Safari at Bandia Reserve
Bonjour
Today I would like to talk about a fabulous experience I recently shared with my boys: I took them on a safari at Bandia, outside of the city.
For a while now, I had been wanting to go to the Bandia reserve. It is a reserve that offers a safari with wild animals such as lions, zebras etc.. Recently I found an opportunity on Instagram with a travel agency I have been following. The price was so cheap I had to book for me and the boys.
Denim jacket - thrifted
Top & sunglasses - Kiabi
Jeans - old
Sandals - thrifted
So here we were on a Sunday morning finally doing a safari. We took the bus provided by the agency not far from my house. We travelled for an hour and arrived at the reserve. After waiting a while, we got on huge safari buses with a guide and departed. The reserve is quite big, with lots of trees. But it is not green. It really looks like a savanna with baobab and thorny trees. We went on dirt roads trying to spot as many animals as possible. We saw giraffes, ostriches, antelopes, zebras, rhinos and wild boars. We had some kids in our group and every time we saw a new animal their would scream: "Waouh" in unison. But the funny thing is that even the adults were amazed. Sometimes we were really close to the animals. Obviously everybody took their camera phones out to play paparazzi. We went around the reserve for at least 2 hours. When we finished the tour, we came to the restaurant where there were crocodiles nearby. The animals were resting in the pond, barely moving. Some opened their mouths as if they were expecting us to feed them.
After that, we settled in the huge outdoor restaurant to eat. I ordered rice and meat while the boys had a Koba (antelope) burger and Zebu Haoussa barbecue skewers. We got greedy and also ordered a pizza. The food was slow to arrive but it was good. I never had game meet before, well except for that alligator I ate in Houston. But it was tasty enough. It was a bit pricey but I expected it. While eating, we could see some monkeys jumping on tables to get leftover food. They are used to being fed by humans so they develop this dependency. Thankfully none of them came near our table because I do not like those animals at all.
After the meal, I wanted to walk around a bit but saw people gathering around our bus. It seemed like it was time to head back home.
However, when it concerns the travel agency I have my reservations. I booked through Instagram and send half of the money in advance like they asked me to. However I was never told that they received the money or issued a receipt even thought they asked for my phone number and e-mail address. When I inquired about the trip, they gave me a vague overview but I was not aware of the details. I was told to meet them at a location by 9 AM for departure, that we would be offered water and that we would return to the city by 5 PM. The day before the trip, I expected them to send me a reminder or something but nothing. I called and never got an answer. I tagged them on Twitter and got my answer the following morning.
At 9 AM, I got to the location and did not see a soul. I had to call to be told to come further down the road. There was already a crowd waiting under the sun. The bus that was supposed to take us came 48 minutes late. Once we arrived on the reserve, we waited another 45 minutes before starting the safari because they had issues with payment. The younger kids were getting agitated. And some people complained. Once we finished the safari, no one came to tell us where we could eat and how much time we had before leaving. And when we departed they did not even know who was not on board yet.
This lack of organization did not sit well with me. The staff seemed young and inexperienced but that is not a reason. They need to do better. Yes the tariff was cheap but if the service is lacking, I’d rather take my money elsewhere. If nothing else, I would beg them to communicate more with the customer: give me an itinerary, let me know what we are doing and how and when. If there is an issue, inform me. Do not wait for me to come and get the information from you. Will I book through this agency again? I doubt it. I’d rather try my luck somewhere else to be frank. They were nice enough but that does not make a good customer service.
Bathroom selfie
Overall I had a great experience with the boys. They had the best of time and were grateful for the experience. When we lived abroad, we did have days like that when we went to a zoo to spend the day. But I have to say that this safari was something else. I cannot wait to create more memories with them.
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