Hog Safaris

Bait and switch

We are writing to report on a recent safari we took in Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo at the end of August/beginning of September 2015. We are two very fit American males in our late 20s/mid 30s who were looking for an adventurous vacation in Africa.  We have both travelled to Africa repeatedly and extensively in the past including South Africa, Namibia, Kenya, Tanzania Male 1 has hiked Mount Kilimanjaro, and Male 2 is an architectural design consultant for hospitality projects in Nairobi and Tsavo region of Kenya.

After researching several tour companies including Instinct Safaris, Boda Boda Travel, Africa Geographic, and Destination Jungle, we decided to go with Hog Safaris Ltd, Plot 31 Kanjokya Street P.O. Box 21588 Kampala, Uganda.

When building our itinerary, we dealt exclusively with the owner, Ben Katumba. During our initial conversations we outlined three activities that we were keen on doing and asked for recommendations to help round out the trip. The activities were gorilla trekking in Uganda, hiking Mount Sabyinyo in Uganda, and Mount Nyiragonga in DR Congo. Ben was able to work with us to customize the trip based on 3 initially proposed itineraries, not all of which included the 3 activities. In mid-June we decided on an itinerary for 8 nights/9 days since it was inclusive of all 3 requested activities. Other activity options were not well explained by Ben and as anyone researching a trip in the region knows, literature is somewhat limited -- so we were forced into being reliant on Ben’s expertise.

On June 24, we transferred the 50% deposit ($3000 USD) to Hog Safaris, which was not confirmed into their account until 10 July. In addition, with the transfer of money and the agreement to pursue a trip with Hog Safaris we did a few things:
1. Informed Ben that that we eat a vegetarian/vegan diet high in greens, no bread, but can eat fish; and that Male 1 is lactose intolerant, so no dairy or cheese
2. Requested a list of hotels so we could review them on TripAdvisor or their websites to make sure they were suitable for us.  Our initial budget range we gave them for the hotels was between $200-$300 per person, per night, exclusive of full board which is offered as part of the safari package
3. Information necessary for the trip (i.e. packing, visas, travel time, etc.)

Over the course of the next month we began to send numerous emails requesting for a more detailed itinerary of what was sent to us on 24 June (see below “Itinerary”), including exactly what time we would be picked up for all of the activities, the driving distances between locations, and how the meals would be covered for the entire trip. We only received emails when there was a question / request for money with the excuse of being without internet for a week plus.

By early to mid-August we still had not heard any confirmation of our requests nor any responses to our questions. One week before, we attempted for two days to call Hog Safaris at the 2 main line phone numbers and 3 mobile numbers listed on their website.  The numbers were either out of service, missing a digit, or wrong numbers and we could not get in touch with them via phone.

Less than a week before arrival, we finally received a response as to what the hotels were, some were still missing, and an email that advised us to bring cold weather hiking gear, sleeping bags, hats, gloves, etc – which we immediately ordered online and had shipped overnight as we were leaving in just a few days.  Very inconsiderate, especially because we could have been traveling in Europe beforehand and would not have been able to so easily order camping gear on amazon.com.

At this time, I asked for two hotels on the itinerary to change that did not receive good marks on TripAdvisor and inquired about how we get from Entebbe airport to Kampala to begin the trip. Ben responded that the hotel in Kampala was taken care of and said he would change the hotels.

When we arrived we were picked up in Entebbe, Uganda airport and driven about 45 minutes to Kampala to our hotel. The hotel was very basic accommodations, not something we would have chosen ourselves after traveling on 2 long haul flights for almost 22 hours. Breakfast was included, but was white toast and overripe bananas.

We met Ben and our guide in the morning, at which point we were told that we had to pay for the hotel and the cab ride from the airport on the spot. This was not communicated to us when he said it was taken care of. I would have certainly booked a cleaner, more comfortable accommodation had I been given the information, as there was a Marriot up the street.

In addition, during this initial meeting, we had to settle a small balance on the cost of the trip ($242 payable in USD) which we knew about and had come prepared with USD as instructed. However, upon giving 3 $100 notes Ben informed us that he would only accept bills printed after 2006 and did not have change. Again, a piece of information that would have been helpful to know prior to arrival.

Over the course of the trip, we ran into numerous instances where information was not communicated, which made for an unpleasant trip.  A few of the many examples are:

1. Drinks for dinner were discussed as having to be paid prior to the trip. The assumption here was that this was alcohol, however water with dinners ($.50-$3USD) had to be paid each time in local currency, which ended up being a real hassle going to the respective ATMs which charge fees.
2. All but one hotel was made aware ahead of time that we are vegetarians, and that was only because we made the guide call them in advance, causing them to have to scramble to get a meal prepared for us. Most expected us to eat pizza, which is fine for a day, but not 8 in a row. Furthermore, we expressly told them in advance we do not eat bread or cheese, so do not eat pizza at home, so why would we lower our standards and eat this on holiday? Therefore, most dinner ended up consisting of shredded cabbage, shredded carrots, sometimes cucumber and maybe an occasional avocado. This continued throughout the trip, ham and cheese sandwiches for packed lunches while hiking, and insufficient quantities and quality of food that we didn’t eat.  Dangerous when strenuously hiking 7+ hours with summits exceeding 3000m.
3. Hotels that I had requested changed were changed to worse accommodations. Cleanliness was abysmal at the hotels and basic amenities were missing (heat, electricity, hot water).
4. Itinerary was poorly built with a lot of down time and no direction, options to do, and extremely long hours in an uncomfortable, dirty car, which we later found out our driver was sleeping in. We had to find internet cafes and find options to do in towns nearby to hotels. Often we were told it was not possible due to limits on gas or entry fees, or time.

Less than halfway through our trip after sleeping poorly, having limited activities, and not eating properly we asked to be brought to the airport to end the trip early. The guide and Ben became alarmed and eventually they heard our concerns and agreed to meet in the middle in terms of hotels and food. The next two nights were fine, passable, and just met our expectations in terms of basic comfort and access to food. We were able to get a salad and have a warm shower.  Basics. When we arrived in DR Congo we were transferred to a new guide, Noel from ?Matumba safaris. The hotel they had booked, Caritas, was completely inadequate and we asked to switch -- the hotel name which we had never been given before arrival. We were told that we would have to pay to switch and pay for the food, even though the day before we discussed the option of 3 hotels and that Ben would accommodate us in any of them if we didn’t care for the first one.  When we crossed into the DR Congo, the guide had a different story.  We were told for one of the lodges it was an additional $379 and $400 for him to take us there.  We switched to the Ihusi Hotel in Goma which was a dump but we had no alternative.  We were then forced to pay for our dinner (so no full board) and upon check out had to cough up another $74 in USD bills printed after 2006.  We contested this with the DRC guide and called Tom and Ben and they did nothing.  Our hike did not start until after 1030am so it was pointless to even stay in the DRC the night before as the border opens at 6am and there would have been plenty of time to stay in Hotel Malahide (the one hotel in Rwanda that was somewhat comfortable and had food we could eat). Mind you we were really at the end of our ropes after a week -- we had both skipped numerous lunches due to no food, and were only eating a small amount of a few vegetables --  the food portion was well underpriced.  Food costs were never more than 50,000 Ugandan shilling for both of our meals – less than $15 a meal.  We asked to see menus and had an online converter to verify.

We then go for our overnight on Nyiragonga the next day the cook was again not informed of us being vegetarians and we were stranded without food on the volcano. We were offered ham and cheese sandwiches again and sausages for dinner.  This was inexcusable.

We also would like to point out that we were the only 2 on the custom safari so any requests should have been honoured as we paid “more” so we did not have to accommodate an entire group and various demands.  Our driver also ate with us at our table during meals, which is entirely inappropriate even after we asked him to sit somewhere else.  We did not spend over $6,000 to go on vacation with some stranger.

Overall, what should have been an adventurous, fun, active, comfortable, relaxing vacation in the outdoors it turned into an miserable, uncomfortable, hungry, dirty, zombie-like 9 days that we “survived”.  There was very poor communication, lack of direction and planning, and an overall uncaring of how guests felt during the entire trip. It was disappointing and a terrible experience.  

We felt that it was a bait and switch and with ersatz accommodations, planning was one on the fly, and we were extremely overcharged for room and board.  We have made the following chart below “Costs” to outline what the actual expenses were.  Industry standard for markup/commission ranges from 10-20%. Even on the high side of that range that makes the total cost about $4200, not $6200 plus the $150 we had to pay the first night for the airport transfer and hotel and the $100 we had to pay for the upcharge hotel in DRC and food.

It is for these reasons that we are demanding a refund of $2250.  If we do not receive this in 7 days the we will pursue further legal action against Hog Safaris with the Uganda Tourism Board at www.visituganda.com as well as the Ministry of Tourism at tourism.go.ug as well as maintaining this post on TripAdvisor and Condé Nast Traveler travel sites, as well as several Ugandan travel blogs (Muzungubloguganda.com, gadvertures.com, nina-travels.com, fathomaway.com to name a few).


Itinerary (provided by Hog Safaris on June 24)

The itinerary will now briefly run as follows:
Day 1(28/8/15)-Pick you from your Kampala hotel after breakfast and drive
to Fort Portal. Lunch stop enroute. Dinner and overnight at Dutchess
hotel.
Day 2(29/8)-Hike Mt Rwenzori- parked lunch. Dinner and overnight Dutchess.
 "  3(30/8)-Drive to Queen Elizabeth park via craters in Kibale area.
Lunch stop at Kasese. Overnight Bush camp-F/B.
Day 4(31/8)-Drive to Ishasha sector for game drive.
            PM-Drive to Bwindi gorilla park-Ruhija sector.O/n Tavern.
 "  5(1/9)-Gorilla tracking. Drive to Kisoro for O/night.
 "  6(2/9)-Hike Mt Sabinyo. O/n Kisoro.
 "  7(3/9)-Drive to Kyanika Uganda/Rwanda boarder. Proceed to Gisenyi
Rwanda/DRC boarder. O/n Goma hotel.
Day 8(4/9)-Hike Nyiragomgo volcano. O/n camping in the mountain.
 "  9(5/9)-Descend and drive to Kigali. You will be dropped off at
Kanombe airport for your homebound flight.

The price will now be Usd2406 per person after deducting expenses to
overnight in the Rwenzoris(Usd 150).

Additional cost will be Usd 600 for the gorilla permit.
Visas will be Usd 60 -multiple for Rwanda.
Usd 100 for DRC.

The total transfer will be Usd 2406+600=Usd 3006 per person.

Costs

Total for 2 people 3555

Hotel Dutchess 75
Dutchess 75
Bush Camp 110
Gift of Nature 120
Virunga 80
Virunga 80
Caritas 100 Food
Permit Gorilla 600
Gorilla 600
Nyriagonga 250
Nyriagonga 250
Meals Dutchess 50
Lunches 50
Visas DRC 100
DRC 100
Permit Queen Elizabeth 100 Car
Queen Elizabeth 60 People
Sabyinyo 80
Sabyinyo 80
Rwenzori 35
Rwenzori 35
Transport Gas 450
Etc Porters 75