Caribbean Coast Adventure 5D/4N

Customer Reviews

• CG

  Christine

  · January 22nd, 2019
  Short version: I am sorry to leave a bad comment but the "tour/package" was really bad. I did book the tour to meet people and have some security as I do not speak Spanish. Both did not work out. If you are a backpacker (especially when traveling on your own), your hostel will make way better offers!!! Long version: Before the tour I tried to find out which hostels I will stay at, so I could organize some add ons, what turned out to be a long process of message writing and waiting, so I had to blind book some stuff ( e.g. the hostel for extending my stay in Santa Marta, and the hostel for a friend I made on the way who wanted to join me for a few days) leading to confusion for the tours and pick ups that I organized myself. Once the tour started: First transfer did not show up (leaving me alone at night) and the emergency numbers given, did not work... The hostel I arrived at (which was a good one, but this is the easiest part to book alone from back home by yourself) wanted to charge me while arriving and checking out, as they did not have seen any money from the tour provider, also they did not know whether there are any other people booked in by the same tour (turned out, no!) The tour in Cartagena was what Germans would call a "Kaffeefahrt", so picking up people from fancy hotels (average age maybe 40+) drive them around and bring them to places to shop and after the last stop I was told that I can just walk back alone as it is kind of close by (what was true). Also the Guide was nice, I just have not been the target group of such a tour and language remained an issue... the free walking tours in Cartagena are a lot more suitable for backpackers! Next transfer did not show up either. After sitting in my hostel waiting for an hour, I contacted the emergency number. This time, I could reach someone, however, he then told me that they are actually not cooperating with bamba anymore and he does not know why his number is mentioned there. He was a nice guy and provided me with further numbers of bamba contacts, none of them replying and all remaining silent about the name of the company responsible for my transfers in general, so I had noone I could call or contact. Eventually, the receptionist of my hostel and this guy from the wrong company could book me another transfer, so I made it to Santa Marta (missing out on an door to door drop off, what made it a little inconvenient bargaining with taxi drivers, exactly what i was trying to avoid when booking that tour). While I have been sitting in the bus, bamba wrote me back, however, way too late, already wasting one of the few days with waiting, booking, taxi driving and transfers (another point I tried to avoid when booking the tour)... The hostel in Santa Marta was nice and the pick up for the tour to Tyrona worked. Unfortunately, also for this tour I have not been the target group. Although they were nice people, none of the guides, drivers or other participants spoke English, the average age was around 50 and again it was more of a driving around (some historical talk, I assume, but did not understand) and a kind of fancy restaurant for lunch on own expenses, while I expected a little hiking or something. The beach was nice though and as I brought my snorkeling gear, I was at least able to go snorkeling (on my own)... As I booked some more stuff around Santa Marta privately, I asked to change the date of the last transfer, what was kind of an issue. Also, I got that confirmed before the trip, I was woken up at 6 am of the last bamba-tour day as someone wanted to bring me to Cartagena (!?!) meaning it was the wrong date, the wrong pick up hostel and the wrong destination. After I got back to sleep I was woken again at 6:45, as someone called who wanted to bring me to the airport this time... Because of the bad experiences and the confusion arising by this last morning, I requested further information of the provider for my last airport transfer and a confirmation. Until then, I was in contact with several numbers of bamba persons and people via the homepage, however, noone told me the name of the transfer provider that is supposed to bring me to the airport so I would have been able to recheck and it took until the evening right before my flight that someone of bamba confirmed a pickup. By that time, I already worked out last minute alternative plans with my hostel receptionists in case noone shows up again. After the conformation, however, I felt reassured until I got a phone call an hour later when someone wanted to confirm the pick up for another time (a time too late for my flight). During the phone call we managed to readjust the time to 6:30 as it was agreed and confirmed before. In the end, the driver showed up at 6:15 am and we nearly missed... So to sum up, I have no idea what I paid the money for. I had to organize most things on my own, wasn't provided with sufficient information (in time), did not meet other people my age that were connected to the tour, still wasn't flexible to join the people in the hostels that I did meet instead, it did not save me from standing alone somewhere or gave me the convenience of leaning back and enjoy without bothering, it took me more time than approaching the travel desks of random hostels (plus I waited several times for non-arriving people therefore wasting my time double) and all together it was of course more expensive than organizing the same trip by myself. Although bamba wrote me, saying they will refund my extra expanses I had when taking taxis or alternative shuttles, I feel betrayed as this is not what I payed for or what I expect from such a tour. I am sorry bamba and truly hope other travelers have better experiences!
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  Bamba Travel commented on this review

  Hello Christine. I want to extend our sincerest apologies for the experience that you had during your trip regarding your transfers. Your feedback is very valuable to us and now we are working to improve our service and our immediate assistance for... Show more
  Trip date: January 2019
• SC

  Sarah

  · March 9th, 2018
  This trip was not what I was expecting, as there was a clear lack of communication between Bamba Experience and those they work with locally. The one tour that was booked in Cartagena for me never happened, as the pickup happened at the wrong time and the guide left my hostel without me. I instead sat waiting for an hour for transport that never came. When I emailed Bamba, they apologized and refunded me $40, however, I would much rather have had a tour than $40. I planned my day around a 2pm pickup that never happened. Had a known that it was not going to happen, I would have booked my own day tour. Instead I saw very little of Cartagena. On the day of transport from Cartagena to Santa Marta, I was waiting for my transport at 9am as it had previously said on my itinerary, however, just the night before it had changed to 10am. The itinerary can change at any moment do you need to keep checking it. It’s a good thing that I was early, however, because the transport came at 9:30 and was carrying about 10 other people so I’m not sure they would have waited for me if I hadn’t shown up until close to 10am. On the day of the Tayrona day tour, the first 3.5 hours is just driving around in different transports picking people up all over the place and moving between vans and buses. The important thing to know here is that **you need to be fluent in Spanish for this tour.** The guide nor the drivers did not speak any English, not one word. Any one point, she kept yelling at me in Spanish and although I can understand a lot of Spanish in Ecuador, I was told by one of the other tourists who spoke some English that she was using a lot of Colombian only words so it would be very difficult for me to understand. The helpful tourist explained to me that the guide was yelling at me because she was asking for my payment. I tried explaining that this tour was booked through an agency and should be paid for already but as Bamba doesn’t give you any specific reference number or receipt for your specific tours or transports, I had no proof of this. By the end of the day, she finally got in touch with someone from her company who confirmed that my ticket had been paid for, but it was quite stressful given the language barrier. All in all, different tour companies and transports are used on the ground and booked from a distance by Bamba, so for me, I would have had a better experience booking it all myself, as I would have at least known what was going on and could have confirmed that tours were done in English, for example. The hostels in Colombia all have easy ways to set up tours through the front desk when you check in- I would recommend this instead of going through Bamba.
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  Bamba Travel commented on this review

  Dear Sarah Please accept our most sincere apologies for the inconvenience for your trip. We are very sorry that you had issues with your pick-ups as we aimed for you to enjoy your trip in its entirety. We appreciate you bringing this issue to our... Show more
  Trip date: March 2018