50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Large deposit paid, no tour, no response
We have paid over $6000 to this tour company and they have defaulted. Worse still, they are still taking money from others to this day, as I made a separate inquiry with them over the weekend and they were still willing to quote me on a safari
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Zanzibar trip
Please do not book with bonfire adventures.
We did not get our confirmation till the night before, having paid 3 days in advance.
The packages offered on-line did not correspond with the actual package I.e. sunset cruise dinner was a watermelon, cocktail never materialised.
They sent us a text message the night before departure, advising us that we were booked on a .m. flight with no flight details.
There are other your company operators who are more reliable out there.
Do not waste your time with bonfire adventures.
US
Scammed
We got duped for 5k from this company. We paid in full and the company ran off with everyone's money. Someone removed the trip advisor comments of everyone beginning to try and figure out what happened. Endless lies and deceit.
ES
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very bad experience with this company
Very unhappy with Richard Kilonzo and his Safari company:
We booked a 7- day Safari with Richard Kilonzo. To start with, we arranged that somebody from his company would pick us up at the bus station and take us to our hotel; nobody came. Someone from the bus station that didn' t work for him took us to his office. The entrance to the office is embarrasing, full of mud and puddles. He showed himself very friendly the very first day. Not like that the last day when we came back from Safari, that hardly had time to speak to us.
We were supposed to spend a full day driving in Ngoron- goro crater, from 06.00 a.m. until late in the afternoon, as it was written in the planing that he had sent to us when booking the Safari.
Our surprise was that the night before going into the crater he told us that it was not possible to spend the whole day. We could only be inside the crater for 4 hours (from 06.00 until 10.00 a.m.) and then we had to go out of the Park. The problem was that he should have paid one more day fees for us (we were four people in the jeep) in the crater, but he did not. He told us that "laws have changed lately" and he could not do anything, so if we wanted to stay more time in the crater, we should pay the extra- charge. If you look in the Official Website of the Parks, since so many years, the entrance- fee is paid for a 24- hour stay; if you want to stay longer, you have to pay another entrance. He lied to us. So after all, we could not be in Ngoron- goro crater for longer, which is one of the best Parks in Tanzania.
Moreover, the last two nights we were supposed to sleep in Tarangire campsite. He tried to convince us to sleep everywhere else, telling me that in that campsite there was no water (I do not know why), but finally, after my insistence, we slept there.. with hot- water showers. The last day or the Safari we were supposed to have a morning- drive game in Tarangire before coming back to Arusha, and what we really did was to have breakfast in the campsite and inmediately come back to the city; no game driving our last day of Safari, as it was written in our initial planning. He told us that we didn' t ask for the driving that morning... Why have I to ask about something I have already paid and it was included in the Safari plan??
Another german couple came with us for 4 days in the Safari. Richard changed their plans almost everyday, even every 2-3 hours sometimes the planning changed...
I would not recommend at all this company for a Safari in Tanzania. You cannot trust this man absolutely. He sold us a Safari that we haven´ t really done. I strongly recommend every tourist to look for another better and more reliable choice.
20-35 years of age
Disappointing, Scary and terrible service
I did a very disappointing 6 day trekking trip with Kapolondo. I was told i would be trekking Rongai route and will be doing camping at nights. But after landing in Tanzania, Tony the owner of the tour tells me that route is changed its marangu and no camping we will be staying in huts. I was shocked! After arranging everything and paying money upfront, they changed the plans without even consulting me. He also asked for a 250 dollar for porter tips when i confronted that since we are using tents and not camping he said i am mistaken and he meant 250,000 shillings.
The guide failed to wake up on the day of the summit and didnt give us any food when we started. We have good reason in believing that he was drunk most of the time. On reaching back, my climbing partner had to witness Tony beating and punching a guide who was just talking to her.
Couple of other people like our assistant guide david and another guide Mike was who assisted us with airport transfer and Arusha town sightseeing was really good. But on the whole the trip was just disappointing.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Scam bookings - denied plane boarding, unpaid park fees, missed pick-up & briefing etc.
Do not take the chance to have the same terrible and costly experience we had with Mr. Steve Biko, Africa Remote Safaris! As of today, 1/6/2016, we have not been reimbursed for our additional expenses, US $ 4,461, which we occurred due to Steve Biko's continued failings, and have not heard back from Mr. Biko.
Our safari was scheduled, Aug. 16 - Aug. 22, 2015. Day 1, we were not picked up as scheduled in Nairobi to continue to Masai Mara. The hotel arranged for transfer to Wilson Airport and from there we flew to Masai Mara. Upon arrival and being greeted by our driver, we were told our park fees, driver and car fees had not been paid. After waiting around and phoning with Mr. Biko, we were off to go about 1 hour after arriving. Day 3 our scheduled balloon ride did not happen. Day 4 we were supposed to continue to Serengeti, and were denied boarding the SafariLink plane due to Mr. Biko had failed to pay for the tickets. On day 5 after not being able to leave our hotel due to Mr. Biko not paying for our lodging, our family of four had no other option than to change our itinerary for the remaining day's. This cost us an additional $4,461 for accommodation and flights, not to mention the time we missed actually being out seeing animals, and instead dealt with the many failings of Steve Biko and a police report encouraged my the Manager of our hotel, who wants this type of scoundrels out of the Kenyan travel industry. Throughout our safari when running into unpaid services, Steve Biko continuously asked us to pay in order to be reimbursed later - we did not as our safari was paid in full well in advance.
With the experience and knowledge I have today, my advice to you would be to organize your own safari. It might seem overwhelming, but you can book your flights and hotels directly, and arrange for a car with knowledgeable drivers with the hotel you are staying at. Enjoy your travels, and stay away from Steve Biko and Africa Remote Safaris.
IT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Terrible
On the fourth day, when we came away from the masi mara I saw that the driver did not come out of the gate by which we entered, he made a very long ride in the mountains, at least three times the way he should have done, we lost a lot of time .
In the middle of the road told us if we could come up with the wife, we said that was fine.
At one point it was stopped at a checkpoint of the tickets, gave our ticket to the ranger and the driver did not wait for the ranger give back the ticket, he left very quickly.
After about 20 minutes by road stopped in a village and came down from the bus.
While we waited Jackson arrived a ranger and when jacksone back talked a bit with him, then the ranger climbed on the bus with us and made us go back to the point of checking tickets. I asked what the problem was and the ranger said he had to ask questions to Jackson.
the driver came down and it was a long time talking in the office.
While we waited, the ranger came up to me and my wife and asked us how many game drive we did.
I said the truth, 5 game drive, the ranger was surprised and asked me to explain when we made them. I explained what days we did the 5 gamedrive, the ranger asked me how many nights we slept all'Ashnil and I put 3 nights.
At this point, Jackson has returned very angry and menacing tone told me that I had not done as he had said, to say only one day.
I understood that the problem was in the park tickets and I put that I have paid for 3 nights and that was his problem.
The driver is back with the ranger's office and after a while came back and we left.
We lost a lot of time, my wife and I were very scared and did not know what to do. We had lost all faith in Jackson and we wanted to come down and let us return to Nairobi by a taxi.
We decided to continue because the driver was calmer, he drove very fast to recover the lost time.
At Lake Nakuru did his wife get off the bus and arrived at the park after 17.00
It 'was a very bad experience, my wife and I have had a lot of fear and we have lost all faith. We lost a day of safari. We had to get to lake nakuru for lunch and we arrived in the evening before sunset. There you have cheated and deceived.
CN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
the worst travel experience of my life.
Please be cautious of this company that scammed us; this has been the worst travel experience of my life.
1. We paid the full amount, but the 6 nights of hotel accommodations and park entry fees included in the trip were never paid. We only discovered this upon arriving at the hotels. The travel agency asked us to cover the costs upfront, promising to refund us later, but they have since completely disappeared.
2. The agency unilaterally changed the hotels specified in the contract without prior notice. They replaced the hotel in Nakuru with a substitute that costs more than double, and they did not refund the price difference.
3. The agency has repeatedly deceived us through various means and delayed our plans, which has severely impacted our itinerary. We have lost an entire day in Maasai Mara.
This experience has been a total scam and a nightmare, so I urge everyone to be very careful with this company.
TR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Terrible Experience
We had a 5 day safari tour with Jocky Tour. First two days were as it was on the program but when it was our 3rd day things started to change. Driver canceled our early game drive because he simply didn’t want to. When we complained he said we can discuss and never showed up (we didn’t even need to discuss because we already paid for the whole thing). We let it go for the sake of the other days because we only depend on that driver and we didn’t feel safe. Next day he wanted to keep our game drive short (it was till late afternoon from 7:30 am but he wanted to finish the game drive at 10:30 and transfer us to the other location). This time we didn’t want to let ot go and told him that we paid for this service and we want to stick to the program. He found it offensive and gave us attitude the rest of the trip. Last day we had a boat tour on the river and he said it wasn’t included and we said he should call the office he went against it first and then he called and let us to the boat ride. This is not how it should be. No one has to fight to get the value that they already paid for and plus receive bad attitude for it. If you can get the value out of the program it would be a nice budget safari tour try not to shop from the shops in Kenya they stop frequently because they are overpriced. (you can buy the same stuff im Tanzania for almost %20 of the price tags in Kenya). Overall I would go for another tour company next time for sure (with more reviews and higher ratings) and maybe pay a little more for it. Maybe thats when you don’t have to worry about if they will try to screw you somehow the next day.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very disorganized
We booked a short trip to Mombasa using the SGR. When we got to the Miritini station all the people who had booked with Bonfire we're herded to one corner. Most of us had no transportation to the hotels. Where a bus finally showed up, 2 hours late, it broke down at the parking lot! They eventually put us in 3 separate taxis after much complaining. We wasted about 4 hours that counted as part of the first day of the trip.