Purposeful ignoring of guide’s requests to the extent that it may endanger you…
Person buying drugs in broad daylight and near cop – you could be made guilty by association
Person drinking while driving, guilty by association if open container found by authorities
Lack of food because some people abuse how much they take or stash away
Waiting for the people who are not prepared, not following the schedule or could care less that they are enjoying themselves while you WAIT – hey you paid the same price, but they enjoy while you WAIT
People not sharing the workload saying they have more important things to do like washing hair, downloading pictures, making phone calls. Once again you paid the same price, but they enjoy while you WORK
People who make you miss optional events you sign up for because they came back too late or crossed your name out of events you have signed up for replacing it with their own?
People claiming that they don’t have money to give tips (the way many survive in Africa) while they carry thousands of dollars of equipment, have money for drinks every night, buy drugs, give each other’s birthday gifts, etc. Embarrassing to be associated with these uncaring people. What bad reputation!
People pushing elder of a village out of the way to take picture? Others entering locals’ homes without asking? Clearly invading their privacy, acting as if these people don’t matter.
People refusing to share tents, storage areas, workload, space to take pictures, etc. The me, me, me syndrome leading to people being hurt due to pushing to be there first, etc.
Most of this could have been address by the guide but he chose not to be involved so it festered for 73 days, making the bullies get all they wanted and the non-bullies, second citizens – incredibly sad.
THANKFULLY, Africa, its people and nature are AMAZING, and you push that aside long enough to enjoy it until you return to the bus and face the sad reality of your tour cohorts.
Overall, this felt like a race to the bottom or the lowest common denominator instead of an uplifting experience.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Extraordinary Promises but Ordinary Delivery
My husband and I decided to skip our wedding and use the money for a once in a lifetime trip to Tanzania. We choose EJ because we wanted to climb Kilimanjaro before going on a luxury safari and beach trip.
Our final iteneray information regarding our treking company was wrong upon our Intial booking. Once our final documents were sent to us 3 weeks before our trip, our trekking information was incorrect again. After pointing out several inconsistentcies we were provided with "correct" information. Once in Tanzania and meeting with our guide the provide and confirmed information was incorrect again. Examples are if our sleeping Bags were included as part of our climb, having space for them in our bag, if we were going to be tested for oxygen levels daily and the tipping process. Additionally our Kili guide was told a different time than we were to meet him and ended up waiting for over 2 hours because of EJs mistake while we were on a planned day excersion.
As for our Intial arrival we booked an escort through customs. The escort did not arrive until we were through customs and already received our bags.
Our one day trip to Arusha National Park was supposed to include a walking safari. However when I asked the guide about it he seemed very surprised and we had to abtain an additional permit at an additional cost once we arrived at the park.
We arrived at our final destination in Zanzibar and there was some confusion as to our included beverages. EJ said we would have cocktails on the beach, ect however once we arrived we were told no cocktails were included. Upon reaching out to EJ I was told "we are not always aware of what "premium drinks" mean." It is my expectation that if a luxury travel company makes a recommendation of a location they are aware of what is provided.
Overall we were very disappointed with the level of organization and execution. Especially when you are promised the moon when booking. It is unfortunate because we spent close to $25,000 on a 2 week trip and the amount of mistakes was truly extraordinary.
We have voiced our disappointments along the way but we often get canned responses with no real action.
With the amount of travel companies out there I highly recommend you choose someone else if you have multiple legs of your trip.