African Paradise Safaris guide
Paradise in Africa Safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 1-5 employees (Founded in 2009)
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $180 to $550 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
US
Email Justine | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Cheap but Unorganized!
First off I would recommend this company but only because it is extra cheap for the same vacation you would get with a safari company that charged double. You must be aware that regardless of what budget company you use, you will not be going on safaris with this company rather you are joining groups of others going to the same location as you aware temporarily. Example: I was picked up at the airport and taken to a hotel where I thought I was joining my tour but the group that picked me up didn't share my whole itinerary only the next two days and then i was shuttled to join a group sharing my next two days. Every other day I had to worry that I would actually be sticking to my itinerary African Paradise Safaris sent me. Of course that didn't happen. I booked Maasai Mara, Lake Nakuru, Amboseli with solo lodging and a lot of afternoon game drives..instead they took me to Maasai Mara, Amboseli, Lake Nakuru where I had to share a room and ended up with morning drives and really long drives to the next location following the drive. Maasai Mara to Amboseli ended up being 12 hours in the car just to transit. My itinerary included a Maasai Village tour with no additional fee..I was asked to pay $10. The tour guide called African Paradise Safaris and they declined to pay for it at first. Great to see the animals but it did not feel like a vacation.
NZ
Email Brett | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Untrue and dishonest to secure our budged joining safari booking
In Aug 2023 my wife and I signed with African Paradise Safaris (APS) to join a 6-day budget safari of Masai Mara, Nakuru and Amboseli National Parks. We loved the parks, saw plenty of animals, and enjoyed the park environments. We were very disappointed with the arrangements made by APS, the blatant untruths told to us in order to secure our safari booking, and the unprofessional manner in which they avoided addressing issues that we had regarding their safari arrangements.
Prior to arriving in Kenya, APS was very communicative in answering all of my questions. On the basis of the information they provided, we signed up to join their budget safari. Unfortunately, it turned out that a lot of the information provided to us was completely untrue.
APS guaranteed that we would be in a safari van with a maximum of 6 passengers, but the van had 8 seats and 8 passengers, which makes the small van too crowded, particularly when you are trying to stand on the game drives. It also means that at least two people sit in the middle, without direct access to a window.
We were told that the safari would be operated by APS and not by another company. On the day, APS was nowhere to be seen, and we were told that we were joining a safari operated by Big Time Safaris. There were people from 3 different safari companies in the van, all with different itineraries. When we raised these issues with Big Time Safaris, they told us to contact the safari companies that we had booked with. (APS).
We were told by APS that all participants in the safari would stay with the safari throughout. This wasn't true, with some people leaving the safari at different points.
We were told by APS that everyone would be staying the same accommodation on the safari (so time wouldn't be wasted picking people up before the game drives). This wasn't true. People were staying in up to three different lodges and both budget and moderate accommodation each night.
In our itinerary we paid for 7 game drives. 3 at Maasai Mara, 1 at Nakuru and 3 at Amboseli. Our safari van broke down on two occasions, taking a total of 5 hours to repair on the roadside. As a result, two evening game drives in Masai Mara and Nakuru were shorter than they should have been. Due to changes to the itinerary as a result of vehicle repairs, and to changes in Masai Mara ticketing fees that were not communicated to us by APS, we missed a further two game drives completely - 1 in Masai Mara, and one in Amboseli. When we brought all of these issues up with African Paradise Safaris, they completely ignored us, and would not correspond with us regarding all the misinformation they had provided, the issues with the vehicle, or the missed game drives. In fact, we never met or saw any APS staff at any time either before or after our safari. The other members of our safari were met by staff from their companies at the drop off in Nairobi and at least one received some compensation for their missed game drives. APS was nowhere to be seen.
APS have many great reviews and I suspect that if we had booked a private safari with African Paradise, our experience would have been completely different, but be aware that if you are booking a budget joining safari, there is a good chance that APS will tell you whatever they think will secure a safari booking, but it will not necessarily be the truth. I would recommend you look for a more trustworthy company for a joining safari.
US
Email Mark | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Do not do business with African Paradise Safaris
I bought a 7-day 6-night group safaris from African Paradise Safaris. It turned out there was no such safaris.
They subcontracted my safaris to Africa Natural Safaris, which does not have a license to operate. I was shuffled between 4 different safaris groups in seven days. It was a disaster. Do not do business with this company
Reply from Paradise in Africa Safaris
Posted on Jun 18, 2018Dear Mr Adam,
Thank you very much for the review. I apologies for not meeting your safari expectation.
When you wrote to me in regards to the service. Yes I advised you that I sub contracted Africa Natural safaris. One thing in Tanzania - If you are not registered tour operator your vehicle cannot entered National parks. So the Africa Natural Safaris is a registered tour operator.
You mentioned well that the tour was good and the problem was breakdown of communication. In budget joining tour, some time you might join 2 or more groups going in the same area.
Initially remember the package I sent to you, you were to do 2 nights in Serengeti but when Geoffrey came to take collect the payment. You changed and stated you want a tour which will have 3 nights in Serengeti. And it was few hour (less than 15hrs) to the departure time. Now we had to joining you to the group you had requested initially, And because we had another group extending in Serengeti we joined you to the other group - so that we can satisfy you staying 3 nights in Serengeti National Park.
You changing the program last minute when company representative is collecting the payment, made everything out of order. In which the services was provided, the problem was joined in several group which was a result of you changing the program, less than 15 hour to the departure time.
I listen to your dissatisfaction and we refunded you all the profit we made for your package- which was delivered by Jacob under my instruction.