Australia & the Pacific Budget Safari Trips & Packages Tours & Trips

What travelers are saying

"Michelle Middleton is an asset to the customer care team. Easy and honest communication throughout!"

What travelers are saying

"Clean and elegantly decorated ship, not gaudy like another cruise ship I have been on. I got a beautiful room with a balcony. The choice of foods was wonderful. I really enjoyed the shows and the music and the sightseeing."

What travelers are saying

"Absolutely amazing two week trip to Mexico. Phoebe was very knowledgeable and helped us plan a fabulous itinerary. The hotels she'd recommended were perfect and in excellent locations. Our guides were helpful, friendly and spoke excellent English and when we contacted the Mexico office to squeeze in another excursion, they were responsive and immediately organised everything. All round brilliant customer service and Mexico was the most interesting and beautiful place to visit! Thank you!"

What travelers are saying

"I recently took a trip to Kenya and I cannot imagine any other tour operator doing a better job. Let's start at the beginning. My flight from the US landed first in London and then a second flight was to have gone to Kenya. The airline nightmare began with AA being two hours late causing me to miss my next flight on British Air. BA had given my flight away before I got off the plan and had no acceptable replacement. I spent three days and nights at Heathrow airport forcing me to miss those days of my tour. I stood in lines hours long at the airport and my second replacement flight never left the ground after being held hostage in the plane for hours. I was ready to go home. My phone would not work much of the time in the airport, but I was finally able to contact Best Singles Travel. They figured out a way to arrange for a driver to meet me at the Nairobi airport three days after my trip began and take me to Samburu, a five hour drive where the group was then located. If it had not been for this effort in figuring out a way for me to meet my group then this trip would have been lost for me. And what a shame that would have been because once I finally arrived it was magical. I saw every animal as well as much of the countryside driving all over even with missing three days. The lodges were picturesque with monkeys playing on expansive grounds, wild birds and animals, beautiful colored geckos, mountains and streams in the background where the sun met a landscape expanding as far as the eye could see producing sunsets like those seen in National Geographics. Oh, did I mention the food? No US chemicals. Just organically grown and delicious. If anyone reading this decides to travel to Kenya then I hope you stop to see David Sheldrick's rescued baby elephants. I am grateful that Best Singles Travel and Patrick, our knowledgeable considerate tour guide, took the time, effort and resources to make the remainder of this trip happen for me because now I cannot imagine having missed it. This trip was organized, included lovely memorable hotels/lodges and attentive to our needs."

What travelers are saying

"First, let me say our tour guide Tomomi S. is hands down THE best tour guide I’ve ever had - knowledgeable, fun and made great efforts to ensure that we were comfortable and happy (MTSobek tour guides are independent contractors. Tomomi also works for other Adventure/Tour companies) Secondly, Japan is beautiful, clean and the Japanese people are very welcoming. The hiking in the national parks was amazing. It could have been a truly five-star experience if MtSobek had not cut corners so egregiously. The website said (at the time) group tours are 5-22 people. The tour gets canceled if the minimum is not met. When I paid there were TWO other people booked-a mother and daughter duo. Shortly before our departure date I called to see if the tour would be cancelled. I wanted my money back but Mt Sobek was “pleased to say that the trip would not be canceled”. In other words, I could not get a refund. At the last minute a guy named Matt signed up so there were four of us. Five days into the trip Matt left and took a train back to Tokyo. I said to him “You realize Mt Sobek is not going to refund you”. He said, “I don’t care, Mt Sobek scammed us.” With tax, the tour costs $11,645 for 13 nights. For that price there is an expectation that the accommodations Mt Sobek chooses would be decent and clean. We all fully expected a ‘traditional Japanese experience’ which often means no private bath and 8 out of the 13 nights we slept on futon mats on the floor. However, Mt Sobek consistently booked us in the cheapest Ryokans (hotels) in each area in which we travelled. Most of these hotels were unclean and very out-dated. One Ryokan they booked us in was listed on a hotel website for $40 USD/night when there were much nicer accommodations nearby for $100 USD/night. (The Japanese yen is way down, the luxury Park Hotel in Tokyo was $200 USD/night. A comparable hotel would have been about $800/night in Austin.). We were the only people staying in several hotels that accomadated many more people. The most egregious example of MtSobek’s booking the cheapest rooms is when we were booked at a large traditional ski lodge at the base of a spectacular mountain. It was beautiful on the website but had two very different wings. One wing was modern, clean and beautiful with simple beds. The other wing was very old (similar to a cheap Motel 6 that had not been updated since the 1970’s). The carpet and bathrooms were disgusting and like many of the Ryocans where we stayed the futon mats seemed as though they had not been cleaned In 30 years. Only after our tour guide checked us in did we realize we had been booked in the cheap rooms. I asked Tomo why. Immediately someone from MtSobek reached out to me and said, “gosh, I’m sorry you did not realize you were going to have a traditional Japanese experience”. Really? “Traditional” experience depends upon one’s budget. In the US, “traditional” to some people may be the Marriott, a Motel 6 or the Four Seasons Hotels. We were paying for a Marriott experience and received the one-star Motel 6 experience. Upon arrival in Tokyo I expected to be met at the airport by a driver (as many tour companies do). However, several days before our arrival dates in Tokyo, MtSobek sent an email telling us how to locate taking a city bus from the bustling Tokyo airport. That is interesting if you do not speak Japanese. MtSobek cleverly uses great photography and elaborate descriptions of the national parks and the hiking while using terms like “traditional Japanese experience with tatami-mat sleeping” to disguise sub-standard accommodations. At one point we were looking on-line at the very hotel where we were staying and did not even recognize it from the website pictures. The hiking was amazing. The group size was disappointing with just the three of us. I would absolutely recommend a hiking tour through Japan, just not with MtSobek."