US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Unresponsive and elusive
I was in contact with the owner Joshua throughout the process. I inquired about a 3 day chimpanzee trekking tour with 2 other travelers. I liked the itinerary and made a deposit. I had various questions and he was unresponsive. I had to follow up 2 or 3 times for him to respond which he was a red flag. My flight into Kigoma was canceled, so I should have been able to request a 50% refund of the deposit I made per their refund policy , as it was over 30 days prior to the trip. When I requested it, He never responded. I followed up various times without a response. Effectively, the refund I was owed was not given to me. I do not recommend this company if you plan on going on holiday unless you want to deal with an unresponsive and elusive owner.
IT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Honeymoon ruined by KOFI
We rented a Toyota HZJ78 from KOFI Travel for our honeymoon trip to Tanzania in August. While the vehicle looked good at first glance and we paid it full price, it was a death trap that completely ruined our trip. The damages I'm listing are just a small fraction of the dozens of failures we experienced.
On day one, the starter battery failed, leaving us stranded. The roof rack broke from vibrations, and we almost lost our rooftop tents. The starter motor broke, too. The power steering failed not once, but twice. The rear right wheel was bent, causing severe vibrations that eventually led to a massive oil leak from the axle. The engine was in such bad shape that we had to add a liter of oil every 300km. The final straw was when a brake line exploded, and we nearly crashed.
During one of the many days we spent in a workshop, a Toyota expert pointed out that this was originally a left-hand drive vehicle that had been poorly converted to a right-hand drive. The conversion was shoddily done and clearly not by a specialist. To make matters worse, the conversion was done using the chassis number of an HZJ76 model. I can't even imagine what would have happened if one of these failures had led to a serious accident.
This was not just a series of small issues; it was a cascade of catastrophic failures. This vehicle was not fit for purpose and should never have been rented out. We were lucky to get out of this trip alive
IT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
terrible experience
If I could give zero stars to Kofi travel Safaris, I absolutely would. We rented two vehicles, and it was a complete nightmare from start to finish, with multiple occasions where our safety was put seriously at risk.
Just a sample of what went wrong: one radiator literally exploded (not a hose, the actual radiator), one engine was so cooked it burned one liter of oil per day – we had to buy 5-liter cans and top it up every single morning. The power steering system leaked until it completely failed; after we patched the hose, the pump itself collapsed, leaving the steering unusable again. Driving a Land Cruiser off-road, in mud, without power steering is almost impossible.
One vehicle had a bent wheel from day one, causing constant vibrations that eventually led to a brake system failure and nearly caused an accident. The starter wiring was badly connected and falling apart, then the starter motor itself died. When we opened it, we found it had been beaten with a hammer countless times, clearly a long-term “fix” by someone who knew it was failing.
The documents were inchoerent: the registration showed a different model, and the chassis number was freshly re-stamped. No windshield wipers – and of course, it rained on muddy tracks, turning a defect into a life-threatening situation. Air conditioning didn’t work in one car; in the other, switching it on killed the engine at idle. Cars were advertised as coming with water tanks – neither had one. One fridge didn’t work at all; the other only worked with the engine running, making it useless overnight since food spoiled.
A bumper fell off on a track, the rear shock absorbers lost all bushings and were literally metal on metal, and one roof rack weld snapped twice, forcing us to weld it back in the field.
All of this across just two vehicles. These issues caused multiple dangerous situations and at least two full days lost between breakdowns and repairs.
The company refunded mechanic bills and parts (oil, battery, etc.) but refused to compensate for the lost days, charging us the full rental. After we repeatedly insisted, they offered only a “voucher for a future rental.” Needless to say, there will never be a future rental with Kofi.
This was not just poor service – it was reckless, dishonest, and put our lives at risk. Avoid Kofi at all costs.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Frauds. Took our money and did not book anything.
Our group of 14 people trusted Craig and Bianca with booking a full trip to South Africa, and we were completely deceived. They took full payment from us and never booked anything. After receiving the final payment, they stopped communicating entirely, except for a few inconsistent and suspicious excuses — ranging from family tragedies to personal emergencies. These excuses included:
A sister passing away
A house break-in
A mother passing away
An overdose
It's difficult to know what, if anything, was true. What is clear is that we were scammed out of our money.
Please do not trust the good reviews — we have no idea how they were obtained, but our experience was a complete nightmare. If you book with them, you may end up stranded with no reservations and no support.
We are pursuing all possible legal avenues and urge others to report any similar experiences. Don’t let this happen to you.
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Extremely Disappointing and Unsafe Rental Experience
We rented two vehicles from Kofi Travel Safaris this summer for a self-drive trip in Tanzania. Unfortunately, our experience was extremely disappointing and at times unsafe.
Due to mechanical issues, one of the two cars we had booked was unavailable upon arrival, so the company had to find another vehicle for us, causing us to miss the first day of our itinerary.
According to the company’s own Terms & Conditions, the vehicles were supposed to be “well-maintained”. However, the car that arrived late was in very poor condition and suffered from numerous mechanical and safety issues throughout the rental period.
Land Cruiser 78’s problems:
- Brakes weak, later completely broken
- Rear right wheel missing one bolt – then two – from the axle flange
- Rear right wheel deflated overnight
- Roof rack broken (welds detached)
- Rear tent unbolted
- Rear tent with broken floor + water leaking inside
- Rear right door could not be opened
- Gas stove not working (we repaired it ourselves)
- Power steering broken twice (we drove one week without it)
- Rear-view mirrors loose, right one broken
- Co-driver and right passenger seats unstable/moving
- Driver’s seat belt could not be pulled out
- Co-driver’s seat belt difficult to unfasten
- Faulty battery (hard to start the engine)
- Front headlight not working
- Reverse light not working
- T-belt warning light on
- Handbrake not working
- Drive belts frayed
- Excessive oil consumption (1L every 300 km)
- Water tank unusable
- Secondary fuel tank unusable
- Front tent ladder could not lock
- Starter motor not working correctly
- Windshield wipers not functioning
- Speedometer not functioning
- Battery bracket broken
- Windows hard to open and scratched
- Differential oil leaking from right rear hub
- Hood latch system broken
- A/C not working
- Radio not working
Land Cruiser 76’s problems:
- Radiator blown
- Missing lower bushing from rear left shock absorber
- Missing upper bushing from rear right shock absorber
- Front bumper detached
- Windshield wipers not functioning
- Ignition problems (battery terminals)
- A/C switched on made the engine stall at idle
- Handbrake not working
- Missing tourism permit
- Unpaid fine
These issues caused significant delays, additional expenses (e.g. we had to sleep in hotels close to the mechanics), and constant stress during our trip, putting our safety at risk.
We repeatedly reported these problems and formally requested a partial refund to reflect the poor condition of the vehicles and the inconvenience caused. Although the company reimbursed us for the mechanical repair costs we incurred (with a four-day delay), they refused to compensate us for the time lost due to the breakdowns and the vehicles’ repairs.
Vehicles in such poor condition should never be rented out, especially for long trips through remote areas where reliability is crucial. For these reasons, we cannot recommend this company and strongly urge other travelers to consider alternative providers if they value safety and peace of mind.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
We felt scammed
My son, daughter-in-law and I made a deposit to Gombe wild chimpanzee safari for 3 days chimpanzee trekking, one month prior to departure our flight to Kigoma was canceled, we requested 50% refund of the deposit we have made per their refund policy, Joshua the owner never responded and he keeps ignoring us. Please do not book with this company.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
This was the most unprofessional and disappointing experience I've had with a tour operator
If I could give them 0 stars, I would. Our experience with Southern African Tours, operated by Bianca and Craig, was deeply disappointing and frustrating. What was meant to be a stress-free and enjoyable trip to South Africa quickly turned into a logistical disaster due to severe mismanagement—or worse, a complete scam.
We paid the full amount for our trip before departure, trusting that everything would be organized as promised. Unfortunately, that trust was misplaced. Despite repeated requests, we never received any confirmation numbers, booking references, or documentation for internal flights, accommodations, or excursions. Upon arrival, it became clear that none of the arrangements had actually been made.
Left with no choice, we had to rebook everything ourselves on the ground—last-minute flights, hotels, tours—at significant extra cost and with a great deal of stress. It was incredibly disheartening and completely avoidable.
Communication from Bianca and Craig was always inconsistent, but became nonexistent once the issues emerged. To date, we’ve received no resolution, no explanation, and no refund.
I strongly caution anyone considering this agency: do your due diligence. Our experience felt not just unprofessional, but exploitative. Travel is supposed to be enjoyable and enriching—this was the opposite
NL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Terrible experience
Worst tour organizer and company ever. This is a Kenyan company and we booked a combined Kenya-Tanzania safari in March 2025 for September with a shared tour in Kenya and private tour in Tanzania on comfort level.
While before our safari date the company replied readily to our questions, from the first day of our actual safari we experienced lack of organization and support: several accommodations didn't have reservations for us, the company changed 5 of 6 accommodations in total, cancelled 1 park in Kenya and 1 park in Tanzania, modified the length of our stay in the accommodations and our game drives, didn't arrange appropriate border crossing, changed the entire schedule in Tanzania compared to the booked itinerary, had shared tour in Tanzania as well.
From one day to another they changed something but promised that all other parts of the tour would remain unchanged, then the next day they modified something again. Never asked our permission, just informed us about the changes and expected us not to complain and forced us to do the tour the way they wanted. When we tried to get an explanation and told our concerns and the conversation turned inconvenient for them, they simply went silent, didn't reply to our messages, or hung up the phone. We couldn't relax, and spent hours every day arguing. They left us with no support at all, never apologized for any change they made and kept lying during our safari about the upcoming days.
Seemed like they just took our money but didn't organize anything in time, leaving everything for the last minute. Later on we got connected to the Tanzanian co-partner company who told us that the pre-booked trip doesn't even exist, the Kenyan company booked a tour for a day later and they didn't even pay enough for a private tour.
Complete disaster and nightmare.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Do not trust Walter, the owner of Galloping Safaris
My family and I went on a safari of a lifetime in Aug 2022. The first part of the safari was all good, apart from some last minute accommodation changes. When we got to Breezes in Zanzibar, everything was fine until we came to check out. The manager told us that we had to pay for our accommodation. We explained that we had paid Walter from Galloping Safaris. Breezes told us that they had received no payment. After many calls trying to get hold of Walter he finally told us that he had not paid and made up what the first in a series of lies. We were forced to pay £20,000 ($23,000) to be able to leave the property.
Our holiday was destroyed by this. Walter is not a honest person, he is a liar and a terrible business man. I would not trust any of my money with him. You are better booking with someone else.
Walter is know to the Tanzania Tourism Board and the Tour Operators Association and the Tourism Police in Arusha. He has lied to us constantly about paying the money back (he has paid back some) but are still owed over $14,000. He continually makes up stories and lies to us about saying he will settle and then never does.
If you want a stress free Tanzania safari - I recommend do not use this ccompany
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Left stranded in South Africa
Southern African tours left us stranded in South Africa. No Accomodations or travel arrangements made. They took our money and no contact at all from Craig and Bianca. Please avoid using this travel agency. I have no Idea how they got the other reviews, but be friends or paid people to do the reviews.. Please avoid our experience.