PL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
complete disaster
Dear safari lovers and all who are planning holidays in East Africa with the assistance of Gorillas Homeland Safaris. It is pretty likely you will pick this tour company as they have a very nice website, perfect ratings, its manager Mr. Davis Tukamushaba has several FB profiles all packed with only positive comments, and he is very quick in replying to potential customers’ inquiries. All this creates a great first impression.
A month ago we returned from our 8-day safari in Rwanda and Uganda organized by Davis and his team. Wherein the word „organized” is a big exaggeration, as in terms of organizing our trip was a complete disaster.
It all started on the first night. After having landed at the Kigali airport around midnight we found that no one was waiting for us. When we, at last, reached the hotel we learned that Mr. Tukamushaba “had forgotten” to book our stay. In the following days it was only worse. Our personal guide who was to accompany us during the whole trip was late for the first meeting by 6 hours. Despite Mr. Tukamushaba’s claim that all our accommodations and entrances to the national parks had been already paid (in fact we had paid 70 percent of the whole trip in advance ) - ever and again it turned out that something was not paid or even booked. Eventually Davis would always pay – on short notice - only when we started the alarm on Messenger. A critical moment was on the day when we were driving 10 hours to the Nyungwe Forest National Park in the south of Rwanda for chimpanzee tracking only to learn that our names are not on the list. This time nothing could be done since all had already been booked. We missed the chimpanzee tracking, which was supposed to be one of the highlights. In the long run Davis returned us the money for the chimpanzees but it didn’t really comfort us. For eight days Davis Tukamushaba - who was in touch with us on the phone - kept on making up extraordinary stories about exceptional misunderstandings and unbelievable coincidences which resulted in this series of fuckups. Instead of relaxing we were stressed every night.
We decided not to keep this story for ourselves. We feel obliged to share it because of the tourists’ solidarity. My friend Izabela is a PR Manager at an American company, I am a journalist and a non-fiction writer. You’ll find us on Facebook, feel free to contact us if you want to learn more details.
Our unpleasant experience does not change the fact that Rwanda and Uganda are beautiful and fascinating countries. You will meet there many professional and kind people. Simply you’d better think twice before you go there with Gorillas Homeland Safaris.
Katarzyna Surmiak-Domańska and Izabela Szumielewicz
CN
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The scene is beautiful，but the guide and the travel agency （Kenya walking）is cheater。
Just remember this name “kenya walking”，the travel agency has taken 8307 dollars from me ，but the driver said he has no money ，so he can't go to the park unless we pay another 3000dollars. we turn back to the travel office and the door is closed。we have go the policestation，but till now no response for it。It is a very bad experience。
CN
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Terrible experience with Gassitours and its irresponsible owner Belaza
I’m writing this review to share my family’s disastrous experience with Gassitours and its owner Belaza during our recent trip to Madagascar. In a nutshell: 1) Gassitours’ internal coordination errors caused us to miss our flight, which forced us to stay in Morondava for an extra day. Not only did Belaza fail to arrange a guide to help us, he also refused to cover any hotel and transportation expenses for this extra day 2) The contract we signed clearly stated a seven-seat van with air conditioning, but upon arrival we were ushered into a battered seven-seat SUV with a broken air conditioner, and we had to open the windows on the dusty road. Moreover, the poor SUV broke down one day, leaving us waiting on a deserted stretch of road. In the second leg of our trip, our four-person family was arranged a five-seat SUV, with three crammed in the backseat. On our last day in Madagascar I asked Belaza why he didn’t follow the contract, he said: haven’t you completed your trip anyway?
Our family of four booked an 11-day trip to Madagascar from Gassitours, inclusive of all transportation and accommodations, and we had paid in full. The trip was from July 21st to the 31st, with a flight from Morondava to Tana (short for Antanananrivo) on the 28th. However, when we arrived at Morondava’s airport, the check-in was closed because the flight had changed time to take off earlier. The airline had notified Gassitours of the change, yet our tour guide Tujo never received any notice from the company. Tujo (and Belaza over the phone) attempted to persuade the airport to let us board, as the flight had not taken off yet, but to no avail. We had to wait in Morondava for the next day flight (there is only one flight per day). I asked Tujo what to do next, he said he didn’t know, and then he told me that he and his driver would have to immediately pick up their next clients, who just arrived at the airport.
So I called Belaza asking what he was going to arrange for our delayed day, wherein he replied that it was up to us, as he was unable to send anyone over to help us, nor would he pay any transportation or hotel expenses we would incur. I told him we had already paid Gassitours in full, and the situation we were in was due to their mistakes, so of course he should be responsible. He started making up inexplicable excuses, at which moment I realized that I was probably facing an immoral man. I decided to not argue with him further, taking into account that we still had three days left in Madagascar with his company, costs paid for in advance. We arranged and paid all expenses in Morondava ourselves.
After losing a day, we landed in Tana and immediately drove to Andasibe, but we were picked up in a five-seat SUV; our family of four could only cram three people in the backseat on the bumpy road for four hours. I asked the driver Alan: weren’t we supposed to be in a seven-seat van? Alan replied, yes, it would have been a bigger car, with a driver and a tour guide, if we arrived yesterday — but now he was only following Belaza’s arrangements. I was extremely disappointed. For the last seven days, we had been in a muggy seven-seat SUV with a crammed backseat, broken AC, and on the 25th the engine failed in the middle of the road, destroying our plan to see the Avenue of Baobab at the sunset. Now even worse.
After returning to Tana on the night of the 30th, Alan asked me whether I was satisfied with the trip. I said no. Alan then called Belaza and told me that Belaza would meet me in person at 8:30 the next morning (we were to fly out in the afternoon).
The next day, Belaza was an hour late, showing up at 9:30am. The first thing he asked was if I was satisfied with the trip. I replied, of course not. I asked him to explain why he didn’t tell Tujo about our changed flight, causing us to waste a day of our vacation. He said that it was Tujo’s fault, that he should be ‘able to tell’ that the plane was to take off early. I pointed out that Tujo was an employee of Gassitours, whether it was his fault or not, the company should still be responsible. Belaza then began to say that the airline had a problem. Since it had not yet taken off, why not let us get on the plane? I warned him not to make misleading excuses with me. He said he wasn’t a bad person, otherwise he would disappear and would not come to see me. I was surprised that he had even thought of "disappearing".
I asked him what he planned on doing about the extra expenses I had in Monrondava on the 28th. He said he didn’t have that much money, but could “compensate” for half of the amount. I pointed out that because we could not fly to Tana on the 28th, the payment to the hotel in Tana was returned to him. Moreover, in the entire travel expenses we had paid, he reduced his costs by replacing the cars and the hotels specified in the contract: 1) Our van was changed to an SUV without AC in the first 7 days, and then changed to a five-seat SUV in the last 3 days. Belaza explained that the seven-seat van with AC was allocated to another client because it was peak season. 2) One of the hotels we stayed at was switched out for a cheaper alternative. On the night of the 25th, Belaza was unable to secure a hotel as stipulated in the contract, and swapped it for a cheaper hotel, as well as changing our two-room booking to one four-person room. Belaza looked at the contract and continued to talk in circles for half an hour, saying he didn’t have the money. I became irritated and told him stop talking about his lack of money, just answer me one question: why didn’t he honor the contract?
Not only did Gassitours change the car type and the hotel room on the 25th, they also changed our two-room bookings to cheaper four-person rooms on the 23rd and 29th, and were only placed back in two rooms upon our insistence (the hotel on the 25th was full, so we had to stay in a four-person room). The first time this happened on the 23rd, we asked Tujo to contact the company to rectify this mistake and ensure that it would not happen again in the subsequent trip. After the second mistake on the 25th, I sent an email directly to Belaza, verifying that our future bookings were all for two separate rooms, to which he replied confirming it. However, upon arrival to Andasibe on the 29th Belaza had still booked a four-person room.
Belaza’s explanation was such: we were a four-person family, and staying in a four-person room should be no problem; although the car was not the one specified in our contract, it still ‘successfully’ brought us to the end of our trip. I was furious, and refused his supposed compensation, deciding to go online to inform other people what kind of person Belaza is. In more than an hour of discussion, he fully demonstrated his cunning nature, collecting as much money as possible and not taking any responsibility for even his own mistakes.
Be careful when you book with Gassitours. We chose them for our trip because we saw good comments about them, probably because there had been no hiccups in those trips. However, once things go wrong, Belaza is completely unreliable.
Feel free to contact me at [email protected] for questions and more details that I haven't written about.
OM
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fraud Travel Agent in Kenya duping international tourists.
This review is about LIANS Travel – actually LIA'R'S Travel,
Run by a woman named Lilian Maina – actually Lie-Liar.
BEWARE BEWARE BEWARE BEWARE
This company and the woman are a big dirty fraud, playing with international tourist’s money and time and taking them for a ride completely sabotaging their holiday plans.
Unfortunately, me and my wife (Indians) availed their services for a 10 days tour in 2nd week of August-19, but had to return home within 2 days, courtesy Lie-Liar.
Lilian Maina (Lie-Liar) has absolutely no knowleage of her own country's geography, parks, attractions, logistics, flight network, hotel availability, etc., etc. and is incapable of organizing any tours for the discerning international tourists. They are here only to con international tourists and earn a fast buck. Lie-Liar is an epitome of disrespect, arrogance, rudeness, selfishness and impoliteness and does not care a hoot about international visitors.
Everything went wrong once we paid the initial 30% advance.
1. The responses from Lilian (Lie-Liar) became slow & required follow up for getting things done
2. There was no sense of urgency in booking the hotels and internal flights although our tour was to start in a week’s time. Finally, Lilian (Lie-Liar) sent fake unconfirmed hotel vouchers.
3. Lilian (Lie-Liar) abruptly moved our first hotel stay to a remote location of her choice at the last moment with total disregard to our itinerary. This resulted in compromising our 1st day's itenerary plan and settle for something that we did not want – but which Lie-Liar wanted !!
4. Lilian (Lie-Liar) advised somebody would pick us up at Nairobi airport on arrival. However, nobody turned up for an hour and until we called her up.
5. Lilian (Lie-Liar) demanded for the 70% balance payment on arrival in cash, without providing any confirmed hotel bookings for the entire itinerary. By this time, we had realized that we might not get the services that we are paying for, and deferred this payment for a day, telling Lie-Liar that we shall pay online when we reach the 1st night’s destination.
6. Incidentally, our fears/doubts turned out to be true -
- Lilian (Lie-Liar) had agreed for a 4x4 Land Cruiser initially, but on reaching Kilaguni Airstrip, gave us the oldest possible rickety van (and of course the cheapest possible) which was so uncomfortable & noisy that it frightened all animals from afar making any sightings impossible.
- Lilian (Lie-Liar) had advised the name of particular Guide cum Driver initially but instead sent a shady character at the last moment with whom we felt very unsafe and unsecure. His main agenda was to take us to the lodge as soon as possible so that we can make payment to Lilian (Lie-Liar) who was eagerly expecting her 70% payment.
- Lilian (Lie-Liar) had agreed that all Park Fees are included in the package price, but when we landed at Kilaguni airstrip and entered Tsavo-West National Park, she asked us to pay them instead.
- Lie-Liar had mentioned that bottled water is included in the price, but did not provide any.
7. Lilian (Lie-Liar) had thanked us initially for the business and said she will not disappoint us. However, as soon as she got the 30% advance, she gave us only disappointment after disappointment. What a shame for a woman.
8. Once Lie-Liar realized that we are not falling prey to her tactics and accepting whatever she is doling out to us, she became angry and abusive saying that she does not trust Indians. For a tourist service provider, these comments are in poor taste and clearly reflect that she hardly cares for her international clients and is here just want to make a fast buck.
9. Completely exhausted with her tantrums and upset with the proceedings, we were in no mood to go ahead with the tour and therefore decided to abort the trip and returned home within 2 days.
We are sure this must have happened with many international tourists who may not have posted their reviews for various reasons or would have ignored whatever sub-standard stuff was thrown at them. All the good reviews 4/5 and 5/5 that we read about LIANS (LIARS) Travel on various travel sites are fake and just cannot be true. These are definitely posted by Lilian (Lie-Liar) herself. One personal meeting with her is enough to understand what a criminal woman she is, but by then it is too late for the hapless traveler.
To cut the long story short, once the international tourists have paid the 25% - 30% advance, they are caught in the web of LIANS (LIARS) Travels and are compelled to accept whatever is doled out to them. Thus, their tour is completely deranged and they may even have to return empty-handed as we had to in 2 days.
We would therefore strongly urge all international tourists to refrain from taking LIANS (Lilian Lie-Liar) Travel's services for organizing any safaris in Kenya. There are similar bad reviews and experiences from many international tourists about LIANS (LIARS) Travel that are very clear warnings to all. We therefore urge all travelers not to trust LIANS Lilian (Lie-Liar) in any case and BOYCOTT LIANS (Lilian Lie-Liar) FOREVER.
CN
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
very bad
I have written my review for the company。They are cheaters。I lost 8307 dollars，but I can't finish my trip。
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
poorly organise and managed.
very poorly oganised, and managed.hotlel resevation asked for perticular lodge not provided.park fees not paid in advance also comunication was big problem. every where we went we have to call for reservation . also resevation done at wrong lodges. driver provided excellent custmer service. i would suggest before you go and paid deposit please make sure all services provided are confirmed and paid.
IN
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Keep Off
We a group of 6 make an African safari almost every year and we got to know about this operator through internet search. We were happy initially as we felt the owner himself Mr. Denver Mbewe is dealing our travel arrangements, but the shocker came after our lower zambezi leg when we were supposed to fly from royal zambesi to Mfuwe for our South Luangwa, but Denver informed us at 9.30pm the before night that the flight is unavailable (not booked to save moneh) and so we need to drive to Lusaka. As we didn't have any other option, we were driven for 5 hours in roads riddled with potholes at break neck speed, starting at 2.30am!!!!!
We had a good time at South Luangwa and Mr. Denver struck again. He was trying to arrange a vehicle for us at 10am, for a trip to Nfesu which was supposed to start at 9am. Ultimately he got some money from us(not part of package??? ) and arranged a vehicle at 2pm.. Nfesu was great and Mr. Denver struck again to deliver the final nail on the coffin.... He had not paid the entrance fee to Nfesu sector with the park authorities and we were stopped for more than an hour on our way back and the park management was magnanimous enough to pardon us. This guy hasn't invested any money for his travel company and arranges with the money of the customer at the last minute to save money and this seriously backfires on seasoned travellers. So Keep off this guy / company? if you really wanna enjoy Zambia in peace
CZ
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Follow up on awful February safari, Contacted by Lilian, turned out to be more games
I will be brief this time. We were contacted by Lilian who wanted to apologize for what she did. She was asking for forgiveness, that she had learnt her lesson. It really didn't mean much to us because the damage had been done, ruined safari, stuck with driver, all that, not showing up to the police station. She said she would refund the money in full on the condition that we remove the reviews so the group something was up. We told her at least half of the amount because we are not cruel people to demand the whole amount, and based on the circumstances of our ruined safari, we were being unbelievably fair. She went on about how hard things were and of course we are human and were ready to put in a word for her attempt to right the wrong. She offered to give 300 dollars to take down the reviews and for our group of 7 is 42 dollars per person. a fraction of what we had to pay extra on those few horrible days. We weren't gonna start haggling over how much lower we could go but the haggling started again. It was simple, pay the refund she wanted to pay then we put in a good word over the attempt to right the wrong. She mentioned she had a few clients coming in August and that would help her get the money for refunds, (That is the excuse she will use to let you believe she will fix things). She sent the 300 dollars and asked that we remove the reviews??That wasn't even what we had agreed on but then she said that in her own way it was "giving us the money for park fees". She then said her conscience was clear since she had finally given us the park fees.How absurd!!! The other twist was that she had the rest of the money actually and that she would pay it in full only if we removed the reviews. We were done with the games and we told her she could run her business however she liked. I said i would write this here to which i received the reply "I have an alternative I will just pay $300 and have a new website"."Write as many reviews as you can my dear". She has quite the taste for mockery. It seems she has done it again to other tourists so avoid Lians Travel.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Tour CANCELLED three weeks before departure
Save yourself the headache and do not book with this company. Without warning, I received an email from the company saying that due to "technical reasons" they could not provide services, our tour was cancelled,
and we would receive a refund in 90-120 working days. No replies from them when I asked for more detail. This was exactly three weeks before we were supposed to leave! As this seven day tour included all transportation, lodging and food, we now only had the plane tickets we booked ourselves.
Our trip was saved by African Breeze Tours, who rebooked everything for us in 1 day and have been incredible to work with! We're off on safari with them very soon.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Horrible
We are so sad about our Safari with this Organisation. Our honeymoon was an desaster. Ann promised a lot, but it was expensive for a holy shit trip. We booked a safari for five days in Kenia and we got three times to go safari. Our driver was drunken vodka on the drive, smoked a lot of cigarettes and fliped it out in the nature of the Nationalparks and filmed the street while he drove our jeep. We had an accident with another driver on the safari in Tansania. After this we wanted to cancel the rest of our safari, but they didn't get money back. Horrible, horrible, horrible...
