RU
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
You may encounter various issues throughout the safari.
We started our 6-day safari in Kenya with a great first impression. In Nairobi, the agency owner Morris introduced us to our guide Dennis, a trainee guide, and even gave us safari hats as a gift. Everything looked very promising at the beginning.
Unfortunately, the problems started soon after.
We entered Amboseli for our first evening game drive at around 4:30 PM, while the park closed at 6:00 PM. We weren’t too concerned because our itinerary clearly included a morning game drive the next day. To our surprise, Dennis told us he didn’t know about it and had already thrown away the park tickets, even though they were valid for 24 hours. He suggested skipping the morning drive and heading straight to the next destination because we were already short on time.
I insisted on having the morning game drive as planned and asked to leave at 6:00 AM to make the most of the limited time available. Dennis then claimed that the park gates only opened at 7:00 AM. After checking the information myself and speaking with the lodge owner, it became clear that this was not true. Dennis eventually admitted that he had lied because he did not want to wake up that early before a long day of driving.
As this was my first safari, I didn’t fully recognize this as a major red flag and eventually convinced him to leave at 6:00 AM.
I won’t describe every single day, but here are some of the issues we experienced:
• Amboseli – we only got half of the planned evening game drive, and the morning drive was shortened because Dennis spent around 30 minutes trying to recover the old tickets.
• Lake Naivasha – we arrived just before closing time, and during the Crescent Island excursion we had to rush through parts of the experience to avoid being locked out.
• Lake Nakuru – what was supposed to be both a morning and evening game drive turned into only a morning and partial daytime drive because we left the park and Dennis later claimed he didn’t know the ticket would not allow re-entry.
• Maasai Mara – before arriving, I explained the situation to Morris and asked him to speak with Dennis. Morris promised us a better experience. To be fair, Maasai Mara was excellent, and we had some unforgettable wildlife sightings. However, by that point we were constantly expecting another surprise or problem.
Overall, I cannot say this was a terrible safari. The wildlife was amazing, the landscapes were beautiful, and Morris genuinely tried to help whenever issues arose. The price we paid was also very competitive.
My main recommendation is simple: if you book with this company, try to avoid having Dennis as your guide.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Charismatic and a pleasure to be around.
Unfortunately the booking with SafariLink left a bad taste in my mouth before the trip even started... but read my whole review before it leaves a bad taste in yours.
Booking with (Nobhule? At least that's the name that is on the invoice) was like trying to extract information from a stone and talking to an edgy teenager with their short, extremely unprofessional replies. After booking, I recieved no information as to where the shuttle was going to be (I knew I was going to be picked up in a shopping center, but the shopping center is medium sized and there was a few places the shuttle could've been) and after asking multiple times for the booking confirmation by calling and SMS, I never received it. I infact arrived at my shuttle the morning of, with no booking confirmation, stressing I was going to get denied the shuttle I had paid for.
SafariLink had 3 full business daysand 5 ½ regular days to send me the booking confirmation.
This was by far the most frustrating booking experience I've had.
But other than the friction and hassles dealing with the salesrep, the trip was a breeze and super smooth experience. The driver - Thomas - was fun, friendly and full of smiles. When everyone was in the shuttle he explained how low we had before the first stop, between the 1st and 2nd, and then how low we had after, and refreshed everyone's memory after every stop. He did a really good job with driving the pothole-y road from OR Tambo to Hoedspruit.
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very caring
This was a fast-passed 4 day trip. I enjoyed it but the pace was too much. It would be better spread over 6-7 days. With overnights at the locations of the game drives instead of long road trips to and from the parks.
MY
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
cool
Papa John tour driver very patience,
very understanding client need
BR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
My not so pleasant safari experience with Safari Link
I had some problems with this agency that I would like to highlight here.
I booked a three-day safari. It was agreed that they would pick me up at my hotel in Johannesburg before heading to Kruger. One day before the trip, I sent a message to confirm, and they told me that I should go to the airport instead, as we would be leaving from there. I sent them the previous message where they had mentioned picking me up at the hotel, but I did not receive a response in time. Because of that, I had to go to the airport just to be safe.
After this inconvenience, it took me an extra hour to arrive at my lodge because my name was not on the driver’s list. He confused me with another person whose name was on the list and initially took me to the wrong lodge.
After that, we finally arrived at the correct lodge, but they informed me that there was no tent available for me because the agency had not sent my reservation to them either, just like what happened with the driver. As a result, on the first night, I was taken to another nearby lodge so I would have a place to sleep.
On the way back to Johannesburg, I managed to arrange for them to drop me off at my hotel, but once again, nothing was easy. The driver had the wrong address and was going to take me to the hotel where I had stayed before going on safari. Fortunately, I checked it in time and was able to speak with him so he could take me to the correct address.
Despite all these issues, everything was eventually resolved, and I was still able to enjoy the experience in the best way possible. However, these were still unpleasant situations that nobody would like to go through.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great safari, bad timing
I want to first say that our guide, Rodger, was excellent. He was very knowledgeable and helped us find all the ‘Big 5’ and many other beautiful animals. The accommodations were lovely- the campsite was great to connect with nature, and the hotel was comfortable and clean with tasty meals. The game drives were fantastic.
The reason I gave this safari a 3/5 is not the fault of the guide. On May 18th, the 3rd day of the safari, there were massive protests over gas prices all over Kenya, which turned into rioting, blocking roads and stopping cars. This is not the fault of Axis. The issue was the way the company handled the situation (this does not include Rodger- he was calm under pressure and kept us as safe as possible). Part of the issue here is that Axis combines travelers who are on different tours without clarifying it. There were people on the tour that were only there for 3 days, while others booked for 4 or more. This means that our third day involved bringing the people who had to go back to the office to a drop off point near Nairobi. This is where we got stranded for multiple hours with very little communication or assistance from the office. We spent the whole morning driving, leaving at 6 am, arriving midday and then staying in place. When asked about a refund of some sort for the day that really only included 2 hours of activity, we were told ‘well, day 3 is always a travel day’. The itinerary does not disclose that. They make it look as if there’s multiple activities that happen on day 3. On top of that, guests on our safari had to pay to change flights, without help from the office or clarification on what would happen to help them. Two of the people who were split from the group eventually to go to the airport were hit with a bag of rocks through the window of the car they were put in, leading to them being covered in glass. Again, this isn’t something the company can necessarily control, but the things they can control were handled poorly in my opinion.
Again, this would’ve been a great safari. The issues I had were partially the situation but mostly the office’s handling of it. Rodger was an excellent guide.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Set and forget (Vic Falls Safari Lodge did it)
While the lodge staff and the experiences werefantastic, Safari.com provided no itinerary, luxury deck on cruise not honoured.
It was like a set and forget.
Once we had booked and paid there was little or no communication from them.
Hence we arived at Lodge not having an itinerary!
We had to take a photo of our itinerary from lodge to find out what it was!!
After I booked, did not communicate what she should have.
I had a good experience booking my trip, but after I paid, communication was lacking. When I was looking to book, the agent got back to me very quickly. Once I paid, it could be days before I heard from her. I've never used a travel agent before, but I expected to be told more. I was not given a detailed itinerary until a day into our trip by someone else on the ground, who was supposed to be available to me. Also had no idea we were flying into Zimbabwe (supposed to go to Zambia and Botswana). We needed a Declaration and $100 US dollars to enter the country. This was not communicated to me at all!!, and we almost didn't make it in. I assumed a travel agent would let know. Am I wrong?? Then I got very sick (got insurance with booking) and asked the person I was to contact on the ground what to do, and crickets. The actual places and things that were booked were wonderful and exactly what I wanted. It would have been nice to have the communication, especially since I was't sure we could continue in Zimbabwe and would have to return to South Africa.
FR
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Kruger National Park by Patrice Lequime
due to recent flooding lots tracks closed
RU
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Too few activities
The overall experience is nice, you are welcomed, you get safari experience , you have breakfast and (if in tents) dinner, but you don’t have too much activities during the day, usually only half a day is busy, the rest you’re by yourself. You cannot go 100m from the tents, the coordinator will follow you even in walks and safaris (even though you’ve got a guide), which felt weird.. The mokoro safari actually means just a transfer from the shore to the tented camp.. Honestly speaking you’d see much more if you rent a car and travel by yourself, it will cost the same, but your days will be full. Anyway great thanks to our guides : Hipo, Tomly (despite frightening experience on hippos lake) , chef Gift who is really gifted to serve food made on fire better than in all restaurants visited. It was unforgettable experience. But next time we’ll take a car))