African Sunsets Travel
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2021)
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $35 to $150 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
Email Christine Holmes | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Poor communicators, frustrating with many changes
We felt that communication was a huge issue in dealing with Sunsets during the tour. There did not seem to be a single point of contact for the group (e.g. various contact points via Gladys, Haron, Lucy, using the Messages function in the booking app). There were times when calls were not taken, and promised return calls not received.
Changes to the itinerary prior to the tour were not specifically pointed out, and still there were more changes during the tour that were not communicated - these changes impacted some of the key highlights that we had all expected from the original itinerary we had paid for.
It was emotionally and physically exhausting having to deal with all the recurrent problems during the tour, even till late at night.
Initial itineraries indicated that a meeting would be held on Day 1 at 18:00 with the guide and that all members of the group should attend that meeting so as not to miss out on any critical information. This did not occur - we met our guide at the start of day 2. He was surprised to have 7 people on the tour in one vehicle and also at the amount of luggage - which was a problem for him to accomodate safely and securely. No ”PRE-TOUR” information was provided about luggage or clothing requirements, although this had been requested by many of the group members. This resulted in the tour truck being overcrowded with luggage.
There was confusion about where the tour ended - Arusha or Nairobi. 4 of the 7 people on the tour had confirmed that the tour was to end in Arusha and it was up to them to arrange return either to Nairobi or elsewhere. This was not consistent with the name being called a “Circuit” and as it transpired, it became clear (once on the tour) that we could have all been transported back to Nairobi by road to end the tour - but this was not known to those of us who paid additional money to fly from Arusha to Nairobi.
The drivers/tour guides in both Kenya and Tanzania were friendly and helpful, but they were not employed by Sunsets and had limited ability to fix operational issues - other than be the go -between with the company. However the safari drives were good and we saw lots of wonderful animals thankfully.
I would recommend being very careful about arranging a tour with Sunsets of Africa based on our experience.
We had booked through Tourradar who did help us with some monetary compensation on our return - as all 7 of us agreed we had not received what we had paid for.
Email Sue | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Hugely disappointing
We were constantly down-graded with accommodation, itinerary changed.
Sunsets refused our calls or just didn't respond.
It was a physically & emotionally exhausting safari, projected hours of travel on corrugated tracks vastly underestimated.
Sub-contracted by TourRadar, they cut & pasted our paid for itinerary, under-delivered and caused huge stress to all 7 on our tour.
Don't travel with this company.
BE
Email Justyna | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Warning! Seems like a scam under a new name Xplore2Africa
I traveled with Xplore2Africa (previously Sunsets in Africa) in August 2023. The tour was a terrible experience. No accomodation corresponded to the itinerary I paid for. I was constantly downgraded to the hotels of far lower quality and far lower price. My driver was not booked for the first day. The same applies to safaris. They were booked in the last minute resulting in stress and total chaos when we arrived in Etosha. MY NAMIBIAN GUIDE, subcontacted by Xplore2Africa, HAS TILL NOW NOT BEEN PAID for his work. Whenever I complained about something, the reaction of the agency was very agressive, or there was no reaction, or they gave like totally absurd excuses to justify the lower price of the accomodation (e.g. the lawn, called by them 'a garden', at the B&B at the outskirts of Swakopmund was supposed to offer me better comfort than a prestigious hotel in the city centre. After I complained to the TourRadar through which I found the tour, I got a small compensation, but the feeling of being scammed and cheated cannot be justified in any way. Moreover, the breach of labour law (no payment to my guide) should be legally sanctionned, and I am planning further legal action on that matter. For your own safety and calm, dont book your holidays with this operator.
US
Email Travelforfun | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Not reliable - questionable business practices.
If you only read the first paragraph of this review, we would highly suggest you do not book your next vacation with with Sunsets in Africa. Do book your tour through TourRadar and if you are searching for outstanding transportation, consider using Professional Safaris based in Arusha, Tanzania. For reference purposes, our trip was a 15 day safari to Kenya and Tanzania.
Why not use Sunsets in Africa? They are not reliable nor in our opinion completely honest. We just want others to not experience what we did while in Africa. A vacation should be a vacation not an anxiety filled and somewhat intimidating experience. Let me explain.
The good: Kenya and Tanzania are truly special and even though our original tour operator was on the edge of awful, the countries themselves were wonderful. We loved the people, the scenery and the animals we encountered. And the hotels in Kenya booked by Sunsets in Africa were the ones we asked for and were paid for prior to our arrival in Kenya. We are not sure about the hotels in Tanzania because we did not use them. More information below.
The Bad: We arrived and thankfully our hotel provided us with transportation to our lodge. However, once we were picked up by our safari driver in Kenya, we found out a couple days into our vacation that his company (Sunsets in Africa subcontracts out the transportation) had not been paid for our transportation and at one point our driver told us his manager said to just leave us in the Maasai Mara. Whether or not this was true is unknown. A call to Sunsets in Africa was answered by Gladys who said the transportation company can't do that and she would take care of the issue. Yea right. She texted me to not worry everything was fine. The next day or two we were told that Sunsets in Africa had not paid anything and more than more than 30 calls on WhatsApp to both Dexter and Gladys, co-owners of Sunsets in Africa, were ignored. Dexter was available but choose not to answer. At this point, we felt as if we were being mislead by everyone including the transportation companies in Kenya, Tanzania and Sunsets in Africa. I guess the breaking point was when I read a message sent by Dexter to the owner of the transportation company in Tanzania saying that I had agreed to pay for the transportation in both Kenya and Tanzania. I wrote to Dexter and told him I never agreed to this and why would I because I had already paid for transportation! He never reached out to me to discuss this and frankly, there was no way I was going to pay twice even if he promised to pay me back. At that point, I reached out to our planned transportation company in Tanzania and I asked if they were canceling our tour. Response, "I'm not canceling your trip. Just need some money to facilitate your program". I asked why he couldn't wait to be paid by Sunset's in Africa? Didn't he trust the company to pay him? His answer was, "I really trust him but I have no cash to facilitate your program". Doesn't this feel like a shakedown? We had it at that point. Between the two transportation companies, they wanted me to send them ~$4700. Can you imagine?
The Solution: Thankfully, we did a bit of research and realized we had originally paid for our trip through TourRadar. A quick call and TourRadar put in motion changes. They paid for the outstanding transportation bill in Kenya, they rebooked all our remaining hotels and booked a new transportation company (Professional Safaris). Thanks to Kristina at TourRadar, the rest of our trip was outstanding! And I can't say enough about Gerald our driver, Medcine owner of Professional Safaris in Tanzania and TourRadar who saved our vacation. These companies are outstanding and more importantly, honest. We would highly recommend both organizations and especially Gerald!!
Finally: Just so you think this just happened to us, we met another group that used Sunsets in Africa and they too experienced the same issues. Unfortunately, they ended up paying for all the unpaid transportation in both Kenya and Tanzania. I'm not sure if they ended up paying for their hotels as well. Their only recourse to file a report at the police station in Nairobi, and hope their travel insurance covered the charges or credit card reversing the charges. Sad. We heard of a third group as well but this can be construed as hearsay.
I know this review is long and it does not even cover all the issues we experienced before and during our trip. Do yourself a favor. Find a reputable company that pays their subcontractors before you arrive!
US
Email Greg G MD | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great guides… bait and switch accommodations
Great guides, but bait and switch on accommodations which were purchased six months prior to departure but changed at two weeks before travel. Reason we booked with Sunset in Africa tour company was the itinerary which included a two night stay in Ngorngoro Crater. In actuality we only had a four hour game drive through the park and they booked our stay 3 1/2 hours away. The venue there was a pleasant small hotel, but no electricity after 9pm.
Last night of our tour was listed on their itinerary as Tarangiere Park Sopa Lodge but turned out to be another small venue in Arusha (biggest city in Tanzania). Did not receive what we signed up and paid for. Be careful about this company. I was deceived and would not recommend them.
US
Email Nanci & Stephen | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Subcontracted our Private tour to the Lowest Bidder
In January ’22 (6 months before our departure date) we booked The Great Kenya & Tanzania PRIVATE Circuit - 13 Days Safari and Cultural Experience offered by Sunsets in Africa.
FIRSTLY, before our complaints are listed, We want to make it clear that WE HAVE NO COMPLAINT with our KENYAN DRIVER/ GUIDE. (His real name is Safari) Safari was informative, polite, and quite a good driver – he made sure we had a great vantage point to view the animals. All the other Kenyan drivers seemed to know and like him. We missed him once we arrived in Tanzania.
The majority of our complaints are a result of Sunsets in Africa's subcontracting our PRIVATE tour to the lowest bidder: TOPHANSTANZANIAADVENTURE.COM
The owner of TOPHANSTANZANIAADVENTURE.COM who also became our “guide” in Tanzania was named Hans. After returning home, we researched his company and found that Hans’ offers a 12 day tour of Kenya & Tanzania(not 13) with a minimum of 5-6 people (NOT PRIVATE) for 1/3 $ of what we had paid to Sunsets in Africa. This explains A LOT!
We blame both SUNSETS IN AFRICA AND TOPHANSTANZANIAADVENTURE.COM for this following, (condensed) negative review:
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Our tour was booked and paid for as a PRIVATE party of two, but upon meeting Hans he informed us that we would be traveling with another private party of 2! (Neither party agreed with that arrangement but we were stuck!)
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Our PRIVATE tour was also supposed to included nice 4* lodges (Yes, they were nice in Kenya) but when Hans himself took over in Tanzania he took us to a Tent cabin on the outskirts of Serengeti which had a picnic table for a restaurant/bar!! This was Not at all Similar to the Serengeti Serena Lodge on our itinerary!
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Hans was NOT a professional guide (he almost never had his radio on in the parks to communicate with the other guides and was always talking or texting on his phone instead of talking to/informing us)
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I inquired about the cost of a Night Game Drive and Hans told me that would cost $950.00 USD for 4 people. I declined saying it was out of my budget… Hans replied by asking “what is your budget?” At that point I had a feeling there was a possibility of a scam so I ended the conversation. A few days later on day 7 of out tour, at Lake Manyara Lodge they offered a night drive for $55.00 USD per person!!!
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On day 11, Hans LEFT US STRANDED at our Lake Manyara Lodge until 4pm (1600 hrs.)! He wasted an entire day!
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Instead of transporting us from Arusha to the Nairobi airport himself, he hired a man w a VERY SMALL car to take the 4 of us and our luggage from the border to the Nairobi airport. (We had luggage on our laps! for several hours)
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We have gone on many private tours around the world, but never had a "guide" as rude, devious, and unprofessional as Hans of TOPHANSTANZANIAADVENTURE.COM .
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THE BEST TIP I WOULD GIVE THIS “GUIDE” WOULD BE “HANS GET OUT OF THE TOUR INDUSTRY!”
Email James | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Terrible! Fraudsters. Do not book!
I paid $5k for a safari to the Serengeti. They gave my money to a fake safari guide. He did take us but he was terrible. I've been on lots of safaris before so I know the quality of service that is normally provided. He knew nothing about the animals. He tried to take us away from an amazing hotel we booked and put us somewhere cheaper next door. He was angry when checking in and the hotel manager told us he was aggressive towards him. African Sunset travel pretended they cared but they didn't. They offered zero compensation. They are a fraudulent company do not book!
This company is currently bankrupt and will take your money and give you nothing!
We booked with African Sunsets for a 2020 tour of Namibia. We prepaid for lodge reservations, a vehicle and a guide. After we were in Namibia we found we had to pay for almost everything ourselves, with the promise that our expenses would be reimbursed before our trip was over. Reimbursement was delayed “for a few days”, them promised “ before we left the country”. Five months later we have never seen a penny of it. The worst of it was that the company stiffed our guide, who was the best guide we’ve ever had in a lifetime of travel.
We have been in contact with African Sunsets off and on since we returned home, with no response. I realize that Covid hurt the South African tour business badly, but this tour company was not honest with us about their financial condition and let us travel halfway around the world before we found out we still had another $4000 of debt to cover. Don’t book with them. They are not an honest agency.
RU
Email Alexander | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Just perfect
I with friends had a great 3-days safari with an excellent experience! Everything has been done on the highest level, from preliminary communication up to transfer to the airport. Hotels selection was very good. Both hotels were comfortable, cozy, with a lot of tasty food.
But the best part of this safari was tour guides. Friendly, always with good mood, they began to be perceived as friends almost instantly. And that guys were so professional, all of them. They can participate in friendly conversation or be silent when it was needed, provide information about almost everything around, and even teach us a local language. Just awesome!
Also, I want to notice the timing. The company was flexible to adapt to our late flight arriving and rework our schedule. Everything was on time, without any delay. Mark of high quality!
I hope I'll have a chance to come back to Africa someday. And I am definitely want to travel with African Sunsets Travel again.
US
Email stacy | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Flawlessly planned
My husband and I worked on a custom tour for Rwanda and Uganda and had guides in each country coordinated by AST. In both cases, the quality of our guides was fantastic. We were late arriving in Kigali due to fog but when we arrived, James didn’t seem bothered. He offered is water and a chance to change, then checked us into our hotel, to the Kigali genocide museum, to the market and arranged for a fantastic dinner. We slept well and the next morning he drove us to the border where we cheerily greeted by Geoffrey. From the moment we met him, we felt at ease and grateful.
Geoffrey also made sure to keep us hydrated and fed, and he shared plentiful information about locals living in the region and cultural norms as we drove across the country from Kibale to Entebbe.
We’d be happy to book with this company again and are especially grateful for our time with James and Geoffrey. They made our visit to the region special.