Biwakwango
- Located In:
- Size:
- 1-5 employees (Founded in 2001)
- Member Of:
- Southern Africa Tourism Services Association
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $129 to $1,615 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
FR
Email Didier | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Biwakwango with Kgato Safaris 1/5: To be avoided. Prices top of the lines for services down of range
Biwakwango associated with Kgato Safaris 1/5: To be avoided. Prices top of the lines for services down of the range, or even much less!
Namibia part, rather poor, ensured by Thierry Pagnot, owner of Biwakwango. Very old vehicle without any comfort (rough suspensions, no air conditioning and no comfort equipment available in the fleet of other 4x4s such as refrigerators, chargers, etc.). Very ordinary animal guide (by far the worst on the 4 safaris experienced previously) and does what he wants without taking into account our wishes (we completely missed sites like Swakopmund, according to the people we met at the end of travel). In addition, he is someone who saves money on everything, hence the daily hungry and tasteless picnics, bottled water distributed by droppers (we had to buy it several times) and a problem of Accommodation over the 3 days at Ngepi camp for which we had to fight to get something decent. Other accommodations in Namibia were OK.
But the worst by far was the Botswana part which he subcontracted to a structure with which he is used to working, Kgato safaris run by a pastor named BK. It was truly a nightmare. 4x4 with trailer out of breath, overloaded and with worn tires. On the vehicle side, 3 predictable punctures with, for the first on the 1st day, the need for a repairer waited more than 1 hour because there was no jack in the 4x4. Several getting stuck in the sand with our help to collect branches of tree to put under the tires (no sand removal plate) and to push and even once to transport luggage and equipment a few hundred meters to reach the camp, the 4x4 being in waiting for other vehicles to be towed and get out of this mess (safari on evening canceled due to the late arrival and our tiredness. A fire started in our feet due to the faulty power supply in a fridge and which could have ended very badly. An engine overheated several times which required several stops, culminating in the explosion of the radiator which put an end, before the end, to our journey with this unprofessional structure, to say the least, that is Kgato Safaris and its boss BK. After hours of waiting in full sun (40° in the shade), we were rescued by Tony from Tony Mobile Safaris who we can never thank enough for getting us out of this bad situation and who led us to Kasane is 3 hours of slopes away, despite the 3 clients he was transporting who were kind enough to accept that we join their team. Not from Chobe River but finally extracted from this hell.
The only positive point is that the cook and BK's aide-de-camp, very friendly and always smiling, did their best to make our stay a little less stressful (in particular, the food was very good). Note that the so-called purified water was in fact that of the self-service tap at the entrance to each reserve via a large plastic pipe lying on the ground (another lie from BK).
But the worst part of all that is not there. We could have accepted all these hazards tinged with amateurism if at least we had been able to explore the Okavango Delta as we dreamed of since it was the essential reason for this expensive trip. Instead, to save money, BK and his Kgato Safaris have set up their camps outside areas of interest. For example, for the Moremi Game Reserve, they set up camp for us at Xini Lagoon, more than 20 km of track from the Moremi area indicated on the “Tracks 4 Africa” map. The place was dry and uninteresting while the photos and videos taken by Tony Mobile Safaris clients testified to this magical place that we completely missed. Same for Khwai and Savuti. I didn't take any photos during certain safaris as the areas explored were so uninteresting.
We therefore completely missed out on our trip, particularly in the Okavango, and this, mainly because of Thierry Pagnot from Biwakwango who bears full responsibility for organizing this entire awful trip.
Reply from Biwakwango
Posted on Oct 16, 2023Thank you very much Didier for this edifying feedback. After 15 days in your company, I expected nothing less, your comments reflect the man that you are: a disappointing inability of appreciating the beauty of things and all the efforts we make to make the journey most interesting, unique and exciting. If you had brought a little moderation in your feedback, I would have happily responded constructively, but such a display of negativity and hypocrisy becomes almost laughable. Because the truth is that this trip to Namibia went perfectly without any hitch and that we saw and did wonderful things there, most often far from the beaten track and in very pleasant charming camps. What about our walks on the dunes and Dead vlei, alone far from the crowds, our walk in Damaraland at dawn, our lions sighting at the waterhole, cheetah, leopard, hundreds of elephants, herd of sable antelopes to mention just few examples? A superb day full of wonders has no effect on your mood, you will only remember the small detail that was not to your taste. Fortunately there were your older brother and sister to balance your heavy attitude. Your poor sister, unfortunately for her, was your main scapegoat and would have done without your arrogance and incessant reproaches.
Didier will remain the most unpleasant customer in my 20 years of guiding. We have our reviews on this platform and many others which attest to our reliability and standard of service. Didier is the customer that no one wants to have! And I can only warn all tour operators approached by this individual to think twice before accepting him... In fact from the start he warned me that he had already had two bad safari experiences with agencies and guides in other countries. Then he wanted to obtain unjustified discounts. Then the payment terms did not suit him. In short, a lot of signs that should have warned me from the start.
I will only give 2 examples (among many others) to illustrate this gentleman’s bad faith. He mentions the 3 nights at Ngepi camp. Although it is true that we had a small problem with the accommodation upon arrival (1 room was missing), I solved the issue in 20 minutes and everything was back to normal. If there were comments to make about Ngepi it would have been to say that it is an exceptional, unique and superb camp! That we had wonderful sightings of hundreds of elephants, sable antelopes, a nice mokoro safari on the Kavango river, that we heard the lions roaring just on the other side of the river every night, an exceptional experience on its own. This is what he could have said. But this insignificant negative remark he makes, what is the point, for what purpose?
In Botswana, it was my partner's turn to suffer his moods for the next 7 days. Didier complained every day that he would have liked to do his safari in a closed vehicle and not an open one, and that supposedly this is what I would have mentioned in my documents! This is of course a shameful lie but what's more, who wants to go on a safari in a closed vehicle in Botswana? Nobody of course! And if he had done this safari in a closed vehicle, there is no doubt that Didier would have protested (this time rightly). Didier was of course careful not to mention this absurd complaint which would have totally discredited his display of negativity and bad faith...
An experience with this man as a guide and tour operator that I would have done without…