UA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
They are Liars!
A plus:
It was a beautiful safari and we saw many animals. I want to say many thanks to the chef, his food was very tasty.
Minuses:
We went in the low season, so if you are hoping for what they told in the correspondence, do not believe it! They'll take you as they like. They will not follow the description that is said here. And you will have a safari only in the morning or only in the evening, do not expect that you will spend all the time looking at animals. Our car broke down and we drove 6 hours to the campsite at a speed of 10 km and no one came to our rescue.
We arrived when it was dark, nothing is visible and I hurt my leg, it was swollen and there was a hematoma, and they even do not have a usual first aid kit and they refused even to bring a bottle of cold water that I would put on my leg. On the last day of the safari, the people who were with us, ended their safaris, because they started earlier and we just joined them. At 11 o'clock in the afternoon we were taken to a camping place and we did not go anywhere else!
With all this, the director of this company blatantly lied and denied that everything was fine!
When I gave the guide a tip of $ 85 (4 days of safari for two), he also started to say that we should give tip the chef! Dear authorities, warn people that they themselves should distribute tips between employees, because I thought that they themselves share everything equally. That's why we paid even more!
I do not recommend this company to anyone. The most terrible and deceitful attitude!
AE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Liar, Thief, Coward and an Overall Scam!
I am absolutely disgusted with how horribly I was treated during my stay in Kenya after booking through Doyen Safaris. The owner, Kennedy, is the biggest liar, thief and coward I have ever met in my life. When we booked the trip in December, Kennedy was very responsive to my questions and concerns and gave me an itinerary with all of the hotels I would be staying in, so I felt comfortable and excited for the trip. But that was all a lie. From the moment we arrived in Kenya, there were several mix-ups and we were not delivered what we were promised. The hotels we stayed in were 3 of the most disgusting, dirty, old, and unsafe accommodations I have stayed in. The sheets we marked with blood from the mosquitoes and the beds had dirt on them. We were supposed to stay in glamorous tents when we went to Masai Mara, but I was shocked when we got there and I learned that first off I had to share a tent with a total stranger I had met in the car an hour before and second the place was a complete dump and even had a mouse in it. My group was promised a private tour but soon realized Kennedy had placed us with two other travelers. Every time we tried calling Kennedy to fix these issues he would tell our driver, Stanley, he was too busy to talk. The one great thing about the trip was our driver. Stanley was absolutely amazing and made the safari worth it, but anything else Kennedy was involved in was a complete disaster. The food was included in our package and it was the worst food I have ever eaten and I actually came home with typhoid fever because of the dire conditions of the camp. On my last night in Nairobi I was supposed to stay at the hotel Kennedy listed in my itinerary but of course when I got to Nairobi he said the plan had changed because the hotel was booked (he had already done this to us the day before with another hotel as well). I became very angry with Kennedy and began listing all the things that had gone wrong since the start of the trip and he acted like this was brand new information to him even though Stanley had been telling him all along what was going on. He denied everything and seemed shocked when I told him I had to share a tent with a stranger and he blamed the camp. He refused to take any responsibility and promised me he would put me in a 4 star hotel to make up for it. He had a driver take me to another hotel and as soon as we pulled up I knew this was not a 4 star hotel. It was a complete dump. They showed me to my room and when we walked in it turns out there was someone staying in that room already, so we went back to the lobby. I called him and told him this was not acceptable and that I had paid him a lot of money in order to stay in a nice hotel. I sent him several pictures of acceptable hotels I had found online and told him any of those would be fine. He asked me to go to booking.com and pay for the room and that he would send me money a week later through PayPal. Obviously I refused and told him he had to come to the hotel and sort it out right away. He finally came to the hotel and looked upset and annoyed and tried to convince me to stay there. I told him I would not stay there and he just sat around not saying or doing anything for about 20 minutes. Finally he got up and walked out of the hotel without saying a word. After 10 minutes I had the driver call him and he said he was figuring something out. An hour later I was still sitting in the lobby and now he was ignoring the driver's phone calls. I had the hotel call him and he told them to tell me I could either stay there or find my own place and pay for it myself. I was SO upset. What a liar, thief and a coward. Absolutely disgusted that these kinds of people actually exist. Do NOT book with this company. This man is only out for one thing. Your money. My goal is to spread this to as many people as possible so they don't have to experience what I did.
US
Chobe National Park a Photographer's Paradise
Chobe National Park is a photographer's paradise. Whether you are on land or water, the photo opportunities are bountiful. I loved it----particularly the water cruise. Out on the water gave you a chance to appreciate and enjoy the beautiful sky and to relish the wonderful sense of space. I give two (2) thumbs up to Chobe, and if I had more thumbs, they would be up as well.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Do not trust this company!
Do not trust this company with your money. I paid them my deposit in early March. A week later, their website and cell phone number were terminated due to lack of payment. When I finally
heard from them again, I asked that my deposit be refunded. At the end of March, they agreed and stated that a wire had been sent, but that never happened. There have been several emails sent to me with stories as to why I have not yet been refunded. To date, I have not received my money back.
AE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Do not use this your operator
From someone who doesn't normally write reviews, I felt I owed it to possible future travelers who may fall victim to this company. Whatever you do, do not use Good Time Safari or deal with Victor Godwin. If you are contacted by them, find a different company immediately. This is a man and a company that shows little care and respect for their clients. So much so, that they steal money from them. After I paid the safari in full, Victor then asked me to pay the fees at the park entry, for which I would be reimbursed (he promised). This reimbursement never came. I felt taken advantage of and ignored after several attempts to contact Victor and arrange ways to get my reimbursement. This company is poor and unethical. Stay away.
FR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Terrible company ran by a liar called Henry
I can confirm what was written by all clients : Northern Masailand Safaris is ran by a crook named Henry who litteraly stole our money.
In short here is our story : we booked a trip including 1 week safari and 1 week stay in Zanzibar. We agreed on a defined plan (hotels / transport / catering).
We were requested to pay 30% upfront, and the rest upon arrival. 10 days before we start, I received a message that our plans were changed, with cancellation of plane transfer from Serengeti to Zanzibar, against a road trip with a stop in Arusha.
Then I received agressive message requesting the full payment, which I refused. We did not receive any hotel vouchers at that stage.
On arrival day, the hotel that was supposed to be our 1st night was different than the one planned. The next day (a Sunday) Henry wanted to get his cash, but again, without providing any hotel voucher.
This was the begining of a 15 days battle against a liar.
At every stage, the hotel was different than the one we agreed upon, and of course, at a lower category.
When arriving in Serengeti, the driver, genuinely nice and helpful, couldn't find the accomodation, as he did not receive instruction from Henry. Eventually, after having lost 4 hours, we found our deserted place - and of course not the one agreed upon.
We then had a strong argument with the liar to make sure our nice Zanzibar hotel was booked. I had to chase myself the hotel and put pressure on Henry to book it eventually.
Back in transit in Arusha, we agreed for an overall refund of 1000USD. Henry never paid his due !
Last but not least, when leaving Zanzibar, for our transit to the airport, Henry cancelled the taxi, and we had to pay for it ....
So, in a nutshell, stay away from that company, as this will lead you into much trouble. We were definitively lucky not to have any incident. Without a doubt this liar who have dropped us in the middle of the Savannah.
NO
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Worst safari agent ever!
This is the most unprofessional and worst agent we've dealt with ever!
We booked our safari through a company in Kenya but for the Tanzanian part we were outsourced to Sandland Tour, Arusha.
We and also an other girl in our group (who had booked with different agent in Kenya) had to all the time argue and pin point what was included in our intiniary. If we haven't had the out print to show them they would have over ruled us on everything and cut things off. Ex: in our intinary we were supposed to drive to Serengeti via Olduvai Gorge. We drove right passed it. We were even supposed to have our lunch there, whitch did not happen.
First day 2 individually travelling guys joined us, both of them with different intinary. Second day they were sent to a different group. They were supposed to leave 30 min before us but they were there still waiting when we left.
First night at camp my husband and I got a tent together as we were a couple but the girl and the two guys , who all traveleld indvidually and didn't know each other, were placed in the same tent. The girl of course argued and after hard discussion the girl got a tent for her self. But the guys still had to share.
As they also changed the order of the itiniary we were short cut on things.
Also they took us to Tarangire park, whitch we did not have in our itiniary. This led to that we had far less time in Serengeti than what our plan said and we payed for.
They also skipped breakfast one day. When they wanted to do so second day we told the guide and the chef that we won't have it. So they ahd to give us breakfast anyway. But of course resulting in less time game driving as they didn't start the day earlier like we requested to not to miss out on time of game drives. We saw other groups start earlier with breakfasts so they could get sunrise in the parks.
Our guide, George, was not competent and showed very little interest in making a good safari for us. He knew less about animals/trees/plants/birds than we did. Many questions he didn't even answer. We did not enjoy the atmosphere on the safari and didn't feel comfortable at all. In the end we were just happy to be finished with the safari in Tanzania and hoped we would arrive safetly back to Kenya as we felt we could not trust them at all.
When the safari was over and we were supposed to get transport back to Arusha as the other girl had one more day with safari. George, the guide just left both us and the girl with no words. Him and 2 others drove off, and we never saw them again. The girl was supposed to have an afternoon game drive but at 5pm she was still at the camp.
We sat there with a stranger who spoke barely english as our driver and with no information and we were waiting for almost 2 hours before we left for Arusha. 2 hours we could have spent more on game drive or been in Arusha for sight seeing.
The day we were supposed to get bak to Nairobi we were supposed to have breakfast at 7am as our transport was to leave at 7.30 from the hotel. We were in the restaurant at 6.55am, they didn't give us the food before 7.25 even the chef and 2 waitress's were there fromt he moment we came. We tried to tell them several times that we have to leave at 7.30 but to no help.
The day we arrived in Arusha from Nairobi the boss, Abraham wouldn't give us dinner as they said it was not included. After showing them the intiniary and discussing and making us wait 3 hours they said we could have dinner.
It was very unprofessional and very unfriendly customer service. If we knew what we knew to day we would have skipped Tanzania all together as it actually led to no pleasant part of our holiday than what it did good. Unfortunately waste of money. Make sure when you book safari that it's the same agent handling your safari all the journey.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Beware, avoid this company
We booked a safari through another company in Kenya for a safari in Kenya and Tanzania. This company outsourced Tanzania to sandland tours. Sandland tours did not keep the itinerary agreed upon, they changed our lodges and tented camps to cheaper ones. The owner is Abraham and his side kick is Simon. They are both liars and cheats and will do anything forore money. DO not book with this company and make sure you ask your safari company if they are outsourcing any part of your safari!!!
AE
Bramwel are cheats and cannot be trusted one bit
We had a similar experience with Bramwel Safari. We took the safari in Sept 16. We landed in Kilimanjaro and had someone pick us up in a jeep that was smelling of fish (we are vegetarians). We were taken to Planet Lodge, thankfully this was booked. The next morning we were greeted by another driver and guide Dennis (he was good) in a clean jeep. We drove to Serengeti and our woes began. We were there by 11 am and when the driver went to the counter to get our permits, he was told that there was no money in the card issued in Arusha. He called William Amon who heads Bramwel Safaris, and was arguing with him. William told him that he was going to the bank to deposit the money in the card. We waited at the gated until 2.30pm. Still no sign of the money. We decided having come this far let's just pay by credit card and get over with this. The dirver took us to the lodge that was supposed to be booked for us and as suspected the booking was not done. We have been driving around and it was getting quite dark. Luckily the driver knew another lodge and knew a person there and we managed to get a tent for two nights. We were so disappointed with all this that we decided not to go for the Hot Air Balloon for which we had paid 1000 $ advance. I am sure if we had to do this we would have had to pay again.
From Serengeti we headed to Ngorongoro and were told that the luxury hotel that we had paid for was not booked so we would be staying at another hotel. Luckily the hotel was booked and we did not have to pay for this.
On the whole William keeps on promising and from what I have read on their website and here, he seems to have made this his way of making quick money out of people who have worked hard and saved up for a trip like this. Because a trip like this is not cheap. He says he is God fearing and goes to church. I doubt very much the man has any conscience. He is still cheating people saying he will repay them and then more empty promises.
Please do read reviews on the tour operators and do stay well away from Bramwel.
IN
Global Adventure Safari is a fraud company
Please do not go with these guys. These guys are thugs and liars. They promised me 8 days Serengati trip and charged 1500 USD. First they put me in a cheapest of hotels in Arusha , organised one of the stupidest of tours and worst they wanted me to do 2 x 4 days trips which meant I was to do all the road journey twice. All of the other travellers who travelled with me from other tour operators paid 450 USD for the same trip.
Thanks