20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Could Have Been Better Organized
My experience with Ekarua Wild Safaris was unfortunately disappointing, mainly because of the organization and communication. There were a few changes to our planned itinerary, but they were not explained clearly or communicated in advance, which caused unnecessary confusion during the trip. The wildlife viewing and scenery were genuinely enjoyable, but the logistical issues affected the overall experience. I believe the company could improve considerably by providing clearer information, better coordination, and more consistent communication with guests.
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Terrible organization and program not followed
Unfortunately for us, the expert was very disappointing... particularly regarding the organization, which turned out to be disastrous with the agency manager.
We were informed the day before that the program would be modified. The manager confirmed that the activities would remain the same, only the schedule was changing. We accepted because we trusted her.
On the first day, we set off for a hike around Mount Kilimanjaro, where a guide was supposed to accompany us. A taxi driver arrived to take us, we drove for two hours, and when we asked the driver when the hike was scheduled, he told us there was no guide and no hike. Yet we had paid for it. The manager hadn't informed us.
We told the manager, who, as compensation, promised to take us to see the animal migration in the northern Serengeti the next day. We accepted.
We thought it was probably a mistake, which can happen, that the next day would be better. WRONG!
She told us that the safari guide would be there the next day at 6:00 AM. Except that when we woke up at 4:30 AM, we saw a message from the manager at 12:30 AM, telling us that the guide would actually be there at 7:00 AM... We weren't exactly thrilled, as we could have easily slept another hour, given how tired we were.
So we explained to our guide that, as compensation for the previous day, the agency manager had promised us a day trip to the northern Serengeti to witness the animal migration.
The guide hadn't been informed of the change in schedule, so he called the manager, who told him to proceed with the trip to the northern Serengeti to observe the animal migration. He hung up with her and explained that it was okay for him, we could go, however, it added 10 to 12 hours of extra driving with no guarantee of seeing any attractions.
The manager had assured us that it was close to our hotel and that it wouldn't affect the itinerary.
To put it simply, she lied to us because if we had known it would take a whole day on the road, we wouldn't have accepted this compensation.
So we set off and drove for about 6 hours as planned to reach the Serengeti.
But there, we saw a lot of wild animals, and our guide didn't stop. He continued driving quite fast. We asked him why he wasn't stopping, and he told us we had to go to the hotel because it was far.
So we showed him the agreed-upon itinerary, and he told us he hadn't been informed, that their agency manager hadn't told him there was a safari day on the very first day.
Our guide was very understanding; he even took the time to stop whenever he saw wild animals so we could observe them. As a result, we arrived at the hotel at night, and that's when things started to turn into a nightmare.
We arrived at a sort of base camp in the middle of the savannah. So far, nothing alarming; it was what was planned in the itinerary.
Except that after about 10 hours of driving, we discovered to our dismay that there was no water or electricity there, and our phones were nearly dead.
We tried to contact the manager to request compensation, but we haven't received a response since.
The next day, our guide told us he had spoken to the manager and that we would receive compensation equal to half the price, and that we would go to the camp that evening to get water and electricity.
We arrived at the camp and found a tent to sleep in, and one shower for 50 people (see photos).
Our guide told us the manager would be waiting for us at 4:00 PM at Arusha airport to arrange the compensation. She never showed up and hasn't responded since, so we filed a complaint with the relevant authorities.
We haven't heard from the manager since, and we are devastated.
(automatic translation from French)
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Really poor driving. No regard for passenger safety
If you value your life, stay away from this company
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A very unpleasant experience
Our experience with Tima Tours was unpleasant from start to finish.
Firstly, the driver did not meet us at the airport due to a "technical issue" and we received no communication from Tima Tours to alert us of this. We instead had to wait at the airport for almost an hour and eventually had to enlist the help of another touring company to transfer us to our hotel.
When we met Samul, the managing director, after eventually arriving at the hotel much later than planned, he convinced us to take a Stone Town and Spice Farm tour the following day (5th August 2026). When we asked what the price would be he told us that the guide would tell us on the day, but we were not told.
The next day, we went along with the tour without knowing the price since we felt obliged to as the guide and driver were already there with us (which, in hindsight, we know we shouldn't have done). The tours themselves felt very rushed, with our guide having seemingly little patience whenever we would stop to take photos. The guide seemed agitated with my partner for taking photos with the stone town doors (which are some of the main attractions/themes in the town). We also felt rushed to go to the Spice Farm and were not given the opportunity to have lunch. When we pointed this out to the guide, he said that we can't since the driver was already waiting.
The price and payment of the tours remained undiscussed throughout the remainder of our time in Zanzibar until we were being transferred to the airport (8th August, three days after the tour). What followed was one of the most stressful experiences that we've ever been subjected to by a tour operator. As we arrived at the airport, with the existing stress of having to ensure we made our flight on time, Samul called demanding that we pay what we felt was a ridiculous price of $80 per person for the Stone Town and Spice Farm tour. Any quick check on websites such as TripAdvisor or GetYourGuide will tell you that this was AT LEAST DOUBLE the going rate! We strongly felt that Samul was trying to force us to pay an overly high price due to the fact that the price was not told to us before taking the tour and that we were in a rush to check-in at the airport. Samul came across as very aggressive on the phone and we felt that the driver would not have allowed us to leave without paying. After expressing our astonishment at this price, Samul agreed to give a "discount" of $15 per person, which we felt he expected us to be grateful for. He also didn't provide an explanation or breakdown of the price he was demanding, which would've helped us to at least understand where such a price was coming from. The transfer between the stone town and spice farm was already included in the cost of the transfer to the hotel (which we had already paid for as part of our original tour package) since the spice farm was on the way to the hotel. This made it even more baffling to us that the cost was so high.
Due to being stuck in this situation, and with less than two hours until our international flight, we reluctantly had to take money out of the ATM to pay the driver the demanded fee.
However, after this, our primary tour operator from the mainland stepped in to handle the situation for us, which resulted in Tima Tours giving us the money back so that they could instead settle the cost between themselves.
We were truly appalled by the conduct of Tima Tours, and Samul in particular (however, we do not wish to say any bad words about the drivers who were friendly and respectful throughout). We feel that this practice can unfortunately give a bad image of Tanzanian/Zanzibari tourism industry, which we otherwise found to be very pleasant, professional and transparent to deal with.
Based on our experiences, we strongly advise any potential customers to avoid Tima Tours and use an operator who are more transparent and communicative about their prices (which you may also notice are not disclosed on their website for the Stone Town and Spice Farm tours!).
NO
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Breach of Agreement and Extremely Poor Customer Treatment
We booked our honeymoon safari with Kwanza Safaris and unfortunately had a very disappointing experience.
Before booking, Kwanza agreed in writing to a discounted price and confirmed several inclusions that were important to us. Once we arrived, we did not receive what had been promised and were asked to pay extra for services we believed were already included.
The most concerning part was that we were pressured to make additional payments while on safari and were even threatened with police involvement if we refused. Being in a remote location, we felt we had no choice but to pay.
To be fair, the hotels and lodges were good and matched what was advertised, and communication before our arrival was excellent. However, customer service once we arrived, and afterwards, was extremely poor, and our complaints were ignored.
Unfortunately, based on our experience, we cannot recommend Kwanza Safaris.
50-65 years of age
Caution female solo travelers - not safe
Caution - solo female travelers - was subject to isolation from my friends, manipulation onto the wrong trail, and theft of cash by their team on Mt.Kilimanjaro trek, and it cost me making the summit. Reported incident to the company and to date not happy with the resolution. Do not book with this company.
UY
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
I do not recommend them
tThey are just a WhatsApp number. What they do is outsource absolutely everything to other agencies. This means that you are constantly added to different groups where the guide has no idea about what you previously arranged or requested with them. Even when I went to make the payment, the office had the name of a different agency.
SAFETY: They subcontract independent guides who have vehicles in very poor condition, making the experience unsafe.
The tires on the vehicles were completely worn out.
The vehicles did not have basic recovery equipment such as shovels or recovery boards. At one point, due to the driver’s lack of skill, we got stuck in a ditch and another vehicle had to come and pull us out.
The seat belts were broken. The front windshields were cracked. Some vehicles had no windshield wipers.
We lost a significant amount of time due to engine problems—time that we should have spent looking for animals.
VEHICLES: Very poor maintenance. The refrigerators did not work, so the water was always hot. The inverter for charging our phones did not work. The seat belts were broken.
COMMUNICATION: At first, they responded quickly on WhatsApp. Once we had paid, they stopped responding and stopped taking responsibility for the various problems that came up during the trip.
GUIDES: The groups were a mix of customers from many different agencies, and each of us had been sold different things. The guides did not even know where we were supposed to go the following day. This caused them to be constantly in a bad mood.
PRICE: The price seems good at first, but after talking to other people in the same groups who had booked through different agencies, we found out that they had paid 10% less than we did. This makes sense because ETA outsources everything and adds a markup. They don’t actually operate anything themselves.
LUGGAGE: Because they did not take proper care of our luggage and overloaded the vehicle, they broke one of our suitcases and never acknowledged or compensated us for it.
PAYMENT: I paid part of the cost in cash when I arrived. Despite asking for a receipt every day, they never gave me any proof of payment.
FOR THE SAME PRICE, YOU CAN FIND SOMETHING MUCH BETTER.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
We believe they are scammers
We believe we've been scammed by Congema Safaris and Constantine. We paid a deposit in January 2026 for a Rwanda trip in August 2026. We didn't get updates from April onwards, despite constant messages to them, they just ignored us. Luckily, we contacted the hotels we were supposedly booked into and found payment wasn't made and that the gorilla permits we paid for weren't booked.
We were told in June that we would receive a refund by 10th August for our deposit (over $4000), but it is now the 14th and they are again not responding to any emails we send.
Please be careful and choose a more reputable and well reviewed provider so the same issues don't happen to you.
IN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent
Good work, Peter Kapino! 👏 We booked our safari with Axis Africa, and Peter was our safari guide. We are from India, and Peter was an excellent guide—very friendly, knowledgeable, and professional. He explained everything about the animals, wildlife, and the places we visited. His boss was also a very nice person.
However, I would not recommend Axis Africa because of Winnie, who handled our itinerary. She made several mistakes in the itinerary, which ultimately cost us around ₹1.60 lakh extra, and this should not have happened. After taking the advance payment, she gave us an incorrect itinerary and later asked for additional money or suggested cancelling one of our Maasai Mara drives.
So, Peter was excellent, but my experience with the itinerary management was disappointing. If you book with Axis Africa, I would strongly recommend double-checking the itinerary and all costs before making the payment.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Do not use this company
Our money, over $2500 US dollar cash was stolen inside the Safari jeep that we took for Masai Mara safari tour. My main contact for this safari tour is Peetah from Peak Season Africa Safaris company, who repeatedly asked us to bring cash to settle the balance. On the morning when the safaris tour was about to begin, our tour driver brought us to the parking lot of Peak Season company’s office. When Peetah and I met at the parking lot, I took out the cash from my bag pack when Peetah actually saw exactly where the cash came out from. When I step away from the Safari jeep with Peetah to the inside of the building, I found out that my old phone came out from my bag pack and realized that my bag pack was touched by someone while I was away, my money was stolen during that short period of time. When the stealing was actually happening, our tour driver and my wife was actually standing outside on the driver side of the jeep, and they didn’t notice the theft, except that our tour driver saw someone walking by on the passenger side of the jeep. We can’t afford to lose time to report to the police, and our tour driver suggested to write this on the Peak Season’s review. Bottom line is that our tour driver failed to protect our property from stealing, I wouldn’t recommend to use this company.
