50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Don't even think about it
Short story: cheats, crooks and unprofessional. Avoid this outfit like the plague. They offered us a price of 2150$/pp and three days before the trip they increased it in 650$/pp. Finally we were forced to pay 200$ extra and downgraded us from lodges to mobile tented camps.
Long story… It’s a long review, but I wanted to give all the details. If you are thinking of dealing with this people, I strongly advice you read on.
In December 2018 we got a quote from Orongai for a 7-day safari in northern Tanzania: Ngorongoro, Ndutu and Serengueti, for 8 people, all lodges. From February 16th to 22nd 2019. The price was 2,150 $ per person, total 17,200 $. I will send the quotation to anybody interested. Park fees, All accommodations, all transportation, and all Taxes/VAT were explicitly included. All lodges were mid/upper level: Lake Duluti Lodge, Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge, Ndutu Safari Lodge and Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge.
The price was lower than others we had (first clue) and included a flight back from Serengeti’s airstrip to Arusha the last day, which was the clincher: “Around midmorning join a scheduled flight from Seronera airstrip to Arusha airport.” (sic). So, we agreed to this quotation: 2,150 $ pp.
In January 2018 we all paid a 30% (645 $ pp) by bank transfer. The remainder was to be paid on arrival in cash. The remainder was: 2,150 - 645= 1,505 $ per person, or 12,040 $ total. Two of us decided (stupidly, it turned out) to pay also our part of the remainder beforehand by transfer: 3,010 $ for two people. After this payment the remainder was: 12,040 – 3,010 = 9,030 $, for the other 6 people (who decided to pay their remainder on arrival).
On February 12th I received the following message from Martha, the person in charge of our trip: “just wanted to inform you that there is additional 650$ per person this is due to additional concetion fees at NDUTU area and Ngorongoro area that we’re not there before. We apologize for the inconveniences coursed” (sic).
Cursed indeed! This left us all worried, to put it mildly. It followed a frenzied interchange of emails with the said Martha, trying to understand the extra 650 $ pp, a 30% increase! We checked with TANAPA and other authorities and there had been no increase of any park fees for more than a year. Finally, after many, many messages back and forth Martha wrote to me: “Yes, I received the transfers and the cost is 2150$ per person plus the hotel payments fees 650$ per person. The total is 2,800$ per person” (sic)
We considered not going, but we really wanted to do the safari, we had already paid 645$ each (or 2,150 $ some of us) plus the flights, a dear price for us, and we decided to go (another mistake). We contacted the lodges where we were supposed to stay to confirm the reservation. They confirmed it, but at least one of them called Orongai to tell them we were asking.
On arrival we had a very long and very unpleasant discussion with Martha, a guide called Asseri and another guide Freddy (who, unbeknownst to us, spoke a bit of Spanish, but much less than he thinks). We tried to convince them to honor their original offer, but reasoning with them was impossible. They denied evidence and the most basic logic stone-faced. It was like talking to a wall. They said for instance that the word “Total” next to the 17,200 $ didn’t mean “all the money”. They insisted that the remainder was 12,030 $, and not 9,030 $ as we said, because of the additional charges of 650 $ per person. Which doesn’t even add up! If we had to pay an extra 650$ the remainder would be 14,230$. They further informed us that the flight back from Serengeti to Arusha was not included in the price, even if “All transportation” was explicitly included, because a flight is not “transportation”!
We called the Spanish embassy for advice. They put us in contact with a person in Arusha, who sometimes helped other Spaniards informally. He has more than 20 years of experience in the safari business himself. He was extremely, awfully kind. He tried to convince Orongai’s people for maybe another hour. He couldn’t.
Finally, we decided to take it to the “Tourist Police”, an institution created to deal with cases like this. We went there, a concrete bungalow in the outskirts of Arusha, bare of any official look or sign that I could see, and met with an official, a guy just dressed in jeans and a polo. We spent there another 2 hours, repeating everything to him (Orongai’s people speaking mostly in Swahili even if we repeatedly asked them not to). He initially seemed to lean to our side, but finally, probably tired of the whole thing, told all of us that this was not a criminal dispute and that we had to resolve the thing among ourselves. And left. So much for the Tourist Police. During this, we offered to pay 200 $/person over the agreed 2,150 $. Orongai rejected this.
We went back to the hotel at around 11 pm. We were leaning to cancel the whole thing and leave. Mind you, in the middle of the night, without a car and without a hotel, because the lodge we were in, Lake Duluti Lodge, told us that we would have to pay our rooms ourselves (~ 300 $/room) because Orongai wouldn’t pay if we canceled the safari. At this, Martha threatened us with legally/judicially demanding whole payment (her amount not ours), even if the safari didn’t go ahead, because “it would be our decision to cancel”.
After even more discussion, somebody suggested (I don’t remember who) that if we paid the 9,030 $ we still owed, PLUS the 200 $/person we offered before AND they downgraded us to mobile tented camps, instead of lodges, we could go ahead. Tired of the whole thing, and worried of what a judicial process in Tanzania would entail, we agreed to this. They, then, made us sign a paper saying that these changes were our responsibility because we had not understood the original quotation correctly. Without this condition, they threatened again, the deal was off and they would sue us for full payment. Some of us signed, under duress obviously. So that you understand this downgrade, a mobile tented camp is a far cry from a permanent camp, let alone a lodge. Some permanent tented camps are really luxurious. The mobile tented camps are most definitely NOT luxurious. In some, the showers didn’t even work, and didn’t have enough power even to recharge the batteries/phones if we all tried at the same time.
A very suggestive thing happened at the Tourist Police. Martha, to convince us that 2,150 $/pp was an impossible price, listed in a piece of paper, from memory, the actual cost of each item: car rental, several park fees, lodge fees, food, water, everything. The total came exactly to 17,000 $. This shows that they know the cost of everything by heart, and that the quotation they gave us WAS NOT just a mistake they made, as we thought at some point. This clearly shows that this was a deliberate and, more importantly, practiced scheme to cheat clients. Mine is not the only story like this. Check the comments on Orongai in the web, many of the negative ones are from people with relatively “high level” safaris. The ones that may be amenable to pay extra when confronted with problems. Another suggestive detail is something our friend said. That, at least the Ndutu lodge (there is only the one) was almost certainly full by September already! That by December, when Orongai supposedly made the reservation, it would be utterly im-po-ssi-ble to get four double rooms there for mid-February. Possibly the others too. This makes me suspect that some reservations didn’t exist. Instead, tented camps are easier to get at short notice. I sincerely believe that if we had paid the 650 $ extra, we would have still ended up either in lower-category lodges or in tented camps. Something that has happened to some clients of Orongai.
About the safari itself, one of the guides was nice (Freddy), the other (Asseri) wasn’t at all. He never made any effort to place the car in a good position for the photos and barely spoke at all. Both were a bit risky drivers. Especially Asseri who frequently texted on his phone while driving, took photos or even video putting his full arm outside the window. Some of the seat belts were either broken or "repaired" with a knot. The lunch food was quite poor and always the same, including a piece of chicken so deeply fried as to be mummified. Almost inedible.
All said, what most vexed me, far beyond the extra cost and the downgrade, was that it half-ruined the whole trip. The preparations, the pre-travel excitement (one of the best things), were all erased in a flurry of worry and anger. A lot of the time while we were there talking about it… it all embittered an experience that should have been exhilarating and special. They robed us of that.
Before the travel we contacted TATO (of which Orongai is supposed to be a member); Tanzania Tourism (government office) and TANAPA, asking about our problem. Only TANAPA answered. TATO and Tanz. Tourism didn’t deign. The American Society of Travel Advisors confirmed that Orongai is not a member, contrary to what it says in safaribookings.com
BR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience, Alexis was great in the 3 days game drives.
The axis safari was amazing in all steps of this journey, pontual, the driver (Alexis) was amazing, the 07 members of our van was great and fun, the Cabbanas on the camping zone were perfect and I could saw almost all the Big 5. Only the leopard that hasnt being seen. Great Experience
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Outstanding safari
My love for the beach is indescribable and had always wanted to visit Zanzibar. So I gave it a shot in January and must say the experience was mind blowing. First of all, booking the trip was a cake walk thanks to Parrot Safaris. Agnes made everything easy for me and my crew. She is great at customer service. I had a chance to visit Tsavo too and your tour guide was so amazing. Thanks Parrot Safaris for helping me have a great time and thanks to everyone who went that extra mile to make my trip a success. Will be using your services again!!!
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Gorilla! Gorilla!
My experience was very great, our tour guide Najib was amazing and became a friend am still in touch with. We saw the amazing gorillas and got alot of explaination. Am thankful for that adventure
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
I was simply amazing. The driver was amazing. We saw a lot of animals from up close.
It was more than i expected. Everything was good. I’d def recommend it!!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fantastic Climb
Upon completing my 3 months volunteering stint at a children’s home in Arusha, I decided that I was not going to leave Tanzania without climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. This was a last minute decision and I did not have a lot time to shop around so I talked to a couple of my expatriate friends who had been in Tanzania longer than I had and they referred me to Lazaro of Kilimanjaro Wonders Expeditions Safari Africa and boy he did not disappoint! I joined a group with 3 other climbers and initially I was a little worried that it might not turn out well but it worked out great. We each had a personal guide (Goodluck was my guide) and 3 porters assigned all under the lead of Lazaro.
The Trek to the summit was not easy as I experienced some difficulties on the third day when I started vomiting and even thought of giving up however Lazaro together with Goodluck intervened and gave me a cup of some tea and I was better in a few minutes. They also conducted daily oxygen tests on us all for our safety.
I only made it to the summit through sheer determination and motivation because I was really worn out but then watching the sunrise. I will never forget that moment, the fatigue that had been bogging me down just melted away. These are fond memories that I will carry all my life!
The service was superb!!!
I recommend Kilimanjaro Wonders Expeditions Safari Africa without any reservations.
BE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Hands-on, top notch
Together with some friends we booked a 3-day trip to Masai Mara. We choose CKC because of a very nice experience two years earlier when we visited Aberdares, Nakuru and Naivasha. This time again everything was nicely arranged for. John Muhoho is hands-on and joined driver Kennedy to pick us up on day 1 of our trip. The lodge (Il Kiliani camp) was excellent (it had a walking bridge to the reserve, amazing!) and Kennedy was a good guide and animal spotter: in twenty years of safari trips we only had had the chance to spot one leopard, now we saw two in two days. Conclusion in two words: top notch!
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Fantastic Safari
This is our second trip to Tanzania with Regional tours and from the moment we stepped back in Tanzania Regional Tours has been with us giving us the time of our life on the 5 day safari. We requested for Joseph as our guide as he had been spectacular in the previous visit and we were very excited to find him waiting for us at the airport when we arrived. He is such a great guide and likeable person stopping at nothing to make us happy. We really had a great time in the parks and even managed to see the wild dogs in Tarangire. This time around we chose to do luxury safari accommodations to double the experience and the service was excellent.
Regional tours is a great outfit and is fully recommended
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic personalised tour. Great company that really took the time to understand what we wanted.
All Around Tanzania exceeded our expectations at every level. They couldn't have been more helpful in organising our tour. Our guide Marko was brilliant. Fiona and her staff worked really hard to understand the kind of experience we wanted and made lots of great suggestions. I can't recommend this company highly enough. They will put together a fantastic holiday that you will never forget!
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Best experience ever!
The services were wonderful. Everything was planned perfectly and went according to schedule. The preparing went very smoothly. I told them what I wanted, they put together an iteniary and it was perfect. It covered everything I wanted even planning a birthday celebration. The safari itself was totally amazing. Our tour guide, Lesley was so knowledgeable and made sure we saw all the animals and birds too. He was so pleasant and made sure we were very happy with our schedule. I highly recommend Tanzania Choice Safari. Working with Brenda was a pleasure and she was very professional. We will be using this company for all future Safari travels.