CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Tarangire National Park by Ivan VanDon
The place has small number of wildlife. Though I real enjoy walking safari of four hours with our guide and park ranger we walk at the middle of bushes we real experience nature. The place has plenty of elephants but we didn't see lion. Also our chef prepare lunch for us and we eat within the bushes after a long walk.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good overall, but small details weren't up to scratch.
The safari and the Transfers from O. R Tambo were as expected and I am happy with the service.
The Lodge on the other had needs some attention.
- the rooms are nice and authentic, but the cleanliness was not up to scratch. The room was was sticky and it was necessary for me to wear socks within my room at all times.
- the bathroom was not clean in terms of smelly, mouldy and run down...updates or industrial cleaning needs to occur.
- the service was push and confronting, being pressured into eating, and ordering food that wasn't first picked to eat.
- the pool was very merky, the bottom of the pool could not be seen due to this, along with bugs floating on the surface at prime swimming times.
- wifi is claimed to work at reception, the pool and the restaurant, this is false, it only works at reception and if your lucky enough to sit at the right table, works in the restaurant. This is unacceptable for an accomodation that mainly receives international guests, along with the fact the local reception is a 2/5 within the lodge rooms.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Coordinator was great but driver was rude
The coordinator Angela G. was extremely helpful and accommodating. I highly recommend her!
The driver Simon M. made inappropriate comments, was rude, drove unsafely, and was passive-aggressive when we made inquiries (that were paid for in the itinerary). His tour of Lake Nakuru National Park was rushed and we had to insist to get to spend time viewing the game (again all prepaid for).
The meal and tour at the Kericho tea plantation hotel that we requested was extremely disappointing: the food had an insect and the waiter did nothing about it, the paid tour lasted 15 min only and we only were allowed to see a tiny lot that is unused but had old tea bushes. Deviating to Kericho was unfortunately not worth the money.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
High Dollar tipping required ??
Good day
It has come to our attention by a couple that has completed a tour lately with your organization that they were required to tip $20 per day to the guid and $10 each to the assistants.
Kindly advise why this is required from the tourists. I was a tour guid in RSA and this was not the norm.
Percival Fourie
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Kruger National Park by Alan Bishop
South Africa's game parks are not known for scenic beauty and that's not why you go. There is a lot of wildlife and although we saw herds of elephant, we did not see any predators at all. Unless the animals are close to the roads, you don't see them and being such a vast area, we did not see much variety. We only stayed in the south of the park at Berg-en-dal and the centre and north may be different.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Let down by inept and inexperienced tour leader
The tour was from Nairobi to Vic Falls. The driver and cook were terrific but the tour leader was inexperienced and failed to integrate those who went to Rwanda with her with those who joined later in Kenya. She just refused to manage any form of seat rotation which saw on a day where we were on the road for 16 hours, 6 newbies share just six seats while 9 others (who had been with the tour leader earlier, enjoyed sprawling out over 18 seats. Some having 4 seats to sleep across while 6 others sat upright in single seats with the bags under their feet. After the 16 hour day and the following 14 hour one, I suggested the tour leader enforce some type of seat rotation. Didn’t happen. Lots of other examples of her inexperience. She was also easily influenced by some of the travelers. She would give instructions only to have a couple of strong characters challenge her plans and more often than not she would give in and accommodate their complaints. One example of her favouring some of the travelers was when she dragged out of a bar a couple when they were 5 minuets late for dinner but 3 nights later, one of her “gang” was 20 minutes late for the evening meal so she had a plate made up and kept warm for him. The truck was getting on a bit and the tents/mattresses are a bit tired. But overall the trip is good value but would benefit greatly by having an experienced tour leader. The food was great. The tours fantastic as were the game drives.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Lake Mburo National Park by Erika
Lake Mburo wasn't as beautiful as other parts of Uganda but we had just come from "the Lakes" area of the country so we had a rather skewed view. Lake Mburo has a lot of zebras and antelope, which were fun to see. It's a good stopover between Bwindi and Kampala, but probably not someplace I would go out of my way to see.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Awesome destination with beautiful Wildlife.
We were 4 days camping in Etosha with a private guide. The guide was good and the wildlife was beautiful. We were lucky to see lots of animals very close (e.g. 50+ elephants at a waterhole and a leopard next to the car) and always felt safe. I would always recommend a guided tour as the guides know at what time to be certain places to see the animals you want to get.
The camping part of the tour was not that good (which was organized by an organization for us).We were staying just outside the park in a camp which was quite good. Unfortunately our sleeping bags were to thin so that we were freezing at night. Additionally the food was really ‘basic’ (packet soup, backed beans, packet salat etc.) so that we ended up buying a bigger lunches by ourself at the camp when stoping there for a break at noon. We only got a ‘normal’ car (not a 4x4) to drive around the park. A 4x4 is not absolutely necessary, but I would recommend it because is a lot for comfortable (with luggage and camping gear we needed to squeeze in) and there are some places we had to skip as you need a 4x4 to get there.
To sum it up I would give 5 stars to the wildlife and the park itself. The overall impression for us was only diminished by the not properly organized camping experience.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Driver, guide and cook were excellent. ATC cut our guide loose 2 days early and the trip fell apart.
What started out as the trip of a lifetime ended in frustration. Our safe wasn't emptied and car keys were left behind. No big deal right? Drop them in snail mail and take care of your customer who spent thousands on the trip. Months went by and finally a rude email arrived saying that they wouldn't send me my keys. Such a small gesture left a really bad taste in my mouth. Once they get your money, they're done with you.