Reviews

Average User Rating
4.8/5

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Lucía   –  
Spain ES
Visited: February 2024 Reviewed: Feb 21, 2024

Email Lucía  |  50-65 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

The review below is the personal opinion of Lucía and not that of SafariBookings.
Did not comply with the reservation
1/5

We had hired a guide in Spanish, they guaranteed it and the guide who accompanied us had only done a 6 month course so we had to communicate with him through the phone application, which made it impossible to give us explanations about the safari, sites, animations, etc.. The guide who spoke English did not give any indication or explanation to other travelers who came with us. Horrible treatment of the guides.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

jeff   –  
China CN
Visited: November 2023 Reviewed: Nov 17, 2023

Email jeff  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

The review below is the personal opinion of jeff and not that of SafariBookings.
A terrible company and one that all travelers should beware of
1/5

I have always thought that the second-selling travel agency on SafariBooking has basic service guarantees,!
but I am wrong!
The trip was very bad. I changed three cars and three drivers in a row on the road. I didn't have any notices or reminders before, which made me feel at a loss, and there was no apology and explanation afterwards, especially the last driver was not prepared any water for us and we were all thirsty and unbearable, and we couldn't buy any water. The most exaggerated thing was that the driver was unwilling to take me to the airport. The 7-day itinerary included the last delivery to the airport. He asked me to call Uber by myself!
All future travelers!
please don't be blinded by the so-called sales volume and are blinded by more than 1,000 comments, choose this company carefully, and choose a travel agency carefully!

Reply from Karibu Safaris In Kenya
Reply from Karibu Safaris In Kenya
Posted on Nov 20, 2023

Hello Jeff,

We have received your review and we apologize for the experience,

Did you book the safari with (Karibu Safari in Kenya)?? we cant find your data in our systems to find out who is the sales person that booked you and driver guide name started the safari with you and why you were put in 3 vehicles and why the whole service and trip dint make you happy. Because for the 7Days Safari is long to have a bad safari experience and you dont communicate with the office or driver guide.

If you have the details, Kindly reply below or send us a email.

Regards

Lilian
Customer Service

Daniel   –  
Romania RO
Visited: July 2023 Reviewed: Jul 22, 2023

Email Daniel  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

The review below is the personal opinion of Daniel and not that of SafariBookings.
Uncoordinated, rushed and disappointing experience.
1/5

Having such a beautiful country, this should be such an easy job. Well it was not, it appears that the group I was in was too large for the company so they had to hire an external contractor, 3 busses from the conpany, one outsider. The best experience was the outside contractor. There was no coordination between the drivers, it almost appeared that the 3 drivers from the company had a problem with the outside contractor and did not support him in any way. The 4th driver with the people he had in his care were abandoned 2 times on the safari, one time for 1 hour and a half, when the bus could not move and see anything because the papers for the bus were with the other drivers. So 7 people out of 27 missed a part of the safari, the only encounter with a leopard. After all this, at the end of the safari we were suppose to cross the river and see the big migration, but the car we were in could not cross, luckily we were taken by a total stranger group ... otherwise we would have missed it. Last but not least our driver kept being harrassed by the others to drive faster on public roads, break the speed limit and really put our lives in dager with unsafe driving, I have seen him being called literally every 5 minutes, I felt UNSAFE! So yes ... poor experience in one of the most amazing places in the world!

Marco   –  
Switzerland CH
Visited: October 2021 Reviewed: Oct 22, 2021

Email Marco  |  20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

The review below is the personal opinion of Marco and not that of SafariBookings.
Never again
1/5



+ The organisation is very well and they‘re very fast in responding
+ They were always on time for the pick up

- The car was in a very bad condition. Also it was not a Land Cruiser. They took us to safari in a very old bus. The seat belt was broken, some electrical cable were falling down and also some parts of the roof were falling down what made it difficult to look for animals while on safari with the open roof. Also we had to be towed two times.
- The driver only spoke limited english
- The driver‘s phone was ringing very loud every 5 Minutes (I‘m not talking about the radio microphone he used to communicate with other guides) and he was answering to private calls
- We paid USD 990.00 for the tour. On the internet I saw that the tour only costs USD 950.00.
- In their 3 days maasai mara tour they advertise that you do 3 game drives (day 1: evening game drive, day 2: fully day game drive, day 3: morning game drive). Once you get there they don‘t want to take you to another game drive on the third day. We had to discuss for hours with the driver and the office until they agreed to bring us to the game drive on the third day. However, they kept the third game drive very short (2 hours), even we had more time because we agreed to drop us off at Nairobi Airport at 6pm. At the end of the game drive we saw cheetahs getting ready to attack wildebeests. There were other 20 cars around to wait until the cheetahs attacked. After 10 minutes our driver said, we got to go back to Nairobi. We didn‘t understand, as we had so much time left until our flight left. On our way back the driver told us, that we will pick up 2 other guests and bring them back to Nairobi (even we booked private safari…). So we had to make space for them. When we got to Nairobi, we first stopped at their apartment to drop off their luggage, then they got back in the car and after we dropped them off in the Nairobi West Hospital for their Covid Test. Traffic in Nairobi is really bad and this stops in Nairobi cost us about 2 hours. Finally we got to the airport and it was clear to us why we made only such a short game drive in the morning: It was because of the 2 People we had to pick up and this wasn‘t told us in advance. Don‘t get me wrong, the 2 people were really nice, but we expected our day to be different.

In general, be carefull with all tours: They advertise all 3 days Maasai Mara Tours with 3 days Safari (Evening game drive the first day, fully day game drive the second day and morning game drive the third day). But most of the cheap tours like this try to skip the last morning tour and tell you „you‘ve already seen everything yesterday bla bla bla“. The reason they do this is, that the Park Fee for Maasai Mara is paid per 24 hours. This means, if you go to the first game drive in the evening from 4pm to 6pm and the next day you do a full day game drive from 7 am to 4 pm they only pay one day park fee. If you do a game drive on the third day, they would have to pay additional USD 80.00 for each guest (hope my explanation makes sence). So always make sure to clarify in advance what you will pay and what you will get. We met spanish people on a similar tour and they had to pay the park fee seperately for 48 hours (USD 160.00 each). They gave the money directly to the guide and I guess he only buyed tickets for 24 hours and told them that they‘re not going to do a third game drive. So he kept 80 USD of each passenger for himself.

Dee Johnson   –  
Sweden SE
Visited: January 2021 Reviewed: Mar 31, 2021

Email Dee Johnson  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: over 5 safaris

The review below is the personal opinion of Dee Johnson and not that of SafariBookings.
AVOID! AVOID! AVOID!
1/5

With this I am expressing my deepest disappointment regarding the 3-Day tour we received from Karibu Safaris in Kenya.
The communication with Robert and the tour planning was ok, I have no complaint about that.
The problem is the way the tour was guided and the attitude from the driver and tour guide HAMISI, it was a very strong disappointment and even humiliation towards us as visitors and customers.

- no drinking water for the guests. When I asked about the water, the tour guide HAMISI said "sorry, I forgot". But at the same time he had drinking water, even several bottles!!!, at the game drive and was drinking himself and keeping them in the cooler box. That was very very much humiliating. Very unprofessional conduct. Phaawww!

- on the 3rd day's morning we were supposed to have a game drive in Amboseli park till 10am in the morning (that was confirmed beforehand by Robert - the organiser), but we left the park at 8:40 already with no reason. So the driver cut us the pleasure of experiencing the park by one half (50%), as we spent there only about one and a half hours (90 minutes). Another hour and 20 minutes were stolen. It's a huge disappointment. Robbery!!!

- the choice of the roads. In order to maybe make a small fuel economy (6 to 10$), the driver chose rural roads that in parts were hardly passable and full of dust, all our clothes, bags, hair, bodies and electronic equipment was in dirt and dust. The driver, willing to save a few hundreds of shillings, was driving the roads that are no good for safari tours. We did not meet a single other Safari tour operator's vehicle while taking the rural roads, while there were many of them on paved roads. So the point is that the unprofessional driver/tour guide deliberately chose bad roads just to make some "shortcut" meanwhile breaking the company's vehicle and disappointing the customers that were on a private tour. That is soooo STUPID!!!! We made a remark on that before our return on which driver HAMISI only laughed at us - straight into our faces... Very very humiliating!!! Guys avoid this scam of an operator!!!

There are some more problems and negative remarks that I should point out like a lack of explanation about the parks, surroundings, eco-system, animals, history, etc.; - instead the driver is chatting by sending texts on his smartphone...

- the vehicle arrived to pick us up dusty and dirty inside (from outside was ok) - it's just a proof of to what extent this company is unprofessional and do not consider the comfort and needs of their customers. I have experienced over six different tours in Tanzania and Kenya and I can compare the services received by this incompetent company with others.
This operator should be AVOIDED!!!

I need to express that I deeply regret having chosen this company's services and I have to warn other visitors and possible clients to AVOID tours given by Karibu Safaris in Kenya.

AVOID! AVOID! AVOID!

Marta   –  
Spain ES
Visited: September 2019 Reviewed: Oct 2, 2019

Email Marta  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

The review below is the personal opinion of Marta and not that of SafariBookings.
If problems come up they just ignore you
1/5

We booked the 10 day tour that includes safaris at Kenya and Tanzania. The only positive thing that has happened with this agency was that we had Aruni the first three days as a driver (he was 10/10). But, since the beginning, the programme you are supposed to follow is not followed at all, and they skip several game drives during those 10 days. Our big problem with the agency began when we arrived to Tanzania and we tried to contact to the agency because again they were skiping the morning game drive at Manyara Lake. Although at the beginning they answered back, they did not give me any solution, and that same day they did not amswered until now. They were supposed to provide me a transfer to Kilimanjaro Airport the last day (paying 40 dolar). I messeged them by WhatsApp to see if finally they will provide it or not. They did not answered. I asked then the Tanzanian agency with which they cooperate and the said that they will arrange the transfer for the airport for me. Suddenly, when I was expecting to pay for that transfer, our guide and driver at Tanzania, Joseph, said that his boss wanted to talk to me by the mobile. His boss told me that Karibu would aford the payment of the transfer to the airport, although personal of Karibu did not inform me about that by WhatsApp. They were supposed to pick us up at 4:30 am. Noone appeared at the hotel. At 4:45 am we calles for a taxi. I have contacte to the hotel once we have arrived to Zanzibar and they have confirmed that no driver went to the hotel. This agency is no serious, so don't waste your money with them. Some times low proceso become expensive and a headache!

Andoni   –  
France FR
Visited: December 2018 Reviewed: Dec 15, 2018

Email Andoni  |  20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: over 5 safaris

The review below is the personal opinion of Andoni and not that of SafariBookings.
Plan not respected, lies, never been to Masai Triangle, not real Masai Mara Park.
1/5

Absolute joke:
- We’ve been asked to pay cash.
- The manager asked us to give a good review afterward, before the Safari even started.
- The driver in “Masai Mara” spent his all time on the phone and gave us very very very few information
- He also drove very dangerously because the Rangers were “chasing us”. We were on a restricted area
- We also spent an entire day in the car transferring to Masai Mara to Lake Nakuru (the driver refused to do a morning or evening game drive, and on top of that he dared to say I “asked for more time to sleep in the morning”)
- We discovered during dinner with other tourists that are used to Safaris, that the Masai Mara site we visited was actually a very very small part of the park. We had actually never been inside the Masai Triangle.

I can see that I’m not the only tourist to complain about this agency. Other customers complained on TripAdvisor.
I honestly think that this is a scam.

Thanks to Alex, the “new” guide that we had to make the overall experience slightly better.

Reply from Karibu Safaris In Kenya
Reply from Karibu Safaris In Kenya
Posted on Dec 18, 2018


Hi,

Am so sorry to hear that.....that must have been really frustrating - That was not the plan.

You were booked for the 4Days 3nights Masai Mara and on the 2nd night you choosed to go to lake nakuru with the other group which were leaving masai mara early to lake nakuru, i wish you could have stuck with the old plan of you staying in Masai Mara for 3nights we could not have this problem.

I had of your complain earlier when you reached lake nakuru and offered you boat in lake naivasha which you agreed as compensation for you departing early in Masai Mara.

About the driver talking on phone he has explained that his Radio call was not working hence he had to use his mobile to communicate with the other driver guides in the park in regards to the wild animals locations...but we have fixed in now.

We have learnt from the mistakes and it will not happen again.

Thanks for bringing this to may attention.

Regards

Mary
Safari coodinator





Michael   –  
United States US
Visited: November 2018 Reviewed: Dec 10, 2018

Email Michael  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

The review below is the personal opinion of Michael and not that of SafariBookings.
A total wreck
1/5

Before booking this tour I had some communication with Robert. I clearly asked if Karibu had a tour on my dates and he said it did. On my arrival date I went to the office, paid my balance and was subsequently sent to a car that would shortly transfer me to join another group with another company. Karibu never contacted me again.

At a transfer point myself and two other passengers joined a group of 6 other passengers for a total of 10 people (9 tourists plus the driver) The vehicle was so full we all had to sit with our own luggage and supplies between our legs and on our laps as the small space in the rear of the vehicle was woefully inadequate. Despite the fact that the tour was supposed to be maximum 7 people with everyone being offered a window seat and rooftop space, for the long drive to Masai Mara, the first evening game drive and the second day morning game drive we were 9 cramped passengers with three people having to use flimsy extension seats in the middle of the bus (ie. no window seats) and not receiving good views. After 2 passengers left after the morning drive it was still not possible for all 7 passengers to have a window seat and rooftop space as promised as there was only window space for 6 in the back. If you sat in the front of the bus with the driver, there was no rooftop space and you were situated lower.

At the camp, no towels were supplied to us. I only mention this because a few days before I left home I wasn't sure if I needed to bring my own towel so I e-mailed Karibu to see if towels were provided at the camp sites. They told me they were so I didn't pack one. I don't know if this was a lie or because the company they dumped me with used a different camp site with different standard.

On the third day I was supposed to visit Lake Nakura. The night before I reminded the driver since all the other passengers were going to Amboselli. He said he was aware and that I would be dropped off at a transfer point. After we left Masai Mara on the third day, I again reminded the driver about my transfer to Lake Nakuru. His reply was "You are not going, you will be going to Amboselli with us because there is no tour group going to Lake Nakuru today" There was no discussion with me at any point prior to this and had I not said anything to the driver, I don't know when they were planning to tell me. I asked him to call my tour operator (Karibu), but he refused saying this is what his boss had told him and that he was driving now and couldn't call (this despite the fact that he later picked up his phone while driving multiple times). I called Karibu's office on my personal cell phone which was very expensive as I did not have a local SIM card. Robert picked up and was very well aware of the situation. He suggested that they could refund some money which really wasn't a good option for me. He then said I could still go to Lake Nakuru on my last day instead. This would have meant backtracking a very considerable distance and spending about 12 hours in a car to go from Amboseli to the Tanzanian border to Nairobi to Lake Nakuru. It was never a real option as an evening tour at Lake Nakuru would have been impossible. I ended up taking an extra day in Amboseli, which is not something I really wanted to do as I felt one full day there was sufficient. What makes this even more frustrating is that the group that I joined for my second day in Amboseli had been in Masai Mara the previous day. If Karibu had communicated with me that going to Lake Nakuru was not be possible BEFORE I left Masai Mara, I would have much rather preffered to spend the extra day in Masai Mara.

Karibu failed miserably both in terms of communication and in terms of delivering what was promised. When my trip ended I wrote them an e-mail describing my experience and asking for a manager to respond. No one ever did, but after what I experienced, I really wasn't expecting anybody to. A complete disappointment.

Daniel   –  
Spain ES
Visited: August 2018 Reviewed: Dec 8, 2018

Email Daniel  |  20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

The review below is the personal opinion of Daniel and not that of SafariBookings.
THE WORST EXPERIENCE POSSIBLE
1/5

After much comparison on Internet, I decided to book my trip to the Masai Mara for 3 days with this company. Big mistake.

Despite they took their time to answer my emails (great 'pole pole'), the reservation was made without major problem, for a single room in the Mara Springs, which I took charge of checking in person at his office in Nairobi, two days before the start of the trip (where they tried to trick me).

The problem came on the day of the activity, where they tell me that I will have to share a room with a stranger because there is a lot of traffic in the park this season, that they feel it, that I must have empathy, that I must be proactive, that they fuck me and that I can stand it . Well, no. Because one thing is that there is a last minute setback and quite another is that there is no seriousness here. But of course, one takes the trip programmed to the fingertips and I could not afford the pleasure of looking for another company that left in less than 10 minutes to the park, so I agreed to go with them, they made me a ridiculous price reduction that I would gladly have paid for 20, so as not to share a night with the boy who played for me, who had also paid for a single room and to whom I scarcely frightened entering his 'tent' to usurp the next bed.

Regarding the planning within the Masai Mara say that it was not fulfilled at all. The first day we spent 1 hour and a half at the door checking our passports (we were 9 people, so you calculate the slowness), and we spent half an hour in the park, which gave us a dreamy reddish sunset that I asked the driver to photograph and he did not leave me, answering me in an edge way and driving to the opposite side.

The second day was quite well and the guide seemed to change his character. However, same result trying to photograph the sunset of the previous day. Like they give bad luck to man, I do not want to prejudge, first of all empathy.

The last day, which was presented as to take advantage of to see the sunrise in the park, forced us to visit the Masai community, with no option to reply, and return to Nairobi, where they left me in a place that was not the agreed . I complained and they said I cause a lot of problems.

Regarding the VAN where we traveled all the time, although basic, it was comfortable a priori, it did not turn out that way since we were in it the top of possible people, bothering one another in many moments, inevitably.

On the other hand, the accommodation was finally carried out in the ENCORO WILDLIFE CAMP, which I will break down into another opinion, but which I can summarize in precariousness, dirt and loose snakes.


SULTRY.

stelio   –  
United Kingdom UK
Visited: June 2015 Reviewed: Jul 12, 2015

Email stelio  |  20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: over 5 safaris

The review below is the personal opinion of stelio and not that of SafariBookings.
missold package
1/5

We have missold a Safari Package, we took the Kenya and Tanzania package as advertised on their website and we paid $1700 per person for 10 nights.
First of all Karibu Safari is not licensed to operate in Kenya, so basically they took us to the border, put us on a transfer and gave us to a different agency... very different from what we had paid for and we were expecting
Karibu Safari and Robert demonstrated their incompetence from the information stage until the organization stage of our trip.
More specifically we experienced the following issues:
1) they sold us a package with max 6 people in the van and for 4 days there were 7 people in the car
2) WIFI at lodges and hotels, Robert told us that there was WIFI at the lodges and hotel in Kenya but there was not WIFI in any of the lodges in Kenya & Tanzania, the quality of the lodges and the services offered was ridiculous, we spoke with other travelers and our lodges were the cheapest and the worst ones that you can find...
3) Waiting time, on the way from masai mara to lake nakuru, we have to wait 3 hours in the middle of the road for an other car to change passengers and due to this inconvenient we lost our night game drive to lake nakuru
4) Lake nakuru to Amboseli trip: they told us that was 4 hours driving when it took more than 10 hours due to the fact that we have to go to Nairobi to pick an other tourist and got stuck in the traffic
5)Passing from Kenya to Tanzania, we had to wait 4 hours, the transfer that Karibu arranged for us did not have valid documents to pass the border, as a result of it a group of 14 people spent 4 hours with 40 degrees waiting.... a taxy would have costed $30 and would have avoided our group of 4 people waiting 4 hours.
The result of this 4 hours waiting time was the shift of lake manyara and the cancellation of our night at ngorongoro camp, again this is not what we have paid for and with a little bit of care and attention should have been avoided, we were not paying the price for a budget safari and there are not excuses for this lack of organization, an agency who arrange a crossborder transfer with a car who has not documents should be closed straight away....
6) We were in the group with Tanya (you can read the other 1 star review) and we agree with everything that she said, Karibu staff was just rude and careless promising things that they were not willing to do just looking how to get few more dollars...

I really cannot believe that the 5 stars review are genuine, personally we had a terrible experience and the worst element was the discussion with Robert and the other Karibu staff who wanted to be right and cannot accept the evidence, after several discussion they apologized and they refused to offer a compensation for all the inconvenience that we suffered.

Robert and his staff think that the fact that they have not left us in the middle of the road is a success, they have no idea of what it means customer service and they think that tourists are just chicken to get money out of it, they cannot understand customer need and if they only wanted to, they could have offered a much better service making customers happy and giving value for the money spent

Reply from Karibu Safaris In Kenya
Reply from Karibu Safaris In Kenya
Posted on Jul 31, 2015

Karibu Safaris is licensed operator in Kenya(Anybody in doubt we can email them the certificate offered to us my the ministry of tourism).

There was a recently new accord signed by both Kenya and Tanzania that no operator shall be allowed to operate in another country even there vehicles should not pass the border point hence work in partners as agents from both countries.

You and Diana(traveled as a couple) you have posted 2 similar reviews, so we have responded to her review page.

Sorry for the bad experience you had while on safari,as much as it has tainted a bad picture it has made us also change the way we operate group joining safari for the better and nothing like this will ever happen in the future.

DIRECTOR
Msafiri

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