20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Terrible
Humura tours was very disappointing. The driver abandoned the team, we were taken for less days than we had paid for, we were forced to pay for some of our meals and yet the fee we paid was supposed to cover everything, our hotel bookings were cancelled and taken to cheaper hotels. Mr. Nathan Tindyebwa apologised for this terrible experience and we agreed that he would refund part of the fee for compensation but he just keeps giving excuse after excuse to avoid this. I would like someone out there to learn from my experience and not use the Humura services
ES
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Beware of Orongai Africa Safaris!!
...and beware particularly of the Sales Manager Martha and her tricky and confusing invoices. We enquired them in December for a 7-day safari in Ndutu/Serengeti Area for late February during the calving season. They answered immediately with a nice trip and a very appealing price so we finally hired them. The offer included a trip back to Arusha from Seronera by airplane. We were asked to pay a 30% in advanced and we did it. But when arrived to Arusha to start the trip we were asked to pay an extra cost of 650 USD per person (a 30% more!!!). This extra was not included in the total amount written in the invoice. Also, the flight back to Arusha had been changed to optional (the word “optional” never appeared in their offer) and had to be payed apart. They said that as this additional money was for hotel bookings it should not be included in the total cost, which is a ridiculous argument. Shocked we were by the surprise, we refused to pay that extra cost as we believed we had been cheated and then started the discussions. Arguing with Martha is like a toothache. Her head is hard as solid rock and it was impossible to make her understand that any money the client should pay to the operator MUST BE included in the Total amount of the invoice. Her explanation was that since the 650 USD PAX was for hotel bookings that money is not for Orongai!!! Fortunately, we called the Spanish Embassy and they put us in contact with a Spanish Arusha resident tour operator (Special thanks to Angel Pujol of Itaka Safaris) that helped us managing the situation. With his advice and after long and extenuating discussions we finally reached an agreement: we payed 200 USD PAX and they lowered the grade of the lodges. At the end, the Safari was performed under the new conditions although we had to visit some filthy accommodations and eat some uneatable picnic. So, my advice is to hire some other operator (there are many of them) to avoid troubles.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Poor customer services and coordination of events
good marketing of their events. The problem is that they dont respect their clients. Had a poor experience with them and the management team did not live up to my expectations.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Terrible touroperator!!
We contacted this tour operator for a 3 day safari in Chobe and it was a real disaster. The 4x4 was in terrible condition and left us stranded several times; camping tents were awful and super old. An experience to forget.
ES
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
A genuine fraud. He stole our money. Danger!!!
We booked a 16 day safari from Kenya and Tanzania with an end in Zanzibar with this tour operator whose manager is called Aidan Lucas. We paid for the safari more than 4000$ pp. The most incredible thing is that just a week from starting my safari in Nairobi, the manager (Aidan Lucas) tells us a story that his bank blocked the money and could not pay the hotels or anything even though we sent him the money 30 days before the start of the safari to close all the reservations and he replied at the time that everything was ok and even sent us vouchers from each lodge with all bookings (We have the vouchers of reservations). All was false!! He didn´t pay anything. We have the vouchers of reservations. He asked us for $2,500 more to pay Kenya’s expenses and once in Tanzania he would pay us back without fail. Bullshit. It was all a lie. When we arrived at the Tanzanian border in Namanga he did not have the money and we had to report him to the Arusha police and the police proceeded to arrest him. We have proof of the complaint and the name of the arresting officer. The next day we started our safari in Tanzania by visiting Serengeti and Ngorongoro and guaranteed us at the police station that everything would be ok. It’s a new lie! When we got on the road the guide told me that we had to pay for the gasoline since the manager (Aidan Lucas) did not give him a dollar to pay for it nor to pay for the entrance to the parks. We had to pay from our pocket all this and, to top it all off, we had not paid for the lodges either. Nothing. I don’t pay anything even though I sent him the money by wire a month before starting the safari. We had to pay all cost ourselves. Neither I pay the flight to Zanzibar nor the accommodation there. A scam in full rule. We knew that Tanzania is one of the most corrupt countries in Africa since it is not the first time there. You get that there and you are left helpless. We exposed our case to UNIPOL and the TATO (Tanzania Association of touroperators) in order to expose a complaint against this tour operator and this person so that he does not deceive more people.
CH
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
CAREFUL! This company, despite written and verbal confirmation, has not refunded my money!!
AVOID BOOKING WITH THIS COMPANY!!!!
CAREFUL! This company, despite written and verbal confirmation, has not refunded my money!!
ES
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Worst travel experience of my life due to Martha
I do not recommend orongai safaris. We booked for a 5-day safari un Tanzania during calving season. We asked to different agencies for prices and orongai offered us the best price for the trip we desired. We closed the final budget in January and we paid for the 30%. One week before the trip they changed the budget and added another 650$ pp. We tried to explain to Martha (that managing director of orongai) they couldn't do that. It was imposible to communicate by mail or phone with her, her messages were inconclusive, full of missenses. We told her we wouldn't pay the extra amount and she just responded: "see you on Saturday please". So we did the biggest miskate, we flew to Tanzania. Once there she insisted on the extra 650$ pp. Arguing with her is totally imposible. The Spanish ambassy put as in contact with Angel (from Itaka safari which I deeply thank) who came to try to help us. The night finished in the tourist police with Martha and angel. We finally had to pay 200$ pp extra and changed from a luxury safari to a midrage. Orongai sent us to tented camps were, some nights, not even the showers worked or we couldn't charge our cameras over night. Even if the safari itself was spectacular, Martha put us through one of the worst days of my life. By the way, Fred was a very nice guide while Asseri wasn't. He never put the Jeep in a good place for pictures, had a poor communication with us and barely told us any interesting things about the place or animals. Please stay away from Orongai, there are plenty of tour operators working much better!
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Operator Sandi died taking our deposit.
Took our deposit for 10 people and did not pay the tour in Tanzania. We tried to get a refund for months. Many crazy stories from Sandi about Bank, hospitalization, etc. Now she is dead?
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Terrible tour operator. We were threatened during our tour!
First of all I would like to make clear that our guide Simon Yuma was incredible and really made our safari an unforgettable experience! THANK YOU SIMON. YOU ARE AN AMAZING PERSON!
Simon has an amazing knowledge about animals and is able to anticipate their behaviour. We saw so many animals super close, which other groups didn’t. I can highly recommend him and I hope that he will find a better employer in the future and here is why:
The company, which was recommended to us, AFRIKA KUKAYE, seemed small but legit. We actually wanted to book with a smaller company then with a big operator.
We heard many times that on group tours people from different companies were just put together in the same car and everyone having a different itinerary. We said to Remsi that we did NOT want to do it this way. Communication went well and we WERE ASSURED by the owner Remsi Sungwa that we would definitively go with this company.
So far - so good. He confirmed everything. However, 1 day before our Safari was supposed to start, and of course AFTER WE PAYED, he told us that we would be going with another company from his „long term and highly trusted business colleague DAVID MARO owner of KILI SLOPE.
This led us to be already suspicious. On the day of the Safari our cook had to leave the car, because we were getting a 7th person in the car due to an „emergency“ they said. I would rather attribute this to their inability to properly organize a tour.
On the first evening of our Safari we talked to the persons in our group. It turns out that EVERYBODY BOOKED WITH A DIFFERENT OPERATOR AND EVERBODY HAD A DIFFENTENT ITINERARY AND PAYED A DIFFRENT PRICE. Nobody actually booked with Kili Slope.
Furthermore most of us were promised 3 full days in Serengeti National Park. During this evening we were told that it would ONLY BE 48h because that’s the way the permits in the park work. THIS IS THE PERFECT EXAMPLE ON HOW THESE TOUR OPERATORS CHEAT THEIR CLIENTS.
Long story shot: Everyone was very angry this evening. I contacted my „agent“ complaining about this. I was assured that everything will be fine an that I just should enjoy my time.
Next day the 7th person who was squeezed in our car had to wait for another group from Arusha in order to join them. We felt really sorry for him, because he HAD TO WAIT IN THE CAMP INSTEAD OF ENJOYING HIS SAFARI DUE TO DISORGANIZATION of his tour operator. This made us even more suspicious, because we had an excursion to Lake Manyara on the last day of our itinerary (actually this was supposed to be on our 2nd day, but who cares for the itinerary, right???) and 3 persons in our group did not. One girl had lake Manyara in her itinerary but apparently she was not going to see it because she only booked 5 days Safari and was going back to Arusha with the rest oft he group
Next day we got a call from the owner of Kili Slope Tours Mr DAVID MARO the long trusted business partner of RAMSI SUNWA from AFRIKA KUKAYE:
! Please read this carefully. We have travelled many counties and have been on many tours but this was: the Mount Everest of REALLY BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE!!
MR DAVID MARO HEAVYL THREATEND ME AND MY GIRLFRIEND VIA THE PHONE. WE WERE REALLY SCARED AND MY GIRLDFRIEND WAS EVEN AFRAID HE WOULD SEND PEOPLE TO BEAT US UP! THIS IS HOW HE SPOKE TO US!
WE WERE INSTRUCTED NOT TO SPEAK TO THE OTHER PEOPLE IN OUR CAR ABOUT ITINERARIES AND THAT WE HAVE KEEP YOUR quote: „MOUTHS SHUT AND NOT TO COMPLAIN ANYMORE!“
FURTHERMORE HE THREATENED US THAT HE WILL SEND A CAR AND TAKE US BACK TO ARUSHA (I GUESS WITHOUT ANY TYPE A REFUND)
I can only advise everyone who reads this to stay away from Afrika Kukaye and Kili Slope Tours. These guys will treat you like cattle and only want your money. They give a sh*** about you. They do not have the slightest customer service thoughts and will even threaten you if you complain!
We did our Safari in February 2019 but, to be honest, we first wanted to be out of East Africa before we publish this review. We know that these Tour Operator have a network in East Africa and at that time we were still afraid of consequences posting a negative review about them.
I guess this shows every reader how strong the threat to us felt.
So please, do not book with these people!!
ES
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
A disappointing experience
This is in response to the reply from Orongai to a review made by Jose Luis Garcia, in relation to our recent (and disappointing) safari to northern Tanzania under this company.
To accuse unsatisfied clients (who, even dissatisfied, paid for the service and left a substantial tip) of being racist is a vile deed and shows a surprising awkwardness. Orongai does not seem to have heard about Quality Management procedures, a set of work guidelines that are mandatory in the operation of any company providing services or selling products (in Africa, Europe or wherever...), and whose ultimate goal is the achievement of customer satisfaction. I would appreciate to know what is the quality policy of this company, in case it has something slightly similar...
When in a respectable business a complaint is received from a client, the first thing that has to be done is an investigation of the claim´s cause. Then, an internal process is initiated in which corrective and preventive measures are implemented, and finally a convincing explanation (together with a compensation if necessary) is offered to the customer. What is never done is to accuse the client of falsehood or discrimination in his dealings with the company. And this is exactly what Orongai has done with us. Orongai must be able to recognize that, at least, in the agreement he signed with us there was a lack of transparency and an extremely poor information management.
It is not worth commenting on the words that Orongai claims to have heard from some members of our group. They are as false as saying that the ITAKA SAFARIS manager proclaimed himself Ambassador of Spain (amazing observation !!)... It is convenient that the members of Orongai dedicate some time to improve their Spanish skills (and maybe also their English ones...).
Orongai demonstrates an immense arrogance in his dealings with clients, and this is something that can easily be deduced from previous claims to this company which still circulate on internet. The difference is that, while other customers ended up accepting Orongai's last-minute impositions (however unjustified they may be), we demanded an explanation and requested the mediation of an external agent (ITAKA´s manager), simply with the legitimate goal of clarifying the situation. And this point, which is an inalienable right of anyone who pays for a product or service, seemed to infinitely offend Orongai. If I am white and you are black, and I intend to exercise my legitimate rights, does it follows that I am a racist? Orongai should seriously think about it...
Finally, Orongai´s proposal of offering a 15% discount to new clients as a sign of generosity and professionalism, it is nothing more than an outdated and clumsy way of terminating a dispute, and it presupposes the tacit acknowledgment that a customer who placed his trust in Orongai has been unfairly treated.
Other Tanzanian safari operators, as well as national organizations of tour operators and agencies dedicated to tourism and the dissemination of the extraordinary natural values of Tanzania, should take good note of the behavior of Orongai.