Somak

I wanted a once-in-a-lifetime, 5-star safari holiday including Victoria Falls and after a £20k+ quote from one of the well known luxury travel companies, I trimmed down the duration and my local travel agent suggested Somak Luxury Travel. I was very specific about the safari area, lodge quality and dates so Somak suggested safari then Vic Falls (Zimbabwe side) and a Zanzibar beach resort to finish. All sounded good and I expected them to understand the brief and be very knowledgeable about the destinations and accommodation. Having not been able to secure the dates for the preferred safari lodge offering, Somak then proposed a different area which I refused. Being ready to delay the trip, they suddenly came back with another lodge (at extra cost) and with just over 3 months to go I had about 2 weeks to pay the very considerable amount in full. No visa services were included in the price, just transfers between airports and hotels. The final itinerary arrived about 8 days before travel in a cheap plastic Somak travel wallet and looked like a standard print-out for each destination with lots of info on Kenya and Kenya visa requirements even though I would not be stepping foot outside Nairobi airport! I had to arrange my own Zimbabwe and Tanzania visas.

The 4-night safari was fantastic and with the UK to Africa return business class flights I calculated that this was about half the total cost so I expected a similar standard for the rest of the trip but unfortunately it was then all downhill. There was no meet and greet at any airport other than the transfer drivers, and the transfer transport was all pretty basic. All internal flights were economy and local airlines and from the initial itinerary I had not realised how much additional internal travel Somak had booked rather than using closer airports and locations. The ‘5-star’ Vic Falls and Zanzibar hotels were full of package tour holiday makers and there was nothing personal, luxurious or remotely ‘wow factor’ about them. The only time I did meet a Somak rep was in Zanzibar when they tried to sell me more local tours.

Having felt I could have booked all of this better myself and that Somak had not offered value for money for the latter part of the holiday, I wrote a complaint via my local travel agent to which they said they would respond in 28 days, “as per ABTA rules”. …..I’m still waiting for their response.

Pay a bit extra for a company who can offer and really understand luxury travel, Somak will happily charge luxury prices but not give the equivalent value or service

I booked a safari holiday with Somak though my local travel agent. and paid my deposit on 21st Jan. On Tues 7th Feb, I was informed that they could not bconfirm the original dates and asked if I would be happy with their changes which included moving the holiday forward by 2 days (not a problem) and paying an extra £1,161 (quite a problem). Aparently when you book with them, the price quoted 'is a quotation only' and that they 'are not holding any flights or accomodation and the price that the client will pay is the price of confirming the booking'

This is a poor way to run a business and not the sort of company that I would like to deal with

Takes the hassle away from planning your own first Safari. With the knowledge now I would change a few bits. All hotels/ lodges had wonderful staff, they expect to be tipped so prepare for this as it part of their wages.

The lodges were good, the abberdare country club was a nice stopover, the ashnil sumbaru lodge was superb with animals coming to within 10 ft of your private verandah, the serena mountain lodge is interesting to go once I wouldn't go back the lake sopo lodge was ok and the ashnil mara camp was lovely. All hotels had some slight ongoing repair requirements but all rooms were lovely. The ashnil lodges were really lovely tents but on a 5 star basis and well worth a try. The organised game drives were exceptional. We had use of a Land Rover between 4 of us travelling together and had Gilbert as our driver throughout and he was exceptional. The vehicle was roomy and had a roof that could be raised when on the reserves. The roads are just tracks in many places and so the ride can be dusty and bumpy but you're on Safari.

If I did it again I would miss out some of the stop overs and maybe fly between the sumbaru and the Massai mara but driving through Kenya is itself an eye opener.

My wife, 3 year old son and I booked a dream safari through somak (via Thomas Cook) for our honeymoon but had our dreams crushed when the money for our flights was stolen. We could not afford to replace the flights so had to cancel the holiday and all the activities we had booked. We spoke to the game reserve direct who stated that under the circumstances they would offer us our full money back.

Somak have refused blank to show any lenience from their outrageous terms and conditions and seem absolutely happy to keep £750 deposit even though we arranged the trip direct with the game reserve and all somak did was send a few emails and possibly picked up the phone. DO NOT USE SOMAK

both my wife and I were shall we say held to ransom ..they took our money .then would not release our tickets until we signed a disclaimer ..we got our tickets 4days before we flew .i would not recommend any one to use this company again ..disgraceful behavior

We Did a 7 day Safari in Jan 2013 with Pollmans. Our guide Julius was absolutely amazing there was nothing this guide did not know and we were aware that we were his priority in every respect plus our itineraries were identical. Looking back we should have gone with Pollmans again as they had an office close to our hotel. While there we saw Somak 4x4's and decided to try them this year, we didn't get a 4x4 we got a ramshackle mini van that was extremely uncomfortable with very little space to move around getting up and down to look through the roof. I had my itinerary 4 weeks before leaving via the head office in Middlesex so I was able to check on the internet where we would be staying. On our last Safari day I found out in conversation with the driver that we were not going to Sarova Salt Lick Lodge as my itinerary stated but to Ashnil Aruba, the driver had a different itinerary from his office the day we left. We went there and it was awful so I insisted we go to where we should have been according to my itinerary, we had already been travelling for hours. After speaking to the head office in Kenya we were taken to Sarova Salt Lick and got there at 18:30 should have been there by 12:00 and our rooms were still booked in our names so they hadn't even been cancelled so you can imagine we were not happy. I would have hated to have missed our stay at Sarova Salt Lick it is an amazing place just wished we could have stayed longer. On my return I informed Somak in Middlesex in case they were not aware of the problems we experienced whilst in Kenya and received a reply dated 19/02/2014 to say they were investigating. I have heard nothing since and none of my emails have been replied to which I find very un-professional. The Guide left a lot to be desired regarding knowledge and stopping for us to take photos. Very disappointed.

We ended up choosing Somak and I didn't regret it for a second. Our tour guide man (Bob) was the best anyone could ask for. He made sure we were very close to the animals and he was always looking out for animals to show us. He also knew some great facts about them which was a good part to learn. The mini bus was comfy and was never too hot or cold was just perfect. We didn't have to bring drinks either we always had cooled water at the back. Bob always made sure we were having fun and went to every length to make our holiday better. At the hotel they also made sure everything was perfect and upgraded us! We over all extremely satisfied and to be honest all the other company mini buses looked cramped and dismal! Was amazing, thank you Somak!

We had a 21 night package which overall was very good. We did the 7 night Cheetah Safari from the Somak Brochure. The guide was knowledgeable and friendly. The beach accommodation in Mombassa was good, The Voyager Beach Resort, although buffet food does get boring. The safari itinerary included 1 night at the Outspan Hotel in Aberdares, and this was dreadful and seemingly a pointless stay. A beautiful colonial building built in 1927 with a history was neglected with very young and inexperienced staff that did not seem to understand anything we said. We had to change rooms but cracked walls, damp beds, windows without handles etc. The shower door did not fit and the bathroom floor became very wet, the water was cold, and shivering I stepped out of the shower and the bath mat went from under my feet and I fell against the side of the bath and cracked a rib and was in a lot of pain. Somak were very good and sent their general manager to see me and are now investigating this hotel. We did realise if we chose to do another safari we could arrange for it to be tailor made and would definitely do this. We would choose Samburu which was brilliant. Lake Naivasha again fantastic and Masai Mara which was the best of all. We felt the night at Mountain Lodge was more for younger people who wanted to do organised 5 hour hikes and 2 hour walks, we didn't have time to do this with an overnight stay and did not see this as part of a Safari. The Somak Safari Lounge is not at Nairobi airport but in Nairobi and they acknowledged that the brochure was misleading and gave us a private transfer at the end of our holiday so we were able to relax in their lounge before our flight home. We felt the Ashnil Sambura Camp was fantastic accommodation and staff and location and would definitely return there. Lake Naivash Sopa Lodge was also fantastic and we would have liked more than 1 night there, both for the accommodation and also to have another day around the lake/game park. Ashnil Mara Camp was also good, the climate was different and had a hot water bottle in the bed as things got quite damp, but the location was good for the game drives, which were excellent. We would not have such a long beach holiday next time, we had 7 nights in Mombasa Voyager Beach Resort and then a further 5 nights after the safari. Next time we would do a longer safari and miss out the beach. We stayed overnight in the Ole Serena hotel in Nairobi to break our journey on 2 occasions and would recommend this. A very good hotel. Warning though that on our return to England our credit card had been fraudulently used in Nairobi, fortunately Barclays cancelled our card and did not honour the payment of nearly £300. Also it is well worth paying Somak the extra £500 per person per week for the exclusive use of a 4 wheel drive. I would not recommend the micro buses that most companies seemed to be using. Very bumpy roads for hours at a time, and also your guide does not have to think of what other people may want do to, he will look after you exclusively. One more thing the Hippo Pool Breakfast at the Masai Mara was fantastic. Sat near the river edge where over 20 hippos are sleeping and wallowing in the river was magical. Overall we would change some of the itinerary, but would definitely use Somak again. They were helpful, attentive and we did not see any other company while in Kenya that we thought we would want to use. Our Guide was called Gilbert and we can't recommend him highly enough. Re the accommodation/food you must be mindful this is Africa. My main dislike was the number of flys everywhere around the buffet areas in all accommodations, so I ate mostly hot covered and fresh food and no stomach problems at all over the 3 weeks.

On Somak LUXURY?? safari in Kenya now. Not so Luxury. Very disappointing. Family holiday for wife's 50th birthday.

I thought we'd be in a Land Rover. But no. We're in an awful Hiace van. It does have 7 seats but that's about all I can say good about it. Very uncomfortable. Noisy. No legroom. Very cramped. Feels very enclosed. Not designed for this purpose. We're going to be in it for four to six hours per day! Driver OK but not good. First hotel was poor. Staff great but facilities rubbish. Most facilities were there but all in very poor state of repair. Just hoping Somak can change this undesirable vehicle before the safari is ruined. This simply does not meet expectation.

Somak are meant to be a luxury band. Beware!! This is expensive and as yet not worth it. I have requested Somak to resolve this problem and I hope they do.

Message to Somak - I do tell it how it is. If you can resolve this I will post positive update to this. But you should not get it so wrong in the first place. I didn't see in the advertising this awful uncomfortable interior of such a poor vehicle. Land Rovers are shown all over the advertising.

Just came back from a truly lovely Safari with Somak. It was so well put together, our driver was so knowledgeable and welcoming. The buses enabled us to see the wildlife with ample space and comfort without disturbing them! Thank You Somak Holidays!