The people on my tour were largely awful (trashy Ozzies and Brits you meet at hostels who think that they run the...
Hi David,
We were sad to read your comments.
Our itineraries aim to present travel highlights in the best time frame possible at a great price, travelling remote as well as main tourist routes.
In order to run a trip such as the Gorillas and Game Parks (featuring the gorilla parks and the Tanzanian game parks) we cover a lot of ground, these two highlights being around 800 km apart. There will necessarily be early starts and some big drives to fit this in the 13-day time scale. The drives to achieve this vary. Some are relatively short e.g. Kisoro and Musanze being about three hours, on occasion though they are longer. Less than perfect roads, delays at borders and a shortage of secure, suitable camp sites situated at appropriate locations all affect the day’s drive.
We are aware on your tour e.g. there was an unfortunate delay on the drive into Tanzania due to slower than usual immigration arrangements that day, as well as road deterioration following rain. On some drives too there are game drives locked in during which we view wildlife. We can leave early morning and head out later in the afternoon on these days as animals are most likely about at that time. This time in the truck can make for the feeling of longer drive days too. All this is part of the adventurous nature of the tours.
Few, if any tour companies, do a tour with just these two main loved highlights, the mountain gorillas and Serengeti and Ngorongoro. Where tours have these highlights in the itinerary they usually end up doubling back on themselves through Kenya and so increase the mileage even more, and again have to take the price up in consequence. Our route then is different and our many travellers, over the years are usually happy and appreciative with all they have seen and done on this two week trip heading to remote and different destinations rather than revisiting what they have seen.This timescale suits most well, as do our competitive prices.
As to the day to day drives themselves these allow some sense as to local life, as well as some beautiful and fascinating scenery on the way to the big highlights. Where possible we aim to keep a steady pace, and there are numerous special stops on this tour - the option to gorilla trek, where we also have free time to relax and/or for other optional activities, then Queen Elizabeth NP, the game cruise on the Kazinga Channel, the Grumeti, Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater, the stay in Kigali where we visit the Genocide Memorial, the stop over with local activities like basket making and to make banana beer in Musanze and the option to trek chimpanzee in Kalinzu as well. Plus there is built in a local stay in a rural Tanzanian village where the children welcome you and love to show you around. Most days there is an activity included or available as an optional. All the above highlights and more are all presented faithfully, month on month, within a busy itinerary that still allows free time once you have reached your destinations.
There are simple upgrades included in the price as well so you don’t put your tent up every night, and then you can pay more most other nights to upgrade as well if you want to which I understand that you were able to do on a number of occasions. In regard to the daily cooking routine, how much needs to be done by the group for both dinner and breakfasts is often limited. Talking to your tour leader, out of the 13 days on this particular tour the group assisted with dinner preparation on only 5 occasions with the tour leader bringing the meal together, with breakfast always prepared and organised by the tour leader. This allowed the group to have more free time or time to do activities or have longer to sleep in in the mornings.
To contend that the tour is nothing but constant driving, sleeping, and organising tents and meals is misrepresentative of this tour. There are busy days and our travellers like to be prepared for the following day’s game drives or trekking. The nature of our tours then does mean that some nights people do wish to go to sleep early. We encourage this, and where the night is one surrounded by animals, an early night is often preferred to take in the sounds of the African bush. On the other hand there are also times when there is the chance to enjoy local entertainment for example in Kisoro with the drumming and music performed by a local pygmy group at the hostel or enjoying being around the camp fire for example in Kalinzu.
No-one’s debating as to whether there are flights in and out of Kigali or Arusha. We start and finish tours in both destinations, and regularly assist with budget domestic flights to add on a highlight quickly where our travellers are short of time. So yes you can fly as you mentioned in and out of these places, but this is not what an overland tour is about.
This isn’t the place for an extended debate on the ins and outs of independent VS organised tours. There are advantages and disadvantages with each style of travel. The true cost once you start pulling all the additional arrangements together to accompany a flight usually do add up though it is worth noting, and these arrangements don’t often work out as conveniently as might be anticipated. A flight within East Africa can easily cost between U$100 - U$200 and there are no direct services between many places. It can take a day just to travel between a destination like Kigali and Zanzibar or Kilimanjaro. Nor is there the same backpacker infrastructure in East Africa that might be anticipated if you have travelled in Asian, European or other destinations. Direct flights between Arusha and Kigali e.g. to combine the gorillas and Serengeti and Ngorongoro don’t exist, and then once in Kigali, to cross the border to Uganda for the cheaper gorilla permit, you would need to make your way to Kisoro or further by land using buses, taxis and then stay overnight. Otherwise in Rwanda the gorilla trekking permits are now $1500. Once in Arusha to arrange a low cost trip into the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater can be very difficult without waiting maybe a few days in Arusha until a group of independent backpackers are all available to go at the same time, so as to reduce the vehicle hire, vehicle entry fees, guide hire, transport expenses, food costs. These costs are on top of lodge/camping expenses and non resident entry fees for both parks. Most travellers into the Tanzanian parks organise their safari prior to leaving home to ensure availability in the time frame they have to travel, and to aim to travel with one of the better affordable operators into the parks.
Our aim in overland travel is always to allow each traveller to see the highlights they came to see, travelling at a pace that is enjoyable, as relaxed as possible and to experience local life at a grass routes level which we feel is preferable to just dropping in and out which can happen if you fly in and out of a destination. The nature of overlanding tours is partly about experiencing the views from the road, of village life, varying landscapes, some more remote destinations as well as enjoying the company of your fellow travellers on the tour. The travellers on our trips come from all over the world and from different backgrounds and cultures. This can mean a diverse group of people all travelling together which is for most people part of the fun of joining a tour. People join our tours because they prefer to travel together with others and enjoy the fact that the day to day arrangements along the way are essentially organised, especially since backpacking in East Africa requires a lot of time, patience and organising since ready made tours and day trips are few and far in between and of very varying standards. The level of support and organisation provided by overland trucks can allow you we believe to see a lot at a reasonable price in a secure and fun context.
We are sorry you were disappointed with the tour and the group with which you ended up travelling.
Our brochure and website make it clear that these are adventure overland tours. They are not relaxing holidays or tours to quickly visit a couple of highlights but rather participatory group tours where you experience the continent from its grass routes and so inevitably more slowly. The travel is by an overland vehicle, and we believe this does allow you to get to see a lot in a short time. The information online which goes into further detail about the style of travel including the Tour Information Packs, which are sent personally to each client to read in preparation for their trip. In this there is a specific section “Life on your Big Yellow Truck” and here we re-iterate our trip style as participatory, adventure travel and the nature of the tours day to day. We also give guides to drive times in the detailed itinerary too although these are not set in stone due to the unreliable nature of travel on African roads.
We appreciate there are some long drive days, and a tour of this nature particularly can be very busy. Africa is not the easiest continent to explore - both in terms of logistics and cost. We have gone through the itinerary presented with the crew and all the highlights and core activities were presented. We are sorry though to hear you felt that there were some optional activities that were not offered. Detailed optional activities are listed on the truck as well as one of the folders on board and your tour leader is available to discuss any of these with you at any time. We have noted all your comments, and will follow up to endeavour to always make each day on our vehicles as comfortable and exciting as we can. We can only again emphasise that we are sorry that you didn’t enjoy your tour. Feel free to contact us directly if we can assist further.
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