Reliable safari packages for international market
Africa Flash Mc Tours & Travel
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2008)
- Member Of:
- KATO, Ecotourism Kenya & Travelife
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $100 to $500 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
20-35 years of age
This company ruined my vacation!
After my fully-paid safari to Maasai Mara with Africa Flash MC Tours did not go through, I was eventually fully refunded by the company four months later. This, however, was a highly nerve-wracking process which included many meetings with the local police. Furthermore, the fact that the safari was not organized as promised seriously ruined my vacation, as I had visitors coming from Europe. There are a number of tour operators who offer safaris in the same price range and who actually deliver and do not ask advance payments. For anybody looking to go on a low-budget safari in Kenya, these might be safer options than Africa Flash MC Tours.
Reply from Africa Flash Mc Tours & Travel
Posted on Apr 3, 2015Dear Anne,
I am sorry for the ruined vacation, although we did a full refund I know I can not compensate for the lost time. I however will give a full complimentary trip on the same to ease the burden as I proposed.
I have put up mechanism to prevent future safaris from not taking off as having 4 of our staff undertaking and monitoring each of the safaris that have been booked with us and a back up vehicle throughout the safari.
We have also changed our stuff, and put up a new management team, to avoid any future misconduct from the top to the lower management personnel.
Best Regards
Africa Flash McTours Team
They paid back the $240
** UPDATE MARCH 2015
Peter paid us back today. He called me a few times in the past weeks to explain he was sorting out the financial trouble he got into, and promised he would pay back the money. So he did, the full amount. I am writing this update to do justice to him and his company. Despite the trouble, he's now trying to sort this, as he has done with me and my family.
** ORIGINAL REVIEW
Be aware if you consider to book with this company - I / my family still hasn't received the $240 refund. We paid up-front for a number of things including a safari (and park fees) to Amboseli. The deal was my family would visit Amboseli for 2 days, but they ended up going only 1 day. As the park fees for 2 adults and 2 children were already paid, Africa Flash Mc Tours need to pay us back the $240. Despite NUMEROUS emails, phone calls (Peter's number and the hotline number on their website), whatsapp messages to Peter etc I still haven't received anything. I got a few promises ("you'll get it tomorrow because I have reached my ATM limit", or "I will get it to you by Monday", etc etc) but still no refund... This refund is what obviously concerns me most. But, I'd like to add that generally their services are not great either. My family was supposed to be picked up for the Masai Mara at 8.30am (which I felt was a bit late, but Peter said this was fine), but the van showed up at 10.00am! I didn't get a justification why they were 1,5 hours late (yeah traffic....). I do want to do justice to two of their guides for the Masai Mara and Amboseli - my family did really like them.
OM
Email Lorraine | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent!
I was impressed with the prompt communication with Peter to organize the logistics of the trip. He was able to answer any questions.
Our driver, John was amazing! He communicated beforehand and was time conscious the whole time. He was very knowledgeable about the animals and the surrounding area, because of John we were able to see so many animals and we truly enjoyed our time. The hotel (Zebra Plains Camp) was also very clean and the employees were helpful and friendly. The food was on point!
We would definitely recommend this company to our friends and family!
LB
Email Georges Nehme | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Perfect experience in the wonderful Masai Mara with Edward, a very professional and friendly guide.
My girlfriend and I had an amazing time in a 4 days trip to Masai Mara and Lake Nakuru national parks. Edward, our guide was very professional, friendly and knowledgeable about the wild life.
US
Email Bethann | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
5 nights, 2 National Parks, Experience of a Lifetime!
Topline: Book this company - you will not be disappointed! The experience of a lifetime!
Tour: 6 day/ 5 Nights Maasai Mara, Lake Nakuru and Amboseli Safari
I booked this tour several months before embarking for a group of 4, two couples. Peter was extremely helpful via email, answering all of my questions very quickly, and providing thorough information for what to expect. He also helped customize the end, with border crossing into Tanzania to get to Arusha airport opposed to returning to Nairobi.
The tour itself was incredible! Our driver, Edward, was phenomenal. Request him. He was just awesome in every way. He was an awesome tracker, knowledgeable about the animals, was intuitive about what we were most interested in, and was very flexible in planning to meet our needs.
The safaris were phenomenal. The full day at Maasai Mara was my favorite - there were animals at every turn, including multiple sightings of lions and cheetahs. The sunrise is not to be missed! Nakuru was a delight, reminded us of Jurassic Park or some type of enchanted forest. I absolutely loved all of the rhinos, but I'm sure bird lovers would be in heaven. Our time at Amboseli was a bit overcast and we never did get a view of Kilimanjaro, but nbd. Somehow we ended up near herds of hundreds and hundreds on new babies! Baby wildebeests, zebras, and elephants everywhere! Taking first steps and learning how to run. My heart nearly burst.
The accommodations were really nice - much better than expected. The "budget" camp had tents bigger than my NYC apartment that included a toilet and shower. The luxury camps were full scale glamping and simply amazing. I do recommend bringing a small lantern and portable battery charges. Some run off of generators and have lights on timing schedules.
Food was generally buffet style and perfectly good for most people's tastes. We even had picky eaters with us and they were fine. Plenty of water was provided.
The drives between the parks are long (~7 hours). Consider a neck pillow and possibly a scarf to shield the sun. For this reason, I also recommend asking about personal tours. We had a group of 4 which was perfect in the van, especially when it came to the safaris and having spectacular views. We were originally set to be in a group of 7 which would have been less than ideal, and especially hard on those sitting in the back.
Huge shout-out to Peter and Edward for handling a few "unplanned" events. First, major luggage problems - 2 were delayed and 2 were lost. Peter and Edward helped us every step of the way, including changing our tour to private the day we landed, multiple trips to the airport to get luggage, and allowing us to use his cell phone to stay in contact with the airlines to help us locate that lost bags. Second was border crossing to Tanzania. Peter himself met us at the last park and personally drove us to the border and helped us every step of the way. He even arranged a colleague to pick us up in Tanzania to drive us the rest of the way to the airport to make our flight.
Payment: Yes - paying by wire transfer is perfectly safe and legitimate. This was a big concern for me beforehand and I found very little info about it to calm my nerves. Everything worked out perfectly and I do not think that there is a better deal to be found when it comes to value for your money.
US
Email James | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Our guide, Dennis, was never on time, and never even showed up the final day, leaving us stranded!!!
Everything leading up to the safari dealt with Peter, who led me to believe everything would go seamlessly. The safari was an absolute disaster. We never even met Peter, and our guide was so late each day that we missed activities in the morning, afternoon and evening each and every day. Moreover, on the last day, he was slated to pick us up for a private tour at 3AM at our hotel, and never showed, never called/texted, and to this day, we have never heard from him or Peter. After 10 African countries, this was the worst experience we had by far! Stay far, far, far away!!!
Reply from Africa Flash Mc Tours & Travel
Posted on Sep 5, 2016Hello James,
Greetings from Africa Flash McTours.
Thank you for taking time out to post your review of Africa Flash McTours on Safari Bookings.
Kindly allow me to clarify that at Africa Flash McTours, my team and I value all our guests and treat them all as valuable since they are the reason for our being. Services offered to all our valuable guests are also of the same standard. Any variation of the service standard is most of the time supplementary which the individual guest may have paid for separately. In regard to your complaints;
I want through it, and realized there was much that was not tended to, but on following up with your guide I also realized you made some arrangements with him that were not part of our initial itinerary, that caused your disappointment;
1. You requested to be taken to be local town center in the middle of the night, which only exposed you to threats that were unwarranted for. The guide could not do this as this would mean putting you in harms way.
2. Planning a 3 am safari to Amboseli that, never went through the office, and was not part of the itinerary, and I only came to learn of it through your review. This is not allowed with the ministry, to move our guests in the night. You should have consulted with me on this.
I only disputed the above, because of the above information, which should have been communicated to me. Should anything have happened to you, I would be fully liable yet I was not even consulted.
I am sorry for the bad experience, and sorry that I couldn't meet on the day of the safari, but this is because I was not in town and all the safari arrangements had been made prior. I have taken further disciplinary measures with the guide, to ensure this never happens and also put a team in place to ensure that all our clients are met not only, by our guide for the safari but also the an office representative of the company.
Please plan to your next safari with us and we shall ensure you have a memorable one.
We at Africa Flash McTours always endeavor to exceed our guest expectations.
The team and I look forward to hosting you again.
Email Abhijit | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent Maasai Mara Safari thanks to Africa Flash Mc Tours (Peter and his team)
We (myself, my wife and my parents) went on Mara safari which was very well arranged by Africa Flash Mac tours - Peter was always ready to give different options and accommodate all our requests and adjust the plan as per our requirements. Good part is that he is so much flexible in the whole planning process and the actual experience was much ahead of expectations - be it the Land Cruiser, Driver-cum-guide, the hotel property including food and the amazing beauty of Mara experienced with the games drives on our Safari. It was a like-never-before experience for all of us and we would definitely plan all our next Safaris in East Africa with Peter and Africa Flash Mc Tours. Thank you Peter and the entire team!
CR
Email Sasha & Gilberto | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An experience to remember
From the first moment we contacted Africa Flash McTours & Travel the attention was great; Peter was very nice and always answered our questions and made the booking process really easy for us; facilitating better camps as per our request. As we arrived in Nairobi everything went smoothly; and Cyrus our driver was on time the next day to take us to Mara. We spent the most exhilarating 10 days of our lives, visited Mara, Naivasha, Nakuru, Amboseli and a great small camp in Tsavo East! Some errors in booking and payments were made; as well as itinerary issues but aside from that; the experience with Africa Flash McTours & Travel was a great one
Email Jonathan William Bennett | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Incredible!!!
I don't understand the bad reviews!
We went on a 3 day tour!
We had an incredible trip! Saw everything besides the scarce rinho! Peter the owner of the company was great to organise incredible hospitable!
Peter the tour guide was so good!
So friendly, yet professional!
I extremely reccomend the company!
BE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amboseli 2 days, 1 night at Kimana Tented camp
Let me start by saying that the communication with Peter went good.
He replies very quickly on his e-mails.
(Which, in my opinion, gives you confidence that it's not a scam)
When I had to pay half upfront, I started wondering if it would be a scam or not.
After paying I received a receipt. 2 days later, the driver was at my door to start the Safari as aggreed.
Conclusion: No scam
In our original itinerary it said we would be staying at Kibo.
I decided to stay in my own tent. Peter forgot to mention that it was not posible at Kibo. Therefore he booked us at a less luxurious camp. With, lets be honest, basic facilities. That was a dissapointment since I was expecting Kibo. Which, according to the website, looks very nice.
The driver was friendly.
I also liked the fact that he didn't take many crazy risks on the busy road towards the park.
In the end, I had a good safari.