CA
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
OK Tour for money paid but proper organization and attention to detail will help!!
This is a review of the 12 day Kenya / Tanzania Safari that 12 of us (Private Tour) undertook from 12 – 23 September, 2018 organized through Seth Vincent, Director Trip Advisor Africa Safaris, Nairobi.
The Nairobi airport pick up and transfer to hotel went off well and the Sarova Stanley Hotel that was booked for that night as per itinerary was great.
As per the itinerary day 1, the tour of Nairobi commenced at 9:00 am on 12 September. At the outset Seth introduced us to a 13th person (not known to any one of us in our group of 12) who was going to join our tour group. This was a complete surprise to us and none of us were happy about it. We questioned Seth why this was sprung upon us and he was quiet. Although this was not acceptable to us, based on the compassionate nature of our group we had no objection and the group became 13. On hindsight, we should not have allowed this and stuck to our position of only our 12 as this extra person in the vehicle led to great inconvenience with seating/viewing.
Seth/Trip Africa Safaris must ensure private tours remain private and limited to the people in the original group – no additions whatsoever, without prior written approval by the group.
While out on the Nairobi tour, we quickly realized the detailed itinerary as given to us by Seth was not realistic. Moreover, the drivers/guides were completely unaware of the contents of the itinerary. They had their own plans which made more sense than the given itinerary. Seth/Trip Africa Safaris must ensure the itinerary submitted to clients is realistic and correct AND it is copied to the driver/guide so that everyone is on the same page. Evening ended with a great welcome dinner to our group at the Carnivore as given in the itinerary.
Day 2 – Drive times given in itinerary were wrong but the drive from Nairobi – Nakuru through Great Rift Valley, game drive in Lake Nakuru National Park, and Sarova Lion Hill – Nakuru overnight hotel part were as given in itinerary. A problem we encountered was the hotel not having individual bookings in the names of persons in our group and the additional person. This led to confusion and delays checking in. Seth/Trip Advisor Africa must ensure hotel reservations are made in individual/couple/family name with individual reservation confirmation numbers, which can be confirmed by the clientele even before arriving in Kenya/Tanzania etc.
Day 3, 4, 5- Lake Naivasha, Masai Mara good but previously mentioned hotel check in problem existed at Azure Mara Haven.
Day 6, 7 - Drive to Tanzania Serengeti through Isebania border. Transfer to Tanzania vehicles/s driver/guide OK. Hotel check in problematic once again at Serengeti Serena on day 6. Major problem in checking out on day 7 as tour operator had not paid the hotel bill in full. This is completely unacceptable and must not happen.
Seth/Trip Advisor Africa must take full responsibility for ALL arrangements both in Kenya and Tanzania side as our group agreement is only with Seth. As a client we have no involvement with any sub agents.
Day 8, 9 – deviations from the given itinerary started to be made due to the bad/lack of planning of the Tanzanian sub agent who it appeared had not made any firm bookings for our group in Ngorongoro, and Tarangire. We were sent to Serena Manyara instead of Serena Ngorongoro, and Impala Hotel, Arusha instead of Sopa Lodge -Tarangire, which is a major downgrade of hotel not at all acceptable to the group. We were kept in the dark as to where we were staying until late evening and it was extremely disappointing particularly with the drivers/guides working in collusion with the Tour Agent/s. Game drives were shortened and varied from those given in itinerary. These changes are all unacceptable to clients such as our group who paid all the money that was asked up front well before the due date.
Seth/Trip Advisor Africa must take full responsibility for the inconvenience, peace of mind, etc.
Day 10, 11 – Transfer at Namanga OK and overnight at Sopa Lodge – Amboseli as given in itinerary. Game drives ok but changes to lunch arrangements by drivers unacceptable ( got boxed lunches from Sopa instead of Hot Lunch at Amboseli Serena as given in itinerary).
Day 12 – Back to Nairobi and farewell dinner at Thai Restaurant – Sarova Stanley Hotel as requested by group was good.
A good thing about this tour was that we saw loads of animals at very close quarters. This I believe is partly luck and to the efforts of the drivers/guides Ken and Jacob in Kenya AND Ben and Ziggy in Tanzania , although the latter two were partly responsible in working with their Tanzanian Boss to keep us in the dark on change of hotels. The arrangements on the Kenya side seem to be more in lines with the itinerary and OK but the same cannot be said on the Tanzania side.
I am satisfied with the tour but Seth/Trip Advisor Africa will have to improve tremendously if we are to actively recommend them. They are disorganized and needs to put a lot of effort up front to have realistic itineraries, vehicle details (A/C or Non A/C) and firm/confirmed individual hotel bookings with reference numbers available to client before coming over to Africa. Also, Seth must keep to his words when verbal promises are made to clients on site. That would go a long way in building trust and recommending Trip Advisor Africa as a reliable entity.
Chris - Canada
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
i have never seen a lot of wild animals in life like in masai mara
Me and my friends had a work program in Kenya and so later we decided to take a trip around before we flew back home in Australia, after our program for 5 days trip in lake Nakuru and Masai Mara so we made a search around checked on trip adviser and we found go explore with 5 stars around, Brenda was responding to our emails always we stayed at Sarova lion hill game lodge this is a very nice place with great staff and plenty of food in Nakuru the staff were always helpful, I saw lions after our guide Charles had told us lions are rare in this place so it was so fortunate for us. We slept at Hammerkop in Masai mara one night and ngerede in the wild which is a very beautiful lodge just overlooking the plains of Masai Mara we were able to see the big five on this short trip thanks to the team for organizing this great short trip.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great safari, great guide , great hotel
Great safari. We saw everything we wanted to see. Patrick our tour guides knowledge of the land and animals was brillaint. We learnt more than we every expected to. The hotel was more than up to standard and we would defiantly return to both hotel and the safari company if we get the chance to.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing from start to finish!
Wonderful company and staff that led us through every aspect of our safari. Our guide was incredible! A trip of a lifetime.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Wonderful experience!
Loved the hotel (Gorilla Valley Lodge) and the hike, food and experience was fantastic! Great communication and everyone at Gorilla tours was incredibly helpful.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fantastic trip!
After researching many tour operators we choose Boundless Africa. Annette was awesome in helping us get set up and arranging our travel. Johnson was our driver/guide, and we could not have asked for anyone better. We saw everything, he made did a great job finding the animals and getting us in the right position. The itinerary was perfect and we had a nice variety of parks. The trip could not have gone better!
CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing Safari adventure!
My wife and I traveled with Earthlife this past month (Sept 2018) on a private safari and we couldn't recommended them more highly. From the first email to the last dropoff at the airport they lived up to all of our hopes and expectations. They are a smaller company than others in Tanzania and are owned by a Tanzanian who was previously a guide for another company. That fact results in great, personalized customer service because they don't have swarms of clients and the owner knows what clients want and how to make them happy.
Caudence, their senior sales consultant, is the person who helped us schedule our itinerary. She was patient, helpful and willing to work with us as we swapped and changed our plans around. She would always respond within 24 hours and always had helpful suggestions for us. In the end we booked a customized 18 day safari with stops along the way that weren't typical tourist stops (like the Kondoa rock paintings).
Our guide for the trip was Moison and he was superb. He was kind, enthusiastic and he used his knowledge to see things that other guides missed (like the migration across the river. When the herd of wildebeest turned and started walking in another direction many jeeps left their viewpoint to follow them, Moison did not. He studied them, stayed patient and understood what was happening. When the herd turned back 15 minutes later we ended up in prime position to watch them cross while many other jeeps were stuck on the wrong side of the river having followed them).
Amazing trip and a fantastic company!
BD
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It was really exciting. Our driver sammy was awesome. You will be lucky enough if you get sammy .
The car was quite good. I didnot feel any trouble during the journey. Everything was trouble free.lodging and food quite okay.
CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Responded to phone calls .
Respond to phone calls...very helpful..answered all my questions,very knowable staff.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Gorillas Galore
Absolutely incredible experience! Would do it again in. Heart beat! My driver Stephen was great! The drive was long, be prepared for a lot of traveling, but Uganda is a beautiful country and it’s definitely worth traveling through. The lodging was very nice with incredible views. The staff were absolutely incredible. The food was delicious, wayyyy too much of it, but delicious! Highly recommend. CHeckout detailed blog at Allison zucco.com
