I spent two weeks in Burkina Faso, Benin and Togo, Jan. 1-18, 2012, on a trip arranged by Fulani Travel, a British company with an office in New York City. There was one other tour member besides me.
I first contacted Fulani Travel in January 2011. At a price of €2,775 (near $3,439), single occupancy, the trip included transport, hotels, breakfasts, services of a guide and driver, tips to local guides, road tolls and entrance fees.
You have to be prepared for some problems and surprises on a trip to that part of the world, such as the one at my hotel in Abomey, Benin, where none of the toilets in the hotel had seats. However, one problem should have been avoided.
Fulani strongly encouraged me to get my Benin visa when we crossed the border from southern Burkina Faso into northwestern Benin. In an e-mail dated Nov. 14, 2011, I asked many questions about the trip, including, “I’ll get started on arranging my Burkina Faso and Benin visas; should I also get a Togo visa or can US citizens get it at the border with Benin?”
The reply was, “We can get your Benin visa at the border no problem.”
In an e-mail dated Nov. 30, the Fulani representative wrote, “You are fine getting the Benin and Togo visas at the border.”
But when we went to enter Benin from Burkino Faso, I discovered that my travel companion and I would be given only 48-hour transit visas, even though we planned to be in Benin for more than a week.
The visa could be extended only in the capital of Cotonou, in the southeast corner of the country. Benin is a small country, but the roads are not very good, so we could not have traveled from one corner of the country to the other in time to reach Cotonou and apply for our visa extensions during the ministry’s working hours, even if we had been willing to sacrifice the heart of our itinerary in Benin.
By the time we did reach Cotonou, we had to pay a fine of CFA25,000 and two “unofficial payments” totaling CFA12,500. I also had to pay for an unexpected one-night stay at a Cotonou hotel plus my share of the cost of meals and hotel accommodations for our driver and guide, who otherwise would have had to pay those expenses out of their own pockets. This made for a total of CFA91,100, or $182.
I discovered that two different guidebooks (one of which I took with me on tour) clearly explained Benin’s visa policy. Fulani Travel should have known about it. I was misguided by their advice, and I feel they should accept responsibility for the additional expenses we could not avoid incurring.
When I complained, Fulani’s response was to offer me $400 off the cost of another trip with them, even though they must have known it’s unlikely I’ll ever consider traveling with them again.
STAN BACH
Washington DC
ITN e-mailed a copy of Mr. Bach’s letter to Fulani Travel UK, Ltd. (43 Temple Row, Birmingham, B2 5LS, U.K.; fulanitravel@gmail.com), and received the following in a reply.
We are very happy Mr. Bach did visit a few of the most difficult countries in Africa with almost no tourism infrastructure at all.
Fulani Travel has only begun catering to Americans. We have travellers from Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Canada, Sweden, Switzerland, Ireland, etc. Most do not have an embassy for small African countries such as Benin, Togo, Burkina Faso, etc. We thus generally let our clients know that it is possible to gain a visa at the border.
In general, we advise people to get a visa on arrival to avoid having to send their passport to Belgium and spend £120/$200 using a visa service company and the 30-plus days it sometimes takes, particularly if travel is less than two months away. Clients can always use their own judgment.
We never asked any of our travellers to not get a visa before travelling with us. Mr. Bach could have gotten all visas he needed in Washington, DC… We regret that he had problems getting his visa in two days time in a country only 80 miles wide.
But, on our side, we had many problems with this tour. A last-minute cancellation due to unrest in Mali left us with only two travellers, but we did not cancel this trip. We knew from the start with only two travellers we were losing money, but we chose to let the tour run so that these clients would not miss out on a chance of a lifetime that they no doubt spent a lot of time preparing for.
And we did go through numerous changes to accommodate these travellers. Both were very flexible, and this we appreciate immensely.
We are a very small company who works with all local guides, giving a livelihood to people in remote parts of the world that are not backed by huge companies. We have the ability to keep Africans in business in some of the most uncertain and destitute economic times.
We care about our clients and believe “Clients first — Profit later.” We can refund clients if they do not finish an itinerary, but we cannot return money for visa problems. This is way beyond our control.
Everyone in our teams did his best to make this trip smooth, knowing we were not making ANY profit.
AISSA M. KHIRANI, Owner/Manager, Fulani Travel UK
Editor’s Note: On the Fulani Travel website, under the section titled “Booking Forms & Conditions,” the following statement appears: “9) Travel Documentation: It is the client’s responsibility to be in possession of a valid passport, visa permits, inoculations and preventative medicines as may be required by the countries visited during the tour. Information about these matters is given in good faith but without responsibility on the part of Fulani Travel UK, Ltd.”