Nahum Joshua Nnko
Gombe Wild Chimp Safari
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2005)
- Tour Types:
- Small & medium group tours (Budget & mid-range)
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $50 to $350 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
Email Oscar | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Unresponsive and elusive
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
Posted on Oct 14, 2025Hello 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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CRED
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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
Email Tanya | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Seamless gateway to an up close chimp experience
This was definitely a highlight of our trip to Tanzania. The guides and trackers did a fantastic job scouting out where the chimps were that day and leading us to the locations.
The lodging location was right at the Jane Goodall center where chimp research is done. There is not a lot of activity here, but there is a small bar that was sometimes open and who could sell us a beer or two during the trip.
A few notes for awareness - some of the hiking to get to the chimps is very steep; you will likely be going through branches, tall grass, etc. as you follow chimps through; and your hike times for the day could vary greatly based on where you find the chimps. But it was great - we got (2) 1 hour sessions watching and following the chimps in very close proximity, plus some accidental chimp trekking from going to Goodall Peak. It sounds short, but it was actually a lot of time!
GWCS assigned a chef for our entire time at the park, and he kept us well fed. We had quite a few people dedicated to our trip - there were 2 private boat operators that were with us the entire time - they took us up the lake to the park and back, but also would take us in the boat further along the park to do our trek depending on where the chimps were. We had a main guide and junior guide who were dedicated to just the two of us during our treks, and there was also a chimp tracker dedicated to us that was out starting at 6 am to follow the chimps around and track their location so we could see them. Make sure to bring tips for all of these excellent private staff!
The lodging choice on the kigoma side was adequate (but we probably would have chosen the Hilltop lodge if we went again).
One slight downside is somewhat outside control of GWCS - because flights are limited, there is a risk that a cancellation could affect your travel plans, and certain timings of flight is can make for a lot of downtime. Both happened to us - we ended up having an entire day of downtime at our hotel, and we were delayed in Kigoma an extra night due to a late cancellation here. GWCS was great in communication on this last item in particular, and we were able to get out the next morning and on to the rest of our journey.