Falcon Safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 20-50 employees (Founded in 2002)
- Member Of:
- ZTA, ASATA, ZNTBS & MARS
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $100 to $600 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
We never got to experience our life long dream of visiting the Vic falls
Between the travel agent who booked our flights and Falcon Safaris who booked our night at The Royal livingstone neither of them informed us of yellow fever certificates to enter Zambia so we got turned away boarding our plane. Therefore we never got to experience our life long dream of visiting Vic Falls and still had to pay full price for our very experience night booked at Royal Livingstone. All in all a terrible let down and bad service.
Reply from Falcon Safaris
Posted on Jul 11, 2014Dear Kate,
Thank you for the feedback. It is unfortunate and we sincerely apologize you missed your one night stay at The Royal Livingstone since you were not aware of the yellow fever condition if coming into Zambia. When Falcon Safaris make hotel bookings in most cases clients are informed when purchasing flight tickets into Zambia or by the agents who process their tickets of the yellow fever certificate requirement when flying into Zambia. In most cases all clients arrange this prior to booking their flight tickets and when they come through to book the hotels in most cases they are already aware.
On the day of the incident the best we could do was offer alternative accommodation in any Sun International Hotel in Johannesburg for the night but since you indicated you had sorted that out Sun International went on to charge 100% cancellation fee.
Because of this incident we have since included a clause on all our emails to make sure this does not happen again.
PLEASE NOTE:
That anyone arriving at any Zambian Airport - including Livingstone - will be required to show a yellow Fever certificate. Similarly, anyone flying from Zambia - including Livingstone into any South African Airport will also be required to show the Yellow Fever Certificate.This new requirement only affects people traveling directly between Zambia and South Africa. We would strongly advise you to visit your Doctor or Travel Medical Center to obtain the vaccination, and accompanying certificate.
Once again we apologies for the inconvenience caused.
Patrick Manyika
For and on behalf of Falcon Safaris
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Helpful with booking and payment
I booked our hotel in Victoria Falls with Falcon Safaris and the online support I received both from the booking person and the accounts department was excellent as I wanted to book 2 rooms, one for my elderly parents with mobility difficulties and pay in SA Rands, which the accounts department enabled me to do, sending me not only the exchange rates but also the information that they used to do the exchange, which is very open and above board of them.
Email Yasuko N | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent Tour Operator
I'm a solo traveller. I began to correspond with Patrick 6 months prior to my actual visit to Livingstone. He was patient to explain to me various options. Finally when I arrived at Zambezi Sun, he sent his colleague to finalise my activities. At 10am I went to the Fall with Charity, the guide. She made sure that I’d be able to walk through the very wet bridge at the Fall. It was a great experience! In the afternoon I joined River Safari on a small boat. I enjoyed the natural environment along the river. As I wanted to go to Livingstone Museum without a guide, Patrick advised me how to get a taxi to/from the museum. So I did so on the following day after the helicopter flight with UAC. I found Patrick an excellent travel consultant. Thank you so much for helping me organise my activities!
US
Email Melvin & Irene Ida (Hawaii) | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Custom luxury safari designed for you at $$, not $$$$. Reputable & reliable.
Very responsive, excellent recommendations... Like a dear friend developing an itinerary, not a safari consultant. The execution of the itinerary was excellent... The hotel-5 stars; the pick ups were timely; guides friendly and accommodating; and the tours awesome! The wife and i, without hesitation, would use falcon safari again, and encourage our family and friends should they desire to visit south africa to use them.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
everthing was on time with great service.
they did a great job moving us through the boarder.
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Efficient booking service
Bookings were as requested and the coupon was issued by email in a timely manner. The Royal Livingstone had our reservations in hand on arrival.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Professional. Patrick went out of his way to assist us with preparation and whilst on tour.
Very happy with Falcon Safaris level of personal assistance and professionalism throughout our recent tour. Patrick and other staff assisted us promptly and immediately...always with a happy smiling face. More than happy to recommend Falcon as a Tour Operator. Prompt, efficient, professional AND personal caring service. Excellent.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Chaotic
We booked accommodation at the Royal Livingstone Hotel through Falcon Safaris. We received confirmation from them and were asked for payment details. We then booked our flights to Livingstone. We were then told that the Royal Livingstone did not have any rooms available after all but it was too late to change our flights. We landed in Zambia and had to pay $100US for visas even though we were going straight over the border to the Victoria Falls hotel. This would not have been necessary if we knew we would be staying at the Victoria Falls Hotel as we would have flown straight into Zimbabwe. We also needed Yellow Fever injections which cost R575 each because we were going through Zambia. We were not told by the company about this and only found out by accident the day before we were due to leave. Luckily we found someone to do them at 6.30pm the day before our departure or else we would have not been allowed on the plane. When we were dropped at the hotel we were told the company would phone our room or leave a message of the time we were going to be picked up on the day of our departure. This never happened.
Reply from Falcon Safaris
Posted on May 8, 2014Dear Paula,
We extend our sincere apologies for the unhappy experience you had with us. Please note that the issue with room unavailability was a system issue with Royal Livingstone reservation system. They canceled the provisional bookings without any notice. It is their right to do so for any provisional bookings. This could be due to immediate paid bookings that were received or availability updates. I also understand that you paid for Victoria Falls Hotel after you were advised that Royal Livingstone was not available. We are sorry that you were not able to reschedule your flight to Victoria Falls. There was nothing we could do as we are not in control flights.
We understand that re-booking you at Victoria Falls Hotel was a last resort option and had its disadvantages because you had to pay for visa into Zimbabwe as well. Our apologies for the unplanned payments you paid. If we knew that your booking was unsuccessful in time we would have advised you in time as well to give you time to reschedule your flight to Victoria Falls. I also learnt that our consultant, Patrick came to meet you at the border on your transfer to Victoria Falls Hotel to offer apologies for the whole ordeal. Unfortunately he was not able to refund you VISA payments since they are gazetted by the government and are a requirement beyond our control.
Please note that a phone call was made to your hotel room while you were out. The message was left with guest services. The phone call was meant to advise you of any changes in regards to your transfer. Fortunately there were no changes and you were transferred to Kazungula border as scheduled.
We hope other travelers will understand that we were victims of the hotel system, flight schedules and stipulated visa requirements which was beyond our control.
Regards.
Benedict Nyathi
For and on Behalf of Falcon Safaris Team
Email Vaolet | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great team and efficient service
After countless efforts to find accommodation in Victoria Falls, Falcon Safari came to our rescue and helped book us suitable accommodation in no time. The elephant ride safari and their cruise is not to be missed for anything. I would not hesitate to recommend them to any traveler.