“The South Africa Wild Adventure trip fell short of my expectations. The trip itinerary that is advertised online is far different from the real experience. Firstly, this trip is advertised as a conservation and volunteering project, and I was really excited to take part in animal conservation. However, the "conservation" part of the trip involved about 30 minutes of filling a hole in the road with sand. This was the only conservation activity for the whole 15 days - we took no part in "anti-poaching" activities, as advertised. Additionally, the volunteering part of the project felt more like voluntourism. We spent about 2 hours at a child daycare centre on 2 occasions. However, we were not informed by Gap 360 prior to the trip departure how impoverished the community was and that most of these children are orphans who require basic things such as shoes and toothbrushes. If Gap 360 had mentioned this to us then we would have been of more assistance by actually bringing stuff that they need, and also be able to prepare some activities to do for the 2 hours - as on both occasions we spent the majority of the time trying to prevent the children from hurting themselves on the broken glass and the hazardous playground, rather than actually provide something worthwhile such as an English or maths lesson. There was a serious lack of structure in the "conservation" and "volunteering" activities. Worse still, Gap 360 pride themselves on not being affiliated with any companies that are involved with any forms of unethical treatment of animals. However, the game reserve where we stayed offers elephant-back safaris. We did not take part in riding the elephants ourselves, but the guides rode the elephants whilst we played football with them. Elephants are wild animals who should not be trained to play games for our amusement.
Additionally, I was appalled at the amount of free time we had. This was advertised as an action-packed 15-day trip, but we only had about 7 days full of activities. The days without activities were advertised as quite full-on and exciting with bush drives and walks, as well as the conservation and volunteering activities, but in reality, we spent most of our time having to entertain ourselves with whatever books or card games we brought. I felt that advertising the trip as 15 days allows Gap 360 to increase the price, and £899 for a 2-week trip in South Africa sounds like great value - however, I felt like I overpaid for this trip and regret booking it.
The staff on-site were lovely and so were the other people in the group, and some of the activities were very enjoyable, such as the trip to Kruger (which is advertised as 3 days but technically you only get 2 full days). However, I made the Gap 360 staff aware of my concerns during the trip only to be given patronising responses. They are not willing to take on board any constructive criticism and are not going to make any changes to the trip any time soon. Therefore, if you want to have an action-packed 15 days, and genuinely make a difference to the community by volunteering, and also gain conservation experience, then this trip is not for you and I would not recommend it.”
We are sorry to hear your trip fell short of your expectations. We can see that the Operations team have already been in touch with you about your feedback and to discuss your concerns directly. We are always looking for ways to ensure the best customer experience and your comments have been taken on board and passed to all relevant teams. Thank you again for your valuable feedback.
“Just got back from weeks away travelling. Gap360 was super helpful with my travel organisation and any problem i had, they sorted it out straight away. would definitely be using again!”
“Helpful with organisation but would be better if they gave you more information about the tours before you leave because some itineraries were only given to us a week or so before sometimes only a few days. Flight team were really really good such a good price for the flights we had”
Thanks for your review! All your itineraries are in your online account before you travel, however I'll pass your feedback to the relevant team. The flight's team are usually great at finding deals, glad they could help you out!
“I decided to book a trip to Thailand with Gap 360 on a whim after hearing about this company from a friend. After doing so, I can say that is was one of the best decisions I've ever made. The incredible people I met during my time abroad and once in a lifetime opportunities will stay with me for a long time to come.”
“The whole trip was great start to finish. Each country that was visited on the trip was selected well so that we had the best experience possible. Some of the hostels could have been selected a bit better but 9 times out of 10 they were in a prime location with decent nightlife nearby.”
“Very helpful company that helped me all the way on planning my trip. Would recommend them with enthusiasm as they were extremely helpful and the projects/activities I booked through them were amazing and allowed me to meet some amazing and lovely people that I would likely not have met without this chance”
Hi Steven, we're really proud of our trips and the friends you can make on them! Do get back in touch when you're ready for your next adventure with us. 😊
“Gap360 made my trip totally stress free and allowed me to see and do things I wouldn’t have done if I had not of gone with the company. Everyday I woke up with a smile on my face knowing what the day had in store for me. I had the most amazing experience and I can’t wait to book my next trip!”
“Gap360 is a relaible and traustworthy travel company. As a solo, female, 18 year old traveller, travelling can be very scary and yet when i tour with this company i feel safe and suddenly the only thing i have to worry about is what to wear, how to get rid of mozzies and what to do in the day time.
Sometimes the tours can be too rapid- you may sleep somewhere for one night and then leave the following day. In Europe this was alot easier to cope with as i'd travel 2-4 hours to the next place, unlike in Asia where distances were alot further e.g. 4-12 hours. This meant the tour was incredibly tiring and not completely worth it as alot of days i was travelling long distances.
The team helped me from the moment i started asking questions, to predeparture to the last day. Jon (in office)in particular seems to understand exactly what i want out of a tour and at what time.
Overall i like travelling with gap360, knowing that i wont have to worry about any details myself. The people i met are like minded and therefore look after eachother, that along with the lovely tour guide makes for a lovely trip.”
Thanks for your review Hannah, we're glad Jon could help you plan your travels and pick out the best experiences! It sounds like you had a wonderful trip overall and met some great people. Get back in touch when you're ready for your next adventure with us! 😊
“Jon was really helpful, easy to deal with and helped with any concerns. Thanks for helping us arrange another trip of a life time! We've only just come back but are looking at booking another trip with Gap360.”
“I went on the great white shark and whale conservation project in South Africa and it's a trip that I won't forget in a hurry. It has given me fantastic opportunities to see the marine big 5 and work with a fantastic team and group of people all of which like me want to protect our oceans. I will definitely be coming back to do this trip again as well as travel to other amazing places.”
“website is easy to use and staff always available to help with questions. would have liked to have known it was a g adventures trip i was going on not one run by gap 360 as i thought it would have more people my age on it (gap year from school) as i was the youngest by a long way. also not clear about which vaccinations i needed and no staff knew - was a very big hassle trying to find out”
Thanks for your review! We do have some trips run by in-country partners, and we do make this clear in your welcome email and online account. The trip you were on is designed for ages 18-30s, on some occasions the age range of people on the trip can be quite varied - you are always welcome to check with us before you book the ages of people booked on to your start date. In regards to vaccinations, we aren't medically trained so you would need to speak to a healthcare professional about your needs, and we always encourage our travellers to do this in plenty of time before they book. We're really glad overall you had a good experience and we'll pass your comments to the relevant team to ensure future travellers get the best experience possible.
