US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Lack Of Communication
I have never written a negative review but I feel it is important for anyone who is considering using Features Africa Journeys to read what my experience was like. When I reached out to Features Africa Journeys the owner Karanja was phenomenal to work with. During the planning phase Karanja replied in a timely manner, he answered all my questions clearly and concisely, and he worked with me to finalize our tour. I was very comfortable with booking with Features Africa Journeys. My group of six booked the 12 day Kenya and Tanzania tour over a year in advance in order to have the best options for lodging.
After we paid the deposit for the tour everything changed. Karanja stopped communicating with us and I often had to beg him to reply. There was a point where we all thought he may have gone out of business. It was quite concerning.
Prior to arriving in Africa we discovered the hotel confirmation Karanja booked for us in Nairobi was incorrect. When we arrived in Nairobi the driver Karanja hired dropped us off at the wrong hotel. Thankfully the hotel brought us to the correct hotel.
The 12 day itinerary included staying at 6 different lodges. Karanja changed 3 out of the 6 lodges without our knowledge which caused undo stress every time we drove by the lodge we thought we were staying at. The second change was a serious downgrade from what we paid for. We paid for semi-luxury lodging and ended up at an eco lodge that had no other customers, no amenities, no hot water, and holes in the floors where snakes could get in. I spoke with Karanja and explained changing the lodges without telling us was not okay and the downgrade was not acceptable. I ended the conversation asking that he not surprise us with a lodge change again and he agreed. The very next day he did it again! It appeared he had no idea where we were staying and was trying to figure it out while we were driving around the park. It added a lot of unneeded driving around and once again a downgrade from what we paid for.
Entering the parks also proved difficult. When we arrived at the entrance to the Serengeti our tour guide, who was a contracted guide in Tanzania and not an employee of Features Africa Journeys, struggled to get us through the gates. Karanja had only paid 2 out of the 3 days we were scheduled to stay in the park. After 1 1/2 hours we were given permission to enter the park but our guide would have to resolve with Karanja how to pay the third day. If not resolved we would have to leave the park early or be arrested. It took our guide a full 24 hours to resolve the issue and then the following day we had to drive out of our way to a ranger station to finalize the park pass.
When we crossed back into Kenya Karanja became our tour guide. When we arrived at the entrance to the Masai Mara we once again sat outside the gates waiting for the park pass to be processed while watching other tour companies pass into the park.
Near the end of our tour Karanja came to me and blindsided me by asking for a considerable amount of money due to an increase in the cost of the park passes and lodges. I could not believe it. We booked our tour more than a year in advance therefore the lodges should have been booked at the lower prices if they did go up. I also believe the park passes should have been purchased at the lower cost but I am not sure what the process is for obtaining the passes.
All the difficulties we had could have been avoided if Karanja had communicated with us regarding unexpected expenses he encountered prior to our arrival. We would have worked with him and paid the additional cost of the park passes. Instead he downgraded our lodging and caused undue stress when entering the parks. He never explained why all these changes happened until my group was already agitated and confronted him. Being small business owners and understanding things happen we stupidly agreed to give half of what Karanja asked for. We knew the cost of park passes had increased a considerable amount. But, after the last downgraded lodge and extra unnecessary driving and frustrations I asked for half of what I paid to be refunded. Karanja agreed, he showed us the request for the refund, we shook hands and said we were trusting him to make sure the refund happened and he said it would.
Unfortunately, two months later we have not seen the refund and Karanja stopped communicating as soon as we left Africa.
My advice to anyone looking to book a safari tour is there are plenty of other tour operators to choose from. The safari itself was EPIC but my review is based on Features Africa Journeys.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Poor communication
We felt that this tour operator had poor communicative and didn’t book our tour or flights as originally expected. We originally booked our November safari with them in March 2024 and paid our 50% deposit at that time. After multiple emails over the next several months asking for confirmation that our flights and lodge had been booked, we found out in September 2024 that the flights hadn’t even been booked yet. We proceeded to book our own flights at that time. We would not recommend this company.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
My advice is do not book with this company, no wonder there are no other reviews for them
I booked a safari with them in January of 2024. It was supposed to start on 10/31. I waited for them to contact me before but didn't hear a word. I texted to ask them when will they pick us up, considering that all other tour operators picked up their clients more than an hour ago. They told me that they are now trying to find a driver. Another hour passed, no one came so I asked them for a refund and booked with another company. They promised me that the refund will be processed in a month on 11/30. On 12/2 I saw no refund so I contacted them again. I was told to wait until 12/28 because they need to open a PayPal account and wait 60 days, when I pushed, the reason changed to "I need to obtain a signature with my boss but she's in South Africa and will be back on 12/27" The saga is ongoing and I'm planning to involve my bank for help as I don't believe a word of what they are saying. Use another company. Anyone else will do!
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
We got incompetence, poor service, and a lack of respect and no refund received
We absolutely furious about our recent safari experience with Shayo Trekking And Safari . For the amount of money we paid, we expected professionalism, care, and quality, But we got incompetence, poor service, and a lack of respect. We tried to raise these issues with the company, they were unresponsive and dismissive. We felt completely ignored and ripped off. So we contacted the company Owner Paul Robert Shayo immediately after the tour to express our dissatisfaction, explaining everything that went wrong and asking for a refund. We told I’d receive a response within a few days, but it’s been weeks now, and all I’ve gotten is the runaround. Every time I follow up, We get vague responses, and they keep promising to look into it but nothing has changed. We have been completely ignored. It’s incredibly frustrating to have spent a lot of money on a safari that didn’t live up to the promises made. Not only did we not have the experience we were promised, but now we left with no refund and no apology. Paul seems to have no interest in customer satisfaction or resolving issues. It feels like they take our money and run. I advise you avoid Shayo Trekking and Safari! This company is a scam from my experience.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Negligent - failed to disclose massive road time.
Ngorongoro Crater & Zanzibar - South Nov 2024
I do not recommend this route nor tour company. No one would sanely want to go on this tour route if they knew how much driving time there is in a truck/ jeep. nomad did not properly disclose the amount of road time on this trip.
why this route is even sold is a mystery. it is just awful. have been roughing it in dozens of 3rd world zones and this was by for the only one I regret. waste of you money, your vacation time, and flight. root of the problem, is that this amount of driving is not disclosed properly on the agenda.
EVERY single day is between 8 and 13 hours of driving (outside of Zanzibar). and we had little traffic and no problems with the dirty vehicle. I will say again EVERY SINGLE DAY is driving (outside of Zanzibar) and very very rough driving.
no tour stops on the journey (outside of game parks and Zanzibar). the only stops are truck stops and on the game drive one a.m. potty stop, one p.m. and one 1/2 hour lunch. all else in a sweltering in a jeep/van. you are with a driver and a cook. no tour guide. we learning only one single factoid from the pair of very nice men, the entire trip.
disappointed is putting it lightly. and we tried to get flights out to get off tour in the middle. not really possible. ashamed of nomad.
please really study and ask questions before booking. map it out.
First seven days' Travel Times Stuffed in a truck/jeep ferry
9 hours: DAY ONE Nairobi - Arusha 7:00am to 4:00 pm
11.5 hours: DAY TWO Arusha - Karatu - Sergetti 6:30am to 6:00pm
11.5 hours: DAY THREE Serengeti 6:30am to 6:00pm
10.5 hours: DAY FOUR Serengeti/crater to Karatu 6:30 to 5:00pm
8 hours: DAY FIVE Karatu to Arusha 7:00am to 3:00pm
13+ hours DAY SIX Arusha to bagamoyo
9 hours DAY SEVEN Bagamoyo to Dar es Salaam to Zaznibar (driving plus ferry)
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
No good management
There is two things to distinguish: the safari experience in the national parks (i.e. what you see there) and the how the safaris are carried out.
I could say this is rip off, but I don't say this. We had very bad experience, especially with the owner George. When we had unbelievably bad accomodations booked by him and wanted to complain, he refused to talk to us and told his driver to stop communication with us immediately. He told him, that we could come back to Arusha and end the tour right away on our own cost! The accommodations were so bad, that we had to look for alternatives.
Even though, the driver was excellent, the car war beyond bad. Several accidents were poorly fixed, welded everywhere. The tyres were all worn out totally, almost slick! The two spare tyres were flat and unusable, the so called tools for changing tyres were unusable as well. George left the driver all alone without helping.
Over all, this manager is acting against his clients and is not willing to cooperate. So if you want to get bad value for good money, here you are right. For us: not at all worth the money spent.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Could have been a better experience
Itinerary not well structured. Too many hours and days lost driving from place to place on roads that can only be described as horrible.
BE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
My advice - Avoid Morningstar, There are better options
Before diving into our experience with Morning Star, just a note on the side that we were happy with our lodge Zebra Plains. Nice room and proper food, however all items which Morning Star had to foresee (transport & guide) were far below expectations.
Transport
- Car we very old and not clean
- Some windows didn't open and some didn't even have a handle anymore
- Seat belt didn't work so one of us had to move to the back of the car
- The back of the seats could only be reclined if you put all your weight on it and forced it down
- Every rest spot was a tourist trap next to a local souvenir shop, especially on the way to the Mara when you still hadn't even see anything stopping for souvenirs doesn't make sense. Other companies were stopping at the big fuel station where you had nice restaurants for a break.
"Guide"
- this was the most disappointing of all!
- Our "guide' was a disaster, actually he was not a guide, he was just a totally not interested driver.
- In case we saw an animal he said maximum two lines of explanation, or sometimes we even had to ask to give some info of the animals we saw
- He seemed not interested in us nor in the safari, his goal was to start late and return early to limit his time on the road
- We also noticed the lack of flexibility. An early safari was not possible, for some reason the earliest we could leave was 7 am which is again a huge lack of customer intimacy
- The only day he proposed to start early was the day we had to head back to Nairobi so he could finish early and go home
- He also didn't show any interest in taking our pictures at certain spots. He only left the car for our picture if there were other 'guides' around taking pictures of their customers
- All tips we gave him were a real waste of money
- I have wanted to go to the Mara since I was 10 years old, with a heavy heart I can only say that he ruined our experience and will always leave a stain on our memories of our Masai Mara safari. Zero conversation, zero enthousiasme, zero interest... just a disaster experience with him.
When looking at the other agencies parked at Zebra Plains, we noticed the drivers of Mufasa, African Horizons and the Holiday Dealers were much more friendly towards us.
They asked us several times how we were doing and what we had done on the day, while our guide disappeared as soon as we left the car. On top of that their cars were much more recent, clean and of better quality.
Looking at the money we spent for this safari, it totally doesn't correlate with the service we received from Morning Star.
There are many safari companies in Kenya who offer these tours, we took a chance on Morning Star and it is clear that it was the wrong bad.
So please choose carefully for your safari as well and avoid Morning Star. As mentioned above Mufasa, African Horizons and the Holiday Dealers would be my pick now.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
I strongly condemn owner Paul Shayo also his guides
My girlfriend Tammy and I decided to travel to Tanzania and climb Mount Kilimanjaro. Since we were both young girls, the decision was not much thought out and we looked for a good company and contracted with Shayo Trekking and Safaris Company. Everything was fine, but when we got there, the owner of the company, Paul, demanded more money than the previous contract, which we refused to pay. Since there were no men with us, they took advantage of our weakness, even we were sexually assaulted and had their guides Nelson & Saimon Urio nearly raped try on the mountain. We were accompanied by guide Saimon Urio in the tent where we stayed at night. We felt very uncomfortable while he was there. After he leaves we are relieved. When we told the matter to the owner he demanded only money from us without any response. I strongly condemn Paul. My opinion is that he must be a bad person that's why his guides do such horrible things to customers. Anyway we survived somehow. Anyone thinking of traveling with this company should avoid them as they offer the worst jobs like rap and extortion out of contract. From our experience no woman should travel with them.
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Not to be trusted
If it was possible to give 0 stars I would have done so! Do not trust this company, I felt lied to and conned. All my Tanzanian and Kenyan friends told me to be careful, of course I wanted to trust them. Already they never responded to my messages a few days before to confirm, it was only very late in the evening after multiple reminders that I got news. The appointment in the morning was at 8:30 a.m., he never showed up! I called them ten times, he told me he was coming... I waited 2 hours, TWO HOURS. Extremely disappointed and angry that I was lied to like that, I call them so many times, they don't answer me, they hang up on me... Put yourself in my place, I'm a stranger, the guy cancels the activity I'm dreaming of for 2 years, I've been taking my plane in the evening and this guy doesn't care! Not even able to find another driver. It's me who offers to pay me a Bolt to go there, and he asks me to pay again! This guy is a scammer of the worst kind and I'm not going to leave it at that. Be certain