Wanyama African Safari
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2014)
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
Reviews
Shaban the scam artist
Within the first 10 minute Mr Shaban had broken his own contract. The itinerary had changed, and indeed the accommodation and the company as well. I chose this company as the reviews appeared to be good. I was put with another cheaper company with poor reviews but had to pay the higher price. Mr shaban would not answer his phone to discuss the situation and refund the difference. Eventually he replied to my texts and was very rude and aggressive in his responses. He told me i should go to the police about him breaking the contract. Terrible man. No one should book with this company
RO
Email Andreea | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
African Scams
Well it seems that my experience with them was not that great, in fact it's still horrible. We booked with them the Kilimanjaro Trekking and Short Safari after that. Everything went just well until my boyfriend got diagnosed suddenly with pectoral angina and we were advised by the doctor to cancel the trip. So we did and more than one month in advance we contacted them to tell them the problem and if there is a way to get a refund of the money we already have paid. They said sure and no problem but they invoked the bank fees. So I suggested to pay the bank fees from our money and just send us the difference. After this they just stopped responding to phone calls, messages or e-mails. We can't reach them anymore even if we gave them an alternative and we agreed that we will pay the fees. They are just some african scams not trustable.
And Episode No #2:
They told me to post the medical documents on fb and safarbookings which of course I didn't do it because it's stupid and the documents are private. But I sent the documents to them by e-mail to prove that I'm not the one who lies in this story . The owner told me he will refund the money only if I erase the reviews on facebook and safaribookings which I did but more of curiosity to see how far can he go. Well what was already expected: since that (2 weeks ago) no sign from them again. So predictable I would say. It's not a big amount of money, maybe he feeds his family a week with that amount, honestly I don't even care. What I care about are the lies and the deep lack of respect. In conclusion I consider them scams not being able to assume a risk or facts not to mention to keep their word. I didn't go anywhere and neither I booked with someone else but how can you make understand someone who in fact has other interests?
IL
Email Ahron | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Shabani's scam
We booked 4 days safari with Shabani's company. It was a disaster!!
1. The cars were completely full. 9 people including the chef instead of 7 as promised. When we asked Abdul (our guide) to solve this issue he gave us unacceptable solutions (leave the chefs and that we will cock for our self). Also the cars were fulled with equipment so there was no place for the legs.
2. Abdul the guide was unprofessional. After we talked to him about some of the problems he decided not to talk to us and didn't explain anything during the game drives, even not the names of the animals. He was just a taxi driver that took us from one location to another.
3. Time in the Safari weren't as promised. In the first day of the Sarangeti we had only two hours of game drive.
4. A lot of small annoying issues: there were not enough tents in the first night for everyone, in the second day the chefs refused to wake up early in the morning to make us breakfast because it was too "early" for them.
When we came to Abdul ,asking for solutions for our problems he didn't show any intention to figure out them out and he even blamed us one time that the reason we got late to the Sarangeti (16:30) is because we asked him to stop to photograph giraffes on the way.
When we got back to Arusha we went to Shabanis office to talk with him about everything. During the talk he blamed us for being "hard customers" and didn't even say he was sorry about anything. Eventually he started to talk in aggressivly when we said we will write a bad recommendations. When we got out from his office (without any compensation) he even tried to hit one of the girls and we had to stop him. When we walked out to the street he keep followed us, this was really scary and unpleasant.
I think Sahabani is a dangerous man and even that his prices is low it doesn't worth the bad feeling.
FR
Email Da | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
I had a great time!
I've seen "the big five", thanks to Steve our nice driver. Steve is really a humor guy. Our cook, Samwel is also a good guy and his service is acceptable. You cannot expect fancy foods in a safari trip I think. The only thing that I don't like is that sometimes we had to eat like vegetarians. I don't know if it's due to the tight of the balance for a cheaper safari.
The worst thing is the policy of the company. The price of your safari depends on how well you can bargain with the tour operator but not depends on the quality of the service and not depend fairly on how many people sharing the cars. Since I went alone, I had to join others. I had to pay 750 $ for 4 days of safari and others people in my group had to pay 750$ for 5 days. Shabani, the tour operator even wanted to charge me for 800$ if I didn't try to bargain. This is really a short-term benefit policy! One more thing even worse is that after a long trip of safari, we were brought to the company office and forced to give comments about the company. They didn't ask us if we want to go there to give comment or not! What kind of comment you will give in front of them? This is just ridiculous. I hope they'll read this comment and then improve their quality of service.
Overall, nothing is perfect. I had a great time in Tanzania. I will come back here in the future if I can afford.
CH
Email japkti | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Friendly and professional staff + enjoyable safari
We had four different tours with Mr. Shabani:
1) the 5-day safari visiting Lake Manyara / Serengeti / Tarangire/ Ngorongoro Crater (we also saw rhino),
2) half-day walking tour of Arusha city (main market and famous landmarks),
3) 1-day tour of Kilimanjaro without hiking (banana and coffee plantation, cave and waterfall) and
4) 1-day hiking tour of Arusha surrounding (visiting locals and their real life, banana and coffee plantation, waterfall).
They all went very well and we enjoyed them very much. Mr. Shabani and his personnel (the guides, the driver and the cook) were very friendly and professional. The price was very attractive with the service that we received. We definitely meet them again, if we come to Arusha.
BR
Email Thierry Pontes | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Many animals, great views, good food e nice accommodation for a good price
Shabani helped me a lot with so many things in Arusha Town he has a great price for the service offered during the Safari. The meals was very good and also the accommodation.
The only problem was the guide, he wanted to take us to the Massai Viallage around 3pm and on the scheduled was around 6pm. Shabani also helped me to get a hostel to stay because the one I booked was closed.
The playing area was very nice with so many animals e great views.
The guide and cooker ask for tips.
Great experience, very dedicated stuff, we will never forget this adventure
Shabani was very nice and helpful all along, even before we came to Tanzania, and gave us very good advice about other things in our trip that didnt have to do with the Safari.
Abdul the guide was funny, interesting and has a lot of knowledge. He is the reason the experience was so good.
Everything was planned to the last detail, if there were problems it was mainly because of the infrastracture in the locations - for example the long time waiting before the entrance to the parks, but it has nothing to do with African travel tours
PL
Email Agata & Michał | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing & well-organised adventure in Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Serengeti and Ngorongoro
Last month we experienced incredible adventure on Safari. It was a joined trip operated by Sandland Tours and Safaris organized by Shabani from African Travel Tour (they are sister companies as far as I'm concerned).
We spent 5 days and 4 nights on the Safari itself. Shabani was very responsive and helpful prior to the trip, he checked the bus from Nairobi for us and picked us up from the bus stop. Outstanding service. Our two nights before and after the Safari were included in the total price. We had to pay $20 for the Arusha airport transfer what was extremely expensive for that distance but that probably compensated for something else.
Safari was amazing, we had the best driver/guide (Eric) and cook (Mr Bean) you could imagine. Thanks to Eric we were always in the best spot to see the animals, even if there were 20 cars at the same time. He just knew where he was going - I talked to many people at the picnic areas and looked like we were the only ones to see some of the rare animals. In addition, he was talkative and had a great sense of humour so it was a real pleasure to spend time with him. Mr Bean cooked the best food ever and I really mean it because my husband who never eats fish was getting 3 helpings of delicious tilapia stew. The soup was so good that all of us were having a refill everyday. I was even asking for the recipe!
The trip was well-organised, I felt like we got the most of it. We were leaving early for the sunrise game drives and coming back as late as possible. We booked budget safari but our first 2 nights were upgraded to tented lodges with private bathrooms. That really exceeded our expectations and was a very nice surprise. We spent the other 2 nights in public campsites but the tents were very good quality, the mattresses and sleeping bags were also provided. The only inconvenience was that our backpack got dirty in the car. It was covered in oil and diesel and some of our clothes were in stains. We were really disappointed but the trip overall was so good that it compensated this mess :-) It was really hard to say goodbye in the end of the trip.
AT
Email Marianne | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
fantastic fantastic fantastic !!!
The safari was the best decision ever!!! Adventure, joy, happiness and lots of animals to see. Special thanks to our driver and guide Richard and our cook Peter! An unforgettable time and memories that will always remain in our hearts!!! Thank you so much for all !!!
Email Chris Wellington | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Highly recommended company
On my to do list : A Safari in Africa. This is what I always dream on since my young age. We decided my girlfriend and I to take a trip to Tanzania to do a Safari. The Price in Canada are so expensive, so we decide to go with a local company and we found Wanyama African safari . I exchanged many email with Shabani (40 emails to be honest). The reply was always fast and seems to be a good company. But since we arrived at Kili (JRO) airport, I had somes doubts. Our drive and Guide Francis was there with a little sign with my name on it. From this moment my doubt was gone. He was there. Francis is a really good guide and a good men! A big talker and a big fan of wildlife. He picked up at the airport to dropped us at our first hotel. Shabani met us in the evening at our hotel to explain to us how it gonna work. He gaves us 3 phones numbers to join him 24h/7. WoW we are in confidence now in Wanyama African safari . You can trust them. We chose to go with Mixing safari with Lodge and Camping. If you ever choose camping, choose the place you want to stay because Shabani told me we can hear the roar of lions and the laughter of the hyenas while we camp, but the reality is we camp at the hotel camp site, which was outside of the parks site. So we slept in the yard of the hotel, it was like camp in my backyard with the sound of an angry women crying at her husband probably to drunk. The good part of the Camping is Anthon (our Cook) a real nice guy who prepare nice, simple but really good meal during camping. Back in Canada we tried to find a soup greater than Anthon's one, but for now we are unable!!! For the Lodge part, we stayed at Ikoma Camp Site. A really nice place where we met Pepe, the owner of the hotel. A funny and good men! But we ate the same things for 3 days! Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner! Ikoma is a good place go (beautiful and relaxing) but don't go there for the food. Tanzania remains on my do to list. I hope in the next few years! And I will take Wanyama African safari again for my trip! I hope the best for this company and you can trust them for your dream to make a Safari