CN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Sweet arrangement from Splendid but mixed experience with the guide
We had an 11 day safari in Kenya, it’s such a wonderful adventure. Splendid did great in helping us with the arrangement and making sure everything connected smoothly. Our tour consultant James from the office was patient, reliable, and a pleasure to communicate with. I was a little nervous in the beginning paying the deposit when I’m not in the country yet, but the moment we landed in Kenya and were met by the James and the driver, we instantly felt relieved. The vehicle was in excellent condition—clean and tidy inside, spacious and comfortable, and fully equipped with charging ports and a fridge. Splendid even prepared special honeymoon decorations on the back of the car, which was a wonderful surprise for us. It attracted many smiles, friendly conversations, and congratulations along the way. It was clear that they had put a lot of thought and care into making the trip special for us. They had been quietly working behind the scenes to make everything run smoothly.
Although we had a very good experience with our tour consultant James, who was professional, reliable, and patient, our experience with our driver and guide James was mixed.
On the positive side, James is an experienced guide and very good at spotting animals. We weren’t focused on ticking off specific animals from a list—just encountering wildlife naturally was already a joy for us. But thanks to James’s excellent spotting skills, along with some good luck, we ended up seeing an amazing variety of animals and birds. James was also a good driver who always managed to get us arrive in time and drive smoothly even in the most bumpy conditions.
However, there are things we did not feel comfortable and behaviors that are unprofessional:
- About driving off-road: this is the dealbreaker experience that made us very unhappy. During our time in Masai Mara reserve, James asked for 200KSH to pay the rangers, I didn’t think too much and thought probably just rangers trying to make a living. But when it happened the second time in Mara Triangle it concerned me, and I did some serious research afterwards on driving off-road. When we were at the gate of Mara Triangle, James read the rules to us (not sure if its park requirement) and one of them was: cars are not allowed to drive off-road and not allowed to drive too close to the animals. In later conversations with different people, I learned that as a private conservancy Mara Triangle had strict rules and enforcements, bribing the rangers is unlikely to work here. We were seeing a cheetah along with a group of other cars and then saw the rangers coming to get the cars to move. James asked us for 1000KSH cash, saying everyone will have to pay. Instead of driving away like other cars, he drive towards the rangers and spoke Swahili that I don’t understand but the rangers seem serious and James also did not look happy. After the conversation James also drove us away. We did not see any official fine issued, receipt provided, or payment made directly to park authorities. Later, when we asked for the money back, James said that he dropped the money on grass through the window (when there’s a cheetah in close distance?) and other cars paid through m-pesa (how possible they know which ranger to pay?), if we don’t pay they will charge a huge fine, and said this is good for us… I just don’t feel he is being honest. If he is honest, then these people playing with the rules in the grey area is ridiculous. Neither is acceptable. It’s not about the money, but about honesty and integrity. If you’re a good guide we’re happy to pay you good tips, but trying to make money in a sneaky way is just not acceptable. Looking back, I felt guilting getting on the grass and getting close to the animals, if I was given the choice, I will for sure not do that. To us, integrity and honesty is more important than getting close to the animals. We hope guides could follow the rules, transparency and clarity could be ensured in such situations in the future.
- Being late: this is a huge red flag for a safari guide. James was on time for the first day when he came to meet and pick us up. But later, he was late most of the time and we rarely met at the supposed time. When he says we leave 7:30am , that probably mean 8am. There’re many times when we’re wrapping up with our breakfast close to our leaving time, we see James just coming for breakfast. I have to admit sometimes we’re behind a little bit, but we’re usually late within a 10min range. We pay for our guide’s time so the guide shouldn’t be the one to be late…
- My husband is a kind and gentle guy who is easygoing and always treats people nicely, but I feel our guide is taking advantage of it. James did not remember my husband’s name even till the last day (11 days and private car with just the two of us) and called the wrong name after multiple times of correction, it’s not a name in a different language but an easy English name, so he just did not want to pay attention.
- He was on the phone ALL THE TIME. Probably 50% of the times when we’re in the parks James is busy on the phone, we had to wait if we had questions about the animals. James is good at spotting animals but didn’t share much about animal knowledge, we had to keep asking questions. We kept asking so he started sharing more towards the end of the trip. He’s different from all the other guides we met during the safari (guides from hotels and parks during our visit), while others usually try to share as much as possible. This is probably just his style.
- Some times I feel confused if we’re the customer or our driver is the customer… most of the times we’re the ones waiting for him; he asks us to take pictures and asks us to send it to him. I feel I have these tasks assigned from him that I have to get done during my travel time. I’m happy with that, but there’s a line between being pushy and asking politely, and you know when the line is crossed, and if you ask for something from someone else, you’ll need to follow their timeline, instead of expecting them instantly.
- The binocular is by default in his hand, he not only asks for the binocular from us when watching animals (for him to take pictures from his phone) but also asks for our phone / camera for him to take pictures of the animals for us (and then asks us to send this this pics), I felt okay at first but uncomfortable with constantly doing so. It’s my experience, its only meaningful when the photos are taken from ourselves, so refused to do so later.
I hesitated for quite some time about whether to include these in the public review, but in the end I decided to do so. I believe people should be accountable for their actions, and sometimes only real consequences can lead to change. With all the aspects that we’re unsatisfied, we still left a good tip in the end—far more than the service level we were provided. We appreciate James' hard work and did not want him to feel that his efforts had gone unnoticed or unappreciated. However, the things that made us uncomfortable are something we hope the travel agency will take seriously.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Satisfactory but could be alot better
Driver was great, was knowledgeable. The drives themselves could be much better scheduled. Especially in times of inclement weather. The drives were too short and for such a big area, it takes time to explore. I'd rather do that than sit in a hotel.
BG
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Amboseli National Park by Lazar Bazlyankov
Kilimanjaro was in clouds, so missed the main goal of our visit there; we've already seen the animals in Masai Mara and Lake Nakuru
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Truly wonderful and amazing with easy access to abundant and diverse wildlife
The people, culture and wildlife is an amazing experience I recommend.
Unfortunately we had an unethical and neglectful tour operator "All Wheels Experience ' which cause delays and missed experiences we had paid for.
CN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
a guide who was inattentive, dishonest, and only cared about money
Although our guide John might not be the absolute worst, I still want to write about some of the unpleasant experiences during our trip, both for your reference and in the hope that it will catch the attention of the tour operator's management.
1. Suspected Ticket Fraud:
· Our scheduled 3:30 PM – 6:30 PM safari on Day 1 was reduced to 30 mins.He took us to two overpriced souvenir shops. At the first, he disappeared; at the second, he pressured us to buy, saying it "helps the locals."
· Arrived late at the park gate ~5 PM, but he kept us waiting at the gate, claiming the "ticket system was down." We entered near 6 PM.
· We later learned that entry after 6 PM is free for guests staying inside the park. Our $100/person fee (included in the package) was likely pocketed. He refused to provide a receipt.
2. Poor Game-Spotting Skills:
· Spent more hours on common animals (giraffes, zebras) while other groups saw leopards and cheetah kills.
· Claimed he "discovered" a pride of 4 lions and bragged to every guide, then demanded $10/person tip for it. We gave $5, and he sulked afterwards.
· When we asked him to find the scene that the other group has already seen, he was very serious and told us not to give pressure on him.
3. Safety & Scary Incident (Nakuru transfer):
· Stopped on a roadside for a boxed lunch; a nail punctured the tire, according to his words, when parking aside, the nail punctured(I was doubtful). During fixing the tire, a mentally unstable local opened our car door, shouting aggressively. It was terrifying. John just told us to hold our valuables on the car. We are confused and scared and not dare to get off the car, though they are fixing the car.
4. Rushing & Dishonesty (Crescent Island):
· Gave us only 1 hour at Crescent Island, rushing us back for his own schedule (wanted to "wash the car" and meet friends).
· Later asked for Day 1's tip again, hoping we forgot. We paid for safety.
5. Tardiness & Lies (Amboseli transfer):
· Arrived 3 hours late, lying about "car repairs." Hotel staff helped us to urge him.
· "Compensated" us with a cheap fast-food meal, claiming it cost him $70. We checked the menu – it was about $15. At first, he said he will compensate 3 hours late, but finally he said he catched up with the safari 3:30pm, actually it was 3:40pm and haven't reach the Amboseli gate.Not a word was mentioned about the loss of out hotel rest and leisure time.
6. Final Day Greed:
· Rushed us through the market/supermarket (total 2 hrs).
· Demanded $20 for highway tolls (far exceeding actual cost). We paid the actual receipts.
· Dropped us far from the terminal.
I hope this feedback will make them reflect on the essence of doing business—it should be built on integrity, not on deceiving customers for short-term gains. As for the guide's misconduct(other frustrating details I won't mention more), much of it was obvious to us at the time; we simply chose not to confront him for the sake of our safety and a smooth trip.
CO
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excelent Safari Experience
Instead of foreign companies operating in Africa, we wanted to hire a local company for our safaris in Kenya, so we booked Axis, but the experience was a bit of a struggle. They weren't very assertive in suggesting itineraries, they took an excessively long time to reply to messages or emails, and they weren't very careful with the information that should give clients peace of mind. At 8 pm the day before the private safari, which we had paid for months in advance, we had to anxiously search for them to get information about the pickup, schedule, guide, etc.
Thanks to the guide, Raymond, our safari was a wonderful experience. Besides being a very skilled driver, he is passionate about the game drives and search of the animals.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Responsive admin, nice driver.
I booked this tour for 2 adults and 3 children. We received a nice brochure with full description of the tour and a map, which looked wonderful but no were was mentioned a travel times between points. It was a very long time on the road. So all day in the car with limited bathroom stops.
Logde was nice, animals are beautiful. I wish the tour was more interactive for the kids. May be music or fun facts, books..
Plenty of safari operators, choose wisely.
PT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good experience, but expected better organization for $6,000+
We did a 9-day trip with Safari Soles. Overall, we enjoyed the trip because Tanzania’s wildlife never disappoints—we saw everything, the Big 5 and the Ugly 5. But honestly, if we had gone with any other company, the wildlife part would have been the same. The difference is the service, and for the money we spent (over $6,000), there were too many "hiccups" that really bothered us.
Guide : First, the guide situation felt like a total last-minute decision. We saw reviews mentioning specific guides, but we were assigned a freelancer with no info given to us beforehand. When we met him, he was very quiet. For the first 2 days, we had to ask him for info instead of him telling us. By the end of the trip, we actually became very good friends and he was a great driver/knowledgeable, but when you pay this much, you expect more from day one, not someone you have to warm up for days.
We talked about it to Safari Soles on very first day, they said they'd talk to management. But we're already deep in the parks for 3 days, so there's nothing they can actually do at that point. We just had to accept it and make the best of it which we did eventually.
Food: We told them multiple times "no beef, no pork," but we were still served beef. The guide/lodges clearly weren't informed properly.
Hotel : During the initial discussion we were proposed a booking for Serengeti Safari Haven, but then the company told us there was some "confusion" about availability and moved us to Tukaone Camps instead.
Accommodation Quality: One of our stays (supposed to be mid-range) was the worst night ever. No AC, no fan, and full of mosquitoes. We couldn't sleep at all. At another hotel, they didn't even have our booking on file when we arrived.They don't actually check these places out, or they know they're bad and book them anyway because they're cheap.
Transport: On our day trip to Kilimanjaro, they sent a car with AC not working. We were driving on broken, dusty roads with windows open in the heat.
Overall, the management is nice and very reactive when things go wrong, but these small things add up. When you spend this kind of money, you don't expect to deal with basic issues like booking errors or hot cars. We left wondering if we should have booked with a different operator.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Overall I would not recommend Ngoni Safaris company for a trip around Uganda
Good
1. We had a nice 10 day tour around the beautiful country, visited multiple national parks, gorilla and chimpanzee tracked, and had nice accommodations, plenty of water, hot meals, and our guide Eli cared about us having a great time, despite the shortcomings of Ngoni Safaris Company
2. When our bags were delayed by a day, Sedrick/Ngoni arranged for it to be picked up from the airport and delivered 6+ hours to our lodge (for a fee), but I was grateful they quickly helped us during a very frustrating start of the trip (fyi baggage is frequently delayed at Entebbe airport so pack accordingly)
Bad
VEHICLE QUALITY:
1. They speak about their great land cruisers but it was of very poor quality
2. Bad suspension, extremely loud, constantly shaking during the entire ride, seatbelts were broken, and handles were missing, I’ve been on multiple safaris across Africa and never had this experience
3. It also was unsafe and broke down multiple times, the engine would cut off randomly, and it would refuse to start. Which is extremely dangerous when you are driving around mountains, in rain, and in vast emptiness
4. This was a major problem on multiple occasions as we had to be manually pushed for the car to start, we got stuck in a national park which is terrifying with large wild animals roaming around, and we broke down and had to visit mechanics multiple times during the trip, the guide was very frustrated with this situation and I blame Ngoni Safaris Company
COMMUNICATION:
1. During the months leading up to the trip, we received no assurances about reservations; money received etc, and the company was silent for weeks on multiple occasions, this is tourism 101 and they failed, it really makes you question the quality of the company before you start
2. I had to request a packing list, and even then it was missing key items, so thankfully I did my own research or I would have been in a bad position
3. No communication the day or week before arrival to set expectations (e.g., name of guide, where to meet), even upon arrival it took an hour for the company to respond to my text asking what to do, that is unacceptable
4. However, when it came to them pressuring me to choose the company and requesting payment they were quick to send multiple nagging emails which is unprofessional and shows what they care about the most
OTHER ISSUES:
1. Our guide did not have our proper itinerary and multiple times on the trip I had to correct him and make sure excursions I paid for were included. Even upon arriving we had scheduled a Mabamba swamp tour and our guide thought we were driving directly to the rhino sanctuary. Thankfully he was accommodating and we did not miss an experience but it’s frustrating to have to keep correcting the guide
2. We told Ngoni Safaris we were celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary, and they agreed to provide wine, cake, and special accommodations for one night which was a great gesture but when it came to execution it was not coordinated ahead of time and I had to remind Sedrick of this before the last day and they threw something together, but I could tell it was not communicated to the lodge ahead of time. Even our guide had no idea we were celebrating such an occasion which is a huge miss
3. A couple of the lodges had some rooms with air conditioning that were nominally more expensive, I was aware and requested to be placed in those rooms, but without my research we would have had no idea. These are little things that Ngoni should ask the clients about, so we can make informed decisions
Overall I could feel that this company is not of a high standard and they should really improve how they operate in order to be at a 5 star level
DE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Ziwa Rhino and Wildlife Ranch by Lothar & Jelena
Only there to see Rhinos . Lodge was not good