The Bencia Africa dedicated Team
Bencia Africa Adventure & Safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2007)
- Member Of:
- KWS, KTB, ECO -Tourism, TRA & KATO-member
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $55 to $325 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
FR
Email Anais | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Ruined Honeymoon
We chose Bencia for a first safari experience during our honeymoon with a 6 days safari (2 full days in Masaï Mara + Nakuru + Hell's Gate, Nairobi to Nairobi).
Our initial plan had to be changed because of COVID test that we had to do at least the day before leaving. Bencia told me that last night we won't do in Naivasha/Hell's Gate but in Nairobi. What I didn't know was that we would have to sacrifice 1 full day and 1 night at Masaï Mara (which was of course the heart of our Safari) because of that. Of course they didn't tell me as day/night in Nairobi is not the same price as day/night in Masaï Mara. The safari cost didn't change at any moment.
The problem is that I never received any new plan, I think there was a real communication problem there from Bencia.
We only did one evening and full day next in Masaï Mara, not even the next morning as planned also because we had to be quickly to Nakuru for I do not know which reason because we arrived there at noon and left for safari at 6pm, all those lost hours we could have spent in Mara...
After this evening safari, I started contacting Bencia about our planning, they just said that we should do safari on the morning and head to Naivasha where we could do an activity that we would have to pay ourselves. I started to be angry and asked them (my contact was Alfred) why skipping one full day in Masaï Mara to be in Naivasha with nothing provided ? I asked them to provide us an activity as I was the one being stole and of course they first refuse. They even said that they would offer me activities in Nairobi and Hell's Gate, they are very funny in this so called ''company''. I paid for a 6 days safari, got stolen a day in Masaï Mara in exchange of one day in Nairobi but they continued talking about offering me things that I paid for... After a long discussion, I finally had a word from Bencia saying they would pay activity in Naivasha !
The next day, after only a few hours of safari in Nakuru (driver always had good excuses to quickly end the day or push us to do extra activity), we arrived in Naivasha. Other surprise there, we were not in the good hotel and when I compared rates of 2 hotels, 1 night in the one that was supposed to be booked was at USD 430 and the one we were in at USD 165. I gently asked for an explanation and a change or an upgrade during a long moment but Bencia never wanted to upgrade us, saying that it was the ''same level''. What a kind gift from them for our honeymoon !
We arrived in this hotel at 11:35 am and I had to struggle once again with Bencia (still Alfred who didn't want to get me his manager)@ to get our promised activity. Finally, at 17:00 after that our driver disapeared (even Bencia couldnt reach him) we were taken to our 1 hour boat ride, finally !
Last but not least, when we arrived at 3pm for check in in Nairobi without having any lunch, we discovered that Bencia booked only bed and breakfast. Reminder : I paid and signed and they signed to a contract for 6 days saying that all meals were included. There, once again, I had to fight during 2 hours to get our lunch (at 5pm bon appétit !) and also dinner.
This is where we met Cyprian from Bencia who listened to this story and tried to get us our meals and organized excursion the day after (of course Alfred from Bencia lied to me saying that he had booked excursions in Nairobi so we missed elephant orphanage).
Thanks to Cyprian, last day we were able to go to Nairobi NP for a last safari. That does not compensate at all the rest but I guess we will never received anything from them.
If you want an unbelievable experience, especially for honeymoon, I would not recommend Bencia, they are not tousism professionals. I would have done much more organizing it myself from Paris than them from Nairobi.
PS : Next to this comment, Bencia contacted me to remove my comment in exchange of some money, that tells the level of such company...
Reply from Bencia Africa Adventure & Safaris
Posted on Jan 6, 2022Dear Pautruat
Thank you so much for your review we respect every comment from our clients , but honestly your Safari was for 6 Days Masai Mara 3Nights, 1Night Lake Nakuru and 1Night Lake Naivasha , And we agreed with you before you leave for this safari you need 1 day to be hear so that you can go for PCR test which you booked in Nairobi Hospital because your were to catch up your flight back home the next day .. so you did 5 Days safari where by i paid for your accommodation in Nairobi Best Western Meridian in Full board meals and i took you for the excursion in Nairobi National Park and Giraffe Center and you missed baby elephant it was full booked all this was the compensation of the last day ..again you said you need your refund 500USD
In Masai mara you said you didnt do game drive the last day your a staying inside the park Mara Sarova Camp ,Lake Nakuru Still you were in side the Sarova Lion Hill and Lake Naivasha country club resort ..i paid for your boat ride..
FR
Email Manu | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Terrible experience
It will be a long review, but here you'll have all the details of how it goes with Bencia africa because it's seems a bit tricky to find a good safari agency. We did a safari in Masai Mara with them in january, they sold us 15 hours and 30 minutes of game drive in three days (first evening, then full day, and last one during the last morning). We bought it 280usd (you can find cheaper in other agencies and probably with them also...) for transportation (2 ways from Nairobi), food and tent (like military ones with shower inside). First, we left Nairobi 2 hours late, so we arrive at the Gate of the park, 2 hours late the first day (of course...). The van was so old it broken down the first day 200 meters after the entrance of the park, so no game drive the first day. The second one the program said "game drive from 8.00am to 6.30pm". At 5.00pm the driver reached the exit gate, we asked why so early, he answered "it's a rule setted by the park"... And the next morning the program said "game drive from 6.30am to 9.30am", we did just one hour and then again the driver tried to explain that we were too late to continue the game drive... The driver doesn't care about the program (and passengers), so we requested the company to compensate the hours we didn't do inside the park, they sold 15hours and we did 10 !! Here start their funny answers. They first answered "the 2 people we shared the van with were happy, so the company cannot make any refund". I replied that we don't care about the feelings of the others in the van, we had a contract and nothing of it was respected. So they answered "our driver made a detour of 40 minutes, so we consider this as a compensation". Then i replied that we never asked for a detour but to be dropped on the way back to Nairobi to take a local bus to naivasha (but the driver brought us to naivasha even if i told him that we'll find a bus). Just for you to know, public transportation for Naivasha is about 1 dollar from there... So they tried to compensate the 5 hours in the park they stole us with a one dollar drive.
Then we continue to talk with them and finally they said that there will be a refund but we wait and we wait and nothing happen.
We just leave one star for George the cooker who's a really nice person and the only one with honesty in this company.
If you want more informations about our experience, don't hesitate to contact me. I have the screenshots of the WhatsApp conversation as a proof of what i write, and that i don't exagerate/inflate the reality. It's just for you to not make same bad choice than us.
IT
Email Luigi Chiacchio | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Not reliable and fraudsters
I booked a tour with the agency Bencia Africa Adventure & Safaris based in Nairobi, starting from Kenya - Nairobi and that was to end in Tanzania - Arusha and then continue to Zanzibar. The tour involved crossing the large parks to follow the migrations, more than visits to sites of interest along the way. Obviously we knew that being in Africa and in a country where accuracy is not there we would have to adapt and not ask too many questions even if the price we had paid for two was very high. In any case, as we expected, throughout the trip we were not adequately informed about the program, giving us vague information and changing it continuously program, in fact three times we have changed the structures where to sleep, previously communicated, changing them with others not always of the same level proposed and the discovery of the change occurred only on the spot, without giving us the opportunity to accept or change. The first excursion was to Mount Kenya where we were told a generic "let's visit a cave", but we were not told that there were four hours of trekking and that we had to be equipped for a very rough path. The moral of the fairy tale, after half an hour of march a storm broke out and not being equipped we had to go back. And so it was throughout the trip. The most serious episode that happened and that ruined us all the rest of the holiday happened after 5 days of travel, when we arrived at the northern border between Kenya and Tanzania. They told us that they had to wait for their next guide before continuing their journey. They left us at a taxi saying that the driver would wait for us in the next city because he couldn't come there, we didn't have many problems because we were used to that way of doing and we went to the meeting in the next city. The guide we met, after a long wait, on the trip told us that he was a replacement for our driver who had the car broken and that would wait for us in the Serengeti Park. The trip was tremendous because he ran like a damned because we understood he didn't pay much and he wanted to get rid of us soon. We made the whole trip without water and lunch that were included. Arrived at the entrance of the park told us that we had to pay the entrance, which was already included in the price, but told us that not being he our guide, once arrived we would refund, we trusted and we paid. Once we arrived we immediately realized that the place was not the one we had booked. We had booked a tent with beds and instead brought us to a public field with a tent where we slept on the ground. The guide was not there and we tried to get him called by the person who had brought us them, telling us that he would arrive after an hour and a half. We waited for the guide and in the meantime we called the agency asking for explanations on the spot that was not the one booked, also because we did not know it, we were not equipped to camp, after my continuous insistence answered me that it was too expensive the tent with beds and changed structure and attached me to the phone not answering me anymore. We waited for the guide who had never arrived and stayed in the camp for two days without water or food, providing our own needs. We stayed two days in the camp sleeping in this public tent with sleeping bags recovered who knows where, because we didn't have the chance to leave, we were stuck and every now and then some characters told us that someone would arrive who never arrived. We were wandering in this camp that was not sure, so much so that one night a hyena chased us and we had to escape.
By day the camp was empty and we were left only two close to the tent and a small structure where they ate. We were really desperate, until we managed to bargain with a guy a passage to Arusha, interrupting the journey that was ruined. But not having the entry tickets to the park that the driver had brought with him, we would have had to pay the 400 dollars of the passage, the fine for tickets that we did not have, the two days of stay in the camp and the entry and exit in the park of Ngorongoro that necessarily had to pay to get out of the parks. At that point we decided to call the rangers who brought us to the police where we made the complaint and where magically occurred the driver who had disappeared. He was very surprised by the complaint and he justified himself by saying that the car had broken down and that he was finding a solution, he offered to let us continue the journey with him but we did not accept, the police forced him to give us the money of the entrance to the park, he paid us the car until Arusha and crossing the other parks. We also had to pay one night in the hotel, but once we got there the driver told us that he didn't have the money but we were relieved to have come out of that nightmare and we were very happy to be able to choose us a structure and get rid of them. The agency came alive when it heard about the complaint, apologizing and justifying that it had relied on this partner in Tanzania and that would have made us pay ... to date has never arrived anything. But the fact that I explained that it was his responsibility, because I had made a contract with him and that in the moment of need he had disappeared was a concept difficult to understand. We are now trying to find a solution to get compensation even though we know that it is impossible to get it.
Maybe we were a bit unfortunate but nothing justifies their way of behaving and the absolute lack of professionalism, exposing ourselves to risks and leaving us in a foreign land at the mercy of ourselves. Even just because of the stress their behaviour causes you, absolutely avoid them.
FR
Email Samuel | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Avoid !
Did a Masai Mara Safari with Bencia end of July. It was supposed to be 3 days and we only spent 24 hours in the park, our guide pretending that the car broke down to force us to go to the Masai Village to force us to go to the Masai Village and to avoid paying the entry fee for another 24 hours.
We've had to complain and got 80$ back, so that we wouldn't put a bad review online. They pretended it was the guide's fault, and told us they gave him all the cash to pay the park fees. Although the park fees can't be payed by cash.
I met later a couple who told me the same thing happened to them, so it must be a regular thing.
Later on I met two Italian guys stuck in Serengeti campsite for two days without getting on any safari because they booked with Bencia and their driver never showed up!
Avoid!
EG
Email Darragh | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Bad experience with Bencia Africa Adventure and Safaris.
My wife and I booked a 5 day safari and paid $1700 before tips. They lied about the cost of the park entrance fees which we discovered later. The accomodation was substandard and not what we were promised. The car broke down on our last day and we were delayed for several hours. As a result we had to stay an extra night in an awful hotel provided by the travel agent. On our return to Nairobi Bencia demanded an extra $150 per person. They didn't apologise for the delay or the disruption to our schedule. They refused to bring us to the airport on our return. Despite our insistence they forced us to return to outside their office building. We had requested to be dropped at the airport or at other points along the way even though we were late for our flight. We refused to enter the building as they were demanding extra money from us. Within two minutes eight of their staff blocked the entrance to a nearby restaurant as we had sought refuge there. They aggressively harrassed and intimidated us and were trying to extort money from us. One of their employees picked up a rock and an altercation ensued between him and a customer of the restaurant. We are very grateful to the customers and staff of Sizzler restaurant on the same street. They protected us and helped us to get into our taxi unharmed. We needed to be protected on the way to the car as they were continuing to follow us, as indeed did the employee holding a rock. I would strongly advise anybody not to use this company.
We would greatly appreciate your help in resolving this matter.
Regards,
US
Email PHXTrainer | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Scammers- AVOID
We booked a car through Bencias office in Nairobi with Kennedy. The car was to take us from Nairobi to Amboseli and then to Emhali for a first class bus to Mombasa.
The car showed up on time in Nairobi and the ride to Amboseli was fine. We had to pay the driver 4000 Ksh to stay in the area for four days and then take us to the bus.
The day the driver was to appear he never did. A call to Ken and another car showed up about two hours later. These guys were locals in Amboseli and drive us to Emhali where we were supposed to get on the "First Class Bus". Of course when we got there they immediately started in on us about how Ken had ripped us off, was not paying them and the bus would not stop in Emhali. We awaited about two hours for the bus all the while listening to them tell us over and over how there was no bus. It was getting late and rather than have to spend the night in a very small and very scary town we agreed to let them drive us to Mtito which was about 90 minutes away at a cost of 9000Ksh. There was a local bus in Mtitto that took us to Mombasa at a cost of 1000 Ksh even though we had already paid Ken 7000 Ksh for a "First Class bus". We had no choice so went. We later found out the same bus stopped in Emhali earlier while we were arguing with the drivers
When we got back to Nairobi we visited Ken at the office and demanded a refund. We went back and forth and he agreed to a partial refund. If you have been keeping up we spent 4000 Ksh to keep the driver around, 7000 Ksh for the bus tickets we didn't use, 9000 Ksh to go to a different town and 2000 for the bus tickets we did use a total of 22,000 Ksh. We got a refund of 7000 Ksh.
These guys are scammers. They seem very nice but in the end they don't deliver.
Reply from Bencia Africa Adventure & Safaris
Posted on Jun 23, 2015Hello sir ,
Sorry for what happened on your trip in kenya , i accept it was our mistake from Kennedy the Sales representative who was handling your booking was not booked the right bus to Mombasa . Kennedy was dismissed from our company as this case you wrote on through safari bookings ...
I assure you good service for next time trip..
Best regards
Alfred Syanda
Sales Director