It started in Africa

We decided to book our 9-day luxury safari with It Started in Africa (ISIA) after several emails back and forth. Although the price ($10,100 USD for two people) was more expensive than other companies we had spoken to, we booked with ISIA, as we were impressed by the responsiveness of sales staff. We did have some concerns about the quality of their vehicles (after reading some reviews on TripAdvisor), but Joao Oliveira (who we later found out is the co-owner), Luis, Iris and Joanna assured us that we would be provided with one of their newer vehicles and a great guide. We were really looking forward to the trip of a lifetime however it turned out be a nightmare.

When we arrived in Kilimanjaro airport, there was no one to pick us up so we had to make several international calls to find out what had happened. They told us that the driver had broken down on route (this turned out to be a lie) and that they were sending a replacement car to pick us up. We waited for 30 minutes outside the airport until the driver finally arrived to pick us up but as soon as we were on the road to Arusha, the police stopped the car for speeding. We then had to wait outside the police station inside the car in blazing temperatures and call ISIA internationally for them to send another driver to pick us up.

We finally arrived at our hotel and I sent an email to Joao to tell him what had happened. He replied that there had been a mix-up with our dates and that the office manager, Bernard Kang’oma would meet us in person to apologise and confirm our itinerary before we left for our safari. We met with someone the next day who spent 30 minutes claiming to be Bernard Kang’oma despite the fact that I had seen his picture on the company website and knew he was not. When I asked him why he had lied to us, he told us that Bernard Kang’oma had asked him to impersonate him. We wrote to Joao again expressing how unhappy we were with the level of service. He replied that we could cancel the trip but would have to forfeit 50% (over $5000!). Of course he knew that we had no other choice but to continue with the safari. We could not book anything at such short notice so reluctantly we told him that we would continue with the trip. What followed was a litany of deceit and incompetence:

We started our safari with two days in Tarangire and had an issue at the gate with the permit, which meant we had to return to the gate the next day early morning to get an extension for the next day.

The vehicle was old and the fridge cooler was broken so we could not drink cold water. It also had not been cleaned before the trip and stank of rotten food.

The Nikon binoculars they say they provide all clients is in fact a marketing lie. We had one Russian branded binoculars, which were glued together and belonged to the driver and another pair, which were broken.

We were kept waiting for 30 minutes outside one of our lodges, while they sorted out our booking. When I spoke to the manager that evening he said that he had a booking for us the following day (not the correct day). Another lodge told us they weren't expecting us for lunch despite this being on the itinerary.

While heading to South Serengeti, we were kept waiting 3.5 hours at the gate as there was another problem with the permit. Another mess up by the staff in Arusha meant we missed out on most of the afternoon game drive in the Ndutu region.

Unfortunately, our balloon ride was cancelled due to poor weather, however we were told that we could book for the next day. Immediately upon returning to the camp, I asked the driver to confirm our booking for the next day. We repeatedly asked him to do this throughout the day but it was only when we absolutely insisted that he did so, but by then it was too late as it was already fully booked. We were the only people to miss out on the balloon ride as everyone else had confirmed early and had not left it so late.

When we arrived at our camp in Ngorongoro, we were informed that the camp didn't have a booking for the crater walk that we had paid for. The weather was poor so the walk may not have taken place but, again, ISIA staff messed up the booking.

Bernard Kang’oma informed us, that we could collect the refund for the cancelled balloon ride and crater walk at the office in Arusha. Our driver/guide spoke to him several times before we left Ngorongoro and Kang’oma confirmed that he would be waiting in the office with the full refund of $1200. When we arrived at the office, Kangoma wasn't there. We tried to reach him several times and when he eventually answered his phone, he said that he had given the money to someone called Daniel who was waiting at Kilimanjaro airport. We called Daniel and he told us that he didn't actually have the money! We then tried to reach Kang’oma but he would just hang up. We had no option but to go to the police station to report this. They called him and told him to come to the police station but we gave up waiting for him and were told by the police to give them our contact details and they would follow up.

We tried to catch our flight to Zanzibar but missed it because of this incident and had to stay at the airport hotel and catch a flight the next day, losing our hotel booking in Stone town in the process.

When we asked Joao for a refund of the $1200 for the cancelled balloon ride and crater walk, he at first tried to make us sign a letter saying that we would not write negative reviews on any site. He told us that this was his bank’s policy (a lie) but we refused to do this and he reluctantly agreed to pay us the refund by PayPal. We are still waiting to agree compensation but Joao and ISIA staff are not replying to our emails.

ISIA ruined our honeymoon and we would absolutely not recommend booking a safari with this company!!! There were several issues everyday which we would spend most of of the day resolving. Terrible organisation and service by ISIA especially considering the price we paid. There are plenty of other good safari companies, so we would suggest using any of them.

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