Ethio Backpacker Tours
- Office In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2010)
- Member Of:
- ASTA & ITAT
- Tour Types:
- Small & medium group tours (Budget & mid-range)
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $100 to $320 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Your request will be sent directly to the operator
If preferred, you can contact the operator directly
Reviews
Email Dayne Meyer | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fraudulent Company/ Scammed
The reason they are cheap is because the owner (Gashaw) books your flights as if you are an "Ethiopian National" which is 1/4 of the price it should be... Ask me how I know? Because on my final flight back to Addis Ababa I was stopped by the gate agent who said my flight was not for foreigners and took my ticket/ passport away... I called Gashaw in a panic (who played dumb) and said he "didn't know what the agent was talking about" but said he would handle it... As the departure came closer the gate agent said Gashaw still had not paid, and with less than 5 minutes to departure Gashaw said his "internet was not working" and that I would have to pay, but that he would "reimburse me with a wire transfer after"... I knew it was sketch, but I didn't have a choice as it was the last flight out of Lalibela and I needed to catch my international flight that night. As you can guess, he stopped answering my calls and texts after this, and I have not received the reimbursement for the additional flight I was forced to buy... I have spoken to the driver's from my tour, but they have been unsuccessful in getting Gashaw to reimburse me or even respond to my messages either.
Additionally, for each of the flights, Gashaw would text me the confirmation code the night before or morning of, never the full ticket information or payment itself. This was extremely frustrating as someone who likes to plan ahead, but after experiencing this I now understand why... He doesn't want you (or presumably Ethiopian Airlines) to see that he has listed you as an Ethiopian National... When I dug deeper and looked at my other flight tickets, I can see that they were the same and I was simply lucky the gate agents didn't catch it for those ones as well...
Book with ANYONE else, as even if you're ok with the fraud (for whatever reason), the stress associated with his terrible planning/ last minute tickets and lack of communication is not worth the headache...
My previous (positive) review was the day before this occurred. I am working with Safaribookings to have it taken down.
SG
Email Li Yuan (Marcus) | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Extremely bad experience with the Tour Team's planning
Echoing some other travellers concerns, there were things several things that are terribly planned. If the owner (Gashaw) asks you if you wish to let him book your flight on your behalf, do NOT get him to book it for you. Both my guide and I suffered as we had to run in and out the domestic terminal security gates, rebook all the domestic tickets since he booked my Ethiopian flights using Ethiopian National, and he did not add my international Ethiopian airline flight in. In the end, I had to repay all the tickets.
Flights impacted: Addis -> Gondar, Gondar -> Addis, Addis -> Lalibela, Lalibela -> Addis, Addis -> Merkele, Mekele -> Addis (6 tickets)
When I contacted him to get him to pay my guide the money, he tried to feign ignorance and even not returning the call. There was a cancellation of Gondar -> Lalibela flight, causing a huge delay. Requested his assistance to provide the itinerary outline to me to claim against insurance, but no response for 2 months. Missed my flight from Mekele to Addis due to the domestic ticket issue and had to stay extra night incurring additional costs. This is an extremely unprofessional behavior as the issue was not rectified immediately from the 1st instance or 2nd instance. It continued to be an issue for 6 times. This whole delay caused me to miss my cross-continental international flight out of Addis as well.
Do NOT book this Tour, if it goes smoothly, it is luck, and the ill-planning by Gashaw has caused huge losses to me and guide, till now no response has been given.