Africa - Kenya worst experience EVER

For anyone thinking of going to Borana Lodge, think again. The owner of this lodge was completely out of control, threatening me and have never had anyone speak to me like this, EVER and had never met the man.

I came to this lodge from another place specifically for Wifi connection due to a health issue with my son and there was not one-second of any connection. I spent several hours in the office, wasting my day on this. I had asked the manager on the property about paying the difference on my bill which I agreed to since the previous lodge was kind enough to refund me for my unused portion.

The main point of this review is to tell people that this man threatened to take my bags and leave me on the street, called me names that are inappropriate to write and thought he was going to hit me. This is someone that owns thousands of acres and all I wanted to know is why I couldn't pay what I owe, $400 since they were going to be completely refunded by the other lodge. In all my 55 years, I have never been spoken to or seen a man speak to a woman like this. I literally was standing with my mouth open and could not believe what I was hearing. I was alone traveling in Africa for the first time and the fact that he would put someone on the street alone at night which is very dangerous, is beyond belief. He wouldn't let me say one word and continually told me to shut up and that he didn't give a (won't write the word). This is all over a $1400 bill and $1,000 was going to be reimbursed by the other lodge and they were asking me to pay in full a second time knowing well that the they were going to receive the money within days and I would of been happy to pay for the $400.

He does not live on the property and I have never met him once. He also said that he didn't invite me to come here, but this is a lodge and most guests are not personally invited.I am still in total shock that anyone could treat another person in such a horrific and cruel manner and one that is the hotel industry.

The manager that lives on the property with her fiance is a young girl who never once said this was an issue that concerned her and would be a big problem. I brought it up to her that morning and went for a nature walk and within minutes of returning the owner whom she obviously called and said I wouldn't pay for any portion started screaming at me within seconds. All the other guests heard and it was humiliating. I was very specific that I thought it fair to pay the difference and not have me pay for something that I already paid for and could of easily been worked out between the 2 lodges.

She came to my room and told me that she was sorry, she should have dealt with it herself and apologized for his abusive behavior. She also said that she didn't have the time to speak with him first and he didn't know the specific facts. It was a bit late for that and she should have stepped in and stopped him. The most unbelievable thing is that he told me to just pay the difference which is exactly what I wanted to do in the first place. She was the one that said I had to pay in full and then she had the nerve to ask me if I wanted to stay the night since I was leaving in the morning for my flight. All I wanted was to get out of there and why in the world would I give 1 more cent to a person that had verbally abused and threatened me. He was completely out of control and his behavior was violent. I went back to the lodge I had originally come from and evidently the manager had spoken with my tour company and there was a miscommunication.

Why say you have wifi in every room, just be honest and say it is unreliable and there is a good chance it won't work. If they had said that, I would have never gone in the first place. A good manager would have adjusted the bill a bit since they did not provide the service they said they had and knew that I was coming there for that specific reason.

To top off this nightmare the guide that I had for the two days who was so nice and felt so bad seeing me so upset, held my hand to calm me down which at first thought was a friendly gesture but then he put my fingers in his mouth and took my face and said he wanted to KISS me. I was in the middle of nowhere and after a few times of him saying this I went to reach for my mace that I had brought but only could find my mosquito repellant and kept it in my lap as I called the person that I had booked the trip with in the states and thankfully he stopped. This whole ordeal was unbelievable and if it didn't happen to me, it would be hard to fathom.

You may want to put this on tripadvisor.

You may want to put this on tripadvisor.

+1

Also do some editing.

You may want to put this on tripadvisor.

+1

Also do some editing.

+2 story is a bit rambling and confusing.. Being more precise would help (noticed that OP edited the original post)

I am sorry to read of your experience, but when I read

I went to reach for my mace that I had brought

I was shocked. You may be travelling solo in Africa but to travel with this type of product is downright dangerous and can incite violent behaviour by others if you try to use it in self-defence. In addition, it is also illegal to possess - and use - this sort of weapon in many countries so you could have got into major headaches by being stopped with this in your possession (not least a bribe to 'forget' what had been seen!).

If this accommodation has affiliation with any trade association you should report the incident to them, and if you were travelling with a tour company of any description you should also notify them.

Travelling in Africa can be daunting so pre-travel information is crucial plus contingency plans that will not put you in further or additional danger.

Also this man threatened to take my bags and leave me on the street and the fact that he would put someone on the street alone at night which is very dangerous, is beyond belief seems a bit strange seeing as the Lodge is in the middle of the countryside ... your report does not make it clear that this is a rural area (I did check on their website's map to check the location).

Having just returned from Kenya a fortnight ago, I found that wifi communication was very patchy away from the towns and cities, especially if there is no repeater station. However there are often ways around this - telephone and radio - the latter particularly if one is out in a National Park.

Oh, and by the way, how did you 'carry' your mace? Surely it contravenes the regulations as to what you may carry in your airline baggage be it in hand or hold baggage. Or did you just not mention it when asked about packing your bags yourself and that there were no restricted goods in them?

I don't understand...

You were booked in a different lodge, than you cancelled your reservation and you went to the Borana Lodge..
They asked you to pay in full 1400$ as you were leaving the morning after and you wanted to pay 400$ because your previous hotel was going to reimburse them..

Were the two lodges owned by the same company?

I think it's pretty hard to convince an hotel manager that sometime in the next few days an other hotel who is not affiliated with him is going to reimburse some money... Why didn't you pay and tell the other hotel to reimburse you directly?

How could they leave you on the street in Laikipia? There are no street but the one that goes to the airport if I remember well...

PS Were you really expecting a fully functional wi-fi coverage in the middle of a wildlife reserve in the middle of Africa? Usually those lodges don't even have land lines and they rely on satellite connections which are awful.. Especially if many people try to access them...

Believe me, that was the first thing I did and they denied everything that happened!! Every time I think about it, I cringe. Thanks for the comment.

When I say street, I meant that there is a dirt road that can be reached by jeep and that was where he was going to leave me. I did report it to the tour company and the owner of Origins, Steve Turner and his response was that Kenya does not have a very sympathetic culture and does not lay a pillow down for anyone unless it is a life threatening situation, which I thought was an odd choice of words. When a client pays $14,000 for a Safari, the company should not have the attitude that the culture is not one that does everything to protect and help their customers. I was truly shocked at his response and Kenya depends on tourism and this attitude is not an acceptable one.

As far as the mace, I truly didn't know and I have a small one that I sometimes have used for running at night. I was never asked about my lugguge, all my flights to the different lodges were private planes and I never went through security.

I was booked at Lewa Wilderness which didn't have any connection so the manager asked the manager at Borano if they had wifi and she said they have it every room and never said anything about it being patchy. Borano was told by Lewa that they would apply the balance to my stay there and this was done between the 2 lodges. I was told by the manager that everything was taken care of and that I just needed to pay the difference which was fine. Even with all of the screaming by Mr. Dyer, he asked me to pay the difference which is what I wanted to do from the beginning. If you are going to advertise your lodge as having Wifi in every room then you should have it or say that it is hit and miss. They knew I needed it because of my son and that was the only reason I was changing lodges so the manager could of easily said that there were issues with it.
Again, I didn't mean a street, there was a dirt road that was used to get to the other area. Regardless, you don't treat a client like this under ANY circumstances.

We don't have the full picture of what transpired..the way you talked to the owner may have generated this verbal diatribe. Just like in the USA, or anywhere , if you don't satisfy your financial obligations, you will be put on the street alone at night. This can be dangerous whether its in Reno or Bhutan.
You have to do your homework b/f you visit a foreign country.Always have a plan B for unexpected contingencies.

Why didn't you simply called your previous lodge where they said that everything was being taken care of and told them to call the new hotel while you were there?

I had a 10 minute discussion with the manager before I left on a hike that morning with no indication of a problem, it was only when I got back for lunch that the owner who had been called by the manager, pulled me aside and started the whole tirade. Everytime I tried to speak, I was told (Blank) and not to speak a word so I didn't get to say anything except that I apologized if there might have been any miscommunciation. I had contacted the safari company and asked to clear this up and told her what had happened but at that point it was too late, he left and I just wanted to get out of there. The manager admitted that she didn't have a chance to go over the details with him and apologized for his behavior as well as her not handling it herself. The fact that she just left me with him and bailed out, was my major complaint. She should have stepped in and tried to clear it up and not just leave me there knowing that he didn't have any of the specifics. It ended up being a miscommunication and as I said it was unfortunate that it got so out of hand. I never indicated that I was not going to pay the bill for what I owed. I have tried to explain the scenario as it happened and that is all I can do. It is just information and it is up to the reader if they care to read it or use it somehow for their travels.

+1 on the mace. keep that out of Africa if you like staying out of African jails