65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Gombe National Park by Sara Silvestri
Very poorly maintained accommodation, zero security provided for personal belongings, extortionate pricing for sleeping in the dirt. Over $2000 for 4 days in a 1-star hotel room with cold water.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Nature beautiful, accommodation horrible
We stayed here for two nights and were very disappointed, especially considering how expensive it was. The cleanliness was unacceptable. The toilet was dirty and even had a cigarette butt left inside, which is completely unhygienic. There was also a used towel left on the floor in the corner, which immediately made the place feel unclean and poorly managed.
The bed looked like it hadn’t been properly made or refreshed, and the overall room did not feel clean or ready for new guests. The kitchen area also seemed used and not properly cleaned before our arrival.
For the price we paid, we expected a much higher standard. Unfortunately, this stay did not meet even basic expectations, and I would not recommend it.
IT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
We were not picked at the airport and abandoned
Eugene of Africa Exclusive Escapes is a conman. He did not pick us from the airport on 1st January 2016 and he switched off his phone. We had paid a deposit, thanks God not the full amount of the safari. We went by ourselves to the hotel in Nairobi (Hotel Boulevard) to discover it was not even booked. Finally we had to resort to another contact of tour operator in Kenya to continue our experience. This company might already be closed, most likely, but in case it is still operational, be careful that these are conmen.
IT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Booked for Tsavo est and Amboseli they changed it in 2 days in Tsavo without telling me in advance!
Once i joint Tsavo i found the agency had still to send money to pay the fuel for the second day in Tsavo. I lost 2 hours waiting for the money to come! I ve booked for a jeep but the agency at the last second told me there wasen t any jeep but a van. The price was low but how many troubles!
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Beware. Possibly scamming your money
I contacted this company through this site. I am not sure even now if the company is real or a fake "brief case" operator that steals your money. When i contacted them through here their email address was different to what is now listed. It was ***@gmail.com, now i see the change im thinking they change it once they get bad reviews.
I contacted them a few months apart and was given a different price for the same tour each time, when i asked why the price difference for the same tour, was told prices had gone up but they would give me a discount to match the original quote. Originally my emails were answered by a Debby, who then put a formal name stamp on emails of Deborah Kanini. Eventually when i asked more questions the emails were simply signed, Regards. I asked at one stage who i was speaking to and the person replied Debrah, spelling her own name wrong !
I was given a bank account to make a deposit into and i said i was making a payment that week. Luckily i got held up and never got to bank to make payment because the day after i was meant to pay i received an email from them saying they had to close that account, please cancel deposit and make another payment into another account, they supplied a new account number. This sent alarm bells going, so i never made payment. When they worked out that i hadnt actually paid and didnt need to reverse any payment i was inundated with emails with many different reasons as to why they had to shut the account. Even got an email saying the money had gone through, please go ahead with planned tour, the rest of the money can be paid once you arrive in Kenya. Seem like a total scam company, their facebook page looks legit, but comments left are normally by "tourists" based in Africa. I have no idea why this happened, every now and again some of the reviews seem real, and they mention a Nancy, not the Deborah i seemed to strike. I did tours throughout Kenya, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana and South Africa and never once saw a vehicle with either a Segein or a Serengeti adventure safari logo.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Not a good choice
Our trip started good but soon we found the managers were rude, felt very unsafe in multiple occasions. Couldn’t wait to leave and eat edible food.
Don’t recommend.
ES
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Be careful! They tried to cheat us!
Our experience with Pega tours was terrible! We booked two safaris with them ( Hell's gate and Nakuru). We made the deal with Peter, and he charged us 50$ each for the driver and guide in Nakuru and another 50$ each for driving us to Hell's gate and hire a guide in there. The entrance fees and the bike rental were on us.
At Nakuru everything went all right , but when we arrived to Hell's gate they told us we had to pay for the guide. We called Peter and we explained him that we paid 100$ to him for the driving to Hell's gate but also for having a guide in there, and he just hung up the phone to us after saying the 100$ were just for the transportation. Even the guides from Hell's gate were shocked for what he was doing !!! Eventually, our driver, who was great, managed to talk to him and convince him to pay the guide, because we were already talking about coming back to Nakuru.
So my advice is: do not hire anything with them, or at least with Peter! He'll try to do the same!
Worst experience in Africa so far
We booked with Erick for a safari in the Masai Mara as Ugandan residents. First of all, the "guide" Isaac basically just functions as a driver without any explanations or insights about anything happening at the Mara.
Thinking that would be the worst of our problems, we arrive to Lake Nakuru for the last day with the surprise that for that specific park the fees for Ugandan residents don't apply and that we have to pay extra 60 USD if we want to visit the park. Of course Erick was not to be reached at this time (as probably he is working along the scam) and we were denied admission as we refused to pay the extra 120 USD, wasting our time and hard-earned money.
Erick and Tracks Berg Travel just excused themselves saying there was nothing to be done. This the worst experience I have had in Africa so far so I would recommend everyone to avoid Erick and Tracks Berg Travel if you want to avoid hidden charges and extra fees on the spot
Very disappointed.
We booked a hut in Lower Sabie Camp. What a disappointment. Only shelves. No cubbards. Only a basin with cold water. No shade where you can braai. The road is going around this hut no silence. This is really a disappointment. We will leave tomorrow. Pay our money back please.