Enrico’s Tours and Safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2014)
- Member Of:
- Namibia Tourism Board
- Tour Types:
- Small & medium group tours (Budget & mid-range)
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $70 to $350 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
DK
Email Den | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Do not use! The worst experience ever!
I booked a 7 day tour with Enrico safari two months in advance, and emailed him a few days before arriving to ensure that everything was organized, which he confirmed. However, the service level and organization of this company turned out to be far from professional or satisfactory. Here is a long list of reasons:
- My tour was supposed to start with an airport pick-up from where we would go straight to Etosha NP, but there was no one to meet me at the airport. Only through the help of a random friendly taxi driver did I manage to get a hold of Enrico. After two hours someone finally arrived, but this was not the guide/driver who was originally meant to do the tour. That guide had not shown up as it turned out - my new guide informed me. We ended up leaving with a 3-hour delay out of Windhoek as the new guide had to drive around and arrange different private things before leaving.
- Whereas the other guides waiting for their clients at the airport were well dressed wearing uniforms with the company logos, my guide was shabbily dressed in dirty clothes and flip flops.
- As a result of the delay in leaving from Windhoek we arrived very late in Etosha and I did not get the afternoon game drive that I had paid for. No apology or compensation offered!
- The guide did not know the itinerary of my tour and did not have it either on his phone or on paper, so basically he did not know what I was doing, where I was staying, etc. And Enrico did nothing to ensure that he did. Even on day 3 of the tour the guide was unsure about what was happening after having been on the phone with Enrico several times.
- All trough this it was very difficult to get a hold of Enrico, who had claimed to the guide that I had not given him the flight information even though I have an email saying “thank you for providing the information”. He also repeatedly kept saying he would call to sort things out with me, but he never did.
- When arriving at the lodge in Etosha on the first night I found out that the booking was wrong as only two nights had been booked, but according to the itinerary I was staying for 3. Enrico said he would fix it Friday night, but it did not get fixed until Sunday afternoon. And I had to go to a different accommodation.
- On the second day we went on a game drive in the park, but when it came to paying the park fees the guide didn’t have any money to pay as there was no money on the company card. (Enrico later claimed that there were problems with the card, but if you read other reviews here, this is apparently not the first time that has happened). After waiting for over 2 hours at the park office, and the park was closing we paid the park fees ourselves even though they had already been paid for as part of the payment for the tour. We would not have been able to leave the park otherwise and would have had nowhere to stay. During those more than two hours we tried to call Enrico repeatedly, but he did not answer. In the evening we finally spoke to him. He was extremely rude and could not see any problem and denied the problems. He said he would call us back later but never did.
- On the third day the guide was changed to another guide without any notice. On the same day we were stopped by the police and rangers in the National park. The guide did not have the required documents to prove that he was a guide, so was not actually allowed to drive in the park with me. The police let him continue with a warning.
- The guides/drivers of other companies would use part of the lunch breaks in the park to refuel and clean the car in order to maximize the clients’ time, whereas my guide would get me in the car and then spend 15 min refueling and cleaning the car.
- All the other companies used appropriate safari vehicles, whereas Enrico used a normal car used for normal roads. During the two days I was there not once did I see any company or private visitors to the park use such a car. The car was not appropriate for safaris and at the end of the day both back tires were flat.
- A lot of the information in the itinerary was wrong. E.g. it said that the drive from Etosha to Sawkopmund was 3 hours, but it was 6 1/2 hours. The pictures and description (“perched on a hill with expansive views”) used were not from Etosha Safari Lodge, but from a more expensive lodge.
- On day 4 I spoke to Enrico on the phone as the guide was trying to get money to pay for activities, petrol and accommodation, but Enrico kept not transferring enough money even though the guide pushed for it. Enrico practices a system where the guide has a company card, onto which he transfers money for the next thing - next meal, next accommodation, next activity. But sometimes the card doesn’t work and often there isn’t enough money on the card to e.g. fill up the petrol. Enrico was extremely rude to me over the phone, yelled, lied, talked over me, refused to listen to anything I said and was very arrogant. I have never by any of the tour companies I have used in any of the 60 countries I have visited been spoken to so rudely and been treated so unprofessionally.
- On day 5 when my activities had been moved to (according to the itinerary they were supposed to have been on day 4) I arranged with the guide to be picked up at 9, so that I could be at the activity center for 10. At 9.40 when he still hadn’t arrived, I called him, and he said that he was at the garage to have the tires fixed, which got broken in Etosha 2 days prior. He showed up at 10.15!
- On day 5 the car had to be changed as it was not appropriate for driving in the desert in Sesriem, and an appropriate car was to be driven from Windhoek. The day before Enrico had said on the phone that the car would be ready at 11.00. At 13.45 when I had finished my activity there was still no car, and Enrico now informs the guide over the phone that the car was in service. Again no apology or compensation.
- We set off for Sesriem in the car that was not appropriate for the desert and after driving for 10 min the car would not run. As I found out 15 min later, the guide had not put any petrol on the car. So we simply ran out of petrol in the middle of the road in swakopmund. At this point I decided to terminate the tour, as I did not feel safe in the car or with the guide or the company.
In sum, the tour was a complete mess organisationwise from beginning to the point when I’d had enough. This caused a lot of stress, hassle and a feeling of not feeling safe. Constantly having to worry about whether the guide could pay for petrol the next time, or whether the next thing on the itinerary had been booked or not, is not exactly something that makes a holiday enjoyable or relaxing. Throughout the duration of the tour Enrico acted both rudely and highly unprofessionally. E.g. shouting on the phone, not listening, not acknowledging that anything was wrong (judge yourself by the points listed above), not answering or returning calls, despite making many promises to do so. In spite of all the disorganization, no apologies or compensation were offered. On the contrary Enrico accused me of looking for things to criticize (judge for yourself by the points above - and reviews listing the exact same problems). I completely recognize the descriptions in the bad reviews that many other travelers on here have written and there is definitely a pattern of the same things happening repeatedly. So if you value your holiday, time and money, do not use Enrico! I met many professional companies along the way in Namibia - use them instead!
NZ
Email Tori | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
WARNING!! DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!!!
WARNING!!! DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!!!
We were booked on a seven night safari with Enrico’s. We booked about 6 months in advance and paid in advance.
The day that our safari was supposed to commence, no one showed up. We could not get in contact with the company to find out what was going on (we tried their phone numbers, whatsapp, email, Facebook etc). When we finally got in contact (after hours and hours of trying), we were told someone would be there by 2:30pm at the latest. Again, no one showed up. Again, we could not get in contact with Enrico’s to find out what was going on. When we did get in contact, he suggested that we arrange and pay for our own transfer to what was supposed to be our first stop?? Eventually our then-current accommodation offered for us to stay another night and Enrico’s promised to pick us up at 9am the next morning. Enrico’s said they would pay for the accomodation, but they did not and we had to pay for it.
At 9am the next morning, surprise surprise, no one showed up!! And again we could not get in contact with Enrico’s to find out what was going on!! We were finally picked up at around 11:30am (1.5 days late for our six day tour...) in a minivan with worn out suspension that was supposed to drive us on sand/gravel roads in between destinations - even our driver said it was unsafe and that he didn’t think the car would be able to make the journey!
We found out our was a freelancer that was called by Enrico’s at 7am on the day that our safari was meant to commence to get to us in Kasane from Windhoek. It is 1,400kms and 14 hours away from our pick up point. There was no way they were going to be able to pick us up at the scheduled pick up time and no way they would even get to us by 2:30pm so I have no idea why this was promised by Enrico’s. It also meant that Enrico’s knew that this would not be possible before 7am the day of our safari and they never contacted us to tell us this. We could have done activities that day through our then-current accomodation, but instead spent an entire day in reception trying to get in contact with Enrico’s!!
When we finally arrived at our first accommodation, NOTHING had been booked or paid for! The accomodation had never heard from Enrico’s and did not know we were coming! Apparently this is a very common occurrence and our driver had heard of this happening regularly before. Luckily we could get in for one night (the last two rooms) but again had to pay for this ourselves!!! We were paying for our whole trip twice!!
We found out we had not been booked into our next accommodation and none of our activities had been booked. Again, we could not get hold of him to find out what the hell was going on! One time we called off our driver’s phone and when he heard our voice he hung up!! When we finally got in contact much later, he said he could get us into some other accommodation but we would have to pay for it and be refunded. Obviously we were not going to do that, and after such an incomprehensibly terrible experience.
We found out that he has been banned from the camps in National Parks in Namibia for non-payment. He doesn’t pay his drivers or guides on time. Our driver says he has a reputation for being a terrible tour operator - I have no idea how his business survives.
He lied to us continuously to try cover the mess up. He should not be allowed to offer these services. We are reporting him to tourist organisations so that our experience does not become someone else’s.
Luckily we booked through Tour Radar so we were able to get a full refund.
Do not use
A dishonest man, a crook. We booked a 11-day tour with Enrico’s Tour and Safari, fully paid in advance. What happened was incredible. When we arrived we found out that he had not booked two guides and two cars as planned, and not all hotels rooms and dinner were paid for as well as all the activities. This person calls himself Clarence or Enrico, and acts at the expense of tourists. He left us in a torrential rain in an unassembled tent with no beds. We ended up paying the accommodation and visits again. Do not trust him.
ES
Email Jorge | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
is a scammer
I booked a 17-day tour with enrico, asked for a guide in Spanish and when I got there it was in English, he told me that it took 2 days to change it and it took me 7. I had to pay the gas because the guide had not given him money and if not I paid could not continue with the tour. He made fictitious reservations and does not pay to the hotels, you get there and if you want to continue you have to pay again, from Windhoek we left 6 hours later because I changed the car for a smaller one, I had 2 paid activities worth $ 600 and he did a dummy reservation and I don't pay ... you still owe me more than $ 2000 and don't pay please do not book with him, he will ruin your vacation
IT
Email Livia | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
SCAM - STAY AWAY
SCAM - PLEASE STAY AWAY
Enrico's tour was a nightmare, he took all our money and STOPPED PAYING for our accomodions and meals after day 3. He left us alone with the driver and no tour guide. WE HAD TO PAY FOR OUR OWN ACCOMODATION FOR TWO NIGHTS, AS WELL AS ALL THE MEALS AND ACTIVITIES WHICH SHOULD HAVE BEEN INCLUDED. He simply booked everything, and we were forced to pay out of pocket if we wanted a bed for the night. When we called Enrico, he was never reachable and when he did respond, he repeatedly lied to us. He even said he would give us our money back upon return to Windhoek, which never happened. The driver stopped multiple times because Enrico did not send the payment for the gas, which kept us waiting for hours. Please stay away from Enrico's tours.
DE
Email Tanja Siegmund | 35-50 years of age
Totally unreliable, very bad communication
It was really bad, they didn't answer. We can't do the tour, because they didn't pick up us, the car was in service. They said we can also do the tour a day later or do it only 2 days, but we booked 3 days.
That's no way!
IT
Email Elisa | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Horrible Experience
Completely un-organized, a scammer. We booked 11 days with him many months in advance, we paid beforehead but still when we got there nothing was ready for us. We paid for 2 cars but we had one. Everything was done very last minute. Do not use!!!
IT
Email Bettina | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Stay away from this company!!!!!!!
We booked a 10 day trip in 9 friends in Botwana. The trip included a program and services that were not respected in the least. There had to be 2 jeeps, 2 guides, a panoramic flight, instead we had only one Jeep, a totally incompetent guide who has never been able to answer. We were forced to find alternative solutions at our expense to alleviate the inconvenience caused by the bad organization. We didn’t enjoy the trip because every day we had to face unexpected and bad surprises.
IT
Email Lorenzo | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Simply a crook
Clarence Enrico Goastoeb appears as a crook. Simply. We even had to submit a criminal complaint to the Namibian Police and to the Tourist Officie, involving Diplomatic Authorities and discovering he has several other cases pending. We have booked a 11 days safari with some friends, all experienced travellers in Botzwana and Namibia. We have faced several serious problems since the beginning: to make a long story short different service (or no service at all) from what booked, total lack of comunication. The most serious experience was the following: We were abandoned in the middle of the Jungle and we had to find an emergency place to survive and to book a private plane to escape from that mess. For what we understood Mr. Enrico's policy seems to be simple: to play with the good faith of his suppliers and clients and, at the end, to try to not pay them/not give to them the service booked....keeping the clients'money in his pockets. Moreover Mr. Enrico uses as guides freelances in order to claim him unresponsable for them and vice-versa. Therefore sometimes the suppliers abandon him and his clients. In our experiences Mr. Enrico just ignored the problems hoping that the clients will find a solution by theirselves and they will not prosecute him for relative small money. All is organization and way of doing business is based on that "philosofy". Stay away from him.
US
Email Vijay | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Shady, Fraudulent and Untrustworthy
We booked and paid for a 6-day tour of Etosha National Park, Swakopmund and Sossusvlei (accommodated) on Viator 6-months in advance. A week before the actual trip we got a message from Enrico Safaris and Tours that the tour was cancelled as it did not meet the minimum number. They offered a private tour that was only slightly higher and we booked and paid for entire tour to Enrico Safaris and Tours including accommodation, dinner, breakfast, activities and admissions. We did not realize that we are going to be dealing with a shady and fraudulent tour agency and we are going to have a harrowing time.
On Day 1 we were picked up 2 hours later than scheduled. It was a small car (not suitable for driving on unpaved roads later) and the car’s a/c was not working. After 4 hours of uncomfortable journey the guide/driver managed to get a temporary fix. But we arrived 3 hours behind schedule and had to cut short that days’s game drive in Etosha National Park.
On Day 3 when we reached Swakopmund, the room charges for hotel was not paid for by the Enrico Safaris and Tours. Since they could not be reached, we ended up paying for the rooms for us and for the tour guide.
On days 4 and 5 in Sossusvlei, once again the hotels rooms and dinner were not paid for and also none of the activities were paid for. We had to pay for all these for us and for the tour guide.
The guide/driver (who is not an employee of the Enrico Safaris and Tours, but just hired by them for this tour) tried calling Enrico Safaris and Tours several times to address the issue. They either did not answer the call or lied to the guide about sending money, but never sent the money. The guide/driver was a very friendly and a nice person who tried his best to help us out of the harrowing experience. But Enrico Safaris and Tours did not either answer his calls or lied to him repeatedly that he is going to send the money. The guide/driver managed to get a 4x4 on day 4 for travel on unpaved roads on Day 4.
In summary, Enrico Safaris and Tours did not just mishandle the tour but were defrauding and swindling us. In spite of fully paying for the tour in advance to Enrico Safaris and Tours, we still ended up paying for more than half of the accommodation, dinner and activities.
So our recommendation is “Don’t trust Enrico Safaris and Tours and Do Not Use their services”.