Budget Holiday Safaris
- Office In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2006)
- Tour Types:
- Customizable private tours and fixed group tours
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $100 to $800 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
for a custom tour
Your request will be sent directly to the operator
If preferred, you can contact the operator directly
Reviews
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Email Eric Buscher | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
DO NOT USE - THIS COMPANY IS DANGEROUS
I used Budget Holiday Safaris and I have to say not only do I not recommend them, I would warn you from using them. I booked an 11 day safari with them in Kenya and Tanzania. They did not tell me that they don’t handle the Tanzania part but partner with a different agency, Sandlands Tours. I only found out while on the tour and when I googled Sandlands, I found there were a number of customer complaints about them. If they had told me upfront I never would have used them.
In Tanzania, Sandlands switched drivers while we were staying in the Serengeti. The original driver took all our paperwork and didn’t pay for our time in the park, and when we tried to leave, the park tried to get us to pay over $2500. Sandlands was refusing to pay. Rather than pay ourselves, we called our embassies, who had to put pressure on Sandlands . We had to stay an additional night without food or lodging, and had to sleep in the car with water buffalos and lions roaming around the car.
When I contacted Budget Holiday Safaris about this issue, their response was just that they would speak to the manager. I emailed them several times after that and they never bothered to respond. It was only when I emailed them that we had contacted the embassies and that I was going to report them as a scam to my credit card company did they bother to message me back, asking me to not do any damage to them. No concern over the situation at all.
The next day, because of the pressure that this was turning into an international incident, Sandlands relented and paid. However, Budget called me and wanted me to continue on the tour with this company. I told them I no longer felt safe and refused. Other people in my tour got calls from their agencies demanding they continue the safari or else they would be breaking their contract and would be held liable. One woman burst into tears from this.
Other problems:
• When we tried to check into our hotel in Arusha, they claimed we hadn’t been booked in and wanted us to pay for our rooms. They claimed we would be reimbursed. When we showed them our forms, they magically found our names in the registration book. This hotel also is the office for Sandlands.
• They would consistently put more people in the cars then the maximum promised for the tour.
• The vehicles lacked most seatbelts. We had several break down while on the road. The final car had broken windows and no seatbelts and felt extremely unsafe.
• We weren’t given meals several times during the trip.
• When concerns or issues were directed to Budget, they were dismissed or ignored. Once they just straight up lied to me.
While Sandlands was the primary agency in Tanzania, they were acting in full cooperation with Budget Holiday Safaris. Neither agency has made any move to apologize for the experience or to make any kind of compensation or restitution. I believe Budget to be fully aware of how Sandlands conducts business in their name, and therefor they must approve or condone their actions. I believe that the actions of these two companies are dangerous and if people continue to use them, someone is going to be seriously injured.
Reply from Budget Holiday Safaris
Posted on Sep 11, 2018We apologize for the hiccup that occurred on day 9 of safari as only one day of safari was remaining. Day 11 is usually for travelling back from Tanzania to Nairobi, so no visit to National park.
THE FIRST PHASE OF SAFARI WHICH THE CLIENT DID NOT MENTION WAS PERFECT AND AS PER ITINERARY.
We really tried our best to avail our services and we feel the client is unfair to say we are a dangerous company and are in business to injure people.
Tanzania safari, we always do with agents as Kenyans are not allowed to own permanent offices in Tanzania. We have been working with Sandland Safaris for over a year now and we had never had a problem with them. We always get good services from Sandland until this time. We have followed the matter and tried our best to understand what really happened.
In Serengeti after the change of guides, which is very normal when doing a group safari, there was a hiccup in handing over and the first guide left with the stamped entrance fees and second guide couldn't exit the park. This brought about the delay which led to the clients spending a night in Serengeti instead of heading to their last destination. The clients were taken back to the campsite, where they had slept on the first night and provided with the same food from before, which they refused and chose to sleep in the car, and yet they were doing camping all along, from day 1, why were they not attacked by lions? The camps and campsites are government grounds protected by park rangers of the various governments.The locations are also areas that have been allocated by the government, and are very safe. We tried to resolve the issue that arose in Serengeti from Nairobi and Arusha but Sandland safaris turned out to be a company that could not be trusted anymore.We do not condone the events of this safari, nor do we support what Sandland Safaris did, as our primary goal is to give our clients a good experience. As a result of this, we have terminated our contract with Sandland safaris and have partnered with a different agency.
We sincerely apologize to Eric and his partner and assure our future clients that we are still committed to ensure we give the best services.Choose us and definitely, you will always share a different experience from this.
IT
Email PAOLA | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Easy to communicate
We had a week safari on their 7 days safari program, i enjoyed a lot. Our driver and guide, Geoffrey, spotted a lot of wild animals, i loved the Masai Mara reserve, a place pictures cannot describe
MX
Email Oscar Correa | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Incredible experience
Incredible experience
I booked my trip with Anne she was so kind , friendly and always replied on time and solved all our doubts, also she gave us a lot of options to pay the trip.
I booked my safari with them for Kenya and Tanzania. They manged the trip on Kenya (it is an incredible operator) and for Tanzania they have a partner called Seven Wonders Safaris
Kenya (Masai Mara/Nakuru/Amboseli):
This trip was awesome/incredible , we really enjoyed it, I will repeat this trip again without hesitate, Jeffry was the best driver ever, he was always looking to give us the best experience on the safaris, looking for the wild animals and always giving us a lot of information about animals, he really loves his job and it was reflected on the trip. There is not any complaint here , it was even better that I was expecting,
Tanzania (Tarangire /Ngorongoro/Serengeti)
On this part of the trip the adventure was normal, drivers were not like Jeffry , drivers just did their job but there was not any plus (just following the road), So you can imagine after the amazing experience with Jeffry we were a little disappointed, driver does not have a radio , he didn't look for the animals, a lot of times I asked to stop to take some pictures and we were always "overtime" and finally we got 3 flat tires on 2 days , but the animals we watched was the relief (because we were very lucky and we Found a lot of animals, 4 lions together and they slept in front the jeep , a family of 6 cheetahs haunting and so on)
Also we booked and 1 day and a half on Serengeti, and Evelin on Arusha suggested to change it to half day on Serengeti and 1 day on Ndutu (because it supposed the migration was happening there) but once we finally reached Ndutu, there were not animals and we spent like 2 hours spinning a round without see any animal and all the animals were outside the Serengeti gate.Food was very delicious on Tanzania the private chef really cooked very good!
In few words trip on Kenya was incredible (10/10) and we will repeat it again with they , Tanzania was ok (7/10) the next time I would look for other operator instead of Seven Wonders Safaris or We would take to Jeffry to Tanzania :)
You can email me if you need more feedback.
AE
Email Sheldon | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Awesome Experience and good value for money
Good value for money.
Tour Coordinator (Anne) was really helpful and accommodating.
Service was much better Than expected.
Email Brian | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It's the best ever, well coordinated with very wonderful staffs, thanks Josephine for the itinerary.
Their customer services are top notch👌 Safari itself so so beautiful ❤️ that wildlife experiences was Hella awesome like super awesome 🥰 I love you guys
VN
Email RoyMinh | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The best tour operator I’ve ever had!!!
I initially asked for 3 quotations for my 7-days safari in Kenya (Masai Mara-Amboseli-Nakuru-Naivasha). All 3 tours companies replied me right away but Ms Yvonne Ateka from Budget Holiday Safaris was by far the most outstanding and patient in answering dozens of my questions concerning visa, safety, accommodation, preparation, etc… She was also extremely flexible in helping me changing my safari schedule due to my unexpected 2-days delay at transit airport New Delhi.
The entire tour was fascinating!!! It was the very best trip I’ve ever had (I’ve travelled 30+ countries so far)! Kenyan nature and wildlife is breathtakingly beautiful even more than I’ve imagined before…
Our tour guide Eric was very caring, knowledgeable and a super offroad driver.
Thank you so much again Yvonne & Eric for making my trip in Kenya a great experience! I would wholeheartedly recommend you guys for all my friends travelling to you amazing country!
A sidenote: for those who don’t know - please do not take photographs in Nairobi’s CBD (Central Business District)! It’s against Nairobi city regulation and may get you into big trouble!
BR
Email Maria Cecília Menezes | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great experience and very supportive team
My experiencie was great! They provided me a great support. Also, they were extremely supportive with a problem I had with a flight cancellation and really tried to assist me, despite it was not something under their control.
The entire Safari was a lovely experience and also liked very much my time in the facilities of the camps we were staying!
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Email Samuel Francis | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing 12 days Kenya Tanzania safari indeed!!
My wife and I had an amazing time on our 12 days safari to Kenya and Tanzania. Anne took extra care of us. Our guide Patrick was very knowledgeable and was good at his job. We highly recommend Budget Holiday Safaris.
Email Eliud Peterson | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A Fantastic 5 days Kenya Budget Safari
A fantastic 5 days Kenya Budget Safari.
We had the best safari on our 5 days Kenya safari. The guide was very knowledgeable and ensured we were satisfied at all times. I highly recommend this tour with Budget Holiday Safaris!!
PT
Email Goncalo Bernardino | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great time
Just returned from a wonderful safari in the cradle of civilization. Buget Holiday Safaris and his drivers made for a delightful tour. They are highly professional and knowledge but also extremely caring and fun people.