CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Based on my experience, this tour operator is completely unreliable. They failed to uphold any trust
I have been scammed by the Journeymarktours Companya few months ago. I communicated with two of their employees, Tess Munyua and Diana Mbele, via the official company email, and it was through this official channel that they provided me with a payment address. Using this official communication, I transferred $2,150 to the provided account. Although they initially confirmed receipt, they later claimed via WhatsApp that no payment was received and no reservation was made. I reported this to the Safari booking platform, and they suspended the account; however, the Kenya police couldn’t trace the fraud because everything was orchestrated internally. By creating a fake email in my name and coordinating it with their official system, they disguised the entire scam as a legitimate internal process. The owner, David Wangari, appears to be careless and uninvolved, as he is ultimately responsible for ensuring the security of client communications. His failure to manage this process led to a devastating financial loss for me, emotional distress, and the cancellation of a carefully planned trip that I had looked forward to for months. Based on this extremely bitter experience, I strongly advise everyone to stay far away from this company. If you do consider dealing with them, please be extremely cautious and thoroughly verify every step of the process.
IE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Bad experience.
⚠️ Warning – I want to warn other travellers and share my experience with Samuel Namu Ntg (safari organiser).
We started planning our trip on 02.10.2025. At the beginning, communication was very good, everything went smoothly and we trusted him. After paying the first deposit, we received confirmations and were told everything would be arranged.
Before Christmas 2025, we were asked to pay an additional 25% deposit, as it was said this was needed to book hotels and other services.
Our trip started on 23.01.2026. When we arrived in Nairobi, he met us, everything seemed fine, and we felt happy and confident about our choice.
We paid the remaining balance in cash, but we did not receive any official receipt.
The next morning, we received a message saying the money was lost, and we were told that Lake Nakuru and Amboseli parks were not paid, even though earlier we were told everything was included. To avoid ruining our trip, we paid for these parks again.
We were promised a refund, but we still have not received any money. It has been quite a long time, and we are only getting promises and different explanations. Each time we ask, we are told to “give one more month” – including a promise to pay by the end of March, which has also passed.
I was actually planning to leave a good review, as many parts of the trip were well organised and enjoyable. However, this situation has been very disappointing.
I am sharing part of our conversation as proof.
I am sharing this experience to warn others, please be very careful and always ask for official payment confirmation.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Terrible NTG experience
NTG was a bad experience for me
Im a Solo travel and I never had a terrible time at the time to checkout. Hotel was charging some money
NTG Sammy don't want to pay difference so I can leave the hotel my last day.
I finished paying 14, 699 ksh so the hotel let me go and stop in tourist Mombasa Police Station to report him.
CH
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Avoid Tubale Safari
First of all, this review is not meant to discourage anyone from visiting Uganda. It is a beautiful country with incredible nature and, above all, wonderful people.
However, this review is specifically about our experience with Tubale Safari and Anette.
At the beginning of the planning process, the company appeared professional and trustworthy. They had good reviews on TripAdvisor, SafariBookings, and were listed with the Uganda Tourism Board. For that reason, we felt confident booking with them.
Unfortunately, from the moment we arrived, the experience did not match what had been promised.
A few days before our trip, I reached out after seeing a negative review online. Anette reassured me that everything was in order. However, upon arrival in Uganda, I received a message asking us to pay for the first two hotels, lodges, and initial tours (including Rhino Sanctuary, Murchison Falls National Park, and the river cruise) due to “bank issues.” With little choice, we paid, as we were told the situation would be resolved within a few days. It was not.
Throughout the trip, we ended up paying for nearly all lodges (except one), most tours (including Golden Monkey Tracking), as well as fuel and vehicle-related costs. At one point, the vehicle was locked remotely twice by its owner because payments had not been made by Tubale Safari. Although our guide managed to resolve the situation, we missed a scheduled early morning game drive because of it.
During the entire trip, we were repeatedly given different explanations and excuses. Despite having already paid for the full package in advance, we had to cover many costs again.
In total, we incurred additional expenses of approximately 7,500 USD for accommodation, tours, transportation, food, and missed activities.
On the last day of the trip, Anette met us in person and promised to reimburse the money by March 5, 2026. As of today, we have received only 100 USD.
Based on this experience, I cannot recommend or trust this company. While it is possible that future trips may go smoothly, there is no certainty, and there are many more reliable alternatives available.
If you have already booked with Tubale Safari, I strongly advise you to:
• Contact all lodges directly to confirm your reservations
• Be cautious with advance payments
• Be prepared to pay costs on-site
This situation created constant uncertainty throughout our trip. We never knew if bookings were valid or if activities would take place. This significantly impacted our overall experience and prevented us from fully enjoying the journey.
On a positive note, our guide was excellent, and the local guides during excursions were professional and knowledgeable. We also met many kind and welcoming people in Uganda.
So yes – visit Uganda, it is absolutely worth it. But based on our experience, I would strongly recommend choosing a different tour operator.
If anyone has questions, I am happy to share more details, including communication and screenshots.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Worst experience I've had in a long time
I honestly wish I could give this operator zero stars. There's absolutely no reliability here. We felt treated like an inconvenience rather than a priority on our trip in January. Jumping around like parcels here and there, without any kind of professionalism or care for us. The worst thing: Selective listening seems to be the standard here; they only pay attention when it's in their best interest ($). Take positive reviews with a grain of salt, as most of these are clearly staged and written by the tour operator's own staff to inflate the score. See the pictures, you'll see the same faces and the same animals all around.
FR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Poor commercial attitude and no refund despite force majeure
My experience with Great Lake Safari was extremely disappointing. I had booked and paid for chimpanzee tracking, but my entire trip had to be cancelled due to the tense political situation during Uganda’s presidential election. This was a genuine force majeure event, completely outside my control.
Instead of showing understanding, the company refused to refund the unused activity and only offered a credit note. For a safari operator, this is a very poor commercial attitude. In such exceptional circumstances, flexibility and customer care should be the minimum. Unfortunately, this was not the case, and I cannot recommend them based on how they handled this situation.
Canceled my safari less than a week out. Bad business practices.
Canceled my safari less than a week out. Bad business practices. I advice you do not book. Beware!
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Terrible and a fraud
would not recommend booking with Arosy Safaris Limited based on my experience.
I paid a $1,036 deposit for a safari planned for March 2026. After the initial agreement, prices were repeatedly adjusted and the quality of the proposed accommodations did not match what had originally been discussed. We therefore agreed to cancel the trip.
A refund was confirmed to me in writing, but it has not been processed to date. Communication became very difficult afterwards, and I have not received responses to multiple follow-ups over several days.
As a result, I had to make alternative arrangements at short notice, which caused additional effort and inconvenience.
I hope the company resolves this matter, but based on my experience, I would advise others to clarify refund terms very carefully in advance.
CN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Our Kenya & Tanzania Safari Turned Into a NIGHTMARE
It has been 10 days since I finished my Kenya + Tanzania Safari trip. I still can’t get over what happened in Kenya, and I’ve been losing sleep over it. So I decided to write this down.
I started officially planning my Safari trip in October 2025 and discussed the itinerary with more than 15 travel agencies. Lincons from RAMESA ADVENTURE replied the fastest and could basically meet all our requests during communication, so we chose REMESA. But to my great disappointment, we made the wrong choice 💔
Our trip lasted 10 days, and many unpleasant things happened. The most unforgivable issues are:
1. Both spare tires on our Tanzania vehicle were unusable!!
Poor road conditions on Safari often lead to flat tires or getting stuck, which I consider normal. We even got stuck and had a flat tire once in Kenya, and everyone stayed calm.
But near Ngorongoro Crater, after our tire blew out, the driver tried two spare tires in a row — both were useless. One spare tire didn’t even have any tread left!
I really don’t understand how the vehicle was inspected before departure. Why was such a spare tire even kept?
The driver borrowed a spare from another vehicle, but we got another flat tire inside Ngorongoro Crater. In the end, even changing the tire didn’t fix the problem. We had to be escorted out of the park by Ngorongoro’s official vehicles. We barely had any meaningful Safari time that day.
2. REMESA changed our guide without consulting us — the new guide couldn’t find animals or solve problems!
When we paid the deposit in November, we confirmed with Lincons that our guide in Kenya would be Felix. Our itinerary was a loop: Kenya → Tanzania → Kenya.
When we returned to Kenya from Tanzania and arrived at customs, I called Felix but he didn’t answer. I contacted Lincons to tell him we had arrived, and only then did he inform us that they had changed our guide to Mark.
We reached customs at 10:00 AM, and Lincons said Mark was already waiting for us.
After finishing immigration at 10:40 AM, Mark was nowhere to be found.
We called Mark 7 times. He kept lying, saying “20 minutes away”, “10 minutes away”, “stuck in traffic”, making us wait from 10:40 AM until 12:30 PM!!
Later Lincons told us Mark had overslept and was lying the whole time.
Mark was clearly an incompetent driver. He didn’t even have a radio or walkie-talkie in his car.
We saw almost nothing in Amboseli. To avoid work, he took us to a restaurant to rest, claiming the animals hadn’t come out yet.
His driving inside the park was completely unplanned.
We later learned from friends that a cheetah hunt happened in Amboseli that day. Even if we might not have made it in time, Mark clearly had no idea — because he didn’t communicate with other drivers at all.
3. RAMESA failed to pay the off-road vehicle owner, leaving us stranded at the hotel and nearly missing our flight!
On our final day, the itinerary was from Amboseli to Nairobi Airport for our flight back to China.
After we loaded all our luggage into the SUV, Mark refused to drive.
His communication skills were terrible — he wouldn’t explain what was wrong.
Only after the hotel intervened did we find out: RAMESA had not settled the payment with the vehicle owner, who remotely locked the car’s engine, making it impossible to start (I’m not sure if remote locking is real).
Keep in mind we had already paid the full amount in cash before the trip started.
We called Lincons more than 10 times, but he didn’t answer or reply to any messages.
Afraid of missing our flight, we had to pay Mark the $250 that RAMESA supposedly owed the vehicle owner, just so he would take us to the airport.
Two hours later, Mark returned the $250, saying RAMESA had finally paid.
But this situation was completely unacceptable — we nearly missed our entire trip home!
There were other problems too:
Several camps we stayed at had almost no hot water.
We repeatedly asked for three bean bags before departure, but we never got them the entire trip.
We had been so excited for this Safari before we left. But after all these terrible experiences, I’m sharing this to help others choose a travel agency more carefully.
SE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Stuck in mainland Tanzania with kids
We booked a safari with Hello Tanzania in February 2026. Unfortunately, the experience was affected by several serious operational issues.
On the second day of the safari, park entry was delayed because the park fees had apparently not been paid. The company stated there was a problem with the park system, but both park staff and other guides at the gate indicated that this was not the case.
In addition, the return flights that were part of our package were never confirmed despite repeated requests before and during the trip. Because of this, we ultimately had to purchase new tickets ourselves in order to return home (approx. 1038 USD).
The company later acknowledged the situation in writing and promised reimbursement within three days. That deadline has now passed and no payment has been received.
The matter has been formally registered with the Zanzibar police (case reference MAZ/RB/576/2026).
I hope the company resolves this situation and honors their written commitment. I will update this review if the reimbursement is completed.