DK
Really good, but too short
Accommodations, food, transportation was fine, compaired to the price. Your guide was really good, very friendly, and a good driver. I just wished I have had longer time out in Masai Mara, comparied to the time we spend driving there. We arrived at 3:30pm on the first day and left at 1pm the 3. day.
I did not see the rhino or leopard, and only one buffalo. But I saw the migration of the zebras and wild beasts, and came close to e.g. lions, giraffes, elephants, different gazelle species, hippos, cheetah, some birds and we visited the Masai village on the last day, for 1000KES.
The Scenic beauty was good, but the most was yellow. Weather was good, not to hot or cold, luckly, the chance for rain was 50/50, but it only rained for 2h when we where there.
In total: It was worth it, but I wish, that I have had more time out in Masai Mara.
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Augrabies Falls National Park by Bryan
Augrabies primary claim to fame is the scenic beauty of the Augrabies Falls and the Orange river as well as the fascinatingly rugged desert landscapes of the surrounding countryside. Wildlife sightings are likely to be limited to a few small antelope, rock rabbits, brightly coloured lizards and intensely annoying midges (commonly referred to 'miggies’).
Accommodation it typical National Parks style Chalets and cottages.
PL
Beautiful country and very bad people
This is a formal complaint concerning the service provided by Waterlime Mobile Safaris during my trip "6 Days of Moremi Game Reserve" which took place between 29.August - 3 September (programme provided by the organiser of the safari).
The service performed by Waterlime Mobile Safaris employees selected by Ms Mosa: Frank and Katee was below proper standards and did not meet my expectations at all.
The most serious was that they: Katee and Frank lied to us telling that we cannot reach Xakanaka because the road was flooded by the Okavango, and without our consent they changed the programme of the 4th day of the trip and drove us to the south end of Moremi, 1.5 h from Maun.
Other offences in service include:
I. Waterlime Mobile Safaris guide/driver Frank:
1. Offered me to spend nights with me in my tent (“either me or Katee can sleep with you”) which I consider as personal offence. He never apologized for this.
2. As our guide, he never informed us about daily plans and never gave us any information about the area or animals we saw on the way and -in fact- was very bad at tracking them. I personally learnt more during 1 hour mokoro safari from a contracted guide than during the whole trip from our guide Frank
3. Instead of driving along the paths for vehicles in the National Park, Frank drove across the bush chasing animals, including a female elephant with a baby causing stress to me and the animals
4. Repeatedly refused me to use his telephone to call either Ms Mosa from Waterlime Mobile Safaris or my Botswanan friend from Maun when I needed contact, consultation and support (I offered to pay for the calls). Since our mobiles did not work at all we were totally dependent on their good will and cooperation. It did not take place.
5. Was arrogant and aggressive towards us. For example:
-When I asked if we were going to the camp because it was getting late, his reaction was: “who do you think you are to tell me what to do”
-Almost always he did not answer any questions and did what he wanted to do. Even in situations when me and my companions were asking him eg. to stop the car.
II. Waterlime Mobile Safaris guide/cook Katee:
6. During two last days of the trip, he did not provide us with proper food. On day 5 of the trip, for breakfast we got rice and a slice of beef, no lunch at all, and in the evening spaghetti with potatoes, onion and carrots. On the last day of the trip we only got black coffee for breakfast.
7. He refused to give us fresh water and insisted that we drink the plastic smelling water which was bought 6 days ago. He also refused to make fire on the last night saying that he had no more money left for buying wood. I had to give them some money to buy us water and/or wood.
When communicating with Ms Mosa from Waterlime Mobile Safaris they never spoke English so we did not know what they were telling to Ms Mosa and could not react.
My request sent to Ms Mosa from Waterlime Mobile Safaris to compensate financially such bad service was never answered.
Sincerely yours, Danuta
CA
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
OK Tour for money paid but proper organization and attention to detail will help!!
This is a review of the 12 day Kenya / Tanzania Safari that 12 of us (Private Tour) undertook from 12 – 23 September, 2018 organized through Seth Vincent, Director Trip Advisor Africa Safaris, Nairobi.
The Nairobi airport pick up and transfer to hotel went off well and the Sarova Stanley Hotel that was booked for that night as per itinerary was great.
As per the itinerary day 1, the tour of Nairobi commenced at 9:00 am on 12 September. At the outset Seth introduced us to a 13th person (not known to any one of us in our group of 12) who was going to join our tour group. This was a complete surprise to us and none of us were happy about it. We questioned Seth why this was sprung upon us and he was quiet. Although this was not acceptable to us, based on the compassionate nature of our group we had no objection and the group became 13. On hindsight, we should not have allowed this and stuck to our position of only our 12 as this extra person in the vehicle led to great inconvenience with seating/viewing.
Seth/Trip Africa Safaris must ensure private tours remain private and limited to the people in the original group – no additions whatsoever, without prior written approval by the group.
While out on the Nairobi tour, we quickly realized the detailed itinerary as given to us by Seth was not realistic. Moreover, the drivers/guides were completely unaware of the contents of the itinerary. They had their own plans which made more sense than the given itinerary. Seth/Trip Africa Safaris must ensure the itinerary submitted to clients is realistic and correct AND it is copied to the driver/guide so that everyone is on the same page. Evening ended with a great welcome dinner to our group at the Carnivore as given in the itinerary.
Day 2 – Drive times given in itinerary were wrong but the drive from Nairobi – Nakuru through Great Rift Valley, game drive in Lake Nakuru National Park, and Sarova Lion Hill – Nakuru overnight hotel part were as given in itinerary. A problem we encountered was the hotel not having individual bookings in the names of persons in our group and the additional person. This led to confusion and delays checking in. Seth/Trip Advisor Africa must ensure hotel reservations are made in individual/couple/family name with individual reservation confirmation numbers, which can be confirmed by the clientele even before arriving in Kenya/Tanzania etc.
Day 3, 4, 5- Lake Naivasha, Masai Mara good but previously mentioned hotel check in problem existed at Azure Mara Haven.
Day 6, 7 - Drive to Tanzania Serengeti through Isebania border. Transfer to Tanzania vehicles/s driver/guide OK. Hotel check in problematic once again at Serengeti Serena on day 6. Major problem in checking out on day 7 as tour operator had not paid the hotel bill in full. This is completely unacceptable and must not happen.
Seth/Trip Advisor Africa must take full responsibility for ALL arrangements both in Kenya and Tanzania side as our group agreement is only with Seth. As a client we have no involvement with any sub agents.
Day 8, 9 – deviations from the given itinerary started to be made due to the bad/lack of planning of the Tanzanian sub agent who it appeared had not made any firm bookings for our group in Ngorongoro, and Tarangire. We were sent to Serena Manyara instead of Serena Ngorongoro, and Impala Hotel, Arusha instead of Sopa Lodge -Tarangire, which is a major downgrade of hotel not at all acceptable to the group. We were kept in the dark as to where we were staying until late evening and it was extremely disappointing particularly with the drivers/guides working in collusion with the Tour Agent/s. Game drives were shortened and varied from those given in itinerary. These changes are all unacceptable to clients such as our group who paid all the money that was asked up front well before the due date.
Seth/Trip Advisor Africa must take full responsibility for the inconvenience, peace of mind, etc.
Day 10, 11 – Transfer at Namanga OK and overnight at Sopa Lodge – Amboseli as given in itinerary. Game drives ok but changes to lunch arrangements by drivers unacceptable ( got boxed lunches from Sopa instead of Hot Lunch at Amboseli Serena as given in itinerary).
Day 12 – Back to Nairobi and farewell dinner at Thai Restaurant – Sarova Stanley Hotel as requested by group was good.
A good thing about this tour was that we saw loads of animals at very close quarters. This I believe is partly luck and to the efforts of the drivers/guides Ken and Jacob in Kenya AND Ben and Ziggy in Tanzania , although the latter two were partly responsible in working with their Tanzanian Boss to keep us in the dark on change of hotels. The arrangements on the Kenya side seem to be more in lines with the itinerary and OK but the same cannot be said on the Tanzania side.
I am satisfied with the tour but Seth/Trip Advisor Africa will have to improve tremendously if we are to actively recommend them. They are disorganized and needs to put a lot of effort up front to have realistic itineraries, vehicle details (A/C or Non A/C) and firm/confirmed individual hotel bookings with reference numbers available to client before coming over to Africa. Also, Seth must keep to his words when verbal promises are made to clients on site. That would go a long way in building trust and recommending Trip Advisor Africa as a reliable entity.
Chris - Canada
CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Responded to phone calls .
Respond to phone calls...very helpful..answered all my questions,very knowable staff.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
I was cheated by a subcontractor -- Sandland Tours and their manager Abraham Shaidi.
I dealt only with Rachel Obonyo from Nairobi in arranging a ten day tour of Kenya and Tanzania. She was most helpful. However, the subcontractor told me that I must pay "as much as I could" toward trip expenses when I met him. He then told me to pay an additional $800 "entry fee" when we arrived at Ngorongoro. I refused! In addition, I was promised mid-range lodges and only received budget tent accommodations. After four days of this treatment, I bailed out of the safari. I'm not certain Rachel even aware of these problems. STEER CLEAR OF SANDLAND TOURS and Abraham.
SE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great driver and game drives. Not that great planning.
We took the six day safari with Masai Mara-Naruk-Amboseli. We ordered our safari via Axis, in our car we were 7 people. We were the only ones from Axis. So it’s hard to rate Axis on our trip.
We suffered a bit due to this since all travel groups had different itinerary and accommodations. We spent hours waiting on people and driving to different lodges/tent camps. This made that our tour didn’t followed our itinerary and we had to argue to get what we paid for.
You should be aware of this or demand to be in a car with a group with 100% same itinerary/accommodation if you plan to order this trip.
With that said we had a great safari. We saw the big five on our first full day game drive. Richard, our driver should have the Nobel peace prize for handeling one of our co-travelers that was very demanding. He handled our van with great skills!
Richard and animal-viewing was five stars, the planning with different itineraries in one car was one star!
NL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Not as good as Botswana
I was at the Croc Valley Camp at south Luangwa NP.
Good accomodation, most lousy Safari vehicles ever seen. Never felt safe or Comfortable.
DK
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Intense safari but poor accomodation
We had booked a 3 day safari in Masai Mara. We were picked up and dropped off in Nairobi. That means a very long drive for about 8 hours each way to get to and from Masai Mara. When we arrived at Masai Mara we were accommodated in a smaller lodge than payed for. It was not what we had ordered, but a lodge of very poor quality. The people at the lodge was extreme kindly and friendly. On the day of arrival we reached a short trip of about 2 hours before the sun went down. Next day we started early and had almost 10 hours of safari. We saw all animals. But it's hard to sit in a car where the bumping is going for hours. Our guide did a great job finding all the animals. The Masai Mara itself is exciting to drive around and it is amazing with the big scene and big flocks of animals. But the trip to and from Nairobi, the poor accommodation and the high price mean that we do not generally can recommend that kind of safari.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing animals and nice accommodation, but poor guide communication and incomplete itinerary
My boyfriend and I did a 3-day safari into the Maasai Mara on a private tour. I chose Beacon Safaris because they were quick to reply to my request for information, thorough in their response, accommodating to my customization for our trip, and reasonably priced within my budget. Overall, we had a nice trip - we saw a ton of animals and stayed in a nice accommodation just outside the park gate. The pop-up van was nice and it was great that it was just my boyfriend, our guide and me. Our guide was nice and did a good job of finding the animals, including a leopard, and getting us close to the animals.
There were a few things that made the trip less enjoyable:
1)We were told during the planning that the van had 4-wheel drive, but it did not. Instead, our guide had another van/guide travel with us and when we got stuck (2-3 times), the other van pulled us out. It was fine, but I would have preferred to have been told the truth up front.
2)We were disappointed with our guide, Eric.
* He had shared that he had just come off a long safari trip prior to ours and appeared to be very tired and trying to do the bare minimum.
* His communication left a lot to be desired - He didn't talk with us much and never discussed our plan for the trip or for each day. This was our first safari and it would have been nice to know what to expect each day (e.g., the overall day plan, how long the game drive would be, when we would be back to camp, when we would stop for lunch, etc.).
* During the safari, he seemed rushed and often didn't stop even though we had asked to stop to watch the animals. He would start driving off without warning and while we were still taking photos or observing the animals. Part of this could have been due to our short safari tour and him feeling rushed to get where we needed to go, but he could have communicated this to us. We were in the dark.
* Our guide was late starting every morning, at least 15 minutes. The second day, we were waiting out front at the meeting time, and he had just walked into the lodge to sit down for breakfast. The third day was a mess in the morning (described in the next point.)
* Our guide did not follow our defined itinerary. Our itinerary dictated early start times, but he attempted to start later than planned which we pushed back on. Our itinerary specifically said we were supposed to have a game drive in the early morning on the third day and then a visit to the Maasai village before heading back to Nairobi; however, we were told by our guide that we could do one or the other. Although, from the first day, our guide suggested we do the village tour on the first evening instead of on the last day so he could get back to Nairobi earlier on the last day, leading us to believe that he had never planned to do the drive the last day which was agreed during the trip planning. We disagreed and told him we wanted to stick to the itinerary. I had attempted to get the itinerary from my tent to show him what was agreed, but when I came back to the lodge, he was gone and there was no way to get a hold of him (he wasn't staying at the lodge).
On the third day, he told us to do the village tour in the morning and he would pick us up at 7:30 AM. He did not show up. We waited for 30-minutes before the hotel offered to call him, only to learn that he had intended for us to walk to the village without him, but this was never communicated. Our guide said the village tour was supposed to be 2-hours, but it was barely one hour. When we met up with our guide at 9 AM, he told us it was too late to do the game drive, he had never looked at our itinerary and didn't remember we were supposed to have a game drive. However, early in the trip he had been pushing us to get back to Nairobi as soon as possible on the last day.
Through this experience, we learned that the guide can make or break the experience and you don't always know who you are going to get. We also learned from a later safari (with a different company) that a lot of the safari company's hire independent contractors as guides. I recommend proactively reviewing the itinerary with the guide from the start and sticking to the plan.
Despite the shortcomings, we really enjoyed our experience and time in the Maasai. The abundance of animal life was incredible!