35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
everything was exceptionally great
Booking was straightforward thanks to you always getting back to us very quickly with all the info we needed, it made coordinating booking flights/hotels easy. Our guide, Julius was fantastic, he is is very knowledgable about nature, animals and local culture, and did his very best to make sure we get the most out of the safari. He is also a very safe driver, which was important. Accommodations were great, the places were clean and we received a very warm welcome at every place. All staff were super helpful. We will definitely recommend your company to friends.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Maasai Guide in Car
Do not miss the chance to go on a safari with Sino Africa Safari during my three weeks in Kenya meeting Manampio and learning about the maasai culture was by far my greatest experience and I will definitely return. Manampio has in depth knowledge about nature, animals and natural medicine. In combination with a sincere respect and appreciation for nature and life, and a happy and kind personality he gave me and my friends’ unforgettable memories. Asante sana, tutaonana!
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Safari and campsite was an excellent and once in a lifetime experience
Overall everything in Kenya was wonderful, impressive wildlife, beautiful scenery, good weather, nice accommodations, good food, very friendly safari guide. The only downturn is that traffic is bad and hectic.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing
Wildlife was amazing!
Guide should not operate at night with lights! It’s not natural and destroys the ambiance and natural beauty of the park.
The guides should announce how much time to spend at a stop & when we are headed back! No communication on these matters! I didn’t like that
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!
NO
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent and once in a life time experience
We went on a private safari to Tsavo East and Travo West, and we loved it. Our tour guide John was great. He had so much knowledge, and he could answer all of our questions and he learned us alot. We couldn't be more grateful and happy with the safari and with our guide, John. Absolutely a once in a lifetime experience, and we highly recomened Africa Flash McTours and Travel and our guide John.
CA
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing Safari well arranged
Communication & services were excellent and we had best time at Saruni with excellent food
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Gracious and helpful guide, who answered all of our questions and curiosities
The tour was well handled, not rushed, and excellently planned to help us see as much as possible in our limited time available. Also made detours at our request which really made the trip one of a kind.
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Totally dishonest and unreliable tour operator!
We booked a 15 day, slightly customized Kenya/Tanzania tour with Twinkle Star through safaribookings.com back in January.
Unfortunately our tour experience was pretty much ruined by the very unprofessional manner in which it was conducted and the dishonesty of James Collins Oketch- the person running Twinkle Star Tours.
Prior to booking the tour I exchanged multiple emails with Mr. Oketch in order to make sure that we will actually be getting the exact same deal that was being advertised on safaribookings.com and the the official website of Twinkle Star Tours.
As we had an elderly person in our group with serious spine problems I asked him specifically if the tour was suitable at all for such a person.
He assured me right away that the tour was more than suitable for all ages and that our companion's health problems will not be an issue during the tour. I also asked him if their tour vehicles are indeed as modern and comfortable as they advertise them to be on their website. He confirmed that their has invested in the most modern and comfortable vehicles possible.
I also asked him to confirm in writing that the advertised accommodations will not be changed at the last moment and that they are indeed up to our desired standards. He confirmed it all. I informed him that my companions and I are all vegetarians and that vegetarian menus should be made available to us during our stay. He said it'll be taken care of.
He kept repeating in his emails 'Our word is our bond my brother. Don't worry about anything.'
So far so good... only that it all turned out to be a big fat lie.
The moment we transferred him the money for the tour everything went south.
On the very first day after our arrival we were bluntly informed that one of the best and most expensive accommodations in our tour will be changed without our consent to a sub-standard one. Needless to say I protested immediately and reminded James about his promise and our contractual arrangements. Unfortunately, he and his sidekick Benson simply blamed it all on their Tanzanian partners and insisted that nothing could be done about it.
The car that picked us up for the tour was far from the 'modern, very comfortable safari vehicle' that they claimed to provide their customers with. Instead it was a beat up old minivan that met us in front of our Nairobi hotel.
The thing was in a terrible condition, with no air conditioning and absolutely not road worthy in any normal country around the world let alone be used as a safari vehicle.
The roads, especially in and around Maasai Mara and Amboseli are the closest experience you'll get to actually visiting the moon. It was indeed like a lunar landscape with craters and bumps on every step of the road through which we were speeding most of the time in order to reach our destinations on time.
It doesn't matter how careful our wonderful driver/tour guide Simon tried to drive, avoiding all the massive bumps and holes in that beat up minivan was simply impossible which left us all both emotional unfit to enjoy the safari and often physically bruised.
A funny fact is that most of the other tour companies seemed indeed to have provided proper safari SUV vehicles for their clients just not Twinkle Star.
We were often purposely brought to various tourist trap pit stops where they would try to sell us a tiny wooden keyholder for 25$, served us basic dishes like pizza 'Margherita' for the price one gets in some of the better restaurants in Venice or Paris.
Some of the accommodations we were brought to were very far from the nice, comfortable lodges and luxurious tent camps advertised by Twinkle Star Tours. They often lacked some very basic utilities like hot water and mosquito protection.
The vegetarian food they offered was scarce and badly prepared to say the very least while there was plenty of choice for meat eaters which made us realize we were basically paying all this money for other hotel guests' rich meals while we were often left to almost starve with just a simple vegetable soup, some bread and rice.
Our 25$ a piece take away meals were often either spoiled, filled with meat products instead of what we ordered or simply absent and believe me when I say, you don't want to find yourself starving in the middle of the savanna while driving through a lunar like surface in a beat up old minivan. The tour will NOT be enjoyable.
Often we had to shower with cold water. One time we were provided with greasy, dirty butter buckets from the hotel's kitchen with some hot water in one of the buckets and the second one to mix it with cold water so the temperature would be bearable.
We missed 1 morning game drive in Masai Mara, one afternoon game drive in Amboseli, one morning game drive in Amboseli and had to speed up and return only after a couple of hours during our supposed 'full day game drive' in Amboseli only because Twinkle Star had again not provided the otherwise wonderful lodge with our food requirements.
All of this was promptly communicated to James Oketch. Unfortunately, much to our disappointment, he turned out to be a person either unwilling or simply unable to assume responsibility for his and his company's failures. At first he blamed it all on the government for not improving the roads, the quote 'underdeveloped tanzanians', the accommodations themselves, the weather(which wasn't bad at all btw)and virtually everyone and everything just so the blame and responsibility won't fall on him.
However, after he finally dared blame it all on us, I provided him with many photos of the incidents which are an undeniable proof. I all told him that unless we get at least a humble 100$ pp refund for all of our troubles he can forget about that 5 star review he kept pushing us to give him. So in the beginning of February a refund was finally promised.
To no surprise considering Mr. James Oketch's dishonest and mischievous nature the date for the refund just kept getting pushed forward and forward citing the most ridiculous of reasons or no reason at all while after each and every empty promise we were being swayed into giving him the desired and completely false 5 star review both here and on another popular tour site.
Now finally, after about 2.5 months of waiting and blatant lies he told us to wait this time until May because they had 110 'Covid19' cases in Kenya when we have over 120 000 in Germany.
I asked him, why he hadn't refunded us earlier then, he had more than 70 days to that and back then there was no virus threat and business was still flourishing. No reply.
He just kept making new ridiculous excuses like he would totally refund us right away but all the banks were closed and if they were open he couldn't get out of his house at any time at all and Kenya you need to go directly to the bank and personally order the money transfer regardless of how small the sum is. All of this is obviously a lie. Online banking does exist virtually everywhere nowadays a d he does possess a PesaPal(the African PayPal) account through which he was able to receive our online payment for the tour and he could just as easily send us the small refund at any given time from the comfort of his home.
So bottomline, Twinkle Star Tours and Safaris is totally unreliable.
James Collins Oketch is an extremely dishonest person who will silver tongue you up until the moment you pay up and then you will be left in faith's hands as no responsibility will be assumed by him or his company for absolutely anything that happens to you or your family and friends during the tour.
He will keep lying through his teeth while calling you his 'brother', citing God and the Bible and telling you what an honest and honorable person he is and how his word is his bond.
Well the Bible says it's a mortal sin to lie Mr. Oketch and you 'sir' lie shamelessly and you lie A LOT. You show up hours late for your meetings without even excusing yourself.
You break your word of honor over and over again and you make empty promises.
The 2 stars this company/tour have received are only because of our wonderful driver/tour guide- Timothy Simon, the magnificent animals inhabiting Kenya and Tanzania and the breathtaking beauty of the nature there.
Anyone who wants a physical proof in the form of email/WhatsApp screenshots or photo evidence is more than welcome to contact me at any given time!
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Incredible Kilimanjaro trekking and safari
We had an amazing Kilimanjaro trekking experience with Snow Africa Adventures at the beginning of the year. The booking process with Florent was easy and smooth, always giving timely comprehensive responses and secure payments.
Julius our main mountain guide from Snow Africa Adventures picked us up from the airport to our hotel and returned later in the evening for a detailed briefing about the 7 days Machame climb and inspect our equipment.
Julius is an incredibly experienced guide and knew everything about Kilimanjaro, leading the crew of 12 porters and Mzuzu our expedition chef with Hussein his assistant.
This journey pushed us to discover our strengths and frailities when we had to rely on the expertise of our crew. They kept us safe at all times, there were daily health checks just to make sure we were in good health. The food was plentiful and surprisingly excellent. We are lucky to have agreed to go with a mobile toilet because I was shocked by the filth of the public facilities
Honestly these guys are the real and we would not have made it to the summit without them. I have nothing but great admiration and gratitude for their professionalism and hard work.
We also had 3 amazing days of safari to Tarangire, Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro crater after the trek with safari guide Lorry. We were treated to thrilling game drives filled with wildlife encounters and relaxed overnights in excellent lodges.
I fully recommend Snow Africa Adventures as an excellent choice for Kilimanjaro trekking and safari expeditions