35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Enjoyable
Wow!!! What an experience put on by the Jacolin tours team, from start to finish, it was perfect. Big thanks to the driver, Jackson, for making the trip so memorable. Jackson made everything easy. He was very knowledgeable, funny and made us feel safe the entire trip. The chef who attended, Mosses, made amazing food. Both Jackson and Mosses made the trip. The safari was incredible, with many stops (Ngorongoro, Serengeti, etc), endless amounts of animals and new memories. The camp sites where incredible. While each was a unique stop, they all had showers, WiFi and amazing views. A fantastic trip from start to finish. Look forward to another trip back to Tanzania in the future!
CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing, great experience worth every dime !!!
Honestly I couldn't have asked for any thing better. The guide was very knowledgeable and thanks to him we were able to spot all the animals we wanted including the elusive black rhino!! The food was also great and having 3 hot courses a day in safari is amazing. Don't hesitate to book with them they are great.
Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Make sure you get Verity for you agent
We looked at several different safari trips and different companies before we selected Uyaphi. The main reason we chose Uyaphi was their travel agent, Verity. She worked so hard to give us the trip we wanted. And what she personally arranged was so much better and less expensive than any other company. She is honest, reliable, dependable, and knowledgeable. Be sure you ask for Verity.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Well Organized
Steve in the office was great to work with. I emailed him a billion times and he was always quick to respond to any question I had. He made the booking process user friendly. I travel a lot on my own and for work and so I know a bit about how to go about things, but just having that extra help and info about a place I had never been to from Steve made my experience that much better.
Our guide Gibson was awesome. He made sure we saw everything, the Big 5...well technically I spotted one of the five. LOL. It was easy going from place to place. It felt like I had a knowledgeable bodyguard with me the whole time as he is over 6ft tall. Not that we needed a bodyguard, everyone was pretty nice.
There were a few things that I personally didn't really like doing, but I am sure for some they would enjoy it. Those things were the little shops when you stop to use the washroom, I didn't want to buy any trinkets and I felt rude if I didn't. Or the ladies trying to sell you things at the gate into the reserves,
The other was the boat ride in Lake Naivasha. It just wasn't my thing, so to pay the extra money for it wasn't worth it for me. But again some people might love it. I am glad I experienced it, but I probably wouldn't do it again (the boat ride, not the safari, I would definitely do the safari again).
The things I listed above are such a small like 3% of the 97% awesomeness of the trip. I would recommend Bigtime Safaris Ltd to my friends. I hope you have a great experience and get to enjoy Kenya.
Thank you again to Steve and Gibson for a memorable trip.
NL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Reliable, affordable, excellent
Me and my wife did a 4 day safari tour and a 1 day kilimanjaro hike through polecat safaris. The contact with James was perfect and we really enjoyed our trip. Johnny, Freddy, Nazir and Gothfried were amazing drivers, guides and chef.
Highly recommended!
ES
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Big 5(and more) lots of food and new friends... So so happy
I'm a solo traveler from Mexico so excuse me if I have any mistypes. Seeing Serengeti with our naked eyes, the changing Ngorongoro scenaries and meeting new friends was amazing. Seeing the rhino (even if from afar), lions, leopard, cheetah, the always photogenic zebras and well, ALL ANIMALS in the wild was a dream came true.
As a Spanish speaker I still had no trouble that the tour was in English as most of us were from the most diverse countries, which was so enlightening specially since I came as a solo traveler... it was so much fun, maybe also I was extra lucky with the gang I ended up with or who knows, it was simply great.
Our guide Freddy was very receptive to our comments and provided amazing stories that I will cherish alongside all the videos and photos we took from all animals. Gori our cook was the best having us all regaining energy and enjoying amazing dishes that catered all tastes, for all of us who were meat lovers or veggies, spice addicts or not, full bellies left the table everyday, never a single lunch box, we saw some other groups with less food.
Most of our group didn't drink but we had beer and wine available, cola, juice and water. I hate camping and haven't done it since I was a kid yet I seriously loved doing it in the wild, I took hours to take photos of the milky way in Serengeti and got to listen to so many stories as we also got to meet other groups with their own experiences. I cannot fully put in words how I feel, just want to appreciate all the work and attention from the first message to Anita, who was honest and explained every detailed asked. I firstly made contact through safari bookings and she replied quite fast or so I remember.
I appreciated so when she pointed that one of the ideas I had for my safari was non realizable, she told me why and offered me alternatives which was super professional (other agencies I briefed, were non transparent and were sweet talking me). That single detailed took me to book with her; all feedback before the trip was correct, every single thing promised (accomodations before and after safari, airport transfers,...) Were hold true and we even received more than what was on the brochure. The price was unbeatable considering all little things, I actually feel I saved money.
So nothing extra, just how we all loved Godlisten our transfer guide, how happy we were and forever will be for this experience to happen, and my fair and honest reccomendation towards Anita and crew. Will be back and will bring you some Spanish and Mexicans with me (we might ask extra spicy food tho... :) Enrique
P.s. I did also reviewed on other web but can voucher for my every single word, gracias por leer esto
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
!!!WARNING FROM SEKA GONDWE (owner of Taste of Afrika)!!!
!!!WARNING FROM SEKA GONDWE (owner of Taste of Afrika)!!!
1.) FAKE REVIEWS!
Seka writes fake reviews himself under alias names! I know it 100% and I can even prove it, because the Google rating of the user "lil-emky" includes the pictures shot by me! I only provided these photos to Seka so he could create a video of our hike for extra payment. NOBODY except seka and me is in possession of these pictures. SO SEKA MUST HAVE WRITTEN THE RATING HIMSELF! I explicitly told Seka to delete the photos after creating the video and not to use them elsewhere.
When I look at the reviews so also noticed that very many positive reviews were written by users who have only written a single review... funny that people specially create a new Google account to write a single review or...? (but can also be a coincidence)
2.) SERVICE NOT PROVIDED, PROMISES REFUND FOR MONTHS, BUT DOES NOT REFUND!
We had booked some extras for additional payment. One of these extras did not take place and it does not matter what reason Seka comes up with all of a sudden for the failure of the extra. It's annoying enough when something you were looking forward to doesn't happen, but for Seka not to refund the extra cost is FRAUD! He has been promising me reimbursement since June and postponing it until the following week every time...SINCE JUNE, for 4 months!!!! By now I know I will not get the money back.
3.) His employees are not salaried, but are contracted as "self-employed".
He does not discuss what has been agreed with the customer with the "employees", so they get into difficult and unpleasant situations with the customer.
4.) He tries to save money even during the tours: e.g. booked beverage flats are suddenly to be paid by the customer (only clarified after discussions).
(supposedly) positive:
5.) At the beginning (online booking) and when you talk to him (Seka) personally on site, he always seemed very friendly and customer-oriented. He planned our tour according to our wishes and took a lot of time. However, the moment he got the money transferred, the contact already became less.
I think we were very lucky. Probably the special occasion of our trip - which Seka knew about - led to the fact that Seka didn't cheat us completely and that our trip was carried out at least to a large extent as planned. (Cheaters apparently sometimes still have a bit of heart!).
6.) What was really SUPER were the super dedicated staff (=self-employed) of our crew during the ascent of Kili (including Nickson and Brison + all porters) as well as our safari-guide Moses! Thank you for giving us a beautiful and successful climb as well as a unique safari despite the problems with Seka!
Without these people our tour at Taste of Africa would probably have been a total failure.
Conclusion: Taste of Africa and especially the owner Seka Gondwe are NOT TO RECOMMEND! Seka only wants the customers' money. We were lucky in our misfortune, but other reviews show that this is unfortunately not the case with everyone.
ES
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Unforgettable experience
Unforgettable experience
Our family enjoyed a 10 days safari with this company for three years ago. Everything was amazingly well organized, enjoyable and safe. They know Uganda from toe to top and advice about places we would never have decided to visit. They couldn’t be more friendly and close and indeed we still keep in touch with our friends. Highly recommended!!!!!
ES
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Extremely kind, hospitable, wise and fun people (Brian and Jackson)
The trip was amazing. Our guides made us feel at home.
They knew exactly where to get whatever we wanted very safely.
They took us wherever we wished always with a smile on their faces. Their english was perfect so there was no problem communicating with them.
Having lunch and dinner with them was very interesting since used to tell us about fun facts in Uganda.
I couldn’t describe with words how cool the safaris were.
Watching wild gorillas, chimps and many other animals just a few meters away in their natural habitat was incredible.
RO
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Professionalism, Value!
Safari + beach (all inclusive) at the highest and most spectacular level. I warmly recommend to everyone. An experience not to be missed. Adventure, comfort, relaxation. All the appreciation for the organizing agency.
