CZ
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
They stole 2000 USD from me, horrible cars and services.
First I sent 50 % of the total cost and then Mr. Kabalo Mathias from the agency pushed me to send him more and more money to make all reservations. If not, he threatened me that nobody is going to pick me up from the airport. So I sent him another 2000 USD and in the end he dennied I sent it to him.
Their car was the oldiest in the safari and after an hour it broke down. We had to wait hours and lost half a day in Serengeti! No compensation was offered. The only thing he was interested in was tips, tips...
Do not use this agency, you will be very disappointed!!!
JP
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Please confirm your itinerary carefully
We booked a 3 day tour exchanging mails with Suricata Safaris. We selected their tour from many options because they offered a tour with a luxury tented camp by a reasonable price in Safari booking.com. We carefully confirmed their offer many times before the booking, since a safari tour was our main purpose to go to Tanzania.
However, we realized they had prepared just a budget tent for us on arriving at a camp site in the evening on the first day. Here, what I want to say is that there might be difference between their offer shown in Safari booking.com and their actual tour. I recommend you to ask them to make precise itinerary for your tour in order to avoid any misunderstanding. I hope no one have such a disappointing experience anymore.
Finally, though I think it was quite expensive as a safari tour with the budget tent compared with other offers, the only salvation was quality of a driver and a cook.
IN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Cheats and liars! Do no trust! Do not book with them!
My family and I recently travelled to Kenya and Tanzania to catch the Great Migration. Overall, the trip was fantastic; the wildlife and beauty of both countries was far superior to what one sees on TV!
However, we made a mistake by trusting local (Kenyan) travel agent – Meshack Mutinda Kiilu from Tour Kenya Safari Heights, Nairobi. His agency booked the Kenya part of the tour for us while their partners, 7 Wonders Safari (Tanzania) booked the Tanzanian part.
The stark difference in both parts was surprising, especially given that positive word of mouth is important, and we expected much better service. Not only that, we never thought we would be blatantly lied to and misled.
Firstly, the car and guide we had in Kenya versus what we had in Tanzania were vastly different. The Kenyan car was in poor condition, the radio system didn’t work (which is vital if you want your game drives to be successful), the windows didn’t open, the car wasn’t well maintained, the driver didn’t speak good English and the car frequently broke down – it basically didn’t reverse without stalling.
Secondly, we were promised and had paid for a full day game drive followed by a morning game drive in Amboseli before departing to Nairobi. When we reached Amboseli, our guide informed us that he hadn’t received the money for the morning drive. When we tried reaching Meshack he started dodging our calls and eventually became incommunicado – forcing us to miss the morning drive. Not only that, we reached Nairobi and our driver told us that there was no dinner for us that day or meals the next day (although we had paid for all meals for all days as part of the package) and also that after dropping us off at the hotel in Nairobi (around late afternoon) we would need to pay him for taking us anywhere else since Meshack had not paid him for that.
While planning the itinerary, we had been promised a city tour and visit to a restaurant in Nairobi where guests can feed Giraffes. Our driver informed us that this wasn’t part of the package as per instructions given to him; not only that, Meshack had not even paid him for our last day in Nairobi. The worst part was, we had earlier planned to depart Nairobi the same day we arrived from Amboseli but we spent extra for the hotel for an additional night in Nairobi because Meshack had said that there were planned activities in Nairobi as part of the package.
Not only did we end up having to pay an additional $80 for the vehicle for two days, we had to spend additionally on meals for two days and also pay for airport drop off, which was supposed to be part of our package.
This was in stark contrast to our experience in Tanzania, where the driver, car and tour agency were excellent and gracious and even called us
multiple times to ensure we were having a good time and that everything was going well.
Even the Kenyan driver told us that Meshack had lied to him and not paid him properly, and this was actually the first time he had worked with Meshack and it was going to be the last time.
Our excellent trip and opinion of Kenyan hospitality was marred by what were basically, outright lies and misrepresentations. When we got back and checked, we realized that there are few other reviews also where people have faced the exact same issue with Meshack and Tour Kenya Safari Heights. Anyone reading this review and planning to book through Meshack or Tour Kenya Safari Heights, do so at your own peril!
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Worst company ever we had accident and we were injured from the reckless driver
Worst company ever
We had a very serious accident. And we were injured because of the reckless driver (the car fliped over)and the company didn't even took care of us , and not even make sure if we were ok
We had blood all over us and broke my SAMSUNG NOTE 8 in the accident
And they refuse to refund us ( although we payed 600$ ) or even compromise by anymeans i have pics and videos of the whole accident .. Be aware find another company trust me
AE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Pathetic
Very unprofessional... Don't plan with them if u want a peaceful trip...
CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Awful experiences
Robert at Wanderlust promised me a tour with two nights in the Serengeti, and after arrival, he made up a sob story about why the tour had to be cancelled and tried to push my child and I to take a generic tour. We had just been to Masai Mara and weren't desperate to see the Serengeti, so I said No. I initially felt sorry for him, even though he'd messed up the dates we were supposed to be in the Serengeti in his "story," so I agreed to take it day by day and perhaps go on day trips with his company.
Before our first trip, we agreed that I'd pay by Western Union, just as I'd done for the deposit, but then he emailed to say he preferred Cash to exchange into USD to pay for our park entry fee. Initially, I preferred this over using my limited US$, but as it got later and later into the evening, I emailed to say I would give 100 USD to his driver tomorrow for the park entry fee. He wouldn't take No for an answer, saying he needed the cash Now to pay for the park fee online, and showed up at my hotel around 9:30 pm. He said we'd just be going to the "nearest ATM," but after we got in the car, we passed by ATM after ATM. More than twenty minutes later, he pointed at the exact ATM he wants me to use and waits outside. Luckily, the machine wouldn't let me take more than 350 USD, and he let us leave. It felt like we'd been kidnapped by loan sharks and forced to go to an ATM. On the way back to the hotel, he greedily counted the cash while talking non-stop on the phone. Very scary.
Via email, we were then informed that instead of 6-7 am, we'd be picked up at 5:40 am the next day. Then at 5:00 am, the lady from the hotel knocked on my door to say the driver was here. The name of the driver was different from the one I'd been given, so I had the hotel staff take down the license plate number. The van then picked up a couple who'd book through another middleman and were told their pick-up time would be 5:10. We then arrived at a camp to join a couple who were on a 3-day safari, but were told they be waking up in about an hour. This couple had booked through yet another company, and the safari itself was operated by another company in an almost unmarked safari jeep.
It turns out that nobody had informed the safari driver that the first couple had to be at the airport at a certain time. So our time on the actual safari was cut short to accomodate this.
Although we still had 50 USD with Robert, for safety reasons, we opted to leave Arusha as soon as possible. I sent him a Paypal request for money, but we never saw those 50 dollars again.
RO
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Avoid them!
Ibrahim, the manager, is an asshole! He was rude and unprofessional. The accomodation provided was terrible. I would never ever book another safari with this guy.
The driver, Johnson, was ok and also the lady working for him, who arranged our transfers, was ok. But Ibrahim, the man who owns the bussiness, should find something elso to do for living, as in tourism he's a disaster.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Stole our $4000 deposit and still waiting to hear back! DO NOT USE THEM!
We planned our honeymoon to Tanzania and after paying a $4000 deposit we were told corrupt people within the company stole money. Apparently they filed a lawsuit and Baraja has been telling us the money will be returned to us but now my emails have not been replied too. I cant believe they are still operating when they owe people SOOOOOO much money. Avoid this company at all costs as it could have ruined our honeymoon.
DK
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Worst Tour Operator Ever
NEVER PICK THIS TOUR OPERATOR.
We had ordered 11 days round-trip to Uganda. We met with the owner Richard who brought an itinerary and a contract stating that everything we payed for in the trip was based on the itinerary. However, during the trip, half of the nights the accommodation was changed last minute. The worst thing was that the accommodation change was often for the worse, and some nights we stayed in so filthy and bad accommodation we rather wanted to leave and pay for accommodation elsewhere by ourselves. In the trip we had also booked Chimpanzee trekking in Kibale as the big highlight. We arrived in a town near Kibale at around 3 pm the day before the trekking, where the tour operator (Richard) calls us to let us know that we are not able to make the Kibale chimpanzee trekking because he failed to get the permits, THE DAY BEFORE WE HAD TO GO. Additionally, the itinerary stated that lunch and drinking water would be included all days which we rarely got.
Besides these problems, there were a lot of other issues about Richard miscommunication with the driver/guide and confusing us and our guide several times. Richard does not care about his customers, he just wants their money and will thereafter ensure that you have a completely disorganized trip. We managed to get the money back from the chimpanzee trekking permits, but honestly, with all the change in accommodation and all the last minute changes he put us through, he should have compensated us a lot more money for a failed trip in many regards.
If I could, I would NEVER book this tour again and would AT ANY TIME pick another tour operator. Its one of the most stressful trips and dysfunctional tours I have ever been on even though we payed to have all inclusive in order to relax and not mind anything. Even though I go on vacation 4 times a year and have been pretty much everywhere in the world, I have never tried anything like this.
Luckily, the driver and guide Paddy was an extremely polite and nice young man. We had a very nice time with him, and we felt bad for him that he had to endure the constant miscommunication and our anger about the trip due to Richards incompetence.
LASTLY, there we some parts of the itinerary which was completely wrong and falsely stated. One of the days it was stated that you get to the park, go inside (which cost 40 dollars per day per person) and go for safari. This was not the case, and Richard would not pay to let us stay inside the park and go for safari even though he acknowledged that it was wrongly stated on the itinerary, so we ended up paying ourselves.
Lastly but not least, it got so bad at one time we went to the police in order to charge Richard and make him pay some of our money back for the failed experiences. We found out it was a very long process and did not want to spend vacation time on it, but I would wish now that we would have filed a complaint and charged him so he would hopefully learn that you cannot take tourists money and then piss on them afterwards.
I HOPE THAT NO ONE PICKS THIS COMPANY IF YOU WANT TO HAVE A GOOD NICE TIME AND RELAXING SAFARI.
Otherwise, Uganda is a lovely country and the nature and the parks a breathtaking.
US
Fraudulent Tour Operator
Baraka and Ken with Congo Discovery Safaris have refused to refund me for a portion of the tour they weren't permitted to take me on. I booked a 4 day gorilla trek and volcano climb in Virunga National Park with Congo Discovery Safaris last year and upon arrival in Kigali in February I found out they could not take me to Virunga as promised because of a rule change with the National Park and I would have to book directly with the National Park, which more than doubled my cost. I ended up having to pay the national park directly for my tour and only used Congo Discovery Safaris for help with my visa and transportation across the border to Goma. Because of this they promised to refund me $850 of the $1050 I paid them since I could not go with them for gorillas or the volcano. I was told they didn't have the cash because they spent it on a mineral investment and would send me a refund once I got home. For months they asked me to wait for the refund because they weren't getting a lot of business and I was patient, but it's been many months since then and they have stopped responding to any of my texts or emails. Ken and Baraka were really helpful and nice to me while I was there with the problems with the national park, but they will not refund your money if you have any problems. There is no reason to book anything in Virunga including transportation there, gorillas, and the volcano hike through Congo Discovery Safaris because you can book directly with the national park on their website.