An amazing experience! In every way...nickpic98
Finally it's time to tell this experience to all those looking for the perfect 3-day safari in Serengeti and Ngorongoro Parks in Tanzania.
This story is incredible: already while we were living it it seemed absurd and disarmingly uncomfortable, but after returning home and telling friends, family, etc..., we realized that we lived the plot of a film, fortunately, with a happy ending.
I state that in this story I will not name names, apart from that of the tour operator who manages this experience on Tripadvisor (Assad) and that I will not blame. I'm just going to tell from my girlfriend's and me's point of view the things we've been through. Blames and responsibilities, I leave them to you who will read this review.
Day 1
We are picked up from the hotel in Arusha at the appointed time by a rather battered Toyota Land Cruiser (the standard safari car), driven by driver A. On the back of the jeep appears the name of the agency that owns the vehicle and is responsible for the tour: EVERLASTING.
We then collect our future travel companions: 4 Spanish girls and a Chinese girl. The former had booked directly with EVERLASTING, the Chinese girl through an agency at home (which in turn will have turned to EVERLASTING), while my girlfriend and I through Assad’s proposal on Tripadvisor.
Basically, the three groups on board (us, the Spanish, the Chinese) referred to different interlocutors for any problem.
The trip, which lasted about 12 hours, also included safari activities in the second part. Apart from the precarious condition of the jeep — with vibrations so strong that the left mirror, which was later broken, came off — the day proceeded according to schedule. Just a hitch: the driver, who also handled food and drinks, forgets the bottles in the car (parked far away). So we have lunch with only mango juice.
In the afternoon we make the first sightings in the savannah, exciting.
Upon arrival at the base camp (tents, no fences, bathrooms without light or hot water), the Chinese girl considers the experience too “wild”, because she is not informed of the conditions. Actually, neither were we. She then asks driver A to take her to a luxury lodge that best suits her needs. He agrees, but the jeep breaks down en route.
The result: we are alone, without information, from 7:00 pm until 9:30 am the next day. No news about dinner, alarm clock, breakfast or safari times.
“Chef” B, who was supposed to take care of the meals, disappears. We and the Spanish girls, around 21:00, still without dinner, begin to ask for help from other workers in the camp. The chef of another agency brings us food and tells us that ours would arrive later. Drinks always non-existent.
Later, Chef B finally introduces himself: he tells us that the driver had broken the jeep and that he would meet us the next day. However, it does not provide any information on timetables. At 11:00 p.m., driven by complaints from the girls, I look for him again to at least know the alarm clock. After several attempts, I find him: he tells us that breakfast would be at 7:00.
During the night my girlfriend wakes me up scared, convinced to hear animals near the tent. I, with plugs in my ears, don't notice anything.
Day 2
Breakfast at 7:00, but at 8:15 still no news of driver A. Chef B is gone again. The situation heats up: we and the Spanish girls are incredulous, especially seeing how the other agencies in the camp were always present and organized.
So we write to Assad (us) and EVERLASTING (the Spanish), asking for help. We are told that the Chinese girl was returning to the camp with another jeep, and that then a new driver (C) would arrive with a new car to take us around.
With the help of the drivers of the other agencies, we find driver C, who accompanies us during the morning. His jeep does not belong to EVERLASTING, and the difference is obvious: no vibrations, no dangers.
At lunch, stopped in a base camp, we are given meals prepared by Chef B and delivered to driver C. The drinks, once again, non-existent. We continued to buy water or beer in base camps, but we ran out of jeeps.
After lunch, driver A reappears, telling us that he had repaired the jeep and that from there on we would continue with him. We would have preferred to stay with driver C, both for safety and because we were resentful of the abandonment the night before, but we were not allowed.
After half an hour of travel, the unimaginable happens: the rear drive shaft breaks. The jeep, launched at 50 mph, nails, drifts and turns. Only luck kept it from tipping over.
The girls scream, we're upset. Stuck in the middle of the savannah, we inform the driver that we did not want to continue with him. He plays it down and tries to convince us that he would solve it.
I call Assad, who tells me not to bother the driver because we were making him nervous, and he knew what he was doing. Bewildered, we finally give in and agree to arrive at the gate with the damaged car, at 30 km/h.
Once there, the driver tells us that there was no spare jeep ready. One could have been sent from Arusha, but it would have taken at least 4 hours. He therefore urges us to continue with him.
After another 20 minutes, the front of the drive shaft also breaks. Car stopped, again. The driver does not have the tools. We risk being stuck in the savannah by nightfall. After an hour another jeep passes by and lends us two wrenches. The driver and I dismantle the pieces and leave.
It seems to be going better, but after 40 minutes we take a hole: a wheel deforms and the top speed drops to 20 km/h. Base camp was still 35 miles away.
That was the moment when I really feared the worst.
Around 9pm, a driver who had noticed us in difficulty in the afternoon, worried because we had never arrived at the camp, comes back to look for us. He charges us and finally takes us to our destination at 9:45 p.m.
We dine, exhausted, and try to make local mind about what happened.
My girlfriend and I remind Assad that, at the time of booking, we had agreed an early pick-up from the crater (extra $100) to take the flight to Zanzibar. We write to him to confirm: he only replies that the next day we would have a new jeep and a new driver.
Day 3
Breakfast, new jeep, new driver (D). Charge the whole group, even the Spanish girls and the Chinese. He tells us that later a second car would pick us up to take us to the airport.
Let's start quietly, let's go on safaris in the crater. Around 10am, the driver tells us it was time to start going out to meet the transfer. At that point we understand: to allow us to go out, the other five girls would also have to finish the safari early, because once out you could not return.
Chaos breaks out: the girls protest with the driver, then with EVERLASTING, who orders him not to take us out without their consent. The driver simply says that “it was not his problem”.
We are in a paradoxical situation: either we miss our flight, or they give up the safari.
After long attempts at mediation, driver D offers us a solution: a colleague would have found us willing to take us out, but in return he wanted $20. The transaction had to be done in secret. Having no alternative, we accept.
They load us into another jeep, with two tourists from Malta, and finally we reach the gate, where the transfer to Arusha awaits us. 1:20 p.m., with 2.5 hours of travel ahead and the flight at 4:45 p.m.
We arrive on time, but exhausted and disgusted.
Assad, on the phone, tells us that we should not have paid the $20 because he had arranged the exit. He said the two tourists were his British clients, but we had spoken to them and they told us they were Maltese. Another of the many contrasting versions.
In the end, for the $100 of the transfer, after discussions we come to a compromise: we add $30 to the $20 already given, and the matter ends like this.
Conclusion
In three days we lived:
- continuous failures of a dangerous jeep;
- total absence of organization and communication;
- two days without water provided by the agency;
- contradictory versions by drivers and tour operators;
- potentially very risky moments.
We have seen extraordinary animals and landscapes: this remains the only reason why we give 2 stars instead of 1.
Otherwise, I would not recommend this experience to anyone.
