35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fabulous..!!!! I have come back from Southa Africa 1 month ago
I recommend to everyone, beautiful views, wildlife, animals and a guide that is 100% prepared to organize your stay.
UA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
They are Liars!
A plus:
It was a beautiful safari and we saw many animals. I want to say many thanks to the chef, his food was very tasty.
Minuses:
We went in the low season, so if you are hoping for what they told in the correspondence, do not believe it! They'll take you as they like. They will not follow the description that is said here. And you will have a safari only in the morning or only in the evening, do not expect that you will spend all the time looking at animals. Our car broke down and we drove 6 hours to the campsite at a speed of 10 km and no one came to our rescue.
We arrived when it was dark, nothing is visible and I hurt my leg, it was swollen and there was a hematoma, and they even do not have a usual first aid kit and they refused even to bring a bottle of cold water that I would put on my leg. On the last day of the safari, the people who were with us, ended their safaris, because they started earlier and we just joined them. At 11 o'clock in the afternoon we were taken to a camping place and we did not go anywhere else!
With all this, the director of this company blatantly lied and denied that everything was fine!
When I gave the guide a tip of $ 85 (4 days of safari for two), he also started to say that we should give tip the chef! Dear authorities, warn people that they themselves should distribute tips between employees, because I thought that they themselves share everything equally. That's why we paid even more!
I do not recommend this company to anyone. The most terrible and deceitful attitude!
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Unsasisfied client
I had booked and paid for accommodation in the Kruger Park at Bergendal through Afritrip Kruger.Com.On our arrival at Malelane Gate after travelling for 5 hours we were told that accommodation had been cancelled as they had not received payment from Afritrip. You can imagine our disbelief. On phoning the company in Cape Town they found accommodation outside the Kruger Park which was not what we wanted but had no choice and another 2.5 hours drive.Lucky for us we knew where we were going,but you can imagine the horror of foreigners who would be expecting to stay in the Kruger Park.On returning home I sent them emails and phoned the company and to date 11/05/17 have received no response.No letter of apology or anything,just completely ignored.I will never recommend booking through them
AE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Liar, Thief, Coward and an Overall Scam!
I am absolutely disgusted with how horribly I was treated during my stay in Kenya after booking through Doyen Safaris. The owner, Kennedy, is the biggest liar, thief and coward I have ever met in my life. When we booked the trip in December, Kennedy was very responsive to my questions and concerns and gave me an itinerary with all of the hotels I would be staying in, so I felt comfortable and excited for the trip. But that was all a lie. From the moment we arrived in Kenya, there were several mix-ups and we were not delivered what we were promised. The hotels we stayed in were 3 of the most disgusting, dirty, old, and unsafe accommodations I have stayed in. The sheets we marked with blood from the mosquitoes and the beds had dirt on them. We were supposed to stay in glamorous tents when we went to Masai Mara, but I was shocked when we got there and I learned that first off I had to share a tent with a total stranger I had met in the car an hour before and second the place was a complete dump and even had a mouse in it. My group was promised a private tour but soon realized Kennedy had placed us with two other travelers. Every time we tried calling Kennedy to fix these issues he would tell our driver, Stanley, he was too busy to talk. The one great thing about the trip was our driver. Stanley was absolutely amazing and made the safari worth it, but anything else Kennedy was involved in was a complete disaster. The food was included in our package and it was the worst food I have ever eaten and I actually came home with typhoid fever because of the dire conditions of the camp. On my last night in Nairobi I was supposed to stay at the hotel Kennedy listed in my itinerary but of course when I got to Nairobi he said the plan had changed because the hotel was booked (he had already done this to us the day before with another hotel as well). I became very angry with Kennedy and began listing all the things that had gone wrong since the start of the trip and he acted like this was brand new information to him even though Stanley had been telling him all along what was going on. He denied everything and seemed shocked when I told him I had to share a tent with a stranger and he blamed the camp. He refused to take any responsibility and promised me he would put me in a 4 star hotel to make up for it. He had a driver take me to another hotel and as soon as we pulled up I knew this was not a 4 star hotel. It was a complete dump. They showed me to my room and when we walked in it turns out there was someone staying in that room already, so we went back to the lobby. I called him and told him this was not acceptable and that I had paid him a lot of money in order to stay in a nice hotel. I sent him several pictures of acceptable hotels I had found online and told him any of those would be fine. He asked me to go to booking.com and pay for the room and that he would send me money a week later through PayPal. Obviously I refused and told him he had to come to the hotel and sort it out right away. He finally came to the hotel and looked upset and annoyed and tried to convince me to stay there. I told him I would not stay there and he just sat around not saying or doing anything for about 20 minutes. Finally he got up and walked out of the hotel without saying a word. After 10 minutes I had the driver call him and he said he was figuring something out. An hour later I was still sitting in the lobby and now he was ignoring the driver's phone calls. I had the hotel call him and he told them to tell me I could either stay there or find my own place and pay for it myself. I was SO upset. What a liar, thief and a coward. Absolutely disgusted that these kinds of people actually exist. Do NOT book with this company. This man is only out for one thing. Your money. My goal is to spread this to as many people as possible so they don't have to experience what I did.
FR
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Fantastic
A safari on foot in the Okavango Delta is an unforgettable experience.
FR
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Botswana by philippejubeau
Animals are everywhere. Large flocks of elephants, few tourists.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Making a plan, to fit my requirements
I was on conference in Uganda, and decided to try my luck in doing a Gorilla tour, with the 2,5 days I had available after the conference, before my flight home. Not only was Elly very quick to respond to my initial enquiries (and all mail subsequently), but he was also able to tailor the usual 3 days package, which the other operators did not offer. By changing my second night stay, he was able to get me back to the airport on time, without risking driving at night after the trekking.
My pick up was 10 minutes early (always a good sign), accompanied by a company representative, and the guide.
The tour guide, Tom Karwani, was clearly experienced. His vehicle was super clean, neat and in perfect working order. I was travelling solo, and spent the next 3 days with Tom, driving, eating, chatting, enjoying the scenery and companionable silences. We talked about politics (both his and mine), families, economies, conservation and I challenged him to a quiz app. After a few false starts, we eventually made the high scores!
About the accommodation? Night one was rustic. I love camping, so finding a perfectly located tented camp in the forest, was a treat. And hot water shower luxury is always a bargain when "eco-locating". The second best score Broadbill camp earned, was for the roaring lounge fire, on a cold night. And the best score, was for the hot water bottle in my bed. Made a great cocoon nest for the night. I am sorry I could not stay there the second night.
The gorilla excursion went off without a hitch. All paperwork was done, and the rangers were professional, friendly and helpful. Use of porters is not required, but I was happy to support the local community in this way. And I was happy to tip the staff, for tracking the gorillas from early morning, resulting in our small group finding the gorillas within 10 minutes. I understand we were particularly lucky in this regard.
The gorillas you have to experience for yourself. It is very special.
The second night was spent in a superb modern and top class hotel in Mbarara. Igongo Country Hotel. With all the modern conveniences, and a personal guided tour of the museum and culture village, I enjoyed my stay here too.
All in all, the service providers Elly had picked, and the regular whatsapps to check if everything was OK, made my adventure thoroughly enjoyable, and safe. Thank you.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great fun, a good budget safari option in a beautiful park
This is a really good option if you are on a budget. I did a trip with them to Kidepo NP and it was an amazing park and so much fun. Be aware that the trips leave from Kampala and so involve a lot of driving, but the vehicle is comfortable enough and also perfect for safaris as the roof raises up. The cooking was always very good and substantial, and our driver Rogers was great – he had some very long drive days and coped really well with it all. It was the cheapest option I could find to Kidepo and the 5-day trip means there is time for 2 game drives as well as the nature walk. I was very impressed with the drives as they lasted for about 5 or 6 hours each, so there was a lot of time to see many different animals! We were also the only car in the park which is very unusual in East Africa, but makes for a special experience.
FR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
First trip in South Africa and Mozambique
I just return from my first trip in South Africa, Swaziland and Mozambique. It was an exciting and unforgettable trip among a little group of 6 persons. Thierry (Biwakwango) was our guide, driver, translator and cook.
With Thierry, we discovered Johannesburg. We travelled through Swaziland and had the great pleasure to arrive to the fabulous "Dunes de Dovela" in Mozambique. Probably one of the most beautiful places in Mozambique with its deserted beach, its french-mozambican food and its accomodation.
We spent three days in Kruger parc to try to see the "big five". The final part of the trip was in the Soutpansberg.
A detail : Thierry's car is specially adapted to facilitate animal watching.
We really enjoyed our trip ! Thank you Thierry!!
ES
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
4 days and 3 nights campaing safari, one of the best experiences in my life!
We arranged a 4 days and 3 nights safari with James (dilunga), including Manyara, Serengeti and Ngorongoro. He explained in advance all the details about the tour, like locations, meals, game driving schedules, etc. The experience later on was accurated to his previous explanations. in summary, we got what he promised we would get.
James helped also to make part of the payment using our credit cards without paying any fee. He kindly proposed us to pay the entries to the parks for the whole group, and pay the difference in cash. Thank you again!!
We decided to go for a budget safari, sleeping in tents, but the experience was unforgettable. We saw the Big 5 and I personally had the best experience in Ngorongoro Crater, amazing place! (try to be down in the crate as soon as possible when you visit it).
At the end of the trip, James came to the hotel and asked us about our feedback and suggestions about what could be improved.
SAfari is an amazing experience, and Big5 Voyage made it great for me!!
Asanté!