Our Clients and our Director before the safari
Wanyama African Safari
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2014)
- Member Of:
- TATO, TTB & TALA
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $210 to $450 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
Shaban the scam artist
Within the first 10 minute Mr Shaban had broken his own contract. The itinerary had changed, and indeed the accommodation and the company as well. I chose this company as the reviews appeared to be good. I was put with another cheaper company with poor reviews but had to pay the higher price. Mr shaban would not answer his phone to discuss the situation and refund the difference. Eventually he replied to my texts and was very rude and aggressive in his responses. He told me i should go to the police about him breaking the contract. Terrible man. No one should book with this company
IL
Email Ido | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great experience!
we set everything with Shabani in advanced.
The safari was a perfect experience, just as expected!
our driver, Richard, was so knowledgeable and nice,
we saw many animals and had a great time!
Great experience, very dedicated stuff, we will never forget this adventure
Shabani was very nice and helpful all along, even before we came to Tanzania, and gave us very good advice about other things in our trip that didnt have to do with the Safari.
Abdul the guide was funny, interesting and has a lot of knowledge. He is the reason the experience was so good.
Everything was planned to the last detail, if there were problems it was mainly because of the infrastracture in the locations - for example the long time waiting before the entrance to the parks, but it has nothing to do with African travel tours
RU
Email Mikhail | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Highly recommended!
We have been traveling with African Travel Tour in 2 days/1 night camping safari with Lake Manyara & Ngorongoro Crater. We were absolutelly satisfied with work of African Travel Tour company owner - Mr. Shabani. He is honest and very kind man! All services were absolutely great for affordable price.
I am sure, that if we will ever visit Africa again, I will work with Mr. Shabani again!
You can see pictures from our great safari here:
https://fotki.yandex.ru/users/mikelit/album/161995/?&p=8
RO
Email Andreea | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
African Scams
Well it seems that my experience with them was not that great, in fact it's still horrible. We booked with them the Kilimanjaro Trekking and Short Safari after that. Everything went just well until my boyfriend got diagnosed suddenly with pectoral angina and we were advised by the doctor to cancel the trip. So we did and more than one month in advance we contacted them to tell them the problem and if there is a way to get a refund of the money we already have paid. They said sure and no problem but they invoked the bank fees. So I suggested to pay the bank fees from our money and just send us the difference. After this they just stopped responding to phone calls, messages or e-mails. We can't reach them anymore even if we gave them an alternative and we agreed that we will pay the fees. They are just some african scams not trustable.
And Episode No #2:
They told me to post the medical documents on fb and safarbookings which of course I didn't do it because it's stupid and the documents are private. But I sent the documents to them by e-mail to prove that I'm not the one who lies in this story . The owner told me he will refund the money only if I erase the reviews on facebook and safaribookings which I did but more of curiosity to see how far can he go. Well what was already expected: since that (2 weeks ago) no sign from them again. So predictable I would say. It's not a big amount of money, maybe he feeds his family a week with that amount, honestly I don't even care. What I care about are the lies and the deep lack of respect. In conclusion I consider them scams not being able to assume a risk or facts not to mention to keep their word. I didn't go anywhere and neither I booked with someone else but how can you make understand someone who in fact has other interests?
PL
Email Agata & Michał | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing & well-organised adventure in Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Serengeti and Ngorongoro
Last month we experienced incredible adventure on Safari. It was a joined trip operated by Sandland Tours and Safaris organized by Shabani from African Travel Tour (they are sister companies as far as I'm concerned).
We spent 5 days and 4 nights on the Safari itself. Shabani was very responsive and helpful prior to the trip, he checked the bus from Nairobi for us and picked us up from the bus stop. Outstanding service. Our two nights before and after the Safari were included in the total price. We had to pay $20 for the Arusha airport transfer what was extremely expensive for that distance but that probably compensated for something else.
Safari was amazing, we had the best driver/guide (Eric) and cook (Mr Bean) you could imagine. Thanks to Eric we were always in the best spot to see the animals, even if there were 20 cars at the same time. He just knew where he was going - I talked to many people at the picnic areas and looked like we were the only ones to see some of the rare animals. In addition, he was talkative and had a great sense of humour so it was a real pleasure to spend time with him. Mr Bean cooked the best food ever and I really mean it because my husband who never eats fish was getting 3 helpings of delicious tilapia stew. The soup was so good that all of us were having a refill everyday. I was even asking for the recipe!
The trip was well-organised, I felt like we got the most of it. We were leaving early for the sunrise game drives and coming back as late as possible. We booked budget safari but our first 2 nights were upgraded to tented lodges with private bathrooms. That really exceeded our expectations and was a very nice surprise. We spent the other 2 nights in public campsites but the tents were very good quality, the mattresses and sleeping bags were also provided. The only inconvenience was that our backpack got dirty in the car. It was covered in oil and diesel and some of our clothes were in stains. We were really disappointed but the trip overall was so good that it compensated this mess :-) It was really hard to say goodbye in the end of the trip.
CA
Email Stephen Lyons | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Well organized and incredible experience!
It has been 5 months since I went on a 5 day budget camping safari tour of the Tarangire, Serengeti, and Ngorongoro national parks with my girlfriend, my sister, and her boyfriend but I just found this website and wanted to write a good review for our friends at African Travel Tour Company.
We organized the trip at the last minute with the owner Shabani and he was very good at responding to us promptly and customizing the perfect trip for us. When we met in person, he was very pleasant, positive, upbeat, and friendly, and is definitely someone you can trust.
Our guide Aloyce was incredible and I could not recommend him more. He cares a lot about making his clients have the best experience possible and tries exceedingly hard to find 'THE BIG FIVE' for them and as many other animals as possible. I can imagine his job would be quite stressful at times but he won't show it because he wants you to be as comfortable as possible. We could tell he was relieved when he finally spotted a rhino for us on our last day! He was a great friend to have on the trip and would chill with us at the campfire at night.
The meals prepared by our cook were phenomenal and much better than what we had expected for the price we paid for the trip.
The only hiccup we had was when some of our tents got a bit wet when it rained overnight, but the crew ensured they were replaced with dry tents for the next night.
All in all, however, we were very pleased with the service provided by African Travel Tour and I hope we will have a chance to return someday and do another tour with them.
DE
Email Anna & Oleg | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
highly recommended
The company of Mr.Shabani Mbirize is very reliable and we are very content with their services. The both of our safaris with them (5 days Tarangire-Serengeti-Ngorongoro, 1day Lake Manyara) were awesome! Our guide, Jumo, did everything to let us see all the highlights of the animal world of Tanzania which was successful. We saw a huge amount of animals, among others of course the famous big five. The head of the company, Shabani, planned the safari regarding the wishes of the participants. He was very interested in satisfying all of the costumer wishes and attached much interest in our opinions. After the first safari we traveled by ourselves around the country and even with that Shabani was a huge help for us by organizing and realizing our plans. He made phone calls to hotels, bought us bus tickets and helped us with absolutely every question we had. He didn't ask for a payment for that, of course we were very thankful and left him a sum of money which was reasonable in our opinion.
NL
Email Nicander & Wera | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great 4 day safari experience!
We came in contact with Mr. Shabani through one of his contacts at the African Café in Arusha. He sat down with us to discuss our ideas and expectations. We agreed upon a $600 p.p. 4-day trip to the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangire Ntl. Park. We were happy with this price and feel like we wouldn't have been able to find a different/cheaper safari with the same amount of service. We insisted upon a trip with maximum two other persons. In the end we were very happy not to be in a car with more people. Right away we met with Joseph, a happy and experienced driver and guide, who really contributed to our trip. We had some great conversations together. Joseph's upbeat spirit added a lot to the four days. He was an expert on wildlife and able to spot the most amazing animals. He was also able to offer us valuable information as well as local culture and customs. Cook Paul was very friendly as well, preparing all of our meals.
There was one disappointment though: one of the other girls in the car was unable to pay the fee up front for the Parks to the tour company. This meant that we lost a huge amount of time by trying to get money from the banks along the way and having to stand in line at the Park gates because of her financial incompetence. We feel like we were duped by the company's decision to let her come along on the trip when she was clearly unable to get money out in Arusha, let alone along the way to the Parks.
We would like to recommend African Travel Tours, and especially guide Joseph. We were happy with both the service and the price. Make sure to discuss your expectations beforehand.
FR
Email Da | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
I had a great time!
I've seen "the big five", thanks to Steve our nice driver. Steve is really a humor guy. Our cook, Samwel is also a good guy and his service is acceptable. You cannot expect fancy foods in a safari trip I think. The only thing that I don't like is that sometimes we had to eat like vegetarians. I don't know if it's due to the tight of the balance for a cheaper safari.
The worst thing is the policy of the company. The price of your safari depends on how well you can bargain with the tour operator but not depends on the quality of the service and not depend fairly on how many people sharing the cars. Since I went alone, I had to join others. I had to pay 750 $ for 4 days of safari and others people in my group had to pay 750$ for 5 days. Shabani, the tour operator even wanted to charge me for 800$ if I didn't try to bargain. This is really a short-term benefit policy! One more thing even worse is that after a long trip of safari, we were brought to the company office and forced to give comments about the company. They didn't ask us if we want to go there to give comment or not! What kind of comment you will give in front of them? This is just ridiculous. I hope they'll read this comment and then improve their quality of service.
Overall, nothing is perfect. I had a great time in Tanzania. I will come back here in the future if I can afford.