3 Days Ultimate Victoria Falls Safari in Zimbabwe

The trip overall was decent (6 out of 10). We did have issues when we arrived being placed in a lesser hotel. Per our initial booking we should have been placed at the Shearwater Explorers Village hotel/property, but instead we were forced to stay at the N1 hotel down the road. This was very disappointing and a much different experience than expected. As well, included in our package was lunch at Lookout Cafe after our tour of Victoria Falls. Upon arrival, the driver mentioned that the only charge would be alcohol. After we ate, the staff at the restaurant gave us a bill for the 3 of us. We inquired about the meal being included and no one we spoke to at the restaurant was aware of the meal being included in our package. When the driver arrived, he said he had to speak to someone at the restaurant but did not rectify our issue with payment. Given all of the actions and looking back at the situation, it seems that the coordinator of the tour and hotel may have had some secret “wink-wink agreement” that they would still charge those who had the 3-day package and get some sort of kick back. Lastly, the safari tour seemed to be much lesser quality than promised. In addition, the truck that my family and I was placed in was very old and one of the doors did not properly open. Moreover, the head guide had another gentleman with him who we are assuming may have been training to be a safari guide, but we were never told why the other “guide” would be in the vehicle. The training guide had poor judgment and a few times got too close to the elephants on the tour and we were almost charged by one teenage male elephant. To make matters worse, the trainee was not comfortable driving a manual transmission and stalled out so many times that we eventually got stuck in a sandy area off of the trail and the experienced guide had to drive the truck for the rest of the safari. Based on several issues listed above, we definitely would NOT recommend using the same person (Brighton- Tamuka Travel) that was responsible for this particular 3-day tour. As well, we are requesting refunds for the difference in price for the 2 nights staying at N1 hotel versus the Shearwater Explorers hotel AND the cost of our lunch at Lookout Cafe.

I booked the safari package with Tamuka Travel. I’m disappointed that the confirmation email didn’t include the itinerary to avoid any confusion. The agent assigned to me had poor communication and was unprepared. He asked me what package I purchased when I first arrived. Additionally the hotel that was picked by the company was a “budget hotel”. I’m from the US and expected certain amenities like a mini fridge, an iron, a room phone to call the front desk, a bathroom door that closed fully rather than a sliding one that left gaps open on both sides. I wish I knew ahead of time what exactly I was paying for. Each step of the trip was farmed out to a subcontractor, but that was not communicated most of the time. For example, I was messaging the agent (who by the way didn’t give me his name until I asked once we met in person) my status updates as I was going through customs at the airport. He responded but didn’t say that someone else with a different company name on the van would pick me up. This created an unnecessarily hectic situation. Another time, I was picked up by a new driver to travel from one activity to the next despite the fact that the agent said he would return. The agent was also slow to respond to my messages requesting the pickup time for the next day’s activity. Originally I thought it may have been a delay caused by cellular service issues. But I was very surprised to see the agent walk in to a dinner that a fellow female traveler had invited him to. I guess some priorities were more important for him. Thankfully the guides on the tours were very nice and contributed to an enjoyable experience.

Brighton was excellent in organising our trip after we missed our flight and lost a day. He managed to still fit our activities in the days we had. Both Brighton and Gift were very helpful and always on time. The package was very good value and we saw everything we wanted and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I would recommend this package as a chance to see everything. We also booked a horse ride with Ride Zambezi and were disappointed with the ride overall. We were under the impression we would ride near the river and instead rode around in the dusty bush. The guides were very good and we saw wild animals but in hindsight we would not have done the ride. Shearwater Village accommodation was excellent and far better than we expected. Also located close to restaurants and markets and walking distance to the main shopping area. Thanks Tamuka for a truly memorable holiday.