HU
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A good start with a terrible end game...
In the beginning everything was good with this company. I have spoken with Jimmy and he was so nice. I paid half part of the money in the summer. Then he told me my reservation is guaranteed. A few months later in September I got an other message and he wanted the other half of the price because my reservation was not guaranteed anymore. I didn’t want to pay everything in advance but finally I just accepted his argument and we wanted to go there.
After everything was ok. In the first few days our safari was amazing with our guide (Christopher). But after when we were going to back Arusha our experience has become terrible. John (Christopher’s boss) called us because something was wrong with the money and fees on the border of Ngorongoro. So we had to pay more 430 dollar. It was the only one way to go back Arusha. Finally John promised us we will meet in Arusha and he will give back our money in cash. Of course it wasn’t true. John just disappeared and when we arrived to Arusha Christopher got out of the car and ran away.
After this experience we realized these guys weren’t from Swahili directly. It was a no and company and Swahili just gave us for them. So I can’t understand what happened exactly that day. But we have a really bad experience with this safari so be careful and don’t pay in advance!!!
CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Experience with helinassafaris during trip to amboseli national park
Booked for the tour for dec 2019. Owner gladys very polite n arranged the tour. Tour guide took us to amboseli park.
Was very good driver n knowledgeable. Enjoyed the wildlife viewing.
Booked at sentrim amboseli lodge. Road to kimana gate n lodge very uncomfortable. The lodge needs a proper road.
Problems started when it stated raining heavily. Roads got flooded n so park flooded n v could nt go wildlife viewing.
The day v had to leave roads became impassible. Had a bad experience. It became lunch hr. The owner of this tour companydid nt want to take
Responsibility to our safety or provide us with lunch. The van got struck in the muddy, broken washed road.
V were stuck in the hot van with flies, while the guide or driver would go n help others vans or their driver get out of the mess they were in.
He did this several times all the way home.
V reached late at night feeling very sick n had nothing to eat after breakfast. V will nt take a tour with this company again.
They need to know their priority is to first serve the clients by taking them home instead of helping other vans to get out of the mess they were
In. Therefore v had a bad experience n felt ill the next day.
BE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Decent driver and lodge, very rude boos
We picked Yebo tour to support local tourism in Masindi. It was also one of the cheapest solution we've found. We thought to go a bit rustic on accommodation and transport, but we ended up having a stupid discussion about the already agreed on price. We paid in dollars, as agreed, and they started complaining something about the different exchange rate they were given. Still not sure how that would be our problem, since we had our entire booking discussion in dollars, the boss decided to close our discussion walking out on us while we were still talking. The rudest thing I've had in 40 days in Uganda, ridiculous.
The driver was nonetheless a good driver, safe, very good at spotting animals.
The car was old, with a broken window, 2 doors that wouldn't open from the inside, hanging handles, extremely dirty back seats and back window and a couple of alive chickens traveling with us in the trunk, which was actually fairly fun!
The Yebo lodge is generally speaking decent, for the price paid, placed close by both the game drive ferry and the boat ride. In our room, the toilet was leaking water and the door couldn't close. the net was slightly too small for the bed and the sheets were placed in a heart shape, which is cute, but it also meant we had to do our own bed: in between sweet and unhandy, I wouldn't know what to choose! Food is not good, one of the worse I've had in Uganda. The staff is nice and kind.
DE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Changed the program. I had to stay 1 day in a not booked hotel without any program. Never again
During the Safari my program was changed by Bienvenido Tours. I had wait 1 day and night for another group from a different tour company to continue the trip. I lost 1 1/2 days with waiting in the accomodation and waiting for the other Minivan. I even had to pay the hotel that I booked after the Safari and couldnt use because of the delay. Bienvenido Tours didnt accept a money refund. I'd not book with this company again. The Mara, Nakuru and Amboseli are wonderful places to see. The accomodations in the parks are very basic, but that I knew before
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Needs improvement
The Masai Mara is an incredible place with incredible animals and landscapes. Peter was excellent at communicating with us in a timely manner to answer all our questions and set up our itinerary for our safari trip.
However we were not satisfied with the behavior of our driver who tried to convince us to enter and exit the park at the times we suggested. We think he was doing this in order to avoid paying the park fees for one day (each entry fee is valid for 24 hours). However we wanted to have as much time as possible in the park, as per what we had paid for, and in accordance with park timings. When we asked to stay in the park a bit longer than the time the driver was suggesting, he proceeded to avoid driving us out of the park through the main gate and instead drove us off track and trespassed through the Masai village at high speed. There were small children on the path and adult men and women (who carry sticks) started yelling at our van and throwing stones as the driver sped through. This was extremely embarrassing for us, as well as dangerous, as it was very dark and there were small children in the way.
Then the driver stopped and a man who seemed to be a Masai chief entered our car and spoke to our driver the entire way back to our hotel. We don't know what they negotiated or what they were talking about, since we don't speak their language and our driver wasn't communicating anything with us.
We hope Flash McTours will work on improving their services. This kind of experience is not conducive for a pleasant safari experience. It is unsafe and likely to make your visitors feel very nervous and uncomfortable. Furthermore,
It is essential that safari companies follow park rules and regulations and respect the Masai community, and their land.
IT
So and so
Left middle afternoon to reach to campsite and stayed one night there.Supposed to leave for the Ngorongoro park early morning but just got in there around 1130 am!!!the lunch was terrible but wasn't the worst thing;didn't see elephants, giraffes and rhinos not just for a case but because we left too late!
CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A poor and frustrating experience!
My honest review of my experience with Safari Multiways.
I was a Canadian long-term volunteer in Moshi, Tanzania. My husband was coming to visit me from Canada so I started to research budget-friendly options for a 4D3N private safari in the northern circuit. I stumbled upon Safari (SM) Multiways as per a recommendation from a board discussion on Tripadvisor; of all the recommended companies it was SM that provided me with the most economical quote. SM does not have an account on Tripadvisor so I instead gathered information from Tripadvisor forums and safaribookings.com. The consensus was that SM is a excellent tour company that you can count on to be reliable, professional, and give you the most bang for your buck.
I was in contact with Victor during the planning stages. Victor immediately left a great impression as he was very professional, pleasant and responsive. The planning experience instilled my confidence and affirmed the great reviews left by hundreds of past clients. Unfortunately, our excitement and confidence was short-lived.
Our itinerary was as follows: 2 days in the Serengeti, 1 day in the Ngorogoro Crater, and 1 day in TP where we could journey home that very afternoon.
SM arranged to pick us up from Moshi at 7:00am to head to Serengeti central. It wasn’t until the day before our safari that Victor suggested we instead stay in Arusha overnight to head to the Serengeti as it is a 6 hour journey from Arusha; if we travel from Moshi another 2 hours would be added to the commute. I wish he suggested this to me earlier so that we could’ve made the necessary arrangements. We had an engagement the evening before the safari so there was no way for us to stay in Arusha the night before. This lack of communication/planning already left a bad taste in my mouth.
We were picked up the next morning by our driver and tour guide, Pius. We knew beforehand that we were not signing up for a luxury vehicle, however, the car was very much dilapidated. Throughout the safari, a few things from the car kept falling off at a time. For example, the window frame (not sure what the technical term for this is) fell off, as well as the bumper – which Pius needed to buy rope to secure back to the car. The seatbelt for one the front seats (which we preferred to sit in as we got a better view being closer to the dashboard) did not work; this is a safety hazard. There were no headrests so we woke up with headaches/neckaches every time we fell asleep during the commutes. Even worse, the car doors did not lock. So, whenever we had to leave the car to eat or use the washroom (with Pius included), I was relying on the good graces of the Lord to ensure no one tried to steal anything from the car. This is unacceptable.
On our way to the Serengeti, Pius asked if we had a lunch box. I don’t know what gave SM the impression that we’d have a lunch box with us as we were being picked up from home, not a hotel. Pius had to stop in Arusha to grab lunch boxes for us – adding 30min to an already long, 8-hour commute to the Serengeti. We arrived in the Serengeti around 4pm. What was supposed to be a 4-hour game drive in the Serengeti (according to the itinerary sent by Victor) turned into a 1-hour game drive as we were dropped to our camp by 5:30pm.
We enjoyed our second day in the Serengeti and Pius worked hard to ensure we saw all the animals we wanted to see. I can say that he was friendly and kind; however, the more time we spent with him, we started to realize that he felt more like a driver than a guide. He knew the names of the animals and birds but did not know anything else beyond that. I wasn’t expecting a national geographic commentary but he did not have any knowledge of basic things like their diet, or general information about their habitat. We were fortunate to see the critically endangered rhino through our binoculars, but when I asked Pius whether the black rhino can only be found in Tanzania or if it can be found in other countries as well, he did not know.
The worst part of our trip happened while we were in the Ngorogoro crater. First off, we didn’t reach the crater until 12pm. I was already worried about lack of time until I learned that the permits only allow 6-hour visits at a time. By 3pm, Pius explained that we saw all the animals we needed to see and there was not much else to see in the crater - and then suggested we head back to our lodge. I insisted that I would like to spend more time exploring the crater (considering we spent a lot of money on our permit) as we wanted to make the most of our time there. By 4pm he began to exit the crater. Therefore, we only explored the crater for 4 hours (1 hour lunch break included). After researching online, I learned that people usually use all 6 hours of their permit to explore the park. Halfway up the crater ascent the car engine seemed to stop working and we were stuck on an upwards slope. I was fearful that the car would break down completely and we would either fall off the ledge or slide backwards onto the vehicle parked behind us. While Pius was getting help from others around him, he did not explain what was happening but looked panicked. Some of the gentlemen helping had to put bricks behind the back tires so Pius didn’t have to keep shifting gears to keep the car in neutral/park. After everything was resolved I was honest with Pius and shared that we did not appreciate not being informed of what was happening at the time. He advised that these issues are common in Tanzania – but can be resolved easily – which is why he didn’t feel the need to explain, but profusely apologized – which we really appreciated.
For our last day, our lunch boxes were forgotten at the lodge. This was really frustrating as we not only had to cut our time in short in TP in order to have lunch in town, but the value and amount of food in a packed lunch box is worth far more than the local restaurant lunch we ended up having in Karatu.
Once the safari ended, I was relieved. It was singlehandedly the most stressful and frustrating vacation I've experienced, and if I were to do it all again, I would not go with SM. In fact, I wish I could do it all again and experience the stunning national parks Tanzania has to offer the RIGHT way! I understand that we went with the most affordable tour company, but when you spend well over two grand on an experience, you at least expect an acceptable level of standards.
Although, our experience does not seem to be consistent with reviews of many happy clients of SM, the cynic in me found that most (if not all) of the clients’ reviews had Amos or Omari as their guide. I tried to look for reviews of Pius and he is mentioned as the “driver only”. Based on pure speculation, I’m inclined to believe that SM may have been “testing the waters” with the knowledge that I’m a long-term volunteer and may not hold the same standards as the wealthy western tourists who often go on these safaris. I think we were given the bad end of the bargain (ie. a battered vehicle and a guide lacking in experience) perhaps as an experiment.
On a more positive note, the accommodation SM chose for our mid-range budget needs were superb (Tukaone in the Serengeti and Eileen’s Trees Inn in Karatu). Also, despite the lack of knowledge and experience, Pius was otherwise really sweet, and even bought red bananas and baobab fruit for us to try during the trip.
With hundreds of TOs in Tanzania, word of mouth is often the most powerful tool for raising the profile of your company. But as it stands, I cannot, in good conscience, recommend Safari Multiways to my large network of expat volunteers, friends, and family in Tanzania.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Incompetent at best, likely misleading, possibly even scamming
We are based in Nairobi but arranged a safari to the Masai Mara with transportation, accommodation and game drives. The travel agent did not disclose all of the fees, and, we're not sure, but suspect there may be some kind of kick-back scam. Were were also mislead us about the quality and type of safari vehicle, and then tried to back-date an email (which, of course, doesn't work), to try to "prove" we were given the information up front (we were not). The same vehicle was used to drive from Nairobi to the Mara as was used for the game drives. At least two of the seat belts were not functioning, and the ones that did clip were questionable if they would hold during an accident because they were so worn out. The vehicle was fine for the game drives, but certainly not a safe way to travel on Kenyan roads, particularly on the escarpment road with heavy truck traffic, lots of potholes, passing, and no guard rails. That said, the driver/guide was good.
Strongly recommend against booking with this company because of questionable ethics.
IL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A big disappointing from the guide level
I have done dip research on the internet before booking with Bestday, and I Choose them because of there good rating.
We took the four days budget safari.
We saw a lot of animals and the national parks are amazing.
We have Good Luck as our driver/guiding, and I must say he wasn’t knowledgeable at all! I found myself reading from Wikipedia all the time to know a little bit more about what I’m seeing because it’s not just about seeing the animals it’s learning about them too.
Also, his English wasn’t clear at all.
In addition to that, he barely knew where the camps are and even didn’t know how to build a tent, told us that it’s his first time sleeping in a camp, although he said that he is doing safaris for already three years. Go figure it out.
Also, the camp equipment was poorly; I expected to have better chairs for eating. We were the only group that has this kind of chairs. Also, the sleeping bags were disgusting, and their zippers we're broke, so we freeze at night in the Ngorongoro National Park.
The only thing that I can't say that was good is the fact that we had Emanuel as our chef. My wife I and I are vegans, so he made us delicious food and also functioned as our guide when he joins us once to the game drive.
So, unfortunately, I must say, stay away from that safari company!
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Seth Vincent is a fraud
Seth Vincent of tripadvisor africa safari or right choice safari is a FRAUD.He does not accept credit card payments so the traveler has no protection. There were 14 of us on a custom 12 day safari. He provided two beat up land cruisers, one of which lost its rear axel in the middle of nowhere on our second day, and one passenger was slightly hurt. Few days later the front left tire came completely off on a vehicle and we hit a soft dirt bank, lucky for us. To top it all, complete break failure on a vehicle in Tanzania. We were VERY LUCKY to have a skilled driver who maneuvered his way through a parking lot full of land cruisers and into a ditch, a few feet away from a cell tower, while 8 of us were hanging onto our dear lives, a harrowing experience. One of us had a sprained wrist and a hairline crack and still recovering. We missed out on some of the safari experience due to these accidents and multiple flat tires. We missed out on Ngorongoro. He shorted us two rooms in several places, booked us in a cheap hotel in Arusha, in spite of having paid for expensive accommodations. We had good spirited travelers who shared rooms. He is NOT A MEMBER of Kenya Association of Tour Operators.
Highly discourage you to plan a trip with him.
Some of us are glad to be alive.