20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Avoid at all costs - nightmare tour operator!
DO NOT BOOK with African breeze tours – warning! Cate is at best, disorganised, unresponsive and manulipative, and at worst a con artist. AVOID AVOID AVOID
We booked our honeymoon with Cate at African Breeze tours – we were super impressed with her communication, putting together a bespoke package, and offering a great price.
We arrived at the airport, expecting a driver to pick us up from arrival. We landed at 5am, and Cate told us that we would have to wait until 7.30am for her and a driver – which we did.
The next few days were fine, although we hadn’t booked a private tour, no one else joined us, and it was great. We stayed at Treetops (highly recommend a stay here), Samburu Lodge (again a great hotel), and our driver/guide Solomon was good, he was a little maverick, and at times I wasn’t too sure if he was totally sure where he was going or whether we were lost.
The second half of the week though was horrendous, stressful and has really tainted my view of the honeymoon. We arrived after an 8hour drive from Samburu to Lake Nakuru (although Cate told us it was a morning drive, and we would be there by lunchtime – we left at 8am and arrived gone 4pm!). Our driver struggled to find the hotel (Eagle Palace), which was in the city centre, not a hotel you would expect on a safari. Once we checked in, the driver said we should go for a drive around Lake Nakuru, but Cate hadn’t sent all of the money, and so we would need to pay $200USD. With the park only open for another hour, we decided it wasn’t worth it, but we were now worried that our driver didn’t have any money for fuel, and wasn’t prepared to drive us to Maasai Mara until he was paid. Cate didn’t pick up anyone’s calls, said she was having bank issues, and couldn’t pay until the morning. She didn’t read the WhatsApp messages and we had a strife night in Nakuru.
Cate paid the driver his fuel money so we left Nakuru, and headed for the Maasai Mara. En route we switched vehicles and drivers, and it appeared that Cate had booked us onto a tour with another company (Bencia tours – who were amazing!), we checked into the lodge (Ol Moran) and went for a drive the next day. When we arrived back at the lodge the staff were waiting for us and said our agent hadn’t paid for the room and so we were unable to get into our room until we paid $360USD. They had tried to get hold of Cate all day and she had promised to pay, but didn’t. After over 2 hours we managed to scramble together all the money the lodge required and paid it over, only then did Cate pay the lodge and our money was returned later that night. The lodge had told us that Cate had booked us into the lodge on the day we arrived, despite us booking with Cate 9 months before we arrived, and she had confirmed the lodge name and booking with us.
Overall the Safari was great, but African breeze were a nightmare. The company address is a PO box at JIKA airport – and this should be a warning sign to anyone.
AVOID AFRICAN BREEZE TOURS AT ALL COSTS, if you already have booked with them, I suggest you double check that all the accommodation has been booked and paid for before you leave, and that the driver has all the money and park fees before you leave for Safari.
SE
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.
SG
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Cheated by the Company
I made a Safari Booking on July 3rd, 2019 with Kenya Walking Survivor Safari for our safari to happen in December 2019. We paid the full amount of $4936 USD to Kenya Walking Survivor Safari on the 3rd of July 2019 via online credit card payment.
On the 9th of August, we received an email from Kenya Walking Survivor Safari informing us that they have a technical difficulty and will not be able to provide us the tour, and that they will refund us our payment in 90-120 working days. But since August 9th, they have not replied my emails or phone calls. Website is down as well.
I checked out Tripasdvisor and Safari Bookings and found customers who are in similar situation as me.
For me, I am trying to hopefully be able to claim some insurance as I do not feel confident Kenya Walking Survivor Safari will pay me back. Does any one have any updates? Please help!
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Terrible !!!
We booked a 7 day safari of Tanzania and the travel agent outsourced it to BMS. What a disaster. The vehicle provided was in horrible shape ( it had over 473,000 kilometers) and shook like crazy. You could not speak or hear for the noise created by the land cruiser while traveling off road. We were passed by every other vehicle ( the other safari vehicles’s suspension could handle the washboard roads just fine ) so it took many extra hours to get anywhere. Our driver/ guide was switched at the last minute and Baraka ( the driver ) spoke very little English so he could not or would not explain anything. The driver did not know where our permanent camp in the Serengeti was and he had no map or directions. We got lost and the radio did not work properly and he had no cell service. Then the land cruiser broke down after 8 hours traveling (transmission). He did not have a proper tool kit. Some other vehicles helped us and took us to camp 2 hours late. He fixed the vehicle that night but 2 days later it broke down 4 times( fuel leak) and we run out of gas! Another safari operator took us to our lodge an hour away.
Two days out of six on safari were lost to extra long driving days ( car could not go as fast as the others )coupled with getting lost and the multiple breakdowns
I was able to communicate with the office through Whatsapp but Buhambo, the owner/manager (?) just kept saying he was sorry or he was working on the problems. Since our diver did not speak english( though they assured us he did) we had to ask others to help us but he could not explain the animals or birds or the vehicle breakdowns and timing of travel. We had been on safari in other countries for weeks so we knew quite a bit but what a disappointment.
We kept asking for a new vehicle but apparently they were all out on safari and this was rented but how would we have been able to prevent this? I booked this safari 8 months in advance and the original company I booked through was appalled but what can you do when you are in country?
The camps and lodges were very good and Tanzania is a beautiful country. Just do not travel with BMS Safaris! We have traveled to over 145 countries and this was our worst experience by far.
KR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Don't believe them. Especially Kate.
They kept me waiting for more than two hours at the airport and didn't abide by the numerous provisions stipulated in the contract. The airport dropoff was a contract, but they dropped me off in downtown Nairobi. I questioned her(Kate) but ignored it. They change when they get paid.
IT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
terrible and dangerous
We have been traveling in Africa for over 10 years but we have never found such a disorganized tour operator.
We risked life twice due to inexperienced drivers who were not familiar with the area. We were housed in remote areas of the parks and we could not enjoy the wonders that Zambia offers.
We have chosen the "three parks" package, but frankly it is not a good suggestion because you spend many days in the car and do so many kilometers. Attention to areas called GMA.
The guides are not very experienced and don't waste time explaining and telling about the bush and its animals.
The worst safari made in our life !!
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unprofessional and dishonest...scam!!!
We paid for the 1/2 Game Ranch Tour weeks before and never heard back from the company. The day before the tour I sent an E-Mail to ask about the pickup and I immediately received the confirmation that we are going to be picked up at our hotel. Eventually, nobody came to get us to the ranch. We tried calling and found out that they forgot about us. The company tried to rearrange for another day and we accepted.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, they apparently forgot us again on the 2nd occasion. Our hotel then called them and they sent a driver who came an hour late. By the time we arrived at the ranch, the game drive has already started without us. Furthermore, we got to know that Enrico is not in charge of the game drive itself but the ranch and that our spots have not been paid!!! If we had wanted to participate, we would have needed to pay again!!!
After that, we tried to reach out to Enrico in order to at least get our money back but no response, no apologies. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!!
PL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Please do not make a mistake of booking your safari with Flash
We recently came back from a safari with Flash. We couldn’t have been more disappointed. Not only their cars are broken, they don’t pay their drivers and they also tried denying obvious problems we experienced during our trip which we have video proof of.
The Car:
4wd drive didn’t work. This caused us and other people to be put in a life-threatening situations when for example the car was sliding down a very steep hill, unable to go up without being pushed up by another car after our driver, Jerry, with help of drivers from other companies tried fixing it with a RUBBER BAND FROM THE ROOF-LOCKING MECHANISM. This wasn’t the only case when someone had to push us. The gears didn’t really work either. Going uphill, on an asphalt road with a speed limit of 80 km/h, their car could reach a maximum speed of 20 km/h, causing massive traffic jams behind us. Going down, we of course were able to reach 80 km/h easily. If that wasn’t enough, the car’s shock absorber broke down on the second day. We know that accidents happen, but during our trip it was mostly Flash cars that we saw broken on the side of the road.
The Unpaid Driver:
On the last day after finishing the safari, our driver dropped us off at our hotel and we were getting ready for a well-deserved sleep. Half an hour later we were shocked to see him knocking at our doors in tears. It turned out that HE DID NOT GET PAID A SINGLE DOLLAR from Flash. That’s disgusting! As he explained, all his money comes from tips. We omitted them, because Flash assured us that everything is already paid for and we were really irritated with our safari on the last day because of continuous problems with the car and Flash’s inability to deliver a quality service.
The Lies:
“Nowadays at most part of our roads there is a speed limit of 50 km per hours and you must have seen all the police control posts. In the parks there is also a maximum speed limit and I want our guides to hold to this as we can lose our permit.” - that’s clearly not what we were talking about. We have video proof of car struggling at 20 km/h on a road with 80 km/h speed limit.
“I asked Jerry about the starting problems, he told me that this did happen once and then some people had to push the car to get it started, there were no other incidents” - It happened numerous times, with the most dangerous incident on a steep hill where another car had to push us. Not only we have a video proof of that, at that time in our car, there were also other Flash clients whose car broke down completely earlier that day.
“Jerry also told us that he never used a rubber to fix or repair the 4WD, you must have taken that wrong.” - again, on that day we were accompanied by other people who have also seen it. Jerry clearly told us that he has a problem with activating 4WD and this rubber would hopefully temporarily solve the issue.
We asked: “Please clarify for me how much was driver paid by your company. We want to understand how big is the tipping part of his total salary. Please confirm that our driver was paid by the company (what was the amount?) and that our tips were only the form of extra bonus for him.”
To which they replied that “Jerry get paid a good salary”.
Well clearly if your driver comes up to our room after safari in tears something is wrong.
“On the way to the crater you indeed met with another car from Flash Safaris, it is very common that guides do help each other. Jerry stopped and you talked with the other clients. Then you asked Jerry to help and to take the clients with you. I really appreciate your gesture in this.” - Just shows how “good with words” Edward, the company’s co-owner tried to be in his emails. Of course, we accepted the other people on board (for the whole day) because your car broke down completely and they were stuck in full sun for few hours with small kids in the middle of nowhere and you didn’t manage to secure a replacement car!
SUMMARY:
4WD not working, problems with gears above 2, car not starting, broken shock-absorber, dishonest management unable to even admit the obvious problems, driver working for 0$ for 5 days in extreme conditions.
If you don’t want this to happen to you, just choose another company.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Scam and terrible experience
This is a scam, terrible experience and the Kenya authorities should take action against this man called Otieno
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fraudulent company stole our money and ruined our holiday.
In March my partner and I paid for and booked a safari with KWSS for 21 days, over July and August.
Things started okay, as we met an amazing driver named Sam, however things didn’t run smoothly.
Upon arrival we went to the KWSS office and a slight change was made. To save on driving times the owner (Otieno Lysaniash) recommended we would spend an extra night in the Masai Mara and not spend any time in Amboselli. It’s also important to know that the accommodation that was being changed was a 4.5star camp to a 2 star camp.
As we set off, Sam was keeping all his receipts and paying with his own money, and always on the phone away from us. When we questioned him he said ‘You shouldn’t have to worry about this’. After our 4 days with the driver, we exchanged numbers and were told a new driver would pick us, Sam was not sure what time, but said be ready at 6am.
We have not heard anything from the KWSS office since meeting them in the office. We tried calling Otieno or his team over 100 times and sent emails to no avail. We were very lucky to have met Sam, as he was in contact with us from 9am, letting us know any updates as he found them. At approximately 7pm Sam was in Nairobi and confirmed with us the Mr Otieno had run away with our money, and the police were at the office.
I feel horrible as it’s very hard to get my money back whilst living in a different country. We are also aware that Sam paid for the first 5 days of our safari out of pocket, and he hasn’t received any money back. We are in contact with Sam, trying to get updates, however he is a very busy man who has a family to feed.
If you were looking for a different company we can recommend Bateluer Eagle Safari’s, as they saved our holiday. Sam sent his brother to come and pick us up, who drove us around for 2 days to the police in Nairobi. The owners also went above and beyond, spending over 7 hours as we tried to get a payment sorted for a new safari, on last minute notice. Everything with them ran very smoothly and the upfront communication was very much needed, at a time where we had zero trust in anything.
KWSS was run by a thief who stole our money and many others. I just hope he doesn’t use that money to bribe the officials and get off without paying. We need our money back!