50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Not as expected
Had to pay in cash in USD, reason given, that all park fees had to be paid in cash USD. Some on the tour had paid online, but using another company. Would be great if Karibu accepted online payment.
Supposed to be 7 passengers, with window seat for all. Day one we were 9, of which 2 kept us waiting after lunch to join up. Lunch was in Narok town not at the camp. We were delayed for the 7th to 9th passengers. One insisted on seating next to the driver and was accomodated after lunch, so all had a seat. No game drive after lunch as promised, but we managed to see some animals on the way to camp. 4th bed added in a 3 bed tent, no mosquito net. Lights from 6:30 to 10 and from 5:30 in the morning. Bathroom basic but functional. Towels provided. Second day, we were promised 2 would be left at camp. Did not happen. Very uncomfortable full day safari with 9 in the van. The promised water was distributed at midday. 6 bottles per person at one time, quota for the whole tour. This after correspondence with Karibu. Guide was not informed on the first day, so we bought our own water. He was very good on the safari, trying to get us the most out of it on this day. Night was spent in another camp close to the Masai village. Horrible, 3 beds touching each other in a 2 bed tent. No mosquito net. Had to squeeze between a bed and the wall to get into the bathroom. No towels or toilet paper provided. Not polite people running the camp either.
Day three was mostly spent on driving around dropping people off and picking others. Morning was an optional 10$ Masai village visit and evening was an optional 20$ boat ride at lake Naishava. No game drive. One stop at a souvenir shop and lunch at a road side restaurant. Unhygienic place, flies in the buffet lunch and impolite wait staff. 2 unpleasant lunches here.
Night was Hotel Citymax in Nakuru. Nice people, comfortable hotel, internet worked. I could not see AC or fans, but the weather was pleasant and mosquito net available. Meals were basic, served at the table, but adequate.
Day 4 started good early game drive and then long drives to swap people. Car supposed to do that at the lunch stop didn't turn up. Our driver was driving like crazy, quite a lot off the road to beat the Nairobi traffic. We reached Amboseli after dark, but safely. Day 5 was good in Amboseli, only 5 in the bus, much more comfortable than being cramped up like before. Guide was also in a less stressed mood. Camp was better, shared hut with a female, but she didn't mind for 2 nights, so all well. Nice camp workers too. Got stuck in the swamp, but guide handled in quite well.
Day 6 morning short game drive on the way out of the park, back to Nairobi. One couple had to catch the 10 am bus to Mombasa. Luckily mount Kilimanjaro was visible.
Driver/guide did the best he could, much appreciated. Poor organising and not enough support given to him. I feel the answers to my messages were less than honest or uninformed. As a courtesy to your co passengers please come to Nairobi a day early and leave a day after the safari. This way others are not waiting for your flight to turn up or hurrying back on day 6. Just carry the baggage you need. Excess baggage in the cab is uncomfortable. Snoring at night, with strangers in close proximity is not going to make you friends.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Lake Nakuru National Park by Jamie Foley
Solid option for a 1-day stop. Lodge was right in the park, and views from the rooms were absolutely spectacular.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Masai Mara National Reserve by Jamie Foley
Was expecting to see the wildebeast migration, but they were very late. Without that volume of animals it was actually very empty. I've just seen better wildlife in other parks.
PH
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Brace 6 hours of rough road
Transportation
All or mostly rough roads.advance info should be given.not for the elderly or disabled people
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Mikumi National Park by Veronica Merotta
too many people though great nature
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Overall nice safari, but only average service
Communication was poor (e.g. it was not communicated that we were only supposed to bring medium backpacks with us, because the bigger once we traveled with would not fit in the jeep, it was difficult to receive Information from staff regarding lunch, dinner or travel time ….), the provider organized meals badly which sometimes resulted in 10 hours between meals or breakfast 7 Hours after standing up, also the tour guide did not share much Information about flora and fauna with us. Anyway, the Safari was an unforgettable experience. Based on what we have seen it was awesome!
CH
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
incredible and unique adventure
Wildlife was amazing
weather in July / August was perfect to do the safari
accommodation/Food very good (staff was very friendly)
guide was great, has a very good Knowledge about the Wildlife
ES
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It could have been better
The most important point when you book a safari is to ensure that it will be reliable. We took a 3 days safari, but it was not as well as it should.
In the description of the safari we could read the that the first day we drive to Mikumi National Park which is approximately 5 hours from Dar es Salaam. False. It was 8 hours and a half. When we arrived there was almost sunset, so we coudn't access to the park the first day. This was because the driver drove at 45 km per hour until the park. What's the catch? The three-days-access to the park was included in the total amount, so the agency (Kiliholidays Tours) saved the first day access.
Also, the car broke down the first day (problems with the refrigeration). The second day occured problems with the battery. The third day finally in Dar Es Salaam the car broke down, and we have to take other car to our hotel with a non-known driver. This driver broke down his car as well (ran out of gas), so we had to wait inside the car in the middle of the night until he came back 30 minutes later.
In summary, we had bad luck choosing the agency: we lost the enter the park the first day, and the third day we spent almost 10 hours to came back to Dar Es Salam because car breakdowns.
As something positive, we loved the park, although we didn't stay there all the time that we paid.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Left stranded in Capetown when Owner Chris No-Showed-Terrifying Experience
I will get straight to the important points.
1) I booked this tour as a single, middle aged women traveling alone. I booked and paid nine months ahead. Twenty one days prior to depature I called about my flight and tour arrangements. Chris stated "I am sorry but your tour has been cancelled. You will have to leave five days earlier or you can't go with us. We can still make it happen, but not with us." I made arrangements, at great inconvenience, to leave 5 days earlier.
2) Hotel for Capetown is TWENTY FIVE MILES FROM CAPETOWN.
3) Chris dropped me off at V&A for a shopping trip, at my request. I confirmed, three times, that he would pick me
up at the designated stop at 5 p.m. HE NO SHOWED. PERIOD. LEFT ME TOTALLY ALONE AFTER DARK. TOOK A TAXI BACK TO HOTEL WITH THE HELP OF V&A security. I was terrified, but made it back to the hotel.
4) I was dumped so Chris could assist a dentist who had booked his family of ten. There were numerous adults supervising all children at this time, on that night. There were no children left alone. I was left alone.
5) Chris called me the morning we were to depart for Sabi Sabi, and asked me to meet him alone in a hotel conference room, prior to our group departure that morning. I WAS MET WITH THIS THREAT:
"If you say anything negative about our company, I will take legal action against you."
Great trip otherwise.
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.