Raven Safaris was professional, friendly and fair.
We had an excellent experience with Raven Safaris. We hired a Land Cruiser and driver to take us from Arusha to Ngorongoro Crater and drop us off at the Serengeti. The pricing was fair and transparent. We paid directly for our gas and, even though the park fees were prepaid, we were provided receipts from the parks so that we knew we were not overcharged. Although they preferred cash, they found a way to let us pay with a credit card.
Our driver, Steven, was the ultimate professional. He enlisted porters at the Kenyan/Tanzanian border to guide us through immigration and look after our bags. He gave us geography, zoology, ecology, anthropology, and botany lectures on the hour, every hour. He knew every nook and cranny of every park and negotiated each curve and bump of our journey expertly. As two women traveling alone, we felt safe and cared for.
Steven listened to our every whim and was the pinnacle of patience. He spotted every animal we ever dreamed of seeing and brought to our attention so many more we never knew existed. He watched specs on the horizon and predicted with prophetic accuracy when the wildlife would appear. Steven was not the only guide we had in Africa, but he was THE ABSOLUTE BEST.
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Incredible experience with a great guide
We had a 4-day trip (Tsavo West, Amboseli, Tsavo East) with wondeful lodges and a guide (Yusef) who made this an unforgetable trip. All the animals, the nature - just everything was absolutely great. Our guide was just perfect, so much knowledge about nature, country, history and people in Kenya and a person that made us just feeling good. Even the driving, which is a very new experience if you are from germany, was fun with him.
We strongly recommend booking with Ultimate Africa Expeditions and ask for Yusef as a guide - i'm sure you will be happy with that as well!
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Not reliable - questionable business practices.
If you only read the first paragraph of this review, we would highly suggest you do not book your next vacation with with Sunsets in Africa. Do book your tour through TourRadar and if you are searching for outstanding transportation, consider using Professional Safaris based in Arusha, Tanzania. For reference purposes, our trip was a 15 day safari to Kenya and Tanzania.
Why not use Sunsets in Africa? They are not reliable nor in our opinion completely honest. We just want others to not experience what we did while in Africa. A vacation should be a vacation not an anxiety filled and somewhat intimidating experience. Let me explain.
The good: Kenya and Tanzania are truly special and even though our original tour operator was on the edge of awful, the countries themselves were wonderful. We loved the people, the scenery and the animals we encountered. And the hotels in Kenya booked by Sunsets in Africa were the ones we asked for and were paid for prior to our arrival in Kenya. We are not sure about the hotels in Tanzania because we did not use them. More information below.
The Bad: We arrived and thankfully our hotel provided us with transportation to our lodge. However, once we were picked up by our safari driver in Kenya, we found out a couple days into our vacation that his company (Sunsets in Africa subcontracts out the transportation) had not been paid for our transportation and at one point our driver told us his manager said to just leave us in the Maasai Mara. Whether or not this was true is unknown. A call to Sunsets in Africa was answered by Gladys who said the transportation company can't do that and she would take care of the issue. Yea right. She texted me to not worry everything was fine. The next day or two we were told that Sunsets in Africa had not paid anything and more than more than 30 calls on WhatsApp to both Dexter and Gladys, co-owners of Sunsets in Africa, were ignored. Dexter was available but choose not to answer. At this point, we felt as if we were being mislead by everyone including the transportation companies in Kenya, Tanzania and Sunsets in Africa. I guess the breaking point was when I read a message sent by Dexter to the owner of the transportation company in Tanzania saying that I had agreed to pay for the transportation in both Kenya and Tanzania. I wrote to Dexter and told him I never agreed to this and why would I because I had already paid for transportation! He never reached out to me to discuss this and frankly, there was no way I was going to pay twice even if he promised to pay me back. At that point, I reached out to our planned transportation company in Tanzania and I asked if they were canceling our tour. Response, "I'm not canceling your trip. Just need some money to facilitate your program". I asked why he couldn't wait to be paid by Sunset's in Africa? Didn't he trust the company to pay him? His answer was, "I really trust him but I have no cash to facilitate your program". Doesn't this feel like a shakedown? We had it at that point. Between the two transportation companies, they wanted me to send them ~$4700. Can you imagine?
The Solution: Thankfully, we did a bit of research and realized we had originally paid for our trip through TourRadar. A quick call and TourRadar put in motion changes. They paid for the outstanding transportation bill in Kenya, they rebooked all our remaining hotels and booked a new transportation company (Professional Safaris). Thanks to Kristina at TourRadar, the rest of our trip was outstanding! And I can't say enough about Gerald our driver, Medcine owner of Professional Safaris in Tanzania and TourRadar who saved our vacation. These companies are outstanding and more importantly, honest. We would highly recommend both organizations and especially Gerald!!
Finally: Just so you think this just happened to us, we met another group that used Sunsets in Africa and they too experienced the same issues. Unfortunately, they ended up paying for all the unpaid transportation in both Kenya and Tanzania. I'm not sure if they ended up paying for their hotels as well. Their only recourse to file a report at the police station in Nairobi, and hope their travel insurance covered the charges or credit card reversing the charges. Sad. We heard of a third group as well but this can be construed as hearsay.
I know this review is long and it does not even cover all the issues we experienced before and during our trip. Do yourself a favor. Find a reputable company that pays their subcontractors before you arrive!
GR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Robert, our driver and guide was excellent. Expert in what he is doing and also with humour.
We chose the 3day Masai Mara tour and we were absolutely satisfied. The tour ride was excellent thanks to our driver. We saw a lot of wild animals. It was totally worth the money and the time. We would suggest you all to choose the 3day tour.
We also did a daily trip to amboseli which we don’t suggest doing it. For the reason that one day is not very comfortable. Use instead a 2 or 3 day trip because the scenery there is magical. And we saw a lot of animals as well.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very good and well organised
The whole tour was very well organised. We got picked up at our hotel on time, all the drivers were very professional.
The Tremisana lodge had everything we needed, the room was clean and comfortable and the facilities (ie swimming pool) were great. The food was really nice and home made.
All the game drivers were amazing, special mention to Rocky and Victor which made our games entertained and fun.
It was an amazing experience. Truly recommendable! Good value for money.
AE
Professional and communiated with other drivers to make aure we seen as many aniamls as possible.
Accommodation excellent, comfortable and clean. Hot water, food lovely too and plenty of it. Very safe environment
IE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic service to see and experience as much as possible!
We completed a 3 day 2 night tour with Karibu Safaris in Masai Mara while staying in Enchoro Camp. From start to finish the two wonderful drivers Raymond and Edward looked after all our needs, from pit stops to random questions about towns we drove to they had the answers!
Absolutely stunning experience of the natural wildlife in the national park while enjoying the tradition villages and culture of the Masai Mara tribe. We learned so much from Moses and William in the camp who were so friendly and always there to help ( even for scaring away lizards!). Very reliable and organised with a very good price for the amount of ground we covered and places we visited in the limited time we had! Would highly recommend anyone who wants to go to Kenya to join this tour!
IE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
AMAZING
Just back from an amazing weekend in Karibu safaris!! The company catered for a group of 14 of us. Could not recommend the company enough. It was such an amazing experience from start to finish. Our two tour guides Edward and Raymond were INCREDIBLE ! Their professionalism, knowledge, and genuine hospitality made this safari an unforgettable adventure. I highly recommend them to anyone seeking a truly immersive and magical safari experience in Kenya. The location, accommodation, service and hospitality exceeded all expectations! To all staff at Karibu. We arrived as strangers and left as friends. Thank you for everything! ❤️
IE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Enjoyable and Exciting
We had a great experience with Karibu Safaris, they looked after a big group of us. The accommodation and food was great and everyone working there was very helpful. We really enjoyed learning about Masai culture. Edward and Raymond really helped make it an enjoyable stay. We saw majority of the animals on safari and our tour guides did their best to make sure we got to experience it all. They had great knowledge of all the animals and the park.
AE
Welcoming, accommodating and thrilling.
Most wholesome trip. People were so welcoming and kind. Tents were great, comfortable sleep. Always felt safe. Learnt so much. Shoutout to Raymond and Edward for chasing the animals all weekend.