Kenya & Tanzania team at Tarangire Sopa Lodge.
Travel For Change Africa
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2014)
- Member Of:
- ASTA & TRA
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $150 to $300 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
IT
Email Karime Jadallah Prisco | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Not trustworthy
We had planned a trip in December for our family. Unfortunately my husband got sick and passed away. We reached out to Patricia letting her know the situation and and then the pandemic hit. It has been a back and forth with them for the last 2 years trying to recoup my money. They have promised so many times that they would make small payments, but as of today I have not received anything. I have written requesting the money be used as a voucher for a future trip. I would like to take my kids and fulfill the trip their father wanted to take with them. It is a real shame that we have had a loss, a pandemic, and now we have lost our deposit. I guess it is easier to ignore the client and pretend nothing ever happened. If a company cannot be professional enough to take responsibility for its actions then it is not worth dealing with. A very sad customer.
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Email Terry Maxwell | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unable to fulfill their obligation
Very sad to say that due to the pandemic we had to cancel our safari to Kenya with Travel for Change Africa. Because we cancelled so far in advance we should have received a full refund. To date we have received nothing and they no longer return calls or emails. Initially they asked if we would accept payments which we agreed to but not a dime has been sent our way. Clearly our money was not escrowed for our safari but instead used to fund other projects. Don't send them funds for a safari.
Reply from Travel For Change Africa
Posted on Dec 29, 2020Hi Terry,
We appreciate your feedback and understand you are frustrations and also apologize for making you sad it's not our intention. We can confirm that you are among the clients who preferred a full refund instead of postponing your trip to a later date as your cancellation was because of the current ongoing pandemic.
We have tried our best to accommodate our clients' needs but 2020 has been a tough year for the travel industry making it impossible to accommodate everyones need on time. Since March most of our payments have been tied to credit notes from our suppliers, because there hasn't been any traveling it has been challenging converting credit notes to cash hence the delay in issuing your refund. The little cash flow we had was channeled to partial salaries of the office staff and the safari guides to ensure they don't fall on hard times.
We can assure you that your refund will be issued in the coming months all we request from you is patience and give us some time to get this sorted out.
BR
Email Juliana | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It´s very nice to feel that you are travelling with locals!
Safari is unique and we will never forget it. TFC was a good partner.
Email Wendy Ensell | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A good experience from beginning to end
Very professional from the time we were met. Guide was friendly and accomodating. Enjoyed accomodation at Amboselli. Very comfortable relaxing and friendly. Safari tours were varied and guide knowledgable. Would recommend
Email Rev Fr Cyprian | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
An amazing experience; real value for money.
I am definitely grateful that I chose to go with Travel for Change Africa on my Amboseli Safari last January. My visitors and I have all the good things to say about the experience from the first inquiry, through to the bookings and the safari itself. The staff were well on time and knew exactly what would make us happy. They have considerate drivers and vehicles well and truly suited for Kenyan roads. They made us feel safe at all times on the roads and in the parks; a great peace of mind. I look forward to choosing Travel for Change Africa on my next Safari trip to Kenya.
NL
Email Cate | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very nice Safari in Masai Mara!
Me and my family we went to Masai Mara for 3 days, 2 nights. We didn't have much time and no large budget so we asked Travel for Change for advice. They suggested to go to Masai Mara because you can see many animals in a short period of time. We had a great time!
We stayed in Loyk camp in northern mara and the camp was very nice. We slept in a canvas tent but in a very nice bed and waking up among the animal sounds is lovely.
The drive through mara was a bit long in our safari van because the road is very bad, but our van was strong and the driver was friendly. It also turned out later that our driver had a lot of knowledge about the wild life as well. That was really nice. Also a big plus for us was that a friendly lady from Travel for Change came and see us when we were in Nairobi and were to meet our driver. That was a comforting start of our yourney.
As for the animals we are aware that you have to have some luck sometimes but we felt we really saw a lot of different animals. Lions, Wildebeast, Giraffe's, Bufffalo's and many other. All in all we were surprised that we could have such a lovely safari with such a tight budget.
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Email Marlene | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An amazing first Safari experience
First, my Travel for Change contact, Patricia was able to get me into a van only a week in advance. I was volunteering for a small NGO in Ngong Hills for the month and she accommodated my last minute request beautifully. I loved our driver, who had a great sense of humor and an incredible amount of patience. As I found out, when taking safari in rainy season, anything can happen, and he was resourceful, cognizant of our short trip and did everything he could to deal with the bad roads due to rain. On the way to the Mara, when approaching a 3 vehicle situation where all were stuck trying to cross a very low, washed out bridge, he called ahead to someone at Masai Mara to come pick us up, (us 6 passengers) and take us for the evening ride through Masai Mara. At the time the 6 of us were walking around the bridge area, there were still about 6 vans waiting to get across. So, our driver was intuitive enough to make sure we got out, took the evening ride and he picked us up later to take us all to our respective accommodations. (We found out the next day that the other safari-goers were not so lucky to have a resourceful driver.)
Our driver shared all that he knew with us about the animals...as we all asked so many questions. He also pointed out the safety issues of being in such close proximity to wild animals and kept us within a safe distance at all times. At one point we saw a van with tourists very close to a rhino and he reiterated that he would not take us that close to a rhino due to their dangerous potential. All of us appreciated his safety sensibilities for our health & welfare. The rides both days were magnificent, gorgeous blue skies and unparalleled sunsets.
I truly enjoyed the tent facility, Sidai hotels and camps where I stayed. It was quiet, peaceful and we were met at check-in with hot face towels to take the grime off from many hours of travel. What a treat! The Masai men who ran the camp told us they patrolled all night to make sure we were safe. The food was excellent and the chef took us outside after breakfast one morning to show us a baboon about 40 feet away!
It was by far one of the grandest experiences I've ever had. The accommodations for were wonderful, the driver was fantastic and the Masai Mara was magnificent. Thank you Travel for Change Africa!
CA
Email Aggie | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Best deal ever!
I was a bit skeptical at first about traveling with an agency I had never used before but from the moment I landed in Kenya, I knew I had made the right choice. Everything went super smoothly and I felt a bit nostalgic leaving a week later. I was meant to write this just after my trip but work happened! Thank you, Travel for Change. I hope to use your services again soon.
Email Anne | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Honest and trustworthy tour operator
After a lot of research on different safari operators I selected travel for change for our safari last year. Patricia was excellent at planning what would have been an amazing safari and beech holiday in Kenya. Sadly due to the pandemic we were unable to go which was a great disappointment to us. However, Patricia was very understanding and we set up a refund agreement to help the business keep going and to allow her to pay the refund at the end of July 2021. This came good yesterday so despite our sadness of a lost holiday we have not lost our money. I can highly recommend this company.
NL
Email Remco | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Above all expectations
What an experience! We, a group of 4 people, did a safari of 7 days (Amboseli-Lake Naivaska-Maasai Marai) on Patricia's advise. We gave Patricia a budget and our minimal requirement and she managed to get the maximum out of everything. She was so kind to advise on every question we had and amended the trip time by time according to our needs.
The trip itself was amazing our guide collected us perfectly on time with a van. The van itself had plenty of space for 4 tall dutchies. However the 4x4 would have been more confontrable, but our budget didnt allow. Our guide was so eager to fullfill our animal whish list, and discussed every day the options we had. In this way, we were able to take it easy on some days and go for the maximum on the other day.
The accomodations&food where also above expectations. The only unexpected thing we had was a change in the last accomodation. This was required since the initial accomodation was fludded by the heavy rains. However, we could complain since it changed from outside the Maasai Mara, to inside the park!
We would definately recommend to book it through Travel for Change, especially with Patricia.
Ps, im normally not writing any reviews, but this organisation deserves it!