IN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great Safari With some minor hiccups by the Driver
First of all, I would like to thank Sylvester for offering us such a fabulous Safari.
The hotels & the plans were spot on. I am also thankful to his recommendations for the safari itinerary, and saving timing by not doing back-tracking.
Our Hotel selection was fabulous for the package that we opted for. And we felt that everything went as per the plan :)
Minor Hiccups (Driver : Pascal):
1. The driver would take unnecessary stops & waste time at Curio shops, expecting us to buy stuff, despite telling him that we didn't want to.
2. There was no WiFi offered by the driver, despite Sylvester confirming that he has the device.
3. There was only 1 pack of 20 1/2ltr bottles being shared by the two of us & the driver, and that ran out on day3 (of our 7 day safari), we had to spend a lot on buying from the hotels.
4. The driver wanted an evening off (on easter eve') on our stay at Naivasha. We were happy to skip our boat ride & allowed him to go back and spend time with the family.
Despite us being considerate, having him join us for meals all the time, offering him wine & beer after all game drives, he fooled us on the last day by making us skip the safari at Amboseli in the morning. Which we later found out made him save a full day's park fee! We kinda felt cheated.
This was discussed with Sylvester on our meeting before the flight, and he agreed to investigate.
Sylvester also mentioned that he will take action against the driver & offered us refunds for unused safari/park fees/resources - if the driver is found guilty - as they have GPS trackers and can confirm his holiday & skipping the game-drive. The investigation led to our facts being True.
But it's been 4 months+, Sylvester hasn't carried out any refunds as promised, even after regular follow-ups.
Overall -
I feel its a Great experience being in Kenya which in itself is a 5-star experience. I would have given a 5-star rating if the post-safari experience was Prompt & Professional as well.
These minor hiccups surely are something which can be avoided by paying attention to details and making sure the Drivers & Managers don't want to make these minor cost-cutting stunts.
AE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very helpful conpany
Very good company just tell them what do you want and they will just help you to arrange , their prices are affordable and the overall experience is great.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Excellent
This was the second time I used Jossec Tours and Safaris. The reason I came back to them is because they met all my expectations and gave me the best tour for me and my young family. They were very helpful and thought of everything. My kids even watched a lion hunting in Tsavo!!!! That remains their most enduring memory of the safari. I highly recommend them and thanks once again for the experience.
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great experience with Sunny Safari!
Great experience with Sunny Safari! Jessica always answered all our questions prompty and organized our hotel in Arusha and ride from airport. Hamisi was our driver/guide for the safari and provided excellent service. He could spot an animal miles away- like a Leopard hiding in a tree. He handled driving the very bumpy and challenging roads especially in the crater with great skill and ease. My husband and I are middle age and did the Tangarerie National Park (1 night), Serengeti (3 nights) and Sopa lodge (1 night) for 5 nights. We found too much driving for 6 days and would recommend either flying to Serengeti or out of Serengeti or adding another stop in between. Also, the safari jeep are the basic vehicle with no frills. If you want the luxury jeeps with big comfy seats, a/c, nice big coolers then book the more expensive safari. Otherwise, we were satisified customers.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Really took care of me and my friends
She did a great job and helped us go on the trip we wanted. Fair warning though, cash is king. I could not find any places that would take a credit card but she worked with us and we were able to find enough cash over the next couple of days to cover our safari. I would like to add that the driver that she set us up with was amazing and went the extra mile to take care of us and had great relationships in the national park to help make the trip awesome.
QA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An unforgettable experience
It's an absolute privileged to write a review for this travel agent and his company.Because of him,we had a trip of a lifetime in magical Kenya!.we could not have asked for a better experience and are so happy we chose this company to organize this trip for us.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Prompt, friendly and professional communication from and with Mandy Pienaar.
Amazing being in Imfolozi Hluhluwe game reserves. Lots of animal sightings. Mpila camp staff were friendly, accommodation was clean and neat and adequate but mosquito meshes all badly damaged, cracks in the walls of our chalet, doors don't close properly due to having expanded. No keys for chalets, only latches on doors. Great braai and verandah. Great views. Very sad that there were no game drives offered by the camp. The staff at reception gave me differing stories - there were no vehicles and or there was nobody to drive the vehicles...
I wanted more
I would have preferred my tour personalized. I paid, got picked up by a hired taxi, got dropped off then got picked up again. All without seeing anyone from your office and I wasn't informed of all these
For that, I expected more value for the amount paid which was higher than should have been
NZ
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing 9 Day Trip with Adam and Shemeji
This Safari went over and above our expectations. Emma did a great job sorting the trip out, from start to finish and was very prompt at returning my emails. Adam our driver and guide was excellent! Very professional, friendly and super accommodating. With 10 years experience and still a great passion for nature and wildlife you couldn't ask for any better. The camps we stayed in along the way were great, the service and food was top notch! We are already trying to decide when we can come back and do more, and we will defiantly be using Shemeji Safari and Tours again.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Avoid Faustin tours
We (my boyfriend and I) booked a full 5-day Mikumi /Selous safari package tour with Faustin. We agreed on the price and paid Faustin the whole amount in advance. We never received a bill, although we asked several times for it! After paying, he told us, that he wasn't accompanying us for the trip, leaving us with an odd driver, who couldn’t speak English. Even though we had many negative incidents with the driver, the peak reached on the last day of the trip, when the driver never turned up at the hotel to bring us back to Dar!!! Even the people from the hotel and the local guides were shocked with this behavior.
Faustin’s organization was not well planned at all. For more information please read my boyfriend’s (Kosta) review below!!! We never heard from Faustin during the whole tour and are a bit shocked with his response. He uses fake facts/information to respond to honest feedback from customers. Faustin response doesn’t add up. We booked a full package tour from the beginning (pickup Dar + tour + dropoff Dar), not only a driver and a car!
Our trip was never about the money, we had the money, it was about the service. We flew to Tanzania for safari, of course we had the money!!! We are not his friends to ask for favors.
Looking at his negative reviews, his response is always the same. Faustin blames the customer by responding that the customer had no money and he -Faustin- tries to help making a tour possible. Which in our case was not true. He never offered help in any way.
We do not want such an incident to happen to anyone else, that’s why we really not recommend Faustin. If it would be possible, we would give him zero stars.
I bet he is going to respond to my review also negative.
Be very careful booking your safari by him.