TW
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Money fraud. Ruined trip. Pay the hardworking drivers at least or you aren't humans!
I've just known that the company seemed to get bankrupt more than a week ago. I wish they had told me earlier about that instead of keeping silence which is what cowards do. After we made a payment (1600 USD which is like 1.5 of my monthly salary) there has been a silence to my e-mails regarding the receipt and other questions. I called and they sent me the receipt but the silence continued until August 7 when I knew that they had stopped all their services. I see there are dozens of tourists who face same situation. Some of them had to face it straight at their arrival when they found out there were no one to pick them up and they couldn't reach anyone. I appeared to be luckier but as everyone else I lost my money and trust in more humans. I understand that everyone has to survive in this rigged monetary system but if you do so at the expense of others you aren't a decent human being. It's not the loss of money of that importance but it's the loss of trust. So Mr.O, if you read this message, please at least have decency to pay off your former employees.
JP
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Wildlife Safari from Western Kenya
We did a safari with Oluokos Signature Ltd from Kisumu, Kenya. Having a couple of weeks in the Western Kenya s volunteers Oluokos team engaged us responsibly on some amazing excursion where we visited Ndere Island National Park, Kit Mikaye, Kakamega Forest and Ruma National Park that was very special to us.
After all the great excursions in Western Kenya, we embarked on a longer safari that took us to Lakes Nakuru and Bogoria, Samburu Game Reserve, the Aberdares National Park, Amboseli Maasai Mara and then finished with Lake Naivasha where walking safaris, mountain biking and a night game drive iced our safari experience.
Oluokos Signature passion towards responsible tourism is very impressive and it's worth every penny that you spend. We highly recommend them. Their choice of lodges is number one plus the best land-cruiser safari vehicle that made us the champs of the wilderness experience.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent service
Very knowledgeable
Excellent service.
Very personable.
CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
DO NOT BOOK!!!
This “tour operator” is a scam artist. I booked a tour months in advance. And now 20 days before my tour is set to begin, I receive this email:
“Thank you very much for your email. Please this is notify you that the company has technical problems and therefore cannot give the required services”
My flights have already been booked, but I have no tour. I paid over $5000 USD, and now I have to somehow get my money back.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Our tour Guide was on time , knowledgeable experienced and helpful.
I contacted Sureway Tours over Facebook in early May 2019, about two weeks before I arrived in Kenya. I didn’t think they were gonna be able to squeeze my group of 6 people in but they were happy to.Our your guide arrived on time and full of information. John was so helpful and very pleasant. What I loved the most is that he was very open to making sure that we were satisfied with our itinerary. The tour was amazing and I learned so much. Sureway Tours is the way to go!
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great trip!
Did a one-day safari from Nairobi. Our driver and guide, Kim Ngare, picked us up right on time and took us out to Olpejeta. We saw 4 of the big 5 (buffalo, lion, elephant, and rhino), and Kim was super knowledgeable and dedicated to us having an amazing experience. Could not have asked for a better one-day trip. Highly recommend if you have limited time and want to see some of the amazing wildlife Kenya has to offer.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Face of Africa Adventure far exceeded all of our expectations!
Going to Africa had been on our wish list for decades. It is one of those big life trips that we said we’d take someday, but the thought of it was always somewhat daunting because of the expense, preparation time and distance. So for these, and a variety of other reasons, we waited. Well, this year, our circumstances aligned and our ‘someday’ finally came. This past July, my husband and I joined a safari group, led by Hamadi Ningaa and the guides from Face of Africa Adventure.
Logistics: There were 21 of us traveling together as a group, and I’m sure the logistics had to be complicated, to say the least! But Face of Africa expertly handled every detail of our safari. In the beginning, they sent us pre-trip emails including FAQs, itinerary details, and packing lists. (Hamadi answered my questions and emails personally). Face of Africa staff met us at the airport when we first arrived, guided us each day on safari, and transported us back to the airport for our flights back home at the end of our adventure. During our safari (ours was a seven day journey) our accommodations and meals for each day had been pre-planned and arranged so we had no worries. All we had to do was enjoy the sights and sounds of the wild.
The safari itself: The Face of Africa guides coordinated our four vehicles so that we stayed in close contact with one another. The guides were excellent ambassadors of their country and of the game parks. They greeted each of us every day with excitement and a sense of humor. They were all expert spotters, showing us and teaching us about the wildlife we came to see, even pointing out animals and birds that weren’t immediately visible. Hamadi and his guides were professional, polite, and patient. When one member of our group needed extra help in getting in and out of the vehicles, the drivers were attentive and treated her with extra gentleness and care.
I believe that our trip was a great success, specifically because we had Hamadi and the guides of Face of Africa as our hosts. If you’re planning a safari, don’t hesitate to reach out to them. This was our first trip to Africa, but if we ever have the good fortune to return, we won’t hesitate to join Face of Africa Adventure again!
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Misleading Information + Unprofessional Response... Can book same safari with more reliable company
If you want to skip reading the review, here's just a quick list of reasons you shouldn't book with Seth Vincent and things that were PROMISED TO BE INCLUDED in our safari package that WERE NOT: First nights stay in Nairobi, visit to elephant orphanage, giraffe sanctuary, farewell dinner at Carnivore, a limited number of people in a van, and adequate amounts of daily drinking water. He just wants to find any way to take your money!
As two college students who booked a "budget" safari, and have been to Africa before, we went into our trip with no expectation, knowing that traveling over there is an adventure of it's own! We booked a 6 day safari through Seth Vincent and initial communication was clear. Once the deposit was paid, however, his communication became a little more sporadic and it was unclear how we were going to transfer the remaining balance, as we made it known we did not want to travel with that much cash. Anytime we sent an email asking questions about anything prior to landing in Nairobi his response was nothing other than "it will be fine."
In the email he sent with our itinerary, he said that our first nights stay upon landing in Kenya was paid for in the cost of our safari. He never booked us a place to stay, or gave us money from the safari package to put towards a hotel, so we booked and paid for our own hotel in Nairobi (which wouldn't have been a big deal if he wouldn't have told us that a room was included in the package and then lied when we asked him about it)
Upon landing in Kenya we were picked up by a driver named Samuel! He was great and according to him, and the itinerary that Seth Vincent had sent us, someone would be meeting us at our hotel to go over what the rest of the week was going to be and someone was going to take us to the elephant orphanage and giraffe sanctuary. No one ever came and we were instructed to be ready for pickup the following morning.
Seth arrived as we were departing for our safari and took us to an ATM where he had us withdraw the remaining balance for our safari after we had asked multiple times if we could just wire the money the same way we had paid the deposit.
After taking our cash he dropped us off at a van where he told us that the van would exceed no more than 6 people. Well, after just a few minutes of waiting the van was completely full (9 people) and we were stuffed elbow to elbow with people from a different tour company that Seth evidently partners with. So, the number of people he told us would be on safari was false, which at the start wasn't a huge deal, but after being stuffed into a van for numerous days on bumpy roads, it got a little too crowded and very uncomfortable.
Then the amount of water that was promised to us each day was not given... to the point that I was so dehydrated I was vomiting (there is water available for purchase at the camps so we just ended up buying water for ourselves... which also wouldn't have been a big deal if Seth Vincent would have just been honest about the amount of water we were going to receive)
Upon returning to Nairobi after the safari, we never heard from Seth (he would have never known if we even made it back to Nairobi) so we reached out about the "complimentary dinner at Carnivore" that is promised in the itinerary, along with the visits to the elephant orphanage and giraffe sanctuary. He told us that because we didn't go on the first day (BUT THE REASON WE DIDNT GO IS BECAUSE HE NEVER SHOWED UP) he wasn't required to take us to see the elephants and giraffes (and was incredibly rude about it), but he offered to arrange to take us AT AN ADDITIONAL COST (to something we already paid for!!) and when I asked about the farewell dinner at Carnivore he flat out told me no. When I asked to be compensated for the first night's stay in Nairobi he also told me no, even though HIS INITIAL EMAIL STATES THAT HE WILL PAY FOR IT. He asked for additional money to arrange visits to the elephants and the giraffes and dinner. So we just took an uber and planned a day for ourselves.
The safari itself was magical. We absolutely loved our first driver, Jeffery Bruce. Everything about the Maasi Mara is absolutely breathtaking, but you can book the same safari with other companies for cheaper (: We were put into a van with another company and everyone who booked through them paid less than we did (and seemed to be given what they were told in their itineraries)
Our second driver, James, was AWFUL. He drove on the wrong side of the road on a busy highway on the way to Amboseli and didn't notice until someone told him... and FELL ASLEEP multiple times while driving on the safari.
Our safari went to the Mara, Nakuru, and Amboseli... we both agreed that if we had to do it all over again we would book a 5 day safari (through a different company) and only go to the Mara and Nakuru (: Amboseli is cool, but not nearly as fascinating as the Maasi Mara and a lot more work to get to than it is worth!
Go on a safari... just book it through someone that's honest!
US
Just OK.
Tanzania is gorgeous and the safari experience is truly “once in a lifetime”, plus the staff in the lodges especially porters, waiters, chefs etc are simply excellent. All of these factors make a Tanzania safari an amazing vacation.
As a tour operator there are 100s of options and most appear to be similar. I don’t think we got anything commendable from Asilia Africa (ground operator for Audley) but we don’t have anything to compare as this was a first time. We figure most operators have the standard packages and they just sell the same to every customer, so nothing exceptional or noteworthy about this company.
Two concerns -
1) the final day of our trip was a mess with no planned activities/meals or even the willingness to help us - while we were on our own to figure out our day until the 10pm flight. We purchased a package and expected they would pay attention to all the details or at least bother to help when we reached out to request some assistance (via the guide). Very frustrating to feel abandoned, hungry and stressed even if it’s just the “last day”.
2) perhaps our mistake in trusting them/the guide - but the guide took us to a store to buy tanzanite and we spent a considerable big amount. Shockingly he hung out right next to us as we shopped affording no privacy despite requesting that we will be out in an hour, and then he collected money as commission from the store as we left with our purchase! Are they (asilia,store, guide) all into a scam or did we make a genuine purchase. Left a very poor taste about trust and reliability for us at so many levels.
HK
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
'A Frican' Good Time ;)
Our 1st Safari—and an experience we will never forget. Malini’s organisation of every detail and on the ground support, ensured that we had a truly unforgettable holiday. We were 3 families, with people ranging from 5 to 74—and everything we could imagine was planned and catered for. Highly recommend going through Malini for a worry-free and enjoyable African safari.