African Travels founders Will & Marijnke
African Travels
- Located In:
-
Netherlands
- Size:
- 1-5 employees (Founded in 2012)
- Member Of:
- GGTO, VvKR & Calamiteitenfonds
- Tour Types:
- Self-drive budget & mid-range tours
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $28 to $552 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
Email Mal | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Unprofessional
Sadly my experience with AT was very poor. I engaged with them some two years ahead of our Kenya/Tanzania/Zanzibar experience. I also paid them a substantial deposit of €7K. However, a year later when I engaged the various accommodations to check on a number of aspects for our stay, I was told that there was no booking. The deposits had not been paid and the reservations had been released. On the actual holiday, a number of excursions that had been booked and paid for 18 months previously, were not available. The local agent told me that there had again been issues in getting payment from AT, and the very late payment from them meant that some things had become unavailable. It is crazy that AT can sit on a deposit, and then full payment, and not pay anyone. AT are only the prime contractor here. Understand when you book with them that they just subcontract the entire holiday to a local agent, but then don’t pay them. I tried engaging AT by email, by phone, by WhatsApp, but over several months they just ignored me. I asked to have a call with both Directors of this Bussum-based partnership, but that has never happened.
I would encourage anyone to avoid them, and book directly with the in-country agents. Happy to share details.
Reply from African Travels
Posted on Nov 12, 2026Dear Mal,
We are sorry that you look back on your experience with African Travels with disappointment.
We would like to provide some context for readers. Your trip went ahead with the agreed lodges, destinations and professional local guides. We recognise, however, that you raised concerns about certain excursions.
During your stay in Zanzibar, we offered imediately a private dhow tour as an alternative to the cancelled excursion once you spoken to us about the issue. A boat was held on standby until 2 a.m. while we awaited confirmation, but unfortunately the tour did not go ahead. Also, as per my local partner, the new travel date for the dhow was communicated to you locally. Unfortunately we were not informed so we could not adjust this in your schedule or reconfirm with you.
We were also not contacted on the day about the issues at Hell’s Gate or during the canoe excursion, which limited our opportunity to address these with our local partners at the time. When things like this happen, we never let the client pay extra. We take great pride of our service as we want you to have the best African safari experience possible. Following your complaints, we also paid the agreed £800 in compensation.
We acknowledge that our communication should have been more timely and consistent, and we apologise for this.
Working with local partners is standard practice in organising tailor-made safaris, providing local expertise and support. As your tour organiser, we remained responsible for coordinating your arrangements.
We regret that we did not meet your expectations in every respect and take your feedback seriously.