DK
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
No royal over this, only scam!
Me and my boyfriend went to Tanzania to go to a safari. We had used so many hours finding the best deal.
We wrote a lot with the man John, and we agreed with the price 1125usd pr pax.
We paid for a flight to Arusha, and accommodation before the safari.
12 hours (at 8pm) before the safari started, John came to the place we stayed, saying he wanted 2000usd pr pax more!! He said he didn’t knew that the price of the national parks had changed because of high season.
We discussed a lot, and the only alternatives he could give us, where worse accommodations and we still had to pay 45usd more!!
When we didn’t agreed with this, because we had a deal on 1125usd, the only option he said was to canceled the trip.
1 day before the trip got cancelled he told us we had to pay for the safari, so we made a bank transaction to him.
When we wanted our money back because he cancelled the trip, we could not have all the money back, because he didn’t want to pay the transaction fee (that we had payed, so he could get the money quick). So the only option was that we had to pay for the fee to get some of our money back!
Afterwards we found out that the price change caused by high season, was something everybody in Tanzania knew about and had known for several month, so it was a total scam that he said didn’t knew, he only wanted more money!
Worst experience ever! Don’t book safari with the company!
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unprofessional
Purchased our excursion through Viator and Gracepatt Ecotours was the operator of the tour. We signed up for a tour listed as 1 hour at the Giraffe Center and 3 hours at the Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi. What we got was 1 hour at each and then taken to a Bead Factory (Tourist trap) and on a zig zag tour of the city. During our shortened time at the Elephant Orphanage, we were delayed by an argument our driver had with the caretakers of the Orphanage. He apparently was trying to sneak another van full of people in under our reservation. We got this from the caretakers. As a result we missed the feeding of the baby elephants. After initially complaining about this to Viator, we noticed the description on the website had changed to 1 Hour Giraffes, 1 Hour Elephants, and 1 Hour Bead Factory. Funny thing is this is a 6 hour tour and not sure where 3 hours of transport would come from? As it was in the original description there was two hours of transport allocated. Overall a Bait and Switch and some unethical behavior from the driver. Clearly they know something was wrong because they changed the description. Good thing we had taken screen shots of the original tour we booked! Viator was no real help in resolving and by the way, they are a Trip Advisor company and you may want to look at their Yelp reviews, NOT GOOD!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Poor service and morals
Unfortunately we did not make it to our tour due to Covid. My review is in relation to the companies poor terms and conditions and handling related to the company being unable to provide its services due to Covid and the associated international travel bans. My partner and I booked Holiday with Rhino Africa early 2020 before Covid was even a known or recognised issue. Our holiday was for September 2020 which obviously could not go ahead. Rhino Africa have refused to refund us our $10,000+ deposit and only offer to give alternate dates. Given this option we went for September 2021 which we are still unable to travel therefore this company is holding a large some of our money.
The contradiction is that the CEO David Ryan has spoken about SAA not providing refunds to Rhino Africa stating "The right thing for government and SAA to have done, both at the time and now, was to refund all tickets they had received payment for, especially where they knew they were unable to deliver the service, then or in the future, Rhino Africa CEO David Ryan said, as quoted by Tourism Update". Yet Rhino Africa are not providing refunds for services which they know they cannot provide now, or in the foreseeable future.
They then asked to pay the remainder of our outstanding balance which is over an additional $10,000+ even though they know they still cannot provide the service due to the international travel ban and current strict Covid regulations in SA... being another $10,000+ which they do not refund.. what a joke.. There are other operators in SA that have provided full refunds for people that booked at the same time we did that do not brand themselves as 'luxury' providers.
CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Owner is awful
Sekanawo Gondwe did not spend one penny of the money we sent him on our safari. First, he tried to get us to send him the full amount for the safari 6 months in advance of the safari. Then he tried to add people to our private safari. Finally, we sent him the other half of the money 1 month before the safari. He never made reservations on our behalf. He never sent any of the accommodations our money. We even gave him extra money to book our PCR tests and he failed to make those reservations. He continued to lie to us and say he would make the reservations and they never materialized. He lied to us all the way up to the moment the Diplomatic and Tourism Police arrested him Arusha and charged him with obtaining money by false pretences. Every word that comes out of his mouth is a bold-faced lie. Steer clear of this unscrupulous operator.
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Alliance Destinations is a fraud.
James Mungai is an extortionist. Taking money for tours he has no intention to deliver. Stay completely away from this company.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unscrupulous tour operator - do not use!!
So, I booked a tour with Zeigen Tours & Safaris (Via Viator) approximately one year in advance (for June 2022) but then had to cancel due to our Covid concerns. So imagine my shock when after booking, they had in bright red letters that all reservations are final and non-cancellable!! A year out???? Really???!!
Despite reaching out to them numerous times, they never responded!!!! Can you say scam artists??!!
So, I'm writing this review as a public service - do not use Zeigen Tours & Safaris unless you're prepared to be ripped off!!!!
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
He's a crook
Don't use them! Michael and Nelson/this company ran off with/stole our trip money for Tanzania safaris and Uganda accommodations - we saved for years for this great adventure and are now, headed home without the experience and without our money!
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
He stole our money and delivered no services.
Saving for this trip for years. We were supposed to go last August/September 2020, cancelled due to covid. Rebooked August/September 2021. We were already in Uganda when we learned our trip was not paid for, despite paying in full in March 2020. He stole our money and ruined our trip.
BE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The agency is FRAUD!
Me and my friend, we ended up with the Abraham Shaidi’s company (Sandland) as a third part booking. We booked a 5 days safari trip with the Three Peaks Safari agency which sub-contracted our trip to Abraham’s company without asking us.
Our experience was terrible. We have never seen the migration in the North part of the Serengeti neither the Ngorongoro crater as it was in our plan.
Our guide, Albert Lema drove like crazy, broke the safari rules several times by disturbing animals’ peace and put us in danger. We did not feel safe in the car and in the campsites (e.g. driving 90km/h, texting us in the middle of night when we slept, putting us between lion cubs and making noises etc).
On the 3rd/ 4th day, Albert and his boss became very rude to us, blaming us that we cost a lot. Albert also yelled at me in the front of clients, he left the camp at 8pm with our suitcases and without debriefing us. Next day at 08:30am, he came back to the camp without saying any word. He gave us his phone and asked us to speak with his “director”. Albert and Abraham asked us for EXTRA MONEY in order to go to the Ngorongoro crater or we would come back to Arusha. I called the Three Peaks Safari agency and explained the situation. The agency called the police….at the end, we have never seen the crater...
Moreover, the chef, Hilda pretended to be a 26 years old single Maasai mother from Arusha (while she was from the village Mto Wa Mbu as well as Albert) was also a very rude, aggressive and laud person.
The owner is crook and the safari guide with a chef – liars! PLEASE AVOID IT
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
CHEATS AND LIARS
I had a safari tour with my family and from the United States through email communication I felt as if though I was booking with a reliable and trustworthy company. I had communication with Magdalene. Our driver Steve tried to cancel part of our safari tour in order to try and pocket the entrance fees we had already paid the company! He confronted us during our family dinner to try to talk us out of it! How disrespectful and unprofessional! I never felt so insulted in my life. I contacted Magdalene who informed me I would be refunded and once I replied to confirm yes send me back my money I never heard one word back!! Do not trust this company. You should not have to go through this when visiting an unknown third world country. Of course safari is a great experience but you can experience all the wonderful things with ANY other company who has reliable staff and drivers, there are so many which shouldn’t try to cheat and steal from you! I tried to be calm about it but after all, I highly discourage anyone from booking with BigMac!