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Sura   –  
United States US
Visited: June 2019 Reviewed: Oct 14, 2019

Email Sura  |  65+ years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

The review below is the personal opinion of Sura and not that of SafariBookings.
Seth Vincent is a fraud
2/5

Seth Vincent of tripadvisor africa safari or right choice safari is a FRAUD.He does not accept credit card payments so the traveler has no protection. There were 14 of us on a custom 12 day safari. He provided two beat up land cruisers, one of which lost its rear axel in the middle of nowhere on our second day, and one passenger was slightly hurt. Few days later the front left tire came completely off on a vehicle and we hit a soft dirt bank, lucky for us. To top it all, complete break failure on a vehicle in Tanzania. We were VERY LUCKY to have a skilled driver who maneuvered his way through a parking lot full of land cruisers and into a ditch, a few feet away from a cell tower, while 8 of us were hanging onto our dear lives, a harrowing experience. One of us had a sprained wrist and a hairline crack and still recovering. We missed out on some of the safari experience due to these accidents and multiple flat tires. We missed out on Ngorongoro. He shorted us two rooms in several places, booked us in a cheap hotel in Arusha, in spite of having paid for expensive accommodations. We had good spirited travelers who shared rooms. He is NOT A MEMBER of Kenya Association of Tour Operators.
Highly discourage you to plan a trip with him.
Some of us are glad to be alive.

Reply from Trip Advisor Africa Safaris
Reply from Trip Advisor Africa Safaris
Posted on Oct 22, 2019

Dear Sura,

Thank you very much for writing a review after your safari,We appreciate you for choosing us and even for your reviews since this help us to improve in the areas you have mention.
To be honest,handling group tour sometime become very difficult since every body need to be handling differently,we tried our best to give you the best,but I have realized that we did not meet your expectation,like others who were in the same group and still gave us 5 star,here below is also one of the review in your group,please accept our apology if we did not meet your expectation and this will not happen again.

Akuna Matata. Perfect trip with a perfect guide.
5/5

Our stay in Kenia and Tanzania was an unforgettable experience. We took ride games in Amboseli, Massai Mara, Nukuru, Serengetti and Ngorogoro. Seth prepared every single thing we asked for in a very careful way and was always in touch with us so that the trip was perfect. Allan, our driver and guide, was nice, helpful and did every possible thing so that we were comfortable and could see all the animals possible. He even prepared a few unforgetful "surprises" and dealt with all of them very efficiently. We saw leopards, lions, buffalos, rhinos, hippos, elephants, zebras, and many more mammals and birds. He gave us all sorts of explanations and looked after us as if we were his family. I'm sure we couldn't find a better one. Kalvin, the cook, was also very supportive and looked after one member of our group when he was not feeling well. The driver in Tanzania, Goody, was also excellent. He did every single thing we asked for. He was an expert on safaris and helped us reached all sites we
look for. He explained to us all the mammals characteristics, their habits, etc. The cook, also named Goody, was really really good. I'm sure he has taken a lot of cooking courses as he surprised us with delicious meals. He did his best to cook what we liked (banana cake, quiche, and many delicatessen).
In short, we could not have a better stay. Thanks Seth, Allan, Goody, Goody and Kalvin. You are a great team.

Please accept our apology if we did not meet your expectation.
Thank you.

Regards
Seth Vincent
Director.

Madden   –  
United States US
Visited: July 2019 Reviewed: Aug 8, 2019

Email Madden  |  20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

The review below is the personal opinion of Madden and not that of SafariBookings.
Misleading Information + Unprofessional Response... Can book same safari with more reliable company
2/5

If you want to skip reading the review, here's just a quick list of reasons you shouldn't book with Seth Vincent and things that were PROMISED TO BE INCLUDED in our safari package that WERE NOT: First nights stay in Nairobi, visit to elephant orphanage, giraffe sanctuary, farewell dinner at Carnivore, a limited number of people in a van, and adequate amounts of daily drinking water. He just wants to find any way to take your money!
As two college students who booked a "budget" safari, and have been to Africa before, we went into our trip with no expectation, knowing that traveling over there is an adventure of it's own! We booked a 6 day safari through Seth Vincent and initial communication was clear. Once the deposit was paid, however, his communication became a little more sporadic and it was unclear how we were going to transfer the remaining balance, as we made it known we did not want to travel with that much cash. Anytime we sent an email asking questions about anything prior to landing in Nairobi his response was nothing other than "it will be fine."
In the email he sent with our itinerary, he said that our first nights stay upon landing in Kenya was paid for in the cost of our safari. He never booked us a place to stay, or gave us money from the safari package to put towards a hotel, so we booked and paid for our own hotel in Nairobi (which wouldn't have been a big deal if he wouldn't have told us that a room was included in the package and then lied when we asked him about it)
Upon landing in Kenya we were picked up by a driver named Samuel! He was great and according to him, and the itinerary that Seth Vincent had sent us, someone would be meeting us at our hotel to go over what the rest of the week was going to be and someone was going to take us to the elephant orphanage and giraffe sanctuary. No one ever came and we were instructed to be ready for pickup the following morning.
Seth arrived as we were departing for our safari and took us to an ATM where he had us withdraw the remaining balance for our safari after we had asked multiple times if we could just wire the money the same way we had paid the deposit.
After taking our cash he dropped us off at a van where he told us that the van would exceed no more than 6 people. Well, after just a few minutes of waiting the van was completely full (9 people) and we were stuffed elbow to elbow with people from a different tour company that Seth evidently partners with. So, the number of people he told us would be on safari was false, which at the start wasn't a huge deal, but after being stuffed into a van for numerous days on bumpy roads, it got a little too crowded and very uncomfortable.
Then the amount of water that was promised to us each day was not given... to the point that I was so dehydrated I was vomiting (there is water available for purchase at the camps so we just ended up buying water for ourselves... which also wouldn't have been a big deal if Seth Vincent would have just been honest about the amount of water we were going to receive)
Upon returning to Nairobi after the safari, we never heard from Seth (he would have never known if we even made it back to Nairobi) so we reached out about the "complimentary dinner at Carnivore" that is promised in the itinerary, along with the visits to the elephant orphanage and giraffe sanctuary. He told us that because we didn't go on the first day (BUT THE REASON WE DIDNT GO IS BECAUSE HE NEVER SHOWED UP) he wasn't required to take us to see the elephants and giraffes (and was incredibly rude about it), but he offered to arrange to take us AT AN ADDITIONAL COST (to something we already paid for!!) and when I asked about the farewell dinner at Carnivore he flat out told me no. When I asked to be compensated for the first night's stay in Nairobi he also told me no, even though HIS INITIAL EMAIL STATES THAT HE WILL PAY FOR IT. He asked for additional money to arrange visits to the elephants and the giraffes and dinner. So we just took an uber and planned a day for ourselves.
The safari itself was magical. We absolutely loved our first driver, Jeffery Bruce. Everything about the Maasi Mara is absolutely breathtaking, but you can book the same safari with other companies for cheaper (: We were put into a van with another company and everyone who booked through them paid less than we did (and seemed to be given what they were told in their itineraries)
Our second driver, James, was AWFUL. He drove on the wrong side of the road on a busy highway on the way to Amboseli and didn't notice until someone told him... and FELL ASLEEP multiple times while driving on the safari.
Our safari went to the Mara, Nakuru, and Amboseli... we both agreed that if we had to do it all over again we would book a 5 day safari (through a different company) and only go to the Mara and Nakuru (: Amboseli is cool, but not nearly as fascinating as the Maasi Mara and a lot more work to get to than it is worth!
Go on a safari... just book it through someone that's honest!

Reply from Trip Advisor Africa Safaris
Reply from Trip Advisor Africa Safaris
Posted on Sep 15, 2019

Dear Madden ,


Thank you too for reviewing our services and also indicating areas of disappointment.

We appreciate that there may have been some misunderstanding at both the booking and safari stages.

It is important that we clarify on the issues raised and also put the facts straight

May i address the areas of concern as outlined in your review

1.Safari tour programs on our website have detailed itineraries starting with pick up at safari start to drop off at safari finish
The itinerary is complete with pick up time,safari route,safari progress,game viewing drives,safari accommodation options,meals etc.
This is the basis of your safari booking and it is this product that you choose as a preference and book.
If you have specific areas you wish to visit,we expect that you specify this to us during the safari discussion booking stage.
This is to allow us advice on the specific choose for your safari to enable you visit your preferred area of National park
Please note that National parks occupy thousands of square Kilometers and and can not be covered within span of 6 days, above all you did group tour so our priority is to save everybody in the group.
We are sorry if this was inconvenience to you, we hope to serve you a gain in future.

Regards
Seth Vincent
Director Trip Advisor Africa Safaris

Mano   –  
Canada CA
Visited: September 2018 Reviewed: Sep 29, 2018

Email Mano  |  50-65 years of age  |  Experience level: over 5 safaris

The review below is the personal opinion of Mano and not that of SafariBookings.
Very poor organzation with outright cheating as we didn't get th promised game drives and hotels
2/5

We went on a tour with Vincent Seth from Trip Advisor African Safaris(from the 7-24th of Sept 2018) and I would like to make the following comments.

We paid the money in 3 installments - First about 4 months ago, 2nd about a month ago and the last installment when we arrived in Nairobi (this is the way he asked).

Tour - Group = 12 to be accommodated in 2 vehicles as a private tour with an English speaking Driver/Guide. Tour 11days in Kenya/Tanzania with 5 of us doing an optional 4 day tour at the beginning in Zanzibar.

Day 1 - Zanzibar : Driver who picked us up spoke practically no English(acceptable for this part bout not later when touring). We were to have 3 singles and 1 double but when we got there the hotel stated we were booked as a triple and 1 double. Had to contact Vincent (while sharing a room for the initial hours by 2 of us - 3rd arrived later) who corrected the problem. Excellent Hotel (Blue Bay Resort). The day we arrived we were to on a Spice Tour in the afternoon - Driver who dropped as well as his Zanzibar contact(Willie) didn't inform us that somebody would be arriving to at 2PM to pick us up (when we have gone on tours the driver before leaving gives clear cut instructions a to the next pick up time-but this didn't happen). We were in the restaurant but whoever arrived at 2PM didn't bother to look for us but left after a while(if he told the front desk they would have had no difficulty locating us as we were only 30 metres away).

Day 2 : We went on the missed Spice Tour followed by the Old Town Tour - Guides very knowledgeable and overall very good tour; Suggestion - We were taken for lunch to a restaurant stating it is local food although the food was essentially Indian Food (which I know has a big influence on the local cuisine). There were other tourists there with the lunch acceptable. After the lunch during the tour we were taken to a colonial hotel with a nice restaurant overlooking the bay - It would have been better to give an option to the tourists to go to the usual place vs this restaurant (for an additional charge) as we anyway stopped there for tea, thus spending time.

Day 3: All problems commenced. On our schedule we were to be taken for a boat tour to see Dolphins followed by lunch and a tour to local sanctuary for a visit including a Colobus Monkey viewing. We had a 2hr drive to go to the Dolphin site (+ 2hrs back). The driver spoke no English at all. When we reached the beach there wasn't a single other tourist there (thus I am not sure whom they sub-contracted to do the tour). The motor boat was fine but the life jackets provided were old and frayed with the zips not functional. There was only one additional straps on the jacket (usually has 2-3) with the no clips to latch. Thus we tied the 2 frayed ends with an hand done knot. This in my opinion is gross negligence and dangerous. As you are aware a large number of people died in a Ferry accident in Tanzania a few days ago. The boat driver again spoke very little English. After the boat ride the car driver stated that he was asked to take us back to the hotel and that he wasn't told about lunch/Colobus monkey tour. After our insistence he had a back and forth discussion with Willlie with the phone handed to us to argue with him with regards to provision of the remaining portion of the trip. After wasting nearly 1hr the driver was told to take us back to the boat area to a restaurant - When we taken to this beach side restaurant there was not a single customer in the restaurant and there was not a single staff person to be seen either. We certainly weren't prepared to have lunch there and asked the driver to take us back to the hotel. We were not expecting a fancy restaurant(I have eaten at many beachside cafes in the Caribbean) but this place wasn't suitable to have a meal. The only people in the restaurant were 4 young kids seated and playing cards.

Day 4: Arrived in Nairobi. Taken to Sarova Stanley hotel- An excellent hotel. Vincent Seth was there. It took nearly 2hrs to get the rooms as Vincent had not made the bookings according to what we paid for ( 5 double/twin rooms and 2 singles). However we took this in good stride but informed Vincent that he needs to make a list citing the names and the room allocations and fax it to all the other hotels in advance to expedite the check in. Vincent spent a lot of time asking us to write all the names in detail citing the room requirements (all this info was already sent to him beforehand). However the next day he brought a sheet written by him many names misspelt and handing over to us. I explained to him that he needs to fax this the hotels and there was no need to give each of us copies. The list was ultimately not faxed to any of the hotels except possibly one.

Day 5 (Tour Of Nairobi): Vincent arrived late and stated that another person from England was going to joining us in our tour. This was a total surprise as we were to have a private tour. Although the person was quite nice having the 7th person in the van resulted in limitations for space to carry luggage as well as inconvenience when trying to jockey for position during game viewing(especially in Tanzaniawhere the truck had only 7 Tour of Nairobi -although identified we were not taken to the Nairobi Natl park, Blixen Museum etc - Vincent had too many things on the schedule and the drivers didn't have copies of the schedules with them (This was an issue throughout the tour where not a single driver/guide had the schedule given to us. Evening - Dinner at Carnivoro Restaurant - Nice

Day 6 : Told by Vincent that we would reach Lake Nakuru in 2-3hrs (and we would have a full game drive there) with his drivers insisting that it would take 4-5hrs (the latter turned out to be correct). Nice Hotel

Day 7/8 : Masai Mara - No issues although game drive on last day not done as road issues forcing a detour.

Day 9/10 : Serengeti Serena Lodge - Excellent hotel and good game drives. When we went to check out of the hotel after staying 2 nights the Manager told us that we cannot leave as the hotel has not been paid for the 2 nights with only a deposit made. He wanted us to pay US$ 5100.00. We obviously refused but were held hostage at this hotel until 1145AM. We had to make dozens of phone calls to get hold of Vincent and his Tanzania agent (Ibrahim) to arrange for the payment. Ibrahim stated that Vincent hadn't paid him and Vincent stated that Ibrahim had played him out. In addition to the mental anguish we missed the morning game drive. If anybody disbelieves this please feel free to phone the Mgr at the Serengeti Serena - his name was Vincent as well

Day 10 -we were to be taken to the Ngorongoro Serena Lodge for the night(as per our schedule) but the drivers stated that we should go to Lake Manyara Serena to allow for proper game drives at Ngorongoro as well as Tarangerie. Ultimately we had totally inadequate game drive at Ngorongoro and never got any worthwhile game drive at Tarangerie either(see reasons below). We were unfortunately naïve to believe this with Vince stating later that the Ngorongoro Serena and the Lake Manyara Serena are similarly priced - however when I checked on the Serena website a few days ago the Ngorongora Serena was listed at US$480 and the Lake Manyara Serena at US$ 280.00 (thus we were cheated again).

Day 11- We were driven to Tarangarie Natl Park(90 minutec drive) to be accommodated at the Sopa Lodge in Tarangerie for the night (as per original schedule). Throughout the day we had no confirmation from Vincent or Ibrahim as to where we are going (we repeatedly asked the drivers who stated that they were also not told). After doing a very short game drive(less than 2hrs) we were told that we are to be housed in Arusha (and not in the Tarngarie Park). We drove another 2 1/2 hrs and were taken to the Impala Hotel in Arusha - A very run down hotel with bare electrical wires hanging from the wall.

Day 12 - Amboseli - Good hotel but again as per schedule we were to be taken to the Amboseli Serena within the park for lunch - Instead box lunch given cutting their costs.

All in all the organization was terrible and I wouldn't recommend anybody to book with this company. I have been to numerous countries in the world in many continents but have never seen a person as disorganized as this. I simply do not believe some of the comments on the website stating Vincent was well organized unless we are referring to a different person. A prime example of his lack of understanding is illustrated by the following. My friend texted Vincent from Zanzibar asking him whether he could arrange a late check out as his flight was in the late afternoon (we left in the morning). The reply from Vincent was Jambo - "I would be more than happy to arrange an early checkout for you with the hotel"! As everybody is aware the cost for the tour at this site is substantially less than if you booked through an agent in North America. However this discount is essentially based on avoiding the commission charged by the agent in America - As ultimately they book though agents in the developing countries sometimes even go though other agents in UK etc (with everybody keeping a cut). We have booked though local agents and visited Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and recently Myanmar. We have never had this type of experience. In fact this was my 2nd visit to Kenya/Tanzania. When we went 15yrs ago we used an agent in Nairobi where the price charged was about $2000.00 less than the price asked by North American travel agents. We had absolutely no issues at that time with all hotels provided as per schedule with each driver having a copy of the schedule given to us. Having said all this the only redeeming feature was that we saw loads of wildlife during this tour with the experience exceeding our expectations. This as you know is partly luck and partly the efforts of the drivers. If by chance we didn't see much the trip would have been considered as one of the most terrible tours that I have had. The drivers/guides were quite good with a lot of knowledge on the animals including birds. However I felt that the drivers in Tanzania played us out working in conjunction with the agent - Missing 3-4 game drives, switching to cheaper hotels etc

Mano

Reply from Trip Advisor Africa Safaris
Reply from Trip Advisor Africa Safaris
Posted on Oct 9, 2018

Jambo Mano,
Thank you very much for sharing your experience with us during your holiday.
I will not comment on this but, I will only copy pest one of the review from the person who was in the same group , same vehicle same drive.
Here below find the copy pest review from one of you!!
Here below find the copy pest review of others in the same group!!
8 Oct 2018 | By Tony
Rating:
5 / 5 stars
CA | Age: 65+ | Experience: 2-5 times
Reply to this review | Report fraud

Overall, fantastic

Taking everything into consideration, I received my money's worth. There were a few hiccups. We were a group of 12, and our understanding was that we purchased a private tour. However, when we got to Nairobi, we found that there was a 13th person included in our group. This was an inconvenience (no offence meant to this person), as we had to share two vehicles. All of the hotels were as promised and very good, except just one in Tanzania. We were told some rooms at the hotel that was promised, were not available, and we would be taken to another in Arusha. The hotel in Arusha was not up to the standard of that promised. I tried to get the hotel booking reference numbers beforehand so that I could confirm the bookings and the number of rooms, before our trip commenced. However, I met with some resistance, even from some members of our own group that protest the loudest, and never got this information. Then there was another incident in Tanzania where the hotel was claiming they were not paid for the second night, and wanted us to make the payment. Eventually though, it got sorted out. As you can see, it was mostly in the Tanzania side of our Kenya/Tanzania tour that we encountered some problems in logistics.

So those were the "cons". Taken with the broader scheme of things, they were minor. We did manage to complete the tour, and we did encounter heaps of wild life. I should also mention another incident that will show that the organizers had the well being of their clients at heart. One of my luggage, containing some of my medicines, did not arrive with us to the Nairobi airport. Seth Vincent (from Trip Advisor Africa Safaris) made the effort to collect it when it arrived (two days later) and forward it to me to the point of our tour.

Thank you !!

Laura   –  
Kenya KE
Visited: August 2018 Reviewed: Aug 30, 2018

Email Laura  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

The review below is the personal opinion of Laura and not that of SafariBookings.
not recommendable
2/5

Arrangements before starting the trip were managed well. The trip started with a delay of 2,5 hours. No explanations were provided, neither an information about the timing of the later departure. The accommodation in the tent lodge was not good at all: the mosquito net was not arranged, the bathroom was really dirty, food was acceptable, service personal rather rude. The bus we were transported in was not comfortable and noisy. The driver drove safely, was friendly and adapted to our wishes along the game drive. The game drive was nice as the wildlife we could observe was stunning.



Reply from Trip Advisor Africa Safaris
Reply from Trip Advisor Africa Safaris
Posted on Aug 30, 2018


Jambo Laura,

Thank you for sharing your experience with us.

First of all I apologise if we behaved in an unprofessional manner.

I would like you to know that there is a reason that we have all positive reviews except some few individual who confirm safari last minute especially during high season, we don't pay or give special treatment to our clients so that they can write good reviews. We offer our clients value for their money. It was unethical for you to demand me to give you a single occupancy tent which you had not paid for, with threats that you would destroy our business.
My first email to you clearly explained that you will be sharing a tent with another traveler or else you will pay a supplement of USD 100 for you to have a single occupancy room. You ignored this and demanded that you must be given single occupancy room without paying the supplement even if you book last minute,remember I even upgrade your accommodation to mind range though you pay for the budget but still didn't get satisfied with that but demanded that you wanted to be taken to a lodge, I made arrangements and instructed my driver guide to take you to Mara Sopa Lodge where you would pay the supplement for the accommodation at the lodge since you had paid USD310 for a 3days Masai Mara budget safari which could not cover this lodge as it costs almost USD300 without transport, game drives and park fees.

You changed your mind and decided to take the single the mid range which we paid for you not knowing that your budget for 3 days was $ 300PP you even forgot that, however in the morning you declined to stay there claiming you were separated with the rest of the group, the same group you didn't want to share a tent with. All the other members of the group had paid the same rate and they agreed to share the tent and since we did't have any other alternative and you still wanted to stay as single occupancy, we prepared the tent so that you can share it with one of the traveler in the same group.

I think you had not made up your mind about this safari as I remember you had requested a refund a before lunch at Narok, after departure but later you changed your mind and decided to proceed. Please stop misleading our clients there was any miscommunication, evenif there were any you should have accepted the tent we offered you as it was even better and we still paid the extra $50 for it.

I have never heard any other client complain about our driver guide , even the rest of the group recommended him and wrote good reviews about him, he has the best attitude with our clients because he loves his job. I believe if he had a bad attitude like you want to potray he would not have made these efforts to show you the animals you claim he had.
I hope to save you again if it happen you will give us chance God bless you.


Seth Vincent
Director
Trip Advisor Africa Safari.


Anthony Hewitt   –  
United Kingdom UK
Visited: January 2017 Reviewed: Jun 14, 2017

Email Anthony Hewitt  |  50-65 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

The review below is the personal opinion of Anthony Hewitt and not that of SafariBookings.
Not what was agreed or paid for
2/5

I agreed and paid for a 'safari' covering the Mara and Serengeti, with some other parks. This was Jan-Feb 2017.
The bottom line to my problem with it all was that I did not get what was agreed (in detail) and paid for. I also lost days off my holiday as a result. I have e-mail evidence etc to support all of this.
It became apparent that some of the things that were agreed were unlikely anyway due to distances and travel connections, in which case, why were they agreed?
I (mostly) enjoyed my safaris, but this was thanks to the actual providers, not to TAAS, who as far as I could tell were only sub-contracting me anyway.
I was meant to be mostly mid-range, but ended up mostly budget, and some of that was severe end of budget.
In practice, especially for solo travellers or couples, you are likely to be passed on to other companies. Many companies barely have offices never mind their own vehicles, etc, they just sub-contract, sometimes many times, and slice money off the top.
As such I would advise paying a little more and sticking to firms with actual offices and their own vehicles and some history, and make your own group if you can. If Serengeti, perhaps wait till you get to Arusha and have a good look at the numerous options available.
The economics and logistics of all the above is understandable and acceptable, but only if clear and transparent. What I can't accept is being promised one thing and then being given another, largely inferior thing.

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