Warning - Conned by Bondei Tours Ltd.

Warning - Conned by Bondei Tours Ltd.

I holidayed in Tanzania in September and October 2000. I booked a Safari and two mountain treks (Meru and Kilimanjaro) with a Tanzanian/Danish tour operator called Bondei Tours Ltd. (www.bondei-tours.dk) in advance by email. The company delivered the tour that I had booked but not without a number of problems and a loan from me of 250 USD that, along with a promised refund of a further 160 USD, I am still trying to make them pay.

The gory details are as follows:

My initial contact with Bondei was via their web site and the Danish end of their operation. The Danish end is a guy called Mads Jensen who answered all my email questions promptly and succinctly. This professional, matter of fact, approach won my confidence and I picked Bondei over the other operators I was in contact with. Price was also a factor but the amount I agreed with Bondei was mid-range (according to Lonely Planet) and not the cheapest.

I paid 30% up front by transfer to a Danish bank account and the rest in cash on arrival.

The mountain treks went OK apart from our guide on Kilimanjaro, who was supposed to be devoted to my girlfriend and I, being booked with another group of trekkers as well. Luckily, we all got on well and walked about the same pace so this wasn't really a big deal but it was counter to what I had agreed with Bondei and paid for.

The real problems came with the Safari. On the first day, our driver and another Bondei employee came to pick us up and I had to loan them 50 USD to help them pay the hotel. I was assured I would get the money back the next day by Frank Mwoga, the Bondei manager in Arusha. Another client of Bondei was going to join us on the second day at Lake Manyara to share the rest of the safari and Frank would send the 50 USD with the transfer driver.

On the first night we stayed at the TAHI lodge at Lake Manyara and the following morning Frank 'phoned to tell me that the other client wouldn't be joining us for another day and to ask me to loan the driver another 200 USD to allow him to pay for the petrol and park fees for the day. Again, Frank assured me that he would send money for me with the transfer driver. I was far from happy about this but I had to pay because I wanted the Safari to continue.

Next day, the other client turned up but the transfer driver had no money for me. Another 'phone call to Frank ensued and he assured me that I would be repaid at the end of the safari back in Arusha. Again, I wanted the safari to continue so I had to accept this. However, I made it clear to Frank that no further money would be forthcoming.

On to Serengeti and two nights at the TAHI lodge at Seronera. On returning to the lodge for the second night the lodge management wouldn't let us into our rooms unless we paid the bill (nearly 400 USD) because Bondei hadn't. We refused (me, my girlfriend and the other client) to pay any more and had to sit in reception for four hours until the lodge management relented and let us take our rooms.

My girlfriend and I had a re-run of this caper on the last night of the safari checking into the Kirurumu Tented Village near Lake Manyara because Bondei hadn't paid the bill again. We were told that Bondei had owed the proprietors of Kirurumu money for some time and the proprietors (quite reasonably) were insisting on payment in advance. Incidentally, the management at Kirurumu were much more sympathetic than the TAHI management at Seronera and agreed a much reduced rate with us if Bondei didn't come up with the money. Bondei paid the money but not until after another awkward wait.

Back in Arusha, Frank couldn't pay the 250 USD because Bondei's Tanzanian accounts had been sequestered by the Tanzanian Inland Revenue(!). He promised that the money would be transferred into my bank account from one of their accounts in Denmark along with a refund of 160 USD within a few days and gave me a signed letter recording this. Again, I had to take him at his word because our schedule took us to Dar es Salaam early the next day to catch a flight to Mafia Island. The money has yet to be repaid.

These were the main events but the whole was a never ending sequence of delays, arguments and hassle that made it hard to enjoy the holiday. My own view is that Bondei are not out and out crooks (they delivered the holiday - sort of) but that their cash management depends upon a stream of new clients to meet their commitments to existing clients. When this doesn't happen things fall apart.

For the record, Bondei Tours Ltd. trades out of an office in Ethiopia Street, Arusha, Tanzania and Svenstrup Skolevej 4, 2 Sal 9230 Svenstrup J, Denmark and is owned jointly by Frank Mwoga, Mads Jensen and Brigadier Rhody Mwambapa. Since coming back I have exchanged emails with Frank only, Mads has been completely silent and Rhody Mwambapa has featured in name only.

Bondei are not registered with TATO (the Tanzanian Tour Operators' body) but my view at the time of booking was that this was pretty irrelevant. This view has been reinforced by my subsequent failed attempts to solicit advice from TATO as to how to deal with Bondei.

Additionally, I have been in touch with the Complaints Board for the Danish Tourist Industry and although they couldn't help because I started my holiday in Tanzania they told me that in the past they had received similar complaints about Bondei Tours Ltd.

My advice to anyone thinking of going on a similar trip is to stick to the firms recommended in the guidebooks if booking from home. Alternatively, if you go in the off season like I did, add a day or two to the front of your holiday and arrange things on arrival in Tanzania. And avoid Bondei Tours Ltd., of course!

William Carmichael, Scotland.