Marvel in the majestic Serengeti!
Seven Wonders Safaris
- Office In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2011)
- Member Of:
- TTB & TLTO
- Tour Types:
- Customizable private tours and fixed group tours
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $180 to $1,115 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
for a custom tour
Your request will be sent directly to the operator
If preferred, you can contact the operator directly
Reviews
MT
Email Kristina | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Ruined experience
This was the worst trip ever in our ecperience and i apologise for the long write up but too much happened...So here it goes...
We booked 11 days shared Kenya and Tanzania safari with this company. The quotation was provided by and communication was held with Evelyn.
While said quotation was provided swiftly, we had to chase her to acknowledge/issue an official confirmation of the deposit payment, as according to her such are not typically provided (weird, isn't?). Since I insisted, some sort of confirmation was issued and she then disappeared without providing any details in terms of pick up or any other details. This silence continued up until the very last moment where although I requested information regarding the time of pick up (she didn't ask about our flights at any point before this), who shall be picking us up and where(it was our first trip to Nairobi, so we were not experts) by email to which no reply was received up until literally last day when I then messaged her again on whatsup (communication couldnt have been attached herewith unfortunately). So on this point a reply was sent and we communicated well upon arrival, where we were picked up by Evelyn at the terminal and 'handed over' to William who took us to their so called office which was closed so we were waiting for the driver outside(at this point we were saying how nice of her to meet us and William was great _he provided so much info on trips, acrivities, etc). Some half hr later the druver arrived and we thought we will proceed but no. We've been sitting and waiting for over 2 hrs and none carred to explain what's that we are waiting for since all 6 people were in the jeep. Here to our surprise although in all our agreed terms we were told that we will be up to 6 persons, 7th person joins instead of a guide! We the proceed to Masai Mara. Since we departed late, on the first day we only had 1.5hrs game drive close to our lodge despite itinerary indicated whole afternoon drive.
The following day we had a full day in the park, but to our all disappointment we were then advised that the 3rd day game drives in Masai Mara will not happen as parks changed the rules ( instead of 24hr to 12hrs ticket validity). None of the 7 people on this trip had been informed of this ahead and none had been reimbursed for this either! we were not even given an option to purchase a new ticket ourselves (some 80 USD for the jeep would be nothing between 7 people when we already spent so much on the whole trip).Instead, the driver advertised a trip to Naivasha Lake as being great 1.5 hrs boat ride to observe birds with a stop on the island to feed animals. Since nothing else except for driving was to happen on that day (since 3rd day of Masai Mara game drives had been cancelled by the company) we decided to go and see the highly recommended lake (note that we didnt have internet so couldn't have checked ourselves and relied on the driver). To cut the story shorth we paid 30 USD each at the place in cash (only accepted in such manner) no tickets or receipts were issued. we spent 53 min exactly on that and saw a max of 10 birds, the lake looked dead and none stoped us at any islands for any animals. Upon return to the shoar the driver bluntly asked if we saw hipos and crocodiles to which quite shockingly we replied that no such live there and he shouldn't have advertised something unless he knew what that really is! Perhaps a suggestion to the company at this point to send your drivers for such trips so they know exactly what is happening?! So even more disappointed we move to the hotel to yet again be shocked to hear that we will be left at some other place than the one we paid for (as specified in the itinerary)! Since this was stated when we were dropping of 2 guys at that place we took the opportunity to connect to the internet and check what's being offered to see that the place we booked showed eur 67 on booking.com while the one the driver told us to stay was 36 eur! We then refused to leave the jeep explaining that it's not our hotel and we want to go where we should! The driver following numerous calls with the office advised that the place we booked is fully booked so we must stay in this new cheaper place which all 5 of us yet again rejected. After some 45 min arguments the driver agreed to take us to the place we actually booked as we insisted that the place showed being available on booking.com and if anything, it must have been booked for us already. We arrive and...the place is nearly empty (why tell us its fully booked???) and we were also given options to change rooms! So lie no1 and we were not only disappointed regarding the cancellation of 1 day of Masay Mara, lost time and money to see dead lake and even more time wasted on arguments regarding the accommodation that we paid for!
The last day in Kenya we went to lake Nakuru where we only had 2.5 hrs so yet again disappointed with the schedule as we should have had more time we proceed to Nairobi to be put on a public bus!!!!! For the transfer to Arusha. At no point in time were any of us informed that the transfer to Arusha will be through a public bus!!but surely it cost peanuts so more money to the company!
When in Arusha, the bus driver surprisingly dropped us at the hotel directly and we were informed regarding the pick up times for the following morning. So far so good.
In the morning the guy comes on time (impressive!) I told him my name and the name of my fellow traveler, he checked his phone and put our bags in the jeep. Here we were informed that since we will be going to the bush, he will stop at the shops if we want to buy some wine and beer so he offerd to get it for us cheaper. We wondered how come he suggested we buy drinks ourselves when drinks were listed in our itinerary as all included but we just let it go and went to withdraw some money to buy something. In the meantime he comes back stating that we should be going back as we are not his passengers! Why did I give him our names and what he checked remained mystery but here we are again wasting our time which we could have spent driving in the park. When he drives us to the office to exchange us, a guy there shows us a map and explains that we will be going to serengeti, ngorongoro and etc. I then specifically open my itinerary and read with him to confirm the details and accommodation which he confirms to me and to my fellow traveller. All good we proceed. In the evening, the driver announces that we shall be going to again diferent hotel than that indicated in the itinerary!!! Again no Internet and same explanation _ fully booked! We endup there where we didnt like to also then get to know during dinner that another 5 people ended up the same as us_we had to be at the hotel that the company stated was fully booked when it was showing yet again available and same story was now sold to 7 people! Although we had water, beverages and wine and beer included in our package, when we asked for water/wine during the dinner we were all told that we must pay for them.
The following morning I decided to write to Evelyn regarding all the above and ONLY asked her to ensure that the remaining part of the trip remains unchanged. She never replied but she asked the driver to pass his mobile to me and she started explaining that nothing changed, that the drinks had to be provided by our chef not the place itself (like we would have known who and what and why he didn't offer if he had to?) that according to her when in the office, we were explained that the accommodation was changed and we never complained about anything etc. At this point I got seriously annoyed with her and their lies and I told her bluntly that i do not trust one single word she says as I told her in facts what happened and there were more people with me who heard all this. She then treated me to cancel the safari as according to her I was lying, none of this what i was saying was true and that in their T&Cs there is indicated that they can cancel safari for whatever reason should they wish so. She told me that she will send the car to pick us up and bring us to the office where she will refund us for the safari to which again I explained to her that I didn't ask her for anything but just to stick to our itinerary and provide what we paid for! She insisted that this is impossible as I said that I don't trust her so consequently i cannot go on safari with their driver and she just cut the cinversation. We then spoak to the driver as he seemed lost and she called again and again and from the treats to cancel us she then decided to proceed with us and while on speaker she confirmed that we shall continue as per schedule and even herself named the places that we go and stay at. This as you can already imagine was another lie as on the way back from ngorongoro we were told that we are going to be taken to that same place where our argument started!! Here we refused to go again, another call another useless chat where she for the second time accused me of lying when the only lier was her and none else and we ended up in the situation where I stated on speaker that her driver also heard her confirming that we will be going to the place that its written in the itinerary and he confirmed this to her in front of us! After some shouting and screaming by her at the driver we were told Nsya (the place we had in the itinerary) is not happening in any case and we were offered 2 other places.i insisted that if she wants to put us in diferent place again she must then upgrade us as we fed up having all these issues after paying for something that we are not getting! Guess what_ no point taken. Here we try to check on booking.com but the Internet was awful so we struggled. When asked the driver to check on his phone all of a sudden his Internet wasn't working and the only options were we were to go where he wanted to take us and we said no. He then took us to yet another diferent place to show it to us but we didn't like it and there was no Internet, he then took us to another place where the office stated that only 1 double room was available while we needed a twin room and when arrived _ triple room was showed! Another lie! Here we were just sick and tired so we said fine we'll stay there but we want dinner and breakfast with all drinks as per itinerary. The hotel rep stated that this is not happening as the company only agreed to accommodate us on room only basis! Another half hr arguments and they decide to leave the company's chef to cook for us but we won't get hotel's food, and also that we won't get any wine as that according to the driver we finished already while on safari! On this point when we were to proceed to serengeti the driver asked us if we like beer, wine or konjak and we told him that no strong alcohol is needed some like beer but mostly wine so we asked to get an extra bottle of wine (he had 1 box of beer in the jeep) and he came back with 2 bottles_ 1 red and 1 white (this for 6 people for 3 days). As said on day one we were not given any wine and the company said that the chef forgot to offer but then they only got the wine the following morning so something doesn't click again! Anyone is still surprised?
So during the dinners on these next 3 days we only saw 1 bottle of white wine and some remaining little of white from the other jeep, while red wine disappeared. When we asked on the last night, the driver stated that he give 2 bottles to the lodge (which wasn't the case as we spoke to people who stayed there and they were paying for their drinks there, it would be weird that someone paying 200 eur a night would gake a bottle of cheap wine to tbe lodge
ES
Email Daniel | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Bad experience. We feel abandoned and unprotected by this company.
Terrible experience! I went with my family to try to see the great migration and thanks to local guides and not our driver we found it but our driver Linos refused to go. First, he asks us for money and they didn't say anything in the company, which we refused, then he began to speak violently and kept us standing for two hours.
When we got internet we called 7 wonders and they informed us that for the 3 hours we had already lost we should book another hotel in the area where the great migration was and pay 2 taxes from the natural parks.
We agreed to pay, we reserved the hotel on our own and when we said to go, the driver Linos refused again, demanding payment in cash. We call 7 Wonders again and they tell us that we must pay in cash.
We take out all the money we have in cash and we are missing 160 USD to reach the amount of 1050 USD that they ask us to pay the park taxes and we inform them that when we go through an ATM we will pay them the amount that is missing.
It is at this time that the situation becomes totally surreal. The driver Linos calls the company and makes up a story that we have insulted him and that he is not going to take us to the area of the great migration where we had already reserved and paid for a hotel minutes before. We called the company and he told us, to our surprise, that we had offended his driver and that the new plan was cancelling.
I insist, at no time did anyone say anything offensive to the driver Linos.
We missed the chance to see the great migration.
We lost 662 USD from the hotel we had booked.
We had to put up with another day and a half with this driver and his derogatory comments about what he called our white money.
We had to see Ngorongoro with a negative environment and with 0 explanations.
We had three car breakdowns along the way.
Tanzania is beautiful. There are many Safari companies.
I think that in our case, perhaps more than being a problem with 7 Wonders, it was a manipulation and attitude of the driver.
He wanted to share the experience because no one should go through the situation that we live.
Reply from Seven Wonders Safaris
Posted on Jul 19, 2023Dear Daniel,
We would like to thank you for your feedback regarding your experience with us during your trip to Tanzania.
We are sad to hear that it turned out as disappointment as this was not really our intention as our aim is to offer good service to all our guests regardless.
Just to share our side of story, you have booked 4 Day safari which was supposed to take you to Lake Manyara, Serengeti and Ngorongoro, with one overnight to each park. You started with Lake Manyara and everything went just fine, the problem started on the third day in Serengeti where you were supposed to do half game drive then drive to Ngorongoro for an overnight.
In the morning of that day you asked your guide to drive you to where the migration is which was a bit far from where you were on that day and your guide explained to you that it will not be possible to drive there and get to Ngorongoro before dark as we are not supposed to drive guests around during dark.
The misunderstanding occurred and your guide decided to call the office so that we can explain to you and the office elaborate to you what will be possible by that time. So you were advised to spend another night in Serengeti at your own costs given that it was a last minute changes and there was nothing to do to get any refund from Ngorongoro accommodation, and agreed with that and we advised you to contact your accommodation as that is where you were staying and you already had a direct contact with them and see if they will be able to accommodate you and pay them directly, something which you did.
So the other charges was for the extra charges as park fee and concession fee to overnight Serengeti on that second night, we gave you all calculations and you said you can pay right away. After 15 minutes you told your guide you have no problem to pay but you prefer to do it in Arusha and it wasn't really $ 60 as you claimed on your feedback.
Your guide informed the office again and we told you that is what you suppose to do immediately for you to have a second night in Serengeti and the park cannot wait until your return in Arusha, that is where everything went wrong as you were not willing to pay this extra.
We understand you were really eager to see the migration and we have tried our level best to assist you, but since you were not willing to cover the extra cost then it became hard and beyond our control as your time was not enough and of course the program you had was not really for migration during July, August and September.
Before your arrival in Tanzania our colleague explained to your Agent of where the migration will be during your visit, but you insisted that you know exactly where they are as you have been tracing them and we should change your accommodation from Northern part to Kirawira.
For the time wasted in Serengeti, it is because we were trying to find solution and wait for you to confirm with your accommodation in-order for your guide to know where to go as you completely disrupted your program for that day.
Before this review was submitted, you contacted our office through WhatApp and you were in contact with our Manager and you requested $ 1,500 as refund for the bad experience and when we were working on it we just saw your review with different stories of what you were claiming on WhatsApp.
On behalf of our Company we really like to apologize about the behavior of our guide during this trip and about the breakdown which sometimes can happen because of the conditions of our roads, we will work on all this to do better in the future.
BG
Email Sylvana | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
7 disasters
We booked a package for 11-day safari in Kenya and Tanzania through Parrot Safaris, Kenya. The Kenyan side of the tour was smooth and very well organized. Jose, our tour agent in Kenya, was easily reached and responsive 24-hour a day, even during his days off. We had Maxwell as our guide and driver and he catered about all of us all the time. But our stay in Tanzania was more than disappointing. First, the truck 7 wonders provide was very old. It broke down 3 times in 4 days and finally, we had to be driven back to Arusha from Ngorongoro by other trucks. Not only had we to spend hours in garages waiting for the truck to be repaired, but our driver Linus was totally negligent and I and my husband felt like useless bags. Most of the time he spoke on the phone and often made pauses on the way to Serengeti. He did not care what time we will reach the reserve because had to arrange some private business with a German tourist. We were overtaken by tenths of trucks just waiting on the dusty road for our driver to finish his phone conversations. In the end he was rushing over the bumpy roads in the parks and no wonder, the truck broke down. When I complained to his bosses, Evelyn and George, through our Kenyan agent, I received just apologies, but things did not get better.
US
Email Nick | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Completely Disorganized and No Transparency
We booked a combined Kenya-Tanzania safari through Okoa Africa Safari (Kenya operator). We were dropped off at the border, and Seven Wonders picked up the Tanzania portion of our tour.
We are experienced travelers who generally don’t mind small hiccups or slight plan changes. However, we experienced many issues on this safari that were unacceptable. No matter what tour agency you select, you will see the animals and the landscapes. If you don’t want those memories clouded by stress, uncertainty, and worry, pick a more reputable tour agency. This is not a professional outfit.
We were dropped off at multiple locations that didn’t match our provided itinerary with no Wi-Fi / service to contact the agency. In one instance, the next driver showed up 15 hours late. There was a lack of information and transparency that left us feeling unsafe, vulnerable, and stranded.
A flat tire is reasonable and common. However, setting off on a three-day safari in the Serengeti with a damaged, leaking radiator is negligent and unsafe. We were stranded for two hours because the engine overheated and had to make several other stops to check on the vehicle throughout the tour.
Despite paying for an all-inclusive (planned) safari, we had independent or sub-contracted drivers who were not aware of our itinerary —including what parks we were to visit, where we were staying and the logistics of our next (unexpected) hand-offs. These drivers also didn’t have our information and we were forced to trust they were somehow affiliated with the company.
In one specific incident, a driver had no idea what our final destination was or where we were staying. This driver attempted to pick up friends along the way until we demanded to be taken to our accommodation. He didn’t know this accommodation, so we told him to take us to the accommodation we stayed in before we departed for the park where we knew we would have access to Wi-Fi to call for help. We then had to go to the new accommodation that was not on our provided itinerary.
Other issues we experienced:
1. Our accommodations didn’t match those listed on our itinerary and we were never provided with an updated version.
2. None of the jeeps were affiliated with Okoa Tours or the Tanzanian counterpart called Seven Wonders, despite other legitimate companies having branded vehicles.
3. All jeeps’ were older than the pictures provided and the charging outlets did not work as described.
CA
Email Ailsa | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Do not book with this company
Do not book a tour with Seven Wonders in Arusha. In all of my travels, it was the worst experience I’ve ever had. This is not just a post about a bad tour company, this is a safety warning to all travellers – please do not use this company.
My boyfriend and I booked a safari to the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater for 3 days and 2 nights. Our cook was great, but our guide was awful. We shared the safari truck with two lovely French ladies, and we were all told that the guide spoke both French and English – but he didn’t speak either (other than a few basic phrases), which made communication very difficult.
He couldn’t tell time, and kept telling us to get up for breakfast at 2:00 am (which we actually did the first morning!). He was very disorganized and always late, which decreased the amount of time we got to spend each day in the national parks. We had to set-up and take down his tent each morning to try and speed up our departure time, as he didn’t know how to. He didn’t spot one single animal our entire trip! And when we spotted them he would drive past more than half of them. And on our second day when I spotted a leopard, and we requested to park for a better view, he kept driving and said that we had to go home for lunch, yet proceeded to stop for antelope!!! We’re not usually picky with driving, but he was honestly very unsafe and came close to hitting walls, trees and animals on the road on multiple occasions. He was always on his phone in the truck, and when he wasn’t talking on it he was taking creepy pictures of the young French girl (trying to disguise them as selfies). He made the experience so bad that it brought the French ladies in our truck to tears - they called Seven Wonders several times to complain and to try and get a replacement guide, but the manager of Seven Wonders yelled at them over the phone and called them “liars” and refused to compensate them in any way.
As if this wasn’t bad enough, on our last day we were scheduled to visit the Ngorongoro Crater. Our guide had forgotten to pay our tickets for entry the night before, so we were late entering and late leaving the park. Our guide on exiting the inner gate of the crater told us that we had to pay a $70 USD fee per person for exceeding our permit time. We explained to the ranger that it was our guide’s fault because we arrived late, and the guide lied and said that we had threatened to fight him in the truck (3 small girls and 1 guy vs. 2 grown men!), and that we had made him stay late. When we tried to exit the last gate of the park in a taxi, we were detained because the fee had not been paid. The head park ranger agreed that Seven Wonders should pay the fee, and he arranged over the phone with the manager the he should mobile transfer the money. He never did, and as a result we were kept at the gate until after dark before being allowed to finally leave at 8:30 pm (after waiting for 5 ½ hours).
The next day, we were approached at our hotel in Arusha by the manager of Seven Wonders, along with a group of 5 other men. He told us we needed to pay him the $140 USD. We tried to calmly reason with him, but he was simply aggressive and rude, and accused us of lying. They wouldn’t leave, and harassed us until we asked for the police to be called. The police warned us that these men were dangerous, and that they believed that if we didn’t give them what they wanted they were going to hurt us. The police were unable to charge them unless they did first harm us, so we filed a police report and had to be driven to a hotel outside of town where we were safe.
Please be warned – these are bad people. Do yourself a favour, there are many other tour companies you can choose from.
FR
Email Guinevere | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
So disappointed for this special trip, very bad organisation of 7 wonders
Hello, we did a 1 day safari to the ngorongoro crater. Everything went wrong (excepting that the car was ok)...we were supposted to be 4 and leave at 6am but the night before, we learnt we were 6, ok why not. And then a few ours later, before going to bed, we learnt we would have breakfast at 8:30 because we had to wait for another 2. I was upset because everyone knows you have to leave early so you see the animals active while it is not too hot. And by the way, all the other groups left at 6...Impossible to discuss...we would leave the Park at 5pm to 'earn those ours back'. The next day, we were still waiting for breakfast at 8:30 so the whole group was complaining! In the end we left at 9:30, arrived at the gate at 10. We were into the crater at 10:30 and went out at 15:30 because the driver did not want to arrive too late in Arusha. I was really trying to stay calm, we spent so much money on this day we dreamt about for so long...about that, in discussion with the others, we learnt that some of us paid 150$ each, others 350$ (we were in between)...they also forgot the water so we had no water and I got very sick that night (was it the food?). And to finish with, the driver only stopped when we asked him to... Please read these reviews before going with them, I wish I had done it...