Safari Reviews

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Wolf   –  
Germany DE
Visited: March 2016 Reviewed: Mar 10, 2016

Not up to expectations
Overall rating
2/5

I remembered this park as a highlight of former safaris with an amazing variety of wildlife. This time it was disappointing, not only on account of lush vegetation. The roads are simply terrible, an offence for the drivers. The shabby appearance already of the gateway gives the impression that this park is badly managed.

Peter Houtzagers   –  
Netherlands NL
Visited: February 2016 Reviewed: Mar 9, 2016

The intentions are good but the customer experience is poor bottom line
2/5

Friendly welcome. Promising program but it proved to be not realistic because of huge travel times. First day we were completely surprised we (my 7 year old sun and I) had to travel 11 hours in the van. Domestic flights absent. Intentions are good but Uganda is a very different environment with a dramatic infrastructure. Which we were unaware of and not being informed about.
Unpleasantly surprised by having a fellow traveler whilst the booking was a private safari. Poor execution of the program. Poor planning. Poor information about travel times. Program changes possible but proved expensive. Nice selection of accomodations.

Ana Maria   –  
Portugal PT
Visited: October 2015 Reviewed: Mar 3, 2016

35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

Far away from my last safari
2/5

I would never choose Karibu again. Their priority is to fill all the seats and make money. They are not worried about our experience. Tree cars left the agency on the same day with 5, 6 and 7 persons. People in the cars with 6 and 7 persons said they could barely move inside, travel was very uncomfortable and take pictures was possible just for the ones at the windows. The cars are very old. The roads in the parks are very bumpy and for this reason you just think how important is to have a good car when you are there. One of my lens released 3 small screws with the vibration and at the end of the trip my back was like crap. It is essential to have a good Jeep.
I shared the car with 3 young girls that spent 6 days taking selfies, delaying all trips and looking for ostrich. I was deeply interested in photography (the big 5 obviously). I love meeting people but in this situation... no match. If possible, avoid shared safaris and look for companies that personalise the safari. Freedom inside the car is essential. Our driver Zak was very good: good character, good person, good sense of humour and a good driver (very aggressive driving though). The food was very good and the camping facilities was good. The 6th day of safari was in reality just 2 hours inside the park. After lunch we were back to Nairobi. They avoid paying another entrance in the park (valid for 24hs).

Dagmar   –  
United Kingdom UK
Visited: January 2016 Reviewed: Mar 1, 2016

35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

Nice tour ... but appalling customer service
2/5

I must say, I am really disappointing by Uhuru.
The good organisation upfront promised a great adventure, but instead we got an old uncomfortable car that had to go to repairs 3 (!!) times during our tour. And it rained through the roof and I couldn't open my window. All in all not ruining a tour, as the game drives were fantastic and the hotels really nice. But as we reached out after the tour to give our feedback, the reaction was that we were accused to have made things up. Unbelievable!!!

Anders   –  
Sweden SE
Visited: February 2016 Reviewed: Feb 23, 2016

65+ years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

Masai Mara where fantastic. Hells gate and Lake Nakuro was not much to see.
2/5

We were lead to believe that we have bought a Safari for four people in our own car. Instead we were picking up and dropping off people all the time at Transfer Hotel. This lead to many hours of unnecessary transports on very bad roads.
The driver was good at finding game with the help of the radio. But his communications skills needs a lot of improvement. He did not tell us where we were going and what will happen next. The first lunch stop was totally unnecessary. Who eats lunch at 4 pm? Because of that we missed the bird trip at Lake Navisha.

Brita   –  
Sweden SE
Visited: February 2016 Reviewed: Feb 23, 2016

65+ years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

5 day safari in Kenya
2/5

Masai mara is fantastic but the travel by car, picking up people and dropping them in places we didnt need to go to, took to much time from our 5 day safari.

Robert   –  
United Kingdom UK
Visited: November 2015 Reviewed: Feb 21, 2016

Experience level: over 5 safaris

Disappointing i m afraid though maybe ok for first time visitors to Africa
2/5

We travelled Johannesburg to Victoria falls last November. The truck was full to capacity at 12 plus provisions and was far too cramped. We had two guides, only one of whom could drive the vehicle and he was by far the better at his job. The second guide had preferred clients and was often rude to those not among them; his knowledge was poor, demonstrated at the zimbabwean border crossing when we found his visa advice to be incorrect and more generally in terms of local traditions. Group integration was poor based on our worldwide experience. The farewell event was pointedly only open to those favoured few.

However, the local park-based guides were really good. We saw all the animals we hoped to see and more thanks to them. No complaints about the food either.

Rjn   –  
Singapore SG
Visited: February 2016 Reviewed: Feb 21, 2016

50-65 years of age  |  Experience level: over 5 safaris

uninterested driver
2/5

The driver I was with was very unprofessional and had no interest in showing me the true wild Serengeti. I saw more on my last vists in off season then I did in peak season. I did meet others who were having amazing sightings, but our driver was just in no mood to drive around. I felt that he was saving fuel. Also he would never stop in time when I wanted him to t to take a photograph. He did not have any knowledge of lighting either. He would talk back and was rude. It was like taking a driver from a city and sending him on a safari. He claims he has been doing this for a while , but in my opinion he was either inexperienced or uninterested. I would never use nor suggest this company to any of my fellow photographers. This company has just lost allot of business from me and my clients for sure.

Nicola   –  
United States US
Visited: February 2016 Reviewed: Feb 16, 2016

35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

Low low low budget
2/5

I knew this was going to be a low budget trip. I have lived in Africa in several different countries for over 6 years. I am used to things not working, cold showers, camping and roughing it. What I did not know is that I would be hungry most of the trip because they don't have enough coolers to store food for breakfast and lunches. I also did not know that most of our days on the trip would be spent just driving and not really doing anything but looking out the window. In retrospect we could have spent about the same amount of money or just a little more seeing the gorillas and then flying from Rwanda or Uganda to Tanzania and also camping but having more days to see the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater. So many days were lost driving and spending time on a dirty bus, with very little food and 21 other people that were nice but that I did not necessarily want to spend 24hrs a day with doing nothing on a bus.

I would have planned the trip differently if I had to do it over again. Maybe if you are going from Nairobi to Cape Town this would be the trip for you. They do organize everything and you really get to see the real Africa on this bus. So, logistics are not something you ever have to worry about with this tour company and that is a nice thing. Our guide and truck driver were so kind and helpful.

Of course Africa, the safaris and gorillas were spectacular. I just wish we could have seen them and not felt so dirty and hungry the whole trip and also not wasted so many days driving with strangers that were nice but not going to be lifelong friends.

Jenny   –  
Australia AU
Visited: June 2015 Reviewed: Feb 8, 2016

50-65 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

Disappointing due to poor administration and communication, could not recommend
2/5

We started our trip in Rwanda and everything was fantastic. On our last day there we were advised that our flight to Tanzania had been cancelled and instead of flying to Mwanza, we would be flying overnight and our itinerary would be reversed.

Our problems were:
Dropped off for lunch on the first day, no driver came to pick us up. Restaurant staff helped us out, and after ringing our previous guide in Rwanda and her phoning Simon, a driver came after a couple of hours, but not the one Simon had told us to expect so the uncertainty began.

We had to pay for the lunch – just after Simon had been telling us everything was included.

No revised itinerary provided (despite several requests to Simon and him promising to email it), driver did not have a copy of any itinerary and only knew our first destination, luckily we had a spare copy and were able to provide him with one. He was also unaware of the length of our trip which at 11 days was quite a long one.
Our itinerary did not work smoothly in reverse i.e. we had requested a mix of cultural activities and walks, as well as game drives. The cultural activities and walks mostly did not happen, due to the fact the driver had no knowledge of how to organise these, and the morning walk around the crater could not occur as we were now going down the crater in the morning etc.

No money on card at appropriate times for entrance to national parks, leading to delays, and a hefty fine (paid by us) when leaving the Serengeti as we had been in there illegally without having paid for the correct number of days.

Uncertainty about accommodation – one place unavailable, the roof had fallen in a month previously (supposedly) and we had not been advised. No alternative arrangements had been made, so our guide was on the phone arguing with the company. In the end, we were told a reservation had been made, but when we were arrived that was not the case. We had to pay in cash to stay there. This money was returned to us in cash the next day, but it created a lot of uncertainty about whether future accommodation would be booked or paid for.

Uncertainty about flights – would our onward flight to Zanzibar be booked, and would we have accommodation when we got there, and then would our onward flight to Johannesburg to meet our flight home be booked. We received the details on the flight the last day of our trip, despite having been requesting it from the beginning.

A stressed guide because he also did not know whether the above things would be provided and presumably whether he would be paid.

Virtually no communication from Simon (no replies to emails and only one phone call taken but the phone dropped out during the conversation!), and unable to obtain any other numbers for anyone in the “office”. This is really what made the safari so difficult as if we had had some reassurance that things would be okay, and this happened, then the trip would have been much less stressful.

Having said all that, the places we stayed were mostly great and met our requirements of a range of styles. The original itinerary was good and the animal safari part of our trip was great. We mostly got what we paid for – the accommodation and entrance fees all turned up so we could do all the scheduled game parks. Boundary Hill was a bit creepy because we were the only people staying there and there was a lot of uncertainty about what would happen next (given that it was at the beginning of our trip).

It was also a complete contrast to the fantastically organised trip in Rwanda where we were met at the airport at midnight by our driver with a copy of our itinerary. Thankfully Simon had outsourced our trip in Rwanda to another company although we had not been advised of that, and we paid for the balance of our trip there, so there were no money problem with that company not having received their money.

My take on the whole situation was that Eastco had money problems, and had to wait for new payments to come in before they could pay for the activities of people already out on safaris.

Whilst the potential was there for an outstanding experience and we did have a wonderful time, the constant worry over whether things would work out did take the shine off it. So like one of the other reviews, we had a great trip in spite of Eastco.


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