IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Deceiving consumers
My experience with Inspired Budget Safaris was extremely disappointing and, in my view, completely unacceptable.
I booked a 6-day safari for September 23–28, 2026. According to the original agreement, I was required to pay 30% as a deposit, with the remaining 70% to be paid at their office before the safari.
However, after I had already paid the deposit, the company repeatedly changed the payment arrangement and pressured me to pay the remaining balance in advance. I was repeatedly told that if I did not make the additional payment immediately, they might not be able to arrange my safari.
Because I was worried about losing my safari and my entire trip was approaching, I eventually paid the full USD 1,910.
And after receiving the full payment, everything changed.
The safari was not provided at all. I had to find another safari operator at the very last minute, while already in Kenya.
The company then confirmed in writing that they would give me a full refund. However, despite this written promise, I still have not received my USD 1,910 back.
From my experience, I feel that I was repeatedly pressured to pay money that was not due at that time, and once the company received the full payment, they failed to provide the service and have still not returned my money.
This was not simply a bad safari experience — there was no safari at all.
I trusted this company, followed their payment requests, and paid everything they asked for. In return, I was left without the service I paid for, forced to make emergency alternative arrangements, and am still fighting to get my money back.
I strongly advise other travelers to be extremely careful before making any payment to this company. Get every payment term in writing and do not assume that paying in full will guarantee that your safari will actually take place.
I am still waiting for the full USD 1,910 refund that the company promised in writing.
ES
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
They cannot be trusted
I simply made the necessary transfers. I was told via WhatsApp that I could cancel it for free up to a month in advance. I tried to cancel, but they never replied. PLEASE, do not pay attention to the positive reviews; I imagine they are fake.
CN
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Cancelled trip and no refund
I booked a trip but was concelled just two days before the trip. I payed all the money, but they gave the reason that they were in finance trouble, can not refund me yet. They are not trustable.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Please read all reviews carefully
I made contact with this company in July 2026 to book a dream African holiday. Reviews seemed pretty good but first alarm bell was when Lina sent the quote and itinerary and the description in the daily itinerary didn’t match the location. They had probably used AI to create the document. Then on further research I found they weren’t accredited via Kenya lead tourism body. I them messaged an accommodation provider who hadn’t heard of them. I just today thought I’d recheck the reviews and I have been vindicated by some horrific recent experiences from poor travellers! BEWARE!
CN
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
SAWA didn't pay the guide and the room fees of the rest 4 nights
My friends and I have booked a 12-day trip of Kenya-Tanzania-Kenya from 25 September. On 2 October, the 8th day of our trip, the guide of Tanzania told us that SAWL has not paid any to them and the hotel we’re staying in also asked us to pay the outstanding room fees. So we checked with the hotels in Arusha and Amboseli to confirm our bookings, but they replied us that the bookings have been removed. The guild of Kenya side didn’t reply me that if he will pick us up at the port two days later. We had to pay the outstanding room fees for the hotel in Ngorongoro so that we could leave the hotel. In the canteen of the hotel, we found at least five groups tourist who booked the trip from SAWA had the same issue. And we found many tourists have the same issue with SAWA. It’s really a shame on the boss, Martin. The guide, the hotel and we kept trying to contact Martin but yet to receive any reply.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Terrible Organisation! No Service, no adequat contacts. No recommendation for this Organisation!
Terrible organization! Someone was there when we arrived to show us the campsite. Once we had made the final payment, the people disappeared with the cash, leaving us on our own. There was no water at the taps, the "donkey" (water heater) wasn't lit, the trash wasn't removed, and the fire pit wasn't cleaned also no cleaning in toilets and shower. We paid a high price for all of this and expected a little bit of Service. The office in Maun didn't reply to emails, and the people on the phone couldn't speak any English beyond "hello" and "welcome." Never again Xwabaxwa—stay away from these organisation!!! We are very disappointed and do NOT recommend this community campsite!
SE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unreliable and cancelled 1/3 of safari time without reason or reimbursement
Avoid Abuus avel trat all cost. Our experience with them in Tanzania was extremely poor. By our calculation, we missed at least 30% of the game-drive time included in our program, mainly because of delays, poor planning, combining passengers with different itineraries, and time spent dealing with logistics.
Communication was consistently terrible. In Arusha, we received no information about the briefing or when we would leave the next morning. The driver who collected us did not even know which tour company we belonged to.
We had not been told about luggage restrictions and only found out when we reached the vehicle, when this was communicated with a superior attitude as though we should have known. I had also specifically asked before leaving Stockholm whether we needed towels, soap, etc. We were not told that we did. During the briefing, we were promised this would be sorted out the next morning. It wasn't, so we borrowed what we needed from the hotel ourselves.
In Tarangire, we were delayed by about an hour waiting to collect other passengers from the airport. At the picnic site, the guide didn’t care to warn us about the aggressive monkeys. Other groups had guides explaining what to do and staying at their tables to keep them away. Our guide walked away, and we lost about half our lunch.
We did not leave for Serengeti until 10:30, while other groups left around 06:30 and had afternoon game drives. We therefore had no proper game drive on our first day. For the two Chinese passengers travelling with us, whose program consisted of one afternoon and one morning drive, this meant losing half their planned drives.
When we questioned this, our guide first said that the transport into the Serengeti counted as a game drive. He later changed the explanation and said the permits only allowed us to be in the Serengeti for 24 hours.
For our supposed full game-drive day, the guide wanted us to skip breakfast, do a morning drive, return to camp for lunch at 11:30, and then wait until 16:00 to go out again, because according to him you could never see animals between 13:00 and 16:00.
Because of a mistake with the other passengers' program, we also had to remain close to the base in the morning so they could be dropped off and transferred to another tour company. After we insisted, we went out again at 14:00 rather than 16:00. A considerable part of the afternoon was then spent driving to the airport to renew our park permits.
At the camp, there were no chairs in the dining area when we arrived. We were left standing for about an hour while other groups sat. Nobody explained where we could sit or what was happening. Our guide was generally absent except when driving, so there was often nobody to ask.
Ngorongoro was even worse.
The plan was to leave at 06:30. We were supposed to be briefed at dinner, but this did not happen. As we were about to go to bed, we were instead told that departure had changed to 07:30. This was particularly frustrating because we had been told the early morning was the best time in the crater, and we also wanted to see the sunrise.
We did not leave at 07:30 either. We waited another 90 minutes.
Four additional tourists were then added to our vehicle. They had been waiting at the park entrance for an hour (without breakfast), and some had had their entire Serengeti trip cancelled and were fuming.
We finally reached the crater at approximately 09:30. After a short drive, the guide told us it was time for lunch and then to leave. He first said we needed to return to Arusha. When we said we did not mind arriving late, he changed the explanation and said we had to leave because of the permits.
The other jeeps stayed. We could still see them in the crater from the rim more than an hour later. We were therefore the last to enter and among the first to leave, after already losing several hours that morning.
There were many other problems throughout the safari. New passengers continually joined the vehicle, so we heard the same information about the animals four or five times and repeatedly stopped for the same animals. We also drove much more slowly than other jeeps on transport sections inside the parks, further reducing our game-drive time.
The vehicle was consistently dirty and was not cleaned inside or outside. We cleaned it ourselves a couple of times. The windows were kept open during transportation, making the inside extremely dusty. Water was never offered unless we asked.
New passengers were rarely introduced, and nobody explained why they were joining us or how their schedules would affect ours. Departure times and plans changed constantly, often with little or no information. On several occasions, when we questioned what was happening, the explanation changed. Eventually, it became very difficult to trust the information we were being given.
The driver also repeatedly tried to persuade us that everything was fine and encouraged us to confirm that we were happy. Despite all these problems, we did not receive an apology during the program.
Even leaving Tanzania went wrong. There was no information at the hotel about our departure, so we asked the hotel to call. We were told we would leave at 07:30 and go directly to Nairobi.
Instead, we drove around Arusha collecting other passengers and were then dropped at a public bus to Nairobi, despite having a flight to catch. After we objected, the decision was reversed and we were put back into the same vehicle approximately 75 minutes later.
We made a deliberate effort to stay positive and complained very little until the final morning. By then, however, we had lost a substantial amount of the safari we had paid for, and it became clear that we were also going to lose much of our planned time in Ngorongoro.
This was not one late departure or one misunderstanding. It was a consistent pattern of poor organization, lack of information, changing explanations, delays, and other passengers' logistics taking priority over our planned itinerary.
By our calculation, we received at least 30% less game-drive time than promised.
TW
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Extremely irresponsible agency!
We joined Onlyone’s 10 day tour from Aug 14–23, 2026, and experienced several disappointing incidents.
[Hotel changed without notice]
Our original itinerary listed Lake Naivasha Sopa Lodge (TWD 17,480/night), a very popular lodge where zebras and giraffes will roam around. However, while applying the ETA, I noticed that Onlyone changed the hotel to Naivasha Kongoni Lodge (TWD 7,500/night) without telling us. The reviews and the prices of two hotels are totally different. Most importantly, Kongoni Lodge doesn’t have chance to watch animals walking around. I asked Onlyone, it claimed that they’re the same level hotel. I refused to accept, so it eventually arranged Enashipai Resort & Spa (TWD 9,840/night) to us, but this hotel offers no animal-viewing experience.
When we met other tour members in Kenya, they had no idea the hotel had been changed! Onlyone didn’t informed them either! If I didn’t noticed the change, we might ended up staying at Naivasha Kongoni Lodge!
After returning home, I shared my experience online. Turned out at least 4 other groups also found their hotels had been changed by Onlyone without notice!!!
In my case, Onlyone gave us different explanations: the hotel was flooded, the hotel had deposit issue, and the hotel list was just for us to apply ETA. However, other traveler commented on my post that they stayed at Lake Naivasha Sopa Lodge on Aug 14. I supposed to stay there on Aug 18, so the hotel was fine on Aug 14 but flooded on Aug 18??
Also, Onlyone kept saying that Enashipai Resort & Spa is a five-star hotel, it's better than the original one. Yet its website still showed Lake Naivasha Sopa Lodge. If Enashipai is the better option, why doesn't Onlyone change its website info?
[Being left at the train station]
On Day2, Onlyone told us hotel would pick us up after we arrived Voi Station by train. However, nobody was there to meet us. A taxi driver kindly helped us call the hotel, it said that it didn't received pick up arrangement from Onlyone. Seems like there was communication gap between Onlyone and the hotel. So we were left waiting at the station for 30 minutes before the hotel driver arrived.
[Maasai Mara National Reserve game drive was changed to a private conservancy game drive]
According to the itinerary and the website, Day8 and Day9 were supposed to have game drives in Maasai Mara National Reserve. But Onlyone told us only Day8 would enter the national reserve, Day9 would go to a private conservancy. It told us Maasai Mara is a huge area and private conservancies are also part of Maasai Mara after we first complained. To enter the reserve again, we would had to pay extra USD 200/person for entrance fees. After we showed Onlyone its website, it changed the explanation and said our guide had misunderstood. We would go to the national reserve on Day9.
Plus the hotel and train station issues, it also offered us one night safari as compensation.
I posted about our experience on social media after returning home. The Taiwan market manager, Cath immediately commented on my post that they would get in touch with us.
However, It’s been a MONTH, and nobody has contacted us!!
I even messaged them after two weeks and again after a month. They completely ignored both messages!
Honestly, this is incredibly disappointing and irresponsible!
After viewing the post, other travelers also reached out to me, sharing similar terrible experiences. Clearly, we’re not the only case!
Please be careful before booking with Onlyone!
