US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Shell Company
I signed up with Usambara for a 5 day safari with an agreed upon itinerary and commitments for transfer from Moshi to Arusha.
After completing a Kilimanjaro trek, I was to be transferred from my hotel in Moshi to Arusha. The person picking me up was to arrive at 10am. At 10:15 I receive a call saying they cannot pick me up and I need to take the bus. I told them I would not (especially with advice from the hotel that it was not safe for my bags); I had to argue for 20 minutes to get them to agree to pay for a taxi to take me 2 hours to Arusha.
On arrival in Arusha, I met with another person who I was to pay the remaining amount owed on my safari. They tell me my itinerary is changing and that my group already left the day I arrived. I was told that it would start the following day and they had a group for me to join set up. Again I argued that I paid my deposit based upon the agreed itinerary that they had sold to me. Ultimately, they agreed to meet our agreed upon terms.
When I paid, I then realized I wasn't paying Usambara but another company. Then they said instead of staying at the hotel as expected, I would be joining the group at the campsite a night early. When I arrived, I realized I was joining yet another company.
On my last day I had to leave my group and be taxi'd to another group so I could visit another park.
It was an incredibly poor experience. I would not recommend signing up with Usambara.
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Masai Mara 3 day (but only 2)
Simba Oryx lodge and Mara itself are superb. Bonfire are either dishonest or incompetent. We paid for three days safari but, on the third day, the driver just took us home. We also gave the driver park fees to cover the third day. We are following this up with the company so will update this site if we get a refund, apology etc.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Failed to provide the tour promised - beware
I used Matembezi to arrange a trip of the East and West Usambara mountains, they were expensive but I picked them as they agreed to supply a specialist birding guide (Njano Mbilinyi who I had heard was good) I was very clear that I need an expert as the birds in the mountains are difficult to find.
However when I arrived they told me Njano was not available (he had had a better offer) and instead provided a driver/guide who they said was just as good! The reality was the guide provided was just a driver and did not know the birds and was unsure where to find them (and was totally reliant on a bird guide just to guess). The result was a very disappointing trip which I could have done for less than half the price.
As they knew Njano would not be available they could have
a) told me and I could have found a different tour guide
b) told me and arranged local guides
instead they seemed to just hope we would not notice! When we complained they just suggested we pay for local bird guides!
On the plus side the driver was friendly and tried his best and we did get to the general locations of the birds safely.
However all in all it was very disappointing, frustrating and annoying - I would suggest you avoid this company
AT
Jeep got stuck several times - no compensation
We did a 3 day Safari in Masai Mara with Ancient Safaris at the beginning of September.
Our jeep already got stuck on the first day because of some mechanical problems, so we couldn't get into the park this day. Furthermore they didn't replace the jeep. Our driver promised that they repaired the jeep and that everything is ready for the next day, unfortunately we got stuck again for several times on the next day .
We spent a lot of time waiting till the car cooled down again. It was really annoying, also because nobody told us what was going on.
And we didn't get any refund or compensation.
All in all we are really disappointed. Our Safari with Ancient Safaris was definitely not worth the price and we can't recommend it!
ES
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
No information, no organization.
This agency is run by a person with a lack of education and will attempt to defraud you at any time. The guides / drivers are not professionals and they do not have the necessary education. The exception is in the team of cooks, who do a great job.
As a reference, I must say that we did another safari in Kenya and it was completely opposite, we were with great people and professional people.
You should avoid contracting with this agency, and if it is part of a Kenya-Tanzania combined, you should specify to the Kenyan agency that you do not hire Sandlans Safari for the part you will make in Tanzania.
IN
Murchision national park
Very good to see giraffe and elephants.but has a small population of loin. Still uganda needs to improve service sectors. People attitude about giving service to customers are lagging. They think only about to grab money.
Experience level: first safari
Bad experience
In short, we got white-collar pickpocketed. We booked a 7-day safari with Jipe Trekking and Safari. On the morning of departure, we were kept waiting at the hotel for hours such that the first day's activities had to be postponed. On day 3, it emerged that there were problems with the dedicated credit card the driver was provided with to pay the entry fee for Serengeti National Park (it seems the company doesn't trust their staff enough to provide them with a general credit card). We were driven around from bank to bank for hours until the driver was forced to give up and try again tomorrow. As a result, we were now a full day behind schedule. The consequence was that we had to subsequently reduce our time in some of the nicest areas on the trip in order to return on time. When we complained about the fact that we were effectively charged one seventh of the total trip fees to wait around during these delays - none of which were our fault - the owner refused to reimburse us, and was even quite emotionally abusive over email. I suspected his responses could have been cut and pasted from previous dissatisfied clients. We've now lodged a complaint to the Tanzanian consumer affairs department. Fingers crossed.
On the plus side, the rest of our time in Tanzania was great, from the very first moment we no longer had to deal with Jipe!
BE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
an absolutely disappointing and frustrating experience with Tazama Holidays in the Masai Mara, Kenya
I just returned from a 6-nights private Migration Safari with Tazama Holidays in Kenya, quite expensive for a single traveller in a land cruiser. And it was absolutely disappointing!
The aim of my trip was very clear from the beginning on - wildlife photography of the wildebeest migration in the Masai Mara.
But their driver-guide, Eric, first only did classic game drives and only after unpleasant vivid discussions finally took me to the Talek River instead to the requested more important Mara River crossing points, with the result that we only got to see one crossing on the very last day (even though I showed him the exact points on a map!)
This driver of a 'photographic' safari (Tazama's own words) did not know anything about the simplest rules how to position the vehicle. He was very stubborn and did not take lightly to criticism. At any sightings he would spend most of the time on his phone (talking or checking messages). He definitely lacks even the most basic communicative skills (except with fellow drivers) as it proved to be extremely difficult to get any info or feedback. The only positive thing: he is a good driver and game spotter. It might well be that you fare better when going with the owner, Antony, himself. But although this was initially the plan also for my trip, this was changed shortly before leaving. You never know what you get!
Shortly before leaving for the trip Tazama proposed to change accommodation, an intimate eco-bush camp inside the Mara Reserve instead a much bigger one outside the reserve. This proved to be an excellent suggestion. However, also here Tazama disappointed as they stated this new camp would be more expensive, but they would not charge it to me. During my stay, however, I got the info that the bush camp was in fact about 20 percent cheaper - quite a sum for 6 nights which Tazama of course happily kept for themselves.
In short, if you don't ask for anything more than very general 'touristy' game drives and don't mind being ripped off for accomodation rates, if you are fine with a driver who does what he wants and does not communicate, go with Tazama.
US
The group dynamics in the ATC tour is difficult esp. without strong leadership.
Many European tour members and tour guide leader was not very responsive to the needs of people who are Asians or of Asian-descend. They assume all do not speak English well therefore dismiss what we have to say or do not know what we are talking about. But if you a drinker and loud, then your needs will be heard and catered to.
The tour guide leader was not responsive to a safety issue, which made me want to leave the tour early.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Dissapointing
We chose big time safari for our Safari on the class called budget mode so of course we did not expect great luxuries but unfortunately we had so many problems we wanted to share the experience.
The total days of safari were 11 days.
The worst episode was the second day in Serengeti where the car just broke down, old jeeps are used and you will have many chances that this will happens to you. The whole day was lost and nothing was seen that day.
After the Safari was over once in Nairobi we did complain at Big time safari offices to get some compensation as the service offered was not given to us.
The manager, John, was careless and unprofessional as he was more interested in what was happening on the TV than on our complain. He made us waste a lot of time in the office for nothing. The discussion ended up telling us that under his point of view we were not humans as we did not understand his problems and than worst would have been to die in the safari. Once he has your money in his pocket his behavior changes he won't call you back or he will tell you he is busy in some meeting.
Other problems we had was the guide in Tanzania was bad no interest on us. The camp in Amboseli was dirty and no mosquito net was given in one of the beds.
The picnic meals very poor some of the days.
In summary the safari was ok because the landscape and the animals are great but sure thing we would chose different company for a safari.