bushwoman2002

To start with I stayed in the Bushcamps run by the Bushcamp Company. We all know how expensive these camps are and I was more than chagrined to see a 19 year old (with no bushcamp managment experience) hosting the camp. Turns out he is a tour operator's son! A little nepotism ain't so bad as long as the person is qualified. The camps are lovely as are the Zambian staff, but--the expat staff are generally into partying and I found it unprofessional at times; and depending on the camp.
They;ve a habit of hiring very young inexperienced people to serve as hosts and who are not particularly professional. When one pays dearly for a trip such as this, one expects professionalism.

In one instance I was having lunch and the staff were talking about horror clients and I just felt this was inappropriate.

I was told someone would be greeting me at the airport with a sign with my name on it; and that never happened, I had to muddle my way through a sea of people to find the fellow that was to pick me up and take me out to the bush.

Just make sure you get every detail in writing, otherwise you are screwed and because I did not receive details, I lost well over 4000 US.

amolkarnik

Your Bushcamp experience is unfortunate. What camp did you stay at? Did you ask to speak to the management there?

I dont understand what this has to do with zambezi.com? Have you discussed your experience with Chris? What was his response?

Bill_H

So far it doesn't sound anything like what most of us would consider a "debacle".

thit_cho

<<I was told someone would be greeting me at the airport with a sign with my name on it; and that never happened, I had to muddle my way through a sea of people to find the fellow that was to pick me up and take me out to the bush.>>

And hopefully they didn't give you still, instead of sparkling, water. Oh, the horror, the horror!

atravelynn

Not having your contact show up at the airport can be disconcerting. I thought I had been stood up last July in Mexico and spent about 10 minutes tracking down the sign holder. So I can sympathize with you on that, Bushwoman. It is not just the initial ride, but you start wondering, have I been ripped off for the whole trip?

On the horror client conversation--sometimes I am guilty of initiating that. I find it funny and entertaining to hear about unusual bush tales that often involve unreasonable guests. But I try to have that conversation when others are not around, like in the vehicle.

Thit Cho, When the opposite happens to me and I screw up and forget to order the still water instead of sparkling or I grab the wrong bottle out of the mini-fridge, it IS a debacle. I hate that fizzy stuff. I found if I shake the bottle enough times, the carbonation diminishes greatly.

Bushwoman, how was the time in the bush? If your guide didn't care about finding animals or left late, and came back early, then I agree it was a debacle and a waste of $4000. If you had good sightings and fun out in the wilderness, then some of the other stuff is worth mentioning to the mgmt, but falls short of a ruined trip, IMO.

steeliejim

Funny about the meeting-at-the-airport thingy.

We had anxieties last year, that being our first safari, and wondering if someone would meet us at the Lusaka airport was one of them.

Ha! There was Dave Cummings, owner/patriarch of Chiawa, there waiting for us, literally at the end of the jetway--BEFORE you clear customs--waiting for us with his big beaming smile.

Then, at the end of the safari, he was waiting for us again, to take us to our hotel for the night, because he wasn't sure if we had a shuttle arranged.

But then, we received that kind of consistently thoughtful service throughout our stays at Old MOndoro and Chiawa.

I, too, think the problem was more with Bushcamps than the tour agent,, except that a tour agent should be up to speed on the status of management at the camps. There are plenty of wonderful options where management is not an issue.

We had far more serious problems than kalin has stated, at Saousage Tree, which I have enumerated elsewhere. Fortunately, it was only for one night as we were able to switch to Old Mondoro for the other night we were to stay at Sausage Tree.

And, we will be back at Chiawa and Old Mondoro in barely two weeks. Yeaaaah!!!!!!

Jim

cooncat2

No need to rub it in Jim, sheesh!

I, too would like to hear more about the debacle, so hopefully Bushwoman will tell us more.

nyama

Not sure about the loss of 4000 US$ here. Just because BC doesn't come up to one's expectations? Or is this just the begin of the story...?

aby

???
&quot;<i>I lost well over 4000 US.</i>&quot;
how ???

bushwoman2002

The tour operator I used did NOT give me details with regards to the type of bushcraft I was to fly in and I have a difficult time sitting in tiny planes; so I was unable to fly to the places I had booked and lost over 4000 US. Does that make any of you feel better because some of you are quite callous. I could give a crap about spring or sparkling water and I think you are rather judgemental and ignorant as you do not know me at all.

jk34jk

Your frustration is obvious and sounds like no one understood the real issue.

One of my pet peeves is being in a store, restaurant, etc and having to listen to the employees gripe or complain about their customers, bosses, schedules, pay, etc. They may have a reason to complain, I just prefer that I am not subjected to those complaints.

steeliejim

&quot;The tour operator I used did NOT give me details with regards to the type of bushcraft I was to fly in and I have a difficult time sitting in tiny planes; so I was unable to fly to the places I had booked and lost over 4000 US.&quot;

That certainly could be a problem, but, to be fair, the reactions up to this point were over your complaints regarding behavior of management, not actually losing time at camps.

However, given the problem you have flying in small planes, knowing you were going to be doing xfers by air, and, I'll bet, being given instructions re. limitations in baggage size/weight, I am surprised that you didn't question/know about internal flights being on small planes. Not trying to be callous, but your limitation is something I wouldn't expect a tour agent to read your mind about.

OTOH, if you brought up the issue and were mislead, that's something else, entirely.

bushwoman2002

I just read a posting about Wilderness Safari reimbursing a client for a plane that never came; I think I will work with them next time. I have only heard good things about them and think they handled the problem professionally. If only my tour operator had done the same

Momliz

From what I have read on these forums, most of the tour operators, including Wilderness use small planes. So, you might want to check on a driving safari, if you don't like small planes.

sandi

If you didn't use the small planes to get from point A to point B, what means of transport was used? Vehicles? Did you have to pay extra for this? Or was the fees paid for planes reallocated to vehicles? How many flights would you have had to take? From where to where? $4,000 sounds like a lot of money for internal flights.

mkhonzo

BW02.
I don't understand your complaint.
1) you do not like young expat staff, but you do the Zambians.
2)the young staff are more interested in partying?
3) You weren't met at the airport and had to wade through people to find your guide, which evidently you did, so you were met, right?

I have stayed at the BCC and have met a couple of their camp managers, ex pats indeed. In fact the guide whom I had a blast with actually was from San Deigo in the US...wow...she knew hers stuff too. Mind you I also had a great time with Manda, he was Zambian. And frankly between the six or ten of us in camp, we had a great time, not sure where the critical mass could come in to make it a party though?

What is your real complaint? How did the TOUR OPERATOR rip you off? Where is the operator based and how did you find out about the BCC and the rest of Zambia?

Your more recent post indicates that you were reasonably ignorant of the destination, which intrigues me even more how you became to be there.

amolkarnik

bushwoman - you have accused us of being callous and unconcerned without detailing exactly what went wrong. Perhaps you want to post your itinerary, your expectation from this trip and what was delivered to put some perspective around your problems.

There is an immense depth of experience and knowledge among the regulars on this board and you can be assured of receiving reasonable advise if you detail your problem.

I still maintain that the tone of your first post doesnt throw any detail on the seriousness of the problems faced. Indeed if you were unable to fly 4 seater planes and lost out on time in the bush, then the missing man and sign isnt even an issue; you have bigger fish to fry.

GreenDrake

Concur with what amolkarnik said.

My experience with Bushcamp Company was very positive. As mentioned by mkhonzo, Manda was an outstanding guide as was Derek Solomon. Managers at the camps were young British women, but they were warm, friendly and things appeared to be run smoothly at camps.

margiecpa

I too am curious as to what exactly happened on your trip. I was in Kenya in May and everyone I encountered could not do enough for me so I find it hard to believe that your needs/wants were not met. My itnerary was very clear on the weight of luggage which indicated to me that these were going to be small planes. On my first safari I did a driving safari which was very nice and allowed you to see Africa in a lot more detail.

Please post more information on your issues so we can all have a better understanding of the problem.

Momliz

bushwoman, it would help everyone if you posted the details of your misadventures - so that someone else could maybe learn from what went wrong for you, and avoid it.
Do you feel that you weren't given enough information before the trip? It is hard to know what questions to ask, sometimes.