Game Drive and Rhino Walk

Positives and negatives

There are a lot of positives and negatives to our experience with Henric Tours. Firstly, let's talk about the booking process. Upon making a booking through GetYourGuide, we were asked to cancel the booking and pay the company directly. While this was slightly inconvenient, we did not mind as they offered a slightly cheaper price. However, despite confirming we could pay by credit card, there was no machine available when the time came to pay. Fortunately, they were kind enough to allow us to depart and called us later in the afternoon to complete the payment, once they had arranged a credit card machine. On the other hand, a credit card surcharge was added to the price. While this is understandable, it was never mentioned until they returned with a credit card machine, which felt deliberately misleading. We would've been happy to pay this additional few dollars had we been informed at the start, but the lack of transparency was unsettling. Our biggest positive with this company was that we changed our plans a couple of times and ultimately decided to do a different tour to what we booked originally. They were very helpful with this, being extremely accommodating and flexible, which allowed us to complete the tours we wanted despite minimal notice. But alas, there were some big negatives. In terms of the tours themselves, the driver John was more of a glorified taxi driver taking us to the various locations, rather than offering any added value. This could've been very easily improved by simply offering to take photos for us at Victoria Falls, or just chatting and sharing some facts and tidbits about the places we were seeing. Overall, this was only a minor criticism. A major criticism was our experience going to Kasane, Botswana. We decided to travel with them to the border and they originally quoted a rate of 100 USD, which seemed very high. Eventually they agreed to 70 USD, which was reasonable for an hour's drive. During the drive, they offered to arrange transportation across the border to take us from the border post to our destination at the car rental desk in Kasane Airport. We agreed to this and it all seemed super convenient, until we completed the border formalities and were told the Botswana company wanted 90 USD to take us onwards, for a drive which took barely 15 minutes. Our luggage had already been loaded into the Botswana vehicle and we had to argue and negotiate with the guide to get this price down. 90 USD was ridiculous for a 15 minute drive, considering we had just paid 70 USD for an hour's drive. Eventually, they agreed to 30 USD. While this experience is not directly the fault of Henric Tours, the driver John did not mention this price at the start, nor did he offer any assistance to arrange a more reasonable price once he noticed our dissatisfaction with what was quoted. If this was quoted at the beginning, we would never have agreed to it, and this led to a rather stressful and unpleasant arrival in Botswana, which really left a sour note on our entire day. At this point, I was inclined to leave a review in the range of 3 to 4 stars, given that most of our experience was positive, but there were some major negatives which affected our experience. However, our subsequent interactions with Henric Tours left me no option but to lower this rating. My friend left an initial review pointing out some of the issues we faced. Instead of taking valuable constructive feedback and using it to ameliorate the services offered, Henric Tours decided to respond to my friend in a blatantly disrespectful manner and tell him that "the two whites were okay with the price, my fellow black man what was wrong with you", before telling him if he wanted to pay lower prices, he should go and tour Nigeria instead. Firstly, no member of our party was happy to pay the exorbitant price quoted, but let's put that aside for now. I found these comments deeply offensive and did not appreciate my friend being spoken to in this manner. It was inherently unacceptable and I feel outraged and furious when I think of someone speaking to my friend in this disrespectful manner, especially when my friend's only intention was to share constructive feedback which could act as a brilliant learning opportunity for the company. Somewhat less serious but disrespectful nonetheless was my friend being called an incorrect name "Jordan" multiple times throughout this interaction, despite his actual name being clearly visible on TripAdvisor. Finally, the company pressed us heavily to write positive reviews for them. This started from before we had even gone on a single tour with them, continued during the tours and afterwards as well. Even after the deeply troubling interaction I discussed above, I received one final text message asking me to leave a positive review, unlike "what the Nigeria man did". I simply cannot believe, and am deeply scandalised by the fact that they have the nerve to ask me for a positive review after insulting my friend like that. It is scarcely believable. Henric Tours operates in a unique and incredibly beautiful part of the world with no shortage of breathtaking activities at its doorstep and a very comfortable vehicle at its disposal. With some minor improvements keeping the customer top of mind, it has the potential to be a highly successful tour operator. Transparency and customer satisfaction should be kept top of mind at all times, and these are two things they simply have no comprehension of at this point. I decided to write this review because I was deeply offended by the way my friend was spoken to after sharing constructive feedback. I can only hope that they take this subsequent opportunity to learn from their shortcomings and identify and improve the areas of their offering which require improvement, rather than showing us more disrespect. Lastly, I haven't even spoken about the actual tours but the rhino safari was truly special and Victoria Falls is incomparable.

via Tripadvisor

Most amazing tour operator!

A really incredible experience, the tour operator very generously fitted me in and gave me a personalised tour as a solo traveller- most tour operators insisted on at least 2 people for a tour to happen. Cynthia was my guide- very knowledgeable and friendly. Highly recommend it.

via Tripadvisor

Frame drive rhino

Very kind and competent. The car is a bit old and not very comfortable but the game drive and the rhinos make it forget.

Response from the operator: Hehehe thanks so much sister call us again please 🤪

via Tripadvisor (translated)

Excellent activities and very stunning

Fantastic game drives and rhino viewing. Village tour was owesome. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and very informative.

via Tripadvisor

Best experience

We really had great experience in the park, the guide was so knowledgeable and we saw a lot of animals. Would recommend others too thanks 👍

Response from the operator: Edwin thanks very we're happy that you enjoyed your tour

via Tripadvisor