65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent Itinerary on Paper, Poor Execution in Reality
We chose Lush Africa Safaris because of its overwhelmingly positive reviews. Unfortunately, our experience was the complete opposite, and I cannot recommend this company.
Our trip was planned by Abbey Rafsanjan, Director and Safari Consultant. Before we made our final payment, Abbey was responsive, professional, and provided what appeared to be a well-organized itinerary with detailed descriptions of every hotel and activity. Once payment was made, however, the level of service changed dramatically.
The most serious issue was that three hotels on our confirmed itinerary were changed without our knowledge or consent. In every case, the replacement hotel was of a lower rating and significantly lower nightly cost than the hotel we had paid for.
On the first night, after more than 24 hours of travel, our driver took us to a different hotel than the one listed on our itinerary. We had no reason to suspect we were being taken somewhere else. We only realized the substitution several days later when we returned to Kigali. We immediately contacted Abbey and asked that we be moved to the hotel we had originally booked. He replied that he was in a meeting and would call us back. He never did. After waiting for over an hour, we paid for rooms at the correct hotel ourselves rather than spend another night at the downgraded property.
A second hotel substitution could not be corrected because we did not discover it until we arrived.
The third substitution we caught in time, and we instructed our guide to take us to the hotel that was actually on our itinerary instead of the replacement.
We requested reimbursement for the unauthorized hotel substitutions, but our requests were ignored. Abbey stopped responding to our emails and messages altogether.
There were also problems with the activities we had paid for. Our itinerary included a morning safari, but our guide told us Abbey had never informed him about it. Had I not insisted that the safari was included in our itinerary, we would have missed an excursion that had already been paid for.
As a result, we spent the entire trip having to verify each day's schedule with our guide to make sure we would actually receive the hotels and activities we had purchased. That is not how anyone should have to spend a vacation.
Ironically, before booking, I noticed two reviews mentioning unauthorized hotel substitutions but dismissed them because there were so many positive reviews. That was a mistake. Our experience closely matched those reviews. I've learned that sometimes the negative reviews reveal problems that shouldn't be ignored.
A safari in Rwanda is an expensive, once-in-a-lifetime trip. When you pay for specific accommodations and activities, you should receive exactly what you purchased—or at the very least be notified of any unavoidable changes and compensated appropriately.
Unfortunately, that was not our experience with Lush Africa Safaris. Based on our experience, I cannot recommend this company.
Highly skilled and professional
We had an amazing experience with Sereland Safari! From start to finish, the team was incredibly helpful and planned every detail thoughtfully, making our trip smooth and stress free. Their professionalism, organization, and attention to detail really stood out, and everyone was so polite and accommodating throughout the journey.
A special shoutout to Ezekiel and January for going above and beyond to make our safari unforgettable and sharing all their knowledge during the Safari trips. Their kindness, responsiveness, and dedication ensured everything ran perfectly. We truly appreciated all their hard work and would highly recommend Sereland Safari to anyone looking for a well organised and memorable safari experience!
CH
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Magical Amboseli
Joshua went above and beyond to show us animals and nature in Amboseli national park. He is super knowledgeable and loves sharing background information for all animals encounterd. Joshua is an excellent driver, patient and considerate of his guests and a fantastic animal spotted. He has spotted herds of elephants moving to the water early so we had 1:1 encounters from up close bringing us in the best viewing position . Highly recommended.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Professional, knowledgeable and friendly tour operator.
Julius organised the Nairobi National Park half day tour and elephant orphanage at short notice for our family and customised the timings to suit us. All costs were included and all entry tickets arranged for us. The safari long wheelbase 4x4 vehicle with large windows and pop up roof was excellent for viewing. Julius was friendly and very knowledgeable about the park and the wildlife. A great day out was enjoyed by all. I highly recommend Julius and Heritawi tours.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Jimmy is amazing, he taught us so much, made us feel safe at all times and gave the best experience
We had the most amazing time with our tour guide Jimmy. His knowledge of the parks and the animals was unmatched, we learnt so much from him over the 2 days and I couldn’t recommend him any more. Considering we spent the best part of 2 days in the jeep it was comfortable and clean. The food provided throughout the time was really good and that’s coming from a fussy eater. Accommodation was spotless and fit the vibe of a safari lodge so well. As a group of 4 we all had the most unforgettable trip and we can’t thank you all enough for creating it for us.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent
Great communication, professional guides, and unforgettable wildlife sightings. Thank you for a wonderful trip!
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Always there and supportive
Everything very smooth!
The operator was always there to support and help, the trip itself was amazing - the hotels, organization, places, route etc.
Would recommend 100%
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Excellent value with highly proficient guides
Extremely good value for money - a driver, a guide, six nights safari-lodge accommodation, all meals for almost seven days, transport to three National Parks (Nyerere, Mikumi & Ruaha), and guided tours round those parks, starting and ending in Dar-es-Salaam for two people for well under $2,500.
The wildlife seen included elephant, giraffe, buffalo, hippo, crocodile, zebra, impala (all the parks), lion (Mikumi), jackal, kudu, eland (Mikumi & Ruaha).
The wildlife lodges were top quality with good food and friendly staff.
I can't find anything to object to and this is my seventh safari in two months.
DE
under20 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Unforgettable experience with the best guide and the best driver
My family and I went on a 9 day trip with our german speaking guide Victor and our english speaking driver Ecky.
We had an amazing time and it felt very family like. Together we got to make memories, had a lot of laughs and good conversations.
Both of them shared their wide knowledge about nature and animals with us and also about their culture and way of living.
Problems with the car, food, and plans were solved quickly and without us even noticing.
We had an amazing time thanks to the both of them. We will never forget the memories we made together.
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful safari, but terribile organization
We booked a combined safari and Diani Beach tour, which unfortunately turned out to be quite a disaster from an organizational point of view.
The safari itself was absolutely amazing. We had the chance to see an incredible number of animals, and our guide, John, was outstanding. He always made sure we got as close as possible to the wildlife and made every day enjoyable. The drives between the parks are long and can be tiring, so if you're not prepared for that, my advice would be to visit only the Masai Mara, it is absolutely worth it on its own. Diani Beach is also beautiful.
The major issue was the organization. We had agreed that the tour operator would take care of everything, including our transfer from Nairobi to Diani, which was included in the quotation. However, on the day of our departure, we discovered that the domestic flights had never been booked. After several discussions, we managed to get the company to cover the cost of the flights, but despite this, and despite our repeated reminders they still didn't book them until the day before we were due to travel.
As a result, only a few flight options were left, and the flights chosen by the agency caused us to miss a morning game drive that we had paid for, as it was included in our package. We also ended up spending almost two full days of our trip waiting around in airports.
Overall, the experience itself was wonderful, but I strongly advise against booking with this tour operator.