SG
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Satisfied with all arrangements except food
I will recommend this tour operator. Maintain / improve the safari car for best guest use.
HU
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
He was friendly and told a lot about the country and the people.
The campsite was on an island, it was excellent: half-tent-half-house accomodation, campfire in the evening and some wine:) The "room" was also more than okay, better than expected (from an island without any electricity). Both David the operator and the staff were nice, I cannot say a wrong word to them. The reason why I rated to average comes from 2 reasons: according to the description "Travelling time from Lusaka to Camp takes approximately 4 hrs 30min to 5 hrs." while it was rather 6-7 hours (not counting the switch of the flat tire); so practically almost 1+1 days spent with just being on road. The other was that we almost did not see any wild animal (at the very end luckily we caught a leopard). Though I know it's rather an question of luck and for that the safari crew is not to blame, but still it was then bit of a disappointment.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Caution to travelers considering Amazing Memories Safaris
Our 15 day safari tour was met with 3 days of frustration when the upgraded hotel accommodations we had contracted were not paid for in a timely manner. We contracted for all services in January 2018, made the $4K deposit and paid the balance prior to our departure from the USA as the Contract required.
It was not until the night before we were to arrive at the Mara Serena that we were told by AMS that the hotel had over-booked and our reservation was not available. We did find out from the hotel manager that AMS had been contacted for payment due, and when it was not received they released our reservation. The same situation for our reservation at the Ngorongoro Serena.
We feel AMS broke our Contract by not paying for our hotel reservations in a timely manner and not providing the accommodations in our Contract.
FYI - these tour companies must pay upfront for hotel reservations. Our advice if you plan to use this tour group, demand that before you leave home you have Vouchers for all hotels in your possession. This is your guarantee the reservations have been paid for and will be there when you arrive.
We also coordinated a visit to Zanzibar for 3 days to relax at the beach, following the safari. AMS did a good job scheduling the airlines and driver for pick up. AMS recommended The Sands on the east side of the island. There is a floor of coral and sea urchins at the shoreline, so this is not a beach you can run out in bare feet and swim. It is a good choice if you just want to relax at a quiet location with lounge chairs and covers from the sun provided on the beach at no additional cost.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing animals and nice accommodation, but poor guide communication and incomplete itinerary
My boyfriend and I did a 3-day safari into the Maasai Mara on a private tour. I chose Beacon Safaris because they were quick to reply to my request for information, thorough in their response, accommodating to my customization for our trip, and reasonably priced within my budget. Overall, we had a nice trip - we saw a ton of animals and stayed in a nice accommodation just outside the park gate. The pop-up van was nice and it was great that it was just my boyfriend, our guide and me. Our guide was nice and did a good job of finding the animals, including a leopard, and getting us close to the animals.
There were a few things that made the trip less enjoyable:
1)We were told during the planning that the van had 4-wheel drive, but it did not. Instead, our guide had another van/guide travel with us and when we got stuck (2-3 times), the other van pulled us out. It was fine, but I would have preferred to have been told the truth up front.
2)We were disappointed with our guide, Eric.
* He had shared that he had just come off a long safari trip prior to ours and appeared to be very tired and trying to do the bare minimum.
* His communication left a lot to be desired - He didn't talk with us much and never discussed our plan for the trip or for each day. This was our first safari and it would have been nice to know what to expect each day (e.g., the overall day plan, how long the game drive would be, when we would be back to camp, when we would stop for lunch, etc.).
* During the safari, he seemed rushed and often didn't stop even though we had asked to stop to watch the animals. He would start driving off without warning and while we were still taking photos or observing the animals. Part of this could have been due to our short safari tour and him feeling rushed to get where we needed to go, but he could have communicated this to us. We were in the dark.
* Our guide was late starting every morning, at least 15 minutes. The second day, we were waiting out front at the meeting time, and he had just walked into the lodge to sit down for breakfast. The third day was a mess in the morning (described in the next point.)
* Our guide did not follow our defined itinerary. Our itinerary dictated early start times, but he attempted to start later than planned which we pushed back on. Our itinerary specifically said we were supposed to have a game drive in the early morning on the third day and then a visit to the Maasai village before heading back to Nairobi; however, we were told by our guide that we could do one or the other. Although, from the first day, our guide suggested we do the village tour on the first evening instead of on the last day so he could get back to Nairobi earlier on the last day, leading us to believe that he had never planned to do the drive the last day which was agreed during the trip planning. We disagreed and told him we wanted to stick to the itinerary. I had attempted to get the itinerary from my tent to show him what was agreed, but when I came back to the lodge, he was gone and there was no way to get a hold of him (he wasn't staying at the lodge).
On the third day, he told us to do the village tour in the morning and he would pick us up at 7:30 AM. He did not show up. We waited for 30-minutes before the hotel offered to call him, only to learn that he had intended for us to walk to the village without him, but this was never communicated. Our guide said the village tour was supposed to be 2-hours, but it was barely one hour. When we met up with our guide at 9 AM, he told us it was too late to do the game drive, he had never looked at our itinerary and didn't remember we were supposed to have a game drive. However, early in the trip he had been pushing us to get back to Nairobi as soon as possible on the last day.
Through this experience, we learned that the guide can make or break the experience and you don't always know who you are going to get. We also learned from a later safari (with a different company) that a lot of the safari company's hire independent contractors as guides. I recommend proactively reviewing the itinerary with the guide from the start and sticking to the plan.
Despite the shortcomings, we really enjoyed our experience and time in the Maasai. The abundance of animal life was incredible!
DK
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Intense safari but poor accomodation
We had booked a 3 day safari in Masai Mara. We were picked up and dropped off in Nairobi. That means a very long drive for about 8 hours each way to get to and from Masai Mara. When we arrived at Masai Mara we were accommodated in a smaller lodge than payed for. It was not what we had ordered, but a lodge of very poor quality. The people at the lodge was extreme kindly and friendly. On the day of arrival we reached a short trip of about 2 hours before the sun went down. Next day we started early and had almost 10 hours of safari. We saw all animals. But it's hard to sit in a car where the bumping is going for hours. Our guide did a great job finding all the animals. The Masai Mara itself is exciting to drive around and it is amazing with the big scene and big flocks of animals. But the trip to and from Nairobi, the poor accommodation and the high price mean that we do not generally can recommend that kind of safari.
NL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Not as good as Botswana
I was at the Croc Valley Camp at south Luangwa NP.
Good accomodation, most lousy Safari vehicles ever seen. Never felt safe or Comfortable.
SE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great driver and game drives. Not that great planning.
We took the six day safari with Masai Mara-Naruk-Amboseli. We ordered our safari via Axis, in our car we were 7 people. We were the only ones from Axis. So it’s hard to rate Axis on our trip.
We suffered a bit due to this since all travel groups had different itinerary and accommodations. We spent hours waiting on people and driving to different lodges/tent camps. This made that our tour didn’t followed our itinerary and we had to argue to get what we paid for.
You should be aware of this or demand to be in a car with a group with 100% same itinerary/accommodation if you plan to order this trip.
With that said we had a great safari. We saw the big five on our first full day game drive. Richard, our driver should have the Nobel peace prize for handeling one of our co-travelers that was very demanding. He handled our van with great skills!
Richard and animal-viewing was five stars, the planning with different itineraries in one car was one star!
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
I was cheated by a subcontractor -- Sandland Tours and their manager Abraham Shaidi.
I dealt only with Rachel Obonyo from Nairobi in arranging a ten day tour of Kenya and Tanzania. She was most helpful. However, the subcontractor told me that I must pay "as much as I could" toward trip expenses when I met him. He then told me to pay an additional $800 "entry fee" when we arrived at Ngorongoro. I refused! In addition, I was promised mid-range lodges and only received budget tent accommodations. After four days of this treatment, I bailed out of the safari. I'm not certain Rachel even aware of these problems. STEER CLEAR OF SANDLAND TOURS and Abraham.
CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Responded to phone calls .
Respond to phone calls...very helpful..answered all my questions,very knowable staff.
CA
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
OK Tour for money paid but proper organization and attention to detail will help!!
This is a review of the 12 day Kenya / Tanzania Safari that 12 of us (Private Tour) undertook from 12 – 23 September, 2018 organized through Seth Vincent, Director Trip Advisor Africa Safaris, Nairobi.
The Nairobi airport pick up and transfer to hotel went off well and the Sarova Stanley Hotel that was booked for that night as per itinerary was great.
As per the itinerary day 1, the tour of Nairobi commenced at 9:00 am on 12 September. At the outset Seth introduced us to a 13th person (not known to any one of us in our group of 12) who was going to join our tour group. This was a complete surprise to us and none of us were happy about it. We questioned Seth why this was sprung upon us and he was quiet. Although this was not acceptable to us, based on the compassionate nature of our group we had no objection and the group became 13. On hindsight, we should not have allowed this and stuck to our position of only our 12 as this extra person in the vehicle led to great inconvenience with seating/viewing.
Seth/Trip Africa Safaris must ensure private tours remain private and limited to the people in the original group – no additions whatsoever, without prior written approval by the group.
While out on the Nairobi tour, we quickly realized the detailed itinerary as given to us by Seth was not realistic. Moreover, the drivers/guides were completely unaware of the contents of the itinerary. They had their own plans which made more sense than the given itinerary. Seth/Trip Africa Safaris must ensure the itinerary submitted to clients is realistic and correct AND it is copied to the driver/guide so that everyone is on the same page. Evening ended with a great welcome dinner to our group at the Carnivore as given in the itinerary.
Day 2 – Drive times given in itinerary were wrong but the drive from Nairobi – Nakuru through Great Rift Valley, game drive in Lake Nakuru National Park, and Sarova Lion Hill – Nakuru overnight hotel part were as given in itinerary. A problem we encountered was the hotel not having individual bookings in the names of persons in our group and the additional person. This led to confusion and delays checking in. Seth/Trip Advisor Africa must ensure hotel reservations are made in individual/couple/family name with individual reservation confirmation numbers, which can be confirmed by the clientele even before arriving in Kenya/Tanzania etc.
Day 3, 4, 5- Lake Naivasha, Masai Mara good but previously mentioned hotel check in problem existed at Azure Mara Haven.
Day 6, 7 - Drive to Tanzania Serengeti through Isebania border. Transfer to Tanzania vehicles/s driver/guide OK. Hotel check in problematic once again at Serengeti Serena on day 6. Major problem in checking out on day 7 as tour operator had not paid the hotel bill in full. This is completely unacceptable and must not happen.
Seth/Trip Advisor Africa must take full responsibility for ALL arrangements both in Kenya and Tanzania side as our group agreement is only with Seth. As a client we have no involvement with any sub agents.
Day 8, 9 – deviations from the given itinerary started to be made due to the bad/lack of planning of the Tanzanian sub agent who it appeared had not made any firm bookings for our group in Ngorongoro, and Tarangire. We were sent to Serena Manyara instead of Serena Ngorongoro, and Impala Hotel, Arusha instead of Sopa Lodge -Tarangire, which is a major downgrade of hotel not at all acceptable to the group. We were kept in the dark as to where we were staying until late evening and it was extremely disappointing particularly with the drivers/guides working in collusion with the Tour Agent/s. Game drives were shortened and varied from those given in itinerary. These changes are all unacceptable to clients such as our group who paid all the money that was asked up front well before the due date.
Seth/Trip Advisor Africa must take full responsibility for the inconvenience, peace of mind, etc.
Day 10, 11 – Transfer at Namanga OK and overnight at Sopa Lodge – Amboseli as given in itinerary. Game drives ok but changes to lunch arrangements by drivers unacceptable ( got boxed lunches from Sopa instead of Hot Lunch at Amboseli Serena as given in itinerary).
Day 12 – Back to Nairobi and farewell dinner at Thai Restaurant – Sarova Stanley Hotel as requested by group was good.
A good thing about this tour was that we saw loads of animals at very close quarters. This I believe is partly luck and to the efforts of the drivers/guides Ken and Jacob in Kenya AND Ben and Ziggy in Tanzania , although the latter two were partly responsible in working with their Tanzanian Boss to keep us in the dark on change of hotels. The arrangements on the Kenya side seem to be more in lines with the itinerary and OK but the same cannot be said on the Tanzania side.
I am satisfied with the tour but Seth/Trip Advisor Africa will have to improve tremendously if we are to actively recommend them. They are disorganized and needs to put a lot of effort up front to have realistic itineraries, vehicle details (A/C or Non A/C) and firm/confirmed individual hotel bookings with reference numbers available to client before coming over to Africa. Also, Seth must keep to his words when verbal promises are made to clients on site. That would go a long way in building trust and recommending Trip Advisor Africa as a reliable entity.
Chris - Canada