US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Dishonest and very unreliable
I recently booked a Safari to the Maasai Mara National reserve with Travel Shore Africa and had the worst experience ever. They asked for 50% deposit 2 weeks before travel and the rest 2 days before the travel. On reaching my hotel, I was shocked to realize that they had not paid for my hotel. We were treated to such a disappointing welcome at the hotel. We waited at the hotel reception for 2 hr's as they deliberated on hotel payments. The Tour company had issued a fake bank payment slip to the hotel and therefore this payment was not cleared. The experience was a harrowing one from the first day to the last day. I and my 3 children were treated like beggars at a faraway hotel in the middle of the Mara, where they only allowed us to spend the night since the tour company only paid for the 1st night. Next day, all I did was follow up with the company to ensure our hotel was fully paid. They paid using a different payment method at the end of the day after numerous phone calls and a lot of time wasting on my part. We missed our game drive on day 1 due to non payment of Park fees. (All these costs had been factored in the travel quotation and had fully been paid for). On our last day, our driver did not even have gas for his tour van and again I had to advocate to have gas to transport us out of the hotel. I had to literally beg the company to pay for services that I had paid for long in advance. Worst travel company in Kenya in my opinion. The owner of this company unfortunately was well aware of what we were going through and didn't care to alleviate our suffering.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
My advice is that you avoid this company at all costs
Our Lower Zambezi tour was a disaster from start to finish. Mainly because of our guide Mark's incompetence and lack of consideration. Despite booking three months in advance, everything seemed to be organised on the fly, disrupting our experience. Mark was more interested in sleeping in, networking, and handling personal tasks than in giving us a quality safari. He even put our lives at risk by ignoring instructions about how to handle a situation where an elephant charged toward us.
The transportation, tents, and meals were inadequate - tents which are too small for anyone over 5’9 to fit in and dry bread for lunch. The advertised itinerary was ignored, and we missed out on key experiences due to Mark's poor planning and coordination. We had to do all the work of setting up and breaking down camp while Mark sat around and went for a shower.
Based on our experience do not use this company. They do not care about their clients. We have been seeking a compensation for the Lower Zambezi tour and compensation for the stress and disappointment caused by their ineptitude, but they have been ignoring us for months.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Not Recommended
Unfortunately I have to write this to warn other people as we had a bad experience with Africa Marvel Tours.
We went in August but it took several months to recoup some money from them and have only just got around to writing this report.
I had high hopes for this trip and spent almost a year planning the trip of a lifetime for my 40th birthday with my family. I had decided years earlier that I wanted to do an African safari in style for this milestone.
When I contacted Perminus, I was very specific with what I wanted and we went back and forth a lot fine tuning our itinerary (10 nights Kenya and Tanzania) and I spent a lot of time researching and selecting specific accommodation based on the effect each would have on the total cost of the trip. I wanted to stay in some more luxury lodges but mix it with some mid range lodges so that it wasn't as expensive in total.
Perminus was very helpful in the planning process and I felt confident that this was going to be the trip of the lifetime I'd dreamed of. We were able to secure all but 2 (out of 6) of the lodges I'd selected but we booked into good alternatives for those 2 that we couldn't get.
Between paying the deposit and the final balance our group had gone from 6 people in 3 rooms to 4 people in 3 rooms. We paid extra to have 2 people in their own rooms.
Fast forward to 3 days before the tour began. I contacted Perminus on arrival in Nairobi (our tour started from a hotel we had booked ourselves in Nairobi) to ask what time we would be collected on Day 1. At this point, he informed me that 3 of the lodges that we have confirmed had been changed. All 3 were the best, most luxurious properties that we had paid a hefty premium for. I was furious. The alternatives were significant downgrades from what we had been told was confirmed prior to paying our final balance.
On arrival at the first alternative property, the reception staff handed us 2 keys instead of 3. They informed us that the booking requested was only for 2 rooms. In fact, they had more rooms available but had just sold them to a family who just arrived and were still there in the reception at the same time as us. So this first lodge was not only quite a lot cheaper than the one we paid for, but we only got 2 rooms instead of 3. We were there for 2 nights.
The same thing happened at our third stop. Exact same story except a bigger downgrade. The poor hotel staff having to be the one to break the news to us because despite our driver confirming with Perminus that we had 3 rooms for the rest of the trip, he lied and said we did, when we didn't.
The 4th stop (the third changed lodge), we had our 3 rooms but this was the biggest downgrade of all. We'd booked a really nice luxury property in Serengeti with a pool and sweeping views over the plains. We were put into a perfectly fine tented camp with no view or pool and it was baking hot there when we were trying to rest in the afternoon. It was worth significantly less than what we'd paid for.
There was no effort to warn us about these things or provide an explanation. I had to call Perminus to demand an explanation during the trip. The explanation given was that his colleague had accidentally cancelled all our bookings instead of amending the number of people from 6 to 4 (this would have been several months earlier and still we weren't told). They were able to get back all the accommodations except the best ones.
Unfortunately I don't believe that is what happened. I believe that this was intentional to make a bigger profit or perhaps, to survive another few months if the company is in trouble. The reason I think this is because I have read reviews of other companies in Kenya doing this, so it seems to be common practice. In addition, a family who went the week after us with Africa Marvel had an even worse time. You can read their review on SafariBookings (Li, Sep 12 2024).
I had to chase and chase them to organise some kind of refund. It was incredibly frustrating. I did my own research and based on published rates, the DIFFERENCE in what we paid and what we got in terms of accommodation was about USD5600. But these safari companies access agent rates which can be 20-30% cheaper. Even so, that would mean that we overpaid by about USD4000. After 3 months of chasing, I finally received USD1600 back. Better than nothing, but we were totally and utterly ripped off and I would hate the same to happen to anyone else.
The places we visited and the lodges were all good and the wildlife was truly amazing. But this experience made what was meant to be the trip of a lifetime, an unpleasant experience where I was having to ignore this stuff in the moment in order to try an enjoy myself. I would be wary of any Kenyan tour company after this and would rather book my own accommodation and fly to each place than risk being ripped off again.
That said, both our drivers in Kenya (Joe) and Tanzania (Medy) were great and I feel sorry for them that they have to be the face of this unprofessional and dodgy company.
Book at your own risk. If you do, go for the cheaper accommodation as you will probably end up there anyway!
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
I would caution you not to book with this company
CAUTION - DO NOT BOOK WITH THIS COMPANY!
Natural World Kenya Safaris, operated by Humphrey N. Ndara, could not be more of a scam and disappointment. This is a safari company that prioritizes taking your money upfront and providing disappointment on the back end. The customer service and pretend caring stop once they have your money. We learned the hard way that the company’s business practices are at best dishonest and possibly fraudulent. If your intent is to experience all that Kenyan’s National Parks can offer, to receive the services for which you paid; to follow the itinerary to which was agreed and paid for; to be treated with honesty, common courtesy and respect; and/or to enjoy equipment that works, then we strongly suggest that you ignore any positive reviews this company may have and research other safari companies. Their positive reviews might have been deserved once upon a time, but clearly that time is in the past. DO NOT fall into the same trap we did. Kenya and the Kenyan people are too special to mar your visit by using this company. For more details, read below.
None of the equipment, including the “Off-road 4x4 Land Cruiser Jeep”, was as advertised. The vehicle did NOT have working electricity meaning that none of our phones or cameras could be recharged. The vehicle’s advertised WiFi was nonexistent. The portable fridge was broken so there was no cold water providing needed refreshment while in the heat of the Kenyan sun. The advertised sandbags for stability while picture taking were also nonexistent. The vehicle itself was old, busted in various places, and had abnormally inferior shocks (even for a safari vehicle). The poor condition of the vehicle ultimately resulted in an injury to one of us.
Although extremely disappointing, the poor (or lack of) functioning equipment could have been overlooked had the company not continued to ruin its questionable reputation through its misleading and underhanded business dealings. Despite having paid for all of our lodgings prior arriving in Kenya, we learned that it is Mr. Ndara’s business practice not to pay the lodging owners until the very last possible moment, and in some cases, not at all. Upon arriving early in the day at one of our lodging sites, we were unable to check in as the hotel/camp staff informed us that our lodging had not yet been paid by Natural World (Mr. Ndara). The hotel/camp staff suggested that we go ahead and spend our day in the park on safari under the assumption that all would be resolved before coming back at the end of our day. Unfortunately, when we arrived back at our lodging at the end of the day nothing had been resolved. In fact, the hotel/camp staff had been unable to contact anyone at Natural World all day. After an additional several hours waiting at the check-in desk, we were advised that we should (re)pay out-of-pocket and attempt reimbursement later. Our driver confirmed that this predicament is not an uncommon happening where Mr. Ndara is concerned. He often uses customer prepayments for other purposes.
Adding insult to injury, our driver (Jeff) was rude and condescending throughout our 9-day safari. He ignored asked questions, rushed us every time we stopped to take pictures, and repeatedly dropped us off at our camp earlier than scheduled (and much earlier than other safari groups that were staying at the same camp) causing us to miss the dusk hours when animals are most active. He did this without any explanation and got angry when we questioned him why he was returning to camp so early. Multiple times he skipped destinations listed on the itinerary that was agreed to when we submitted our safari down payment. One of the better examples of our driver’s rudeness is when he told us, “Why bother telling you what these animals are called since you can’t seem to remember them?”
On our last day of the safari, Mr. Humphrey Ndara verbally promised his commitment to addressing our negative safari experience and poor treatment. Unfortunately, true to form and never responding to our emails, this was just one more false and broken promise and another item to be added to the long list of extreme disappointments we suffered at the hands of Natural World, Mr. Humphrey and our driver Jeff.
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Big warning! They stole our money and left us without any Safari
We booked a 15 days Safari with them for Christmas and new year. When we arrived they told us to book a new Safari and our own cost, they can not do anything for us. Than they blocked us. Kept all the money and didn’t give us the Safari so we had high prices on flights and hotels to spend Christmas, organizing to get back home somehow instead of having a Safari.
Just starting a trial against them.
Don’t ever book with them.
Wilson and Samuel work together to steal your money.
ES
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Look for another company
I don't even know where to start commenting. We booked a day safari with Sylwia. We paid everything a month in advance and they confirmed that everything was OK. The day before leaving on safari, having asked several times if anything was missing and they told us that everything was fine, they told us 12 hours before leaving on safari that they had made a mistake booking the plane tickets and that there were no spaces left on the plane. After much negotiation, they sent us to a worse park for the same price and the same day we had to return to Spain. They tell us that they will reserve a hotel for us so that we can take a shower before the flight, but when we arrive at the hotel it has not been paid for and we have to pay for it ourselves. I do not recommend it, they are very unprofessional and will leave you without the safari.
ES
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Attention, our money was stolen !!!!!!
Attention!!!!
Company of dishonest people from our experience!!!!
They have stolen all the money we paid for the safari, and we have had to pay it all again.....
I am writing this information so that what happened to us does not happen to another family!!!
It was very unpleasant to find yourself with children in Africa, and that nothing was paid for and all the problems!!!
They have been saying for over a month that they are going to give us back our money.....
Always false promises and the money does not appear....
IT
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Very careful. Do not book with Nali Safaris
Our trip was a real nightmare.
We booked a tour of 4 people with car and driver with Nali Safaris for 17 days in September 2024 at a total cost of 9,000 euros which, as per the contract, were paid in advance.
All contacts were made through Pendy Masule, the owner of the agency.
After 4 nights from arrival in Namibia, we discovered that from that moment on all the subsequent hotels booked were not paid for and we had to make our own arrangements. You can imagine the dismay, amazement and trauma of all of us when we discovered this. The entrance fees to the parks, fuel, excursions and everything else provided for in the contract were no longer paid for; we were left with only the car with the driver and a thousand problems to face in order to continue the trip. A terrible experience.
I am writing after 3 months of returning because Pendy continued to claim that he had financial problems that were being resolved and that he would soon reimburse the 2400 euros that we had to pay to complete the trip.
As soon as we returned from the trip, all the documentation relating to the expenses incurred was sent to Nali Safaris and Pendy always assured that the reimbursement would be made shortly.
I do not know if we will ever get our money back or if Pendy has stolen from us but I certainly had a terrible experience with Nali Safaris and so that other people can avoid finding themselves in similar situations, I will report everything to the competent bodies and associations of the tourism sector in Namibia.
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
From my experience they're untrustworthy company
From my experience, I would not recommend trusting this company. They kept our money!
We found ourselves in Africa, a whole family thrown away and abandoned because they had not paid for anything for our trip.. It seems they spent our money on other things....
He says he's going to give it back to us... always excuses and problems...
$5000 lost!
It's disappointing to see companies that we believe may not prioritize the well-being of their customers. We hope this serves as a warning to fellow travelers.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review
Very terrible service, we weren’t given Locks for our camp site and got robbed. The food was also terrible and didn’t cater to any dietary needs.