Back of Africa Adventure Manager Making Bookings.
Back of Africa Adventure
- Office In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2014)
- Member Of:
- Kenya Association of Tour Operators (KATO) & KWS
- Tour Types:
- Small & medium group tours (Budget & mid-range)
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $110 to $400 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Your request will be sent directly to the operator
If preferred, you can contact the operator directly
Reviews
Email Alexandra Bayne | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
It was a fantastic 5 days, a truly memorable experience, highly recommended.
I have just returned from a trip to Kenya, which I did on my own. I booked all the flights and accommodation in Nairobi and Mombasa myself. After extensive research into safari tour operators online, I came across Back of Africa Adventure Ltd. I was not disappointed. I dealt with Allan by e-mail and he responded very quickly to all my queries regarding the 5 day safari that they offered which covered the Masai Mara, Nakuru and Amboselli. The trip was beyond all expectations. My driver, Obama, had 20 years' experience and was extremely professional throughout the trip. I felt very safe with him. He was determined for me to see 'the big 5' which I did, and so much more. I also booked my sightseeing tours in Nairobi through Back of Africa Adventure Ltd going to the elephant orphanage, giraffe centre and the Karen Blixen Museum.
AT
Email Florian | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Highly professional organizing of an unforgetable 7 day Masai Mara, Serengeti & more adventure
We booked a 7 day safari with Allan from Back of Africa Adventure for January 2018 on short notice. During planning he was very flexible in his offering and responded to all of our requests within few hours. He gave as a very detailed description of the safari in advance which was customized to our needs. Payment of deposit through wire was easy to handle as well as the final payment when we started the safari. The guides he hired were very knowledgeable, flexible, warm-hearted and open people and we spent great days with them and learned tremendously much not just about the wildlife but also about the people of Kenya and Tanzania. The standard of the accommodation was above our expectations and convenience was assured throughout our trip. In terms of accommodation, the highlight for us was the wildlife experience in the tended camps inside the Serengeti. Allan kept in touch with us during the safari and made sure everything worked out. Definitely, Back of Africa Adventure is a tour operator to recommend.
US
Email Dean | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful wildlife viewing; logistics could use some work.
I took a 6-day tour of Maasai Mara, Lake Nakuru, and Amboseli. Leading up to the tour, Allan's communication was excellent, and he answered all of my questions, sometimes within minutes. The two guides I had were very adequate, especially Obama, who was exceptionally knowledgeable and pleasant. The wildlife viewing went beyond my expectations, which made the safari highly worthwhile. When we arrived at the Maasai Mara camp, there was a problem with my accommodation reservation, so Allan helpfully arranged for me to stay at another camp. The vans we traveled in were functional for a budget tour. However, on the way back from Amboseli to Nairobi, we had to stop twice for flat tyres, and at one point I had to wait for an hour alone in the van beside the highway while my guide went to purchase a new tyre. It ended up taking nearly 12 hours to get back to my lodging in Nairobi! However, Obama handled the adversity well, and it was not nearly as unpleasant an experience as it might have been. Allan was very apologetic about the mishaps. In sum, the time in the game parks was wonderful, but if you book with Back of Africa Adventure, you should probably be prepared for an "adventure."
Reply from Back of Africa Adventure
Posted on Feb 12, 2018Jambo Pro. Dean,
We would like to offer our deepest apologies for the trouble you had to experience due to the flat tires on your last day trip with us from Amboseli National park.
This situation is not ordinary and these incidents are not typical of us as a company. We are very serious when it comes to our client’s satisfaction and have a zero tolerance policy in this respect though at times we fail.
We appreciate that you understand that mistakes sometimes happen despite the numerous checks and measures. We are very sorry that this happened to you on your way back at the end of your trip. Be rest assured that we are having our “lenses on” just to ensure that we have zero tolerance to flat tires on the African roads.
After studying the matter, we found out that the cause was as a result of low quality tires that were supplied to us from our new dealer and since that time we switched back to our original suppliers which is Yana tires. This is clearly a mistake at our end and we take responsibility for it.
Due to this unintentional error and as a token of appreciation to you as our client, we are going to extend a day trip offer to hell’s gate National park any time you get time off your busy schedule.
This is the least that we can do to compensate for the inconvenience caused on your last day journey back to Nairobi. We do hope this resolution fulfills your expectations on our services.
To make things even better, we have taken a number of measures by strengthening our transport department to ensure that we eradicates flat tyre issue do not happen again in the future. It is due to you that we have realized this and we thank you for sharing your experience with us across the globe. We prefer to learn and improve under better conditions but sometimes this is just not possible.
One more time we apologize and we hope to keep you as part of our valued customer base for a very long time.
Please do not hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback with us at any time via e mail or phone calls. We are here for you.
Back Of Africa Adventure.
Email Amy | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Had an amazing safari experience :). Back of Africa (Allan in particular) were very well organised.
The organisation leading up to the safari was excellent. Allan was very efficient answering my many logistic questions via email.
The safari itself was amazing!! Had such a good experience on both safari trips (Masai Mara and Lake Manyara/Tarangire Park).
Would definitely recommend Back of Africa for those on a budget :)
US
Email Ramanathan family | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Awesome experience!
We did the Masai Mara, Lake Nakuru, Amboseli safari through Back of Africa in September ‘2016 when our daughter was doing a fellowship in Kenya. Our contact person was Alan who organized the tour for us and George was our tour guide. The tour was very well organized and we found George to be a very knowledgeable, personable and friendly tour guide. It exceeded all our expectations and we really enjoyed it and got to see the big 5 + a lot of other animals. Our request for vegetarian food was well accommodated!
Email Jordan | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great budget experience!
Had a great time and saw everything but the rhino. Ziggy, our guide, was great, and the whole thing went off without a hitch. If you're looking for a great safari experience on a budget, this is it. Just be careful if you go during rainy season as (at least when I went) the tents weren't waterproof.
AE
Email Abby | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent tour.
I had a wonderful Experience with Allan. We exchanged emails regularly and he made sure that all my requests and questions were taken care of. It was a hassle-free trip and he also got me a good tour guide who made sure we get to see all the animals and he was very knowlegeable of the area. It was an amazing African experience and i higly recommend Allan to anyone who wants a budget friendly yet still amazing Africa safari.
KR
Email Chan | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unforgettable Safari trip!
As I was travelling alone, I wanted to join a group tour, but matching the date was not easy. It was even hard to arrange my own tour as the response of the tour company was slow and not helpful. However, Allan was so prompt to respond that I could arrange the trip much much easier. The tour program was also substantial. My tour guide Kennedy and Freadrick were kind and passionate. They tried to find the animals as much as possible. They also had good knowledge about the animals and it was really helpful. It was an amazing experience. I should come back with my friends next time. Thank you very much for your effort!
FI
Email Elisabet | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Not what I expected
In this safari business as in many others in Tanzania, it seems that you are buying from some company in particular but then they just put you with the same budget pack that many others offer. We booked everything through Back of Africa but once we arrived to the office, Allan, whom I have been all the time in contact, was not there, there was no signs or credentials or anything that would refer to Back of Africa. We trusted the guy at the reception, his name sounded like "Biarman". So we paid the big amount of money for the safari to him and we didn't even get a receipt. The same guy at the reception was our guide and driver the whole trip. The first day of safari was terrible, the guy was very lazy, not even going out of the car to show us the birds when we stopped at a viewpoint. He could not recognize birds more specificly than the basic information if it was e.g. "a hawk". We didn't have the promised binoculars for each neither the guides, not even one for the whole group of 5 people. Then I contacted Allan try to get some clear info about who is the guide we have and for whom does he work. Allan didn't even know the guy, afterwards he said he was new in the company. But the funny thing is that when we asked to Biarman he said that he works for Sandland Tours, the same company as the logo there was in the safari car. There was 1 person in our group that had booked the safari through a completely different company. We never got this thing clear. And it seems a common practice to put people that has booked through different companies together in the same safari. I think that only in Arusha there was something like 280 different companies, but at the end, many of them belong to the same owner, or they just change the name when the company lose its reputation or whatever, but you can never trust that the company you are booking with, will be the same you are actually going with.
(By the way, Sandland Tours has the worst reviews ever on the Internet...)
Anyways, we tried to make the best out of what we had, we put some pressure to the guide to make a bit bigger effort to find the animals, and it improved, at the end of the day we saw pretty much. I don't think he was a bad guide, but he was not a very good one either. He was just doing his job to get paid, he did not enjoy his job, he was not a nature lover.
The first day we did not have any binoculars, after the second day, we had 1 for 5 people and it was broken and not very good quality. I think it is essential to have good binocular for a safari, and they promised 1 for each, which never happened. We never got any wildlife guide or book.
The camping sites were what they were, don't expect too much, but it was good enough. Our tent was the oldest in the camp and it didn't smell nice. Thank god we brought our own sleeping bags cause theirs were pretty smelly too. We had the poorest chairs to sit during meals, and no chairs at all to be able to relax in the camp site, but the guide had his own nice chair to relax. In some camps there are no lights so they could have adviced to bring own headlamps (we had ours, but other people did not). In one of the camps there was no electricity, so for people without power banks it was a serious problem if you couldn't charge the camera.
There was 2 days that we had to take the cook with us, which make the car not big enough. The cook sat on the front with the driver so we had to share the 4 windows seats on the back with 5 people, while in the national park, seeing the animals. Specially in Serengueti it becomes extremely dusty, it would not have been a big job to cover the bags on the trunk so they wouldn't be completely brown from the dust by the time we reached the camp.
The safari of 5 days in the 4 main national parks in the North of Tanzania was still worth it for the own awesomeness of the places, but certainly not because of the company we booked with, whatever that company was...
Reply from Back of Africa Adventure
Posted on Aug 16, 2017Dear Elisabet,
I would like to personally apologize for the series of unfortunate incidences that you experienced during your safari on the Tanzania side with us. We continually try to do our very best for all of our guests, but unfortunately, sometimes we do fail. I therefore again express my sincere apology on behalf of our company. I am very sorry to learn that your experience with our Arusha representatives, was less than adequate.
I understand your frustrations and the moment you did reach me out on my Kenyan cell phone on the issue; I tried all I could in my powers to sort it out and my contact person in Arusha promised to rectify the mistake as I did communicate back to you the same day. Little did I know that my directives landed on his “deaf ears” until I read from you via this respected platform. I MUST say that we let you down as a company and as a person whom you were communicating with all through and for that, I am so sorry.
As a company we take full responsibility for the situation and understand why leaving the work to the “untrusted hands” at times compromises our standards and I did not meet your expectations. Our Customer Service Representatives are given a set of guidelines that they are supposed to adhere to, however in this case, clearly those standards were insufficient.
In this regard, we failed you as our valued customer. I should have postponed my travel and see you off on your safari program with a more qualified and respectful guide.
Please be assured that this type of situation will never happen again. We have put new procedures in place as of today that will ensure that any of our customers who will be with us on a safari and may intend to speak with someone more senior, for any reason while on safari or after the completion of the trip and need assistance, will be transferred immediately at our company expenses.
It's very important to us that our customers get what we promised as that is what our company motto “putting customers first through service…” does preach.
I regret that we provided you with bad service and a poor customer experience—it is the exact opposite of what we pride ourselves on. We value our customers and understand how important it is to offer exceptional service.
I would like to thank you for bringing this to our attention. It will help us improve our operations and services today and tomorrow across the globe.
If there are any other issues that need to be addressed, now or in the future, please don't hesitate to contact me personally on my cell phone or my Gmail account.
Yours Sincerely,
Allan.
DE
Email Jana | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
We had a nice time during The Safari and saw many animals. It was incredible!
The Service was really good. Allan was really helpful preparing our trip and always replied within minutes to our Emails. The Guide during The tour was also really helpful and took good care of us. The Food was amazing!