LT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
A trustworthy service in Africa
After traveling a lot around the world and getting in touch with a bunch of various travel companies, I can firmly say that Worthwhile Africa Safaris is one of a kind in the best possible sense. Their tours are fun, welcoming, and done in cooperation with the most reliable local operators.
I had two tours with this company in Uganda: the Jinja Experience and the Equator. Both tours were run with great safety and a high level of respect for the visitor. They were also customized to my needs, paying detailed attention to what I wanted to see and do, adding a little bit of extra to pepper my experiences :) In Jinja, I had a lot of fun challenging myself doing white-water kayaking, while in the Equator, I was amazed by the results of the experiments carried out to show the difference between the Southern and Northern hemispheres.
I learned a lot about Ugandan culture, traditions, and customs. Additionally, I had a chance to enjoy the perfectly beautiful scenery on the way and taste very delicious local foods and beer.
My experience with Worthwhile Africa Safaris was short but memorable and totally worth the money I spent. We ended my tours with a pleasant and swift transfer to the airport, where I was seen off like I rarely am, even when I fly from home. Once again, thank you, Worthwhile Africa Safaris, for your support and help and for making me home in Uganda.
SA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
My trip
My trip was amazing. It was my first time visiting Kenya and as a solo traveler i was a bit nervous about the trip. But Spirits of Kenya made my trip an easy one. Starting from the airport pick up until the drop off it was smooth and everything was tailored to my liking and needs. The team was amazing during my visit specifically Filipa and my tour guide, they were both helpful, friendly and great people.
LT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Unreliable and defensive service in Coastal Kenya
I wouldn’t recommend this company for the following reasons:
1. The company doesn’t keep its promises. I wanted to book a tour with them, and we agreed I could make a bank transfer. Yet, since it was a public holiday in my country and the tour was just in the next few days, I warned them they might not receive the funds in their account before the tour, so I asked if I could send a bank statement and a screenshot to prove the transaction. They agreed. However, when I transferred the money and sent the statement with a screenshot, they refused to accept the evidence and said they wouldn’t confirm the tour until they received the funds in their account.
2. Their employees are unprofessional and extremely defensive. Whenever I tried to explain to them that they don’t keep their promises (as described above), they were quick to blame me for everything. For example, they said that I “guaranteed” they would receive the funds on time, which never happened and which is why I asked if they accept statements as evidence of payment. The other day, they emailed me, claiming I used offensive language when talking with them over the phone. However, I saw the phone number they said I called for the first time, and I always contacted them using a different number, so apparently, they mixed me with someone else that was using abusive language with them. No apologies were made on their side for making these false statements about me. The only answer I got from them was that I was “wasting their time.”
3. The company’s approach to receiving client payments seems shady. I paid 110.00 USD for a tour by bank transfer, which was successfully processed by my bank and correctly accepted by their bank. However, they reverted my payment without an explanation. This would be fine, but they refunded only 70.00 USD, meaning 40.00 USD was deducted from my account. When I brought this situation to the company’s attention, they refused to accept that they even got my payment, blaming the banks for not transferring the money to their account. However, I contacted both my and their banks, and both banks confirmed that Travel Shore Africa did receive my money but decided to return it partially without providing any explanation.
All in all, my experience in Mombasa could have been better if I hadn’t contacted Travel Shore Africa. All I got from them was empty promises, disrespect, and lost money.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Paul is a top notch fun loving cheaky being, party's on from Dusk till Dawn, camp ain't fun w'out Po
I thought I had to write it all up there, I've gone on several camps with Paul and this guy, Apaana, his vibe is unmatched, I would recommend him as a stress clinic/reliever coz he knows when you need the fun most, he knows several languages and he decently mixes the trending slangs into the languages and keeps y'all entertained all though the trip, his activities are also fun, Please note ,don't annoy Paul , you don't want to be on his wrong side ...when it's business, it's strictly business.
PS. I wish I could give us space here to post some videos and pics in these trips.
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Highly Recommend Estleon for Private Safari
My wife and I had a wonderful 7 day private safari with Estleon Adventures. Our driver, Isaac, was knowledgeable, personable, patient and a wonderful driver (an essential on Kenyan roads). We saw lots of wildlife, beautiful areas of Kenya and had a great balloon ride. Accommodations and food were outstanding. Esther was great to work with and helpful when we needed to adjust our schedule. Highly recommend Estleon Adventures.
LT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
An okayish company with overpriced services
I had two tours with this company: Wasini Dolphin Tour & Shimba Hills. Below you will find my experiences with this provider.
1. The Wasini Dolphin Tour was so-so because we saw the dolphins only partly due to the overcrowdedness of the area where dolphins swim. There were too many other boats around, some people were even swimming though, technically, you can’t swim with the dolphins in the park (at least that’s what a guy from the ticket office told us), so yes, there are some dolphins in the area, but it’s simply overcrowded (at that was in their winter, or off-the-season!). On top of that, we followed the program only partly. In the beginning, our guide told us that we would be visiting a local village after lunch, but when the time came to do the walk, we were informed that the walk is canceled, giving us no adequate reason why.
2. The Shimba Tour was run by a very professional and knowledgeable driver that I really respect a lot! He did an awesome job, but the Shimba National Park is just too boring, and animals are too difficult to spot because of the lush vegetation. We spent half a day driving around and saw only a few antelopes, a small herd of buffalos, and a warthog family. No other animals were present, so you literally pay money just for driving around bushes in a hilly area.
All in all, the company is pretty reliable, they do what they promise to do, and I understand that it’s nature, so we can’t always predict or control everything. I just think the prices I paid for these trips were too high, considering how many animals you actually see during the trips.
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Openly available to answer questions
Lucas was very helpful when I booked the safari and always responded quickly when I had questions. The chef Rodgers fed us very well! The guide Praise was very knowledgeable. He knew exactly how to find the animals we were wanting to see. We saw the big five! The tour also had quite a bit of other activities other than the game drives. My favourite was probably visiting the coffee plantation and having a traditional Changan lunch! I highly recommend Serengeti Tours.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Gerry is one of the most knowledgeable and helpful people I've met. Great sense of humor.
I can't overstate how wonderful this experience was. From the communication ahead of our bookings through to the end of our trip, savannah explorers was an excellent company to work with. Their team was super knowledgeable and helpful, fielding LOTS of emails and accommodating all of our requests and needs.
Gerry, our driver, was particularly wonderful. He was very knowledgeable about the local area and wildlife, had a great sense of humor, and was exceedingly patient and helpful. Highly recommended all around.
We got to see everything that we were expecting to and more and the well tailored schedule made traveling to our different destinations a breeze. If you're going on a safari, definitely go with Savannah Explorers. Ask for Gerry!
PT
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC, ONE OF THE BEST EXPERIENCIES IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!
Big Cats Safari were just amazing. We booked directly with them and everything went 100%. Speed in responding to our queries was very important. From the JEEP vehicle, always clean and with fresh drinks. Possibility of loading equipment, very useful.
Our guide, Venance, always careful and tireless in the search for animals. We saw them all. Venance loves his job. He was tireless throughout the tour and very knowledgeable about all the Parks.
We visited Taranguire, Serengeti, Ngorongoro and Lake Manyara.
We did the comfort circuit. The proposed accommodations were excellent. We couldn't ask for more. Thank you Big Cats Safari and Venance.
We also did a tour of Arusha on the first day, very interesting, especially Massai Market. Thanks all team Big Safari Cats
EC
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
do not perform scheduled tour
chose by rating, not my first safari. feeling that the comments are paid. instead of 3 promised visits to Maasai Mara. only 1, they got underweight back to the hotel, the guide did not hug anything, pulled from the place so that everyone flew around the cabin. people were stuffed into the car like sardines in a jar.