This review should be placed in the review of the product provided in country, rather than the booking service, but I will answer it here. We replied to Mr Morris to express our disappointment and that we would follow up immediately with Chameleon.
The driver actually arrived before the scheduled pick up (scheduled for 0715), but Mr Morris was booked under a different name and had not informed reception staff. When the guide asked them if there was a Mr Morris in the property, they said that there was not, so he left to contact his office and then returned to find the client.A 14-minute delay is not ideal, but is really not a calamity either.
Below is the reply from the management team at Chameleon.
"Dear Chris,
Firstly, we would like to thank you for taking some time to give us feedback about the serious complaint from your client Ed Morris who was on Safari with us on 27 Nov 2018. Client feedback is of the utmost importance as this is the only way which enables us to continue to improve our service and to be made aware of any issues and problems that the clients had while being on tour with us. Sorry for only getting back to you today, we had to do a thorough investigation with Denzel who only came back from Safari Sunday afternoon. We would like to offer our sincere apologies that Ed Morris was not happy with our guide Denzel on his safari. This is something that we take very seriously as we want each and every client to leave Namibia with a good understanding of our precious country and all it offers. We continually work with our guides to build their depth of knowledge, offer an excellent service level, as well as being able to gauge when to give additional information so that clients feel satisfied with the standard of information provided during their trip.
We did some investigation and would like to explain the following. On the day of departure Ed was booked in at Arebusch Lodge. Our guide Gideon arrived at Arebusch Lodge at 07h04 and asked at Reception for a Mr. Ed Morris, where the staff from Arebusch Lodge informed him they have no Ed Morris who stayed there for the night. Thus on his way back to the Chameleon Safari office, Arebusch lodge phoned the office and said they made a mistake and there is a Mr Ed Morris at the lodge. The guide then returned to Arebusch and found Mr Morris sitting outside on a bench waiting for him, the client was picked up at 07h29 and taken to Chameleon Safaris Head Office for the pre departure briefing done by Jackie. We addressed the issue with Arebusch Lodge, whom claimed that the booking at Arebusch Lodge was not made under the name of Ed Morris.
Denzel has been employed by Chameleon since the 5th of June 2018 and completed 5 months of Probation, where he completed his last assessment on the 28th of October with our Operational Manager Willem Minnaar (also a qualified guide). During the past 5 months Denzel was sent on the Dunes & Wildlife Safari each week with another guide getting in depth training and he had been assessed on numerous occasions, while we as Management which included Claire, myself and Willem were also on Safari with him. He did his first solo Safari on the 06th November 2018 and this is the first serious complaint we have had regarding Denzel. As Chameleon's reputation is so highly at stake here, we have decided to take Denzel off the road as a guide, and disciplinary action has been brought against him to ensure that this will not happen again.
In our discussion with Denzel, he mentioned that he told the clients on this specific Safari that there had been some heavy rainfall in the previous days in the Eastern parts of Etosha, which affects the movements of the animals considerably and if there is ground water most animals tend to move away from the waterholes and simply drink from puddles enabling them to graze/browse further afield and this can be away from roads so sightings may be distant. Ed insisted that Denzel should drive to the part where Ed believed animals would be seen, Namutoni, however this is not feasible on the scheduled itinerary as set. Denzel explained to Ed that it will not be possible with the time available to drive to and back from Namutoni, as this is not part of our Itinerary.
Whilst guides will often stop at waterholes during the rainy season, the focus will turn to spending time game driving around the park to find the animals, rather than wait at waterholes which are often less active. Of course, this can change on a regular basis depending on the weather conditions. The guide will also check out the sightings books in the reservation offices, speak to other guides and do their best to find the animals for you, unfortunately, with a park as large as Etosha when animals disperse at times it can be a challenge.
According to our tracking system our vehicles have installed, the overall speed driven was suitable for game driving, but we have recommended he should have spent more time at the waterholes when they had animals sighted and that game drives are optimal between 20-30 km/hour. Denzel said he normally starts with Game Driving his game drive at Halali at 07h00, and he did not take in consideration that the sun rises earlier (at 06h08) during Summer time. We have also informed him that he should have rather done a game drive before breakfast and rather let the clients have breakfast after the first game drive of the morning. As the game drive is his main focus instead of clients having breakfast. The overall time Denzel spent in Etosha Game driving on Wednesday 28 Nov was 6h22 min, according to our tracking system:
07h05 Departed from Camp Halali
08h20 Returned to Camp Halali to check guests out of Halali Camp and guests went to campside waterhole
Depart 10h00 another Game Drive
Returned to Camp Halali Camp for Lunch 12h07 (Lunch is prepared by the guide himself)
Left Halali Camp 14h00
Arrived at Taleni Etosha Village at 17h00
No sunset game drive was promised on Day 2 as our guides have to be out of the park prior to sunset, and the Itinerary specifies that we leave the park prior to sunset. Denzel had to check the clients into Taleni Etosha Village to have a welcome drink and also he wanted his clients to have a shower and the opportunity to swim at the pool, as some of the guests had complained about the heat. The random two people whom Denzel picked up were at Taleni Etosha Village. These were staff from the Lodge itself, and they were dropped off at the Staff Village, as we have an agreement with Taleni to assist their staff where possible.
On Day 3 (Thursday) we drive from Etosha Village to Swakopmund. On our way we stop over at 3 different tribal groups, the Herero, Himba & Damara speaking people. This is an educational day to learn more about the local people and experience the different cultures we have in Namibia. The handmade souvenirs which can be bought directly from these people is an opportunity to contribute to these communities at a grass roots level but not the main focus of the stops.
Denzel’s lack of enthusiasm and the fact that he did not perform to our minimum level of standards, has damaged the reputation of the Company and we would sincerely like to apologize for the lack of professional behavior of our guide. As Chameleons we will continue to improve the quality and service we provide to each and every customer and we will definitely keep on training our staff to adapt and change to the customers’ needs as a typical Chameleon does, as you, our valued Agent, and our clients are our top priority."
The cultural element of the tour was delivered as promised, that it did not enthuse Mr Morris is unfortunate, given that it was clearly described in the tour itinerary provided to him before he booked. The route in Etosha was followed to the letter, but given the late depart from Halali for the morning game drive from Halali and the substandard guiding provided in Etosha, we arranged a fair, generous refund for the client.
Christopher Bartlett
Managing Director, Indigo Safaris Ltd.
