CN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Think twice...
The trip overall was good. The design of the safari itinerary could be adjusted based on our preference. Our guide in Kenya, Daniel, and the guide in Tanzania, Japhet Bundala, both are very nice people, responsible, professional, responsive and very friendly. We almost got all we expected for the animals and migration. The quote is fair and you could choose the level of accommodations.
However, there were a lot of confusing situations that I have to mention. 10 days before the trip, when I wanted to confirm our accommodations, the adviser was not replying very in time, which was a red flag for me. And later when we had arrived at Nairobi, we didn't even know the contact number of our pick up. The night before our safari started, the adviser again disappeared, so I had to contact their manager to find a guide for us in Kenya. That was 8pm, and we were told we would start our safari 7:30am the next morning.
When we arrived at Arusha, their manager met us in person and made a good brief. And the safari guided by Japhet was good. He has nice teamwork with other guides and we saw big five and river crossing. But when we transferred to Zanzibar, again we weren't told the contact number of pick up, standing confused at the airport.
There were many other details that I didn't mention, e.g. they checked our passports and flight information many times as they never saved our information, many arrangement seemed very temporary. At the end our trip finished completely, but that's the result of many back and forth communications at WeChat, email and Whatsapp. I really tried hard to find different people through different methods to get their attention.
My suggestion is, if you are very good at communication and have the preparation to handle all the random, you can still choose them for the fair quote.
CN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Nice drivers but bad management
Hello everyone i hope you are reading this
Going by road is very tiring and there is no much things to see so better go by flight, the hotel books was very very bad , people are good but food and accommodation very bad, choose yourself the lodging and if you have the budget invest somewhere in the kruger itself or inside a reserve . Take those we put in the eyes to see far because you will need them. They dont stick to the plan the are saying so make sure to communicate about it . And also dont give all meals they said.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Ok wish we had a better first stop
Tiyani was our driver he wasn't bad and we got to the airport on time
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Knowledgeable guide but disappointing service and communication
We booked a private safari with Beyond the Plains, and our guide was Douglas. He was very knowledgeable about wildlife and answered our questions thoroughly. However, several aspects of the experience left us disappointed.
Before our arrival, the company told us that our guide would be waiting at the airport arrivals exit holding a sign with our names. Despite receiving our flight information in advance, the promised pickup did not go as expected. We could not find Douglas and were kept waiting. We later learned that he had apparently been in the parking lot. We never saw a sign with our names, even inside the vehicle.
During our highway journey, Douglas was involved in a road accident while driving us. Afterward, we had to stop at a vehicle dealership, which reduced our time on safari. At the time, he offered neither an apology nor a clear explanation of what had happened or why the stop was necessary. He apologized only after we reported the incident to the safari company.
Douglas told us he had more than ten years of experience. While his wildlife knowledge was a strength, his manner sometimes came across as overly proud of his experience. We did not feel involved in planning the game drives. He answered questions when asked, but rarely proactively suggested areas to explore, explained his plans, or discussed options based on sighting information from other guides. We would have appreciated more initiative and communication.
During game drives, he drove very slowly, and other safari vehicles frequently passed us. We understand that slow driving can help with safety and spotting wildlife. However, without an explanation of his approach, we were often unsure of the plan or whether we were making the most of our time.
There were also two occasions involving additional passengers whom Douglas described as friends. We agreed to the first person’s joining us. However, we did not give our consent for the second person to join, yet that person rode with us for approximately five hours from our hotel to Nairobi. We had booked a private safari and expected the vehicle to be exclusively for our party. Having an additional passenger for such a long journey without our consent did not match that expectation.
During this journey, the second passenger threw a plastic bottle out of the vehicle. Douglas said nothing in response. We were shocked by the littering and disappointed that our safari guide did not speak up, particularly given the importance of protecting the environment and wildlife.
Overall, we appreciated Douglas’s wildlife knowledge, but knowledge alone did not make up for the shortcomings in communication and service. The airport pickup, the handling of the accident, the additional passenger without our consent, and the response to littering fell short of our expectations for a private safari.
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Beautiful
The safari was very good, though the organization was a bit lacking; everything was sorted out towards the end of the safari.
SG
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Disappointed but grateful for the experience
I went for the 10D9N Kenya and Tanzania tour. If you are a wildlife photographer and your goal is to capture shots that require lots of time, patience and experience on the part of the guide - I would not recommend this, based on my own experience.
I was really looking forward to this trip, and everything went smoothly with liaising with Naomi at the start. I really did enjoy speaking with her and she was exceptionally prompt, thoughtful and service-oriented in her replies. Since I was going to arrive in Kenya early in the morning at 7am, I wanted to make the most of the day and requested to visit Bomas of Kenya and a Masaai market. Naomi said that was ok and told me it would be an additional charge of $55 USD for Boma’s entry fee and transport. I was perfectly fine with that and made full payment.
However, when I finally arrived in Kenya on the first day of the trip and was picked up by Alex, it seemed like he had not been informed of my request — I had to remind him of this additional schedule, which prompted him to contact a driver for me. When the driver, Jimmy, came to pick me up, only then was I informed that the distance between the Bomas of Kenya and Masaai market would be too far, so we had to skip Bomas of Kenya. We went to see a smaller scale performance instead. I wish I had known about this earlier during my conversation with Naomi. I had also already paid for the Bomas of Kenya entrance fee. But I decided to let this go.
Sanita was our guide during our first few days in Kenya. He had great energy and drove very thoughtfully and skilfully. He really tried his best to give us as many wildlife sightings as he could and would even give us the chance to take photos of the same sighting from different positions (by masterfully manoeuvring the vehicle). I was very thankful for Sanita. I didn’t know that these few days would be the best part of the trip.
Once we crossed the border to Tanzania, we had Kombo as our guide. Although he seems like a genuinely kind-hearted soul (he even offered a beanbag for our photography gear), the game drives felt very rushed most of the time. Whenever we spotted something interesting, he wouldn’t stop immediately because he was very concerned about parking properly (which is great for the company - no fines). But within seconds, the animal would have already changed its position or engaged in another form of behaviour - missing these important details can be really challenging from a wildlife photographer’s standpoint. On top of that, we were rarely able to stay at places for long. We always only had about 5-10minutes maximum before Kombo would cite reasons like — we need to let other vehicles get a better view, or that we are in the way of others… Which is very kind and considerate of him for the other people, but it kind of compromised our experience since we had barely even captured enough shots. And sightings of big cats were rare, so of course we wanted to stay there longer. Of course, to be fair, at places like the hippo pool, we were able to spend a long time there. I know that Kombo is a genuinely good person, and he tried to give us a good experience. I am thankful for him, but I believe there was just a mismatch/misalignment in terms of our priorities.
After Tanzania, we crossed the border and went back to Amboseli National Park in Kenya. We had a different Kombo this time round. I felt that he was quite disengaged and uninterested, perhaps because he was tired or going through something, which I can understand since it’s not easy being a driver-guide. But it didn’t negate the fact that it was a pity to be honest as I was hoping that my very first trip to Africa would at least end on a high.. According to the itinerary given by Naomi, we were supposed to have an afternoon game drive in Amboseli and then one final morning game drive the day after till noon. Then we would start heading back to Nairobi to catch our flight (which was at 1am, so we had tons of time to kill). Instead of leaving Amboseli at noon like I had expected, we exited the park around 10am (we only started our morning game drive at 8am). This was really quite disappointing but I was not surprised because our game drives throughout the entire trip would start after sunrise and end before sunset. I assumed that “full day game drives” entailed seeing the sunset, at least… But were never able to stay in any of the national parks to watch the sunset, which really was a pity, but I recognise that I should have communicated this with Naomi prior to the trip — so this is a reminder to myself and to other photographers to clearly communicate with whoever you are liaising with, about your wishes.
Although I find myself leaving Africa feeling quite disappointed, I do acknowledge that there were indeed wonderful parts of the trip, like the accommodations and food were not bad (although we had our water supply cut off in Osinon camp, it was restored the day after which was great. And the staff like Rehema from Osinon was great too) and I really did enjoy liaising with Naomi prior to the trip. I am grateful for having the privilege to experience Kenya and Tanzania at the end of the day, so thank you Mama Savana for this, and I hope things will get better in the future.
FR
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Unbelievable safari, but a big flop at the end
Very competent team (guide, factotum, cheaf). Ten days in the bush. All the wild animals (except rhino) near 4x4, and heard during the nights.
But no mokoro on the Okavango, and the bigest disappointment : no more available time to go at Victoria Falls, before departure. Program not respected. It's not worthy for a professional organizer !!!
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fair
Reasonable tour, tour guide Moloko good. Couldn't hear her all the time, a mic would be helpful. It was also cold...
JP
Normal
It was the worst possible start to our safari.
When we were communicating with the tour company about paying the remaining balance, Emmanuel did not show up at the agreed time. He contacted us and said, “I’m at church now, so I’ll be one hour late.” However, even after an hour had passed, he still did not show up.
We were very disappointed and became worried about paying the safari fee. We started to feel that we could not trust the company. We even wondered whether this might be a scam company where we would pay the remaining $370 and then the safari vehicle would never come to pick us up on the day of the safari.
After another two hours, he finally arrived. He told us, “I will never do this again. The safari tour is safe and reliable. Hakuna Matata.”
On another day, a different member of our group went to pay the remaining balance. Even then, there were several things that made us worried. He tried to change the agreed meeting time repeatedly at the last minute, and he also seemed to have misunderstood the starting date of our safari.
We may also have been too easily irritated by small things, and there are certainly things we can reflect on. However, since this was our first contact with the tour company, it was very unpleasant to have someone casually arrive several hours late without showing much sign of regret or concern about the situation.
Fortunately, the safari itself went smoothly. The food was very delicious, and the safari vehicle arrived to pick us up on time on the actual day. We were also able to see many of the animals we had hoped to see, so overall, we were satisfied with the safari experience.
I sincerely hope that Emmanuel will keep his promises and respect agreed times, so that other customers will not have to experience the same kind of situation.
I look forward to seeing how Emmanuel handles his work in the future. Thank you for taking care of us. We really enjoyed the safari.
HU
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A memorable safari with some disappointing experiences
I booked a 9-day safari with this company, visiting Murchison Falls, Kibale Forest, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Lake Bunyonyi and Lake Mburo National Park.
The national parks were absolutely beautiful, and the trip offered unforgettable experiences. My guide was friendly, helpful and always willing to assist me, which I really appreciated.
Unfortunately, there were several disappointing aspects of the tour. None of the charging ports in the safari vehicle worked. I believe functioning charging ports should be a basic requirement in a safari vehicle, especially when travelling for several days and relying on phones and cameras to capture the experience.
Another issue was tipping. At several activities, staff explicitly mentioned that tips were expected. Considering that I had already paid hundreds of dollars for some of these activities, I found it disappointing to feel additional pressure to tip.
I enjoyed staying at most of the accommodations, with one major exception: Rwakobo Rock Lodge, near Lake Mburo National Park.
On the evening of my arrival, I was asked what I wanted for breakfast the following morning, and I ordered seven boiled eggs. However, after breakfast, I was informed that only two eggs were included and that I had to pay an additional $10 for the other five. The explanation was that most guests only eat two eggs. The problem is that nobody informed me of this restriction or the extra charge when my order was taken the previous evening.
It is ridiculous that a property advertised as a four-star hotel cannot provide a proper buffet breakfast and charges $10 for five additional eggs. Furthermore, my room had neither air conditioning nor a fan, while several geckos were crawling around inside.
Unfortunately, the experience at Rwakobo Rock Lodge completely ruined my day and left a bitter impression of the entire safari. It was particularly disappointing to end an otherwise wonderful trip on such a negative note.
Overall, the national parks and my guide made this a memorable journey, and I enjoyed staying at most of the accommodations. However, the problems with the vehicle, the pressure to tip and, most importantly, the final accommodation significantly affected my experience.
I am giving this safari 3 out of 5 társ, primarily because of the experience at Rwakobo Rock Lodge, which substantially diminished what should have been an excellent final day of the trip.
