35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Not the best communication from the operator
The operator wasn’t great at communicating throughout the experience. Before the start of the trek, he had my arrival day wrong and I had to meet him shortly after I arrived (the night before the start of the trek as per his recommendation too). He only told me I was just on my own for the trip that night and no one else was on the tour.
The trek itself was good and the porters were lovely. They were friendly and very helpful. Hygiene is something that could definitely improved as they did provide a hot tub of water for washing but no soap or hand sanitizer at all throughout the trip. Also did not have napkins at all for meals.
Now for the walking part, the pace seemed good but there were times we were taking long breaks for no reason and I had to move around to stop from tightening up again. They were also obsessed with taking photos either their company banner in every single sign and user my phones the camera. They also did push to send the photos right away when all I wanted was to disconnect during the few days of trekking.
We made good pace and when I asked if I wanted to do 7 days instead of the 8 day Kenosha route instead, I said I enjoyed the outdoors so I wanted 8. Later it was decided without letting me know that we were doing 7. I didn’t know we were summiting until the afternoon before. They said it’s because of bad weather that they pushed it up but other people I met along the route said they had fine weather the next day. The only compensation I got for that was they paid for my accommodation the night we got back (which I had to push for).
We did summit and I do appreciate that. But after the summit. I had noticed I had frostbite in my fingers and asked for hot water for my frostbite (same as the washing water I’d usually get). I was told there was no water left and I’ll have to wait until the next camp.
Lastly in terms of tipping the operator told me one thing and the guide suggested another (which was waay off each other) it made for a really awkward tipping ceremony which again I only found out was occurring in the day it was happening.
As much as I enjoyed the trek. There were quite a few things that tainted and took away from the experience.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Satisfactory, but lacking.
- Booked 9 months in advance.
- Told them early on that we were 5 people (80 year old, 2 retirees & 2 younger) some of whom would not appreciate sleeping too roughly - have emails to prove it. Asked them to find accommodation that wouldn't be too rough.
- First day, upon collection, Mike said "Because we are heading into the busy season, we are having trouble finding accommodation in Tanzania that will be comfortable, so you will probably be sleeping on the floor without a mattress or pillows". A few days before, we had also asked Vinny in a text if we needed to bring pillows and he said "No". You had 9 months to sort that out!
- It was clear throughout the trip that Cover Kenya hadn't booked our accommodation because the guides never knew where we were staying until that afternoon, as we asked them.
- They did in the end find better accommodation, for a price. My husband found suitable much cheaper accommodation in Booking.com, but we had to go with their expensive options.
- We DID see all the animals we had hoped to see, and that was thanks to Kelvin's excellent communication with other drivers via radio & phone within the parks, so well done for that and thank you. Our other driver in Tanzania did not communicate with other drivers except when we stopped to speak with them in person, but luckily we'd seen almost everything we wanted to see by then.
- Kelvin, however, is NOT a tour-guide, he is a DRIVER and that was abundantly clear throughout our Kenyan safari. Not once did he tell us where we were going, what we were doing, if we needed to be dressed warmly for an activity, a briefing or how long the drive would be without us asking. He didn't learn a single one of our names, and even though I asked to see something specific, he said he would show me but didn't. We also told him an activity we wanted to do, and he tried to drop us off in a random town at night - unsafe.
- Both drivers took many phone calls while driving, I understand some of those were for the benefit of the tour (where an animal was etc), however many were private calls. Whatever the company policy is with this I don't know, however it is unsafe to drive for short and long periods with the phone in your hand, especially on those crazy roads - get a Hands-free setup, please! I saw many drivers with hands-free, just neither of ours, it is very unsafe.
- The car was "beeping" the entire time we were in it. I have a recording of it.
- I don't recommend the optional boat trip, however the walking tour with the Zoologist/Biologist was exceptional - however it was a cost that we were not told about until the last moment (and not in any correspondence).
- When we crossed the border, we were dropped off at the Arusha hotel without a word about what was going to happen, who to speak with, what time we needed to be ready etc. Once we messaged Cover Kenya, then we were told - Oh the agent will meet with you at 6:30pm. This happened twice, when we were dropped back to Arusha again, no word of what we needed to do or where to go.
- Booked an All-inclusive trip. Told on the second day that we needed to pay for the park fees in cash extra. Queried this with Vinny - he agreed, but we couldn't, as they hadn't told us in advance, so transferred. Later, upon showing evidence to Vinny of the 'All-inclusive' aspect of the tour, Cover Kenya agreed to return the money. Which they couldn't do via transfer (even though we could do it to them?). This was an unnecessary stress.
- Upon arrival in Nairobi at the end of the tour, we drove to Cover Kenya's HQ, where we met Mike who proceeded to give us the cash, MINUS $100US. Luckily my husband counted it in front of him, when he miraculously found the lost $100 in his pocket.
- Vinny stated that they kept our tour private, however we know that they were trying to find another person/s for the tour, but couldn't.
- We did not feel comfortable giving feedback during the trip about the driver/tourguide, as they were the person solely responsible for us - if they became unhappy with us, we could suffer.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
I felt they were unprofessional.
I felt the communication was poor, and our guide was unprofessional. Our driver was at the wrong airport to pick us up, even though I had sent a screen shot clearly showing the airport we were flying into. Our guide was very knowledgeable about the area's ecology, but I felt his behavior was overly attention-seeking and unprofessional. Would 100% not recommend this company. We had a vehicle breakdown at one point and joined another company's vehicle. I felt the difference in the behavior and attitude of their guide compared to ours was shocking. Both my daughter and I felt on edge and uncomfortable with our guide for the whole trip.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Always going for your money
Kenya-Tanzania 11 days safari trip. The safari was good but the company is not trustworthy. We booked more than 6 months ago to avoid surprises and they have been very responsive all the time. But, the day we departed, they told us we had to pay about $400 each extra if we wanted to sleep on mattresses and not on a sleeping bag on the floor. They blamed that Tanzania sleeping options were too basic. So we paid but I am sure that was an excuse to get extra money on the spot. After that, on the first night, they told us to collect the park fees as they were not included. I had to do a bank transfer to pay for it. Only when I find proof that it was all included, they accepted to refund us. It took till the end of the trip to get the money back and I had to drive to their headquarters and get the money. Even there, they gave me $100 less and only after I counted the money, they found another $100 in their pockets. Lunch packs during the safari were very bad, not much in it and low quality. Some extra money were asked for some extra experiences, more than agreed at the beginning. Find a better company to do your tour and save yourself some disappointment.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Ran into organizational problems
I am afraid our eight-day trip with Splendid Vacations wasn’t the five-star experience that the majority of other customers have had. Our driver, John, was very good, and we saw a lot of of animals; however, the company’s scheduling was often off-the-mark. For example, the planned 5 AM pick up time for our hot air balloon ride was changed to hours earlier, resulting in a significant lack of sleep, to say the least.
But the absolute worst situation occurred on our last day, where Splendid Vacations alerted me with less than 24-hours notice that our next day’s afternoon flight from Amboseli to Nairobi didn’t have enough passengers to warrant the trip (did no one realize this anytime sooner?!) I had to scramble to reorganize things, which caused us to lose out on our Masai village visit, and forced us to find something else to do in Nairobi following what was now an early morning flight (and we had already spent a full day touring Nairobi at the start of our trip).
We ended up touring Nairobi National Park in a land cruiser that had a pop-up roof which suddenly collapsed several times, barely missing my wife’s head at one point. The driver seemed inept at taking care of things, and also had a personality that made us feel like we were on our way to a funeral! Even though Splendid Vacations moved some things around, we ended up settling for lunch at the same place we had eaten a week earlier, and I’m sure I ended up taking a loss on a lot of of prepaid money as a result of all this.
BE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Desorganised
Very disorganized company that spoiled the safari experience. We had taken a group safari: non-compliance with the program initially announced, change several times of safari groups, driver and plans, announced excursions of a one-day duration that ultimately lasts only 5 hours.. you return to the lodge at 2 p.m. then you have all afternoon doing nothing. And what a lodge.... More than miserable: no hot water, no equipment, really unhealthy conditions. We were entitled to 2 guides, one very professional and the second null, gives no explanation, doesn't cares about customers, just wants us to go back to the lodge early, really no communication and didn't even make the effort to look for animals. Finally, we are warned the night before late that there is a minimum amount of tips to give per day to the driver and the cook when we had not planned so much cash for these additional expenses; the other companies warn in advance of the amount of these fees. In short, bad experience, company to flee!!
IN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Pre tour service is good but I didnt feel the same during the tour
Hello,
I would like to start by saying that the people sitting in HO are providing good and accurate services.
Costing seems good too.
My major disheartening was service provided during the tour.
I feel the guides assigned to me were not so keen to make my experience memorable.
I did two national parks- Masai Mara and Amboseli.
During Masai Maara, I felt my guide was not giving us adequate information. His driving skills were amazing but he would not follow where mass people were going, I felt he wanted to look for animals on his own and the result was our spotting was less compared to other people in the park on the same days.
Coming to Amboseli, our guide was informative, but I had a feeling he gave us less of a safari time and rushing to the drop point than what was planned and charged to us by giving some excuse of a protest at the border. (Which we confirmed to be false, later on reaching the border)
While tipping is encouraged I didn’t feel the guides were good enough for the same. We did still tip one of the guide.
So I suggest please be very clear while planning itself and convey beforehand that itinerary to be followed.
Lastly , even after all of this I would still say Masai Maara is definitely a place to visit. Thank you
I have purposely refrained from using any names here.
MY
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Horrible Time Management
Throughout my journey, I have encountered horrible time management - punctuality issue. Day 1, I waited at the hotel at the assigned time but the driver came an hour later. After that, every day I got ready at the assemble time but it is usually half an hour later to be picked up. The worst is my last day, also waited for another hour when I was told to get ready at early morning. And I had to wait outdoor for the whole hour.
The safari experience was overall good and acceptable, but try imagining every morning you were on time, but you wasted 30 mins to an hour for waiting to be picked up, and which actually you could have sleep more with the time waiting, will you still feel good and give an excellent review?
It might be other passengers who cause the delay, but as of my knowledge, it’s not the case all the time. The driver himself made inaccurate predictions of time, and I don’t think that the distance between hotels are unpredictable if the driver is experienced or responsible.
I once even thought that Kenyan culture is being unpunctual by delaying every appointment at 30mins, but after I asked other tourists, they were picked up at the assemble time on time. Then I know that it’s not the culture, it’s the person.
Kindly take note on this. The safari is good, but this issue devalue the overall experience.
CN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Nature is perfect, the guide ruined it
Avoid at all costs guide Francis! Not a single honest word comes out of his mouth, and his service attitude depends entirely on tips! On the first day at Masai Mara when we were still excited, we gave $10 for a half-day tour (total $60 for 6 people). Starting from the second day, he forced us to pay $10 per person daily, even threatening that he'd "doze off while driving" if tipped less. Even on non-safari days—like the 5-hour pure transfer from Masai Mara to Nakuru—he demanded $10 per person! During transfers between safari destinations, he deliberately parks tourists at souvenir shops. Though not forcing purchases, you'll just sit and wait if you don't shop. If unfortunately assigned Francis as your guide, remember: always pay tips all together at the very end.
HK
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Don't believe all the positive comments in the agency's page. It won't show negative comments!
I participated in a 6-day safari tour in June, being the first group to join the tour. I reached an agreement with Emanuel, the owner of the company. However, upon my arrival, Emanuel informed me that all plans from Day 2 to Day 6 had been altered to accommodate the group tour. Since we were the first to join, the agency should have coordinated the second party to fit into our original schedule, not the other way around. Emanuel claimed that it made no difference, but how could that be true?
The first issue was that we had to depart at 6 a.m. on the second day, following over 13 hours of travel the previous day. According to Emanuel, our original departure time was scheduled for 9:30 a.m., based on the initial itinerary. The second issue was that we had to make a return trip to Ngorongoro and visit the area twice, which was unnecessary according to our original plans.
Emanuel's claim that we were not the first party to join the tour is untruthful. If we had not been the first, it would be even more dishonest to accept our original itinerary, knowing full well that it was not feasible.
Emanuel is solely a businessman with no regard for customer satisfaction; his focus is only on money. He shows no respect for the agreement we made. I have traveled to more than 20 countries, and regardless of whether it's a group tour or a private tour, my schedule has never been changed at the last minute without my consent. I do not recommend this agency for group tours unless you are prepared for your itinerary to be altered at any time without notice. And, of course, he will tell you that it makes no difference!