NL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good budget value
We booked a safari througt 3crest tours&safaris and i think this is far out the best budget option. We slept in small tents (little iglo's). this was okay. The only complaint i have is about the sleeping bag. They were not cleaned after using. I idid not like to sleep in a sleepingbag in which another persoon slept. We discussed this problem with Gabriel. And we are sure he will solve this problem.
Gabriel will do everything to make you feel comfortabel.
The Tour includes à pick up from the airport and also the first and last night in the hotel.
we did the safari in a good car. A Cook went with us. Hè stayed in the camp while we are doping the gamedrives. We can convince everyone that hè makes wonderfull and delicious maels.
we can recommand 3crest and the personal attention from Gabriel will give you warm feelings.
Beste lezer,
We hebben deze safari geboekt. Gabriel heeft een beginnend bedrijf maar hij weet wat mensen uit Europa graag willen. Hij beheerst de kunst van luisteren. hij zal alles in het werk stellen om het de klanten naar de zin maken. Natuurlijk kost de safari een heleboel geld, maar bedenk dat dit inclusief de pick up van het vliegveld is en ook de eerste en laatste nacht in het Arusha Toerist Inn zijn inclusief.
De kok die met ons mee reed, maakte de meest formidabele maaltijden klaar.
Het enige minpunt waren de slaapzakken. Maar Gabriel heeft ons beloofd om hier verandering in te brengen.
De zorgen voor zijn klanten houdt niet op na het beëindigen van de safari. Gabriel bemiddelde ook voor ons bij het kopen van bustickets.
Kortom, we hebben een fantastische herinnering aan 3crest tours&safaris.
KR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Safari... not what I expected... maybe...
First of all, I don't blame Axis Africa if my safari was less than ideal. I think for the price, I got a great deal. I saw lions, cheetahs. leopards, lots of elephants. giraffes, zebras. Pic-up, drop-off, camps and game drives were exactly as promised. I guess I really came with little experience and expectations. I was in a (nice) pop-up van with a bunch of foreigners (like me). The guide spent most of the time on a radio with other guides. We could guess when he spoke a lot and we say all the vans heading in one direction it was a lion or something "big". It did kind of feel we were harassing the animals, even caging them in with vans. Only once did our driver seem to participate in this (on the last day, he gunned the van to try to get a rise out of a cheetah, who did not respond-- and several of us let him know we didn't think it cool to do this-- but we did notice other vans harassing animals, shouting at them and trying to provoke them. I did get the feeling that the guides on these "budget" safaris would do "whatever" they thought made the guest happy and earn more tips. We clearly went off-road when it was marked. I also had a bad experience at the camp when a driver from another safari made sexual comments and reached into his pants and (well whatever) while speaking to me. (He asked it I was in a tent alone --I wans't) and then I just left.. I probably should have taken his name or photo-- but I was in shock! Anyway, this was not the fault of my company, but it did mar my experience.
In my further travels in Africa, I did another game drive in Botswana that was actually cheaper and more professional. We didn't drive as close to the animals but that actually felt better,
I did feel Axis Africa gave me what they promised in a budget safari. That said, I am not sure what i got what what I anticipated. I did see a lot of animals. They were mostly wild and free, except that we caged them in with our vehicles (and they did seem OK with this). Our guide, while not particularly knowledgeable ("there ix a big elephant and a little elephant") was pleasant enough. I hope this post alerts other women who may be harasssed to take a photo and report it as I wish I had.
CA
lack of training guides
the safari was good ,but the lack of training of are guide ( Wayne)to adress a''Bully ''in are group ,even after it was mention to him ,put a lot of strain and a bad atmosphere in the group ,and cause me lot of stress,I will not recommend to someone Sunway Safari ,I saw other group ,with other company having more fun and a better group dynamic that our,I lodge a complaint to Sunway Safari , will see ,
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great camp, delicious food but guide was just a driver and did not explain anything.
Good communication and very punctual. Excellent food throughout especially at the camp. No water was provided however even though this was supposed to be included. Beautiful camp but guide was utterly useless - very good driver but he did not explain anything at all so really disappointing.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Safari was good; Roho Ya Chui was Disappointing
This was my second safari trip and third tour in Sub-Saharan Africa and my first journey with Roho Ya Chui. We traveled to Tanzania (Ruaha, Selous and Zanzibar)
The good: Ute was very responsive throughout the booking process. I selected the parks we visited and Ute recommended the lodges. The Zanzibar hotel she selected for us at the end of the trip was a particularly good choice.
The bad: I asked for a modification of the itinerary 10 days after booking and deposits because I had done some further reading and had gotten some negative signals about one the lodges she booked us in. Her response was an immediate no as it turns out she had bought an end to end package from a local operator in Tanzania who owned both the lodges and the air carrier responsible for our transfers. She was dismissive of my concerns about the lodge, but I asked if she could humor me and at least inquire about a modification before giving me an automatic no so I could make my own decision. She investigated and informed me the change would have meant the forfiture of my deposits so I stuck with her plan.
The really bad: Before our journey I reconfirmed our arrival information and asked specifically who would be meeting us, how they would be identified and with whom would they be affiliated as I hadn't been provided that information. She furnished me with the number of the local duty manager and received no additional details other than that they would have a sign with my name. She also said I could also contact her with any issues if they arose. We arrived as scheduled at 4 am to Dar Es Salaam and no one was there to meet us. I called the local duty manager - no answer. I called, texted and emailed Ute - no response. It was left to me how to figure out ground transportation in an unfamiliar African city. I managed, but it was not the best experience after 30 hours of travel. A couple hours later Ute responded and asked me why I hadn't called her. I said I had and she said she insisted she didn't get a call from me. I sent her a screen cap of my call - and she then admitted she had missed the call. I found it a bit strange that she would intimate that I had somehow mishandled the situation considering I was the client who was needing assistance - but as I said to her - I took care of it and no harm done. The local operator did refund me the money I paid to get to our hotel.
Our first camp/lodge was great. Our third and final stop was great. Our second (the one I had been concerned about) was less so. The property was under renovation and some services that were advertised were not available (pool out of commission; bar/main lodge being re-roofed, no hot water, and no view from our accommodation). These were minor issues as for me it is really all about the animals. More concerning was that the promised animal drives (the whole point of the exercise) were not available to us on two (out of four) occasions. When this happened the second time - I had to put my foot down. The manager admitted (what I already knew from observation) that they were fully booked and didn't have enough capacity to accommodate the drives for all guests. I found this very disappointing - doubly so as this was at the location I had told Ute I was concerned about. Ute was informed but, once again, it was up to me to get the issue resolved in real time. She said she was contacting the camp manager, but I never did hear from Ute if she spoke with the manager, what the excuse was or any particular apology. Ute did offer that no one had ever complained about that particular lodge in the past which was sort of besides the point. I don't know if she was suggesting that I am particularly difficult or if other people's good experiences were supposed to make up for my bad experience. In the end, a simple apology would have sufficed.
In sum, the booking process through payment was very smooth, but I cannot say she was helpful when problems arose and rather than being helpful or at least soothing when things went wrong was strangely defensive. Based on my experience, she gets the basic job done but if you run into any problems, you are on your own.
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
welcome to the jungle
The safari itself has been fantastic. Good food, good driver/guide (Emmanuel), accomodation in tent as expected. We passed a very good time with the animals and the wild saving a lot of money. We only have had 2 misunderstanding with the hotel for the 1 night accomodation and for the way back to the airport, so we suggest to be preparated and maybe to organize yourself to save money and to avoid surprises. We suggest Twinkle star tour for your tanzanian trip.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
It was really amazing
We starting researching safaris about a year before travel. Because of Covid, I'm so glad we chose Tanzania in the end.
We chose to work with Salim because he is a local Tanzanian with tons of experience. Be careful with the bigger outfitters, you won't get quite as personalized experience and it will cost more.
Salim had great communication from the beginning and answered all of my many questions patiently. We chose to do an 8 day safari, visiting Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Ngorogoro Crater and the Serengeti. Our guide was a true expert with years of experience and spoke perfect English (which is helpful because they are explaining so much about the animals). Having a good guide is vital to a successful safari as you spend so much time with them.
If you're looking to save a bit of money, here are my tips.
The affordable lodging is the route we went (mid level) and it exceeded expectations. Don't fret about staying at a fancy lodge, you're barely there, and when you are, you are exhausted. Save your money. I would have been disappointed if we spent extra on a nicer lodge because often we were gone from the room from 7-6pm.
Also, 5-6 days is plenty. I have no regrets about doing 8 days, but if I was on a tighter budget, we would have been just as happy with shaving a few days off the trip. We figured it was a once in a lifetime experience, so why not, but we definitely could have saved one day, which would have been about a $750 savings.
Flying from the Serengeti, or to the Serengeti, depending on how your trip is planned, is worth the money, but you could do the drive and save quite a bit. Our flights were $800 and in hindsight, I would have suffered through the bumpy drive back to save the money. BUT if you get car sick or hate traveling for long periods, spring for the flights, it does save time.
Here are some things I wish we would have known that I felt the internet was misleading about.
The clothing.
Yes, wearing lightweight clothing is important as the weather does change rapidly. That being said, you are in a vehicle most of the time. I certainly wouldn't have dropped as much money as I did on "safari" clothes if I knew we were barely going to get out of the vehicle. Bring a variety of clothes but don't fret terribly about the color.
Game drive time.
Everyone told me we needed to be up and on the road at 5:30, 6 am. This isn't true. We didn't start any game drives before 7:30 and saw plenty.
Camera gear.
Yes, having a long telephoto lens definitely helps if you're a photography junkie like me, BUT, you do get fairly close to most animals. Unless you're an pro or semi pro photographer, a 70-200mm lens will do you just fine.
The ONLY con I really have is the food, which isn't necessarily a con, just something to prep for. Most places you'll go are fairly remote and the cooks have to do their best with what resources they've got. While all the food tasted great, it is a simple menu. The packed lunches are quite simple as well, so bring snacks if you're a picky eater. For the total cost of the trip, normally food would be more "gourmet" so just be prepared. Once you see the landscape and the villages, you'll understand the depths the camps go through to provide good, fresh meals.
We had a phenomenal time and if you're on the fence, BOOK it! Using a local guide with on the ground knowledge like Salimu is the way to go.
CN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Disappointing Safari Experience: A Detailed Feedback
I'm glad our Safari trip has concluded, but there are a few points I want to give feedback on.
1. The contract mentioned a full-day Safari, but what Patrick provided was not a full day. Patrick took us out daily from 8 AM to 4 PM, or from 8 AM to 12 PM and then from 4 PM to 6 PM. He said this was the park's requirement. However, as far as I know, other drivers booked through your company were out from 8 AM to 6 PM, or from 7 AM to 12 PM with lunch in the park and then from 4 PM to 7 PM. This does not align with your promise of a full-day Safari.
2. Patrick drove steadily and had a good attitude, but he wasn't good at spotting animals. He always waited for others to find the animals first, and then he would follow. We didn't get to see the leopard we wanted to see.
3. On the last day, we returned to Nairobi with a flight at 6 PM. We arrived in Nairobi around noon and wanted to go to the Maasai market to buy some things. There was enough time, but he insisted on taking us to another shop we didn't want to go to. He was unhappy when we insisted on the Maasai market, saying it was unsafe and that maps were useless. In the end, we went to the market he suggested and bought some overpriced souvenirs. I don't know if there was any commission involved, but it left a very bad impression on us.
We chose your company based on your reputation in China, but I didn't expect such an experience. I wanted to give honest feedback and decide whether to caution other Chinese friends about choosing your services.
CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Right Choice? Not really
TLDR:
-1 star for lack of transparency and poor communication
-1 star for 5 nights of downgraded lodgings but only 3 nights of upgrades later in the trip. Would have rather had 5 nights of better comfort.
We booked a 15 day safari trip in Kenya and Tanzania through Right Choice. Initially, George was very responsive and seemed very organized, and that was why we chose to book with him. We were not happy with the lodging but were mostly happy with the guide and driver we had.
For lodgings, we noticed that George stopped being responsive once we started asking for hotel confirmations to apply for the Kenya ETA. After a few weeks of following up, he finally sent us a confirmation for just the first night in Nairobi, and nothing for the remaining nights.
After we started the safari, the guide drove past the accommodation on our itinerary, and we were only informed of the lodging change at that point. There was zero communication from George himself, even though we had been in contact for other questions. The lodging in Amboseli was a significant downgrade (farther from the park and worse than most budget hostels in other parts of the world). The three of us were also stuffed into one tent even though we paid for 2 rooms. We tried to communicate with George and he just freaked out and shut down. The lodge manager was also pressuring us to stay even though we were clearly unhappy and wanted to move to a place that was equivalent to the place we were promised on the itinerary. George was no help there and dealing with him and the lodge manager cut into our game drive times.
When George finally responded again, we discovered that all of our lodgings in the Kenya portion were downgraded from the original itinerary. We had to be very forceful in our communication and even then, we only got 1 night of our original lodging back at Lake Naivasha. He then promised to upgrade us in Zanzibar to a 5 star all inclusive resort for 3 nights.
At this point, I started reaching out to the lodgings myself to confirm the bookings and found out that for the 3 nights in Masai Mara, the price difference was over $300 USD per person per night between what we were promised on the itinerary vs. where we actually stayed.
We had to confront George with all the information again and then he told us he was going to upgrade us for 2 nights in the Serengeti and 1 night in Tarangire, and that he was unable to upgrade in Zanzibar. However, based on the photos from Google reviews, I'm not sure how much the upgrade really was, but it was too exhausting to continue to deal with him. And at the end of the day, we would have rather just had the 5 nights of our original lodging for better comfort.
There may have been availability issues but George never told us anything. It also didn't seem like he was proactive with correcting the issues - we don't think that he would have upgraded us later if we hadn't called him out on the price differences. It was not fun to have to reach out to various lodgings while on safari drives to advocate for ourselves.
The guide & driver in Kenya were contracted out to a different company, but they were sociable and nice. The guide could have given more explanations for the animals we saw, and point out interesting things along the way like the guides we had later on. However, they did work hard to find animals inside the parks and gave us many great photo opportunities. Our guide helped us with communications when we had trouble reaching George, and was also nice enough to let us visit his home when we asked. We really enjoyed meeting his family and his wife gave a great tour of a traditional Maasai household (much better and thorough than the tourist trap that people get taken to).
The Tanzania portion of the trip was organized through different affiliate partners for the safari portion and Zanzibar portion. The Tanzania part of the trip went pretty well but I feel like most of the credit should be given to those respective companies. George didn't even give us the Zanzibar contact until we arrived at the airport.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great animals/accommodations/food but poor organization for our safari
I'm writing to review our safari with Samson's Safaris. We were a family group of mothers and daughters from the United States. Overall, we had a disappointing experience due to poor organization by our guide and the company.
Our experience with Samson's Safaris started well -- they were enthusiastic about our addition of some experiences (a Maasai-run eco-camp and Mau Mau history) and were communicative during the planning process. However, our bad experiences started the first day when we got up early for the 7 a.m. departure time given to us by Samson's, but our driver was 30 minutes late. His vehicle had awesome wifi, but two broken seatbelts in the two prime seats, meaning we had to sit in the back of the vehicle to remain safe while driving on highways. The guide backed into a parked car at the beginning of the day, and later took a wrong turn and had to stop for directions and then backtrack.
The second day, our guide failed to game out the breakfast options at our lodge, which conflicted with his initial proposed 7 a.m. departure time, so he moved departure to 8 a.m. without discussing options with us. When the morning's local guide took longer than expected with a hike, so we didn't get to lunch until 3:30 p.m. and missed the rest of the day's planned activities. Rather than offer us options for what to cut or how to adjust the schedule, our guide simply moved it to the next day, creating an unrealistic schedule for the next day (we would learn) that required starting at 6 a.m.
The third day, the guide was then a half hour late for our 6 a.m. start, which was explained later in the day as a flat tire, though when we called, it sounded as if we woke him up. We had a good morning, but then our guide got the vehicle stuck in the mud for over an hour. We realized after being pulled out by a similar Toyota Land Cruiser that our vehicle's tires were nearly bald, and on several occasions later in the trip we were nervous about anything involving water or mud where we might get stuck again as the wheels just spun. On the way to lunch, the guide took another wrong turn, but by this point we had started tracking logistics through Google Maps, so we alerted him and helped him get to the restaurant. Again, the times presented for the day were not realistic, so we started managing the plan, cutting a hike short ourselves and missing our first glimpse of the Rift Valley before dark. Our guide took us to the wrong hotel, which had closed but had the same name (in his defense it was in the wrong place on Google Maps, but still made for a long and frustrating day.).
Each of these issues individually would have been understandable and excusable -- one late arrival, a broken seatbelt, one messed up schedule, these things happen. The fact that they kept happening was representative of the fact that neither the guide nor the company was communicative about problems or opened up a dialog with us. We would have preferred that the company let us know when the schedule changed, or the guide sought our feedback about how we wanted to prioritize limited time and activities -- but these changes were made without our involvement and without realistic estimates of time/distances.
When we sat down with our guide at the end of the third day, we requested three items for the rest of the trip: that he be on time for morning departures, that he brief us about the timeline for the next day's activities (there were no daily briefings like you'd expect for this type of trip), and that he discuss changes to the schedule with us before making them. We then shared those requests with Samson's management, who again were very responsive and re-assuring that those issues would be addressed. After a fantastic fourth day with all problems addressed, we were surprised upon returning to the hotel that Samson's management drove all the way from Nairobi to Nakuru to join us for dinner and that they'd arranged a boat ride on Lake Naivasha the next day to make it up to us -- both of which were changes to the schedule that hadn't been discussed with us, which was specifically one of the things we'd asked. More frustrating, the new plan was completely unrealistic -- described as the "same drive time" but actually adding another hour in the car that combined with the boat ride would have made it impossible to join the afternoon cultural activities at our next lodging. Again, this was presented as a done deal (we have changed your schedule to add more activities to make you happy) rather than as a discussion about what would address our concerns, which is what we would have preferred. We politely declined the offer of the free boat ride and requested to keep the original schedule.
Our worst experience was our final two days in Maasai Mara. At the end of the trip, we planned to be dropped off at the Tanzanian border at Isibania to continue with a different company in Tanzania. We learned from Samson's on day five that what was listed as an "optional game drive" on our last day was in fact an $800 four-hour shortcut through the park for what would otherwise be a six- or seven-hour drive on the road. The "optional game drive" price was not listed in any of the preparatory materials. After talking as a family, we decided we would take the short cut and pay the extra fee. However, on day six when we arrived at the Maasai Mara entrance for the game drive included in the safari price, we were asked to make the next day's $800 payment that day because it would save time for both of us to buy tickets at the gate at the same time. Our guide waited for the line with his uncle -- letting other people go first for the other line -- in what we came to suspect was a plan to have us pay the $800 fee for the first full day and then the next day he could pay just $200 for a transit ticket -- since we were transiting the park -- and save/pocket $600. We paid for one day via credit card, but then were told that he wouldn't buy the tickets for the other day that day, he would pay the following day.
The following day (our last of seven days), our guide ended up being a few dollors short to pay the park entrance fee, so we had to pay the extra. The guide said the company had not given him enough money to pay the expected fee. We texted the company, who said they would send the funds to the guide by Mpesa, which we could pick up at a roadside stand, but we didn't want to spend any more time with Samson's and just wanted to be done.
There were some highlights: the wifi in vehicle was a nice surprise, the accommodations and food were great, and we did see the Big Five and many more animals. However, we cannot recommend this company to other travelers at this price point. If you're a student or trying to save money, this could be a great fix if you don't really care about time and schedule. For us, we paid $2500 each for a seven-day trip ($10k total), and the experience did not meet our expectations for guided trips with our parents.