50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Terrible customer communication
I was really hoping that their service was just as good as my previous two travel agencies that used. One was sold to another so that was why I say two. I only used Go2Africa because we met an agent while traveling South Africa.
While you are on vacation, they don’t care about you. They lied about a tour we requested to be changed to afternoon. They never email you back but say we are hear to serve you. They do not give you a detail pdf document of all your times, etc. only flight times are in pdf.
The other agency I used my first and second time, had exceptional customer service. When I asked to change a time for your, they did it. It is called good customer service.
Also, Go2Africa charges more $ but they never email or call you back when you need an urgent request.
JP
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
It’s the worst company from my experience
I cannot recommend this company.
We wanted to visit Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro, and Serengeti, so we booked a 3-night, 4-day private tour. We paid $3,800 in advance for five people, but three days before the tour, we received a phone call saying that their colleague had made a mistake in the quotation. They told us that if we wanted to keep the private tour, we had to pay an additional $1,000. Otherwise, we would have to join a shared tour.
We refused to pay the extra $1,000 and switched to the shared tour, but it was a terrible experience. We had planned a long-awaited family trip to enjoy a private and relaxing safari, but we were seated separately, making it difficult to even have conversations with each other. The itinerary and accommodations were also different from what was originally provided, and it seemed like there was poor communication between the driver and the office staff.
If you are considering booking a private tour, I would advise you should not choose this company. They will demand additional fees at the last minute, even after providing a quotation. I will never choose them again.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Beware! Natural World Kenya Safaris was dishonest with us
I joined a 5-day safari tour in Kenya with Natural World Kenya Safaris, and it turned out to be a nightmare. Despite paying in full, the company failed to cover basic expenses like my safari tickets and hotel accommodations. Instead, they had the audacity to request that I pay for them myself, promising a refund.
That refund never came. I have followed up multiple times, only to be ignored. To make matters worse, the sales representative who initially handled my case left the company and revealed that many other customers have faced the same scam—damaging his own reputation in the process.
This company is completely untrustworthy, and I strongly warn everyone to stay away. Do not fall into their trap. They took our money and left us to deal with the consequences. I advise you avoid Natural World Kenya Safaris at all costs!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Poor quality badly maintained
I paid for a 15 day Selfdrive trip about northern Kenya.
I picked up the car in an apartment block in Nairobi and drove out to town.
On the third day of driving to started on the dirty roads 3 hour into the day the breaks and steering failed.
I stopped and saw that the shock absorber had broken. On the front left side.
We managed a lift back to the local police station where we were able to contact kofi travel.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
I strongly advise you avoid Birchill Expeditions!
Warning: Scam Alert – Avoid Birchill Expeditions!
I want to share my terrible experience with Birchill Expeditions to warn others. I paid this company $800 in advance for a gorilla permit, trusting them to handle my tour properly. However, just one day before my scheduled trip, the operator canceled everything.
My tour was supposed to last several days and include multiple activities, but they failed to arrange anything. To make matters worse, they never refunded my money and have ignored my attempts to contact them.
This company is completely untrustworthy—they took my money and provided nothing in return. I strongly advise everyone to stay away from Birchill Expeditions to avoid being scammed like I was.
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Terrible
Terrible experience. The Company didn't pay park's entrance fees and didn't answer to our many calls . They just disappeared and we had to pay everything again by our own . drivers told us they were freelance without any bond with the Company. Our guide was not professional and didn't speak good English.
We completely missed 3 days of safari that we paid in advance because we had no accomodations or equipment or meals during the Safari. Also the car was not suitable at all and broke several times. We wasted our money and in the end paid double for everything.
We believe we have been scammed. Don't book with them.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Warning – Refund Issues Experienced
I strongly advise against booking with this company. We have been trying to recover our refund through the Tourism Police and Regional Commissioner, but the process has been very difficult. Please exercise caution and thoroughly research before making any payments.
CH
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unprofessionell
Absolute disgrace and immense disappointment!
You decide on an operator and a safari because you think the route is great and you like the accommodation. And then you arrive and are completely thrown into the deep end. None of the promised accommodation was received. The route has been changed & the travel plan. The safari including accommodation was simply changed without my knowledge. You get a downgrade without being informed about it. Bottomless impudence. At least 10 hours are lost because you have campers in the car and loading and unloading them takes so much time, which you were never informed about in advance. Communication and organization the worst I have ever experienced.
When I complained to the organizer, I was confronted with incorrect figures about the costs and that my safari was more expensive than I would have paid, which is absolute nonsense. I researched all the costs and came out with a nice profit for the organizer. Frank Robert tried to emotionally blackmail me with false charges and police threats.
The next day he offered me gifts to make up for it. Professionalism and honesty look different. Don't book with this organization, you will only be disappointed and hardly be able to enjoy your safari because none of the promised things (accommodation, German-speaking travel guide, travel route + massive unnecessary lost time, soft drinks and so on) will be adhered to and you will only hear lies and excuses as excuses. Believe the negative reviews and book with a more professional company.
None of the safari participants were satisfied with the process and everyone was disappointed.
In the end he gave me gifts that no one could use and $150 to make up for it and wanted to use it to buy a good rating, so to speak. What unprofessional behavior. You can't go on a safari every week, the disappointment and drama is inexcusable.
You cannot simply change the booked safari without informing the customer and without his consent!!!!
A licensed company is worthless without professional work!
PT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Terrible experience
Our experience with Karibu Safari Kenya was terrible. The accomodations were very different than the ones that were promised by the company, we discussed the issue with the company and they didn't even know that our driver was taking us to different hotels, much cheaper and with much worse conditions than the ones that we actually paid for. We demanded a refund and it's been weeks and they don't even reply to us. The driver was very rude, the itinerary was constantly changing and it was very different than the one settled for us by the company. We only enjoyed a full day of safari in Masai Mara and there was a day where we just spend the entire morning driving from Masai Mara to Lake Nakuru and spent the entire afternoon in the hotel room as the driver refused to take us in a morning game drive in Masai Mara claiming that there was "no time".
The company doesn't deliever what is promised and they don't even try to compensate us or to do service recovery. The company nor the driver were not professional AT ALL being very rude to us. I felt that I paid for a 3 day safari and only enjoyed 1 day, not worth at all.
If I could go back I would book it with another company
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
I recommend being cautious when booking with this company. Paid for service that we did not get
Sadly, like a bunch of others you can see on TripAdvisor, we lost thousands of dollars due to the actions of this tour company. This company operates under African Kenya Safaris as well as Natural World Kenya Safaris, so beware of both those names. We paid for our entire trip, in full, weeks before flying out to Kenya. When we arrived at our second hotel, they said our booking had been completely cancelled by this tour company one full week before we arrived.
Our next two hotel stays were still booked, but the company never paid. We spent 1.5 hours, each time, back-and-forth calling and messaging on WhatsApp in the hotel lobby with all our luggage. Neither were ever paid. It was late, dark, and we were tired and hungry, so we paid (again, since everything had been prepaid before we left home) with our credit card for the hotel - AFTER the tour company rep, Mary, agreed the company would reimburse us. She acted like this was an outlier, but we later discovered there are plenty of other victims.The hotel staff were shocked and felt so bad for us, and offered to comp our drinks at the restaurant. One guide said he had never heard of anything like this in over 18 years of being a guide. It has been weeks since they said they would refund us the money they owe, but now they will not reply to any messages. Beware of this tour company.