Travel

Pretoria, South Africa 1,747 forum posts

#4 of 7

Hi Kalei,

You would probably be better served by setting up a new thread with your questions regarding Intrepid. This thread is a little old, and your questions would receive a better response on a new post.

However. to follow on about Tucan. considering the title.

I guided a trip for Tucan last year. Out of all the operators I ve guided for, I would rate them as amongst the worst.

The route was poorly constructed and they proved one of the most badly organised and unprofessional overland operators I ve dealt with. They worked with a local ground handler whose considerable efforts salvaged a potentially disastrous tour. Tucan blatantly ignored all local information and advice, claiming they knew better .

I, as the tour leader, received the actual itinerary something like 3 days before commencement, and vital issues were still under discussion when the tour started. I only helped out because no one else could (or would).

We spent the last night, in Cape Town. in probably the worst backpackers accommodation I ve ever seen. It was a disgrace (and they had only booked for one of their two groups staying there - they d forgotten the second one). The other Tucan group had similar experiences of Tucan s sheer incompetence and lack of local understanding.

At one stage, we were surrounded by a gang of AK47-wielding gunmen, despite my warnings to Tucan that the routing was not recommended for safety reasons (unfortunately a single guest, of a group of 9, had demanded that we stick to the orginal itinerary). She found the experience quite exciting .

I would certainly never recommend the company in Southern Africa.

I would, however, recommend Intrepid on most of their SA products.