35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Lake Nakuru National Park by Trad Hatton
Flamingos are mostly gone.
DE
Service and behaviour of Bruno Safari was disgusting and not professional.
We would like to inform you about some very irritating experiences we made while on safari with Bruno Safaris (http://www.brunosafaris.com/) in July 2014:
Our journey (July 14-20, 2014) including the chosen lodges in all the parks was planned and confirmed by Lawrence Kakai (representative of Bruno Safaris) in March 2014 (see details of this communication below). We paid the deposit as agreed and the rest in cash on arrival in Nairobi (USD 4600).
In the meantime however, our driver Joseph Nyaa had rebooked all the chosen and confirmed accommodation, replacing them with lodges that were of less, partly very poor, quality and presumably a lot cheaper. Of course, we were irritated and complained about the changes, but were given dubious reasons. We later learned, that the manager of all the new lodges was a friend of the driver.
In addition, one day of the Safari (we were meant to be driven to Lake Nakuru) was completely cancelled for reasons we did not understand either, so Bruno Safaris also saved the entrance fees for that park. All this was very disappointing and the numerous discussions with our very headstrong, sometimes even aggressive, driver lead to a lot of tedious situations.
After our return to Germany we contacted Bruno Safaris and at first Lawrence Kakai was very understanding, agreeing to a refund of part of the USD 4600 to our account. So far, nearly 2 months later, this money has not reached us and our numerous messages and questions to Bruno Safaris have remained without reply.
With a lot of tourists refraining from traveling to Kenya already - due to the political situation - unprofessional attitude like this, if not deceit, is very bad publicity for Kenya!
FR
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Lake Manyara National Park by Gilbert Meon
It's a special NP with a thick forest, which makes game viewing very hard, especially big cats. It would be nice to come closer to the lake itself.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Lake Manyara National Park by Tania Daniels
I don’t think March was the right time to go. We didn’t see many animals or flamingo but it was a beautiful place.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Needs better organization/communication
I successfully climbed up Mt. Kilimanjaro last year, but there were many things I felt the company should improve on.
#1: The day they picked me up from the airport, the driver asked if I had paid for the transport. Yes I had. I don't understand why the driver would not know this. I paid for this trip as a complete package. The tour operators should communicate this. I received no pamphlet, brochure, or information packet upon arriving at my hotel. I was told to go to bed and rest and the next morning I would be given an orientation.
#2: The morning of my trek, I woke up to have breakfast and was told I would have an orientation. I was expecting a detailed orientation, but didn't get this. Instead, a man in a business suit sat down next to me at breakfast, asked if I had comfortable shoes and everything I needed. He looked at me and said, "You look fit, you'll be fine. Your guide will be here soon." I was very shocked at how little information and preparation I was getting given how big this trip was to me!
#3: My guide was very nice and very patient. However, he spoke very broken English and could not offer me much guidance other than to walk beside me. My porters, cooks, and servers also did their job fine, but I could see that other trekkers had more guidance, advice, and preparation from their guides. They all had described a proper orientation. Their guides had devices to track their heartbeat and even oxygen supply. I had nothing.
#4: After the trek, I was transported to the hotel for my final night. I confirmed that next morning I would have a transfer to the airport. Again, I was asked if I had already paid for this. Why is there such a breakdown in communication among the staff? Anyway, I confirmed I had paid, and I wanted the pick up for 8am.
#5: The next morning at 7:55am, I report to the reception desk and ask for my driver. It turns out he already left with another customer to the airport! They left without me, and the boss had to call the driver to turn back! Both the other customer and I were frustrated by this lack of communication. Again, the driver asked if I had already paid for the service.
On a good note, prior to me booking, Dickson answered all of my questions thoroughly. He asked for all of my flight details and assured me I would be taken care of. However, his high level of professionalism led me to think that I was signing up with an organized company who managed all the details. But when I arrived in Arusha, it appears they had turned over my business to locals who lacked organization, communication, and professionalism. It's a good thing I'm an overall experienced and independent traveler and trekker who managed with such little guidance and ZERO orientation. But for someone who needs more guidance, this would be a disaster. Also, you are paying over $1000 for this once in a lifetime trek. You definitely need more than something so minimal. I honestly wouldn't recommend this company unless it's to someone I know is an experienced trekker who wants the lowest budget trek and doesn't mind little guidance and organization. I tipped my guides and porters well because they work SO HARD and deserve it. They are not educated, just extremely hard workers. You read stories about the harsh life these guys have without being paid a proper wage. I did not have the heart to complain about the service for fear they would suffer from my criticism. Truly, it is the responsibility of the tour operators.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Lake Manyara National Park by Shannon
Limited wildlife viewing. If you are only in Tanzania one day, this might be ok for a day trip, but as far as a safari destination, I’d go for the bigger parks.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Lake Manyara National Park by Premlata Shah
hardly any game except baboons and some birds. Did not see a single tree lion for which the park is famous for. Very disappointed.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The park is well maintained and protected by authorities, but wildlife was difficult to spot.
Visiting Akagera National Park was my third game drive in Africa, followed by game drives in Kenya and Tanzania.
Akagera National Park is highly monitored and protected by local authorities against poachers. I was also told a percentage of the park fees are administered to neighboring communities so as to provide some economic income and deter poaching.
I know every game drive is different, and a lot depends on what and how many animals you see. However, my game drive in Akagera was really disappointing. I hardly saw any wildlife- zero in the first half of the drive. I think this was largely due to the fact that most of the park had recently been burned to 'control wildfires'. If I had known most of the park was recently burned, I would not have elected to go on the game drive as
I am sure this scared off most of the wildlife.
I recommend not visiting Akagera from June-August as this is when the park is burned. In addition, there is no off-roading allowed in the park. So, if wildlife are not close to the main road, it will be vey difficult to see them.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Aberdare National Park by Barbara And Doug
“Birding” tour in The Ark Lodge in Aberdare consisted of filling a bird feeder with fresh seeds - that was all. Also didn’t like the atmosphere.
ES
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Good Safari, bad personal treatment
I personally don't recommend this Company to make a safari. I did 4 days safari and they changed my planning because I wanted to do only 3. The person in charge of taking you to the car, get the money and arange everything treated me as if i were only money and he lied to me several times. On the other hand the safari was fine and the driver and the cook were really friendly.