DE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A promise not fulfilled
Victoria falls are breathtaking and definitely worth the trip. The way to reach them needs carefull attention though. Being stuck in an airport for a full day, we have been initially supported by Falcon in a correct way. However, we got the promise in the bus, in front of other witnesses, that the safari day to Bostwana (which was cancelled due to shortage of time) would be refunded. Guess what, back home this was no longer the case. While Falcon Safaris seems to have been very responsive, this no longer existed when money was at stake, and we got no refund for hotel and not for the safari, while the later had been promised, otherwise we might have chosen to sacrifize the cruise on the river. I had paid in advance the park entrance. I can only recommend, pay the minimum in advance. It's when you have troubles that the average and the great can make a difference. The refusal for any further discussions was also disappointed.
Last point, not entirely disconnected to the experience on this trip and not the fault of Falcon Safaris: don't be foolish and pay more thinking you get safer with South African Airways. Worst experience ever: lost the luggage, delayed and missed the connexion without any apology, 4 hours, yes 4 hours of fight to get a boarding pass for the flight on the next day.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
I would not use this company again
I did not enjoy my safari with this company. The schedule they give you is not the actual schedule you will do. Once they have your money and you are actually on safari, your driver will tell you that the schedule the company gives you doesn’t actually matter. Most days, I would spend about 2 hours actually doing safari stuff (though some days would be more). The rest of the day would typically be spent in a cramped van driving to pick up new passengers. The drivers don’t actually work for the company, they are more like free-lance drivers that take people from different companies. The drivers want to get the most people so they can get more money. So you will drive to place 1, then to place 2, and then back to place 1 to pick up more people. Thus, you spend a lot of time driving the same highways (not on safari) to get more people. When I emailed and complained about this, they replied by stating, “Kindly have the spirit of adventure.” Driving back and forth on the same road in a cramped van is not the “spirit of adventure” I envisioned for my safari. I would use another company, or I would consider just heading to Nairobi and negotiating a much better price there. If I would have done that, I would have saved a ton of money and probably had a better experience.
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Nice experience, but critical points (management of time, communication, food)
Nice experience, although with some critical points. Communication before departure (we booked the safari online, before arriving to Tanzania) was very good: Masha promptly replied to all our (several) questions, although during the safari we discovered that some points were not so accurate (e.g. I asked information about electricity in the camps, and I was told that it was available in all them; but in 2 places there was no way to charge batteries and mobile phones.. I think this information is important and should be mentioned before). We enjoyed our gamedrives, although we were quite disappointed by their duration.. by reading the program you cannot really perceive how much time you will spend in the camps, especially for breakfast/dinner breaks.. many times, we noticed that we were the last to leave in the morning and the firsts to come back to the camp (also, one morning we asked our guide to leave 30min before - NB. everyone else left at 6.30-7.. we were told that we had to be ready for breakfast at 7.30, so we could leave only more than an hour later, when the cook had finished recollecting all his things - in order to have more time to try to see the most difficult seen animals of the big 5 - in the end, we could see only 3 of them -, but we were told that the cook needed more time to prepare breakfast and our lunch boxes, so it was not possible.. another time, because of an error in the office, we had to wait for a person coming to the gate of the Ngorongoro crater and pay for the entrance fees, which caused a 30-60min delay (we didn't see the rhino, and I know you have to be lucky to see animals, but by loosing time in this way certainly doesn't help). On the other hand, both the guide and the cook were very kind. Finally, one very important thing should be mentioned: after the last dinner we had we got both sick, probably because of the meat or some other foods which had not been properly preserved during the 5 days of the safari. I know we opted for the budget option, but we still spent more than $1000 per person, so, honestly, we expected more.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Bad experience with Terminal Tours
My friend and I signed up for a 3-day Masai Mara tour with Terminal Tours (Kenya).
Terminal Tours arranged for us to stay in Rhino Camp for 2 nights, which turned out to be quite a bad experience. Firstly, the electricity was unavailable during some parts of the promised hours and hot showers (generated by wood fire) were mostly unavailable during the promised hours too.
Our driver (and guide) Sammy does not seem enthusiastic in leading the tour. He was often quiet during the game drive and only spoke when people in the tour group asked him questions. Furthermore, he seemed clueless to some of our questions, to the extent that two of the Canadians in our group sarcastically told him to "at least make up a reason to tell us when we ask you again".
Also, the apparent owner of Terminal Tours - Nelson, practices price differentiation to a huge extent. For example, people on the same tour were charged in varying amounts between USD$360 and USD400+. Hence, it might be wiser to book a tour with a tour operator that has a more transparent pricing structure. On a side note, it is intriguing that Nelson issued me with an invoice with a stated amount which is lower than the amount I had paid him and he told me that it is okay.
Lastly, do not rely on their promised free transfer service. Terminal Tours was supposed to pick my friend and I from our hotel to the bus terminal at 6:15am in the morning to catch a bus at 7am. We waited until 6:25am and no one turned up. I have explicitly mentioned to both Nelson and his assistant - Steven, the day before our departure, that the driver must before 6:15am as we needed time at the bus terminal to have our tickets confirmed. Eventually, we had to fork out money from our own pockets to pay for a taxi to the bus terminal. Nelson eventually arrived at the bus terminal himself, just before our bus departed. Ostensibly appearing apologetic, he started arguing that I have told him to send the driver to our hotel at 6:30am instead. I was totally disgusted by his actions and words.
In conclusion, I will not recommend anyone to sign up for a tour with Terminal Tours. As my friend says, it was "a ruined experience in Kenya".
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Kruger Park is amazing, however the contractor that supplied the open vehicles needs to be changed.
Our Safari in Kruger had a rough start, on the first official game drive ( late afternoon, with the open safari vehicle ) the vehicle broke down. When our driver/guide stopped to view animals, the vehicle refused to start. After soliciting the assistance of a passerby who had mechanic tools and knowledge, we returned to the camp safely and finished the game drive in a mini van.
The following day on our early morning game drive ( different open safari vehicle) we again broke down. This time a much greater distance from the camp and outside of cell phone range. We had to wait approx. 2 hours in the hot morning sun until another Safari company stopped and assisted in contacting the camp to arrange for alternate transportation. In the end we agreed to continue with the game drive, in another vehicle . However as a whole we were concerned for our overall safety with these vehicles and we had lost faith and trust in this tour company to deliver a product as agreed upon!
When you operate a Safari company in a huge Wildlife Park such as Kruger, you need to have safe guards in place. Having access to reliable vehicles for the game drives, should be their number one priority. Other communication equipment, such as satellite phones, that will provide contact to the camps in event of break downs or emergency medical issues, is a must. We were informed that the use of the open safari vehicles was fairly new to this company.
In closing, I found our driver / guide, to be very knowledge with the wildlife in Kruger and friendly. On the other hand , the other company employee whom we had direct contact with during this Safari was unacceptable. I felt he forgot who he was working for at times. His communication with our tour was very poor, at no time did he apologize for the inconvenience's of the break downs or inquire as to our safety during the break downs. We also witnessed his unacceptable rants towards our driver in front of us, blaming him for the mechanical breakdowns. He was very unprofessional and not a good representative of Wildlife Safaris !
NL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Seen a lot and complained a lot with Meru Mountain Treks
Mating lions in Serengeti, the continuous migration of wildebeest and zebras and the aftermath of a nightly hunting party of thirteen lions in the Ngorongoro crater. Yes, our experiences with Meru Mountain Treks were beyond our expectations. Thanks to our driver/guide Richard. He knows the parks, anticipates the behavior of the animals and turned out te be a nice guy. The cook had had simple tools but presented good meals.
So far so good. Yes, we knew we booked a budget safari (four days, four persons, $600 each) so we couldn't expect to much luxury. The problems started with the jeep. Despite assurances that all our gear would fit in it, the jeep was way too small. Richard arranged al larger one at additional costs ($300). The tents we were supposed to sleep in were moldy, had zippers that couldn't be closed and leaked. The least one may expect on a tent safari in the rainy saison is that the tents are waterproof. The first night there was an alternative: simple concrete huts, the second night half of our company decided to sleep in the jeep and the third night we slept in a guesthouse (again at additional costs of $300).
In stead of a quiet evening after a day of encounters with giraffes, elephants, lions and hippos, we constantly had to argue about the poor accommodation. There were telephone calls with Mr. Ibrahim, the director of Meru Mountain Treks, but he persisted that his tents were fine. After our return in Arusha an employee of Meru Mountain Treks invited us to talk about our experiences and our complaints. He announced that Mr. Ibrahim would show up later to hear our story first hand. But eventually he didn't bother. We never heard from Meru Mountain Treks again. Needless to say that Meru Mountain Treks will neither from us.
CO
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Sad ending of a dreamed safari
After lots of research we contacted Simon King at Eastco and were very pleased with the tour that he designed for us - although the level of communication (answering our questions, etc,) dropped dramatically once we had paid. The price for the tour was to include all expenses for transportation, food and lodging within Tanzania and admission to the parks and reserves selected. Our initial flight from Dar to Mwanza went smoothly, but our first problem occurred when nobody met us at Mwanza as arranged: effectively we lost half a day before arrangements were evidently cobbled together to get us to our first stop, where our drivers met us the next morning. The next problem occurred when without previous notice, our lodging was changed from Serengeti to tents at a mountain site closer to Ngorongoro - obviously an improvised solution, as we were unprepared for such a cold site and the camp had been hastily set up the day before, and there were insufficient blankets the first two nights; also, the isolation of the site required a long 2 and 1/2 hour drive over a bumpy dirt road to get to and from Serengeti for the additional two days planned there. This way it was impossible to get there early in the morning and we lost many hours in the Serengeti, one of our priorities. Things got worse when we got to Tarangire National Park and there was no money in the debit cards the guides had to pay entrances, and we stayed for three hours at the entrance trying to communicate with the company via email and phone, only after we called the Tourist Board did they contact us and told us to pay the entrance assuring they would reimburse us the following day (today 15 days later still no refund). That night when we got to beautiful Boundary Hill we where surprised with a New Year's dinner of only rice, there where no provisions or drinks (not even water) in the lodge. After the same experience in Arusha National Park (we were stuck at the entrance with no money in the card to pay and this time only one car for the group of eight since Mr. King decided to change guides and failed to replace wonderful Edward on time.) At this point, we decided to pay a visit to him at his "office" in Arusha and refused to leave until we reached an agreement. We ended up paying the entrance to this park as well. Faced with the risk of being stranded without funds for entering parks, etc. during the remainder of our tour, we came to a compromise agreement with Mr, King: much against our will, we abandoned the remainder of our planned itinerary and instead would go to Zanzibar (which would be cheaper than completing the tour as planned) and that Mr. King would refund the entrance fees we had had to pay, the difference in cost between Zanzibar and our planned itinerary and would compensate us for the more than three days lost. This all adds up to several thousand dollars, of which we have not received a penny so far. Perhaps the most irritating and frustrating aspect of this was the difficulty in communicating with Mr. King, and the fact that he offered different versions of the situation virtually every tome we were in contact with him
IT
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
This is not a park but only the natural forest exists between Malindi and Watamu
It is an ancient rainforest not yet destroyed
The natural forest is inhabited by locals residents. There are the ancient ruins of the city of Gede.
The area that I have visited is located at coordinates: 3 ° 17 '05 ", 18 S 40 ° 01' 39", 50 E. Here is an "agriturismo" (Kenyan Natural Village) recently built called "Tishi's farm".
The forest is easily accessible along the road that leads to Malindi Watamu.
The main road is in good condition, the landscape and climate are typical of the coast of Kenya.
There aren't wild animals such as lions, rhinos, gazelles, zebras, etc..
Review about Marsabit National Park by Ronald Vriesema
Not much wildlife, difficult to travel. Lake has dried up.
ES
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Nice, but not superb, experience for an European
As a biologist, I enjoyed African Nature in many diverse places in South Africa; also in Mountain Zebra National Park, of course. Landscapes are beautiful, not very different to African savanna, I think. There were very few tourists when I visited the Park, so it was a good moment to relax and enjoying driving through it.
Apart from this, I have to say that mammals diversity was not too high, so we had to drive a long way to see "big" animals (gazelles and zebras, most of them). I can imagine that the most of urban citizens, unused to Nature, prefer to find wilder animals like rhinos, lions, cheetahs,... and that could be the reason why we saw so few tourists there.
My final impression was that Mountain Zebra is a good park, sure, but it shouldn'be a priority for visitors