20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
words can barely describe!
My experience of the masimara please read!!!
Day one consisted of the guide being 30 minutes late we were escorted into the mini bus after asking for a jeep as it was only me and my wife for the entire trip. We were asked for payment upfront that was £770 the guy who took the cash made it very clear to me and my wife that this did not include a tip! After around 10 minutes the guy who took the cash left the minibus ( I’m assuming to go back to the office) the guide and the “cook” Hardly spoke to me and my wife the majority of the journey.
When we got to the off-road road for the masimara we had seen many different animals like the zebra giraffe etc, we didn’t get to stop to take a photo of these animals but instead had to wait until we had got to the masimara. On another part of the off-road there was another minibus that had got stuck so our driver Sammy and the “cook” got out the car and abandoned me and my wife with the the vehicle. At this point we were then surrounded by the locals (children and adults ) it took around 20 minutes for our guide to return, we then continued with our trip
We finally reached the masimara and had gone on our first game drive for 2 hours. our drive consisted of what looked like Sammy catching up with his colleagues. And towing more people out of the mud. We saw an elephant which he did not stop so we could take photos! This was a very bad first game drive.
Day two of the masimara. We had woken up early to get a start in our long day of game drive, at first I was very disappointed in the lack of water available to me and my wife after all this was included in that £770 price. We drove around for a while taking photos of animals it was very hard to get a photo as Sammy wouldn’t stop moving the bus but just drove slowly. We had to ask him a few times to stop the vehicle before he finally got it! During our drive Sammy decided to go off road in the masimara ( this is not allowed) to see cheetah cubs. We just about got to where they were hiding before we turned around and returned to the road. This was because the KWS had spotted Sammy going off road. Sammy and a few other guides got out of the vehicles and spoke to the KWS (Kenya wildlife services) my wife took a photo of Sammy bribing the KWS (we thought he was paying a fine). when Sammy finally arrived back in the car we asked him what was going on. He told us he had to pay $30 to see the cheetah cubs as off roading is not allowed, this is around 3000 ksh just over. We then proceeded to drive to the cubs though I had asked Sammy not to and just let the cubs be. And I must admit when we got to the cheetah cubs they were beautiful we took a photo but felt terrible doing so. Not to mention they were not good photos because Sammy would not keep the vehicle still. We proceeded on with our drive and it was finally lunch time. We were starving! So my wife is vegan and when arranging the tour online my wife had told the office she was vegan in multiple occasions and when my wife told the cook she was vegan he was shocked after finding out what a vegan was, and asked if she ate chicken. That part is not important but it was funny. Anyway more to the point. We hadn’t eaten much before lunch and when we sat down to have our picnic she unwrapped her sandwich to find she had butter on her bread! It was a good job a monkey stole that sandwich because this was just another example of how unorganised this company really was!
Day 3 this was our final game drive after telling Sammy a few times we did not want to see the masih villages, we headed out! We took the same route as the day before and the day before that but it was a good job we went the same way again as we saw a family of lions! This was probably the best part of our trip. We stayed there for a while before everyone else started swarming in and then we left. On the way back to the gate one of the other drivers had asked Sammy if we can take some one past the gate on the way out. Now bare in mind me and my wife paid for a private tour this was that £770 I mentioned. Sammy had agreed to this and we would stop and talk to this lady and even drive past animals we wanted to photograph the drive back to the gate took around an hour.
Sammy treated our tour as he would a group tour. We would watch animals for as long as he deemed necessary he was on his phone for most of the safari either talking or texting and on a few occasions even in social media (Facebook) a few times me and my wife heard him make jokes to his colleagues about the coronavirus ( covid19 ) this wasn’t funny! And I was very annoyed by this!
I would rate this safari tour with 2 stars as from start to finish as we were greeted with just pure unprofessionalism. This tour was unprofessional disrespectful to the animals and unethical.
I ask anyone that is thinking of going with this safari tour company to please rethink! I regret my decision booking with this company!
NO
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
The guys and the bosses were nice enough, but logistically it was a disaster.
The communications were not good because the contact person were offline due to him being working in areas with low internet coverage, but answered when he had internet available.
We ordered 3 transfers, Harare- Vic Falls, Vic Falls- Livingstone and Livingstone- Lusaka.
Due to the company based in Zambia mixed the dates they hired a Zimbabwe based company to do Harare- Vic Falls. They came late,
drove a 14 hour ride instead of the 7 hour we ordered and demanded us to pay black marked fuel price at 50% higher cost because they had bought it at the black market. Then we understood why they drove the 14 hour route, they could charge more fuel at 50% higher price. I believe they payed the normal fuel price. (This was the Zimbabwe based company they hired.)
We stayed in Vic Falls for 2 nights, then the Zimbabwe guys should drive us to the border dropping us off and be picked up by Tafika travels in Zambia. By this time Tafika and the Zimbabwe based guys had started to fight over the the payment between them, and they didnt want to drive us before Tafika payed them. And my desperate messages to Tafika about our problem werent answered. We had already pre- payed all transfers, so we refused to pay the 800$ the guys demanded from us.
To be fair, our total payement was 960$ for 3 transfers, so the demand for 800$ for 1 transfer was redicilous, but that should have been agreed between them before the transfer, and not become our problem 5 minutes before the original departure leaving us with no transfer between the 2 countries.
The reason for using 2 companies was that we headed for Vic Falls february 9th, but the day before we understood Tafika thought we were going the wednesday 3 days later. So Tafika hired theese guys for the first half of our trip since they had no cars able to pick us up at 1 day notice. The mixed dates mentioned above.
We ended up with paying a local driver money to bring us to Livingstone, Zambia. There we met eventually the driver from Tafika. He was very nice, but had a car to small for our luggage. We ordered a car for 5 persons with luggage (5 suitcases + small bags), but the car could take 1 or 2 suitcases in the trunk. We had to pay 50$ extra for sending the luggage by bus, but only 2 out of 5 came to the hotel so 3 of us had no luggage half the Lusaka stay.
We demanded a refund for the Vic Falls- Livingstone transfer and the 50$ extra luggage cost and were told we should get that back.
After 3 months of waiting we have got only promises but no refund. My last question about the refund werent even answered. That makes me writing this review giving a 1 star. I dont like doing it since the guys were very nice and also promised a refund, but 3 after 3 months I give up.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Worst travel agency ever!!! Do not book with these guys
We booked an African safari package with Claudious Tours back in February. The trip was supposed to be from 28MAY-06JUNE. We spent $1800 on the tour and unfortunately forced to cancel because of the COVID-19 crisis. We requested cancellation back in March and they have consistently given multiple excuses and lies for not returning our money. They originally refused to give any refund, but then we looked up their refund policy for cancellations.
Claudious Tours policy states that they take a certain percentage of the cost for cancellations. For which we do understand that, but even after that they still refuse to give us our refund back through Paypal. They eventually said that they would start giving us installments of our money beginning 07May, then every month after until paid. They still have NOT given us our refund and continuously keep giving us lies and empty promises. This is unprofessional and it literally takes 20 minutes to do a refund on Paypal.
The last email we received from Claudious was stated they have been issuing refunds to other customers. Attached to the email was a ‘refunded reciept’ as so-called proof from another customer saying they were processing refunds. The receipt had this customer’s private information, address, banking info that WASN’T redacted. Anyone could’ve taken that information and committed identity theft on this person. Please DO NOT book with this agency, there are way better places to book with in Nairobi.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
James has to refund my 900 dollars! He was to take me to the mara and went under when I cancelled.
This is a shameless scammer!Menya Mbia niukuriha!!
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Scam: DO NOT BOOK
This tour operator is a complete scam, and they ripped my friend and I off of $1800.
We were supposed to go to on a safari with them in May, but due to Coronavirus, we needed to cancel. They said they could only refund 60% of what we paid according to their terms and conditions, which we agreed to. However, they never ended up paying us anything, they just continued to lie and come up with new excuses each time I asked for the money they owed us.
I even offered to do an installment plan, where they would pay me about $150 once a month until the balance was paid, but they didn’t pay me on the first date agreed upon, they just came up with some unintelligible excuse as quoted from my most recent email with them:
“We were by this time supposed to have started giving you back the money due to you. However, with the work system between us and line hotels we got to wait for the feedback as our bookings are normally done under group trip plans NOT individual names that you can ask from outside and get to know as such.”
The above doesn’t make any sense, since they never even made a reservation at any hotel for us.
After seeing a 1 star review in February, I decided to contact all the hotels that we were supposed to stay at to confirm that there was a reservation with this company. Each hotel said they had no reservations and had never worked with them before. I confronted Edmond about it, and he said they were going to eventually make a reservation, but I called the hotels again two weeks before we agreed to our installment plan, and they had still never heard of them. Therefore, he was blatantly lying to me in his last email.
Trust me, there were many other irregularities and blatant lies they told us that would take too long to type.
TLDR: They are liars, and a complete scam. Please pay a little bit more for a reputable tour operator that is KATO certified, NOT these con artists.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
COVID19 Cancelled our trip and this company took advantage of the pandemic
I do not recommend booking with this company. Anne was very friendly, but the savings of a few hundred dollars turned out costing us thousands. We had a safari scheduled for early June 2020, which we chose to cancel due to COVID19. We cancelled 3 months in advance. We chose not to wait it out because we feared losing all of our money if this safari company decided that COVID19 was not a good reason to cancel and to be honest it turned out that they didn't feel a pandemic was a good enough excuse to cancel anyway. Their policy of a 75% refund less the gorilla permits was better than losing the total $6600 I spent.
However the upsetting part was that I emailed Anne asking how they planned on dealing with COVID19. I was nicely told they would give full refund less the Gorilla permit that they tell you aren't refundable (which is not true by the way.). Needless the say when I took her up on her kind offer of giving full refund.... well, there was radio silence for over a day. So I emailed again and then she finally replied telling me... Oh sorry that full refund I mentioned we could do, well we can't because i talked to people who told me I can't give it. IT IS HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE TO DO THAT. Also their website states that they give 90% refunds if canceled more than 60 days in advance but their written policy doesn't say that. Also, please check out this link and never use a tour company like I did to book your Gorilla permits- Uganda Wildlife Authority does give refunds. It's just another way for these tour companies to SCAM you. https://www.bwindiimpenetrablenationalpark.com/gorilla-permits/cancellation/
After arguing with Anne over email that it was not okay to tell a customer full refund and then change your mind. I finally accepted the refund they would give and filed a dispute with my credit card company. The crappy part is my credit card company is so bogged down right now with other travelers. Anne failed to mention to them that she had told me full refund and then took it back. She also failed to mention, I never signed a contract. She failed to mention that the Uganda and Kenya are closed right now due to COVID19. Failed to mention that it's not possible to go on a trip right now.
Overall, my experience is I got scammed. When I didn't want to rebook my trip and took her up on her offer I think she freaked out and then said, oh no... By the way, rebooking the trip would have cost me more money. Why you ask? Because the Gorilla permits cost more next year and there is a fee to reschedule. And don't forget they aren't refundable. They are refundable, just not to you if you book with this company or one like it.
So the moral of this story is, I'm totally bummed I had to cancel my trip. Yet, there are better companies out there to work with. These guys are not fully honest. The policy stated on their website versus the one given to you are different. They can decide when they feel like it if they don't want to honor something they tell you.
I will likely not win my dispute for the other half of my refund, but I have not given up. One thing I've learned in all my travel is that you need to fight for your refunds. I travel a lot. I'm a digital nomad. I'm writing this review in hopes to save another person from this experience.
COVID19 or not... I would not trust this company. They have some good reviews and it's why I went with them, but don't be fooled. You could have a great trip with them or you could get total ripped off and scammed just like me. The choice is yours. I wish you all well.
AE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
SCAM WARNING - They will not return any deposit!
SCAM WARNING - They will not return any deposit!
I always hesitate writing bad reviews, but this one is worth over $2000.
We scheduled a trip with them for the end of June 2020 and paid 40% deposit. Due to current situations involving travel and mandated quarantine on both ends of the trip, we cannot go.
Faces of Africa Adventures says they will not return our deposit.
This would be understandable if they:
a) had a written policy about deposits (which they don't), or,
b) would provide any written verification of any deposits they had made on our behalf (they have none), or,
c) any services had already been rendered (they haven't).
They don't dispute any of the above.
They have switched excuses from they have already paid deposits (they can't provide any proof) to their office is being closed (yet, they continue to accept reservations and money from people).
We have contacted the Tanzania Tourist Board, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, and the Tanzania National Parks to help remedy the situation.
Please be very, very careful with this company and get everything in writing. Do not give them any money unless you have solid guarantees that you can back up.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unfortunate Experience
Galloping Safaris took our money for a trip they did not deliver. Our hotels were not booked or paid for in advance, as promised. We chose activities that they did not take us on and did not respond to our questions and requests to have our trip as planned. Walter was avoidant of our texts and phone calls, but offered to meet us in person to make it right and explain himself on our last day in Tanzania. We drove for hours to meet up with him and he never showed. Walter has offered to provide my group a refund of some funds, which we accepted, but he has not followed through with that promise. I strongly urge you to pick a different company for your safari.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Broken Promises
I booked a safari though Kenya and Tanzania with Galloping Safaris in 2019. Walter provided a nice itinerary for myself, my husband, and my two best friends. Other providers were less expensive, but Galloping Safaris had great reviews, so I went with it. Walter demanded prompt payment, that the money be wired to him immediately, which we did. The safari took place in February 2020. There were several issues throughout, including Walter and his staff not listening to requests to change small parts of our trip, lying about why we couldn't go to a place we planned to go, and skipping events we had paid for all together. We had paid for two nights at The Four Seasons Serengeti, and Walter instead had our guide take us to a less expensive hotel three hours away, one that was riddled with tsetse flies, without letting us know that we wouldn't be staying at The Four Seasons as planned/paid for. We demanded that they take us to the Four Seasons as planned the next day, but when we arrived the staff at Four Seasons let us know that Walter had not paid for our stay, and we were left sitting in the lobby. They told us that Walter often does this, and they do not extend credit to Galloping Safaris anymore, so we would have to wait until he paid to be taken to our rooms. We asked the Four Seasons staff to confirm the rest of our trip with the hotels in our packet that were booked, and not one of them had been booked or paid for. My guess is that Walter is unable to pay for the current clients' reservations until the future clients give him cash, which is why we were stuck waiting without paid reservations even though we had submitted payment in full to him many months earlier.
When we had issues with the trip Walter ran from us, ignored our calls, had our guide disappear. We drove hours out of the way on our last day of travel to meet up with Walter and settle up our issues, and he never showed up.
Through phone calls and emails Walter acknowledged that he was at fault and owed us a refund, which he never sent. We have contacted him multiple times and its always one excuse after the next.
I have traveled all over the world and have never felt as scammed as I have with Galloping Safaris. I strongly recommend that you book your trip with a more reputable provider.
DK
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
No safari - no refund
We paid to go on a safari but when we arrived the guide didnt show up and James could not book another safari for us. Now 9 months later we still havent recieved our money we paid! James keeps telling me that he will pay soon. We went to Africa to go on a safari.. Dont book with this company!