Andrew will take you to remote places
Wildebeest Safaris
- Located In:
-
China
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 1997)
- Member Of:
- ETT & TRA
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $100 to $450 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
CZ
Email Jan Hocek | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Not recommended by travel professional
I honestly wouldnt recomment this company. We booked the Kilimanjaro climb and the safari with them for family of 3 people. We requested german speaking guides, which was promised, but in reality they didnt provide german speking guide, so communication was not possible.. The worst thing was, that during the kili climb the guide decided to shorten the climb by 1 day withou asking - reason was that the climbing team wanted be at their homes for Christmas.. So instead of planned hike last 3 days was rush and run on the mountain.. Ongoing safari was OK, instead of vehicle in very poor condition, even for african standards. Apparently this company doesnt have many own cars or guides - they subcontract from other suppliers, so they dont have much controll over quality. After journey was finished, they refused to compensate us for the missing german guide and the 1 lost day in Kilimanjaro. Jan
Reply from Wildebeest Safaris
Posted on Mar 28, 2023Dear Jan,
Thank you for your review and as always we look forward to clients feedback after every Safari to ensure service improvement. Our contact person specializing with Mountain Climbing didn't go with what we had agreed on pen and paper. My colleague had sent an email requesting for your bank details for the refund of one day together with Translator fees but it wasn't provided. We will be happy to revisit this issue.
Ever since, we already have our Company fully registered in Tanzania with full operations unlike before we were using a third party.
Kind Regards,
Noah
NL
Email Martin | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Driver had no safari, wildlife experience
In general it was ok. Good safari car, efficient communication, the lodges including the right tents where booked however - for us the most important - the driver had no safari experience. So, he was NOT able to tell us anything about the wild life and he did not once showed wildlife based on his observation. As those organizations work with independent drivers, with a different driver experience can be completely different. Advice: ask for cv of driver.
Reply from Wildebeest Safaris
Posted on Mar 28, 2023Dear Martin,
Thank you for your feedback. We replaced this particular driver/guide with a more experienced one.
Kind Regards,
Noah
Email Steve | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
We didn't get what we paid for or what was outlined in the itinerary
Day 1 - Collection from hotel was fine, on time. No problems with long drive or communication. Itinerary outlined a game drive from 2pm - 6pm, but we only did a game drive for approx 90mins. Lodge was excellent, however that has nothing to do with the tour company.
Day 2 - Full day game drive. Lodge told us to leave as early as possible 7am at latest, driver arranged to start at 8am. We saw everything we wanted to on this day. Lions, Cheetah, Leopard, Giraffe, Elephant, Hippo. However this was more due to the abundance on wildlife and luck than the drivers skill or anything like that. I can't really complain too much about this day, as we saw everything we wanted to.
Day 3 - We were supposed to have a game drive in the morning (leaving the lodge at 8am) before heading straight from the game drive back to Nairobi. However our driver slept in and missed his alarm and we were waiting for him to wake up and were late leaving. Upon arriving at the park entrance our driver welcomed a "park ranger" on board who he said we were "giving him a lift" we then proceeded into the park, where we just drove on the main road until we happened to chance upon a cheetah, who was starting a hunt. The driver stopped the van and we asked him to put up the roof of the van so we could get a better look, he refused saying it would interfere with the hunt, however he was talking and laughing with other guides in other vans and his phone was ringing loudly, so I didn't buy that excuse! We asked him again and he still refused, so we had to take pictures through the window. After a few minutes he drove off, and we left the hunt/stalk while it was still in progress/just about to start. We were so annoyed, especially as countless other vans and 4x4s were heading towards the cheetah, while we were driving away from it. We felt like we couldn't complain too much to the driver as we still needed him to take us back to Nairobi and didn't want him to get angry and leave us in the middle of nowhere! He continued driving on the main road through the park and didn't once go on a different road, he then exited the park. Meaning we did not have our morning game drive, he just drove straight through the park from once entrance to another, without lifting the roof - we just happened to stumble across a cheetah. If we hadn't seen that he would not have stopped once! This is not a game drive. We were basically being a taxi service for his friend/ranger. When we got to Narok, the "park ranger" exited the van and he continued to take us back to Nairobi, which was fine.
Overall absolutely disgusted with the final day and lack of game drive! The fact that he drove away from a Cheetah hunt that was in progress is absolutely indefensible - and also twice refusing to open the roof so we could look at the Cheetah while we were there.
I don't know if this was just our driver or it is the company (as our driver said he was fairly new to Wildebeest) But I wouldn't use them again!!
I will formally complain to Wildebeest about this....
Reply from Wildebeest Safaris
Posted on Mar 28, 2023Dear Steve,
Thank you for your feedback. We noticed of the mishap you encountered on the last day of your Safari with your driver/guide. We addressed the issue with him regarding following the itinerary as agreed with clients.
Kind Regards,
Noah
NZ
Email Kate | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Difficult driver changed the plan
The pre-tour booking was very efficient. The tour was simple to book, we were provided great options for accommodation and we were given clear level of detail. However, unfortunately our experience with the driver was far from positive. We had booked a full game drive, plus two game drives, but in reality, we were given a full day + 2 hours. The driver was then disagreeing with us on the second half day, and said that we had to get back to Nairobi. We are not usually confrontational people, but we felt that it was really unfair to not finish the agreed itinerary. This made us feel really uncomfortable as we didn't want to be disagreeing on the plan, however, we had flown such a long way for these three days and we really wanted to spend our agreed time in the park. The driver begrudgingly agreed to take us back into the park, but we only spent 2 hours there, rather than the half day. What really polished it off was on our way home, we stopped to fill up the tyres and one of our passengers got out to use the rest room. Before the passenger even got back into the car, the driver started driving out of the petrol station! He was very rude, didn't make an effort to learn our names and made it apparent that he didn't want to be hosting the trip. He was also making multiple personal phone calls throughout the trip. It was really very disappointing.
Reply from Wildebeest Safaris
Posted on Oct 1, 2018Dear Kate,
Thank you for your email feedback which we really appreciate.
I would first like to take this opportunity to advise you this particular driver is no longer with us and hence been replaced by a more experienced driver/guide. We clearly give briefing to Driver/guides before each Safari so that they are aware. Talking on mobile phones unless it's work related is usually unacceptable.
We will continue improving on our services in the coming future.
Best Regards,
Noah Kuti,
Business Development Manager,
Wildebeest Safaris LTD
CA
Email Stephen | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Half a day and a meal short
Went to Maasai Mara from/to Nairobi with Wildebeest Safaris. Reviewing the itinerary later, I see that I wasn't provided what was promised for the last day: instead of morning game drives and then an afternoon return to Nairobi by 5 PM, I got an early drive back that was passed off as a "game drive" and was returned to the city before lunch. I guess I wasn't paying adequate attention as this was my first time out. Oh well. I think the fault was with the safari organization rather than the guide, so I'll spare naming him in a negative review. In fact I think he did alright, and it was a pleasure to chat with him as we went.
US
Email Clevanne | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Our group was scammed out of $700 USD at the end of our 3 day stay at Masai Mara -AVOID THIS COMPANY
While I would have loved to leave a positive review after my 3 day stay at Masai Mara, I cannot and will not support or endorse a booking with this company after my experience being scammed at the end of the stay. The group of young women (a total of 5 of us) booked our 3 day tour with Masai Mara since Oct 2019, paying nearly $600 USD that included all lodging accommodations, game adventures, meals and travel to and from our hotel. Not included was the gracious tip we provided to our server, driver and individuals who aided with our luggage during the course of our stay. On the first evening of our stay (Wednesday 2/2/2020)we were told by our driver Dennis (not the owner of the company)t that there was an "issue" with processing our tickets that served as entrance to and from the safari. This issue in no way had anything to do with us of course because we had paid all fees months in advance but clearly this company operates at a deficit and did not have enough revenue to pay for entrance fees that should have been taken care of months before. The issue would now require that each of us pay $140 USD (a total of $700) that would be refunded back to us. Given that none of us had $140 USD in cash, we asked if it would be possible to pay by card to which they responded yes. From this moment it was clear that none of us had enough cash to pay for the park entrance fees that should have already been handled so I would assume if this was a priority they would be diligent about making sure they recieved the payment as soon as possible. The following day (Thursday 2/13/2020), which apparently so happened to be the last day we could pay by card, we never heard anything from Dennis or who we now know as the business owner, Noah Kuti, about this matter. Now we get to our final day (Friday 2/14/2020)...after breakfast we did a brief tour through the safari and began making our way to Naroibi since it was a 6 hour drive away. Roughly an hour later at our first stop (for souvenirs - this is included in the cost), Dennis brings up the payment matter to one of us who had remained in the vehicle during the stop. At this time he stresses that it cannot be paid by card anymore and that we would have to take out cash at an atm or else we would not be able to get back to Nairobi. This was absolutely unacceptable, disgusting, unprofessional and rude. To assume that because we were american we had $700 amongst the 5 us easily laying around to make up for the companys mistake still to this day completely irritates my core. To make a long story short, Dennis ends up bringing us to an atm where one of us is successfully able to withdraw the money after a handful of attempts. Dennis then wires the money to Noah who is able to process the entrance fees. During this time Dennis passes Noah the phones who tells us that he will meet us our hotel at 6:30pm that evening to give us back that full amount in addition to the bank fees we accrued (an additional 40 USD). Please note: We are scheduled to leave nairobi on a 7am flight the following morning and we would make it to our hotel a little before 5pm on that Friday. Now that the payment is made, Dennis drives us to our hotel and provides us with both his and Noahs contact information before leaving. 6:30pm arrives and nothing. At 7:10pm we decide to give Noah a call who tells us that he is at the bank and will be there by 8pm. A little after 8pm while we are eating dinner Noah calls and gives us an excuse about not being able to retrieve money from the bank location he was in. He asks for the account number that we withdrew the money from which we quickly denied as we are told by our banks here in the states to never provide that information. We have since tried to follow up with him (Noah) via email to which the two emails he have responded back have been short and to the effect of "we are working on your issue", despite us providing multiple options for him to send the money to us (cashapp, paypal, venmo etc.). It has now been over two weeks and we are still short over $740 as a group for a 3 day safari trip that we paid nearly $3,200 for (including tips). We have now taken this to our banks to report this company as spam and intend to take every single measure to ensure this never happens to anyone again! While we enjoyed seeing the animals this experience was absolutely despicable and a disgrace - my goal is to see that Wildebeest Safaris goes out of business so that company's with integrity can thrive.
Reply from Wildebeest Safaris
Posted on Aug 13, 2020Dear Clevanne,
Please confirm you received the refund to your card.
Kind Regards,
Noah
AE
Email Ankit Garg | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Pathetic
Very unprofessional... Don't plan with them if u want a peaceful trip...
Reply from Wildebeest Safaris
Posted on Mar 28, 2023Dear Ankit,
Thank you for your Safari feedback to us. Please confirm what exactly happen in order for us to address the issue accordingly.
Kind Regards,
Noah
SE
Email Vivi | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unpleasant experience and cheating happens
We had an UNPLEASANT experience in Wildebeest Safaris LTD. One of our tour guide, Peter, said he had the card issue for the payment, then he borrowed 300 USD dollars from us to pay the ticket fee for Masai mara National Park, which has been included in our travel fee. He guaranteed that he would return the money to us when we was back to Kenya 3 days later, but we have NOT gotten our money back until we finished our trip. During the trip, we waste a lot of time and stand under the sun to deal with this issue. After the trip, Wildebeest Safaris LTD said they will deal with the money issue and give us money back. BUT each time we asked for the money issue, they always have an EXCUSE, such as bank issue.
Wildebeest Safaris LTD does not regulate their staff properly, they even give all the money to the tour guide (including salary and traveling fee) before trips start. So in the worst condition, guides may throw all the clients away before the trips start and take all money away. SO for you guys want to travel in Kenya, you should take the consideration whether you want to take the RISK of using the service from Wildebeest Safaris LTD. And the guide can work for many companies, so they might take your money without any concern of losing job, like Peter in our case. Besides, communication between Wildebeest Safaris LTD and tour guides is very BAD. Two of our tour guides did not know our schedule at all.
Reply from Wildebeest Safaris
Posted on Mar 27, 2023Dear Vivi,
Kindly confirm you received the refund via your PayPal account.
Kind regards,
Noah Kuti
US
Email jd patel | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
poorly organise and managed.
very poorly oganised, and managed.hotlel resevation asked for perticular lodge not provided.park fees not paid in advance also comunication was big problem. every where we went we have to call for reservation . also resevation done at wrong lodges. driver provided excellent custmer service. i would suggest before you go and paid deposit please make sure all services provided are confirmed and paid.
Reply from Wildebeest Safaris
Posted on Mar 28, 2023Dear Jd Patel,
Thank you for your feedback. As for park fees we usually pay on the spot upon arrival at the gate. We have since improved our communication skills between operations and our office and lodges are paid in good time to avoid last minute rush.
Kind Regards,
Noah
Email Ed | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Everything was substandard after reading other people's reviews. We were mistreated + put in danger
We trawled reviews and websites looking at hundreds of operators, and settled on Wildebeest in the end because of pretty good reviews and also a willingness to book us in the resort that we wanted to go to. We did not use the one with 1600+ 5 star reviews.
We agreed on the price and all the inclusions beforehand, to include driver, 3 days 2 nights, all costs included for 2 adults 1 child 1 infant, for air-conditioning, pickup and drop off in Nairobi at specified times, a private 4wd tour, accommodation at our preferred resort, and also air ambulance evacuation cover. Communication was excellent.
We were picked up on time.
We never received confirmation of air insurance till we were nearly home on the last day – ensure you receive your policy numbers before you leave on safari to ensure you are covered while you are far from medical facilities!
The vehicle was fitted with a fridge, 2way radio and power points. We were unable to attach our baby seat to the car properly as it did not have the required anchor points for a baby seat- so we had to improvise and use the headrest as our anchor.
It wasn’t till we hit the dirt roads a couple of hours later where we noticed things going wrong. We had a tyre puncture in the searing midday heat. I was left in the car with a screaming 6 week old baby. There was no air-conditioning as promised AND despite their website also stating that “ALL vehicles are fitted with air-conditioning.
Driving on, our car was filled with thick dust – there was a hole in the floor allowing dust in. We resorted to wetting some baby clothes with our drinking water and blocking up the hole so we didn’t choke to death. The baby carseat I covered with a wet towel to try to trap the dust. My son was beside himself screaming with dust inhalation and heat. Then the ride got violently bumpy… in fact so bumpy I had to take him out of his car seat and hold him mid-air for suspension. I was afraid he would get brain damage with the violence of the car. My daughter was telling the driver he was going too fast, she was also being thrown around like a sack of potatos. Other Wildebeest and safari cars were flying past us without issue. So here I am holding my baby in a wet wrap over his face mid air for hours in midday heat… I started to message the company owner saying this was dangerous and I wanted the car changed. He didn’t bother to reply to me.
Outside the Masai Mara we were asked to change into another Wildebeest vehicle at the entry, and our car was taken to the mechanic. It turns out the suspension was broken.
The new 4wd was coasting along no issues with dust or bumpiness, so we knew we had been given a lemon of a 4wd.
My review of the resort is on its own post.
At the resort our driver didn’t engage with us much, sit with us or explain what the plan was, we were just left hanging. In saying that, he was polite and never rude to us, but lacked communication skills with us. I was watching Dennis, another Wildebeest guide, who ate, laughed and talked to his clients… and enroute was actively chatting, informing and having a great time himself.
The next day, the driver had lost his keys, so we were put into a van instead, having to get into our 4wd through dodgy unlocked windows to get our things out of the 4wd. Then someone told him they found his keys so we drove back to the “fixed” 4wd. We noticed more flaws with the truck – the 2way radio was never on, it didn’t even have a mouthpiece to speak through – so I guess we missed out on all the game sighting calls and were in danger should we have needed help in an emergency while out on safari. The drivers door was jammed so he had to exit through the window! The fridge and electrics just turned on and off with the bumpy roads… flickered and rarely even worked. Some of the seatbelts did not work, windows were jammed, the car was generally in very poor repair.
We did see all the park animals - except Rhino, which are too rare. The following day, we were meant to do a morning game drive, stop at NON TOURISTY souvenir shops (not the safari preferred ones where they get kickbacks and charge customers ridiculous prices). Our game drive was a hot footed exit out of the park, the driver didn’t speak, nor slow down, nor look for any animals. By this stage I was so furious with the company, I just wanted to get home. The owner never replied to my SMS or emails alerting him to the danger to my family and requesting a replacement vehicle. We had no other way to get home other than the same vehicle back. We stopped at one pathetically expensive tourist stop – you know with the special “guide waiting room” where they can chat, have drinks and wait for their customers to be ripped off blind and collect a commission. He knew we wanted to stop at either street sellers or the other numerous shacks set up on the road selling masaii wares, but he didn’t stop at those. Into Nairobi by 3pm, our driver did help us unpack and then even apologised for the terrible vehicle – again an admission from the company.
In ADDITION and the worst of it all – there is a pop top on the roof of the 4wd. One support strut had rusted through and I had noticed it was cable-tied down to stop it rattling – rather than being fixed. While driving home the 2nd strut failed and the roof crashed down. Had my daughter been standing at the time she would undoubtedly been killed. For an adult we would have suffered severe injury to the head.
I followed up with Noah the owner – he told me that the vehicle had come down from the north of Kenya and he had noticed that it was in very poor repair. Rather than talk to us and reschedule/give us the option, he just allocated it to us knowing we had a newborn and a toddler with us and required safety and air conditioning. I had even mentioned a reviewer before me mentioned an old vehicle and in poor repair, and had asked for assurance that this was not going to happen to us! At the end I requested a rebate of $250usd which was roughly the cost of a proper vehicle, which we FINALLY got after harassing them for months. Despite having kids, the owner doesn’t seem to have any insight into the grave situation they placed us in, nor care about his company reputation. I have read all the reviews, and know someone who has used them multiple times and likes them. From what I saw of other vehicles and Dennis, the company does have the potential to stand up to what other reviewers say, but we just drew the short straw and were really mistreated and put in danger.
Reply from Wildebeest Safaris
Posted on Mar 28, 2023Dear Edd,
Thank you for you review. We took steps on matters regarding the old vehicle and we disposed them replacing with newer cars.
As for the Driver, we noticed we had similar problems with him and we got him replaced with more experienced and charming driver/guide.
Also, please confirm you received refund of USD.250 via your paypal account.
Kind Regards,
Noah