BE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Thieves
We booked the safaritrip "The best of East Africa" in 2020. Because of covid we had to postpone to 2021.
The trip we booked was fully options, parkfees, logies, meals etc.
When we arrived in Nairobi Peter and Peninah were waiting for us together with our driver.
They said everything was arranged for our trip.
At day 4 the troubles started, we had our lunch in a restaurant on the way to Masai Mara and the driver paid 6.000 KES for the lunch.
A hour later, the driver told me he had a call with Peter about the lunch and h said that Peter told him to ask the money back to me and that he would pay me back when we were back in Nairobi.
The same day a recieved a mail from Peter asking me to pay the parkfees for Masai Mara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Lake Manyara and Amboseli, because the were not payed yet.
Because we were already on our way to Masai Mara, I wrote him that I could do that if we could pay with creditcard at the entree of the park and that he would repay us whn we were back in Nairobi.
He replied, no problem.
So, we paid the park fee for Masai Mara.
Then we went to Tanzania and that driver said that they had contact with Peter and that we would pay the park fees in Tanzania.
I said , yes, if we can pay with creditcard at the gates.
That was impossible he repleid, in Tanzania the fees are paid through the travelco and you cant pay at the gates, because they have no cardreaders.
So, we drove to one ATM to another, collecting cash money, because I reached that day the maximum of cash redraw, we would do the same when we came from the Nogorongoro crater.
The amount we had to pay was also much higher than Peter wrote me in his mail.
So, I wrote Peter that same day, that I will stop paying and that he had to find a solution.
I never recieved a answer on that mail, so after visiting the crater we had to go again to ATM machines to collect the rest of the money.
When we went back to the border of Kenia, to visit Amboseli, we had to show our PCR test, but nobody told us, not Peter or the touroperator in Tanzania, that we had to do the test.
So, instead of going to Amboseli, we had to return to Arusha, to do the test.So, we lost our stay in Amboseli and we had to pay $110 for the test.
The normal price for the test is $49, but we had to pay more, because the testcenter was already closed and they found a doctor who would do the test, but only if we paid $110.
So, the day after we went back to the border and straight to Nairobi.
I sent a mail to Peter to meet us in the EKA hotel, so he could pay me back.
Once arrivbed in the hotel, a few hours later Peter, Peninah and one other lady showed up.
After explaining what we went trough and how much they owned us, the discussing started.
They did not had the money to pay us back and they told us we had to wait until they recieved money from another group that would come the second week of September.
So, after 4 hours of waiting and discussing, we had to call the tourist police.
When they arrived and because they could not explain what they did with our money we paid for our tours, they arrested them and put them in jail. Before we went of to the police station another issue popped up, even our hotel was not paid for our last night and diner.
Last week a recieved our first payment, but we are still waiting to get the rest of our money back.
What should be a splendid holiday, became a nightmare, we lost more than 4 days, first driving to one ATM machine to a other one, than because of the PCR test we never had the change to visit Amboseli and our two last days in EKA hotel, where we spend more time in the police station than in the hotel.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
CHEATS AND LIARS
I had a safari tour with my family and from the United States through email communication I felt as if though I was booking with a reliable and trustworthy company. I had communication with Magdalene. Our driver Steve tried to cancel part of our safari tour in order to try and pocket the entrance fees we had already paid the company! He confronted us during our family dinner to try to talk us out of it! How disrespectful and unprofessional! I never felt so insulted in my life. I contacted Magdalene who informed me I would be refunded and once I replied to confirm yes send me back my money I never heard one word back!! Do not trust this company. You should not have to go through this when visiting an unknown third world country. Of course safari is a great experience but you can experience all the wonderful things with ANY other company who has reliable staff and drivers, there are so many which shouldn’t try to cheat and steal from you! I tried to be calm about it but after all, I highly discourage anyone from booking with BigMac!
BE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The agency is FRAUD!
Me and my friend, we ended up with the Abraham Shaidi’s company (Sandland) as a third part booking. We booked a 5 days safari trip with the Three Peaks Safari agency which sub-contracted our trip to Abraham’s company without asking us.
Our experience was terrible. We have never seen the migration in the North part of the Serengeti neither the Ngorongoro crater as it was in our plan.
Our guide, Albert Lema drove like crazy, broke the safari rules several times by disturbing animals’ peace and put us in danger. We did not feel safe in the car and in the campsites (e.g. driving 90km/h, texting us in the middle of night when we slept, putting us between lion cubs and making noises etc).
On the 3rd/ 4th day, Albert and his boss became very rude to us, blaming us that we cost a lot. Albert also yelled at me in the front of clients, he left the camp at 8pm with our suitcases and without debriefing us. Next day at 08:30am, he came back to the camp without saying any word. He gave us his phone and asked us to speak with his “director”. Albert and Abraham asked us for EXTRA MONEY in order to go to the Ngorongoro crater or we would come back to Arusha. I called the Three Peaks Safari agency and explained the situation. The agency called the police….at the end, we have never seen the crater...
Moreover, the chef, Hilda pretended to be a 26 years old single Maasai mother from Arusha (while she was from the village Mto Wa Mbu as well as Albert) was also a very rude, aggressive and laud person.
The owner is crook and the safari guide with a chef – liars! PLEASE AVOID IT
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
He stole our money and delivered no services.
Saving for this trip for years. We were supposed to go last August/September 2020, cancelled due to covid. Rebooked August/September 2021. We were already in Uganda when we learned our trip was not paid for, despite paying in full in March 2020. He stole our money and ruined our trip.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
He's a crook
Don't use them! Michael and Nelson/this company ran off with/stole our trip money for Tanzania safaris and Uganda accommodations - we saved for years for this great adventure and are now, headed home without the experience and without our money!
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unscrupulous tour operator - do not use!!
So, I booked a tour with Zeigen Tours & Safaris (Via Viator) approximately one year in advance (for June 2022) but then had to cancel due to our Covid concerns. So imagine my shock when after booking, they had in bright red letters that all reservations are final and non-cancellable!! A year out???? Really???!!
Despite reaching out to them numerous times, they never responded!!!! Can you say scam artists??!!
So, I'm writing this review as a public service - do not use Zeigen Tours & Safaris unless you're prepared to be ripped off!!!!
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Alliance Destinations is a fraud.
James Mungai is an extortionist. Taking money for tours he has no intention to deliver. Stay completely away from this company.
CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Owner is awful
Sekanawo Gondwe did not spend one penny of the money we sent him on our safari. First, he tried to get us to send him the full amount for the safari 6 months in advance of the safari. Then he tried to add people to our private safari. Finally, we sent him the other half of the money 1 month before the safari. He never made reservations on our behalf. He never sent any of the accommodations our money. We even gave him extra money to book our PCR tests and he failed to make those reservations. He continued to lie to us and say he would make the reservations and they never materialized. He lied to us all the way up to the moment the Diplomatic and Tourism Police arrested him Arusha and charged him with obtaining money by false pretences. Every word that comes out of his mouth is a bold-faced lie. Steer clear of this unscrupulous operator.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Poor service and morals
Unfortunately we did not make it to our tour due to Covid. My review is in relation to the companies poor terms and conditions and handling related to the company being unable to provide its services due to Covid and the associated international travel bans. My partner and I booked Holiday with Rhino Africa early 2020 before Covid was even a known or recognised issue. Our holiday was for September 2020 which obviously could not go ahead. Rhino Africa have refused to refund us our $10,000+ deposit and only offer to give alternate dates. Given this option we went for September 2021 which we are still unable to travel therefore this company is holding a large some of our money.
The contradiction is that the CEO David Ryan has spoken about SAA not providing refunds to Rhino Africa stating "The right thing for government and SAA to have done, both at the time and now, was to refund all tickets they had received payment for, especially where they knew they were unable to deliver the service, then or in the future, Rhino Africa CEO David Ryan said, as quoted by Tourism Update". Yet Rhino Africa are not providing refunds for services which they know they cannot provide now, or in the foreseeable future.
They then asked to pay the remainder of our outstanding balance which is over an additional $10,000+ even though they know they still cannot provide the service due to the international travel ban and current strict Covid regulations in SA... being another $10,000+ which they do not refund.. what a joke.. There are other operators in SA that have provided full refunds for people that booked at the same time we did that do not brand themselves as 'luxury' providers.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unprofessional
Purchased our excursion through Viator and Gracepatt Ecotours was the operator of the tour. We signed up for a tour listed as 1 hour at the Giraffe Center and 3 hours at the Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi. What we got was 1 hour at each and then taken to a Bead Factory (Tourist trap) and on a zig zag tour of the city. During our shortened time at the Elephant Orphanage, we were delayed by an argument our driver had with the caretakers of the Orphanage. He apparently was trying to sneak another van full of people in under our reservation. We got this from the caretakers. As a result we missed the feeding of the baby elephants. After initially complaining about this to Viator, we noticed the description on the website had changed to 1 Hour Giraffes, 1 Hour Elephants, and 1 Hour Bead Factory. Funny thing is this is a 6 hour tour and not sure where 3 hours of transport would come from? As it was in the original description there was two hours of transport allocated. Overall a Bait and Switch and some unethical behavior from the driver. Clearly they know something was wrong because they changed the description. Good thing we had taken screen shots of the original tour we booked! Viator was no real help in resolving and by the way, they are a Trip Advisor company and you may want to look at their Yelp reviews, NOT GOOD!