The expert team at Safari365
Safari365
- Offices In:
-
Brazil
- Size:
- 20-50 employees (Founded in 2005)
- Member Of:
- SATSA, Travel Smart Crew & SATIB Safe
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $150 to $1,700 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
for a custom tour
Your request will be sent directly to the operator
If preferred, you can contact the operator directly
Reviews
US
Email David | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
I'm not a happy camper
Promised helicopter over Botswana….never happened
Promised 2 different luxury camps in Botswana..never happen.
One day before going to the first camp they switched and sent us for 6 days at a cheaper camp. Even the manager at the camp said it was strange and unheard of for use to be there for 6 days.
Reply from Safari365
Posted on Mar 15, 2024Thank you for your review below, although we were shocked and saddened to read this feedback from a trip you and your son took with us 20 months ago. We have looked into the history of the booking and can see you originally booked with us in 2021 but had your plans changed by COVID. You then rebooked to travel with us in June 2022. From what we can see in the archive from this 2022 trip, after a 2 night stay in Victoria Falls and then 2 nights in Chobe, you were then booked to stay 3 nights in Camp Maru and 3 nights at Amber River Camp in the Delta. These two camps are operated by Okavango Hidden Gems: https://okavangohiddengems.com/. Some time after you booked, we were then notified by Okavango Hidden Gems (in April 2022) that Camp Maru unfortunately had to close and move sites, due to issues with their temporary land lease from the local Batswana owners. They offered to move you to the newer Amber River Camp for the entire 6 night stay, which was accepted by your party. I can then see from the history that unfortunately when you were enroute and actually travelling in June 2022, Amber River Camp contacted Safari365 just before your arrival to state there was an emergency at the camp which had caused their solar power to fail, halting operations. As a remote camp, it meant that had to then close at very short notice and couldn't honour any bookings (this was unprecedented, but operational issues such as this can be a risk in the remote African bush). They offered to move you to a partner property, Kadizora Camp, which offered both land and water based activities, plus offered you a free future stay at Amber River Camp should you ever return to Botswana. Your son graciously accepted in light of their emergency and I can see correspondence from your son to say you were having a great time at Kazidora. In fact I see you yourself wrote a positive review of Kazidora on Trip Advisor: https://www.tripadvisor.co.za/ShowUserReviews-g472673-d8337430-r844801730-Kadizora_Camp-Okavango_Delta_North_West_District.html Unfortunately part of your cancelled Amber River Lodge stay was the cancellation of the 20 minute compulsory return helicopter transfer to the lodge. Our records show however that a hot air balloon was organised instead at Kazidora. And the last email from your son in the middle of your holiday stated: "We've been informed the balloon tour is available to us, so this all has worked well. I am cognizant of how travel remains disrupted due to the pandemic and am thankful you and the Safari 365 team worked to remedy the circumstance to maintain our holiday plans. Thank you once again for your outstanding work." This was on the 13th June in the middle of your stay at Kazidora. I see a staff member then also followed up on the 17th June with your son to check all as well, as you were returning home. It is incredibly unfortunate (and rare) that you had multiple issues with the properties at Okavango Hidden Gems, but these operational circumstances were completely outside of Safari365's control. So again we are really disappointed that you feel duped in some way, and also saddened to not have had the opportunity to address your unhappiness 20 months ago. As for why you stayed 6 nights in the Delta, I cannot refer to the consultant as she no longer works for us, however she was an experienced member of the team, so I can only assume there was a misunderstanding regarding your needs. We go out of our way to make sure our clients have an amazing time and this is reflected in our 5 star reviews on TripAdvisor. I am sorry you were not satisfied in this instance, however we wish you all the best for your future travels in Africa. Kind Regards Safari365
BR
Email Sumaia Miguel | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good for the ones that want a hassle free hotel reservation
Safari365 knows suppliers and can provide you with good options of hotels and local activities. However their influence to make adjustments (example we took a train for 4 nights at my mothers birthday and our cabine was ar the first car meaning that to reach the restaurant or smaking longe we had to cross the entire train about 25 cars... Luckly we managed to have the staff moving us to another car and also make a note on my mothers birthday) or understand your specific needs to fine tune itineraries is very poor.
As per consultants - the exclusive one in Brazil is very arrogant and talks to you as if you did not know what an airplane is and have never left home before leaving the core aspects that should be addressed out of the loop.
We managed to be supported by a South African consultant after requesting for a change. Clive is very friendly but yet, did not add much in terms of adjusting our itinerary and was kind to reply my message when asking for a change on hotels/City with Google and YouTube links with tips for activities where we were (??? Really??). Details such as the fact that electricity is an issue and South africa has to follow a schedule in which everybody stays in the dar at least 3 hours a day, were never shared in advance.
Again - I did not feel supported with qualified information on the itinerary preparativos not had I a 24x7 assistance. Actually, still waiting to understand if our shark dive activity that was cancelled due to a storm will ever be reimbursed. Not to mention the safari we missed due to poor logistics abd pick up time at the airport.
Reply from Safari365
Posted on Mar 15, 2024Responded on 18 October 2023.
Thank you for your recent review of your experience with Safari365, although we are really sorry to hear that you felt we fell short of your expectations.
We have reviewed your booking and are disappointed to read your comments and feedback, primarily as both Travel Consultants who assisted you (who combined have nearly 35 years of Africa travel experience between them) felt they had worked really hard over the previous 12 months to create a special vacation which fit your needs and budget.
Regarding the challenges you experienced while travelling, we apologise you were not aware that the complimentary transfers to your Kruger safari lodge departed at set times. We were not aware that you had booked another separate excursion that day yourself which meant the timings were not convenient. While it would have helped to know this, we do apologise that the transfer times were not listed on your vouchers - this is something we will rectify in future.
We apologise if you were not forewarned that South Africa experiences intermittent power outages. These vary hugely and are not always in place, but to mitigate the impact many hotels, restaurants, lodges, airports etc make alternative arrangements for their guests which include buying expensive power generators, UPS's for internet access or smaller invertors, which generate power for lights. The reality is many international guests are completely unaware of poor electricity issues due to these arrangements (and the fact that the outages are usually 2-4 hours max at a time) - so much so that this is the first complaint we have received regarding power losses in 2 years. However we take on board that you did experience outages at a time you needed it for work, and for that we apologise. We will take on board this feedback to alert future clients and we hope these unexpected sporadic outages didn't cause you too much inconvenience.
We understand you also missed out on a shark cage diving trip due to poor weather and we were in the process of obtaining the refund for this.
Finally, Safari365 are based in South Africa and we are available and online 24/7 via our 24-hour emergency telephone number and 24 hour emergency email address. This is in addition to be able to contact your consultant whenever you need, and both consultants have confirmed they were on call before, during and after your trip (we understand your South Africa based consultant was in constant contact with you throughout the actual trip, making amendments and suggestions).
All in all we are sorry we disappointed you, however hope these issued did not spoil your trip - and you left Africa with some incredible memories with your family.