Meijo Safaris

They Want Your Money — But Don’t Care About Your Safari at All

We chose Meijo to organize our safari in Tanzania, but it quickly became clear that this company cares far more about profit than delivering a quality safari experience. The entire trip was extremely disappointing. We strongly do not recommend this company — especially beware of their coordinator Michael. Here are the major issues we personally encountered:

1. Price change after deposit — serious lack of integrity
After confirming the price and paying a 30% deposit, which Michael acknowledged receiving, he suddenly claimed that he had quoted the wrong price and asked us to pay an additional $300. To avoid losing our deposit, we were forced to negotiate and ended up paying an extra $200. This kind of post-confirmation price change is highly unprofessional and damages trust — whether it was a “mistake” or not.

2. Poor vehicle condition — safety risks
On the second day of our Serengeti trip, the vehicle broke down and we had to wait two hours at a repair shop. The car was visibly old and poorly maintained — windows couldn’t open, the windshield was full of cracks, and it felt unsafe while driving. A few days later, the spare tire even fell off, making the trunk unusable. A vehicle in such condition is completely unfit for a multi-day safari.

3. Broken promises and unauthorized itinerary changes
Before the trip, we confirmed that we would spend four days in the Serengeti, with the fourth morning reserved for game drives in the northern area before returning to Ngorongoro in the afternoon. This was clearly stated in the written itinerary and price quote. However, during the trip, the driver insisted we leave the Serengeti by 3:00 PM on the fourth day, refusing to let us do the full morning safari. The reason? They had only purchased a 3-day park permit, and any extra hours would be at our own cost. This was a serious breach of agreement and a clear case of false promises.

4. No professional guiding — ruined wildlife experience
Meijo only provided a driver, not a trained safari guide. While the driver’s driving was acceptable, he offered no explanation about the animals or environment throughout the trip. Worse still, he frequently delayed the itinerary due to handling matters unrelated to the safari. The most unacceptable incident was during a critical moment at the wildebeest river crossing: without asking, he suddenly drove away. When we demanded to know where he went, he told us he was helping a friend. Because of this, we missed the rare and dramatic scene of crocodiles hunting wildebeest — one of the highlights we had most looked forward to. This completely ruined that part of the experience.