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My terrible Dragoman experience in Africa
The following is a letter I sent to Dragoman HQ regarding a 5-week
over land trip through east and south Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe). Below my letter is their response. I encourage everyone I know to not travel with Dragoman unless you are looking for a Contiki (http://www.contiki.com) drink and sex fest without spending any meaningful time in national parks looking at 'real' animals. ---------- BEGIN LETTER TO DRAGOMAN -------------- August 29, 2003 Dragoman Camp Green, Kenton Road Debenham, Suffolk IP146LA, England Dear Customer Relations Representative: Trip East and South Africa Date: May 2-June 10, 2003 Leader: Bryrony Carne Co-driver: Greg Hill Cook: Dave My friend and I recently returned from an overland trip in "East and South Africa" lead by Bryony Carne and Greg Hill. We chose to travel with Dragoman after hearing from friends about their satisfaction with the package. We thoroughly enjoyed the countries visited on the itinerary. However, the crew displayed poor attitude and lacked organization and leadership skills. The specifics are detailed in the following paragraphs and will explain how Dragoman's good reputation has been definitely scarred in our view! The trip began poorly organized with only one trip leader, Bryony, prepared to depart from Nairobi, Kenya. We were informed that the second leader was going to be flying in from Nepal to Kenya as soon as possible. Consequently, the progress of our trip was delayed as the whole tour group wasted a day near Nakuru waiting for the second leader to arrive. We should have kept to the schedule and let the co-driver catch up with us instead. Another problem was encountered at the start of the trip. There was insufficient number of locker keys available for each and every passenger. Bryony was short 3 sets of locker/truck keys. This created a major inconvenience as some of the passengers had to share keys. Despite repeated requests to have more keys to be cut as soon as possible, Bryony took over 4 weeks to make enough keys for each passenger. We finally possessed our individual set of locker/truck keys on the last 4 days before the end of the trip. Bryony's personal agenda conflicted with the group's ideas on several occasions. Changes were made quite frequently to the itinerary by Bryony. She chose to not visit Masi Mara because of her fear that we would likely get stuck in the mud. Despite some passengers' request to visit an alternate National Park or spend extra day in the Serengeti, she refused to consider these alternative options. This was extremely disappointing and inconsiderate especially after the truck got stuck for five hours in a mud hole in the Serengeti within one hour of entering this park. Bryony rushed us through and out of Serengeti National Park the next morning offering little time to appreciate much game viewing. We have traveled a long way from North America to enjoy the beauty of the Serengeti and paid a fair amount of money not to be driven through this park like we were competing in a rally car race! Bryony's personal agenda again clashed with her passengers later on the trip when she wanted to spend more than 5 days on lake Malawi (5 days was far too long), as well as staying longer on the houseboats in Lake Kariba. She seemed much more interested in relaxing and partying on beaches rather than incorporating quality game viewing time in national parks as requested by many passengers. Even to change something as simple as having dinnertime earlier, Bryony did not want to listen to the group. The change occurred three weeks later only after John, a frustrated passenger, strongly stated, "you have to start listening to you paying customers." Our trust in Bryony was questionable throughout the trip. At the beginning of the trip, she insisted on managing the "kitty" by herself. There was no discussion or vote. Furthermore, she directly refused any assistance offered from Julie, a passenger who's an accountant. This decision surprised several passengers who had experienced previous Dragoman excursions where at least one passenger assisted with managing the kitty. Her map reading skills were not trustworthy either. Bryony got lost on the way to a campsite in Kenya. She drove past the turn-off for over an hour before considering turning around. She had to ask for help from a couple passengers to find the correct turn off. These two passengers had been at that campsite only once before a month ago. We felt that Bryony to be an inconsiderate driver. She demonstrated poor vehicle control and poor consideration for the group by not slowing down for speed bumps. Passengers sitting in the rear were often airborne from their seats as she sped over the speed humps. Passengers sitting at the back were yelling for her to slow down over the bumps continuously over the five weeks of the journey. Furthermore, she refused to stop the truck when a couple passengers suffered from diarrhea. Despite their urgent request to use the toilet at the roadside, Bryony insisted and required them to hold on for another hour. On many occasions, she began driving off before checking whether all passengers were on board or if the truck door was closed yet. Through the national parks, she was speeding and not always stopping for passengers wanting to take photographs. She also drove right off the road, into a mud hole and got the truck stuck for 5 hours in the Serengeti. Fortunately, some locals happened to come by and helped us out just before sunset. This was an awful way to spend time in Serengeti National Park. The next day Bryony drove the front wheels of the truck into a ditch while reversing out of a parking space. Her poor driving skills added many stressful moments on the trip. One military check point guard even said, "I was very scared. I was very scared you weren't going to stop." To which Bryony laughed in his face. The leaders of this trip showed communication skills that were unprofessional and inappropriate at times. Early in the trip, Bryony and Greg told the group they needed to get a permit to do "on/off shore drilling." I have enclosed a copy for your viewing. They also stated that if one did not ask the trip leaders for a permit and was found out, the punishment was to run around the truck in the nude. A few days later at dinner, both Bryony and Greg ran around the truck naked to advertise that they have copulated. One morning in Victoria Falls, the trip leaders took the truck for maintenance without letting anyone know that they were planning to do this or for how long. This lack of communication was a huge inconvenience to the group. Had we been told in advance, we would have removed needed articles and money from the truck prior. We, amongst many other passengers, were greatly inconvenienced by not having money or camera for the day and evening activities because the truck had still not returned by 5pm. Bryony lacked leadership in maintaining that respective individuals satisfactorily completed the assigned truck duties. As a result the truck, stayed filthy for most of the trip because the truck sweepers were not urged to do their assigned task. When the back locker crew were throwing the backpack and bags around like potato sacks, I asked them to be more careful as there may be breakable items in any of the luggage bags. Bryony told me to remove my breakable items without requesting or encouraging the back locker crew to handle the bags more considerately. The community projects high lighted in your brochure were for the most part very disappointing. The community visit in Malawi included a walk through the village, visiting the exterior of an empty medical clinic after hours (no patients or staff,) and visiting a school after hours (no classes in session.) Money was donated to the community but no opportunity to participate or directly interact. In Tanzania we visited a Masi village and observed men and young children singing and dancing. Then we were encouraged to buy handicrafts from the women's market. In Zambia, a visit to an anti- poaching program, and medical clinic was organized. Again, money was donated but there was little to no interaction. The meal plan on this overland journey lacked variety. Dave basically cooked the same food each night. This consisted of some kind of "tomato sauce" with rice or pasta for dinner. Our chef master which was advertised on your brochure did not introduce us to any interesting local cuisine. He would refuse to buy more fruit even when several passengers and the leader requested it. In addition, he demonstrated poor hygiene while cooking by not washing his hands before handling food. He also used the same spoon to sample foods multiple times, and even picking up items with his hands then licking his hands and then continuing to touch more of the food. This might not have been a problem except for the fact that a gastrointestinal bug circulated through the passengers on the truck over two weeks. At one point, we ran even out of detol (or an alternative antiseptic). Most of the time, 19 pairs of hands were being washed in approximately 750ml of water, which was not enough to cover your hands when you placed them flat in the washbasin. This situation certainly contributed to the spread of diarrhea problems to the passengers. We definitely would not recommend to our friends or colleague, to travel with Dragoman if this is the practice on all of your trips. Bryony holds a disrespectful attitude. The current situation is thong underwear with the buttocks cleavage hanging out, see through bras and tank tops exposing the bra very well. We found it ironic that this leader was advising other female passengers to cover their shoulders in Muslim communities while she continued to wear the same tank top attire. She also insensitively complained about previous trip's passengers, including an older man who wanted to stop frequently to look at birds, and a woman Bryony found very irritating. Finally, Bryony requested the group to complete your comment sheet but did not provide each of us with an envelope. She informed the group that she would not give back the kitty refunds until she received a comment sheet back from everyone. I have enclosed my original comment sheet for your viewing. We had saved up for several years to do this once in a lifetime trip. While we enjoyed finally experiencing Africa, our experience on this trip has left us in extremely poor taste with Dragoman. We would only consider traveling with Dragoman again, if we were offered at least 50% discount on future bookings. Dragoman should be sensitive and aware of how the company is being represented by their tour group leaders. Only satisfied, valued customers look forward to future vacations with Dragoman. --------------- LETTER TO DRAGOMAN ENDS ---------------- ************************************************** ****************** --------------- LETTER FROM DRAGOMAN BEGINS ---------------- September 2003 Letter received from Dragoman representative Tom Nugent: Dear Nadine & Friend, First of all I am delighted to learn that you both enjoyed travelling through the countries you visited so much, it really is an amazing place! I am however disappointed to hear that you have some qualms about both the trip and the leader. I will endeavour to answer your questions as best I can. I will reply to your questions in order for ease of clarification. We realise that there was an initial inconvenience as Greg was delayed in joining the trip. Regrettably due to unforeseen staffing issues in Asia and their knock on effects, Greg became delayed. I agree that it may have been preferential to have him join the trip at a later date, but there are important group safety issues involved in running adventurous trips, especially at the commencement of a trip, when leaders are unsure of passenger's confidence, and personality. We appreciate that this is ill fated but the nature of over-landing through third world areas means that this type of scenario is often part of the experience. With reference to locker keys. It is of course not ideal having to share locker keys, however experience has taught us that getting keys cut at ‘any old ‘road side locksmiths,' habitually ends with disappointing results due to the inaccurate methods used by local trades people. However impractical, in normal circumstances it does not become an issue, as groups tend to stick together for reasons of safety or group roles. The programme trips follow is always liable to variations due to both the rapidly changing physical, and socio-cultural conditions of such an area. In this case heavy localised rainfall, and invaluable advise from local people dissuaded Bryony from attempting to take the truck into the Masai, conjoined with the fact that there is rarely an abundance of wildlife following heavy rains. A delay of 5 hours in an area Bryony had not been advised against travelling to, could have easily turned into a much more lengthy issue once in the Masai. I also understand that the group discussed the changes to the route, and signed accordingly to consent to the changes. With regard to the timings of the evening meal, there are a number of variants. It is obviously hinged on the sundown time for that area, however other passengers are also considered as people commonly decide to eat earlier on so that they have more of the evening free to themselves. I believe that when the issue arose regarding the kitty a misunderstanding may have occurred. Yes the kitty controller is generally offered to the passengers, however Bryony had said that it is a boring time-consuming job, and she would easily complete it on your behalf. She also thought that asking an accountant to do her accounts whilst on holidays might have been a little audacious. Map reading ‘on route' is more often than not all part of the overland experience, with many passengers preferring that ‘uncertainty' as part of their adventure. Bryony apologises for any inconvenience, but recognises that even she cannot remember exact routes for each trip. Whilst on all parts of Dragoman trip, leaders are constantly aware of the results of their actions on the environment. For many local people, and other road users, vehicles pulling over in certain areas for toilet stops is likely to cause both offence, and animosity, which will only serve to effect future trips in the area. It is of course inconvenient especially if it is an emergency stop, but again, there are wider implications to be considered. Driving the over-land vehicles is an arduous task, and a vehicle becoming stuck after dropping a wheel into a hole is not un-common. Road conditions are obviously not perfect in these areas and small incidents such as this often occur unfortunately. Answering you question about the cleanliness of the truck. Bryony has said that after explaining that the truck will be home for the trip, keeping it clean and tidy is the groups responsibility. Although a trip leader will liase between passengers, she admits that she did not feel as though she had to act as an intermediary. We agree with you that the leaders idea of introducing ‘permits' was altogether inappropriate for this group, and as such have reprimanded their conduct. Although suggested in good humour Bryony has also expressed regret for this and realises that this may have been an inapt thing to introduce. The community project did incur a setback as the visit to the planned community had to be curtailed due to flooding. Trying to salvage the situation, the hospital visit was introduced as Bryony thought it might interest. Again these types of setbacks are not infrequent when working in the third world; nevertheless we rely on our leaders to make the best out of the situation. Dragoman are currently trying to establish greater bonds with more ‘hands on' projects, such as the re-building of schools etc. You state that the meal lacked variety throughout the trip. We believe if anyone can make the best out of local food it is our African cooks. Cooking conditions are not ideal when cooking in the field, and the reality of many places is that some foods are both more readily available, and are more often ‘safe' than others. It is regrettable that no fruit was available, but I am sure Dave would not have ‘refused' to buy it, rather avoid buying fruit that he deemed not worth eating. Bryony encounters similar problems to other leaders when leading trips. Working in the outdoors, and also on the truck is a messy affair. Leaders generally try to keep one set of clothing for clean times, and one for day work. Combined with the general lack of space for equipment, appearance can at times appear slack. As to having to view Bryony's undergarments, she apologises if she has caused offence. Firstly we thank-you for enclosing your trip questionnaire. We regard the post trip questionnaires an integral part of every trip we run, as it is often the key to developing our tours. This may have been reflected in Bryony's ardour, when trying to acquire the post trip questionnaires from passengers. The connection she introduced with the kitty money was purely her way of offering an inducement to assist her collect reports. Finally we appreciate you taking the time to offer us invaluable advice, which we plan to assess as part of our continuous improvement programme. There are areas on every overland trip where unfortunately setbacks are incurred, and in the majority we have to attribute it to the diverse areas in which we operate. Both Bryony and ourselves have welcomed the feedback you have offered, and hope that we can act on various points you have mentioned. Regarding any future trips with Dragoman. Although we have noted your distaste with Dragoman at this time, we are unable to offer you a 50 % discount on future trips. We do however hope that you will accept our offer of a 20% discount on future trips. Thank-you again for your feedback, and please don't hesitate to contact me should you have any further questions. Yours sincerely Tom Nugent --------------- LETTER FROM DRAGOMAN ENDS ---------------- |
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My terrible Dragoman experience in Africa
Be sure and read both letters.
The client (obviously) has emphasized the issues that bothered her. Judge for yourself. But the response from the Dragoman representative is offensive in almost every respect. Just one dismissive reply after another. You could summarize his remarks easily: "We don't think our staff did anything wrong, except maybe that time they created the 'screwing' permits, which they admit may have been inapt". As for the screwing the guides themselves did to each other, he has no comment at all. |
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My terrible Dragoman experience in Africa
Dave Patterson wrote:
But the response from the Dragoman representative is offensive in almost every respect. Just one dismissive reply after another. I think they've probably gotten a lot of these letters in the past. I would guess that if only one person writes in to complain about things - and if that person goes into minutiae such as who managed the kitty, etc.) then they might be less likely to take some of the points raised with extreme gravity. There's a "two sides to every story" aspect that was peeking out here (before I got to the reply), and the laundry list of gripes diminished the impact of the handful of things that might really have been significant, by making the person seem like a compulsive complainer (whether or not she is - it may just have seemed to her like a more effective way to write the letter). Still, to me it seems like the leader either (A) had poor communication skills, at least in dealing with this customer, or (B) really was a bit shifty in forging after-the-fact explanations for rude behavior. But in the very likely case of (A) I'm more apt to give the benefit of the doubt. You could summarize his remarks easily: "We don't think our staff did anything wrong, except maybe that time they created the 'screwing' permits, which they admit may have been inapt". As for the screwing the guides themselves did to each other, he has no comment at all. If they did it in private (leaving aside the nude run) I don't see how it's a legitimate issue. miguel -- Hit The Road! Photos and tales from around the world: http://travel.u.nu |
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My terrible Dragoman experience in Africa
Miguel Cruz wrote:
If they did it in private (leaving aside the nude run) I don't see how it's a legitimate issue. Right. But they did the nude run specifically to show their guests on the trip that they did "do it". |
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My terrible Dragoman experience in Africa
Dave Patterson wrote:
Miguel Cruz wrote: If they did it in private (leaving aside the nude run) I don't see how it's a legitimate issue. Right. But they did the nude run specifically to show their guests on the trip that they did "do it". You won't catch me defending the nude run! Such things may have their time and place but only if it's very clear that nobody's going to get offended. miguel -- Hit The Road! Photos and tales from around the world: http://travel.u.nu |
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My terrible Dragoman experience in Africa
We had saved up for several years to do this once in a lifetime trip.
While we enjoyed finally experiencing Africa, our experience on this trip has left us in extremely poor taste with Dragoman. We would only consider traveling with Dragoman again, if we were offered at least 50% discount on future bookings. Dragoman should be sensitive and aware of how the company is being represented by their tour group leaders. Only satisfied, valued customers look forward to future vacations with Dragoman. Humm.... interesting, at the risk of upsetting the applecart I have one query If the trip was so bad why would you want to travel with Dragoman again ? Most people ask for a refund if the trip has been appalling and not up to specification , not discount on another potential horror trip so playing devils advocate I would question some of the motivation of this complaint (ducks and waits to be flamed) Mucky truck - well that was down to the passengers - you can't blame drago, like you point out they are paying passengers Rushing thru the serengeti - the serengeti is very expensive - if you overstay your assigned time you have to pay for another day so you had to get out ! as for geting stuck - well sh*t happens , its all part of the fun The pre-requisite for one of these overland trips is a very laid back approach to life - if you don't have that then the overland companies are not for you (or even travel in africa maybe) I have no connection with Dragoman, just done alot of vehicle dependant travel in africa (independant and overland company) . Rich |
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