Inspired Budget Safaris

A safari turned nightmare

We booked a "14-Day Kenya & Tanzania Budget and Midrange Group Cruiser Safari" for August 10–23, 2026.

From day one, we noticed that the 4x4 Land Cruiser was in poor condition—dirty and lacking proper suspension.
That very afternoon, the vehicle broke down, and the entire group had to be split up among other vehicles to continue to the Masai Mara. Naturally, we couldn't take our luggage with us; we didn't get it back until around 9:00 PM, when the vehicle finally arrived—supposedly repaired.
On the second day, during the game drive in the Masai Mara, the vehicle broke down again, and once more, we had to be distributed among other vehicles.
We had been asking for a different vehicle since day one, but apparently, that wasn't possible; however, the third day went smoothly.
On the fourth day, en route to Amboseli, the vehicle broke down yet again, and this time we made our dissatisfaction with the agency very clear! Aware of the many negative reports indicating that vehicles in Tanzania were even worse than those in Kenya, the agency offered us two options:
- An upgrade to a private vehicle for an additional fee of $3,200!
- A return to Nairobi and a $7,200 refund for the Tanzania portion of the trip.

Since we refused the paid upgrade, the only option they gave us was to return to Nairobi, with them "offering" us two nights at the After 40 Hotel—and a ruined vacation.

We met Lina Margaret at the hotel on August 16; she apologized and assured us we would receive a prompt refund. After a bogus bank transfer (the proof provided wasn't even stamped by the bank), a failed attempt via Pesapal—which cut ties with the agency due to insufficient funds in their account—and a request from me to use Wise, it is now September 4, 2026, and we are still waiting for a refund!
We had no choice but to file a police report and alert the TRA, who confirmed they are looking into the matter.
My wife posted a review on safaribookings.com; the agency responded with lies, claiming to safaribookings.com that we had never traveled with them... and the review was removed...

They keep giving us the runaround, claiming they are a small agency with limited resources but promising to refund us. I even proposed a payment schedule, but still nothing...

Upon closer inspection, they have nothing but 5/5 reviews on safaribookings.com and Google; this seems suspicious and leads me to believe the reviews were generated by AI.

I will update this review once we have been refunded.