CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Bush Troop Safaris is fraudulent and will scam you - CAUTION
We booked through Safari Bookings, using Bushtroop Tours and Safaris (see contact below) -this company is a fraud. They said they would accept visa in Can currency and when asked repeatedly why they didn't process our deposit of 30% prior to the trip well in advance, they said that they were waiting for a more favorable exchange rate. The day prior to the safari they said our visa was a problem and insisted on cash payment via online transfer so they could steal our money and run. They were very suspicious and we asked them to jointly call visa to sort out the visa payment, but they didn't respond and insisted on cash payment. This company is scamming innocent customers. Please remove them from your operators option.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Abraham and his crew cheated me out pf $360
I was on a 10 day safari intending to go to Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Amboseli and Massai Mara. Abraham's driver picked me up promptly on day one and drove me to a supermarket where I was informed that I must pay "as much as I could" towards the trip. Very strange as I had already made arrangements to pay the balance when I got to Amboseli. I paid him $360 USD to help pay for his crew. He did not even count it ... just stuffed it into his pocket. When we approached Ngorongoro Crater, I was told to pay another $800 "entry fee" and I refused. Other problems included that I was promised "mid-range lodges", but only received budget tents and the fact that even the tents were not available at Ngorongoro. On a brighter note, the driver did an excellent job and the cook did as well. STEER CLEAR OF SANDLAND TOURS.
IT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
ATTENTION IT IS A SCAM! terrible experience
We booked 11 days of safaris with John William of open africa safaris for September 2018. We have been in touch with him for two months (email and whatsapp) and we never thought we'd find out what happened to us. We found good reviews about this tour operator, we trusted on him and we payed him in advance for the total amount of the safaris for our honeymoon (4600 usd). Once we arrived in Kenya he asked to anticipate 2000usd because of transfer problems with the promise of an immediate refunding. He send us a request of refunding by square, however the day after he cancelled the operations without telling us anything. In the following days he asked us other 300usd to continue our tour. Moreover he booked some hotels but he never payed, so we had to anticipate other money. Lie upon lie he destroyed our honeymoon. Once in Arusha we tried to find his office but IT DOES NOT EXIST! Fortunately the tour operators East African exotic safaris (Manager Raphael) and big5 Vojage (Manager Dilunga) helped us to not spoil out trip. They organized safaris for us despite they never get money by him to take care of our trip. They were angels for us. Excellent people in contraposition to the fraudulent open africa safaris. I will be always grateful to them.
I know that my review will sound unique compared to the old reviews but unfortunately this is the reality. Another young traveler can testify because she faced the same problem as us. We are now reclaiming our money and do our possible to avoid that other guests will fall in the same scam. For any further informations please contact me privately.
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Kenya Tour Budget Safari: Customer Service under construction!!
Cannot recommend this company at all.
I was booking at an early stage and reconfirmed to be accommodated in the 4-star Sopa Lodge. At time of pick-up in the Nairobi Hotel we are being told that the Sopa Lodge is overbooked and we have to be moved to another lodge nearby; Jamba Mara Lodge.
We protested and got at least the last of the 3 nights in the Sopa Lodge.
But the first 2 nights were in the Jamba Lodge which is a place still under construction (mid Sept-18). Containers, building material on the ground, and of course construction noise when we wanted to take a midday sleep between safaris.
Also this place has no pool, no proper view into the park like from the Sopa pool, mediocre quality buffet with little choice, and no comfortable lobby with fire place as in Sopa. Room was much smaller.
Sopa, 1 night; very good experience, relaxing atmosphere, properly maintained facilities, seasoned customer service and Value for Money!
Even once construction is done, Jamba Mara Lodge will not live up to the standards of the Sopa Lodge. The price difference between the 2 lodges are USD 165 per night which indicates the quality difference obviously.
Kenya Tour Budget Safari must take more ownership for their customer service. If their service provider shifts customers from A to B with quality loss, the travel agent has to provide the customer satisfaction which, in this case, would be a refund at least of the price difference between the 2 lodges. Customers left disappointed and service feedback is slow and quiet.
Refund of USD 100 was offered by the travel agent arguing with their bottom line and different flat rates they pay for the accommodation. The quality difference was USD 330 for 2 nights though which requires to be refunded to make up for a disappointing trip to Africa.
Kenya Tour Budget Safari: Customer Service still under construction!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Horrible experience with Dragon Safaris
Horrible Horrible experience with Francis. I would not recommend him to anyone at all.
Never met any expectations of the client. Really dissapointed
DK
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Poor planning, no responsibility for their mistakes.
I'm sad to write that unlike most I had a poor experience with Afrishare.
The guide was ok, but manager Ibrahim was not. Because of poor planning on Ibrahims side we didnt meet the agreed itenerary on the first day. I call Ibrahim with whom I planned the itenerary and tell him that because of this i wnat to pay the last 30% on the last day, so Im sure that I will get what I paid for. This he is absolotely NOT ok with, and he accuses me of trying to avoid payment.
Also he claims that I should pay more than agreed upon in the written agreement. We only managed to reach a solution late on the third day meaning that the first three days was marred by hours of discussion and IT-mistakes by his company leading to us not having time for the planned game drive.
The arguments got very childish on Ibrahims part:
1) He argued that I made up IT-issues in order to avoid payment, when in fact his online payment-system was not working, which he in the end admitted, and I was made to make a bank transfer (I had to pay all 80USD bank charges).
2) He said that he knew my "personality type" and that I was making up issues to avoid paying - he said he had had many bad customers like me before.
3) In the end he kept switching between that I should only pay 700 USD in what he sarcasticly called a "free safari" or, that I should pay 2200. I stuck with the 1900 that was in the written agreement in the e-mail.
4) after spending the first three hours of the second day discussing and trying to work out his IT problems, I asked if we could part ways, and I could pay some of his expenses + take the paid hotel stays with me to another operater. He declined this offer saying I had to pay 2200 because he had paid everything already. Later I found out that he had NOT paid all expenses incl. the 300 USD park fees to Ngorongoro crater.
I ended up paying 1900 + 80 USD bank/creditcard charges + 50USD tip for the driver for a genuinely bad experience, only after involving hotel manager and threataning with police. My four year old son and I had been looking forward to this for months, and this was both the worst and most expensive holiday ever. Luckily - and most importantly - my son seemed to enjoy most of the safari. Writing this, however, I feel like I should have accepted Ibrahim's 700 USD "free safari", though I doubt he would have kept his word.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Poor logistics, vehicle falling apart.
The vehicle was leaking fuel when full. Some had to be drained before we could continue for the day. The driver's door would not open from the outside. The front passenger door would not open at all. The passenger climbed in & out through the window. The 3rd window on the driver's side was jammed shut. Lastly, the vehicle had no starter -- so we had to park on a hill or get some locals to push start us.
Logistics: 45 minute delay (in a hot, dusty, crowded parking lot) while driver and chef waited for a money transfer before they could buy groceries. Tents were not arranged at the camp site, so we eventually begged some tents from other tour operators. The Ngorongoro permit had not been purchased on the morning we were to enter, so one of customers volunteered to pay our way to we could actually enter the crater.
That being said, the cook had tasty meals for us, and the driver was nice.
IT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Broken head and eyeglasses, downgraded to poorer accommodation, standard scams with optionals etc...
We encountered:
- one broken head and eyeglasses
During the exit from the 4x4 vehicle at DINE 45, the driver opened all doors that could rotate 180 degrees and did not secure them. The back door curved and hit the head of my colleague who had already come out of the vehicle and then crash his glasses and he got hematoma on his head. This only happened due to negligence of drivers and guides. We have seen other drivers unloading passengers and holdin the doors in place so that a similar problem would not happen.
- downgraded to poorer accommodation
When we booked the trip, they confirmed our stay (2 days) at Namibia Desert Lodge and instead we were in a campsite with no internet in anything that looked like a tent.
- standard scams with optionals
During the trip we went to a lodge where we were told we could go and watch some wild animals in the cage. They did not let us know that we had to pay for it. Only later, they asked us to pay about $ 10 per person. Everybody in the group was surprised and the guide later said he warned us that we could watch animals "only if we want." But he did not say that if we want we have to pay for it and that this activity is not included.
- a minibus that was constantly drowned
They have been late for more than 1 hour when taking over the hotel for the first day. Explanation: Vehicle problem. I do not know what they did in those hours, but the vehicle we were on for 6 days and over 2000 km was a permanent breakdown and it was not pleasant to stay in the middle of the road with a broken vehicle and the first village 100 km away.
- we were stolen money from the minibus while there was no one around the minibus, only the driver
The last day, only a 2 hours before the end of the trip, we stopped at a lodge for lunch. Until then, the drivers (who is also the guide) was always sitting during the lunch and the dinner with us (group of 7) at the same table. This time not. We were alone in a restaurant inside the lodge, there were no people around. The driver moved away from the group. We left inside the minibus a bag with my colleague's wallet. The money was stolen from the wallet: not all the money was stolen, but only a few large banknotes. We realised this when arrived to the hotel.
I asked the agency to give me an explanation on these issues (and many other things I did not even mentioned here) but they mostly refuse responsibility. I demanded a refund and I told them that if they decided to make a refund, that would be to the account of the humanitarian organisation I will indicate to them. I do not want a refund, but someone who has accomplished this kind of service needs to bear responsibility for it. Apart from the agency I will write more reviews on the internet, it is even more a responsibility of the tour operator (SWA SAFARI).
Sorry for my bad english but I will write other reports on Italian and Spanish (my mother tongues).
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Horrific!
Horrid experience. Victor, is not only a liar but a thief. Poor communication, he didn’t uphold the contract. We were held against our will at a hotel before the bill was paid, which we had to pay again. Though Victor received money for these fees 7-8 months in advance. Payment for the park fees weren’t done by Victor. The hotel accommodations he confirmed in the email were not made upon arrival to the Serengeti National Park. Instead Victor arranged for us to stay at a hostel. My group and I paid $200 US/ night to stay at a wildlife lodge with appropriate accommodations. Victor insisted on obtaining cash payment before the driver will take us on the safari.
This man needs to be reported!
ES
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Not recommendable
After making the reservation 2 months before arriving (in Spain), hotels were full with NO reservation from agency. My trip was 9 days. We had to share rooms 5 nights; we paid for double rooms. After calling the agency, no response. One month later, We are still waiting for a compensation or justification. Baboon is the same company.