NL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
I believe that we have been scammed by this organization
We booked a full organized trip for 12 days to Rwanda and Hodari only arranged the first 3 days!! We had to pay for the hotels and they also cut the 12 days. Samuel, CEO, promised us to refund us for the payments of the hotels but we're still waiting. We have been fooled by Hodari Group.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Poorly organized and not transparent
Do NOT book with them. They do not use their own safari car for group safari but instead throw you in a car with tourists who booked with other safari companies and whose itineraries they have no control over or knowledge of. There was a lot of confusion, delay and waste of time just waiting because everyone stays at a different place and has different specific itineraries, plus the local guide is not directly affiliated with the company so communication was indirect. We almost missed our entrance to Maasai Mara the first day and missed our day at Lake Nakuru. On top of that, they put 8 people in our car which was very uncomfortable for an 8 hour ride on bumpy roads.
SE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
They completely ruined our safari experience
We booked a 6 days safari and it was a complete disaster. The organization was a mess from the beginning, we were 2 people and since they want to fill the cars they join people who don’t even have the same schedule for the safari, so a lot of time was wasted waiting for people to switch cars and arguing about the planning. The guide, called Benson, was the most arrogant and incompetent person I’ve met in a long time. He didn’t give us enough information about the planning nor about the animals and vegetation. The car was in undrivable conditions, the battery was failing even before the safari and then on our way to Serengeti we had 4 different break downs (flat tire, lost the rear fuel tank, electrical problems with some fuse…). All these technical issues not only made us waste a lot of time (2 out of the 3 days in Serengeti we couldn’t do game drive to see animals because we were either stranded in the middle of nowhere or waiting for the car to be fixed) but also ruined our safari experience and made us feel very unsafe. So please, I'd recommend that you don't book a safari with this company.
IT
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
The worst safari company had in Tanzania
Since the beginning I felt not good sensations, cause all the Hotel's guest have been collected from your competitors between 6:30 to 7:30 AM,
Your driver with your old and broken jeep pick us up at 9:30 AM, I would like to make a premise, I have been doing Safaris in South Africa and Kenia,
Normally a Guide/ Driver used to make a general briefing in the beginning and during all the safari explaining where we are direct, how long it takes, what we are going to see/meet, name of animals, plants, seasons etc etc
SKILLS and ACCESSORIES
An expert and professional Safari Guide always carries with them
Maps
Binoculars
Radio
Suppose to know the territory well
Unfortunately for all us (6 persons) our Driver / Guide didn't have NONE of the above mentioned skills/accessories
- No briefing at all > didn't speak whole the Safari, even beacause he was poor in english
- No maps
- No Binoculars
- Radio appears only in the tird day after ALL the Group complain officially, we saw HALF of the animals compare the other/jeeps, due to the lack of use Radio.
- He gets lost in Serengeti twice and gets lost in Ngorongoro once, because we were alone often..due to LACK of USE of the RADIO and lack of know the territory
- Not explanations about plants, animals, lakes (Ex. : What's tha name of Ngorogoro lake ? Answer Crater )
SAFETY
Most important issue it was the SAFETY,
It was very anxious and used to go faster than the other jeeps, didn't stop many many times whem we met animals, anytime we use reminds him, "please stop for a moment".
Twice in Serengeti lost the control of the Jeep, taking the SERIOUS risk to overturn the Jeep . People screamming scared, after a period of slow speed, he started again the fast spped, we looked each other astonished !!
Twice the guests whom seated behind including my young son and Mr. Nardine heated the heads in the Jeep's roof, because the Guide didn't stop in the many bumps in the track
CAR / JEEP
A professional company checks the car before a trip
The Car got broken immediately
- Batteries or Alternator didn't work , so any time the Jeep stopped we should push behind all together or asking for a help or leave the car on descent for the day after to be sure for the start.
- The tire has has broken in the middle of Serengeti, I have changed the wheel because the Chef and the Driver didn't know how tu use the ckick or made mistakes to screw and unscrew the nuts
- A stone heated the front glass, the shards of glass heated the Chef and keep all of us in extremely danger situation and it left us the whole journey with the worry that the glass might explode, cause everyday the cracks getting bigger and bigger
- Eventually the JEEP DIED permantely a 140 Km from Arusha on the way back home, we checked the documents of the car it was 2004 registration date. Left us in the middle of the highway in a very danger point, the two guys were in panic, thanks God we asked for lift, a Jeep with a professional guide help us to reach Arusha ciity in safe.
CHEF /FOOD
- First night our dinner was served along with other groups (3 groups+us) We were served at the end from our Chef assigned, 45 minutes of waiting to see the others having dinner
- Once the food arrives he apologises with our group, introducing himself as Professioanl Chef, but the facts have disproved it
- Simply he did NOT have enough food for the 6 pax or wants to save money in the food markets for his pocket.
- The first night in Serengeti Camp I cooked for whole group a Pasta and I was expecting the Chef was prepared something else, I was wrong, we had just pasta.
- The day after I woke up at 4:30 AM all the Chef/Cookers AREA was full and actives, every Chef cooking and prepare a lots food, cakes desserts etc...our Chef was sleeping I went to wake him up I prepared a coffee for all, no cookies, very poor food and not cooked for breakfast.
When we coming back for lunch the same situation
- The Food was poor and poorly cooked even in Ngorongoro, I seated in late no more meat (a piece each person), two guests vomits and got diarrea after the lunch in Ngorogoro camp.
- Perrsonally and other guests finished the Safari hungry.
HK
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Lost driver, broken down vehicle, waste of time.
Is a Serengeti Safari a trio of a life-time? Do you want to see the migration, the big 5, and enjoy a beer at the safari lodge after a good day? If so, don’t book with Bobby!
The first day the agency failed to communicate where the safari lodge was, meaning we drove for HOURS only to arrive exhausted and after dinner was served.
We never saw the migration, bad luck perhaps.
The 4th day the vehicle broke down, and we spent the day on the side of the road, enjoying waves of dust.
For your Serengeti experience, I'd recommend you choose any other agency!
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Birchill Expeditions… in our experience, we felt scammed and misled. We would strongly advise others to avoid booking with them
As some others have said, we strongly advise caution when dealing with Birchill. In our experience, we felt deceived and believe that what happened to us amounted to being scammed. We did have a fantastic 5-day safari in Rwanda and Uganda BUT only because we had an amazing guide who kept things going for us. We had to pay $548 extra for services already included in what we had prepaid.
For example, $200 for golden monkey trekking permits, $88 for entry permits to Queen Elizabeth National Park and $260 for chimpanzee trekking permits. Birchill kept promising to refund the money but eventually didn't follow that through and advised to dispute payments through Amex (card provider). This might bear fruit but it is a long-winded process and through no fault of our own.
In addition, Birchill did not pay our guide and also did not pay the vehicle hire company for our 4WD. The latter resulted in the hire company refusing to let our guide move the car whilst in a remote part of Uganda. Eventually, Birchill did send some money to them which enabled us to get back to Kigali airport but not until after a lot of stress and a frantic drive.
I have to say the safari itself was amazing and our guide (Darius) was sensational but he and his freelance guide colleagues won't work for Birchill again. My advice is to avoid Birchill like the plague unless you want to be paying out more money and having to go through a lot of stress to try to get it back.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
I don't recommend trusting this company
We booked a two-day safari with ZeroOne to the Masai Mara, including travel from Nairobi and two game drives — one on day one, and a sunrise drive on day two.
After finishing the first drive, we asked our driver about the plans for the following day, only to be told there was no game drive scheduled for day two. We showed him our booking confirmation, clearly stating the two drives we had paid for (as you will see from the picture, it is not ambiguous!), but he said there was nothing he could do.
We called our contact, Maureen, who admitted she’d made a mistake but refused to fix it or offer a refund. Instead, she offered a tour of a Masai village or a one-hour boat ride in Naivasha as a “replacement” on the second day — not exactly a fair swap for a missed game drive in the Mara.
The result? We paid for two drives and got one. The single drive we had was excellent — because the Mara is incredible — but Safari ZeroOne’s attitude was appalling. They showed zero accountability, zero effort to make things right, and zero concern for customer satisfaction.
This is a company you cannot trust. If you value honesty, reliability, and getting the trip you actually paid for, avoid Safari ZeroOne.
IT
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Disorganised organisation
We booked a luxury shared safari tour. The organisation jointed us with fellow travellers with different needs (they were staying at camping sides). It caused misunderstandings, significant delays, hundreds phone calls and WhatsApp messages and very unpleasant situations, resulting in daily arguments and buck-passing between Allan, the driver/guide, and the organisation. The driver/guide (I find it difficult to define it as such)was a bully-boy and very unprofessional. For example, he pretended we had to leave our lodge at 5 am in the morning (without having breakfast etc) not to begin the game drive but just to pick-up the other members, who were staying at far-away camping sites. This happened three days out of four. It was we who had to be flexible although we had paid for a luxury safari. We had to argue to have our rights respected. We lost a lot of time waiting for other needs.
Although we had stressed our need for ad dairy-free diet (my daughter is severely allergic), no one had been informed about it. Every day we had to call the agency to be sure.
My review concerns only the organisation "Mercy Africa Serengeti Adventures" and Allan, the driver/guide: National parks and Nature are fantastic. Two lodges out of three were excellent and the staff very professional.
IT
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Nice place, the worst services in whole Africa safari regions
Terrible experience with the Safari company MAKINI company, Tanzanians asking for a lots of money with very poor services, much better the safaries in South Africa or Kenia. Parks are managed by the Government and if you sleep in the Camps its own your risk, animals in between the tends, most of the time not water in the public toilettes...dirties etc. Food prepared by Cookers in a vey lack of hygene conditions, roads are terrible, but Tanzanian Gov, gets 45,00 Usd for each tourist going in the parks.
I don't know if you see the above mentioned comments cause I tend to think this site its manipulated
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
We would advise others to avoid Silver Spark. In our experience, their conduct felt unethical
I booked almost 8k worth of trip and got cheated by this company . Bad broken van, terrible transfer from Kenya to Tanzania via rural road to save toll fee, worst of it is to cheat us out of hotel that we paid for to a cheap hotel in a weedful beach in Zanzibar. After promising to return 300 dollars for 8 months and 50 msg exchanges, I had to pay my friend on my own as I booked the trip . I feel terrible and stupid to have trusted them