Warning! Do not Travel in Africa with Solomon Mosos Olemwaipasi
Feb 21st, 2008, 04:22 PM
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Warning! Do not Travel in Africa with Solomon Mosos Olemwaipasi
Warning! Do not travel in Africa with Solomon Moses Olemwaipasi...
I have wanted to visit sub-Saharan Africa since I saw my first pictures of the magnificent animals through a view-finder as a small child. I have worked and saved for many years for this "trip of a lifetime". Last year, I retired from my job and I decided that the time was now. I have traveled a good deal in the past, India, Peru, Egypt, Southeast Asia, generally independently, and always "budget". This trip was to be my gift to myself. I envisioned game drives followed by comfortable and, sometimes luxurious, lodges and tented camps. My experience was completely different from my expectation. In reality, my traveling companion and I were the victims of a con artist posing as a Maasai guide, named Solomon Olemwaipasi, who scammed us for approximately $1000 above and beyond the already inflated price of the trip. This is the story and I hope it prevents him from taking advantage of others.
We met Ole in the fall of 2006 through mutual friends when he was visiting the United States to speak at various locations. He had been the guide for our friends several years ago when they traveled to Tanzania with Overseas Adventure Travel, a very reputable travel company in the US. Now, he was operating his own tour company from Arusha, instead of working for others. Ole spun a tale of growing up Maasai with an education sponsored by German missionaries. He was knowledgeable and personable. We decided to go with him in January 2008 for the Great Migration on the Serengeti and then he would accompany us to Uganda to go Gorilla Tracking. We established an email correspondence of over 160 letters with questions, some answers, arrangements, itineraries and money being wired to his bank in the autumn of 2007. What follows is a chronological account of our trip.
.
January 6: Our commuter flight from Santa Maria, California to LAX was cancelled and we drove to Los Angeles in the middle of the night having been rebooked on the flights to Dar-es-Salaam.
January 7: We flew from LAX to JFK, only to find out that there was a mistake in our booking and all flights seemed to be full or overbooked and we could not arrive in Dar-es- Salaam on January 8. Since, we did not know where we were to meet Ole, Dar or Arusha where the itinerary was to begin, we opted to fly to Arusha and catch up to the planned trip at the Holy Mountain Lodge, where we were to stay on January 8 and 9. Finally, through the diligent efforts of United ticketing agents, we were booked through Hamburg, Frankfurt, Johannesburg and Arusha to arrive on January 9. Needless to say, our luggage was lost.
January 8: We were flying and sitting and dozing and trying to find our luggage and trying to reach Ole though his office numbers and his cell phone at every stop.
January 9: We arrive at night and finally find our luggage. Outside the airport none of the taxi driver's know Holy Mountain Lodge. Finally we find someone who knows the lodge and takes us to the owner's home. This man then calls Ole and Ole tells him to have the driver take us to Ndoro Hunter's Lodge outside Arusha. Ole arrives at the Lodge later that night and we think our problems are over. Actually, they are just beginning.
January 10: We have a very nice day at Arusha National Park walking among the giraffes and warthogs. It is to be Ole and Karim, our driver, my friend and myself on safari. This is terrific: a personal safari. It is decided, by Ole, to eliminate one day atTarangire to offset that day lost because of the flight delay.
January 11: We spend the morning at the bank in Arusha because Ole needs to get money for our trip. Then the first small problem arises. He stops to buy four cases of water for safari and asks us for $76, even though soft drinks are included in the itinerary. We give him the money and drive to Tarangire National Park. We spend that night at Tarangire Safari Lodge, a luxurious tented facility.
January 12: We drive to Rhotia Valley Tented Camp, very nice accommodations.
January 13: We visit Lake Manyara National Park and spend another night at Rhotia Valley Tented Camp.
January 14: We dive to Ngorongoro Crater and spend that night at the Serena, an upgrade. The trip is marvelous, if a little tiring because we are sitting in a vehicle on rough roads for long stretches of time.
January 15: We drive to Serengeti National Park and our problems really commence. At the Visitor Center, Ole's electronic credit card does not work, he says, and do we have $500 to pay for our time in the Serengeti, which he will return to us in Arusha when he can get to the bank again. My friend and I pool our funds and give him $420. We drive to the Migration and then check into Ikoma Tented Camp, a different camp from the one on our itinerary.
January 16: Ikoma Tented Camp where we have no money for cokes or wine or souvenirs or tips because of the situation.
January 17: Ikoma Tented Camp where Ole provided a "sundowner", cokes in the bush watching the sunset. Later he charged us for it.
January 18: Ikoma Tented Camp.
January 19: We were to leave in the morning but Ole did not have enough money to pay the bill for our lodging for the past four nights. The resolution was to send Charles Nkuba, one of the managers and a very nice person, with us to collect the funds from Ole when we reached civilization and Ole could use an ATM. Our safari was to continue as planned. We drove to Lobo Wildlife Lodge, a lovely accommodation in the Northern Serengeti.
January 20: We drive to Lake Natron and spend the night at River Camp, definitely not a luxury camp.
January 21: While walking to Lake Natron, Ole says he wants more money for our airline tickets to Uganda. I said that we had already paid for round-trip tickets when we wired him the money last year. We drove all day, arriving that night at Rhotia Valley Tented Camp, where Ole was to pay Charles.
January 22: When we woke in the morning, Ole had disappeared and the manager at Rhotia did not want to let us leave because the bill had not been paid. Charles spoke to him and we were allowed to drive on to Arusha where we would meet Ole. When we arrived at "his" motel in Arusha, it was substandard; it did not even have a western toilet. Ole sat down with us and said that we owed him approximately $200 each for airline tickets he had purchased for us to go from Dar-es-Salaam to Arusha on January 8, which we had never authorized, and miscellaneous small expenses like our "sundowner" in the Serengeti. Charles and Ole had an argument because Charles had still not been paid. We succumbed to the pressure and were taken to a bank where we each withdrew 200,000 TSH (total 400,000 TSH) and gave it to Ole. He paid Charles and we were again taken to Ndoro Hunter's Lodge.
January 23: Ole picked us up with his wife who was to take us shopping in Arusha. Ole demanded $250 each for his airline ticket to Uganda. We were too tired and upset to continue arguing with him and we felt that we were at his mercy. We were again taken to a bank where we each gave him 250,000 TSH (total 500,000 TSH). He said there would be no more "surprises". We spent that night at Ndoro Hunter's Lodge.
January 24: We spent the day in the Arusha airport waiting for our flight to Entebbe. The plane was delayed 12 hours and we arrived in Kampala at about 2:00 am. We were taken to a different hotel than the one on our itinerary.
January 25: Ole and Abdul, our driver, picked us up after breakfast and we were driven to an ATM in Kampala to get Ugandan currency. I asked Ole if I could borrow a few dollars from him until February 1, when I would have money in my checking account. At first he refused. I was tired, upset and sick and asked to be taken back to the hotel to rest. Ole eventually gave me 50,000 USH. We met with Angella from Unique Travels Limited, who presented us with an itinerary for Uganda completely different from the one we had agreed upon and paid for in 2007. My traveling companion was more upset than I was and talked to Ole that night on the phone.
January26: We drive to Mweya Safari Lodge, a beautiful facility in Queen Elizabeth National Park, where guests are treated to a boat ride on the Kazinga Channel; we enjoyed it very much.
January 27: In the car that morning, my friend again brought up the changes in the itinerary. I asked Ole why our accommodations were frequently being changed. He got angry with me and threatened to throw me off of his safari, in the middle of the bush with animals all around. We were driven to Kabale for a short boat trip to Bushara Island Camp.
January 28: Bushara Island Camp, where we again had no money for excursions and basically walked and read and slept and waited.
January 29: We took the boat from the island in the morning where Ole and Abdul met us and we drove all day without lunch, basically because Ole was either lost or did not realize that we could not cross into the DRC . We had to backtrack in order to reach Buhoma Rest Camp by early evening.
January 30: Gorilla tracking and it was incredible to be so close to these primates in their habitat. We stayed that night at Buhoma Rest Camp.
January31: We drove all day. Ole was very rude to the waiter where we stopped for lunch and took it upon himself to scold some local Ugandans who were playing cards. It was embarrassing. We made it to Entebbe barely in time to make our flight from Entebbe to Dar-es-Salaam. We ate dinner on the street in Dar at midnight and Ole took us to his house on the Mansani Peninsula to sleep.
February 1: We were left at the house with no food, no driver and no Ole until the afternoon when a driver came to take us to the airport. I had earlier asked Ole for the airline tickets we paid for, so that I could write to Air Tanzania and request a refund. He did not bring them to the airport when he met us, but said he would leave them for me at the office when I returned from Zanzibar on February 7. My friend boarded her flight for home and I flew to Zanzibar, without Ole, thank God.
February 1-6: I had a wonderful visit in Zanzibar. I booked the hotels myself on the internet and they were splendid. While on the east side of the island, I told my story to Carola at Matemwe Beach Village. She was most sympathetic. I had "googled" Ole before the trip and found an article written in Swahili. A member of the staff translated the article. I quote his translation: "The transportation agent Mr. Solomon Olemwaipasi (35) has been sent to court facing money stealing accusal. Reading the statement in front of the Justice Bi Khadija Msongo, the assistant police inspector, Mr. Dustan Kombe, said that on 5th June (2007) Mr. Solomon received US Dollars 2171 from Mr. Ebeneza Gabriel after lying to him that he would buy flying tickets from Tanzania to USA while he knew that it wasn't true." I realized that Ole was more than a bully. He was a criminal and we had been his latest victims.
January 7: I flew to Dar-es-Salaam in the morning, where I immediately checked for the airline tickets we had paid for. Of course, they were not in the Air Tanzania office. The woman working there put me in touch with an airport security person. When he heard my story and the name Solomon Olepwaipasi, he said that he was a con-man who had stolen his car the previous year with a bogus check. Ole wasn't even a Maasai. The security person took me to the police station at the Dar-es-Salaam airport where I filed a report with Manase Mkumbo for the loss of $420 and 9000.000TSH: JNIA/RB/115/20008 and JNIA/IR/35/2008, reference the blue portion of this email.
I realize that this has been a long story and parts of it are not pertinent to the crime committed, but my aim is to stop Solomon Moses Olemwaipasi from cheating other travelers out of their hard earned money. What I have stated can be verified by airline boarding passes, hotel registrations, and ATM withdrawal slips, as well as my email correspondence with Ole. Let me finish by saying that Tanzania is a wonderful place to experience a safari. The land is beautiful, the animals are amazing, the scenery is breathtaking and the people are friendly.
I do not know for sure if Ole is licensed, although he says that he is, so I will close with a quote from the Minister of Tourism: "(1) Tourist Agents who are not listed here (TATO) are carrying on Tourist Agents business without valid license contrary to the Tourist Agents Licensing Act of 1969. The Ministry wish to inform them that this is an offence under section 3(1) of the above Act and are therefore directed to stop forthwith the operations of those businesses.
(2) Given the above context in paragraph one, it should be further noted that only bonafide Tourist Agents will be allowed to enter the National Parks."
I have wanted to visit sub-Saharan Africa since I saw my first pictures of the magnificent animals through a view-finder as a small child. I have worked and saved for many years for this "trip of a lifetime". Last year, I retired from my job and I decided that the time was now. I have traveled a good deal in the past, India, Peru, Egypt, Southeast Asia, generally independently, and always "budget". This trip was to be my gift to myself. I envisioned game drives followed by comfortable and, sometimes luxurious, lodges and tented camps. My experience was completely different from my expectation. In reality, my traveling companion and I were the victims of a con artist posing as a Maasai guide, named Solomon Olemwaipasi, who scammed us for approximately $1000 above and beyond the already inflated price of the trip. This is the story and I hope it prevents him from taking advantage of others.
We met Ole in the fall of 2006 through mutual friends when he was visiting the United States to speak at various locations. He had been the guide for our friends several years ago when they traveled to Tanzania with Overseas Adventure Travel, a very reputable travel company in the US. Now, he was operating his own tour company from Arusha, instead of working for others. Ole spun a tale of growing up Maasai with an education sponsored by German missionaries. He was knowledgeable and personable. We decided to go with him in January 2008 for the Great Migration on the Serengeti and then he would accompany us to Uganda to go Gorilla Tracking. We established an email correspondence of over 160 letters with questions, some answers, arrangements, itineraries and money being wired to his bank in the autumn of 2007. What follows is a chronological account of our trip.
.
January 6: Our commuter flight from Santa Maria, California to LAX was cancelled and we drove to Los Angeles in the middle of the night having been rebooked on the flights to Dar-es-Salaam.
January 7: We flew from LAX to JFK, only to find out that there was a mistake in our booking and all flights seemed to be full or overbooked and we could not arrive in Dar-es- Salaam on January 8. Since, we did not know where we were to meet Ole, Dar or Arusha where the itinerary was to begin, we opted to fly to Arusha and catch up to the planned trip at the Holy Mountain Lodge, where we were to stay on January 8 and 9. Finally, through the diligent efforts of United ticketing agents, we were booked through Hamburg, Frankfurt, Johannesburg and Arusha to arrive on January 9. Needless to say, our luggage was lost.
January 8: We were flying and sitting and dozing and trying to find our luggage and trying to reach Ole though his office numbers and his cell phone at every stop.
January 9: We arrive at night and finally find our luggage. Outside the airport none of the taxi driver's know Holy Mountain Lodge. Finally we find someone who knows the lodge and takes us to the owner's home. This man then calls Ole and Ole tells him to have the driver take us to Ndoro Hunter's Lodge outside Arusha. Ole arrives at the Lodge later that night and we think our problems are over. Actually, they are just beginning.
January 10: We have a very nice day at Arusha National Park walking among the giraffes and warthogs. It is to be Ole and Karim, our driver, my friend and myself on safari. This is terrific: a personal safari. It is decided, by Ole, to eliminate one day atTarangire to offset that day lost because of the flight delay.
January 11: We spend the morning at the bank in Arusha because Ole needs to get money for our trip. Then the first small problem arises. He stops to buy four cases of water for safari and asks us for $76, even though soft drinks are included in the itinerary. We give him the money and drive to Tarangire National Park. We spend that night at Tarangire Safari Lodge, a luxurious tented facility.
January 12: We drive to Rhotia Valley Tented Camp, very nice accommodations.
January 13: We visit Lake Manyara National Park and spend another night at Rhotia Valley Tented Camp.
January 14: We dive to Ngorongoro Crater and spend that night at the Serena, an upgrade. The trip is marvelous, if a little tiring because we are sitting in a vehicle on rough roads for long stretches of time.
January 15: We drive to Serengeti National Park and our problems really commence. At the Visitor Center, Ole's electronic credit card does not work, he says, and do we have $500 to pay for our time in the Serengeti, which he will return to us in Arusha when he can get to the bank again. My friend and I pool our funds and give him $420. We drive to the Migration and then check into Ikoma Tented Camp, a different camp from the one on our itinerary.
January 16: Ikoma Tented Camp where we have no money for cokes or wine or souvenirs or tips because of the situation.
January 17: Ikoma Tented Camp where Ole provided a "sundowner", cokes in the bush watching the sunset. Later he charged us for it.
January 18: Ikoma Tented Camp.
January 19: We were to leave in the morning but Ole did not have enough money to pay the bill for our lodging for the past four nights. The resolution was to send Charles Nkuba, one of the managers and a very nice person, with us to collect the funds from Ole when we reached civilization and Ole could use an ATM. Our safari was to continue as planned. We drove to Lobo Wildlife Lodge, a lovely accommodation in the Northern Serengeti.
January 20: We drive to Lake Natron and spend the night at River Camp, definitely not a luxury camp.
January 21: While walking to Lake Natron, Ole says he wants more money for our airline tickets to Uganda. I said that we had already paid for round-trip tickets when we wired him the money last year. We drove all day, arriving that night at Rhotia Valley Tented Camp, where Ole was to pay Charles.
January 22: When we woke in the morning, Ole had disappeared and the manager at Rhotia did not want to let us leave because the bill had not been paid. Charles spoke to him and we were allowed to drive on to Arusha where we would meet Ole. When we arrived at "his" motel in Arusha, it was substandard; it did not even have a western toilet. Ole sat down with us and said that we owed him approximately $200 each for airline tickets he had purchased for us to go from Dar-es-Salaam to Arusha on January 8, which we had never authorized, and miscellaneous small expenses like our "sundowner" in the Serengeti. Charles and Ole had an argument because Charles had still not been paid. We succumbed to the pressure and were taken to a bank where we each withdrew 200,000 TSH (total 400,000 TSH) and gave it to Ole. He paid Charles and we were again taken to Ndoro Hunter's Lodge.
January 23: Ole picked us up with his wife who was to take us shopping in Arusha. Ole demanded $250 each for his airline ticket to Uganda. We were too tired and upset to continue arguing with him and we felt that we were at his mercy. We were again taken to a bank where we each gave him 250,000 TSH (total 500,000 TSH). He said there would be no more "surprises". We spent that night at Ndoro Hunter's Lodge.
January 24: We spent the day in the Arusha airport waiting for our flight to Entebbe. The plane was delayed 12 hours and we arrived in Kampala at about 2:00 am. We were taken to a different hotel than the one on our itinerary.
January 25: Ole and Abdul, our driver, picked us up after breakfast and we were driven to an ATM in Kampala to get Ugandan currency. I asked Ole if I could borrow a few dollars from him until February 1, when I would have money in my checking account. At first he refused. I was tired, upset and sick and asked to be taken back to the hotel to rest. Ole eventually gave me 50,000 USH. We met with Angella from Unique Travels Limited, who presented us with an itinerary for Uganda completely different from the one we had agreed upon and paid for in 2007. My traveling companion was more upset than I was and talked to Ole that night on the phone.
January26: We drive to Mweya Safari Lodge, a beautiful facility in Queen Elizabeth National Park, where guests are treated to a boat ride on the Kazinga Channel; we enjoyed it very much.
January 27: In the car that morning, my friend again brought up the changes in the itinerary. I asked Ole why our accommodations were frequently being changed. He got angry with me and threatened to throw me off of his safari, in the middle of the bush with animals all around. We were driven to Kabale for a short boat trip to Bushara Island Camp.
January 28: Bushara Island Camp, where we again had no money for excursions and basically walked and read and slept and waited.
January 29: We took the boat from the island in the morning where Ole and Abdul met us and we drove all day without lunch, basically because Ole was either lost or did not realize that we could not cross into the DRC . We had to backtrack in order to reach Buhoma Rest Camp by early evening.
January 30: Gorilla tracking and it was incredible to be so close to these primates in their habitat. We stayed that night at Buhoma Rest Camp.
January31: We drove all day. Ole was very rude to the waiter where we stopped for lunch and took it upon himself to scold some local Ugandans who were playing cards. It was embarrassing. We made it to Entebbe barely in time to make our flight from Entebbe to Dar-es-Salaam. We ate dinner on the street in Dar at midnight and Ole took us to his house on the Mansani Peninsula to sleep.
February 1: We were left at the house with no food, no driver and no Ole until the afternoon when a driver came to take us to the airport. I had earlier asked Ole for the airline tickets we paid for, so that I could write to Air Tanzania and request a refund. He did not bring them to the airport when he met us, but said he would leave them for me at the office when I returned from Zanzibar on February 7. My friend boarded her flight for home and I flew to Zanzibar, without Ole, thank God.
February 1-6: I had a wonderful visit in Zanzibar. I booked the hotels myself on the internet and they were splendid. While on the east side of the island, I told my story to Carola at Matemwe Beach Village. She was most sympathetic. I had "googled" Ole before the trip and found an article written in Swahili. A member of the staff translated the article. I quote his translation: "The transportation agent Mr. Solomon Olemwaipasi (35) has been sent to court facing money stealing accusal. Reading the statement in front of the Justice Bi Khadija Msongo, the assistant police inspector, Mr. Dustan Kombe, said that on 5th June (2007) Mr. Solomon received US Dollars 2171 from Mr. Ebeneza Gabriel after lying to him that he would buy flying tickets from Tanzania to USA while he knew that it wasn't true." I realized that Ole was more than a bully. He was a criminal and we had been his latest victims.
January 7: I flew to Dar-es-Salaam in the morning, where I immediately checked for the airline tickets we had paid for. Of course, they were not in the Air Tanzania office. The woman working there put me in touch with an airport security person. When he heard my story and the name Solomon Olepwaipasi, he said that he was a con-man who had stolen his car the previous year with a bogus check. Ole wasn't even a Maasai. The security person took me to the police station at the Dar-es-Salaam airport where I filed a report with Manase Mkumbo for the loss of $420 and 9000.000TSH: JNIA/RB/115/20008 and JNIA/IR/35/2008, reference the blue portion of this email.
I realize that this has been a long story and parts of it are not pertinent to the crime committed, but my aim is to stop Solomon Moses Olemwaipasi from cheating other travelers out of their hard earned money. What I have stated can be verified by airline boarding passes, hotel registrations, and ATM withdrawal slips, as well as my email correspondence with Ole. Let me finish by saying that Tanzania is a wonderful place to experience a safari. The land is beautiful, the animals are amazing, the scenery is breathtaking and the people are friendly.
I do not know for sure if Ole is licensed, although he says that he is, so I will close with a quote from the Minister of Tourism: "(1) Tourist Agents who are not listed here (TATO) are carrying on Tourist Agents business without valid license contrary to the Tourist Agents Licensing Act of 1969. The Ministry wish to inform them that this is an offence under section 3(1) of the above Act and are therefore directed to stop forthwith the operations of those businesses.
(2) Given the above context in paragraph one, it should be further noted that only bonafide Tourist Agents will be allowed to enter the National Parks."
Feb 21st, 2008, 05:14 PM
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You sure did get ripped off, but glad you made the best of the situations and enjoyed your time in Tanzania. I hope you're getting ripped off didn't spoil your memories of seeing the magnificent animals and scenery you've waited a lifetime to see.
Thanks for the heads-up!
Thanks for the heads-up!
Feb 21st, 2008, 05:49 PM
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I tend to mistrust anyone whose first post on Fodor's starts out "Do not ..."
The OP apparently feels that, without any history on Fodor's, I should heed his/her instructions.
I would give the post far, far more credence if the OP had given me his/her view of what happened, then let me draw my own conclusions.
And it would have also helped to have used 1/20 the amount of words. )Small wonder you had a correspondence of over 160 emails.)
The OP apparently feels that, without any history on Fodor's, I should heed his/her instructions.
I would give the post far, far more credence if the OP had given me his/her view of what happened, then let me draw my own conclusions.
And it would have also helped to have used 1/20 the amount of words. )Small wonder you had a correspondence of over 160 emails.)
May 8th, 2008, 05:12 AM
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Unfortunately I can completely corroborate this story. My wife and I led a safari to Tanzania in 2005, and suffered an even worse fate than Carlotta at the hands of Solomon Olemwaipasi. He managed to bilk us out of nearly $3,000. By the time we realized we were being totally defrauded, we had to go along to avoid having a complete meltdown of the safari, on which a half dozen of our friends were along at our urging.
First post or not, it is an important one. The word needs to be spread far and wide about this man, who still travels to the U.S. regularly and gives talks to drum up donations and business.
First post or not, it is an important one. The word needs to be spread far and wide about this man, who still travels to the U.S. regularly and gives talks to drum up donations and business.
May 8th, 2008, 08:53 AM
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Dear "carlottawest" & "JClayton", While I do feel sorry for both of you and your sorry stories in the course of your exploits in Africa, and don't wish such bad for anyone I must note that these are both your first posts in this forum. Fodors is not place to fool around. It is a place where hardened and seasoned travellers looking for the extra ordinary experiences, the unbelievable deals, the magic moments, and legendary travel tales hang around. We all have our occasional stories of woe arising from the chances we take. These usually fade into our lost memories, while the good times seem to last forever.
To be meaningful and be listened to by a seasoned bunch of travellers such as we have on this forum one needs credibility and a stranger in sub Saharan Africa is as much a stranger as you two are! Hopefully you will stay with us a while and develop our friendship.....! I am alway looking for the risk takers!
I always keep and open mind!
To be meaningful and be listened to by a seasoned bunch of travellers such as we have on this forum one needs credibility and a stranger in sub Saharan Africa is as much a stranger as you two are! Hopefully you will stay with us a while and develop our friendship.....! I am alway looking for the risk takers!
I always keep and open mind!
May 8th, 2008, 11:19 AM
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Mohammed, thanks for your reply. I did not put up the initial post; however, when someone replied to it by casting doubt on the writer's veracity (which doesn't seem to me to be very polite), I felt the need to point out that she was telling the truth.
As it happens, I am a "seasoned" African traveler. Obviously, as you mentioned, there is no way for readers of this forum to know that until I have posted many times.
However, the person in question travels in the U.S. regularly to drum up clients for his safari "business." Don't you think that one of the valuable services of a forum such as this is to rapidly spread the word about scams? Isn't that just as important as rhapsodizing on perfect trips and recommending honorable guides? If Carlotta had waited until she had, what, 10? 30? 50? posts to her credit before mentioning Mr. Olemwaipasi, someone else could have very well been taken in by him in the meantime.
If the purpose of the Fodor's forum is to only spread good news, you have my apologies.
As it happens, I am a "seasoned" African traveler. Obviously, as you mentioned, there is no way for readers of this forum to know that until I have posted many times.
However, the person in question travels in the U.S. regularly to drum up clients for his safari "business." Don't you think that one of the valuable services of a forum such as this is to rapidly spread the word about scams? Isn't that just as important as rhapsodizing on perfect trips and recommending honorable guides? If Carlotta had waited until she had, what, 10? 30? 50? posts to her credit before mentioning Mr. Olemwaipasi, someone else could have very well been taken in by him in the meantime.
If the purpose of the Fodor's forum is to only spread good news, you have my apologies.
May 8th, 2008, 11:58 AM
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As with any other forum on the internet, posters making their first posts promoting or critizing a commerical enterprise are viewed with suspicion. That suspicion is heightened when another first time poster confirms the original post as has happened in this case. Fair or not, that's the way the system works and if you are familiar with the internet, you know that.
When we hear from people who have a track record with the forum, whether the post is positive or negative we will place a lot more credence in the postings. So stop complaining about reactions to your first post, that just makes it look more questionable, and begin posting about your African experiences.
When we hear from people who have a track record with the forum, whether the post is positive or negative we will place a lot more credence in the postings. So stop complaining about reactions to your first post, that just makes it look more questionable, and begin posting about your African experiences.
May 8th, 2008, 01:51 PM
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Yes, we've all seen posters with more than one name come out of the woodwork to slam a company, but I have to wonder whether telling a new poster that they have no credibility until they have been to Africa frequently and have posted numerous reports and to "stop complaining" will encourage any new posters at all.
May 8th, 2008, 02:27 PM
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@ carlotta
we were booked through Hamburg, Frankfurt, Johannesburg and Arusha
who the hell made you fly that route??? is hell! that at least should have thought you to double check
on jan 15 it would have rang a second ring...
jan 17 would/should have sent another stroke...
jan 19 i would have been out and taken over the whole thing myself! for sure!
i can imagine only a novice still hoping might have stayed. i certainly would not have!
of course you got "some" safari experience - but at what pricetag!
what i cannot understand: how can that guy still promote himself in the states? would jump at every chance to uncover his goals!
we were booked through Hamburg, Frankfurt, Johannesburg and Arusha
who the hell made you fly that route??? is hell! that at least should have thought you to double check
on jan 15 it would have rang a second ring...
jan 17 would/should have sent another stroke...
jan 19 i would have been out and taken over the whole thing myself! for sure!
i can imagine only a novice still hoping might have stayed. i certainly would not have!
of course you got "some" safari experience - but at what pricetag!
what i cannot understand: how can that guy still promote himself in the states? would jump at every chance to uncover his goals!
May 9th, 2008, 05:13 AM
#17
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I for one, want to know/hear about the good, bad and ugly.
If I experienced a bad trip caused by a particular outfitter/operator and had never posted on a certain forum, I would go out of my way to let other peeps know of the problems I encountered. And if that meant joining other forums and making a first post, so be it.
We all tout the good....so, let's listen to the bad and ugly.
JMHO.
If I experienced a bad trip caused by a particular outfitter/operator and had never posted on a certain forum, I would go out of my way to let other peeps know of the problems I encountered. And if that meant joining other forums and making a first post, so be it.
We all tout the good....so, let's listen to the bad and ugly.
JMHO.
May 9th, 2008, 05:24 AM
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Carlottawest,
Have you contacted your friends through whom you were first introduced to Ole and/or the organizations which sponsored his talks in the U.S. No matter the wonderful memories, they will always be somewhat tarnished by the awful experince. I'm sorry for that and for the unsympathetic comments you and JCLAYTON received by some posters.
Have you contacted your friends through whom you were first introduced to Ole and/or the organizations which sponsored his talks in the U.S. No matter the wonderful memories, they will always be somewhat tarnished by the awful experince. I'm sorry for that and for the unsympathetic comments you and JCLAYTON received by some posters.
May 9th, 2008, 05:34 AM
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P.S., Mohammed:
I am not a hardened and/or seasoned traveler, I hope you don't mind me posting on this forum! Most posters are very friendly and welcoming to us "newbies" and I appciate all the advice and info I have rec'd from them. Had I felt this was an exclusive site I suppose I would have gone elsewhere but am glad I didn't have to.
I am not a hardened and/or seasoned traveler, I hope you don't mind me posting on this forum! Most posters are very friendly and welcoming to us "newbies" and I appciate all the advice and info I have rec'd from them. Had I felt this was an exclusive site I suppose I would have gone elsewhere but am glad I didn't have to.
May 9th, 2008, 05:45 AM
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Thanks to those of you who forgave the apparent breach of etiquette.
Since Carlotta has not revisited, I suspect she might have simply put up a bunch of posts about her experience on various forums, with no intention of joining a community. I certainly understand her anger, and I still think she did the right thing.
Ironically, my own experience with Mr. Olemwaipasi led to a stroke of brilliant luck, in meeting another safari operator named Hagai Kissila, who runs Whistling Thorn Camp and Destination Africa Safaris in Tanzania. My wife and I became close friends with him after he bailed out our entire safari at considerable cost to himself. So in the end we gained far more than we lost.
Since Carlotta has not revisited, I suspect she might have simply put up a bunch of posts about her experience on various forums, with no intention of joining a community. I certainly understand her anger, and I still think she did the right thing.
Ironically, my own experience with Mr. Olemwaipasi led to a stroke of brilliant luck, in meeting another safari operator named Hagai Kissila, who runs Whistling Thorn Camp and Destination Africa Safaris in Tanzania. My wife and I became close friends with him after he bailed out our entire safari at considerable cost to himself. So in the end we gained far more than we lost.
