Africa Adventure Company for travel to Africa

Old Oct 2nd, 2006, 01:34 PM
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Africa Adventure Company for travel to Africa

There were some things posted on Lilipet's Tour Operator post that made me post this about Africa Adventure. I am deciding about who to use in 2008 for Tanzania if we go.

The other comments went like this, the trip was perfect but some of the Africa Advenuture people were hard to get along with. I was kind of glad to read that cuz I thought it was just me that thought I was not always getting the most polite customer service. But the two trips were the best ones of our life once we got there.

There was one phone message left on my asnwering machine that was just about something routine but it sounded mean. I had some other people listen to it and they thought so too. It's not cuz of an accent that some of the employees have that I got the wrong impression cuz this employee sounded like me.

I picked them for my first trip cuz some friends had used them on a very involved trip with people adding on and leaving from all different countries and it went perfect. My Kenya trip was perfect too. We even made some changes at the last minute which was not reasonable on my part and they were able to do everything I wanted.

On the second trip we wanted to do some different and unusual things that probably meant we should pay for our own private vehicle. They arranged it with no extra private cost.

Once my friend got hurt and had to leave her safari early and get medical help. She had their insurance and it was great. She raved and raved about how well she was treated and how everything was paid for and then some.

When I have met people who travel with Africa Adnventure they always are happy with their trip. Sometimes I have met people with other travel agents and their charter planes did not show up or they paid for a step higher of rooms than they got.

For prices on the first trip I did not check or compare so I don't know if it was a good deal but it seemed about right. I mainly wanted to be sure I had a good travel agent and my friends told me to use them. On my second trip to Botswana it was pretty easy to compre prices and so I did. Africa Adventure was the lowest by a lot for most agents even out of some in Africa like Taga. They were just a little lower than most of the others in the US. I think there was one that was less but not much.

It seems like if they were a little more easy going they would be perfect because they do so many countries in Africa and everything always is flawless from what I know.

So that is what happened with me. I thought it would be intersting to know how your trip went with this company if you would like to respone.
plaid_dude is offline  
Old Oct 2nd, 2006, 02:20 PM
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I just returned yesterday from a trip planned by Africa Adventure Co. Everything was great and there were some small touches included that we didn't expect. We visited two camps in Zambia and two in Botswana. I LOVED the Zambia camps and chose them based on recommendation from AAC. (I also loved Zambia - can't wait to go back.) Since this was my first trip to Zambia, I relied on their expertise and was not disappointed. Both camps are worth repeat visits in the future.

In Bots we had a private guide -- and that was where we encountered the one unexpected deviation in our itinerary. When we arrived in Kasane from Lusaka, we were to be met by our guide who would fly with us to the first camp. But when we arrived the guide who was there to meet us was not the man who whose bio and photo were in our itinerary. However, given that we had no particular loyalty to the first guide, we just rolled with it. As it turns out, I'm sure the original guide was good, but we ADORED the guide we ended up with. He was incredibly knowledgable and so much fun to be with. I'm already planning to use him in 2007.

So overall, I was very happy with AAC. I thought they were very, very thorough and our trip went off without a hitch.

Susan
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Old Oct 2nd, 2006, 02:39 PM
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Plaid Dude -

Just read original posts in the other thread about AAC. Interesting stuff. I never dealt with Allison, but rather with Marc Nolting, the president of the company. We were actually late in the game in our planning, but based on his strong relationships with Wilderness Safaris and the other camps, we were able to get into some desirable accomodations less than nine months out. Marc was very responsive to me and once the general itinerary was nailed down, he turned things over to Milissa, his assistant. They were all very persistent in their comunication with me. As a matter of fact, I was kind of slow getting back to them on multiple occasions and they tracked ME down.

I'm sorry to hear that others have had a bad experience with them. It's interesting because many of the staff and guides at the leading camps highly recommend AAC.

I can tell you that I've worked with some other really great Africa trip specialists that I highly recommend and that are also favorites in the industry. For Southern Africa Phoebe Weinberg at Greatways Travel is excellent. She has actally travled to Africa 49 times (!) so she has really strong firsthand knowledge of the camps and the countries. Also for Southern Africa, I like Ian Proctor at Ultimate Africa. He and his wife ran a camp in Kenya before they began planning trips. Finally, for East Africa, Linda Friedman of Custom Safaris really knows here stuff.

Anyway, it will be interesting to hear if there are others like me who had good experiences with AAC or if my experience is an anomaly.
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Old Oct 2nd, 2006, 03:02 PM
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Plaid,
By no means do I want to discourage anyone from taking a peek at AAC. Really, that wasn't my intent. They used Tanzanian Photographic safari for our on ground safari which I found to be a top notch co. as far as service, vehicle, guiding.

AAC did pull some last minute changes but they were mostly in our favor and the mistakes made prior to the trip were mostly taken care of by Sara.

I checked around extensively prior to our trip and found that you do get as much or more for your money than some of the other companies (including some African co.) with AAC.

But along with that comes working with people in an extremely busy place who may not be totally able or willing to give good service. Happens everywhere.

So to save 2-3 or more G's, I can put up with a bit of hassle and will even sing and dance .
Sherry
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Old Oct 2nd, 2006, 05:06 PM
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I went with AAC last year, to Bots and Zim, had several last minute changes (international departure location- sister messed up) etc... They were just wonderful!!! The trip was more than I could have hoped for, and I am now planning another for next June with Andre. I do realize that they get busy, and I plan WAY in advance... So I don't expect a call back immediately, but in a timely manner, and I have not been disapointed at all. I also am more than happy with the private guiding, and the friendships I have begun with them, hopefully to continue for long in the future... I will most likely use AAC for Tanzania and Kenya/Rwanda in the future, and be assured that if anything were to ever go wrong (read airline strike etc) that I would be well taken care of, as their clients were last year during BA's problems.
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Old Oct 2nd, 2006, 08:42 PM
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santharamhari
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Cheetahgirl,

Welcome back.....which camps did you visit on your recent trip? Hoping you hv a trip report at some point after you rest and recover. Thanks

Hari
 
Old Oct 3rd, 2006, 05:02 PM
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I have used AAC and I usually plan a year in advance so from my initial contact to receiving something written has taken several weeks.

One time a flurry of last minute changes were requested by me because of Uganda security concerns (a long time ago, nothing recent). Then we were in daily contact and faxes were flying off the machine. They made every last minute change I requested, including major flight changes with no penalty.

Interesting comment on the BA strike suzic. I had one international air problem once that left me stranded in Johannesburg. One collect call got me on a different international carrier the next day. I left while other people who had also been stranded remained behind.

Suzic, didn't you do 2 almost identical Zimbabwe trips or were you planning your second repeat Zimbabwe trip?

I have found phone calls to be more effective with AAC than emails.

While phone calls with them can be rather businesslike and not like talking to your buddy, they always do answer the phone during working hours. None of this leave a message and we'll call you.

Like Plaid Dude, I've found their southern Africa itineraries to be very competitively priced in most cases.

Since it has been awhile since I was in Kenya or Tanzania (and I've got to remedy that soon!!) I'd be interested in other's findings on cost comparisons to those locations. Cybor, you think you saved a couple Gs? That's substantial and I'll sing and dance (both poorly) too for that kind of money.

Plaid Dude, please share your final Tanzania plans. Hope you go.
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Old Oct 3rd, 2006, 06:29 PM
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Hi Lynn,
Yes, but that saving was for 2 people.

I agree the phone is definitely the way to go with them. Unfortunately, when I was finally able to speak to someone, I found that certain people seemed to lack good (or any) social skills - I'm trying hard to be nice, meow.

I was home layed up at the time when planning my trip, so I had time to burn on things that would drag on forever or be neglected entirely.

For anyone who doesn't have xtra time, thick skin or know how/want to cut thru the BS, I may rec. paying a bit more and going with a smaller co. where up front service and relations matter.

To be honest though, I was very pleasantly surprised that the safari turned out as well as it did, thanks to Tanz. Photo. co. and that's what really counts in the end.
Ok, I said it - it's your fault
Sherry
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Old Oct 3rd, 2006, 06:32 PM
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Lynn, I am planning a repeat of last years trip, with additional time in Bots, and 4-5 days in Hwange, and an extra trip canoeing down Mana Pools. I want to see it in a different time of year, and then am planning to do a green season to Zim and Zam most likely this next(07) Nov-Dec.
I will have Rocco's favorite Guide (Nic Polenakis)in Bots, but will miss Rocco in Zim by a couple of weeks (in Mana, and Hwange).
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Old Oct 3rd, 2006, 07:00 PM
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santharamhari
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Hi Suzic,

Would love to hear more about your experiences and travels in Hwange. It has been very high on my list....

Thanks
Hari
 
Old Oct 6th, 2006, 12:29 PM
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cybor, well put.

suzic, your next trip sounds wonderful.
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