US
Not like our last trip
We previously went on a great East Africans Safari with Born Free. We asked them to help with another trip a year later. This did not go at all well and Born Free did not take appropriate responsibility for the clear errors that occurred, which significantly and negatively affected our trip.
They did not stand behind their travel product and I can no longer recommend Born Free.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
We didn't get what we paid for or what was outlined in the itinerary
Day 1 - Collection from hotel was fine, on time. No problems with long drive or communication. Itinerary outlined a game drive from 2pm - 6pm, but we only did a game drive for approx 90mins. Lodge was excellent, however that has nothing to do with the tour company.
Day 2 - Full day game drive. Lodge told us to leave as early as possible 7am at latest, driver arranged to start at 8am. We saw everything we wanted to on this day. Lions, Cheetah, Leopard, Giraffe, Elephant, Hippo. However this was more due to the abundance on wildlife and luck than the drivers skill or anything like that. I can't really complain too much about this day, as we saw everything we wanted to.
Day 3 - We were supposed to have a game drive in the morning (leaving the lodge at 8am) before heading straight from the game drive back to Nairobi. However our driver slept in and missed his alarm and we were waiting for him to wake up and were late leaving. Upon arriving at the park entrance our driver welcomed a "park ranger" on board who he said we were "giving him a lift" we then proceeded into the park, where we just drove on the main road until we happened to chance upon a cheetah, who was starting a hunt. The driver stopped the van and we asked him to put up the roof of the van so we could get a better look, he refused saying it would interfere with the hunt, however he was talking and laughing with other guides in other vans and his phone was ringing loudly, so I didn't buy that excuse! We asked him again and he still refused, so we had to take pictures through the window. After a few minutes he drove off, and we left the hunt/stalk while it was still in progress/just about to start. We were so annoyed, especially as countless other vans and 4x4s were heading towards the cheetah, while we were driving away from it. We felt like we couldn't complain too much to the driver as we still needed him to take us back to Nairobi and didn't want him to get angry and leave us in the middle of nowhere! He continued driving on the main road through the park and didn't once go on a different road, he then exited the park. Meaning we did not have our morning game drive, he just drove straight through the park from once entrance to another, without lifting the roof - we just happened to stumble across a cheetah. If we hadn't seen that he would not have stopped once! This is not a game drive. We were basically being a taxi service for his friend/ranger. When we got to Narok, the "park ranger" exited the van and he continued to take us back to Nairobi, which was fine.
Overall absolutely disgusted with the final day and lack of game drive! The fact that he drove away from a Cheetah hunt that was in progress is absolutely indefensible - and also twice refusing to open the roof so we could look at the Cheetah while we were there.
I don't know if this was just our driver or it is the company (as our driver said he was fairly new to Wildebeest) But I wouldn't use them again!!
I will formally complain to Wildebeest about this....
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
the land of tips
The wildlife was the best we have had from this country. Italy is knew in the world for sly people but tanzanian were worst than us. I've never knew something similar. The land of tips, the land of "surprises". I am really sad because i think that this will kill the tourism there. Last but not least, you make fool prices for all about tourism. In the rest of the world we are not so riches as you think. For the most of us, the 50$ that you ask like chips are a day of work!!!!!!
P.s. the weather was good, the foid was good, the accomodation not so bad, but when i think about my trip, FOR YOUR FAULT, i think about you CRAFTINESS for first.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Appalling service
4 Day budget camping safari. Ok I must say our desire to visit Ngorongoro has been fulfilled, We have seen the big 5. But not thanks to Bobby tours, Its a magical place and getting there is all you need.
We are hardcore backpackers and not fuzzy at all. We have traveled around Africa quite extensively using some really bad and uncomfortable buses.
Our safari trip was actually kind of treat as we were not relying on Public transport.
The car came to pick us up from our lodge in Arusha, First impression is that the car was quite old which again it was ok with us as It was a treat compare to what we had before. But so we thought!
First game drive and everything was fine, lots of Elephants at Lake Manyara NP.
We were told that we will visit a Masai Village inside Ngorongoro Area and will cost us 20USD when we booked the tour. Our driver claiming that we were short on time suggested we should visit a Masai Village near lake Manyara NP which was also near our first camp site. We agreed to do that but we were asked to pay 50USD instead which seemed that it was including a commission to whoever was taking us there and we were not impressed by the village at all as it seemed like a tourist trap. By that time we gave all of our cash we had on us as who needs cash in the bush anyway.
The camping site was in a nice forest area. However the tent we were given had a broken zip and lots of holes. It could not close properly but again as naive were we did not mind much. The camping site was fenced and other than few harmless monkeys they were no big animals around.
The second day we proceeded to Serengeti National park. A long dirt track driving! Here I realise how bad idea was to ride an old worn car. Dust was unbearable. There was no escape from it as it was simply coming inside the car because the roof could not seal properly. I discovered that the plastic that seals the roof was worn and almost totally gone. There was simply no way to keep the dust out. We had to endure hours of driving with hazardous dust which basically went everywhere on our clothes, cameras, phones you name it.
When we arrived at our Serengeti Camp we found out from other people on similar tours with us from other companies that they simply closed the windows and had no dust at all.
The night was really scary. Our faulty tent could easily let a Hyena to get inside our tent as the Camp was not fenced and wild animals where actually freely roaming around our tent.
After we finished with Serengeti and on our final night after a filthy dusty day again the tent was useless against cold weather as our last camp was high up on the Crater Rim of Ngorongoro.
ThereThereThe last day just before were dropped back to our lodge we had to drop our Chef first who was making our meals through the tour. We were asked to give some tips and we kindly gave him around 3-4USD as much as we had on us as were in the bush for few days. Our driver went furious saying that the guy was crying because he went home with out making any money as he was relying on tips and we should give him a minimum of 10USD which was what you must give to the Chef. The same story followed when were dropped back tour our lodge, the same story for the stupid tourists and that we must give 20USD of tips to the driver. We had paid our tour in full well in Advance and a Price tag on tips made us to feel really stupid.
We found out later from some other local guides there that they are actually getting a decent salary for African Standards and they should never asked us that question.
After we came back home I send an email explaining the situation to their office but they never got back to us
SK
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The worst tour company I ever experienced
We went on a 3-Days safari - The Masai Mara.
The driver arrived late, the vehicle was uncomfortable and we did not feel safe throughout the journey. Our « guide » was more a driver than interested in being helpful or showing us around. The food was very cheap and disgusting and no drinking water in the camp. No hot water on the first day of the stay.
The guide decided not to do the safari on last day morning and he appeared on at 9 am.
I do not recommend to do the safari with them. Robert and his staff are not helpful, friendly and informative
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Badly planned itinerary
Travelled from Vic Falls in Zimbabwe to Zanzibar. Apart from the first two and last two days the itenerary was planned very poorly. Back to back days of 7-13 hrs driving with 4AM wake up and getting to the next camp just to have dinner and go to bed is far from the great experience we expected from trip notes. The whole group felt the same. Half of camps were completely unnecessary and this trip requires serious improvement to make it at least half enjoyable.
CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The gorilla's made the trip amazing
Our driver was Samuel, and he had a lot of knowledge and the first day of our trip, he did talk quite a bit about animals, culture, and pointing things out along the way. The first stop for lunch was fine, but he disappeared for a significant amount of time, and said nothing. So we were waiting, wondering where he went. The places we stayed were excellent, and had really great food! The gorilla trekking experience was phenomenal, definitely bring proper hiking pants, which would have been nice to know. We had booked our tour late, but an email saying what to bring/expect would have been nice. Also, after our 7 hour trek, Primate Journey was supposed to provide water and there wasn't any, and after asking to stop for water, he said he'd get it later (I think he didn't feel like going outside in the rain), which he never actually did get us water. The last day, Samuel was supposed to pick us up at 9:30 am and didn't show up till 11:40 am. Very frustrating, as neither of us wanted to be driving in the dark (8 hour drive ahead of us) and we had called and texted him, with no response. Overall, the gorilla experience was incredible but I would never recommend Primate Journeys to get you there
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
We enjoyed the trip but were dissatisfied with the constant ramming of creatation theory down our th
Tour was satisfactory but accomodation in Kruger was awful
IT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent driver but problems with agency
Our guide was really nice and made us able to appreciate Masai Mara park. We were able to see most of the expected animals. I have only a concern with the agency who asked us an extra of 45 euros not planned. They said the payment provided from my bank was less than expected. Verified with the bank and it was not true (I don't know if the fault was on their bank or on the agency but my bank showed me the amount of money trasferred and the taxes paid). Never use again this agency also if the guide was fantastic.
CA
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Mixed up itinerary, below average guide, unreliable vehicle, unkept promises
We booked a private 20-day birding tour from July 25-August 13. The main guide, Alfred, was already booked so we had a guide who doesn't guide as often and wasn't as experienced. Main problems: 1) we had a final itinerary from the office, but it turned out that the guide and driver were given a different version of the itinerary, leading to unexpected and unpleasant surprises during the tour; 2) one of these unpleasant surprises was being told the morning we were supposed to do a chimpanzee trek later that day that we had not paid for the chimp permits and therefore would not be doing the trek. We had copies of the final invoice that clearly stated the price included the chimp permits, but the guide said he was told we could not do the chimp trek; 3) the guide tried to tell us we were wrong -- even when we showed him the invoice; 4) later, we managed to speak on the phone with the office representative and were assured we would be refunded the US$300 for the chimp permits that we had paid for. This was confirmed again by email after we returned home. To this day, more than 2 months after the end of the tour, we still have not received the refund despite several reminders to Alfred. 5) The vehicle we were in during the tour broke down at least twice, leading to long delays to try and repair it. The only good thing about the tour was the driver, Benson, who tried his best, given the situation. He often performed tasks that the guide would normally do such as making sure we were taken care of on the gorilla trek. The guide, on the other hand, paid no attention to whether things were okay with us, be it accommodations, meals, or on the trails. He never once asked how things were going for us. He was more interested in chatting with local guides and park rangers than in finding the birds and helping us to see them. Sadly, we cannot recommend this company as our experience was way below an acceptable standard.