20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
I would not use this company again
I did not enjoy my safari with this company. The schedule they give you is not the actual schedule you will do. Once they have your money and you are actually on safari, your driver will tell you that the schedule the company gives you doesn’t actually matter. Most days, I would spend about 2 hours actually doing safari stuff (though some days would be more). The rest of the day would typically be spent in a cramped van driving to pick up new passengers. The drivers don’t actually work for the company, they are more like free-lance drivers that take people from different companies. The drivers want to get the most people so they can get more money. So you will drive to place 1, then to place 2, and then back to place 1 to pick up more people. Thus, you spend a lot of time driving the same highways (not on safari) to get more people. When I emailed and complained about this, they replied by stating, “Kindly have the spirit of adventure.” Driving back and forth on the same road in a cramped van is not the “spirit of adventure” I envisioned for my safari. I would use another company, or I would consider just heading to Nairobi and negotiating a much better price there. If I would have done that, I would have saved a ton of money and probably had a better experience.
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Buyer beware, our trip turned into a nightmare of delays and non-payment of services promised.
I gave my review two stars to firstly acknowledge the great tour guides and hosts at our accommodation venues. The accommodation 'camps' were outstanding, the people went out of thier way to make us cared for, and the food was good and plentiful. The second star is awarded to the experience in the Game Parks themselves; animals appeared and behaved as expected. As a biologist, I could not have been happier with the experiences in these Parks. However, the integrity and reliability of African Marvel and their principle executives left a lot (everything) to be desired. It was humiliating for everyone to be waiting around at borders and accommodation sites for paymentd to be received from 'head office'. On the last occasion in Kenya, the manager of the site let us travel on and claimed that our accommodation at his beautiful site had been paid. We believe that this was not the case, and that he was being gracious rather than enduring the embarrassment of 11 of us being held 'hostage' to Marvels poor performance. As he said "this does not reflect well on our country".
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Beware of Sun Safaris – they did not pay local vendors
We recently went on a safari to Kenya through Sun Safaris. We worked with Natasha, who was very professional and responsive. HOWEVER, when we were on our trip, we received a very concerning phone call from one of their local vendors. They informed us that we owed $21,994 even though we made final payments to Sun Safaris months before. We were also told that after repeated phone calls and emails, they couldn’t reach the owner, Brett, and that we needed to pay the amount the following day. Apparently, they were never paid. While we were able to reach Natasha, who said things would be sorted out, we were very worried that arrangements (hotels/services) might be cancelled. We never heard back from Sun Safaris until we returned home from our trip.
Based on another review I saw after our trip, I learned that this is not the first time the owner hasn’t been responsive or paid vendors in a timely manner. While the safari overall was great, the incident was very concerning. Based on this experience, I would not recommend Sun Safaris.
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The company could benefit from updating their equipment. Shop around.
Communication was quick but it was troubling that the lodges advertised, one of the reason this company was chosen, were suddenly unavailable once the deposit was made. Even after a change to those accommodations there was a further change. The first and last accommodations were phenomenal but the second was below the standard of any place I stayed in Tanzania despite being called a luxury lodge. I am not sure if the driver was skilled or just very lucky. The speed at which we travelled on dirt roads in my opinion far exceeded the capabilities of the vehicle and placed my safety at risk. It was difficult to appreciate the stunning animals and the incredible scenery while veering across the road avoiding oncoming vehicles who were in their own lane.
AE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Lack of attention to detail
I chose Jastro Safaris based on the fact that it had lots of great reviews. Victor reached out to me after I put in a quotation request and we had a detailed discussion on possible options for our safari. There were initial mistakes in his quotations that I pointed out and he fixed. I suggested places I would like to visit and expected practical advice given that I was travelling for the first time and the tour operator is meant to be the expert advising on what is best. First of all, I asked about travel time between places and was given inaccurate information. For example, I was advised that the travel time between Ol Pejeta to Masai Mara was 6 hours, when it fact it took us nearly 10 hours to make the journey. Next I was promised a stop over at Lake Nakuru which the driver did not do because he said there wasn't enough time. It seemed the driver and tour operator were not communicating. Overall, I would advise all people to ask Victor to spell out what is included in the quotation and what is not. We learned this the hard way. At least 3 game drives that were "included" in my package were not delivered because Victor did not check these details on his end. I was told I could not have a night game drive in Ol Pejeta because we were not staying in the conservancy - according to my original quotation, the night game drive was included. Then I was told I had to pay extra fees at Masai Mara National Park if I wanted to do a morning game drive - which according to my understanding was included in the initial quotation that was shared with me. Each time I raised a deviation from the original quotation, I was told by Victor he would check and get back to me assuring me that he would make sure I got my game drives added on at the end of my tour. However, the follow ups and corrections didn't happen. The follow up for the pending payment at the end of the tour on the other hand was very persistent with no acknowledgment of the need for rectification.
CZ
4 days MM and Nakuru with Navasha
Safari was good itself, not the organisation. Mr. Benson didn't keep promise to side boat tour in Naivasha, even after I notified few times in advance, and only offered to pay taxi for myself back to Nairobi if to go so I had to resign. At the arrival he let me wait over an hour abandoned in a car park in Nairobi without transport until I got my own.
The driver failed in critical interaction with local authorities and after bribing them he demanded money from me to pay all to him. Very disappointing customer care
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Was great with communication until we were in country & checked in; after that, it was crickets
Don’t book with Kennafrica - a possible SCAMMER!
When we booked, everything was supposed to be included (transport, accommodations, taxes and all activities. Once we were picked up, our driver said we had to pay park fees which aren’t cheap then upon checkout the hotel made us pay the remaining bill. Then had to go file a police report and still have yet to hear from him, Joseph Too. Luckily we still went but with all the added fees was not a fun surprise.
Don’t use him - go somewhere else to save you time and money!
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Lack of communication
Complete lack of communication. Had us pay for a person that wasn’t even there! If a deposit means something different in Tanzania than America it would have been nice to know. African Big Cats advertises one lodge on their website but downgrades last minute to another. The downgraded lodge is on the complete opposite side (East/West-of Zanzibar) and rooms smell terribly of mold/mildew. Two safari days were not needed (the first and last). Those need to be removed from the itinerary completely. Note that most of these safari companies go to the same exact spots. As evidenced by the massive amount of jeeps at every stop and animal sighting. Skip African Big Cats and go with one of the MANY other companies. Our guides (Zab and Jumma) were good!!
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Bad driver did not deliver tour itinerary.
Maybe this experience is idiosyncratic, but our driver was not delivering the booked tour itinerary.
We booked a 3 days Amboseli safari, with a morning game drive on the last day.
The driver refused to deliver the morning game drive even though it was clearly on the itinerary. He also got aggressive ans insulting when we brought up the topic. My conjecture is that the driver wanted to pocket in the entrance fee for the park.
Further, on the way back, driver did not pay toll for expressway in Nairobi, letting us stand in traffic jam for 2 hours and unnecessarily prolonging the journey.
Also the convenience fee they charge on online payments is unreasonable.
Otherwise the service was okay but for the price I would expect differently.
Stay away from this provider.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Choose another company
The Good: The safaris were incredible. Ngorongoro in particular was amazing. Lots of wildlife. We were worried about traveling during the “off” wet season, but it was amazing. Best safari so far in all of Africa. Keep in mind, the safari host is subcontracted.
The Bad: Communication before and during the tour was abysmal. We had no idea what was going on at any time and David did a poor job of confirming plans. We had to have backup plans upon arrival at the airport because we weren’t even sure if we were going to be picked up due to a lack of communication and confirmation.
The Ugly: Fig Tree Lodge, the Eco Lodge with which Dancing Simba contracts several stays, is pretty terrible. Mama Pia is a delight, but the rest of the staff are rude and it feels like a scam. A dirty one at that. Several of the tours felt the same way, including the coffee tour near Materuni Falls, Mto Wa Mbu, and the Maasai people nearby.
All in all, we made the best of it, but Dancing Simba was absolutely not the catalyst that made this trip amazing. We’ve traveled over 75 countries and have done many safaris and weeklong tours with guides. Highly encourage you to do your homework and book this type of trip with someone else, especially at this cost.
