50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Unsasisfied client
I had booked and paid for accommodation in the Kruger Park at Bergendal through Afritrip Kruger.Com.On our arrival at Malelane Gate after travelling for 5 hours we were told that accommodation had been cancelled as they had not received payment from Afritrip. You can imagine our disbelief. On phoning the company in Cape Town they found accommodation outside the Kruger Park which was not what we wanted but had no choice and another 2.5 hours drive.Lucky for us we knew where we were going,but you can imagine the horror of foreigners who would be expecting to stay in the Kruger Park.On returning home I sent them emails and phoned the company and to date 11/05/17 have received no response.No letter of apology or anything,just completely ignored.I will never recommend booking through them
TH
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
A safari which did not meet my expectations
I had booked a 8 days tour.The whole travel was in an old minibus ,so not very comfortable.Day 5 was confirmed in the program with stay in Mara Sopa Lodge,but i was brought in AA Lodge (4stars) which is not even a 2 star place,but stay was in a cheap place: explication there had been a booking problem,day6 program would have been Mara Sopa again ,but i stayed in a cheap place again:Jambo Mara.So i had payed 2 nights for a 4 star place but got much less.The whole trip was overshadowed with the payment problem(i wrote you that already separately) ther were permanent calls :where is the money.
Seen in total the trip was more a deception then pleasure,and as i continued after this to south africa ,i just can say there its super,everything was at 100% like promised and it was just a difference like day & night
NZ
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Poorly organised and quick to take your money!
Where do we start!!! We gave all of our hotel pickup details in Arusha week's in advance of our safari. Nobody turned up to collect us until after 2 hours passed when we finally managed to make contact with the company and explain that we were waiting. The driver had no idea where to pick us up from. We believe if we hadn't made contact no one would have ever come to collect us. Then, on the second day of our safari the exact same thing happened, we were left stranded waiting for almost two hours and had to get our lodge staff to chase up the tour company drivers. No compensation was offered even though 4+ hours of safari time were lost/wasted by the company (this is a lot when its only a two day safari). The company was quick to take our cash at the beginning of the tour. The guides gave little or no information about the animals or parks unless we constantly asked them. They expected tips (what for!). Overall, a very poorly managed company and despite seeing lots of amazing animals (which we would have seen with any other safari company also) I would not recommend Tanzania Joy Tours to anyone! Very unprofessional and no doubt relying on outdated high review ratings!
IL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
If you have another option, choose to use it
Safari is minimal in terms of conditions.
The vehicle was Oldest relative to other safari vehicles.
Unconventional tour coordination, planning was poor, not based on customer requirements, the driver wanted to finish as quickly as possible without taking additional sites. Edward and recommended his name to go with it.
Robert was not available to solve problems, and at the end of evaded answering the allegations.
There are other companies that drive safari, recommended to get them on trips in Kenya.
BE
Parks were amazing but organisation, communication and trust with the agency were quite poor.
The safari experience in itself was fantastic but this is mostly due to the beauty of the parks rather than the tour agency. We've had too many last minute changes, very poor communication, quite antipathetic driver and we were stolen a significant amount of money during the trip. I'm not accusing anyone from the agency, I just think that the conditions were really not trustworthy.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Marred Vacation Experience
My husband and I planned this trip for about three years; we are retired educators. The trip included two weeks in South Africa(Capetown, Safari, and the remainder of the trip spent in Victoria Falls. The first two weeks of the trip went very smoothly, and we had an excellent experience. Our nightmare began after the Victoria Falls part of the trip. When my husband and I arrived to the Victoria Falls Airport for the return flight to JoBurg for the connecting flight to the USA, South African Air could not process my husbands reservation. We waited for two hours anxious, and stressed to get the reservation corrected. South African Air blamed
Go Touch Down, Go Touch Down blamed South African Air. There were two other individuals in our party and on the same reservation. My husband and I dealt with Go Touch Down; all of the arrangement were made by this travel agency. They readily took our money for this trip, promising a quality experience. When contacted, and asked to refund some of the money,(800.00) they sent us $25.00 which was suppose to cover failure to provide an aisle seat for my husband on the return flight. We were informed by Go Touch Down that South African Air charged for a seat on the Aisle. Needless to say the Vacation was marred, and should not have been. I understand that mishaps occur. I also expect to be made whole when treated poorly. Deon Barnard, President/CEO was useless in helping us. I share this information, so that potential clients will know that should something go wrong, Go Touch Down will not do the right by you. Please contact me if you have questions or wish more information about our experience.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Less than expected for a custom tour
Communications with the agency were prompt and polite and included the attractions I wanted to see but I paid for a custom tour (I was the only client), expecting a great guide to tell me all about the land, flora, fauna and people along the way of my 5 day trip. My "guide" was a driver, not a guide and on long stretches of driving (some up to 8-9 hours), he did not engage me unless I kept asking specific questions. They didn't have wildlife or bird guide books in my vehicle to help me make sense of what I was seeing. I also had issues with the rude guide they handed me off to in Bwindi to see the Batwa people, who tried to steer me to a Bachiga village instead of the Batwa one that I had specifically asked to go to.
The attractions themselves did not disappoint: Kibale for Chimpanzee tracking was great--I was dropped off at the park and a ranger took over from there. The Kazinga Channel boat tour was superb, the experience in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest for gorilla trekking with their rangers was an incredible.
In all fairness I contacted Jackie at the main office and let her know my concerns and she was very apologetic, so I assume she has fixed the problem(s). Perhaps if it had been a group, I wouldn't have these issues, but as a solo traveller, I felt I had paid a lot for a lesser level of service.
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
To ve avoided
Walking in Nairobi streets, one guy offered To take us To their office for information. We wanted To go safari in Meru National Parc. We entered the office for information and went out with our safari booked, 4 days and 3 nights sleeping in the parc in a banda with the driver and the cook for 1300 USD(our f ault, we should have gone elsewhere To compare. ..)We paid 10%, supposingly for them To organise the trip and were supposed To pay the rest of it the next Day in cash. So the next Day, the driver came To take us at out hotel and took us To the office To pay the rest of the amount. The problem is that we were not able To withdraw so much cash but surprisingly the credit card machine that did not work the Day earlier (we asked To use it) was working but we were taxed 5% of the total amout for bank fees... So we paid and went off for the safari. We stopped at a restaurant for lunch and then went To the supermaket so that the cook could but food for the safari. We finally arrived in Meru after 9 hours drive. When we arrived, we were finally unable To sleep in the parc...and were taken To a nice place outside the parc. We had 3 game drives instead of 4, the cook was not very gifted and the only one thing we asked To the driver (going To the hippopool) he said yes but did not do, with no explaination, except when we asked , he said it was too dry so no hippos. .. apparently according To the local people there were hippos To be seen...imagine our deception. .. Finally on our way back, we stopped at a restaurant and ordered one coke, they ordered two sodas and then we ate together. Then the went for checking out and a waitress brought us the Bill for our soda which we found a bit expensive...in fact the guys vas tried To make us pay for their sodas too behind our back! The best meal We had was prepared buy the local cook of the hotel and our cook pretending he made it ... So see the mentality. .. maybe tipping them would have ended in a better experience. ..
BE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Unfriendly and unprofessional people : very bad communication and they are just a reseller.
While the content of the safari (4 days/3 nights) was good, as for the driver and for the accommodations and food, I want to make following remarks :
-Lobo Safaris (part of Vimic group) does not organize itself the safari. The safari itself was done by Sandland Tours
-The start was disastrous : (day before start of the safari) :
- There were 2 different taxidrivers waiting for us at the airport of Arusha !!!
- We were dropped in an hotel outside Arusha (Mercury hotel) in the middle of local habitations and no decent road, and in front of a local discotheque (noise at night) !
- While the driver told us that Lobo safaris would contact us the same afternoon, we didn’t hear anything from them until the morning after. Meaning we spent an whole afternoon, waiting in a desolate hotel (there was only another African couple as client of the hotel).
- Also the payment was not what we expected : we had to pay cash, while Lobo and Vimic group advertise that they accept credit cards.
-The safari itself was good. Good driver/guide : Simon and good accomodation. The program was not followed but this was not a problem (Tarangire in place of Lake Manyara). Only the vehicle was in bad condition (old vehicle from 1996 : front lights not working, no hand brake, starter not always working and a lot of dust entering the cabin)
-The end of the safari was also not really good : the door of the luggage compartiment could no more open (after one of the two spare tires break off the car ….)
-The transfer to Moshi was OK but the hotel in Moshi was not up of the quality of the accommodations during the safari (hotel Kinodroko)
EE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Choose another company
I am somewhat experienced in Kenya/Tanzania budget safaris and therefore have some basis for comparison. And this safari left me dissatisfied in so many nuances. That said, the attitude and paperwork of office is professional. No complains.
But almost everything else left to be very much desired. The weakest point was the camp Blue Mountain is using. Short list of disadvantages:
- First day we arrived to camp after 4 o'clock and were at the gate 15 minutes before 5 in the evening.
- No mobile signal in the camp at all. When you need to organise other things in Kenya, this drives you simply crazy.
- No bar or restaurant to relax after safari.
- Oh yes, the service. When you ask something, you can count you are left to your own devices.
- You can charge your electronic devices in separate house (locked, try to find smb with a key!) where most time all limited number of sockets are used by camp people.
- Hot water (or water at all) was decided by a no-name maasai, who simply decided to close water - no morning shower, no evening shower. Imagine, when you arrive after safari, you are dirty as hell - and there is no water.
- the stuff clearly lacks training , have limited English skills and no understanding what their visitors want.
Can't recommend this company at all.