Johills Travel Agency

Very disappointing experience with Johills – deposit ultimately refunded in full

In June 2026, we booked a fully organised 14-day private safari for six adults in Botswana with Johills Travel Agency, scheduled for April 2027. We paid a deposit of approximately €4,740. Johills confirmed receipt and assured us that preparations and reservations would begin.

Unfortunately, the problems started with the very first quotations and invoices. These repeatedly contained errors, including incorrect travel dates, activities assigned to the wrong locations, and even an invoice bearing another customer's name and an entirely different tour description. I constantly had to check documents myself, identify mistakes and request corrections. The biggest problem, however, was the lack of visible progress with our reservations over several months.

Our original itinerary included five nights at Chobe Game Lodge, two nights at Planet Baobab, three nights at Khwai Hippo Pool and three nights at Camp Xakanaxa. These were the accommodations on which the proposed safari package was based. Despite paying our deposit in June 2026 and being assured that preparations would begin, we still had not received satisfactory booking confirmations months later. Ultimately, Johills failed to secure a single one of the four accommodations originally promised to us.

A major turning point was when I contacted Planet Baobab directly. In September 2026, their reservations team confirmed in writing that they had received nothing from Johills regarding our proposed booking. I found this extremely concerning, as Johills had promised months earlier that reservations would begin. In October, Friedrich then informed us that Planet Baobab only had availability for one of our two requested nights. He also disputed the information I had received directly from Planet Baobab. To my surprise, I was then able to book both of our originally planned nights, 10–12 April 2027, directly with Planet Baobab within a single day. I cannot know exactly what Johills had done in the meantime, but this sequence of events seriously undermined my trust.

Only when I started pressing more firmly for clarity and concrete solutions did various alternative accommodations begin to appear. Friedrich sent Booking.com confirmations for hotels and lodges that differed considerably from our original itinerary. Every one of these reservations was free to cancel, and they were bookings I could just as easily have made myself as an ordinary customer. There is nothing inherently wrong with refundable reservations. However, after months without convincing confirmations for the original accommodations, these bookings offered me very little reassurance. They could, after all, be cancelled again without charge. By then, my confidence had already been seriously damaged, partly because of the information I had received directly from Planet Baobab. The constant changes to accommodations and arrangements continued, without a clear and reliable overall itinerary emerging.

One striking example was the sudden addition of an overnight stay in Maun. Without any prior discussion, a hotel in Maun suddenly appeared among Johills' proposals. Originally, we were supposed to spend our final night at Camp Xakanaxa and travel to Maun the following day for our return flight. An overnight stay in Maun had never been part of our agreement. Johills proposed, among other options, The Three Tree Hotel: three standard rooms for six people, costing less than €150 in total for one night. This was a completely different type of accommodation from the safari lodges in our original itinerary. Although we were eventually willing to accept an overnight stay in Maun, this did not mean that we automatically considered every proposed hotel suitable. Our main frustration was the way arrangements kept changing without clear explanations or prior consultation.

The travel logistics were also inconvenient from the outset. Before booking our flights, I had suggested flying directly to Victoria Falls, as this would be the first destination on our trip. However, Johills advised us to fly into Kasane because of our planned five-night stay at Chobe Game Lodge. Although that route was less practical, we accepted it because of the beautiful accommodation and because Johills would be arranging all transportation. When Johills subsequently failed to secure Chobe Game Lodge, we were left with flights to Kasane. We now have to arrange and pay for additional transfers from Kasane to Victoria Falls and then back into Botswana. This means unnecessary travel time, an additional border crossing and extra transport costs, even though I had suggested a more logical route before we booked our flights.

Quad biking on the Makgadikgadi salt pans, which had been included in our itinerary from the beginning, also led to considerable discussion and uncertainty. An alternative near Maun was even suggested. Johills eventually stated that the original activity had been arranged, but only after extensive correspondence. Throughout the entire process, we genuinely tried to make the trip work. We were willing to accept considerably less luxurious accommodations because the safari experience itself mattered more to us than luxury.

Eventually, I offered to book and pay for certain accommodations directly myself. I was increasingly worried that suitable accommodation would become unavailable and wanted some certainty about where we would be staying. I was also reluctant to transfer any more money to Johills while so many arrangements remained unclear. This was entirely my own initiative. It certainly did not mean that we wanted to take over the organisation of the entire trip. That was precisely why we had hired a travel company in the first place.

On 18 October 2026, Johills informed us that the original itineraries were essentially no longer valid and that we should arrange accommodation and activities ourselves. This was a far cry from the fully organised safari we had booked. On 19 October 2026, we therefore terminated the agreement and requested a refund of our deposit. To be fair, Johills ultimately refunded our entire deposit of €4,740. I appreciate that Friedrich honoured his commitment, and I believe it is important to acknowledge this.

However, the refund does not erase the time, uncertainty and stress this experience caused me. This special family holiday is intended to celebrate my parents' 40th wedding anniversary. What should have been an enjoyable planning experience turned into months of checking, chasing answers, discussing changes and searching for solutions. In the end, I organised the entire trip myself, alongside my full-time job. After two weeks of intensive email correspondence, I had arranged the accommodations, activities, transfers and other logistics. It took an enormous amount of time and energy, but remarkably, I achieved more certainty in those two weeks than I had during almost four months of dealing with Johills. I now have direct contact with the providers, know exactly what has been agreed, and can finally look forward to our holiday with peace of mind and confidence.

We never actually travelled with Johills, so I cannot comment on their guides or the quality of their safaris. My review relates solely to our personal experience with the planning process, communication, reservations and agreed arrangements.

Despite receiving our deposit back in full, based on our experience, I would not recommend Johills Travel Agency.