65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
The Owner of Sun Safaris has left us devastated.
In October 2025, our group of four travelled to Southern Africa on a tour organised by the Owner of Sun Safaris. The trip was required to be fully paid in advance before leaving Australia.
On arrival at our first safari camp, The Old Drift Lodge, we were informed that our accommodation had not been paid for by Sun Safaris. Despite apologies and assurances from the Owner of Sun Safaris, we were forced to pay ourselves using credit cards for accommodation we had already paid for.
Unfortunately, this situation was repeated at the remaining three safari camps, with continued promises from Sun Safaris that were not fulfilled. This caused significant stress throughout what should have been a once-in-a-lifetime holiday.
After returning to Australia, we continued to seek reimbursement and, despite many promises, we remain out of pocket by approximately USD $18,500. Based on our experience, we cannot recommend Sun Safaris and advise future travellers to proceed with extreme caution.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Not Applicable
I did not get to go on the trip. I cancelled well in advance and was told I would be refunded 100% of deposits made. It has been close to a year of promises from Marvel to refund me but no payment has been sent back to me. First, it was an excuse of difficulties sending money back to US from Zimbabwe, etc. There is always a way to send money almost anywhere in this world. I have traveled all-over the world and getting money from one place to another can almost always be worked out. You had no problem receiving my money. I am out of over $2000 USD and now have to go through legal hoops in a different country to attempt to be refunded. My whole reason for postponing and canceling my trip was due to medical reasons for my mother who was planning to go on this trip and physically could not. It is really shameful of your business to be so deceptive amd dishonest.
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Brett - dishonest, took our payment for personal mortgage payment
We (4 guests) paid US55,600 for our 'trip of a lifetime' only to find that Brett had taken our final payment to pay personal expenses in relation to his mortgage.
Despite being reassured that he would settle the payments prior to our departure from various accommodation providers, we had to pay directly an additional US18,500 to avoid being stranded.
We travelled in October and have been continually promised a refund which has not materialised.
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Flight was cancelled due to political unrest
Couldn't fly to Tanzania because of political unrest causing our flight to be cancelled. Agent in Tanzania could not refund our deposit, but said we can transfer is to the following year. Fingers crossed that political situation stabilises.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Dropped me in wrong country
This tour company is the worst. They allow operators that are not employed by the company "take" jobs from the original assigned guide.
This person tried to drop me off in the wrong country. He was refusing to drive me back over the border to my scheduled pick up person.
They are extremely unprofessional. They would not refund anything. How do you allow someone to steal your vehicle, kidnap a family of 4, and 2 single travelers?
That is exactly what happened. This guide took the job from his friend.
He was not authorized to drive around people including a 6 year old child.
The worst company.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Lovely nature and tour, but rather badly organized
Unfortunately I can't give a rating that is too well.
First of all, we booked this tour as it promised an early-morning gamedrive in Amboseli, which unfortunately did not happen. When reaching out to the office, they did not even apologize.
Moreover, the organization of the tour was rather bad. It always took forever dropping all the people of at the different camps, and the people were told super weird times for pickup. The next camp was not even 5 min away from ours, but they told them to be ready 20 min later than us. So no wonder that we then had to wait for 15 min at there camp.
Moreover, during our trip, basically all the people changed in between, so you always had new people join in.
Also the end was quite annonying, as everyone was brought to their hotel in Nairobi, instead of bringing everyone to the office first, and then bringing them to the hotels from there (as was done on the first day).
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Extremely Disappointing Safari Experience, Would Not Recommend
Unfortunately, our experience with this company was deeply disappointing. From the start, the service fell far short of what we paid for. Our guide, Isiah, consistently did the bare minimum and showed little interest in providing quality experience.
In Tsavo, he spent much of the time on personal phone calls and speeding through the park, even when wildlife was visible. He rarely attempted to spot animals, and when we asked him to stop, he did so briefly, sometimes even driving off while we were still standing to take photos. Questions were ignored or answered incorrectly, and his overall knowledge seemed limited.
Amboseli was worse. After only 1 hour and 45 minutes in the park, he decided, without consulting us, to head back to Nairobi. Not only did we miss time in the park, his decision to leave early put us so far ahead of schedule we also missed the prepaid lunch. On the way back, we were left waiting in the vehicle twice, once for him to have an extended coffee break and then several minutes while he shopped for personal groceries from roadside vendors. While he was out of the vehicle, we experienced aggressive harassment and uncomfortable confrontations.
When I raised concerns with the company, the response was dismissive and offered no real solution. The last two days were more of the same: distracted by his phone, ignoring wildlife, and even discussing letting strangers join our private tour, something we paid extra to avoid.
Thankfully, the second week with a different company and team was a stark contrast: professional, passionate, and truly representative of Kenyan hospitality.
Sadly, Mimsoft Safaris failed to deliver what was promised and missed an opportunity to make things right. Based on this experience, I cannot recommend their services.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
My worst experience ever, can't recommend anyone to use the same driver, Andrew was terrible!!
The driver, Andrew kept on making unnecessary stops on our way, he spent most of his time on his phone as he drove, everytime he complained about the fuel being insufficient yet we had 110 litres at the time we set off from Kampala, the game drive only lasted for just an hour, and he refused to do another one. We never had a chance to visit the falls since he hoodwinked us into taking a shortcut and headed straight to the Gulu route back to Kampala yet it was part of our to do list, he restricted our movements and made our trip terrible, infact my daughter cried because she never visited the top of the falls. I regret booking with him.
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Cancelled holiday because of unrest and Government advice.
Unable to travel because of FCDO advice, dilute to political riots.
NZ
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great guide, bad organisation
We did a 7 day safari with Lenchada Safaris and while the wildlife itself was incredible, there are serious transparency and communication issues that future travelers should know about.
The main problem was in Amboseli National Park. The safari package is sold and charged as if you enter Amboseli for 3 days, but in reality you only enter the park for 2. The itinerary clearly mentions a night game drive on day 5, a full day game drive on day 6, and a pre morning game drive on day 7.
The night game drive on day 5 never happened. Our guide clearly told us that they have NEVER done the Amboseli night game drive on day 5, yet it is still advertised in the itinerary they send to customers.
There was no refund and no option to recover the unused park entrance fee. This is not about a missed service. It is a park entrance ticket that was never used. Amboseli park tickets are valid for 24 hours. What they do is enter the park on day 6 around 10am, which allows them to re enter at 6am on day 7 using the same ticket. This means they only pay one park entrance instead of two, while charging the customer as if three days were included.
If you actually want to do the evening game drive on day 5, you would need to leave Hell’s Gate no later than 10am. This was not done and it was never communicated in advance.
I have screenshots of the emails from Lenchada Safaris showing the itinerary exactly as advertised (you can go to google reviews and check the actual conversation there in screenshots). I also have screenshots of WhatsApp conversations with Sam, the Operations Manager, where I raised this issue. In those messages, he first states that they never offered the day 5 game drive, and later says that because there is not enough time on day 5, they instead do the pre morning game drive on day 7. These explanations contradict each other.
I initially dealt with Collins during the booking process. He was responsive until the deposit was paid, but after that it became extremely difficult to get answers or support from him.
It is also worth mentioning that Lenchada Safaris is a subsidiary of Jocky Tours, which operates several other safari companies as well.
Our guide Kikitu was excellent, honest, and very knowledgeable, and the safari itself was enjoyable from a wildlife perspective. However, the itinerary is misleading, park fees are not handled transparently, and communication when issues arise is very poor. I strongly recommend clarifying exactly how many park entrances are truly included before booking.