FI
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent safari tour
We went the first time safari ride so there was a lots of things to consider and taken care of at first. Maureen- the owner contacted us and gave us a detailed schedule as well as answered our questions patiently. Even the day we arrive Arusha, Maureen contacted the airline to ask if there would be any delays. The she met us before and after our safari rides to give us tips and bid goodbyt. Our driver Horace gave us the most memorable safari ride. He is very knowledgeable, responsible for the workwith best customer service, be on time always, focus on what he’s doing and explains things clearly. The seregeti np and ngorongoro crater exceeded our expectations, just wow. Our only regret was not able to see the migration and rhino, just because we chose to adventure 1 day in seregetti. The lodge was excellent with superb food, view, accommodation, friendly staff. We highly recommend to stay at hhando coffee lodge. To sum up, we will choose african savannah trekkers anytime coming back tanzania. Recommend unreserved to everyone.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Safety, Planning, Transparency and Trust were at the heart of it...
Prime Safaris Uganda gave a good first impression. Cate wrote in a welcoming and professional manner with strong salesmanship. The emails were filled with ‘exciting’, ‘thrilling’, ‘adventure’, ‘amazing’, ‘rewarding’ and many more positives. It was to be a 21 day custom trip starting in Rwanda and traversing throughout Uganda using budget accommodation. I was swayed to pay an average of £300 a day for the trip. I had high hopes.
The trip didn’t go well at all. I’ll start by describing safety concerns then describe some of the days in relation to the accuracy, transparency and planning. At the end is a series of tips worth reading to prepare for a safari in Uganda or nearby.
3 of the lodges had Mosquito Nets which were torn, with holes in or not properly attached to the bed. Both the guide and myself frequently ended up with stomach problems so I gave him some of my medicine to help
The car was in serious disrepair. Loose electric cables and faulty air conditioning which worked half the time and regularly leaked onto the feet.
Later on, the speedometer and other instruments stopped working. The guide mentioned that we’d be lucky not to be stopped by the police.
One of days early in the trip was a visit to Lake Bunyonyi. We reached at midday and the guide left me at a lodge on an island while he looked for accommodation on shore. He soon messaged me to say the car’s axle broke and he'd search for a replacement part. I did not see or hear from him until the following day. When I raised this with Prime Safaris, they responded with a defensive email denying the breakdown happened at all. I couldn't tell if the guide was lying or they were. Two days later, I was left alone again while the guide said he would take the car to get the AC repaired. Later, in conversation, he mentioned that he tried repairing it using tape so I'm not sure where he went that day. It wasn't repaired and began leaking again.
A day on the itinerary had a briefing of “amazing cycling experience traversing the Fort Portal Crater field with scenic crater lakes and hollows. From the activity, transfer to Lake Albert enjoying the views of Albertine Rift valley including the scenic flats, escarpments and the Blue Mountains of Congo. Enjoy a thrilling bush dinner under the lush tropical sky.”
The day had under an hour of cycling along a city road. It was really disappointing and made worse by all available bikes having grave faults including some with nonfunctional brakes. I went with working brakes but faulty gears.
Before we set off along the road to the Amabere caves, I asked for a helmet for safety but they said they had none. We cycled at a leisurely speed but, strangely the bike guide needed to pause every few minutes to regain his breath. The remainder of the trip, cycling up to the crater lakes, was cancelled due to lack of time.
After driving back to town, we had a rushed lunch and the Prime Safaris guide admitted he was surprised all this activity and distance to travel was planned for a single day. We set off at 1pm and drove at full speed to reach by 8pm, luckily sooner than expected because the guide managed to find out about a shortcut from speaking to locals. When we reached, the reception said it was too late for the bush dinner and we would have needed to have arrived by 6pm for it to be ready. Later, while waiting for a meal, I conversed with a member of staff and learnt that they hadn’t even received a request for the bush dinner in advance. I raised concerns with Cate by email and she responded again with hostility, asserting that I was an hour late to breakfast and took multiple stops of 30-40 minutes. “The guide advised against such stops which would cause late arrival but you said it was okay for late arrival”. I was taken aback as it wasn’t true. It became clear that they phoned the guide and he came up with these lies to try and defend himself. It shows that Prime Safaris are not interested in listening to their customers, only in defending their mistakes.
Another surprise was a day described in the itinerary as “Take up a lasting authentic cultural to the indigenous Karimojong on the great hills of Mount Morungole.” “It’s an active adventure to the Mountains and it’s a whole day experience with great sightseeing as well.”
It turned out to be a short drive to a nearby small town where a local gave a brief spoken tour of their customs. It was all there was to do so we drove back to the lodge to rest before having lunch. The guide said he knew that this was what to expect and he’s unsure why the office described it as a full day with active adventure.
A similar falsehood occurred earlier in the trip with the activity at Lake Bunyonyi described as “do canoe paddle exploring the Island Communities & the fishermen”, “a canoe ride exploring this amazing lake, hopping between Islands and visiting the Islands to view the way of life of the Islanders and their traditions.” It turned out to be a motor boat trip with a member of staff from the lodge talking a bit about the history of the area. He didn’t know what else to offer so stopped at a nearby market and chatted to locals he knew.
There are many other examples of the experience not matching the itinerary that was sold.
To conclude, the initial customer service, exciting itinerary and great expense gave me high hopes. When things started going wrong and Prime Safaris put me at great discomfort, I raised the concerns with Cate by email. I asked her to focus constructively on the remainder of the trip and hoped for the best. Surprisingly, I received defensive and hostile replies, dismissing all the concerns. Prime Safaris were not interested.
Following each email, the office phoned my guide a number of times and became very aggressive with him. It made him visibly upset, trying to defend himself, and the trip deteriorated as a result. Feeling we were both victims, I chose to confide in him and mentioned that I might request a partial refund.
When I returned to the UK, I received a very hostile email from Cate who stated she was disappointed I did not want to meet her and her peers at their office, revealing that they gathered “a comprehensive day to day report about what transpired during your tour, photos, voice recordings and videos which we had intended to share with you”. Realising that they wanted to intimidate me with recordings made behind my back, I was relieved I did not meet them.
The email ended with Cate stating that Prime Safaris “are satisfied that you got your moneys worth and are not giving back any refund what so ever. Wishing you a wonderful stay back home.”
By no means am I trying to say the entire experience was awful but, when you consider that I spent £6000 for a 21-day trip and could have realistically hired a quality guide myself, BOUGHT a car that was reliable and had a much better experience for a lot less money, it was a huge regret going with Prime Safaris.
Tips
• Remember insect repellent and lots of anti-diarrhoea medicine.
• Bring a few lightweight long-sleeved shirts to protect against insects and sun
• Bring something warm if you’re visiting high altitudes.
• Use a walking stick if going walking; many paths aren’t maintained and can be very slippery. They’re often provided.
• Brace yourselves for small lizards about the accommodation – might find them moving across the walls in your room. If you’re in a sealed tent, have a look around to make sure one didn’t get trapped in.
• Two weeks max is more than enough to see the best bits.
• Check the route planning if you’re using a customised itinerary and watch out for days where there’s a tight squeeze for participating in activities and making long drives.
• Avoid Queen Elizabeth national park in Uganda. Guides I spoke to said many companies leave it out because the growth of nearby towns caused wildlife to migrate.
• Many guides are primarily experienced in driving and networking, not wildlife. If you’re concerned with competency of the guide, don’t hesitate to ask for a new one. Part way through the trip, I lost trust in the guide and requested a new one. Steven Ashley replaced him and turned out to be a brilliant guide with great enthusiasm and experience. He told me he’s happy to arrange safaris directly. Message me if you’d like his email.
• If you do go with Prime Safaris, ask for Steven Ashley as your guide. Steven is someone who always has a smile on his face and his positivity makes you forget about the failures the company makes.
SE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A true fulfillment of all kind
No doubt, I would recommend this organization to anyone aiming to head to Uganda / central- east Africa. Our guide (Peter) was flexible, informative and helpful at any time and made our trip a total success, for sure. Accommodation as well as driving equipment seemed to be well selected and no complaints about safety occurred during our trip. THANK YOU
TR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fake Company
Tour Agency is not a real company. Owner Joshua stole our money. We traveled with 20 pax and paid our accommodations, transportations (land cruiser) and entrance fee twice. Cause he had pocked our money.
Don’t work with Joshua and Polmans Holiday and Travel Agency!
TR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Cheater Joshua
The owner name is Joshua. He is a cheater.. Really it’s a fake agency.. we sent to our tour budget advance. he didn’t pay our hotel, jeeps,entrence fee etc. we had to pay again. And the last day he stole my 700 usd.. joshua is a thief..
TR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Bubble Agency
Never work this company and owner JOSHUA K KASAU . We agreed with 3 land cruiser but he brought us 3 old minivans. Minivans broke down on the way. Paid him thousand dollars via bank but he did not pay our hotels and also Masai Mara entrance fee.
Don’t trust him!!!!
We couldn’t get the money back. Kenya has a many professional tour agency. You can work any agency except Polmans Holiday and Travel
NL
under20 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
How can they find all those amazing animals?!
Best time ever sleeping in luxury tents in Serengeti and spotting wildlife all day with our guides Freddy and Hadji, who even managed to get us a few meters away from a female lion hunting for a zebra (next to the 25 other lions, chetahs, leopards, rino’s, and elephants we saw). Just amazing!
CH
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
DON'T TRUST THEM
In January I enquired Orongai AS for a 5 days safari for late July. Since the beginning, I required to book ONLY lodges from the Serena Hotel Chain with an HB meal plan and to buy the flight from Arusha to Zanzibar for which I already had a reservation. The proposed program for the safari was meeting all my expectations and therefore I paid 50% of the total bill to confirm the trip (with 6 months advance).
FIRST SURPRISE: in June, after my request of details about the baloon trip that was listed into the proposed plan, we discovered that this was actually not included in the price I agreed (and already paid) but was an extra, costing "only" 510 US$ per person!!! After many e-mails back and forth with Martha, where I also proposed to pay 50/50 their mistake, I finally end up talking with the owner of the company (Mr Asseri) and I accepted, to pay the extra 510 US$. After we arrived in Tanzania, we were transfered to the first hotel where the Orongai rapresentatives showed up with more than 2 hours delay to the agreed breefing.
SECOND SURPRISE: checking out from this hotel, I discoverd that the meal plan was not HB as per the plan accepted by me and I had to pay 25 US$ per person for the dinner.
THIRD SURPRISE: the off-road car for the safari was a 30 years old Toyota Land Cruiser (much older than any other car we meet during the safari) with (probably) a few MILLIONS miles story: fortunately we had no mechanical problems (and this is a real miracle, considering the treatment this veicles receive) but the level of confort of that car was really poor.
FOURTH SURPRISE: we started the tour and we discovered that the plan was shuffled and instead of the agreed Tarangire-Ngorongoro-Serengeti sequence we would follow a Ngorongoro-Serengeti-Tarangire schedule.
FIFTH SURPRISE: despite my cash paiment for the ballon trip, they didn't succeed in boking that experience.
SIXT SURPRISE: when we were in Serengeti, we discovered that our hotel for the next 2 nights would have been a tented camp (and not a lodge as agreed).
SEVENTH SURPRISE: on the last day we discovered that the flight we were booked on was not the 5:10 pm one I originally requested but a earlier one (3:15 pm).
Based on this, would anyone trust them??
PS1: looking at other feedbacks in this site, looks like I'm not the only one having had this kind of disturbing experience with Orongai AS: probably the blame is not to be put on me
PS2: the only good thing of this safari were the guide (Gabriel) and the driver (Francis). They exceeded all our expectations under every aspect: nice and polite, skilled and commited
NL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Unforgettable family vacation thanks to great care and quality of Afrishare
We were an US-Dutch group of nine visiting all for major parks in the Northern circuit. This turned out to be an unforgettable experience, thanks to our great guides, that went way beyond only spotting the big five (we saw them hunting, mating, sleeping in trees), fantastic accommodation and solid communication in preparation.
NL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Amazing guidance to wildlife, carefully selected lodging and sound driving in very positive spirit!
Ibrahim’s response in preparation was very accurate and always timely. He offered a competitive offer with a great 6 day initerary, covering the parks in the north and very different yet always good standard lodging, varying from safari tents in Seregenti to wife views over the Karatu landscapes. We enjoyed this company as they know their profession and are passionate about it, and live up to every promise they make.