Travel reviews by The K family from Berks
Review Distribution
Total number of trips
1
Countries visited
2
Lodges stayed in
4
Excursions taken
0
A memorable family holiday
Tanzania and 1 other country between 12 Feb 2009 and 22 Feb 2009
The trip itself was a wonderful experience and our expectations managed well. Expert Africa clearly know the accomodation in Tanzania and despite the early hiccup did deliver a great family holiday"
Feedback response
We are sorry that this traveller felt let down by the way that this booking worked, though we’re pleased that they ended up with a really great family holiday that they enjoyed so much.
Looking into what happened: they approached us on the 9th January, to book a family holiday for the February half-term. As usual, Eleanor sent a quote for the trip speedily, without delaying to check the availability of all the components.
After further discussions and amending this quote to suit these travellers even better, we arrived at a trip plan that they felt was perfect. We then asked these travellers for a booking form if they wanted to go ahead.
At this stage, we usually request a 10% deposit, which is only processed only when the trip has completely confirmed to the traveller’s satisfaction. (The full balance is then due eight weeks before travel.) However, in this case, we were already within this eight-week period, so we requested that the balance was sent with the booking form. As usual, this payment was held on file while we confirmed everything, and not processed.
When booking all the various components of this trip, some were unavailable. So we discussed the options further to find the most suitable available lodges for their trip. In fact, the final trip which we booked cost slightly less than the original one – although having discussed so many different options, we can understand why this traveller might have thought otherwise.
We never take payment for a trip that a traveller was not happy with. So only when this traveller was completely satisfied with what we had for them, did we processed their full payment – and thus confirmed the trip on the 23rd January.
We’re sorry if the various steps in this process weren’t clear, and have apologised to these travellers. In order to avoid this kind of misunderstanding reoccurring – we have created a new web-page explaining How We Work, which we hope will make our booking process clearer for future travellers.
Ras Kutani
"Friendly gem of a beach hideaway"
Lake Manze Adventure Camp
"An edgy, exciting camp"
Richard was informative and interesting to talk to.The Masai were incredible, pointing out animals in the dark that we would never have seen..and making us feel totally comfortable that we and the children would be safe with only canvas between us and the wildlife! The river safari was tremendous and the team were flexible around our needs.
Still a few rough things to iron out, not sure the management team had fully jelled and the food was poor. The playing cards had lost their spots..so we decided to try Monopoly ..only for our daughter to reel back when opening the box, releasing an ants nest inside!"
Impala Camp
"Great Safari at Impala camp"
The difference between here and Manze is that here they were much clearer on their roles and all pulled their weight - the result being a superbly ran 'hotel' in the middle of the Selous."
Fumba Beach Lodge
"Bad start but overall a beautiful place"
However it did get better as it really is a wonderful location and beautifully presented, very spacious and private. Somewhat indifferent service on occasions, low profile manager (vs 3 previous places) - the only time she showed her face was prior to the grim buffet and she deadened rather than enlivened the atmosphere. I think a great manager here will make all the difference.The presence of the Dive centre as part of the resort (not Safari Blue) was a bonus and the children had a great time with Lauren teaching them to dive in the swimming pool.
Eleanor [Ed: of Expert Africa] was right..it is very adult - but we survived!"
The lagoon and spa ensured that there was a wider range of things to do than the ususal beach hotel. I could not recommend Ras Katani more highly"