Kingfisher Safaris

Reply from Kingfisher Safaris

Thank you for the review. Unfortunately this review does not reflect the experience our guide and booking agent had with these clients. They were determined from the outset not enjoy their safari and find ways to somehow complain about everything and it started from the moment they arrived in Botswana.

Firstly i communicated with our guide throughout their stay via satellite phone and an internet connection (whatsapp) at the national park gates. I was in constant contact with our guide. At no point did they have to set up their own tent and at no point dig their own toilet, it is simply untrue.

They booked this trip through Safari Bookings and were well aware our mobile safaris are described as 'Budget', and at no point was the word 'luxury' used for these mobile safaris. They are still very nice and comfortable, however.

We decided to have them collected from Zambia in the morning to get them to Botswana as early as we could as we had no idea what the border would be like and how long it would take to cross due to the covid situation. This led to a slight delay in Kasane as the shops only opened late on the Sunday. They sent an immediate email asking for compensation, not the first time this would happen.

To address the alcohol claim that we didn't inform them or compensate them, this is untrue. They were informed prior to departure and made NO complaint. Whilst on safari they wanted 'compensation' for this and we offered a 2 hour Motorboat Cruise on the Xakanaxa Lagoon, which was rejected as they had already been on a boat in Victoria Falls! I have Whatsapp messages and email messages should you wish to see them that prove this.

To address the game drive comments: these clients decided that they wanted to be out in the vehicle ALL DAY and while this is fine, we're happy to compensate, it was they that did not listen to our guide, of 35 years experience in Botswana, and instead effectively forced the guide to follow sightings of others travellers who claimed to see things in other areas, thus chasing sightings, sometimes which were two hours away and the day before. In the end our guide decided that he would just follow their instructions and the result is they still saw lots and lots of wildlife just not the African Wild Dogs they wanted to and were desperate to see, despite their comments. Unfortunately they had unrealistic expectations and no guide in Botswana or anywhere else would GUARANTEE a sighting, that is patently ridiculous and they DID receive all game drives they paid for and were on the vehicle much, much longer than most clients on some days for 12 hours which is 4 hours more than we would normally expect.

I also need to address the 'change in itinerary' which would have meant heading to the Kalahari, a 6 hour drive from the Moremi where they were. Everything in their trip had already been paid for, national park fees, food, campsite fees, fuel, vehicle permits, all of which at that point cannot be refunded or recovered, thus the price we quoted was the same price as booking a new trip as all the same costs are associated. The idea were trying to steal, again, is a malicious attempt to do damage to our business and totally untrue.

Sightings:

The suggestion they had to put up their own tents and dig their own toilet is simply untue, i have no idea where this idea comes from.

They refused to pay a tip, which is fair enough they are not mandatory but decided that it was up to me, the booking agent to pay this instead as they hadn't chosen to do the Motorboat Cruise and have then made threats as follows:

"I'm giving you a last chance to confirm (the Chef) has received her money. I want a confirmation and evidence she has received it.

If I don’t get an answer I will make all in my power to make sure no one books from you again."

As you can see from these comments that the client emailed to us it is her intention to destroy our business, which is premeditated and despite me offering to match the funds if she offered to pay the tip, she has decided instead to try and ruin a business, which is owned by local people in Botswana who have suffered greatly due to the lack of travellers from abroad.

Please see all our other, independently verified, reviews as these are a true reflection of the level of service we offer. To be clear they received exactly what they paid for and got much more than that besides but they were determined to be unhappy right from the start and it's sad to see this kind of response when our guide did everything he could to make sure they had a great safari.

Here is part of the sightings report from our guide and you'll see they saw plenty:

Morning drive 10/08/2021 we saw:
African serval, kudus, impalas, gnus, zebras,

Afternoon drive we saw:
hyaenas with pups by the den, ostrich, steenboks, dwarf mongooses, Banded mongooses, white tailed mongooses, lots of birds,

Morning drive 11/08/2021 we saw:
15 lions on the kill gnu, I big male lion on the road, one female lion with 2 young cubs 2 months old, Black baked jackals, Giraffes, Ostrich, warthogs,