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
US
Email Ana | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
We felt scammed
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
Posted on Oct 14, 2025Hello 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
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
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:20: Sender's Reference
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: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
US
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
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
--------------------- 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
IN
Email Tapojoy Chatterjee | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Disappointing cancellation service
Disappointed with the way cancellation was handled. My wife and I had planned a 3 day safari with Joshua in August 2022. However had to cancel due to last minute flight cancellations. He committed to refund 25% of the initial payment. Joshua was very prompt to respond till the time payment was received. However when the cancellation plan was shared, Joshua went AWOL. Still awaiting the refund.
Email Soumen | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Please beware of this sweet speaking cheater
I booked my 3nights and 4 days Salous safari through this travel agency and that's the biggest mistake I have done in 2021 before the year end.
I have spent $645 per head for 2 of us for a private tour instead of direct booking through the hotels website which would cost me $404/person for the same tour. I want a peaceful safari during the year end and change of career as per my choice Beavis of photography and what I got
1. The open Car - the car they provided as per my request, doesn't have the permit to enter in national park and stopped by the official today morning.
2. The 2nd car, which take us from Dar es salaam to Salous and back had different problem, once that car stopped you need some help to push the car to start, it's almost a 40 years old car, I feel pity for the driver Mike who is a nice person and good driver and always try to help with a smile.
3. I would like to take a name knowingly it's the great Joshua(owner of the Gombe tours company) the great story teller and full of commitments which never be fulfilled and he will definitely will never talk to you once you started complaining about anything during your tour instead one of his so called agent(Yusuf) will speak to you and always try to prove that everything is your luck and fault and they are the best.
For your information I back to Dar es Salaam after 2 nights without spending the 3rd night there because I can't tolerate such nonsense service anymore. What a bad start of new year.
I don't recommend this guys as I feel I got cheated and not be treated well after paying full amount on the first day.
It's better to book hotel directly and book car from hotel for your safari, so that you can pay at hotel and there will be someone in person present to listen your complain if any. This middleman short terms traders are the problem in Tanzania. Most of them doesn't have their own car, doesn't have their own guide they just have ample time to response on your first query to make you fool and then they take good amount and pay for worst service to serve you, they will ensure 3rd graded rooms in a hotel, old hired car without any maintenance or paper sometime and you never saw them in person.
However I have visited, Tarangire, Manyara, Ngorongoro, Ndutu, North Serengeti, Zanzibar, Mikumi during last one year with few other renowned travel agencies who are really good and professional., Shadow of Africa, Amo Zanzibar tour and safari, African quinsang adventure safari are few of them where I got full value for money. Good luck.
Reply from Gombe Wild Chimp Safari
Posted on Feb 5, 2022Thanks for the review.
First of all, I would like to say that, Joshua Nahum, the Managing director of Gombe Safari is not a cheater and I'm not a sweet talker to my clients. I respect every client regardless of their financial ability, age, religion, or nationality and I have been doing so all along.
In response, here in Tanzania, the Tanzania national park system is owned by the Ministry of Natural Resources. For every tourist company like us, you must use this link for payment once you have the entrance to the national park. What happened last year was that the system was turned off on Dec 31 at Midnight, unlike other years. So since all the payments had been made it would not have been easy to be allowed into the park as the payments were already a link. All we could do was ask our client to give us a little more time so we could make another payment. The client refused to wait and even changed the car so he insisted that he want to return back to Dar. The driver was very kind to him and Yussuf and I asked him not to cancel the trip because soon everything would be fine but he said he didn't want to.
Regarding the car problem, most if not all vehicles in the private sector especially in the tourism industry in Tanzania and Africa are outdated. This is because in Tanzania we do not have a car factory. But usually, even a new car in safari gets a breakdown so far it was a mechanical problem. I admit that it is true that the car turned off while they were traveling but it lit up and they continued their journey. Another thing I would like to inform our customers is that in order to be registered with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism as the owner of a company it is a must, first and foremost, a company must have vehicles in order to be licensed. Without it, you will not be able to get a license. Another thing is that Gombe safari has staffs, no middlemen, and staffs work according to her/his department.
Regarding the camp, It is true based on the challenges and realities of covid-19, hotels, camps, many lodges need renovation. This is a situation that has plagued the whole world and not just one place. I confess that the guests were given a room and based on the situation they found it inappropriate and asked to be changed. They were given a room and agreed to sleep.
I would like to inform our customers that we have rectified ourselves and all the problems that have arisen we have solved in particular I apologize to our client for the challenges he went on while traveling during the New Year holidays.