ES
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Competitive prices, great communication but below average guide
We have mixed feelings about African Savannah Trekkers. Before booking our safari trip with them, we read all the previous reviews about the company and were very excited about the trip. The reviews were positive and we were sure that we had made the right choice. Maureen was super professional and the communication was professional and prompt. She answered the thousands of queries we had. No complaints there.Kudos to her.
Any safari trip in Africa is going to be memorable but what makes it extra special is the guide/driver who takes you on the adventure. This is what did not work for us. Horaz, our guide was punctual and drove well but that is where it ended. There was lack of energy and commitment from his end. We felt that he did not have adequate knowledge about the parks and animals or maybe he just did not show it. He did his job but the bare minimum. It felt a little rushed at times. We expect the guide to be more interactive and share stories/past experiences or anything that shows he has passion for his work. The whole experience felt very mechanical.
The worse part is that on our second day, Horaz directly told us that he wanted an 80 USD tip. This was very odd for us because tips are given when one is satisfied with the service. We were definitely going to leave a tip but it has to come from the heart. This way we felt that we were bullied into giving a hefty tip which our guide did not deserve. We were quite angry after this incident and it had left a very bad taste in the mouth. I definitely think that the management should address the issue and refund that amount. The entire safari experience does not come cheap. We are paying a lot of money and for most of us this is a once in a lifetime adventure.
A lot of the past reviews only mentioned Eli who also happens to be the owner of the company. Eli has got excellent reviews and I was quite disappointed when we found out that our guide was not Eli.
Again, the company is fantastic and has very competitive prices. But please make sure that you get a good guide.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Lake Bogoria National Reserve by Dan
Unfortunately the rains limited our view of the park at Lake Bogoria the roads were not passable--- however we came here for the flamingos and it did not disappoint. We were up close to the many flamingos flying in and out. If you are not wanting to see flamingos then I would suggest you verify that the roads are accessible. We enjoyed our time here and the accommodation were nice and the food was great.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
with a couple of exceptions not overwhelming
I chose African Habitat safari company as it had good reviews and states in its info that they "believe in going above & beyond". That was not our perception. The interaction ended with the deposit payment.
On arrival in Arusha we were taken to the office of the agent they employ there & he allocated whatever driver & vehicle he chose. Really we could have put all the safari companies in a hat & drawn out one to go with. All the research we did to try to choose a "good" company was a bit of a waste of time.
we negotiated with the agent to send a taxi to transfer us to the airport for departure as we stayed in the area for two nights after the safari ended,,he forgot !! After lots of excuses a taxi arrived & we just made our flight. It just reinforced to us that despite all the "jumbo" & "akuna matatta" we are just an income stream
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Mikumi National Park by Beatrice Svanström
We didn't see that many animals as in Selous and we missed our driver Dulla from Serengeti.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve by Emily
This is a beautiful overlook of the 3rd largest Canyon in the world. I could do without all of the street vendors, though.
FR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Masai Mara National Reserve by Emma
see previous comment
CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Average safari at Selous Reserve
We booked a 2 day, 3 night safari to Selous Reserve. Communication with Mack was good, our driver was punctual, and there were no surprises with payment. We were told that we had been upgraded to a better lodge at no extra cost, as Kiliholidays had received complaints about the lodge they typically book. This was appreciated and a good business decision. The lodge (African Safari Lodge) was beautiful and the rooms were great, but the food was average (we have had much better in Tanzania thus far).
Our driver and guide was friendly, but he did not seem to have much experience with the reserve itself. We were disappointed with the game drives, though to be fair, I know any safari is a gamble and our lack of sightings may not have had anything to do with our guide at all. Coming to Selous is a trade-off-you won't face traffic jams like you would in the Serengeti, but it is also harder to spot the big animals.
Finally, I was disappointed that the we didn't follow the schedule/description we had agreed upon prior to booking. I was told that we would have a chance to swim in a hot spring at sunset on day two, and was really looking forward to it. When we asked our driver/guide about this, he seemed surprised, and said there is a hot spring, very far away, and that the only time we could swim is in the late morning/early afternoon. We declined, as this would cut into our game drive time, and a hot spring at 14:00 in the heat isn't appealing. Very misleading.
I should add that we had come from Maasaii Mara in Kenya and had an AMAZING safari experience for a much LOWER cost! Our guides in Maasaii Mara were incredibly enthusiastic and knowledgable and we were on game drives from 06:00 until 18:30. We saw so much wildlife, mainly in the morning and evening. With this safari, we left one day at 07:30 and returned at 16:30, and the second day left at 09:00 and returned at 15:45.
To summarize, our experience was very average and not the best value.
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The driver/guide was knowledgeable but did not provide all of the agreed services.
The driver/guide was knowledgeable and did a great job of pointing out animals, birds and vegetation. However, we were to get lunch on the second day and he dropped us off at the hotel without it. When I asked, he said that we'd forget it as he needed to repair the vehicle. The vehicle did need repair. Someone had to push it in order for it to start. In addition, it needed cleaning as I ended up with oil on my suitcase.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Lake Manyara National Park by Puneet Patel
Very melodramatic park, not much to see or do.
IT
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Good in planning and organizing - but the guide was terrible and too many lodges were changed
I joined a 17 days taylor-made safari planned for another lady (2 people being the minimum needed to have the tour going), so it was the two of us + guide (a free -lance, first time working for Blue crane Safaris, named Ronnie).
The booking part was really easy and Traudy very helpful and fast in giving information and answers.
1) The other lady (who over the past 2 years had been organizing this Safari with BCS had been confirmed that we would have a Bluecrane guide, and only the day when she arrived she was informed that we would have a free lance instead; I was told by Traudy that this guy was working for them for the first time, but came highly recommended; I told her it was not a problem for me, as long as he was a good guide.
Sadly, he wasn't; not to bother you with a long list of smaller events, I will just mention 2: Sussusvlei Dunes, he started climbing Big Daddy running like crazy (I am very sportive, a marathon runner and fit; the other lady was none of this) for 10 minutes, without even turning his head to check if we were ok (knowing the other lady would surely have problems); then, when he saw she couldn't breath (she had to call him and ask him to wait) he said "well, maybe it's better we don't climb the dune and go down to take pictures to the deadvlei; I WANTED to climb the dune up to the top, and asked him how much time I would have to do it. He gave me one hour to climb it, come down, and go and see the deadvlei, and finally go back to the parking site. I asked him: are you sure that is at all feasible? and he said "it depends on how fit you are". Well, I thought then I could make it and I did arrive half way without stopping, and saw already 30 minutes had gone - so I said to myself there is no way I can make it up there and back in 30 minutes. Not even Usain Bolt could do that! I had to give up, quickly run down to see the deadvlei, take some pictures veeery fast, and run to the parking. I was more than 10 minutes late, and breathless for the run, and mad for not being able to enjoy the most iconic site of Namibia.
All of this rush to do what? to be at the Lodge at 4 PM doing NOTHING!
Second episode: at Swakopmund he tried to book an activity for us, asking 2000N$ for an activity which cost 1200 N$ (and telling us he had got "a very special price...SURE it was SPECIAL); I checked prices on the internet - telling him - and when I found the prices without adding any comment I just told him "Thank you, I have found it at 1200N$ so we'll book ourselves, no worries".
And there would be many more episodes; the most annoying thing is that, even when you caught him doing something really wrong, HE would get mad and say we were wrong, and he never did those things. It's all "misunderstandings" (and I have to say it was pretty annoying, after sending me feedback to BCS, to be told that "they were all misunderstandings". Well I am old enough and an extremely experienced traveler, for work and leisure... I think I can tell a misunderstanding from something else)
The only good thing I have to say - to be fair - is that he was a very good driver and organized in terms of documents/diesel filling/ practical things like those. As a guide, the only days when I saw him really passionate (and willing to use the whole day instead of cutting it short) it was in Etosha, doing game drives. However his English (I think it was a language problem, although I am not sure) was not very good, so many times if you would ask you questions you would not be able to get answers.
And he was complaining all the time this tour was very hard on him, lots of km, the program was wrong, etc etc etc..
A good Guide is the most important thing on a Safari, he/she can make it awesome or poor... I understand it was just 2 people on the Safari, but it was 17 days and we had paid a good amount of money, so...
Then, it was also very annoying that MANY Lodges were changed from the plan, and we had no information until the day we started the Tour (Sussusvlei one not even at that point - we found out during the tour)
- Camelthorn lodge has become Anib Kalahari Desert
- Sossusvlei Lodge has become Namib Desert (Sossusvlei being INSIDE the park gates, Namib Desert being ONE HOUR AWAY - so, no sunrise or sunset on the dunes since only who is INSIDE the gates can enjoy those, due the closing times of the gates)
- Palmwag lodge has become Khowari (2 nights): Palmwag being right AT the gates, Khowari one hour away (so, 2 hours drive added in the day JUST to go back and forth)
- Epupa Falls lodge has become Opwo Country Lodge (again ... hours wasted in the car and all the activities mentioned in the initial program -rafting, birdwatching, sundowner) DISAPPEARED
- Epacha lodge became Eagle (these two might be similar)
This is not my first Safari, and I know that it MAY happen that ONE/TWO Lodges may have a last minute problem and need to be changed (but should be changed to an EQUAL Lodge); however, since we had booked in February and were asked a 25% advance payment (needed to block reservations at Lodges), and we only paid the balance in July - I think there was plenty of time to inform us about the changes (if the Lodges were full) and have prices RE-ADJUSTED accordingly before we paid the balance.
So, I am sorry but I cannot say I am fully satisfied, because I really think that there were several things that were not fair and quite annoying. I saw many excellent reviews (which is also the reason why I chose BCS) and I am sorry having to say that my experience was different.
All the above being said, Namibia is so wonderful, that I loved it anyhow; I always try to see the glass half full and do not let external events take away my smile, so I focused on how lucky I was to be there and was happy for that. Nonetheless, concerning how high the cost of these kinds of Safari are, I think it is fair that I share my experience so that visitors are informed, and BCS (whom I had already sent me my feedback) can improve (if they want) their service.