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.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The guide stole from me!
I beliive these people are deceptive, who stole money by pick pocketing me during a tour
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
I had a horrible experience with this company which works with Cache Safaris. Horrible!
Entirely unprofessional. They work together with Cache Safaris. Avoid the headache! There are dozens of other options… use ANY of them. You will not be communicated with except to apologize for the multitude of ‘mistakes’ in the itinerary. In other words, they will lie to you about the itinerary, do nothing about it, keep your money, and then call it a mistake. Incredibly frustrating! AVOID THIS COMPANY!
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
I experienced incompetence and misinformation.
Entirely unprofessional. Avoid the headache! There are dozens of other options… use ANY of them. You will not be communicated with except to apologize for the multitude of ‘mistakes’ in the itinerary. In other words, they will lie to you about the itinerary, do nothing about it, keep your money, and then call it a mistake. Incredibly frustrating! I advice you avoid this company.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Extremely unprofessional Safari - I recommend you do not book
My sister and I booked a safari with Utopia Safari, guided by owner Exude. and it was a complete disaster from start to finish.
* From the very beginning our driver failed to pick us up, and Exude offered one excuse after another.
*Exaud was unprepared - not hat , no bug spray ( we shared ours)and even delivered us to the wrong location for our overnight of which he as to see our itinerary to know where to take us.
*During the safari, he was distracted by business calls and focused on his camera and other toys rather than the experience he was supposed to provide
* He admitted this was his first safari in a while because he had been working mostly in the office marketing.
*We were taken to the wrong location , again, mid-safari, and he blamed the government and the company for not notifying him of site relocation, showing a complete lack of preparation. We inquired to be told an emails are sent 2 months in advance with relocation notification.
*Our safety was ignored as he led us through challenging terrain without consideration of risk resulting in my sister's injury.
*To top it off he dropped us at the airport only to be told we were a day late and missed our departure flights.
These are only a sprinkle of incidences. Exude claimed to see a memorable safari "EXPERIENCE" , but all we received was a disorganization, distraction and negligence. When we requested a 50% refund, he insultingly offered only 20%. While he may know about animals, that knowledge ends there - he cannot run a professional safari business.
I strongly advise anyone considering Utopia Safari to look elsewhere. This experience cost us time, money and peace of mind.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A tour full of breakdowns !
We have the horrible experience with this tour company on our 3 days safari tour .
The car is constantly broken down at least 7 time during the whole trip.
The first day morning we are 2 hours and 15 mins late for departure.After we stop for lunch ,the batteries died again.Basically the first day we didn’t do any game drive and just rush to the campsite.
The the second day morning the car died again.Other people at the campsite come and help to push the car and half hour later we were able to start the game drive.in the afternoon the driver constantly jump out of the car in the middle of the national park to open the trunk to check the car.After 1 hour the left side stirring of the car fell out and we continued driving to the campsite very slowly.
The third day morning the driver need to call the machinery to come and fix the car.it took 2 hour and 15 mins.Stoped for lunch at the crater ,the car broke again.On afternoon,we realized the wiper of the car is not working properly when it’s raining outside and we were driving down on a big hills.
We ended up went to the tourism police station.The owner of the tour company kept lying in our face and claimed we have seen all the animals so we should be grateful for that.This company have very bad reputation on every safari social platform.Avoid at all time!
We haved all the documents(photos and videos)to report to the MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND TOURISM also the police said they will write to ministers to revocation his TALA！
FR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
$2,000 charged for services NEVER provided
I strongly advise against booking with this agency due to a major breach of contract and dishonest dispute management.
The Dispute: We paid a $2,000 supplement for a specific Kilimanjaro extension (Horombo Hut). This service was never provided. We were kept on the basic 1-day itinerary, simply spread over two days, and never reached the promised altitude or refuge.
Bad Faith: Although the agency admitted in writing to an "editorial error" in their program, they refuse to refund the overcharged amount. They only offered a derisory $400 compensation (20% of the cost), which is unacceptable for a service that was simply not delivered.
Customer Service: Management refuses to take responsibility for their billing errors. Keeping $1,600 for a service that did not exist is not a "gesture of goodwill," it is an unjustified enrichment.
JP
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Disappointing Experience Due to Safety Concerns
Our safari experience raised serious safety concerns, including extremely aggressive driving on muddy roads and poor risk management. The situation became dangerous and forced us to interrupt the tour.
Handling afterward was disappointing, and communication lacked transparency.
Travelers should carefully consider safety standards and emergency response before booking.
ES
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
I would not recommend this agency
⭐☆☆☆☆
I am very disappointed with how this safari was handled, mainly because of the lack of transparency about the price. I clearly asked for the middle option and its price, yet I was placed in the budget option without this being properly communicated. Even worse, I later found out that another traveler who had exactly the same safari, same campings and same hotels, paid only 550 USD including park fees — significantly less than I did. That feels unfair and unprofessional. For info, I paid 970 USD.
In Maasai, I was put in a tent with someone else. When we complained, the solution offered was to move me to another budget camping alone, which was not an adequate solution. We were also not given enough bottles of water for all the days. Additionally, when asking questions during the trip, some of the answers we received were simply not accurate. We are tourists, but we are not stupid.
The safari itself — the animals and the parks — was beautiful. However, the overall organization and honesty from the agency really affected the experience.
On top of that, I personally found Kenya to feel very touristy, and not in an authentic way. Too often it felt commercial and focused on extracting as much money as possible from visitors.
Because of these issues, I cannot recommend this agency.