So myself and my girlfriend booked a supposed "luxury" tour with Ben Verhoef Tours from San Pedro de Atacama to the Salar de Uyuni. I feel the need to write this review about Ben Verhoef Tours as we feel that we were ripped off and our safety was compromised.
This luxury tour cost approximately $1,750 USD excluding admissions for the two of us (by way of comparator so you can get an idea of how expensive this is the four day Inca trail to Machu Picchu had only cost circa $840 USD for two of us including all admissions fees, food and use of a porter). We had heard the Salar was tough so we wanted a little comfort after finishing the Inca Trail the previous week where we camped for 3 nights.
The accommodation in the Tayka hotels was quite good considering we were in the middle of nowhere. What we didn't like was the fact that our driver and tour guide were not allowed to dine with us in the evenings because their boss did not want to pay for their meal. This was uncomfortable to say the least as we were in such isolated areas they struggled to find anywhere else to eat. Clearly the staff on these tours are not treated well.
What's worth noting is that Ben Verhoef Tours don't actually do the tour, they get another cheaper Bolivian company to do it - yes we were suckered in with the promise of a European operator running what we thought was a decent operation in Bolivia. We had the misfortune of getting a company called Eco Andes which, funnily enough, after some investigation operate under the site www.salaruyunitours.com
Always be wary of tour operators with generic names and names that don't match their website: it makes finding bad reviews of them difficult.
So the only thing on the trip that could be considered luxury (considering where we were) was the hotels. The jeep was a wreck and broke down numerous times on the trip. Now I know this is to be expected when driving on rough terrain but when we have a leaving time of 6am from the hotel and at 12pm we still haven't left, well it doesn't make for a fun or safe day ahead. We had to miss out on most of the sites on the way back because of the delay and we also had to endure flat tires, the engine overheating numerous times and driving in the middle of nowhere in darkness, not exactly luxury. My girlfriend's seatbelt didn't work despite us previously checking the jeep would have seatbelts before we booked. The tour guide and driver did not have a satellite phone which meant we were completely at the mercy of the driver's ability to fix the jeep each time it broke down with no way of contacting anybody else for help.
On the last day, overruns in time due to the faulty jeep meant we missed our potential bus transfers back from the Bolivian border to San Pedro de Atacama not once, not twice, but three times.
As a result at the border we were told to stay in the jeep and were brought to the main road back to Chile and asked to hitch hike back to San Pedro de Atacama. I am not joking here! When I refused, our driver and guide actually still tried to find drivers for us to hitch hike with. They wanted myself and my girlfriend to get into a truck with two strange men who they had stopped, honestly you could not make this up. When I refused to do so after much arguing they reluctantly drove us to San Pedro where customs then got a bit weird due to the circumstances. Our tour guide and driver then fabricated lies in order to get us over the border. We just went along with it and gritted our teeth, again this was extremely uncomfortable, stressful and hardly luxury.
All in all Ben Verhoef tours are overpriced. They actually don't do the tours themselves so therefore have no control over the quality of them. When I complained the company completely changed their attitude and didn't seem to frankly give a damn - completely different to when they were trying to win our business. We were refused a part refund for the last day and basically told to suck it up as this is what happens in Bolivia. I was looking at Ruta Verde (similar price) when I booked this and wish we had of gone with them. You live and learn though. To think that the cost of our tour was nearly 2 years salary in Bolivia - to this day I have no idea what the money was spent on (it certainly wasn't the jeep or food for the staff), or how Ben Verhoef justify charging this price...there is only one word to sum up Ben Verhoef and Eco Andes...shambolic!
Ben Verhoef Reviews
Eco Andes Reviews
Revisión para:
BEN VERHOEF TOURS
BEN VERHOEF TOURS
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BEN VERHOEF TOURSc. Campero # 217 Z. Central9446365https://www.boliviayp.com/img/site/default-business2.jpg
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PUBLIC USER
It is not correct to compare a tour to Machu Picchu with little distance to cover and camping with a private tour from San Pedro de Atacama and back to San Pedro de Atacama with a huge distance to cover and hotels.
The staff of Eco Andes is treated well and receives a good salary, far above the average! The driver and guide sometimes prefer not to be with the clients and want to eat in the village where they know their way. The driver and guide sleep and have breakfast in the hotel.
We do tours in our own area, to Sucre, Cochabamba, but not in the Salar de Uyuni, there is no secret in that. Also most other operators including Ruta Verde don’t drive from Sa. Cruz or anywhere far away to the Chilean border to do his tour with him through the Salar de Uyuni. It isn’t even allowed to go and tour in the Salar de Uyuni without permission.
The Jeep is a well maintained car. Even a car that is well maintained can break down, especially in these very harsh circumstances. The driver was very skilled so he could repair the car to continue the travel.
Because of the delay they did miss the connection at the border. Bolivian cars are normally not allowed to cross the Chilean border, that’s why the driver suggested hitchhiking, which was wrong. But they finally did get permission to cross the border and so the clients got a private transfer to San Pedro de Atacama instead of a transfer by bus, in spite of the trouble with the car.
We have always answered all e-mails quickly and correct. At the end Paul Garry wrote he was going to put ugly comments on the internet. A friend with Google analytics will help to make these reviews quite prominent on search results.
If the minimum wage in Bolivia is $ 200 per month $ 1.750 is not equal to 2 years’ salary. But more important is that guides and drivers do not receive minimum wages, the salary for a guide is appr. 3x the minimum wage and a driver can earn up to US-$ 1.000 if he works all month (information from Eco Andes).
Paul Garry did fill in as comment: Both the driver and guide were excellent but the car was not good and broke down several times on 3rd day. The driver and guide did their best to sort it out and we were very grateful for this. Thanks!
Indeed you need to be a bit flexible when you travel in Bolivia, because things don’t always go as in your home country, road conditions can be bad, WiFi is not common, the weather can make it necessary to change a programme, and yes, a car can break down.
To people that are interested we can send many comments of other travellers that where very happy with our service and the service of Eco Andes Travel.
The staff of Eco Andes is treated well and receives a good salary, far above the average! The driver and guide sometimes prefer not to be with the clients and want to eat in the village where they know their way. The driver and guide sleep and have breakfast in the hotel.
We do tours in our own area, to Sucre, Cochabamba, but not in the Salar de Uyuni, there is no secret in that. Also most other operators including Ruta Verde don’t drive from Sa. Cruz or anywhere far away to the Chilean border to do his tour with him through the Salar de Uyuni. It isn’t even allowed to go and tour in the Salar de Uyuni without permission.
The Jeep is a well maintained car. Even a car that is well maintained can break down, especially in these very harsh circumstances. The driver was very skilled so he could repair the car to continue the travel.
Because of the delay they did miss the connection at the border. Bolivian cars are normally not allowed to cross the Chilean border, that’s why the driver suggested hitchhiking, which was wrong. But they finally did get permission to cross the border and so the clients got a private transfer to San Pedro de Atacama instead of a transfer by bus, in spite of the trouble with the car.
We have always answered all e-mails quickly and correct. At the end Paul Garry wrote he was going to put ugly comments on the internet. A friend with Google analytics will help to make these reviews quite prominent on search results.
If the minimum wage in Bolivia is $ 200 per month $ 1.750 is not equal to 2 years’ salary. But more important is that guides and drivers do not receive minimum wages, the salary for a guide is appr. 3x the minimum wage and a driver can earn up to US-$ 1.000 if he works all month (information from Eco Andes).
Paul Garry did fill in as comment: Both the driver and guide were excellent but the car was not good and broke down several times on 3rd day. The driver and guide did their best to sort it out and we were very grateful for this. Thanks!
Indeed you need to be a bit flexible when you travel in Bolivia, because things don’t always go as in your home country, road conditions can be bad, WiFi is not common, the weather can make it necessary to change a programme, and yes, a car can break down.
To people that are interested we can send many comments of other travellers that where very happy with our service and the service of Eco Andes Travel.