CH
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Professional, individuell, cordial
Would do it again!
Experience you will never forget!
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing safari to the heart of Afrika ...
Our Kenyan safari with Adventure Expeditions was amazing. We were lucky to see all the big 5 many more animals and birds.
We got best assistance and consulting from booking until traveling. Our tour guide Charles was very friendly, fun, and very helpful not just during the safari but also when we were checking in for lodging, food, and so forth. Nicole from the office was very helpful and generous to help us in needs outside of our itinerary. We added some activities very flexible and visited some local artisans and a market. We liked all the camps and areas weh ad visited a lot.
We could not have asked for a better holiday. We would recommend Adventure Expeditions for anyone traveling to East Africa. Our safari was a once in a lifetime experience.
A beautiful trip!
The hole Tripp was perfekt organised and we only med nice People.
I will definitely book my next safari with Adventure Expeditions again!
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Everything was amazing!
This was the third time I travelled, organized from Diana.
As usual she absolutely listened to our wishes and booked us in a lodge in Tsavo West with a great view to watch wild animals, even only sitting in the evening on the terasse...
Also, all drivers I know up to now are friendly, polite and are able to tell you a lot about Kenya's Wildlife. Thank you!!
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A huge disappointment.
I will start with the fact that the 2 stars in this review are given to the beautiful Kenyan and Tanzanian nature and our amazing tour guides Brian from '7 Wonders' and Timothy-Simon from 'Twinkle Star' who made up for a large portion of their superiors' countless failures. Poor guides were at the same time also drivers and on top of it had to deal with numerous misunderstandings and failures due to the badly organized schedules and itineraries courtesy of their supervisors.
People like Brian and Simon should be the ones running the companies and not the other way around.
I was a part of a small group that took part in a 15-day Kenya-Tanzania tour, organized by Twinkle Star Tours and Safaris.
Despite of me being an equal part of the group, paying the same price for the tour and ultimately sharing the same disappointment, I would not have written this review and kept my disappointment to myself had I not seen the reply from Benson of Twinkle Star Tours to my husband's review.
Benson's reply just confirms what was said in the previous review about this tour operator's behavior- a total refusal to assume responsibility for anything and twisting of simple facts.
My husband explicitly asked the owner of Twinkle Star- James if the original itinerary will still be preserved despite of the 11 day delay in payment due to PayPal refusing to mediate such a large payment to a private account in Kenya. However, we managed to take care of the situation and once James Oketch confirmed in writing that the original itinerary will be unaffected and preserved we initiated the payment.
We were only briefed about the changes in accommodation *after* we had arrived in Kenya. This was of course very well planned on Twinkle Star's behalf since we were left with very little choice in the given circumstances. What were we to do? Say 'No, thank you.' and pack our bags, buy new airplane tickets for 3 times the early booking price and fly back to Germany?
They knew exactly what they were doing when they only informed us about the changes once we were already in Kenya. A decent company would ask their clients prior to their departure if they would agree to itinerary changes for a lower standard accommodation and if not they would refund them. Unfortunately 'Twinkle Star Tours' is not such a company. Despite of it all my husband still protested on a number of occasions about the changed itineraries and the bad conditions in some of the places we stayed in, about the missed or messed up lunch boxes and etc. The tour guides knew it all and they communicated it to James Oketch and Benson and their Tanzanian counterparts and on some occasions my husband did that too.
Spending our nights in tented camps in the middle of the Savannah would've been perfectly fine for the younger people in our group but we also had an elderly person with us who has several non- negligible health conditions.
Having to shower with cold water due to yet more technical problems, being provided with scarce nutrition choices and being unable to go out of your tent at night because of the wild beasts roaming around was not our elderly companion's idea for a 350USD a night accommodation and it was not what we paid for and agreed on.
As for the so-called safari vehicle. On the official website of 'Twinkle Star Tours and Safaris' it states 'We have invested in top of the range and reliable landcruisers for all our Land Safaris'. James personally confirmed in writing to my husband that their safari vehicles are up to the best modern standards but then again they also advertise 'We select top of the range and luxury hotels and lodges for that extra ordinary service' on their website and then you end up having to either shower cold, shower with filthy buckets by mixing hot and cold water by yourself and either bringing you on the verge of starvation or food poisoning you and your tour guide like it happened in Tanzania.
The above-mentioned antiquated minivan was absolutely not to the task of taking us on time to our destinations or let alone offering us a comfortable ride.
It had no air conditioning in the scorching heat. The air filters of the rusty minivan were situated at such a low level that when the slightest amount of water splashed the vehicle it meant we had to either wait for it to dry up or miss a game drive entirely.
We missed a morning game drive in Maasai Mara because it had rained a little the previous night and our guide was afraid water might get into the air filters, we missed a game drive upon arriving to Amboseli because we had to take alternative roads just so we can avoid water getting into the air filters, the next day we had a hurried 2 hour game drive instead of a full day one because our food menu plan was again messed up/not communicated properly to the lodge and we were again starving during the game drive, we missed another morning game drive because water had gotten into the air filters and the minivan was barely operational. We had long waits to just cross muddy/wet areas because of the badly situated air filters of the old minivan while virtually every other tour vehicle around us was passing through with no difficulties whatsoever.
It was a nightmare...
As for the promised small refund that James kept lying about. It was not simply delayed like Benson is putting it in his comment, it simply never happened.
Dear Benson, a delay means a few days, maybe a couple of weeks in extraordinary circumstances but a delay is certainly not 70 days. A 70-day delay means unfulfillment of commitment.
Every couple of weeks James came up with new excuses and simple lies to delay the promised refund. The latest excuse is the virus crisis and that they are always confined to their homes(not true)and online banking doesn't exist in Kenya(obviously not true as they have that and they have PesaPal)but any slightly intelligent person could easily spot the dishonesty of James and Benson as the refund was promised and arranged for more than 70 days ago when there was no virus crisis in Europe, the US or Africa and when business was going as normal.
Twinkle Star Tours, your behavior is absolutely disgraceful.
In conclusion, I encourage other travelers to visit the breathtaking natural beauty and stunning wildlife variety of East Africa. Just not with 'Twinkle Star Tours' because with them things will only work out if all the right stars align perfectly for you and your group and if something goes wrong along the way, you will be on your own.
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A few misunderstandings but overall satisfactory. Great tour guide and magnificent nature.
My companions and I went on a 5-day 'Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Lake Manyara'.
Despite of the few misunderstandings surrounding our accommodation, having to shower cold on several occasions and the constantly messed up lunch boxes I still give this tour 4 stars because of our great tour guide- Brian, who was very knowledgeable and competent at his job and of course, the magnificent nature/wildlife of Tanzania.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
It was amazing! Awesome animal sightings and amazing food!
We did a 4-day tented safari and it was really the experience of a lifetime! We saw all the big 5 and much more. Also a lot of special sightings such as servil cats and a cheetah. Our guide Malisa was very good at spotting the animals and also very knowledgeable, always explaining us interesting facts about them. Our chef Dulah was also great and cooked fantastic food for us. We really enjoyed it a lot and especially my friend was very happy about the excellent gluten-free food she received! The tents were huge and very comfortable and it was awesome to hear the animals so close by at night. Bartho was very kind as well, answered all our questions very quickly and patiently during the planning and booking of the safari. We were even able to arrange a short private tour with him to the Materuni Waterfall a few days later when we had a long stopover between two flights. All in all everything was perfect and I would definitely recommend booking with Serengeti Wakanda Tours!
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Andrew Machete is an excellent guide and I cannot recommend him highly enough.
I think the choices provided were excellent; the knowledge and company of the tour guide was incredible; the entire set of tour stops was awesome and I really cannot recommend with enough enthusiasm the pleasure of having Andrew as our guide!!
TR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Easy trip from Addis making a great place to stay if you have a few days too spare.
An easy ride from Addis via Nazret by bus, although I came via Butajira. This means most tourists are local. A pleasant place to wander, with enormously wide streets which away from the main roads carry mainly horse drawn vehicles. The food is excellent with lots of fresh Tilapia from the lake. Its BBQed on the lakeside. I'm not a birder, but lots around particulalry pelicans and the rather ugly Marabou storks.
Ziway gets compared with Hawassa which is similar in its lakeside location. Hawassa has more to offer but not such an easy run from Addis