Reviews

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Oscar   –  
United States US
Visited: September 2025 Reviewed: Sep 21, 2025

Email Oscar  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

The review below is the personal opinion of Oscar and not that of SafariBookings.
Unresponsive and elusive
1/5

I was in contact with the owner Joshua throughout the process. I inquired about a 3 day chimpanzee trekking tour with 2 other travelers. I liked the itinerary and made a deposit. I had various questions and he was unresponsive. I had to follow up 2 or 3 times for him to respond which he was a red flag. My flight into Kigoma was canceled, so I should have been able to request a 50% refund of the deposit I made per their refund policy , as it was over 30 days prior to the trip. When I requested it, He never responded. I followed up various times without a response. Effectively, the refund I was owed was not given to me. I do not recommend this company if you plan on going on holiday unless you want to deal with an unresponsive and elusive owner.

Reply from Gombe Wild Chimp Safari
Reply from Gombe Wild Chimp Safari
Posted on Oct 14, 2025

Hello Oscar.

I think the review is not okay for us because we respect our customers and are not SCAMMERS.

I contacted Oscar, and I told him everything about what happened. I didn't ignore HIS emails, or we had no intention of refusing to refund 50% of your discount; no, the issue was that our original email address we were using for communication had a challenge where if anyone wrote an email to us, the message would not be seen inbox/Spam or anywhere else. I contacted Oscar via another email address in order to make sure everything was fine. So finally, the money was refunded on time, and HE admitted that he had received it.

So I apologise for all that happened, Gombe Wild Chimp Safari are not a scammer, we respect our customers and give them great value because our customers are kings.

Kindly see our conversation below.

Hello Oscar,
Sorry for being silent for a long time. I am using this email address because the original email address we were using to communicate has been having problems receiving emails for a long time now. Once someone sends us an email, we don't receive it because not seen in the INBOX. It's a problem that has been bothering us for about a month without us knowing.

We ask for your forgiveness if you have written many emails that have not reached us and have not been answered/replied to. So I admit that the problem was a technical problem and not me or our company, and that is why, after discovering this challenge, I thought it would be better for us to continue communicating at this new email address while our IT continues to resolve the problem.
According to the refund, you paid $490.9
50% of that amount is $245.45. This is the amount we should refund you.
How can we send this amount?
You can also contact me on WhatsApp number +255756066577.
Thank you very much, and sorry for the inconvenience caused.

POP
2025-10-07 23:18:30.030 LocalOutAcks-7189-002129
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Notification (Transmission) of Original sent to SWIFT(ACK)
Network Delivery Status : Network Ack
Priority/Delivery : Normal
Message Input Reference : 2318 251007CORUTZTZXXXX7189002129
----------------------------- Message Header -----------------------------
Swift Input :FIN MT103 Single Customer Credit Transfer
Sender : CORUTZTZXXXX

Receiver : CHASUS33XXXX

FIN Copy Service :
------------------------------- Message Text -----------------------------
:20: Sender's Reference
HZ1J6VE01GLE7AF4
:23B: Bank Operation Code
CRED
:32A: Val Date/Curr/Interbnk Settld Amnt
Date : 2025-10-07T00:00:00.000+03:00
Amount : #USD245.45#
:33B: USD245.45
:50K: Ordering Customer-Name & Address
0250430851900
GOMBE WILD CHIMP SAFARI
MJI MWEMA STREET KIGOMA, TANZAN 255
:59: Beneficiary Customer-Name & Addr
1355922703
OSCAR ALVARENGA
1680 CAPITAL ONE MCLEAN VA 22102 US, A
:70: Remittance Information
REFUND
:71A: Details of Charges
SHA
:71F: USDUSD46,61

Oscar Alvarenga
Fri, Oct 10, 1:25 AM (4 days ago)
to me

Yes, I received it. Thank you for refunding it.
Sent from my iPhone

Ana   –  
United States US
Visited: September 2025 Reviewed: Sep 23, 2025

Email Ana  |  50-65 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

The review below is the personal opinion of Ana and not that of SafariBookings.
We felt scammed
1/5

My son, daughter-in-law and I made a deposit to Gombe wild chimpanzee safari for 3 days chimpanzee trekking, one month prior to departure our flight to Kigoma was canceled, we requested 50% refund of the deposit we have made per their refund policy, Joshua the owner never responded and he keeps ignoring us. Please do not book with this company.

Reply from Gombe Wild Chimp Safari
Reply from Gombe Wild Chimp Safari
Posted on Oct 14, 2025

Hello Ana,

My name is Joshua.

You indeed booked a tour with us, and your son Oscar is the one who booked it. I contacted Oscar, and I told him everything about what happened. I didn't ignore your emails, or we had no intention of refusing to refund 50% of your discount; no, the issue was that our original email address we were using for communication had a challenge where if anyone wrote an email to us, the message would not be seen inbox/Spam or anywhere else. I contacted Oscar via another email address in order to make sure everything was fine. So finally, the money was refunded on time, and your son admitted that he had received it.

So I apologise for all that happened, Gombe Wild Chimp Safari are not a scammer, we respect our customers and give them great value because our customers are kings.

Kindly see our conversation below.

Hello Oscar,
Sorry for being silent for a long time. I am using this email address because the original email address we were using to communicate has been having problems receiving emails for a long time now. Once someone sends us an email, we don't receive it because not seen in the INBOX. It's a problem that has been bothering us for about a month without us knowing.

We ask for your forgiveness if you have written many emails that have not reached us and have not been answered/replied to. So I admit that the problem was a technical problem and not me or our company, and that is why, after discovering this challenge, I thought it would be better for us to continue communicating at this new email address while our IT continues to resolve the problem.
According to the refund, you paid $490.9
50% of that amount is $245.45. This is the amount we should refund you.
How can we send this amount?
You can also contact me on WhatsApp number +255756066577.
Thank you very much, and sorry for the inconvenience caused.

POP
2025-10-07 23:18:30.030 LocalOutAcks-7189-002129
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
--------------------- Instance Type and Transmission ---------------------
Notification (Transmission) of Original sent to SWIFT(ACK)
Network Delivery Status : Network Ack
Priority/Delivery : Normal
Message Input Reference : 2318 251007CORUTZTZXXXX7189002129
----------------------------- Message Header -----------------------------
Swift Input :FIN MT103 Single Customer Credit Transfer
Sender : CORUTZTZXXXX

Receiver : CHASUS33XXXX

FIN Copy Service :
------------------------------- Message Text -----------------------------
:20: Sender's Reference
HZ1J6VE01GLE7AF4
:23B: Bank Operation Code
CRED
:32A: Val Date/Curr/Interbnk Settld Amnt
Date : 2025-10-07T00:00:00.000+03:00
Amount : #USD245.45#
:33B: USD245.45
:50K: Ordering Customer-Name & Address
0250430851900
GOMBE WILD CHIMP SAFARI
MJI MWEMA STREET KIGOMA, TANZAN 255
:59: Beneficiary Customer-Name & Addr
1355922703
OSCAR ALVARENGA
1680 CAPITAL ONE MCLEAN VA 22102 US, A
:70: Remittance Information
REFUND
:71A: Details of Charges
SHA
:71F: USDUSD46,61

Oscar Alvarenga
Fri, Oct 10, 1:25 AM (4 days ago)
to me

Yes, I received it. Thank you for refunding it.
Sent from my iPhone

Average User Rating
4.2/5
Rating Breakdown
  • 5 star 52
  • 4 star 10
  • 3 star 2
  • 2 star 4
  • 1 star 4
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