BE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Beware of Wild Race Africa: A Disheartening Experience
Let me begin by confessing that I'm not one to leave feedback often, but my experience with Wild Race Africa and its co-owner, Simon, compels me to share my story to protect fellow travelers from a similar ordeal. I hope my advice can prevent others from enduring unnecessary stress, disappointment, and wasted resources during their highly anticipated holidays.
Before I delve into the details, it's essential to note that 25% of the last 16 feedbacks have rated Simon's services as terrible – that's one in every four tourists. Proceed with caution and read on.
I stumbled upon Wild Race Africa through a Google search before traveling from Europe to Kenya with my fiancé (who is Kenyan) that I wanted to surprise. Though I didn't thoroughly compare options, I was immediately impressed by Simon's responsive and kind demeanor. He seemed genuinely committed to making our customer experience unforgettable, which led me to make a grave mistake.
After a few exchanges via WhatsApp and email, I chose a 2-day/1-night luxury safari to Masai Mara for approximately 1800 USD. Simon requested a deposit of 30% (550 USD) to secure the accommodation.
Here's where the problem started. Simon presented four accommodation options for the luxury safari and insisted on a primary and backup choice. I selected Mara Serena Lodge as my top preference, clearly stating that it was my desired option. However, Simon later claimed that it was unavailable and booked Keekorok Lodge instead.
Subsequent attempts to secure my stay at Serena Lodge were met with delays and excuses. Simon's conduct became increasingly unprofessional, offering reasons such as Keekorok's inability to provide a credit note and false claims of website problems at Mara Serena Lodge.
The situation escalated as I asked for a receipt for my deposit, and Simon's communication became evasive and disrespectful. He even blamed me and others on my side, resorted to threats, and displayed an overall lack of accountability.
My trust in Simon shattered when I requested pictures of the safari vehicle, which turned out to be an everyday Toyota RAV4 rather than the high-profile Safari Jeep promised in the offer. Simon dismissed this discrepancy arrogantly.
After careful consideration and consulting with my fiancé, we decided to cancel the safari to avoid further complications. Simon retained the deposit, placing the blame on me, the customer.
To salvage our holiday, we booked a different safari with Olare Kempinski, which proved to be an outstanding experience with exceptional customer care, top-notch safari jeeps, accommodations, food, and game drives.
In closing, I urge all potential customers to exercise extreme caution when dealing with Simon and Wild Race Africa. Refrain from making any deposit until you receive a firm reservation for your chosen accommodation, and demand a written assurance that any future changes will lead to a full refund.
Based on my experience and years of business leadership, it's evident that honesty, respect, and integrity are not part of Simon's core values. Should you encounter discomfort or unsafe circumstances during your interactions with Wild Race Africa, prioritize your safety, even if you've already paid the deposit. Consider filing a complaint with your credit card provider to protect your interests.
Kenya offers excellent, honest, and reputable businesses worthy of your investment, but Wild Race Africa is not one of them.
Now, brace yourself for Simon's expected reply, where he will likely resort to his typical approach of deflecting blame onto customers and refusing to take responsibility. This will only validate the concerns I've shared above, confirming that any issues during your trip will be blamed on you, the paying customer, rather than the service provider.
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing and unforgettable. Professional and very friendly. Passionate about their job. Perfect
If there was a note System between 1 and 10. I ll give a 11 !!
Thumbs up for everything, starting with the booking, the direct communication was excellent, all questions were answered very quickly.
Our Safari was planned and organised according to our wishes even the tickets for the last ferry to Zanzibar on the last day !!
Everything went according to what was described except it was just better than what we thought.
Our guide Yunus was very friendly, professional and passionate about his job ! He answered all our questions, made us feel very comfortable and safe. He made extra sure that we would get an amazing experience. Yunus knew all about the park and could find every animals, a real talent ! !
I can only recommend and I will definitely book a safari with African Pangolin Safaris when I go back to Tanzania
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The Trip of a Lifetime!
We had the most amazing time! My husband and I booked a 6 day safari through amboseli, lake Naivasha, and masai mara. We saw so much more than we ever expected. Steve was our tour guide and he was so knowledgeable and kind. He answered all the questions we had throughout the journey and shared his love for his country with us. We ended up seeing the big five while on our safari! Which I contribute to Steve instincts and skill. Leading up to the trip Simon communicated with us and answered anything I needed. They are overall a very trustworthy and reliable group to tour with. I would recommended them to anyone looking to go to Kenya!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
So kind and caring
The employees were very nice and payed attention to us. I always felt safe and cared for.
FR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Wonderful safari
I went on safari with my family with psalms adventure, and we enjoyed it!
We loved the guide Godi when we went to the coffee plantation. The safari was good, and we loved the Moyo tented lodge in the Serengeti. We saw a lot of animals. Wines was very kind and made the safari we wanted!
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
All was excellent, perfectly organised from the planning to the tour itself. Super reccomended
Our experience was perfect! Communication was excellent since the exploratory questions prior to the booking, to the payment and the last communication Upon arrival.
The tour was tailored on our needs and will, and it went extremely well.
Paul was super kind in helping us with the organisation and Ezekiel (our guide) is simply amazing, very knowledgeable, kind, and ready to answer our questions. Also Elliot the Chef Is a nice guy and a great Cook!
We saw the big five and much, much more!
EXTREMELY RECOMMENDED!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Highly recommended!
My family (me, my husband, and our 5-year-old) booked a 13-day safari trip. The communication with Anne was very smooth. We had Eluid as our guide in Kenya and Mike from Migada Adventures as our guide in Tanzania. Both of them were extremely professional, experienced, knowledgeable, and helpful.
We visited Masai Mara and Amboseli in Kenya, and Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Lake Manyara, and Tarangire in Tanzania, and were able to see over thirty species of mammals and over one hundred species of birds. Also, we took pictures and videos of wildebeests migrating, lions mating, elephants with babies, etc,...
Anne helped us arrange a night safari in Lake Manyara, which was also awesome. We were able to see some bushbabies and genets there.
This trip is truly AMAZING MEMORY for my family!
NL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Super organized in detail.
Super organized in detail. Very knowledgeable guides. Great tour. I highly recommend uwanda tours.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Friendly, helpful, answered all our questions in a timely manner.
Just finished a 2 day safari with Mazingira Eco Friendly safaris out to Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangire National Park. It was a beautiful experience! Jacob was very helpful setting up a safari camp for our volunteer group of 20 and stuck to our tight budget. Our guides David, Tom, and Daniel were knowledgeable, happy, and fun to be around! Would definitely recommend Mazingira and plan to travel with Mazingira again in the future.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
completely disorganized and made me feel unsafe
African Sermon Safaris was completely disorganized and had no idea what they were doing. As a solo traveller, I felt unsafe and like I was going to be stranded somewhere. To start, the company gave me no information about my pick up until I asked them multiple questions. They also messed up my reservation and initially put me in the wrong tour, despite me confirming multiple times which tour I wanted to do. When the driver picked me up, he drove me to a random gas station in Nairobi where we waited for the jeep to take me to Masai Mara. The jeep never came, so we went back into the city center to find it. I also assumed everyone on my tour would be staying at the same camp as me and doing the same itinerary, but that wasn't the case. I was the only one out of the people on my tour to stay at my camp. I signed up for the budget tour, so I knew the camp wouldn't be anything fancy, but the camp wasn't gated and our tents didn't even have locks on them. Everyone who worked at the camp was very friendly, but there also wasn't electricity except for 3 hours a day. Anyways, after the first two game drives, the driver thought I was going to Nakuru the next day, but I was supposed to stay in Masai Mara, so they didn't tell me until the next morning who would be taking me on my game drive, since everyone else in my tour was either going back to Nairobi or to Nakuru. It turns out they completely switched which tour company I was with and I finished the rest of the tour with Jocky Tours (which was a much better tour FYI). Except African Sermon Safaris never even told me I was being switched companies -- I only found out from talking to others on the tour. I was supposed to go back to Nairobi the next morning, and they didn't tell me who was taking me until the next morning at 8am. Also, the company never told me. The woman who ran the camp was the one who coordinated my trip back to Nairobi. Anyways, I know all the companies and camps work together, but it felt extremely disorganized and I hated being passed between drivers and companies. In total, I had 6 different drivers throughout my 4 day trip. Even on my way back to Nairobi they had me switch into a different car, which would have been fine, but then they realized they messed up and put me back in the original car. I'm surprised I wasn't stranded somewhere/didn't end up in a different city. While I still had the time of my life on the safari, I would never book with African Sermon Safaris again. It was extremely stressful and the communication was terrible.