NL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Ngorongoro Crater by Joost
The Ngorongoro crater was the biggest disappointment for me. I imagined a crater full of wildlife but it was mainly a crater full of tourists. To see lions it is a good place but again, like the other popular parks in Tanzania, you will always have to share it with 70 other cars. In addition, I found the practical aspect of the crater a real obstacle. If you are not staying on the edge of the crater, but like most people in Karatu, it will easily take you 2.5 hours one way to get to the crater from your lodge. The crater is very small, so you can explore the vast majority of it in 2 hours. If there is something to see somewhere, you can recognize it by the dust cloud moving in the direction of the sighting...
I would strongly advise skipping this destination. It's better to stay an extra day in the Serengeti...(which I didn't like that much as well)
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Don't use this agency!
I booked via internet a 3-day-safari with Amani Tours and Travel for me and my two daughters. One month before the trip starts I transfered 50% of the payment as deposit and the rest of the payment I payed cash when we arrived Tanzania.
On the evening before the trip should starts I got an email that the safari is cancelled... From this moment I couldn't reach Daniel/Donald??? and I'm still waiting for my money...
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Attention! Lilac Adventures is untrustworthy and unreliable!
For an amount of nearly 6.000 USD, payed in advance for a safari in
Uganda supposed to start in March 2016, Lilac Adventures did not provide ANY of the services promised. Due to
negative reviews by former clients, we asked Lilac some time before the safari was
scheduled for details of the accommodation bookings and for copies of
the Gorilla Permits. The only thing they came up with were ever more
phantastic excuses why they allegedly could not provide us with any of
the documents requested. Therefore we contacted all the lodges ourselves and asked for bookings done by Lilac in our name - there were none. Being confronted with this, Lilac began to run out of
reasons and finally had to admit that 4 months after receiving
our money they had not prepared or booked anything. They also admitted that they would not be able to conduct the safari but did not give any valid reasons for that. At this point they
promised us a complete refund of our money - half a year on, we have not received anything.
So please do not make the same mistake we did, and especially do not
believe a word when they try to coax you into booking: they will go to
great lengths in trying to explain why they could not deliver the
services they were paid for by us and will give different reasons for this (delays in
the financial / banking system, political instability and / or unrest, etc. etc.), or perhaps they offer that you pay only a deposit (f.e. 20%) in advance. But please be aware that they are
completely untrustworthy and very likely they will just take your money without rendering anything for it.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Terrible
I am embarrassed for my country. The roads in Etosha are horrific and a utter disaster. What impression do we leave tourists, these roads will make you buy a new car.
RO
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Terrible experience with Amani Tours - 3 day safari in Mikumi
Our biggest complain is that we've payed the Mikumi park entrance fee - $ 150 in total ($ 75 per day) in addition to the entire trip, which was $ 900 ($ 450 per person). The park fee supposed to be included and Daniel promised us that he will return the money, but of course that did not happen. And overall service was not as described. The trip was in a regular van, not a 4W Jeep as on photo. The accommodation was outside the park, not as described.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Tarangire National Park by Aruna Marathe
Grossly over rated park. Not worth the visit.
DE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Horrible Tour Company, Horrific Experience, Very Negative.. The Two LadiesScam Artists.. Stay AWAY!
The two ladies are rude and unqualified to complete tours. Tours are not properly planned and horribly exectued. You will pay everything accommodations that are 20 USD a night, will be charged 200 USD!!! Your 4x4 will break down, and be replaced by an older 4x4. When stranded on the side of the road, both ladies will not be contactable, and when you reach them, they will say "Let Me Tell You Something..." and make excuses on why the vehicle is poor condition and say hang up the phone on you. You will wait for hours in the heat on the side of the road, or late at night on rainy wet dangerous roads. Your life will be in danger and your safety and security will be compromised. They will change the itinerary with out informing you and or contacting the driver. And when asked questions, they will not be reachable again or they will yell at you on the phone and then shut the phone and turn off the device, leaving you stuck. There answer will always be "Let the driver figure it out, I am driving" or shut the phone when you are serious distress. They will rob you of such an incredible country with so much to offer. They will not know the location of specific activities, they will overcharge you and say "No" after yes earlier was already confirmed. I cannot imagine a tour service company can talk to a customer in such an extremely rude way. They are not able to adapt to changes in the scheduling based on weather, and roads and conditions and will say "If you miss the activity you will not be refunded and it is your fault." There idea of tour operator is simply booking the accommodations, overcharging, and leaving you fend for yourself. Overall, I wasted the best experience of Uganda, which is an amazing country. While I understand that no tour is perfect and mistakes happen, I do expect any company to try to make things right in the end, and not yell and scream at the customer and especially hang phone up on you while stranded because of a hazardous vehicle. I found their lack of integrity on the follow up shocking. And I'm sad because we were psychologically treated like second class citizens and missed what Uganda has to offer.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Con artists
Do not use this company - they stole £30,000 from my mother and then disappeared
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Stranded in Africa!
Customer service pre departure - atrocious. Information given re connections in Africa - atrocious. They failed to pay the camp operator in Selous so our booking was cancelled, despite the fact that we had paid in full weeks before departure, but they still allowed us to arrive at the airstrip with nowhere to stay. The security guard at the airstrip had to call the camp to get them to collect us or we would have been stranded there, and in some danger as a result. The manager of the camp saved the day by allowing us to stay but still had a lot of trouble getting the payment from Pure Safari, who just ducked and dived the whole time. Their attitude was arrogant and complacent throughout (one agent in particular has an unbelievable attitude to his customers). We have had no apology from them, despite sending in a written complaint, in fact they haven't even acknowledged it after three weeks. They don't seem to have had a good review for over a year, and the fact that they failed to pay the camp indicates that they are probably in trouble financially, so avoid at all costs, and pay them nothing upfront unless you want to be abandoned in Africa and told a constant stream of lies.
GR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
The worst safari company.
Do not travel with unison. The owner was blackmailing us in the middle of the trip. He was asking for more money althought we payed everything in advance. At the end he abandoned us in the middle of serengeti park. The driver of the car was rude. We were scared about our lifes. The newspaper Guardian had our story in the front page on 27 august 2016. The owner ended up in jail for a few days. The owner offers good prices and then he asks for more money. It better to travel with ANY other company.