NL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Horrible. They blackmailed me.
I booked a private safari of 14 days with Orongai for January 2019.
However, 4 days before the start of my trip they send me an email that the cost of fuel had risen since I booked the tour and I had to pay $ 1,400,- extra immediately!
This is crazy. I checked and found out fuel prices had fallen by 10 per cent instead since I booked the trip. Then I realized I was blackmailed.
Later I found out that more people were blackmailed in a similar way. Check the reviews.
I cancelled the tour, but they did not want to return my money.
Only after the safaribookings.com where they promote themselves blocked them, I received most of money back (not everything), but it was a horrible experience. They ruined my holidays.
These guys are criminals.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
they did nothing for me, and not refund the money which i paid in adovance.
this company did nothing for me in Tanzania.
i had paied some money in adovance via internet.
i had to use 1 day to contact with someone who worked for this company.
and i needed to find another tour operator in Arusha because they did nothing.
no apology. no refund. no contact.
this is a thief company.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The company is bankrupt and the owners are liars
Protas Kilongola and Tom Kilongola are liars who will let you down. They did not book the hotels we asked for, lied to our face and have refused to pay money they owe us.
They asked us to pay park admission fees of c.$500 (which we were told were already included) with a promise of paying us back. They have never done this. I have seen bank records which indicate they are almost bankrupt.
Other people have suffered worse than us, so don’t book with them because they will let you down and steal your money.
TH
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Bad travel agent in Africa
Me and my husband booked 6 days 5 nights safari tour in Kenya with this company. Ms.Regina and Jecton the driver were cheating people.
They changed our itinerary on spot. They tried to avoid to pay for the National Park to save the budget which makes us miss the morning and evening safari.
One day on our itinerary, we have to do evening safari in Amboseli National Park but the driver try to delay the drive to arrive late in hotel because he doesn't want us to visit the park and he can save at least 140 us dollars.
We paid money for safari but we miss two times Safari because of this bad people, Regina and Jecton
Don't use this company if you don't want to disappoint with your Safari experience..
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Horrible
STAY AWAY!!!
We were soooo unlucky to have come to this place. The employee who was “helping” us seems very sure about all our requirements and gave us the package that we wanted. However, as soon we’ve started our journey lots of issues started to take place. We didn’t get what was promised in both hotels we’ve stayed in. The safari didn’t include the park fees, which we were not told about and the list goes on...
They were not helpful at all when we contacted them about the issues and in the end it spoiled our trip.
The driver was really good (Philip) but other than that it was a real disgrace.
They should be ashamed
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
We have still not received the large amount of USD we had to provide for unpaid Park Fees
Further to my last review I feel that I now need to update other possible clients that Peter Mapinda has still failed to reimburse the National Park Fees which we had to provide to access and leave the Serengeti.This is despite promises made over the past 5 weeks.
BE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Don’t trust him!
While looking forward to exploring the beautiful country of Tanzania, we thought we could use the guidance and expertise of one of the locals. We contacted Arnold, and he presented himself as a local guide and travel agency, with all the right connections and experience to help us create an unforgettable trip.
After discussing our travel plans, Arnold made us pay a deposit 5 months in advance. He needed it to pay for our accommodations and make reservation with several other travel institutions.
One month prior to our departure we discovered that NONE of the reservations in the accommodations where made ( nor in our name, or his) and nothing was paid. After contacting Arnold he came up with a bunch of excuses and promises to make it right. No real explanation. In the end he stopped answering emails or text messages, and no rectifications were ever made. We ended up booking (very last minute!) through another agency and loosing about 2400 USD. What would have happened if we never double checked with the hotels ourselves ?! Arnold may present himself as genuine and authentic, but unfortunately he is a SCAM!
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Careful, this guy is a thief ! Big scam
Careful, THIS GUY IS A THIEF ! We made a deposit of 1000 $ for a twelve days safari in Kenya and Tanzania, and the guy never paid the real safari companies we were supposed to take. We had to pay the kenyan company by ourselves, but we canceled the trip in Tanzania. Indeed, Erick, the owner of Ewammanns Safaris never showed up. HE STOLE US 1000 $ and ruined our holidays. We never had the chance to get what we paid for. Never trust him, he is a lyer and a thief ! The only times he turned his mobile on was to ask us the balance of the trip in order to steal even more money. If you want to enjoy your trip, run away !
AE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very bad experience
We hired their service for people over 50 to climb Kilimanjaro on the Lemosho route. From the beginning the guides were annoyed because were not fast enough for their expectations. They gave us no kind of support and even treated us condescending. We made the claim to the company but they didn't give us any answers. In short , if you are over 50, forget about this company
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Awful vehicle
After checking potential tours and their providers through the African Safari website, my husband and I recently booked a 3 night, 4 day safari tour to Selous and Mikumi with African Sunrise Travel. Their price was USD 980 (incl bank fee) per person +USD40 for the driver-guide, similar to other quotes we received.
Not everything was as described ( e.g., the Mpingo Lodge did not have WiFi), but the vehicle was a modified Landcruiser. However, we needed two vehicles: the first one was ancient (mid-eighties?) and a complete wreck. Rundown, inside and out. No thread on the tyres. Dangerous and not road worthy. It broke down within 15 minutes, and we had to wait for an hour before we were back on the road again with a replacement car.
The second vehicle was also very old but marginally better, at least the tyres were good. However: the air conditioner was not working, and therefore we were exposed to breathe in dust for most of the journey from Dar Es Salaam to Selous and from Selous to Mikumi (I am not referring to the game drives!). Our near new suitcases, other luggage items and ourselves were coated in a thick layer of dust. Nothing worked on the instrument panel. The odometer’s reading was stuck at 467000 km, no idea when that was. The seatbelts were only lap belts and therefore inadequate. There were no hand grips to hold onto.
In short: the tour was uncomfortable, unhealthy and unsafe.