Some of our tour guides and vehicles
Gosheni Safaris Africa
- Offices In:
-
United States
- Size:
- 50-100 employees (Founded in 2009)
- Member Of:
- ATTA & TATO
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $3,014 to $8,611 per person per day (MXN, excl. int'l flights)
for a custom tour
Your request will be sent directly to the operator
If preferred, you can contact the operator directly
Reviews
Email Alex | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Tour Vehicle Unacceptable
My wife and I arranged our honeymoon through Gosheni Safaris. I had developed the plan for our honeymoon in advance and contacted Gosheni simply to make the arrangements for us for a custom safari. They made reservations for the accommodations per my instructions and everything was fine from that side of things. Our guides were also very good at their jobs and we appreciated their insight and expertise. However, when it came to the vehicle that was assigned to us for our safari, it was far from acceptable. These are a list of issues with the vehicle in which we spent 7-12 hours a day:
no functioning air conditioning
no functioning outlets
broken cooler
musty/moldy smell
rusty and broken seat belts
huge cracks in windshield
broken shock/spring day 3
broken interior handle
exposed broken wires
broken strap for pop up roof
dirty ripped slipcovers
Gosheni claims that its vehicles are new and well maintained. Our vehicle was neither. The odometer on our vehicle read 99242km, and obviously the vehicle was not well maintained due to the issues listed. I will note that every other Gosheni vehicle we saw appeared to be in much better condition, so why we were assigned this vehicle during the low season is beyond me.
I contacted to Gosheni about the vehicle just a couple of days into our safari. They responding continuing to claim that the vehicle was new. I pushed back and asked that we be flown back from Serengeti to Manyara, rather than having to ride in this vehicle for an entire day. Gosheni did arrange this flight for us and paid for it, and the vehicle that met us in Manyara was indeed new and well maintained. However, spending several days of our honeymoon in the vehicle provided was simply unacceptable and not what we expected or paid for when we booked with Gosheni. If you decide to book with Gosheni, please inspect your vehicle before you head off on safari. But, I would suggest you look elsewhere for your safari needs.
As a side note, I should inform everyone that Gosheni pushes guests to pay $20 per day as a standard tip for guides. This is not in line with the other safari organizers in the region, which recommend around $10 per day. Please Google this yourself and do not get bamboozled by Gosheni.
AE
Email P.N. | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Almost there but something is just not right
Throughout the planning stages Gosheni was very helpful and overall the safari was nice. But I am writing this review with mixed emotions. During the planning process there was a huge emphasis placed on the company having new vehicles and permanent guides. The vehicle that we had for our safari was fantastic and new, but it was not owned by Gosheni. Instead they had subcontracted our safari to another company. The guide was friendly and gave us a great trip but is not a an employee of Gosheni, and instead works for another company. In the end we were delivered with a great trip, but I am left with a bit of a sour taste. Their website is really focused on how great they are because they employ the best guides. They claim to be a reliable and honest operator.
We traveled in low season so it still seems very strange that they subcontracted our trip to another company, named Masai Safaris. I read several bad reviews about companies that Sub-contract safaris to other companies and the mess it can end up it. So we specifically chose a company that seemed to run their own trips. Apparently this is not the case, so I can't recommend this company even though the safari was well planned and delivered.
Reply from Gosheni Safaris Africa
Posted on Jul 3, 2018Hello! We are disheartened to learn about this review but thank you for voicing your issues. First of all, we are happy that you've had a wonderful trip. We at Gosheni always try to do our best to make every trip memorable. We do own our vehicles and employ full-time guides where most have been with us for several years. We invest both in regular maintenance for all our vehicles and provide regular trainings and certification for our guides. We have worked hard for our reputation and will never risk it by subcontracting to a different company with standards we cannot control.
There was however a misunderstanding with the vehicle you used having been recently purchased and for us failing to properly communicate this to the team. Indeed, this was an error on our side and steps are being taken to sort this out. We at Gosheni, especially your guide, would like to apologize that this have made you feel uneasy. Rest assured that you have received the Gosheni quality seal and again, thank you for stating your positive safari experience. We hope to see you with us again one day.
CO
Email Maria | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Traveling with Gosheni was an awesome experience. Had a great guide called Ombeni!
Ombeni the guide was kind, drives very good and knows extremely well the area and the animals. He has a lot of experience in the subject! Very knowledgeable and loves to explain and to solve questions. He had a lot of patience while searching for the big five and waiting for us to delight our view and take pictures of them.
The car was comfortable, clean and had a fridge with cold beverages. Also binoculars were available.
The itinerary was a bit long, as we stayed 2 nights at ndutu and 2 nigths at serengueti. In that case we suggest just 1 night in each place is more than enough.
CA
Email HG | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Tanzanian Operator with Excellent Guides
Went with Gosheni in August 2025 in Tanzania including Tarangire, Ngorongoro, and Serengeti (Central/North)
- Hassan was our driver/guide and was excellent. Would give him a 5/5. He had over decades of experience and it showed with his expert knowledge in all facets during the safari. He instantly was able to identify all manners of wildlife including many types of birds. He also was well respected and popular amongst all the other guides with him frequently being called upon for advice.
- We were able to see what we wanted to see including a river crossing during the Great Migration, which we were lucky to witness.
- Safari vehicle itself appeared to be well maintained and overall quite new. We did not have any breakdowns compared to some other vehicles we saw and tires had great treads when put side to side with other vehicles.
- An area of improvement would be the communication with the main office (William) as they did not promptly respond to emails after payment, which left a sour taste and has made it overall a 4/5 instead of a 5/5. It was also unclear sometimes if the changes we wanted to our itinerary was included at all and some parts in the end were never actioned.
IT
Email Marco | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Outstanding guides
We had a great ten days safari thanks to two incredible guides, Samir and James. They were always available, patient in scouting for us the best game viewing, ready to accomodate out request to make the safari an unforgettable experience. They are the guides you wish to have in a safari!
Email Meha | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great guides, luxurious lodges, comfortable cars
We were a family of eight, and booked a 8 night safari across Kenya and Tanzania with Gosheni. Overall the trip was amazing and the Gosheni guides, Dawood in Kenya and Michael and Prosper in Tanzania took very good care of us. The guides were fun, pleasant and courteous. They communicated constantly with other drivers to locate the best sightings, and always drove us to the point with the best view. We saw all the wildlife we wanted close-up, including a cheetah hunting, the big 5 and leopards and lions with their cubs.
Their cars were very spacious, clean and comfortable.
We were also very happy with the lodges they selected and particularly enjoyed the Karibu group lodges.
While Gosheni got most of the important things right, there were a few hiccups which we feel could have been avoided. For example, the power sockets in the cars didn’t work, the wrong flight arrival time was provided and to the driver at Kogatende, the hot lunch option was only provided to us on two of the eight days, the wrong lodge was stated in the itinerary at one park.
Despite these small hiccups, we had a lovely holiday overall and would recommend Gosheni.
SG
Email Lena | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great tour guide, accommodation mismatch
Our driver-tour guide Bariki is above excellence. He is knowledgeable about the habits of animals in the bush, birds as well as plants. As a result, he made our journey a truly memorable experience. Added to that, Bariki's good sense of humour kept us looking forward to each new day.
Gosheni sold us a mid luxury package which had a couple of disappointing hotels- Olkarien Eco Camp and Acacia at Tarangire. Both are part of the Acacia chain, I would steer clear of them. These were not four star but the former was really below three stars. The Olkarien is badly in need of upkeep. However, the staff at both tried their best and we were happy with their efforts. We also stayed at hotels in the Karibu chain, and those were a cut above.
Gosheni needs an operations person, badly. The sales person who sold us the package started ghosting us just before and at the beginning of the trip. That was terrible.
Overall, Gosheni has to try to ensure a more consistent standard, not just good tour guides.
CN
Email Grace | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The guide is very good and tries his best
The company's arrangements are reasonable, and the hotel service is also good. However, the small group's mandatory payment is unreasonable, as the tour fee is already quite high.
PT
Email Joao | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The conditions were very comfortable however a lot of things didn't go to plan
It didn't start well when we arrived at Kilimanjaro Airport at 04:00am and our Tour arrived at 07:45, when he was booked to arrive at 06:00am. He excused himself with the fact that there was an accident, but we soon understood that wasn't true, as he we was contradicting himself, and we saw no accident on the way.
The tour began and even though we saw some great animals and he made a big effort for us to see the Big 5, throughout the day there were really no explanations about anything. Everyday, he kept telling us to start around 09, and it was us pushing to start at 07 and the reason for this is that after 11 it's very tricky to see animals doing anything besides lie in the shade.
Gosheni organizes the meals with the hotels, so no sandwiches or anything like that which is great.
One topic we didn't like, Michael was constantly on his personal phone about personal issues, we know it was personal because when it wasn't he would tell us (happened once). Given that he is driving having him over 1 hour on the phone wasn't very comfortable. He has great knowledge of the park but needs to really manage this side better. He used the phone way to much for someone working.
In terms of the car, it's a comfortable Land Cruise, in our Cases the plugs they have installed didn't work, and the fridge didn't work for 2 days.
Email James | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
It is one of the best trips I experienced
It has been a memorable experience with the whole family, all the drivers are very nice, knowledgeable and helpful, the lodging are excellent, good food. Most of all we saw all the animals, thanks for all the service you provide