SK
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Not recommended at all.
I am not sure if the other reviews are real about Trots and Safari operator. I have completly different experience with this company of my 3 days trip to Bwindi:
1. They have been lying from the beggining. Edison was trying to convinced me (and in the end he did), that they are able to transfer us to lounge in Bwindi from Entebbe airport in 6-7 hours, even when google maps shows time 9-10 hours. Unfortunately I have believed them because of smooth communication and calls with Edison. We arrived at Entebbe airport at 3 pm. We get to the lounge after 12 hours of driving at 3 am next day. Even if we had a good car (look at point two in review), we can not make it in 6-7 hours. It is impossible. If I have knew that, I will never booked this trip. The night driving in the roads of Uganda are not safe at all, do not believed them, if they tell you it is safe! We drove 9 hours at night and have been scared to death.
2. Trots and Safari company has only one car- this company car was broken after first 2 hours of the trip- actually first borken thing was our left front wheel. Took 2 hour to repair it. In total, car has been broken 3 times during our 3 days trip. Every time something different- wheel, engine, cables. It did not make it to the end. We get another 2 cars from insurance company, what was called to transfer us to the hotel. That car should have never been used for that kind of trip. Totally unprepaired and unsafe for trip. We had only luck, that it did not broke in night at Bwindi forest. During our trip we really felt unsafe and that ruined our trip.
3. We did not have any lunch box or dinner on our first day, Trots and Safari are selling this trip as a full board trip.
4. First night we slept 2 hours because we arrived at 3 am, instead of 8-9 pm like was planned by Edison (unreal even for google maps planning, I am ashamed, that that I have believed to this guy). We did trek to gorillas, permits cost 1400 dollars, and we have been too tired to even enjoyed it after 2 hours of sleeping.
4. Our guide was Jimmy- he did everyting what he could. But he did not know even in what accommodation we sleep. And Edisons phone at night was turn off, when Jimmy was trying to reach him to ask, where we should sleep.
5. In the end of trip I have asked for partial refund, they have stopped communicate with me.
I would like to recommend to anybody, who wants to book trip with Trots, first think twice before booking, do not believed everything, what they are saying and be prepared, when you will arrived to the airport and you will give them rest of the money for the trip, they have stopped to being interested in service.
AE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Terrible Experience with Seven By Far Tour Agency - Beware of Scams and Unprofessionalism
We recently returned from a safari trip to Kenya with Seven By Far Tour Agency, and my experience was nothing short of a nightmare. Having had a fantastic trip with them last year(and gave a glowing review), we blindly chose them again, only to be deeply disappointed this time.
From the moment Sylvester, the owner, received the payment, his behavior turned suspicious and scammy. The originally planned stay at Kempinski Resort in Masai Mara, which I had specifically chosen, was not booked as promised. Despite multiple follow-ups, Sylvester only managed to arrange the flights but messed up the visa process until the very last moment.
To make matters worse, the Kempinski Resort, which Sylvester repeatedly confirmed as booked, turned out to be sold out. He then suggested another hotel, which, upon verification, was never confirmed either. Subsequently, he tried passing off a random lodge as a 5-star property and expected us to pay three times the standard rates. Thankfully, I verified this directly with the hotel and found his claim false.
As a last resort, we contacted the Kenya police, who instructed Sylvester to fulfill the original agreement. We reluctantly settled for Keekorok Lodge, which was far from our initial choice. Sylvester had agreed, in both conversations and with the police, to refund $1080, but upon landing in Kenya, he continually postponed the payment date. In the end, he only paid half, citing a dubious withholding tax for the remainder, which I suspect is a form of financial fraud.
Our tour guide, Hassan, was the only bright spot throughout this ordeal. His professionalism and commitment ensured we had an excellent safari experience despite the agency's shortcomings. He is knowledgeable, can spot animals from miles away, and is always mindful to give them space. I wholeheartedly recommend Hassan to anyone planning a trip to Mara.
In light of these issues, we are filing a formal complaint with the Kenya Police against Seven By Far Tour Agency and its owner, Sylvester. Based on our harrowing experience, I strongly advise fellow travelers to steer clear of this agency to avoid potential scams and unprofessional conduct.
Note: This review is based on factual experiences and is intended as a cautionary tale for other travelers.
(screenshots removed for privacy reasons)
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Very rude owners and staff and subpar facilities
Very rude and unprofessional. Booked, paid, sent proof of payemtn, arrived, and was told payment was not showing. We told I can go elsewhere. Never experienced such bad service.
CH
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Scam? They take the money but not reimburse despite their promises.
Avoid this business at all price ! They took 1500$ as a guarantee when we booked a trip. It was canceled due to COVID-19 and now due to the security situation. We are waiting our refund since 2 years. No answer from the company. We are opening a case. I feel Inside Ethiopia is a scam, definitely avoid it !
Last update: Finally, Inside Ethiopia Tour answered and tried to buy our silence. They said they will reimburse if I promise to delete my comments ! What a great mentality. Trying to hide their scam to their customers by buying the victim's silence.
CN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Don’t choose Seven by far as your Kenya tour agency
This was an extremely disappointing service experience. Shocking, Unbelievable,infuriating and even desperate.
Seven by far is an untrustworthy, extremely unprofessional company that only good at avoiding responsibilities.Complete lack of credit and integrity. I strongly advise everyone to never choose seven by far as your agency to Kenya and Tanzania. They will ruin everything!
Imagine what kind of experience it is when you are in a completely strange environment, in a strange country, without any preparation,BUT can't reach your travel agent.We felt so helpless!They didn’t even pay the accomodation money to the hotel!We certainly had the ability to take the initiative to resolve some of the issues, and in fact we did, under duress, because if we didn't act, our entire vacation plans would go down the drain. But what about our pre-agreed contract? We gave an offer and you accepted it, and since you accepted it, it means that you should have the ability to arrange everything within the budget, right?No one forced you to accept it, we paid for it, but then you played the disappearing act and just left us four girls in a camp that was downgraded without any prior notice. Instead of being able to enjoy our vacation and have fun every day, we have to act as seven by far’s employees and solve THEIR business problems. May I ask if Seven by far will pay us a salary?
The truth is that there was already an sign of this during the pre-negotiation of the trip and budget, and after we paid the deposit, SEVEN BY FAR's attitude took a 180 degree turn, Mr.Sylvester blocked me on WhatsApp,just to intimidate us into thinking that they were going to run away with the money at any moment, what a ridiculously childish act! Unbelievable!
During our travels in Africa, seven by far repeatedly defaulted on payments to our partner companies, drivers, guides, and hotels, causing our trip to be irreparably affected. (FYI this is not the first time seven by far has done this.) There was even fake money involved, I am speechless.Not mention that they downgraded our accommodation many times without any prior notice.
When we finally met with the person in charge of seven by far, the lady promised us that she would compensate us, and then we also negotiated the amount of the payout on WhatsApp (although the amount could hardly make up for our loss), but after all this time we still haven't gotten the money, and Mr.Sylvester would only say over and over again that it's being processed, so please bear with them.
So one of us posted a bad review on safari booking and guess what?Mr.Sylvester quickly contacted us and said no more compensation. Haha! What a shameless and unrepentant businessman!
You are a shame of Kenya.
US
65+ years of age
I would never use Catz Tours ever again!
I booked a 1/2 day Jewish tour of Johannesburg with Annekie a few weeks ago. Company accommodated by moving tour up one day. After an hour, guide acknowledged he knew virtually nothing about Jewish community in Johannesburg and had never conducted Jewish tour. I then terminated tour but paid in full. Guide graciously said I should not pay if I didn't get what I contracted for. I asked him to talk to Annekie. A few hours later she doubled down, kept the money, and said she never had complaints about the Jewish tour. I no longer believe this was misunderstanding, I believe it was dishonesty. I would never ever use this company. Beware.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Updates after previous post: They kept LYING and NO WAY to refund you
It took us 2 months to back and forth negotiate with Seven by far for the refund after the nightmare trip. After we reached agreement on the amount, they used all the excuses to delay the refund and finally AVIODED our calls/msgs. We shared our experience here with 1 star rating(Refer to our previous Post for the details " For your own safety and money worth, DON'T choose this fraud"), then they IMMEDIATELY send message to us to inform that they CANCELLED our refund because of the 1 star rating post.
They lied all the time. In the trip, they kept saying whatever missed in the trip, they would refund, but they did not. After the trip, they agreed on the refund and kept saying they were processing it, but they did not. Now just because we were TELLING THE TRUTH to disclosure their terrible service, they were mad on and don't refund us.
IT
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
They ruined my safari
Attention! do not go to any of these safari agencies (Kilimanjaro Adventure Safari Club, Kima, Safari Moja Matata) especially not to Mister Thomas. I think they are scammers.
We paid Mr. Thomas 3800 USD to have a 8 days safari, at the end of July 2023: Serengeti, Lake Natron, Olduvai Gorge, lake Maniara. Starting from Arusha. He promised us the new car which pics he sent us by whatsapp when we contacted him, but a very old Toyota was used for our safari. The car was very very old and dangerous and Mr Thomas put us in a very serious DANGER and RISK for our LIVES! AND HE KNEW IT. That was a criminal way to work with people.
First of all, we paid Kilimanjaro Adventure Safari Club; the safari program was by KIMA company, and to enter the parks the name of the company was Safari Moja Matata. We don't know what happened.
The Toyota Prado sx 30 turbo (plate T457 ANR) had very worn tyres, left windows and doors didn't work (we can't get out of the car, we can't close the windows when the road was dusty), brakes didn't work and produced smoke and bud smell, brake fluid came out from the left front wheel, rear shock absorbers didn't work so the car skided dangerously and the engine made strange noises. The car was very very dirty and rusted. The driver (Juma) had to drive very slowly because the car swerving when improved the speed, so we lost a lot of time for visiting the parks. We were very afraid for our safety.
After a day driving, we wrote and phoned to Thomas to ask him for changing the car for a better one as those in the picture he sent, but he said it was the only avaible car. He said the car was ok, but it wasn't at all.
In fact, on 25th July one of the bald tyres broke. They mount the spare wheel but he broke after 20 meters! The spare tyre was very bald too.
We stand on the road for hours to wait for new wheels. I called Thomas to protest, he said we was right and he would refund us for that day, but he didn't it. That was the last time he answered at calling or sending messages.
Finally Thomas sent a private car that carried us to Lake Natron but we arrived in late and we had only 2 hours to visit the side in a great hurry.
By night, the driver Juma arrived to Natron with the same old car again and 2 new tyres and we continued the safari on the same old car.
The safari continued driving always very very slowly and we always must wait 2/3 ours for the payment for entering the parks because Thoms were always in late in that. We lost a lot of time every time.
On 27th July in Serengeti the brake fluid came out from a wheel that made bad noises. So we couldn't arrive to Serengeti Central and we had to pass the first night in another camping near the border of the park. Because of the slow driving and the in late payments we arrived on 28th July to Olduvai Gorge only 1 our before the closing! INCREDIBLE! We have no enought time to visit all we wanted.
On 29th July, during descending Ngorongoro slope, brakes caught fire! The company put us in a great danger! We could have a serious accident during the deep descent. A lot of other drivers stopped to advise us about the dangerous situation.
On the way back, climbing the Ngorongoro slope, the car stopped because the engine produced smoke. We all pushed the car trying to restart the car unsuccessfully. Another car gave a ride to the top of the slope. The old and dangerous car broke definitely and our driver left it in Ngorongoro.
We remained with no safari car, and we continued our safari changing different private cars for the remaining 2 days with great discomforts and delays, while you disappeared at all!
On the way back to Arusha we went to the Arusha Tourist & Diplomatic Police station to make a report to the police.
The police said that surely one of the three safari companies was a fake.
Our safari and our holiday are ruined, and we risked our lives!
After the report at the police, Mr Thomas promised to refund us 1500 USD, but he disappeared without doing it.
IT
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Terrible experience
Attention! do not go to any of these safari agencies (Kilimanjaro Adventure Safari Club, Kima, Safari Moja Matata) especially not to Mister Thomas. I think they are scammers.
We paid Mr. Thomas 3800 USD to have a 8 days safari, at the end of July 2023: Serengeti, Lake Natron, Olduvai Gorge, lake Maniara. Starting from Arusha. He promised us the new car which pics he sent us by whatsapp when we contacted him, but a very old Toyota was used for our safari. The car was very very old and dangerous and Mr Thomas put us in a very serious DANGER and RISK for our LIVES! AND HE KNEW IT. That was a criminal way to work with people.
First of all, we paid Kilimanjaro Adventure Safari Club; the safari program was by KIMA company, and to enter the parks the name of the company was Safari Moja Matata. We don't know what happened.
The Toyota Prado sx 30 turbo (plate T457 ANR) had very worn tyres, left windows and doors didn't work (we can't get out of the car, we can't close the windows when the road was dusty), brakes didn't work and produced smoke and bud smell, brake fluid came out from the left front wheel, rear shock absorbers didn't work so the car skided dangerously and the engine made strange noises. The car was very very dirty and rusted. The driver (Juma) had to drive very slowly because the car swerving when improved the speed, so we lost a lot of time for visiting the parks. We were very afraid for our safety.
After a day driving, we wrote and phoned to Thomas to ask him for changing the car for a better one as those in the picture he sent, but he said it was the only avaible car. He said the car was ok, but it wasn't at all.
In fact, on 25th July one of the bald tyres broke. They mount the spare wheel but he broke after 20 meters! The spare tyre was very bald too.
We stand on the road for hours to wait for new wheels. I called Thomas to protest, he said we was right and he would refund us for that day, but he didn't it. That was the last time he answered at calling or sending messages.
Finally Thomas sent a private car that carried us to Lake Natron but we arrived in late and we had only 2 hours to visit the side in a great hurry.
By night, the driver Juma arrived to Natron with the same old car again and 2 new tyres and we continued the safari on the same old car.
The safari continued driving always very very slowly and we always must wait 2/3 ours for the payment for entering the parks because Thoms were always in late in that. We lost a lot of time every time.
On 27th July in Serengeti the brake fluid came out from a wheel that made bad noises. So we couldn't arrive to Serengeti Central and we had to pass the first night in another camping near the border of the park. Because of the slow driving and the in late payments we arrived on 28th July to Olduvai Gorge only 1 our before the closing! INCREDIBLE! We have no enought time to visit all we wanted.
On 29th July, during descending Ngorongoro slope, brakes caught fire! The company put us in a great danger! We could have a serious accident during the deep descent. A lot of other drivers stopped to advise us about the dangerous situation.
On the way back, climbing the Ngorongoro slope, the car stopped because the engine produced smoke. We all pushed the car trying to restart the car unsuccessfully. Another car gave a ride to the top of the slope. The old and dangerous car broke definitely and our driver left it in Ngorongoro.
We remained with no safari car, and we continued our safari changing different private cars for the remaining 2 days with great discomforts and delays, while you disappeared at all!
On the way back to Arusha we went to the Arusha Tourist & Diplomatic Police station to make a report to the police.
The police said that surely one of the three safari companies was a fake.
Our safari and our holiday are ruined, and we risked our lives!
After the report at the police, Mr Thomas promised to refund us 1500 USD, but he disappeared without doing it.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Proceed with Caution
Think twice before booking!
Unfortunately this did not turn out well. We haven't been to Kenya yet so our experience with African Mosaic Tours has made the last week or so very stressful and manic.
At first, Max, the CEO, was friendly, very quick at replying and put together a safari pack we were happy with. We sent across our deposit to the link that Max provided, he confirmed he had received it and we were set to go. Happy days! Or not…
I messaged Max last week to update my contact details and he came back to me in his usual quick response time but on this occasion accused me or being a fraud, that I was playing a “ game “ and that they have never used that payment option before, therefore, he has not received our deposit. My partner called him but he was aggressive and rude to her on the phone and he has now ceased communication with us and appears to be ignoring emails from other people who are trying to get to the bottom of this. We were, and still are, baffled as to what has happened here. What boils my blood is his outright lying. Everything he denies is in the email communication between us. I have the payment link, I have payment confirmation and I have a screen shot from Max showing my money in their account.
It doesn’t look like this is going to be settled through Max and African Mosaic Tours since they’re ignoring emails so I am going to have to find the answers through other routes. We have since booked another safari which just looks incredible but I would very much like my 1700USD back from this company.
Think long and hard about booking with this company. I’m sure they do and have provided safaris in the past but if this experience has happened to me then it can happen to others too.