50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Set and forget (Vic Falls Safari Lodge did it)
While the lodge staff and the experiences werefantastic, Safari.com provided no itinerary, luxury deck on cruise not honoured.
It was like a set and forget.
Once we had booked and paid there was little or no communication from them.
Hence we arived at Lodge not having an itinerary!
We had to take a photo of our itinerary from lodge to find out what it was!!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great safari, bad timing
I want to first say that our guide, Rodger, was excellent. He was very knowledgeable and helped us find all the ‘Big 5’ and many other beautiful animals. The accommodations were lovely- the campsite was great to connect with nature, and the hotel was comfortable and clean with tasty meals. The game drives were fantastic.
The reason I gave this safari a 3/5 is not the fault of the guide. On May 18th, the 3rd day of the safari, there were massive protests over gas prices all over Kenya, which turned into rioting, blocking roads and stopping cars. This is not the fault of Axis. The issue was the way the company handled the situation (this does not include Rodger- he was calm under pressure and kept us as safe as possible). Part of the issue here is that Axis combines travelers who are on different tours without clarifying it. There were people on the tour that were only there for 3 days, while others booked for 4 or more. This means that our third day involved bringing the people who had to go back to the office to a drop off point near Nairobi. This is where we got stranded for multiple hours with very little communication or assistance from the office. We spent the whole morning driving, leaving at 6 am, arriving midday and then staying in place. When asked about a refund of some sort for the day that really only included 2 hours of activity, we were told ‘well, day 3 is always a travel day’. The itinerary does not disclose that. They make it look as if there’s multiple activities that happen on day 3. On top of that, guests on our safari had to pay to change flights, without help from the office or clarification on what would happen to help them. Two of the people who were split from the group eventually to go to the airport were hit with a bag of rocks through the window of the car they were put in, leading to them being covered in glass. Again, this isn’t something the company can necessarily control, but the things they can control were handled poorly in my opinion.
Again, this would’ve been a great safari. The issues I had were partially the situation but mostly the office’s handling of it. Rodger was an excellent guide.
BR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
My not so pleasant safari experience with Safari Link
I had some problems with this agency that I would like to highlight here.
I booked a three-day safari. It was agreed that they would pick me up at my hotel in Johannesburg before heading to Kruger. One day before the trip, I sent a message to confirm, and they told me that I should go to the airport instead, as we would be leaving from there. I sent them the previous message where they had mentioned picking me up at the hotel, but I did not receive a response in time. Because of that, I had to go to the airport just to be safe.
After this inconvenience, it took me an extra hour to arrive at my lodge because my name was not on the driver’s list. He confused me with another person whose name was on the list and initially took me to the wrong lodge.
After that, we finally arrived at the correct lodge, but they informed me that there was no tent available for me because the agency had not sent my reservation to them either, just like what happened with the driver. As a result, on the first night, I was taken to another nearby lodge so I would have a place to sleep.
On the way back to Johannesburg, I managed to arrange for them to drop me off at my hotel, but once again, nothing was easy. The driver had the wrong address and was going to take me to the hotel where I had stayed before going on safari. Fortunately, I checked it in time and was able to speak with him so he could take me to the correct address.
Despite all these issues, everything was eventually resolved, and I was still able to enjoy the experience in the best way possible. However, these were still unpleasant situations that nobody would like to go through.
MY
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
cool
Papa John tour driver very patience,
very understanding client need
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very caring
This was a fast-passed 4 day trip. I enjoyed it but the pace was too much. It would be better spread over 6-7 days. With overnights at the locations of the game drives instead of long road trips to and from the parks.