NL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
confusing in communication
In the end, I did not book with this intermediairy/travel agency. Also after paying the 10% bookingfee.
- When I asked 3 questions in my email, I only got 1 answer. I had to go back and remind the operator about the other 2 questions. And then he sayd: which ones? This happenend multiple times, and worked very frustrating for me.
- At a certain moment, the travel dates were mixed up by him. This was the start of my doubt and confusion.
- I wanted a confirmation of the safari with the name of the tour organisation, pick up time etcetc) about 2-3 weeks before beparture. He couldnt tell me, it was unclear which one I would be going with, there was no official confirmation for me available. Only his words.
- He would inform me about the safari trip 1 day before the safari starts.
All together, for sure it would have worked out fine, for me this way of working was unacceptable; we didnot match.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Disappointing Safari Experience with Super Eagles
We booked a 6-day safari with Super Eagles Agency in August. While the trip had some highlights, our overall experience left us feeling disappointed and misled.
Pros
- Good itinerary: Covering Amboseli and Masai Mara in one trip gave us the chance for great game-viewing potential.
- Fantastic sightings: Our driver ensured we saw incredible wildlife.
- Accommodation: Comfortable beds with mosquito nets; simple but fine.
Cons
- Lack of guiding: Although the driver secured great sightings, he gave almost no explanations about animals or locations. He rarely communicated the plan for the day and answered questions coldly and with minimal effort. I have been to many safaris in South Africa that had fantastic guides, but this was nowhere close to the quality of previous experiences.
- Misleading itinerary: We were paired with travelers on different itineraries, forcing us to wait or pay extra for activities we never agreed to. This was never communicated beforehand. We ended up doing things we hadn’t planned for, while missing what we had actually booked. We felt cheated.
- Reduced safari time: We had paid for one full-day and one half-day safari in Amboseli and Masai Mara. Instead, the second day in each park was reduced to about one hour only, nothing close to what was promised. When we complained, the agency offered no compensation or solution.
- Meals: The food was repetitive—mostly cold chicken, the same meal across six days. Acceptable for a budget option, but still disappointing.
- Constant attempts to overcharge: Beyond the agency, nearly everywhere we went we felt pressured, manipulated, or overcharged. For example, being asked to pay $25 for a fridge magnet worth $3–4. This created a constant sense of being scammed.
Final Thoughts
While the parks themselves and the wildlife are breathtaking, our experience with Super Eagles Agency was deeply disappointing. The lack of honesty, communication, and respect for the itinerary made us feel cheated. We cannot recommend this agency and strongly advise others to consider alternatives if they want a transparent, reliable safari experience.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Crowded Safaris in a Corrupt place
During our 6 day safari, our guide, Stephen, alone, worked tirelessly, sometimes driving 7 hours in a day. His communication to the group could have been far better, clearer and louder, but he was friendly, very knowledgeable about the animals, tried hard and did his best to help us tick off the big five. We achieved this, but only managed to see Rhino at a distance, and did not see a leopard.
The Maasai clearly have a strangle-hold over all of these safaris that comes across as if it is a Mafia-type of situation. They control the gates to all the game reserves, it was their tourist camps we were taken to, and it was their shops with heavy-handed sales tactics and ridiculous prices that all the tourists were constantly taken to throughout the trip. The camps all serve the same boring tasteless food in bulk. Beef stew, chicken pieces, rice and mixed veg. This is what you will eat for every single meal, every day for 6 days. Left over chicken is packed up for bland tin-foil packed lunches.
Roads around the Maasai Mara are 100 times worse than you can imagine, even in a Toyota Land Cruiser Jeep. My spine was killing from being sledgehammered after these two days of the trip, and I had cuts and bruises on my shoulders from being bashed into the jeep walls. Nokuru and Amboselli roads were far better. Book a Jeep. Do not book one of these safaris in a van, you will massively regret it!!!
Manjaro tented camp was a dump. Staff were unwelcoming, bossy and miserable. Our tent and mosquito net did not close, even though they stated that if it was not closed, baboons could steal your belongings. The camp smelt of raw sewage, and the tent toilet did not work. They kindly provided me with a bucket to pour sink water into the loo as a substitute. The bedside lamp did not work and the only lightswitch with loose visible wiring was about 6 foot from the bed.
Be prepared for lots and lots of driving, ..........like whole days of driving, on sometimes pretty scary roads, and pray your driver has good judgement while overtaking at high speed on terrible roads.
At all three parks, some beautiful scenes of animals together were spoiled by overcrowding of vehicles. Usually a pride of lions or Cheetah will be surrounded by 20-30 vehicles. Loud, stupid Kenyan vehicle drivers shout to each other loudly in Swahili, and truckfulls of ignorant tourists talk loudly, even by animals very sensitive to sound. On several occasions, this clown-show led to the animals being scared off, and missing out chasing down a meal. On one occasion, there were so many trucks (about 50!!!), the wildabeest could not even get through to cross the river.
If you go to the Maasai village, be prepared to be surrounded and sold heavily to. Also, if a bracelet is worth 100-200KES, they will price it at 2500-3000KES, to start any negotiation. On our trip, they were so focused on selling to us, they did not even let us meet the chief, which was supposed to be a key part of the visit. Also be prepared to be stopped by the police with guns in Ambosselli, for a short river walk with a bribe. As the police are all corrupt, and as Stephen did not properly explain or prepare us for this in advance, we panicked as we thought we were being robbed.
By the end of the trip, we had definitely had enough. The awful food and constantly being treated like a fool by the tireless heavy selling tactics of the Maasai had got a bit wearing. It was summed up by the Maasai children. You say 'Hi' to them, they hold their hand out for payment.
If it wasn't for the hard work of Stephen, this safari would only have been a 1 or 2 star experience.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Incredible Wildlife, Unmet Expectations
This was my first time using a tour operator. I’ve done several international solo trips and usually plan everything myself, but I felt unsure about visiting rural Africa. I called VISA Infinite’s concierge to get a list of reputable, local tour operators—Off2Africa was on it.
Before arrival, I dealt exclusively with Claire via email due to time differences. She was incredibly helpful and everything looked lined up for a great trip. One star is just for the great email communication.
WHERE THINGS WENT WRONG:
I stayed at three lodges in Zimbabwe and Botswana. The first was Insika Lodge in Victoria Falls. Check-out was 10AM, but my transfer was scheduled more than an hour later. Reception kindly held my bags while I waited by the pool without a room (bar and breakfast area were closed). When the shuttle arrived, it already had passengers and made five more lodge stops, including a nearly 30-minute wait at Victoria Falls Hotel.
We crossed the Botswana border, and the group was split up. I was placed in a random taxi with three separate parties. The TravelKey app said the transfer would take “around two hours,” but I didn’t arrive at Kubu Lodge until around 2:15 PM. I was informed at Reception that the afternoon game drive had already passed. I had no option but to take the river cruise instead.
With a custom-made itinerary, at this price point, I expected private transfers. Instead, I got the profit-maximizing, theme park-style shuttle loop that cost me a game drive.
The night before checking out of Kubu, I noticed my next transfer was scheduled for two hours after check-out. Not wanting to wait around again, I asked if the morning game drive could start at 9AM instead of the usual 9:30. The guide agreed after some back-and-forth, but I didn’t appreciate putting the staff in that position because of poor planning. My time in Africa was limited, and it wasn’t respected.
Kubu was also labeled “Full Board Plus” in the TravelKey app. Assuming drinks at meals were included (as is standard), I had three bottled waters. I was shocked to be billed for them at checkout. Claire apologized for the “confusion,” but there was no confusion—there was misrepresentation. She offered no remedy. I contacted the Director, Beck Edwards, about getting a refund for the waters. He denied a refund and was snarky about refunding a charge that was less than the international banking minimum of $40.
To end the trip, I faced another transfer fiasco. My last lodge was Camp Kazuma. The TravelKey app said my airport transfer was scheduled for 10AM, but the interim GM said it was 11. At 11:20, no one had shown. I messaged Claire and was brushed off with: “Hi Branden it should all be on your Travel Key App.” I told her it said 10AM and no transfer had arrived. She eventually said Kazuma was supposed to arrange it. After coordination with the interim GM, I was driven in a game viewer to a highway pickup point and transferred by taxi. I barely made my flight with boarding closing 20 minutes after I arrived.
Claire sent a screenshot showing the original GM had scheduled an 11AM transfer. But that doesn't explain why the app showed 10AM or why Off2Africa didn’t confirm plans with the lodge the week of my stay. Communication breakdowns like this simply shouldn’t happen.
Final Thoughts:
Vic Falls, Chobe National Park, and Kazuma National Forest were all wonderful destinations and I whole-heartedly endorse them as travel destinations. However, the poorly-managed transfers and incorrect information included in the TravelKey app caused me a great stir and a lot of uncertainty. I would not recommend Off2Africa to others looking for a Tour Operator in the Vic Falls area.
As a solo traveler, I rely quite a bit on reviews from other travelers. If you're a semi-experienced traveler and are reading this, trust me: you don’t need a tour operator here. With Google, any reputable AI agent, and direct lodge bookings, you can craft your own itinerary with more control and fewer problems. I wish I had done just that.
I included a picture of my luggage on the back of a game viewer because I doubt I'll ever see that again!
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
"Bait-and-switch on lodging"
I and my brother Jacob book 3 days safari with this company,all money was paid in cash on the day of travel, Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this operator. We were sold a package promising at Mara Jambo or comparable. What we got was Miti Mingi tented camp, under construction and it books at about half the price of Mara Jambo. When we voiced our dissatisfaction, we ware told that no bookings were available at the former, which a quick Internet search proved to be false. Owner Fredrick refund us less than half of the difference between the room prices,we were also to sleep in twin room but on the first day, we were put in triple room,and the second day is when we ware put in twin room as per our request!
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Horrible Tour Guide Moses Ngugi
The experience was one of a kind. He took us to Maasai Mara Safari from June 7 to 9. He was not friendly, Rude and he was not explaining about the animals or anything pertaining the trip unless you ask. We were expecting good service from Bonfire but it was the worst experience. I will not recommend anyone to use Moses Ngugi as a tour guide he is the worst. The Flair Camp Hosts were Amazing.
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Poor
Beautiful scenic, poor for animals, mainly predators, bad maintained, view point closed or poor. Picnic site very poor.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Disappointing and a bit sketchy
Nyala Mobile Safaris is a relatively new business. Our family of 3 adults booked a 5-day budget mobile safari based on a good price for the comfort level and a handful of excellent reviews. Our overall experience was disappointing, including poor communication throughout and some sketchy aspects. We recommend using a more proven operator; we certainly would in the future. For details read on.
The good: The setup of the camps was as comfortable as advertised, with spacious tents, small cots, a portable bathroom and shower, and other amenities. The food was certainly adequate under the circumstances. The vehicle had some issues but none untoward given the exceptionally bad roads it navigates day in and day out. As advertised, there was plenty of free alcohol, which was useful in taking the edge off the steady stream of difficulties.
The disappointing: Our crew consisted of company-owner Mucheka who was in charge of camping, meals, and other logistics; a certified guide who was in charge of the safari aspects; and a "helper boy." Unfortunately the guide was surprisingly incompetent. Over the entire 5-day safari he found literally zero animals we hadn't spotted on our own, and on multiple occasions he got lost when we were on a game drive without Macheka. It's impossible to know how much more wildlife we would have seen if our guide had participated in the spotting (and how much less time spent driving aimlessly if he knew the way), but wildlife spotting has certainly been the norm for guides during the handful of other safaris we've been on.
The sketchy: We paid for a private safari months in advance and confirmed it with Mucheka several times, yet when we arrived at the airport we were told that "two friends" -- a last-minute booking -- would be joining us for the first half of our trip and were waiting in the safari vehicle. We put our foot down and they did find a second vehicle, driver, and dining table, but for the first 2+ days Macheka was juggling two parallel safaris, presumably to the detriment of both. At the other end, when our post-safari transfer, included in the price, dropped us off, we were told Macheka hadn't paid for it and we needed to fork over $105. The money was recovered in the end but not without effort. Overall, communication with Macheka was challenging and a bit slippery from start to finish; it should have been a warning sign.
Again, we would not use Nyala Mobile Safaris again ourselves and unfortunately cannot recommend the company to others.
CN
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A poorly-managed tourism company
Travelling to the Okavango Delta in Botswana has always been my dream. However, I chose the wrong company. The staff didn't offer us the food prepared by the company and treated us in a very rude way. The camp was very far from the delta. I don't recommend it.
CN
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The guide is lazy and less experienced.
I regret to give him too much tips .I gave him 2000Kes . Later I ask several other teams other groups other friends they join other company’s safari team,they told me they gave their guides less tips ,they only gave there guides 1000 Kes every one person for three days safari ,but their guides lead them find much more animals ——They saw Five Majestic Beasts of the Maasai Mara Grassland . They also saw lots of wild animals cross the sand river during 11:00~12:30 at noon on 17 July. But our guide only find three kind of Five Majestic Beasts. He even didn’t want to bring us to the sand river to wait for the wild beasts crossing the river at the same day . Although I already told him to give us chance and time to wait for the famous and precious crossing . At last at the afternoon he lead us to the sand river after we ask him go there but we saw nothing because the crossing finished already that time. He said several times it’s too far away to go to those crossing points of sand river to wait the crossing .