Monkey Adventures
- Located In:
-
United States
- Size:
- 20-50 employees (Founded in 2017)
- Member Of:
- Kilimanjaro Association of Tour Operators
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $150 to $1,350 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
AE
Email Hulya | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Tour operator was ok, guide was horrible.
First we would like thank you for always replying quickly and the driver always being on time.
Secondly I would like to tell you what happened on our first day:
- We landed on time and were stuck in traffic on the way to Lake Navaisha so we couldn’t do the tour on that day so it was postponed for the next morning.
- Because it we did the next morning we arrived late at our hotel in Masai Maraa which resulted in not doing any game drive on day 2, which we payed you for (80 dollars x 6)
We believe we have the right to get refunded for this. In the future you should not do a heavy planning like this for your guests as with the traffic and condition of the roads it’s not doable.
We also were extremely unhappy about our driver. The driver really breaks or makes your holiday as we spend so much time together. Ours was not providing us any basic information about our day or Kenya, got irritated by our questions, sensitive as not having a sense of humor, demotivated (example: he told us there was a rhino but it was very far meaning he didn’t want to bring us eventhough he knew how much we wanted to see a rhino).
In Masai Maraa he was doing the same routes for 3 days always bringing us at the same spots.
We were the only safari bus with broken binoculars. All other drivers has binoculars looking for the animals for their guests.
He was wearing the same clothes for 5 days so I can’t even begin to describe the smell we had to endure all these hours.
Our driver clearly shows he does not want to do his job and the we were not welcome.
He also got irritated when we were giving away our extra food to the children we would see because he said they would litter.
Eventhough we were extremely unhappy with him we still gave him a generous tip which he also showed us how unhappy he was with.
We had a fun holiday because we were a fun group not thanks to our driver or accommodation.
I really do not understand all the other 5 star’s reviews and really wished we had a 5 star experience as we paid a lot of money for this holiday.
The lunch box in the accommodation in Masai Maraa was every day the same! Very poor selection for breakfast too. There should be also be mosquitonets as the room is full with mosquitoes and other bugs. We were not so bothered by the accommodation as it’s fairly for the price we paid.
An agency with a poor service
We booked a prepaid private 9 days safari starting in Moshi. We were very disappointed about their pure operational services. It started that the promised briefing didn‘t take place. They changed the driver on the day of arrival with no information of our safari or any further hard copy. So we got into the situation , when we were to leave the National Park, the rangers didn‘t allow us to leave. They didn‘t find any payment for the fees from Monkey. After two hours discussion with them we paid about $ 500 out of our cash reserve. The driver promised us, we will get the payment asap what didn‘t happen. As we wanted to address our frustration, the manager refused to talk to us. As recently as we put a lot of pressure on them, we got our money back in several steps in TS. There was no proactive service at all. The only positive point was the experienced and knowledged driver. Many thanks for the nice game drives John. Summary: If you look for an operator with good service, we definetly can not recommend.Monkey.
Reply from Monkey Adventures
Posted on Nov 17, 2025Thank you for taking the time to leave your review, and especially for your kind words about your guide, John. We are very happy you enjoyed the game drives — he is indeed one of our most experienced guides.
We are truly sorry that certain parts of your safari did not go as smoothly as they should have. We fully acknowledge the frustration and inconvenience you experienced.
For future readers, it is crucial to understand the highly unusual circumstances during the first half of this safari (31 Oct – 8 Nov 2025): Tanzania experienced the most severe political protests and a complete national internet, mobile network, and banking shutdown for several days.
These events were entirely outside the control of any tour operator and severely restricted normal operations.
The Missed Briefing: Due to police-enforced curfews and roadblocks, our operations manager was regrettably unable to travel from Arusha to Moshi to meet you on 31 Oct. With networks down, we could not communicate the delay, and we sincerely apologize for the confusion this caused at the start of your tour.
The Mkomazi Park Fee: The national shutdown rendered the TANAPA online payment portal inaccessible and closed all banks. Mkomazi, unlike other parks, insisted on cash payment. We acknowledge that having to pay the $500 fee yourself was a major inconvenience, and we thank your guide for finding the only feasible solution at that time.
Resolution and Compensation: As soon as communication was restored (3-4 Nov), we immediately initiated the full reimbursement process. The refund was completed in Tanzanian Shillings as you requested, and we even agreed to pay an additional amount later to cover your perceived exchange rate difference. Furthermore, we compensated for the loss of time at Mkomazi by arranging a complimentary walking tour at the Ngorongoro Crater rim, per your request.
We acted promptly and comprehensively the moment national systems were restored. We hope that despite the difficult and unforeseen circumstances, you know that our primary focus was always to rectify the issues and ensure the rest of your trip was successful.
Final note
We fully understand your frustration — traveling during a nationwide shutdown is stressful.
But we also want to reassure future readers that:
• What happened was a result of a once-in-generation scale national disruption
• We handled every issue promptly the moment systems were restored
• The client did receive every cent back while the tour was still in progress and received additional compensation for lost time
Despite the difficult circumstances, we are glad you enjoyed the wildlife experience with John and that your accommodations and vehicle met your expectations. We hope a future visit will give you the smooth experience we strive to provide every guest.
Sincerely,
The Monkey Team
Best Regards,
Fred
Monkey Adventures (Kenya, Tanzania & Uganda)