AE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Completely disorganised
I booked a 4 day safari through Mariam from Sipolio for 28/7 to 31/7. Everything went well during the booking process where I had to pay the money.
Then this is what happened:
• I was sent a contact for a driver who was supposed to pick us up at the airport. It was the wrong contact and someone else picked us up.
• Sideways tours sent a small 4 door car to pick up a family of 4? Why wasn’t a larger vehicle sent? The driver had to order a second car to take the rest of the luggage.
• When we met the safari driver it wasn’t the driver mentioned in the email
• When I asked the driver to check our bags there were only 3 bags in the safari car. The driver of the second car from the airport drove away with our 4th bag! He didn’t even get out of his car to check before he left.
• The safari driver wasn’t told which hotels we were going to and we had to tell him
• It wasn’t clear to him even if more people were coming on the trip with us. We waited and then he was told there would be another 2 people. He was then told there would be another person.
• He wasn’t told which hotels they were going to either.
• When we arrived at our hotel at 3pm in the afternoon, it was deserted and had obviously closed for many months. How could you book us into a hotel that was closed?????
• I called Mariam several times, but she never answered the phone. I emailed her but she didn’t answer the email. She only responded the next day at 7pm!!!!!!
• I then tried to call Sideways Tours who were responsible for the driver. Our "customer service manager" contact didnt answer the phone. I spoke to another who was very unhelpful and told me how it wasn’t the problem of Sideways Tours and there was nothing she could do. When I said I wanted to speak to the manager, she said he wasn’t available. He was “at home”. She refused to contact him or let me speak to him. Even better, then she hung up the phone.
• I was sent an email saying “Our transport manager is called Eric who is available on WhatsApp on +254717723305.” Why do you even bother sending this message if he is not available? Why do you write “Customer Success” in your emails?
• Our driver made several calls and eventually spoke to a lady called Susan from Mamu Tours who started to help us. She said that Sipolio is a sister company of Mamu Tours.
• She eventually found one small room for us in another hotel. We really appreciate that due to the urgency of the situation, but we booked 1 double and 1 twin room!
• I have to mention here that the driver did a great job solving all the problems throughout the trip and without him it would have been a mess.
You can make your own decision about whether you use this company.......
CN
very good
This trip to Tanzania was very good. The communication in the early stage was very smooth, and the agency during the trip would also care about our situation. Our guide Baraka is very humorous and enthusiastic, and the introduction of animals is also very professional. We love him so much and miss him very much.
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellente stay
Autenticity, reliable, Nice accomodation,
We recomand, Noxy was so Nice with us
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Even better than I expected
I had a chance to do a 2 days safari with Christopher. The first day in a Masai village and the second day we did the game drive in the savannah. I loved the experience, it reached all my expectations. The masai village was a great experience and the game drive was very impressive! Moreover Christopher took good care of us and did everything to make us feel comfortable. Also he recorded all the best moments of the experience so I can wacth them again and again. I would recommend it to anyone who plan to visit east Africa
CN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
He is the best! most caring guy and make me a warm welcome and pleasant stay in Tanzania
The company is really efficient and they tried their best to make sure every detail in my trip. Being in abroad with guys from hilltop company make me feel safe and comfortable! It’s a very special experience for me, I will always remember!
CO
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A dream trip.
We started with Lake Manyara National Park. Breaking the fog in the morning, when the car entered the park, we saw a group of monkeys jumping on the trees, colorful flamingos, and a family of elephants by the water. From there we went to the Ndutu area, where the famous Great Migration is taking place - thousands of gnu and zebras are running across the grasslands together. The sound was so loud that I could hear the heartbeat of the world. One afternoon in the Serengeti National Park, we saw a cheetah hunting with great precision. Standing at the Ngorongoro Crater on the last day, seeing lions, elephants, rhinos, buffaloes, and leopards at the same time - truly one of the best moments of life. And after listening to the dance, songs, and stories of the warriors in the Maasai village, the journey was complete.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Very helpful friendly and professional
our trip was nearly everything we wanted. there were a few little hiccups but overall was great. our guide was very nice and helpful with the locals , seemed to know someone everywhere we went which was helpful. there was a problem at the chimpanzees we had to wait for 1 hour for our tour too start when everyone else had already left (they said it was the computer system but everyone else got to leave on time) also a boat tour that was paid for before we left had to paid for again as our guide didnt have the money to pay for it, so if we didnt have the cash we would have missed out. The service we recieved at all the places we stayed was great ,the staff were friendly and helpful and the resorts were beautiful.
ES
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Efficient, well planed, friendly and confortable.
The safari experience has been great. Alex is a really good driver and very funny. We enjoyed the safari so much with him.
Excellent organization from Paul and Jane!
Regarding the accommodation, they were very well chosen, all of them were amazing.
We finished the safari very happy , everything was great overall!
IE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Well executed, memorable day out!
We really enjoyed our time with Priscilla and her team! Wonderful and smooth trip to Botswana with everything well organised. Priscilla brings this warmth of comfort that we have experienced throughout Zambia and made our trip memorable. The vehicle was clean, pickup on time and we were lucky to have just us on the trip. The Chobe river cruise was very exciting, we saw a lot of wild life, including elephants swimming across the river! The safari guide was excellent and through him we managed to spot a leopard up close. The only thing I would change would be the lunch, the food was good but the place was overcrowded with tourists - would much rather go with Priscilla to a smaller restaurant, less crowded. That said, every single tour seemed to stop there so going to a small place could be a nice addition to an already great day out! I could not recommend this tour more, you will leave with fantastic memories.
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Leroy best guide ever
Amazing experience, we did the 4 days Masaai Mara and lake Nakuru tour, but I would suggest to do one more day at Masaai Mara because the experience is unique. Any word would not be enough to describe our guide Leroy: he ensured everything was on point, he answered all our questions, his deeply knowledge of the animal environment top off the trip, thanks to his amazing drive and passion we were able to spot all the animals.
Regarding Jockey Tours, the driver was on time the first day of the trip and he took us to an office where they gave us the receipt (we decided to pay everything in advance with extra 5% charge). We stayed at Jambo Mara (very nice) for the first two nights but the third night we did not stay at the hotel that was mentioned in the receipt because there were no rooms available… I would suggest a better organization. Moreover, in the program was mentioned only Masaai Mara and lake Nakuru, but we only did an afternoon game drive at Nakuru and the last morning we did the excursion at lake navaisha that was optional (but if you did not want to, there were no other options available to do something else - and on the program was mentioned a fee of 20usd, we paid 50usd, please update the price). I was a bit disappointed because I thought we would do two game drives at lake Nakuru. For sure 90% of our experience became from ok to amazing thanks to Leroy, we could not ask for a better guide for these days.