35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Crowded Safaris in a Corrupt place
During our 6 day safari, our guide, Stephen, alone, worked tirelessly, sometimes driving 7 hours in a day. His communication to the group could have been far better, clearer and louder, but he was friendly, very knowledgeable about the animals, tried hard and did his best to help us tick off the big five. We achieved this, but only managed to see Rhino at a distance, and did not see a leopard.
The Maasai clearly have a strangle-hold over all of these safaris that comes across as if it is a Mafia-type of situation. They control the gates to all the game reserves, it was their tourist camps we were taken to, and it was their shops with heavy-handed sales tactics and ridiculous prices that all the tourists were constantly taken to throughout the trip. The camps all serve the same boring tasteless food in bulk. Beef stew, chicken pieces, rice and mixed veg. This is what you will eat for every single meal, every day for 6 days. Left over chicken is packed up for bland tin-foil packed lunches.
Roads around the Maasai Mara are 100 times worse than you can imagine, even in a Toyota Land Cruiser Jeep. My spine was killing from being sledgehammered after these two days of the trip, and I had cuts and bruises on my shoulders from being bashed into the jeep walls. Nokuru and Amboselli roads were far better. Book a Jeep. Do not book one of these safaris in a van, you will massively regret it!!!
Manjaro tented camp was a dump. Staff were unwelcoming, bossy and miserable. Our tent and mosquito net did not close, even though they stated that if it was not closed, baboons could steal your belongings. The camp smelt of raw sewage, and the tent toilet did not work. They kindly provided me with a bucket to pour sink water into the loo as a substitute. The bedside lamp did not work and the only lightswitch with loose visible wiring was about 6 foot from the bed.
Be prepared for lots and lots of driving, ..........like whole days of driving, on sometimes pretty scary roads, and pray your driver has good judgement while overtaking at high speed on terrible roads.
At all three parks, some beautiful scenes of animals together were spoiled by overcrowding of vehicles. Usually a pride of lions or Cheetah will be surrounded by 20-30 vehicles. Loud, stupid Kenyan vehicle drivers shout to each other loudly in Swahili, and truckfulls of ignorant tourists talk loudly, even by animals very sensitive to sound. On several occasions, this clown-show led to the animals being scared off, and missing out chasing down a meal. On one occasion, there were so many trucks (about 50!!!), the wildabeest could not even get through to cross the river.
If you go to the Maasai village, be prepared to be surrounded and sold heavily to. Also, if a bracelet is worth 100-200KES, they will price it at 2500-3000KES, to start any negotiation. On our trip, they were so focused on selling to us, they did not even let us meet the chief, which was supposed to be a key part of the visit. Also be prepared to be stopped by the police with guns in Ambosselli, for a short river walk with a bribe. As the police are all corrupt, and as Stephen did not properly explain or prepare us for this in advance, we panicked as we thought we were being robbed.
By the end of the trip, we had definitely had enough. The awful food and constantly being treated like a fool by the tireless heavy selling tactics of the Maasai had got a bit wearing. It was summed up by the Maasai children. You say 'Hi' to them, they hold their hand out for payment.
If it wasn't for the hard work of Stephen, this safari would only have been a 1 or 2 star experience.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Incredible Wildlife, Unmet Expectations
This was my first time using a tour operator. I’ve done several international solo trips and usually plan everything myself, but I felt unsure about visiting rural Africa. I called VISA Infinite’s concierge to get a list of reputable, local tour operators—Off2Africa was on it.
Before arrival, I dealt exclusively with Claire via email due to time differences. She was incredibly helpful and everything looked lined up for a great trip. One star is just for the great email communication.
WHERE THINGS WENT WRONG:
I stayed at three lodges in Zimbabwe and Botswana. The first was Insika Lodge in Victoria Falls. Check-out was 10AM, but my transfer was scheduled more than an hour later. Reception kindly held my bags while I waited by the pool without a room (bar and breakfast area were closed). When the shuttle arrived, it already had passengers and made five more lodge stops, including a nearly 30-minute wait at Victoria Falls Hotel.
We crossed the Botswana border, and the group was split up. I was placed in a random taxi with three separate parties. The TravelKey app said the transfer would take “around two hours,” but I didn’t arrive at Kubu Lodge until around 2:15 PM. I was informed at Reception that the afternoon game drive had already passed. I had no option but to take the river cruise instead.
With a custom-made itinerary, at this price point, I expected private transfers. Instead, I got the profit-maximizing, theme park-style shuttle loop that cost me a game drive.
The night before checking out of Kubu, I noticed my next transfer was scheduled for two hours after check-out. Not wanting to wait around again, I asked if the morning game drive could start at 9AM instead of the usual 9:30. The guide agreed after some back-and-forth, but I didn’t appreciate putting the staff in that position because of poor planning. My time in Africa was limited, and it wasn’t respected.
Kubu was also labeled “Full Board Plus” in the TravelKey app. Assuming drinks at meals were included (as is standard), I had three bottled waters. I was shocked to be billed for them at checkout. Claire apologized for the “confusion,” but there was no confusion—there was misrepresentation. She offered no remedy. I contacted the Director, Beck Edwards, about getting a refund for the waters. He denied a refund and was snarky about refunding a charge that was less than the international banking minimum of $40.
To end the trip, I faced another transfer fiasco. My last lodge was Camp Kazuma. The TravelKey app said my airport transfer was scheduled for 10AM, but the interim GM said it was 11. At 11:20, no one had shown. I messaged Claire and was brushed off with: “Hi Branden it should all be on your Travel Key App.” I told her it said 10AM and no transfer had arrived. She eventually said Kazuma was supposed to arrange it. After coordination with the interim GM, I was driven in a game viewer to a highway pickup point and transferred by taxi. I barely made my flight with boarding closing 20 minutes after I arrived.
Claire sent a screenshot showing the original GM had scheduled an 11AM transfer. But that doesn't explain why the app showed 10AM or why Off2Africa didn’t confirm plans with the lodge the week of my stay. Communication breakdowns like this simply shouldn’t happen.
Final Thoughts:
Vic Falls, Chobe National Park, and Kazuma National Forest were all wonderful destinations and I whole-heartedly endorse them as travel destinations. However, the poorly-managed transfers and incorrect information included in the TravelKey app caused me a great stir and a lot of uncertainty. I would not recommend Off2Africa to others looking for a Tour Operator in the Vic Falls area.
As a solo traveler, I rely quite a bit on reviews from other travelers. If you're a semi-experienced traveler and are reading this, trust me: you don’t need a tour operator here. With Google, any reputable AI agent, and direct lodge bookings, you can craft your own itinerary with more control and fewer problems. I wish I had done just that.
I included a picture of my luggage on the back of a game viewer because I doubt I'll ever see that again!
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
"Bait-and-switch on lodging"
I and my brother Jacob book 3 days safari with this company,all money was paid in cash on the day of travel, Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this operator. We were sold a package promising at Mara Jambo or comparable. What we got was Miti Mingi tented camp, under construction and it books at about half the price of Mara Jambo. When we voiced our dissatisfaction, we ware told that no bookings were available at the former, which a quick Internet search proved to be false. Owner Fredrick refund us less than half of the difference between the room prices,we were also to sleep in twin room but on the first day, we were put in triple room,and the second day is when we ware put in twin room as per our request!
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Horrible Tour Guide Moses Ngugi
The experience was one of a kind. He took us to Maasai Mara Safari from June 7 to 9. He was not friendly, Rude and he was not explaining about the animals or anything pertaining the trip unless you ask. We were expecting good service from Bonfire but it was the worst experience. I will not recommend anyone to use Moses Ngugi as a tour guide he is the worst. The Flair Camp Hosts were Amazing.
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Poor
Beautiful scenic, poor for animals, mainly predators, bad maintained, view point closed or poor. Picnic site very poor.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Disappointing and a bit sketchy
Nyala Mobile Safaris is a relatively new business. Our family of 3 adults booked a 5-day budget mobile safari based on a good price for the comfort level and a handful of excellent reviews. Our overall experience was disappointing, including poor communication throughout and some sketchy aspects. We recommend using a more proven operator; we certainly would in the future. For details read on.
The good: The setup of the camps was as comfortable as advertised, with spacious tents, small cots, a portable bathroom and shower, and other amenities. The food was certainly adequate under the circumstances. The vehicle had some issues but none untoward given the exceptionally bad roads it navigates day in and day out. As advertised, there was plenty of free alcohol, which was useful in taking the edge off the steady stream of difficulties.
The disappointing: Our crew consisted of company-owner Mucheka who was in charge of camping, meals, and other logistics; a certified guide who was in charge of the safari aspects; and a "helper boy." Unfortunately the guide was surprisingly incompetent. Over the entire 5-day safari he found literally zero animals we hadn't spotted on our own, and on multiple occasions he got lost when we were on a game drive without Macheka. It's impossible to know how much more wildlife we would have seen if our guide had participated in the spotting (and how much less time spent driving aimlessly if he knew the way), but wildlife spotting has certainly been the norm for guides during the handful of other safaris we've been on.
The sketchy: We paid for a private safari months in advance and confirmed it with Mucheka several times, yet when we arrived at the airport we were told that "two friends" -- a last-minute booking -- would be joining us for the first half of our trip and were waiting in the safari vehicle. We put our foot down and they did find a second vehicle, driver, and dining table, but for the first 2+ days Macheka was juggling two parallel safaris, presumably to the detriment of both. At the other end, when our post-safari transfer, included in the price, dropped us off, we were told Macheka hadn't paid for it and we needed to fork over $105. The money was recovered in the end but not without effort. Overall, communication with Macheka was challenging and a bit slippery from start to finish; it should have been a warning sign.
Again, we would not use Nyala Mobile Safaris again ourselves and unfortunately cannot recommend the company to others.
CN
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A poorly-managed tourism company
Travelling to the Okavango Delta in Botswana has always been my dream. However, I chose the wrong company. The staff didn't offer us the food prepared by the company and treated us in a very rude way. The camp was very far from the delta. I don't recommend it.
CN
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The guide is lazy and less experienced.
I regret to give him too much tips .I gave him 2000Kes . Later I ask several other teams other groups other friends they join other company’s safari team,they told me they gave their guides less tips ,they only gave there guides 1000 Kes every one person for three days safari ,but their guides lead them find much more animals ——They saw Five Majestic Beasts of the Maasai Mara Grassland . They also saw lots of wild animals cross the sand river during 11:00~12:30 at noon on 17 July. But our guide only find three kind of Five Majestic Beasts. He even didn’t want to bring us to the sand river to wait for the wild beasts crossing the river at the same day . Although I already told him to give us chance and time to wait for the famous and precious crossing . At last at the afternoon he lead us to the sand river after we ask him go there but we saw nothing because the crossing finished already that time. He said several times it’s too far away to go to those crossing points of sand river to wait the crossing .
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Not the best communication from the operator
The operator wasn’t great at communicating throughout the experience. Before the start of the trek, he had my arrival day wrong and I had to meet him shortly after I arrived (the night before the start of the trek as per his recommendation too). He only told me I was just on my own for the trip that night and no one else was on the tour.
The trek itself was good and the porters were lovely. They were friendly and very helpful. Hygiene is something that could definitely improved as they did provide a hot tub of water for washing but no soap or hand sanitizer at all throughout the trip. Also did not have napkins at all for meals.
Now for the walking part, the pace seemed good but there were times we were taking long breaks for no reason and I had to move around to stop from tightening up again. They were also obsessed with taking photos either their company banner in every single sign and user my phones the camera. They also did push to send the photos right away when all I wanted was to disconnect during the few days of trekking.
We made good pace and when I asked if I wanted to do 7 days instead of the 8 day Kenosha route instead, I said I enjoyed the outdoors so I wanted 8. Later it was decided without letting me know that we were doing 7. I didn’t know we were summiting until the afternoon before. They said it’s because of bad weather that they pushed it up but other people I met along the route said they had fine weather the next day. The only compensation I got for that was they paid for my accommodation the night we got back (which I had to push for).
We did summit and I do appreciate that. But after the summit. I had noticed I had frostbite in my fingers and asked for hot water for my frostbite (same as the washing water I’d usually get). I was told there was no water left and I’ll have to wait until the next camp.
Lastly in terms of tipping the operator told me one thing and the guide suggested another (which was waay off each other) it made for a really awkward tipping ceremony which again I only found out was occurring in the day it was happening.
As much as I enjoyed the trek. There were quite a few things that tainted and took away from the experience.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Satisfactory, but lacking.
- Booked 9 months in advance.
- Told them early on that we were 5 people (80 year old, 2 retirees & 2 younger) some of whom would not appreciate sleeping too roughly - have emails to prove it. Asked them to find accommodation that wouldn't be too rough.
- First day, upon collection, Mike said "Because we are heading into the busy season, we are having trouble finding accommodation in Tanzania that will be comfortable, so you will probably be sleeping on the floor without a mattress or pillows". A few days before, we had also asked Vinny in a text if we needed to bring pillows and he said "No". You had 9 months to sort that out!
- It was clear throughout the trip that Cover Kenya hadn't booked our accommodation because the guides never knew where we were staying until that afternoon, as we asked them.
- They did in the end find better accommodation, for a price. My husband found suitable much cheaper accommodation in Booking.com, but we had to go with their expensive options.
- We DID see all the animals we had hoped to see, and that was thanks to Kelvin's excellent communication with other drivers via radio & phone within the parks, so well done for that and thank you. Our other driver in Tanzania did not communicate with other drivers except when we stopped to speak with them in person, but luckily we'd seen almost everything we wanted to see by then.
- Kelvin, however, is NOT a tour-guide, he is a DRIVER and that was abundantly clear throughout our Kenyan safari. Not once did he tell us where we were going, what we were doing, if we needed to be dressed warmly for an activity, a briefing or how long the drive would be without us asking. He didn't learn a single one of our names, and even though I asked to see something specific, he said he would show me but didn't. We also told him an activity we wanted to do, and he tried to drop us off in a random town at night - unsafe.
- Both drivers took many phone calls while driving, I understand some of those were for the benefit of the tour (where an animal was etc), however many were private calls. Whatever the company policy is with this I don't know, however it is unsafe to drive for short and long periods with the phone in your hand, especially on those crazy roads - get a Hands-free setup, please! I saw many drivers with hands-free, just neither of ours, it is very unsafe.
- The car was "beeping" the entire time we were in it. I have a recording of it.
- I don't recommend the optional boat trip, however the walking tour with the Zoologist/Biologist was exceptional - however it was a cost that we were not told about until the last moment (and not in any correspondence).
- When we crossed the border, we were dropped off at the Arusha hotel without a word about what was going to happen, who to speak with, what time we needed to be ready etc. Once we messaged Cover Kenya, then we were told - Oh the agent will meet with you at 6:30pm. This happened twice, when we were dropped back to Arusha again, no word of what we needed to do or where to go.
- Booked an All-inclusive trip. Told on the second day that we needed to pay for the park fees in cash extra. Queried this with Vinny - he agreed, but we couldn't, as they hadn't told us in advance, so transferred. Later, upon showing evidence to Vinny of the 'All-inclusive' aspect of the tour, Cover Kenya agreed to return the money. Which they couldn't do via transfer (even though we could do it to them?). This was an unnecessary stress.
- Upon arrival in Nairobi at the end of the tour, we drove to Cover Kenya's HQ, where we met Mike who proceeded to give us the cash, MINUS $100US. Luckily my husband counted it in front of him, when he miraculously found the lost $100 in his pocket.
- Vinny stated that they kept our tour private, however we know that they were trying to find another person/s for the tour, but couldn't.
- We did not feel comfortable giving feedback during the trip about the driver/tourguide, as they were the person solely responsible for us - if they became unhappy with us, we could suffer.