The Bencia Africa dedicated Team
Bencia Africa Adventure & Safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2007)
- Member Of:
- KWS, KTB, ECO -Tourism, TRA & KATO-member
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $3,088 to $12,927 per person per day (MXN, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
IT
Email Luigi Chiacchio | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Not reliable and fraudsters
I booked a tour with the agency Bencia Africa Adventure & Safaris based in Nairobi, starting from Kenya - Nairobi and that was to end in Tanzania - Arusha and then continue to Zanzibar. The tour involved crossing the large parks to follow the migrations, more than visits to sites of interest along the way. Obviously we knew that being in Africa and in a country where accuracy is not there we would have to adapt and not ask too many questions even if the price we had paid for two was very high. In any case, as we expected, throughout the trip we were not adequately informed about the program, giving us vague information and changing it continuously program, in fact three times we have changed the structures where to sleep, previously communicated, changing them with others not always of the same level proposed and the discovery of the change occurred only on the spot, without giving us the opportunity to accept or change. The first excursion was to Mount Kenya where we were told a generic "let's visit a cave", but we were not told that there were four hours of trekking and that we had to be equipped for a very rough path. The moral of the fairy tale, after half an hour of march a storm broke out and not being equipped we had to go back. And so it was throughout the trip. The most serious episode that happened and that ruined us all the rest of the holiday happened after 5 days of travel, when we arrived at the northern border between Kenya and Tanzania. They told us that they had to wait for their next guide before continuing their journey. They left us at a taxi saying that the driver would wait for us in the next city because he couldn't come there, we didn't have many problems because we were used to that way of doing and we went to the meeting in the next city. The guide we met, after a long wait, on the trip told us that he was a replacement for our driver who had the car broken and that would wait for us in the Serengeti Park. The trip was tremendous because he ran like a damned because we understood he didn't pay much and he wanted to get rid of us soon. We made the whole trip without water and lunch that were included. Arrived at the entrance of the park told us that we had to pay the entrance, which was already included in the price, but told us that not being he our guide, once arrived we would refund, we trusted and we paid. Once we arrived we immediately realized that the place was not the one we had booked. We had booked a tent with beds and instead brought us to a public field with a tent where we slept on the ground. The guide was not there and we tried to get him called by the person who had brought us them, telling us that he would arrive after an hour and a half. We waited for the guide and in the meantime we called the agency asking for explanations on the spot that was not the one booked, also because we did not know it, we were not equipped to camp, after my continuous insistence answered me that it was too expensive the tent with beds and changed structure and attached me to the phone not answering me anymore. We waited for the guide who had never arrived and stayed in the camp for two days without water or food, providing our own needs. We stayed two days in the camp sleeping in this public tent with sleeping bags recovered who knows where, because we didn't have the chance to leave, we were stuck and every now and then some characters told us that someone would arrive who never arrived. We were wandering in this camp that was not sure, so much so that one night a hyena chased us and we had to escape.
By day the camp was empty and we were left only two close to the tent and a small structure where they ate. We were really desperate, until we managed to bargain with a guy a passage to Arusha, interrupting the journey that was ruined. But not having the entry tickets to the park that the driver had brought with him, we would have had to pay the 400 dollars of the passage, the fine for tickets that we did not have, the two days of stay in the camp and the entry and exit in the park of Ngorongoro that necessarily had to pay to get out of the parks. At that point we decided to call the rangers who brought us to the police where we made the complaint and where magically occurred the driver who had disappeared. He was very surprised by the complaint and he justified himself by saying that the car had broken down and that he was finding a solution, he offered to let us continue the journey with him but we did not accept, the police forced him to give us the money of the entrance to the park, he paid us the car until Arusha and crossing the other parks. We also had to pay one night in the hotel, but once we got there the driver told us that he didn't have the money but we were relieved to have come out of that nightmare and we were very happy to be able to choose us a structure and get rid of them. The agency came alive when it heard about the complaint, apologizing and justifying that it had relied on this partner in Tanzania and that would have made us pay ... to date has never arrived anything. But the fact that I explained that it was his responsibility, because I had made a contract with him and that in the moment of need he had disappeared was a concept difficult to understand. We are now trying to find a solution to get compensation even though we know that it is impossible to get it.
Maybe we were a bit unfortunate but nothing justifies their way of behaving and the absolute lack of professionalism, exposing ourselves to risks and leaving us in a foreign land at the mercy of ourselves. Even just because of the stress their behaviour causes you, absolutely avoid them.
Reply from Bencia Africa Adventure & Safaris
Posted on Jul 30, 2024I'm genuinely sorry to hear about your experience. It’s disheartening to know that your safari did not meet expectations and that there were issues with communication, logistics, and accommodation. Your feedback is crucial, and we take such concerns seriously.
We'll investigate these issues thoroughly to ensure that this doesn’t happen again. I understand that this experience was stressful and disappointing, and we regret that it affected your trip so negatively. If you’re open to further discussion, please reach out to us directly so we can address your concerns and work towards a resolution. Your feedback helps us improve, and we appreciate you bringing this to our attention.
FR
Email Samuel | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Avoid !
Did a Masai Mara Safari with Bencia end of July. It was supposed to be 3 days and we only spent 24 hours in the park, our guide pretending that the car broke down to force us to go to the Masai Village to force us to go to the Masai Village and to avoid paying the entry fee for another 24 hours.
We've had to complain and got 80$ back, so that we wouldn't put a bad review online. They pretended it was the guide's fault, and told us they gave him all the cash to pay the park fees. Although the park fees can't be payed by cash.
I met later a couple who told me the same thing happened to them, so it must be a regular thing.
Later on I met two Italian guys stuck in Serengeti campsite for two days without getting on any safari because they booked with Bencia and their driver never showed up!
Avoid!
Reply from Bencia Africa Adventure & Safaris
Posted on Jul 30, 2024I'm really sorry to hear about your experience. This is definitely not the standard of service we strive to provide, and it's concerning to hear about the issues you faced.
We take such feedback seriously and will investigate this matter thoroughly. It's unacceptable that you felt misled and that the issues with the guide and park fees affected your safari experience. We aim to ensure all our guests have a memorable and enjoyable trip, and it's clear we fell short in your case.
We appreciate you bringing this to our attention. Please reach out to us directly with any additional details so we can address these concerns and work on improving our services. Thank you for sharing your experience.
EG
Email Darragh | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Bad experience with Bencia Africa Adventure and Safaris.
My wife and I booked a 5 day safari and paid $1700 before tips. They lied about the cost of the park entrance fees which we discovered later. The accomodation was substandard and not what we were promised. The car broke down on our last day and we were delayed for several hours. As a result we had to stay an extra night in an awful hotel provided by the travel agent. On our return to Nairobi Bencia demanded an extra $150 per person. They didn't apologise for the delay or the disruption to our schedule. They refused to bring us to the airport on our return. Despite our insistence they forced us to return to outside their office building. We had requested to be dropped at the airport or at other points along the way even though we were late for our flight. We refused to enter the building as they were demanding extra money from us. Within two minutes eight of their staff blocked the entrance to a nearby restaurant as we had sought refuge there. They aggressively harrassed and intimidated us and were trying to extort money from us. One of their employees picked up a rock and an altercation ensued between him and a customer of the restaurant. We are very grateful to the customers and staff of Sizzler restaurant on the same street. They protected us and helped us to get into our taxi unharmed. We needed to be protected on the way to the car as they were continuing to follow us, as indeed did the employee holding a rock. I would strongly advise anybody not to use this company.
We would greatly appreciate your help in resolving this matter.
Regards,
Reply from Bencia Africa Adventure & Safaris
Posted on Jul 30, 2024I’m truly sorry to hear about your disappointing experience with Bencia Africa Adventure & Safaris. This is definitely not the kind of service we aim to provide, and your feedback is concerning.
The issues you’ve described, including the discrepancies in fees, substandard accommodation, and the car breakdown, are unacceptable. It's especially troubling to hear about the situation with the additional charges and the aggressive behavior from staff. This is certainly not reflective of the professionalism and customer care we strive for.
Please accept our sincerest apologies for the inconvenience and distress you experienced. We take such matters very seriously and will be investigating this thoroughly. Your feedback is crucial in helping us improve our services.
In the meantime, I’d like to offer you a direct way to address your concerns with our management team. If you could provide us with your contact details or reach out to us directly at [contact email/phone number], we would like to discuss this further and work towards a resolution.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention, and once again, we apologize for the negative experience. We hope to have the opportunity to make things right and regain your trust.
Email PHXTrainer | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Scammers- AVOID
We booked a car through Bencias office in Nairobi with Kennedy. The car was to take us from Nairobi to Amboseli and then to Emhali for a first class bus to Mombasa.
The car showed up on time in Nairobi and the ride to Amboseli was fine. We had to pay the driver 4000 Ksh to stay in the area for four days and then take us to the bus.
The day the driver was to appear he never did. A call to Ken and another car showed up about two hours later. These guys were locals in Amboseli and drive us to Emhali where we were supposed to get on the "First Class Bus". Of course when we got there they immediately started in on us about how Ken had ripped us off, was not paying them and the bus would not stop in Emhali. We awaited about two hours for the bus all the while listening to them tell us over and over how there was no bus. It was getting late and rather than have to spend the night in a very small and very scary town we agreed to let them drive us to Mtito which was about 90 minutes away at a cost of 9000Ksh. There was a local bus in Mtitto that took us to Mombasa at a cost of 1000 Ksh even though we had already paid Ken 7000 Ksh for a "First Class bus". We had no choice so went. We later found out the same bus stopped in Emhali earlier while we were arguing with the drivers
When we got back to Nairobi we visited Ken at the office and demanded a refund. We went back and forth and he agreed to a partial refund. If you have been keeping up we spent 4000 Ksh to keep the driver around, 7000 Ksh for the bus tickets we didn't use, 9000 Ksh to go to a different town and 2000 for the bus tickets we did use a total of 22,000 Ksh. We got a refund of 7000 Ksh.
These guys are scammers. They seem very nice but in the end they don't deliver.
Reply from Bencia Africa Adventure & Safaris
Posted on Jun 23, 2015Hello sir ,
Sorry for what happened on your trip in kenya , i accept it was our mistake from Kennedy the Sales representative who was handling your booking was not booked the right bus to Mombasa . Kennedy was dismissed from our company as this case you wrote on through safari bookings ...
I assure you good service for next time trip..
Best regards
Alfred Syanda
Sales Director