Eminently Eve
If there is one thing I try by all means to avoid ever doing in this life is travelling during the peak of the holiday or festive season. I love peaceful, quiet trips where it’s just as few people as possible both at the destination and on the roads. I however understand that there are some of you who have no choice but to travel during these times because that’s when the schedules of everyone you want to travel with align. So I’ll share here below 4 important things to watch out for when travelling during these periods so that your holiday is as enjoyable & as drama free as possible.
1. Double bookings
Some destinations in Zimbabwe do not have the best booking systems especially because of improper use of online platforms & poor coordination with travel agents. So while making your booking online, transferring the funds electronically and uploading your proof of payment on the same platform should suffice & secure your booking, you will find that it actually does not.
Off season, this is an error that can be easily rectified but unfortunately during the festive season, you will find that someone else who would have done the booking directly via calls or WhatsApp ends up taking your room. Only for you to find out upon arrival that you actually do not have accommodation reserved for you. In some cases, you will get a refund which means you go back home because at that point everywhere else they are fully booked or you will get the type of accommodation you are not so keen on.
This mistake also happens when bookings are made via travel agents. The problem is actually not with the travel agents though but the destination which does not have effective systems in place to carry out that operation. So you always want to follow up your booking with a direct call to the destination to make sure that your booking has been truly acknowledged.
2. Overcrowding at destinations due to overbooking
Overcrowding during the festive season can not be eliminated completely, however, it can be reduced. I know most destinations get fully booked during this season, which is a great thing for the tourism industry. However, you do want to be careful of destinations that offer extra beds as this results in way more people being accommodated than the available space (i.e. in the restaurant, swimming pool) was intended to take. An extra bed in a room for a child is understandable, however, 3 extra beds for grown adults in a room that was originally intended for 2 people is only going to cause overcrowding at the shared spaces. To find out if the destination you are planning to visit is guilty of this just ask if they can add extra beds for your friends or cousins. If you hear the words, “sorry our policy does not allow that” then you know you’re good.
3. Overpricing of services
Overpricing during the festive season is not so much an accommodation issue (though sometimes it can be), it’s more an issue with service providers in the activities and/or transport sectors. Of course during off season prices are going to be pretty low in the tourism industry because they are trying to attract people to travel. Then during peak season they put their prices back to normal as there is a high demand for their services.
What you want to be careful of are destinations and service providers who do not have their fees visibly displayed on their website or social media. This they do so that they charge you exorbitant fees based on whether you complain or not. However for you to complain you need to have done your due diligence on the different fees other service providers offer & be willing to use those other ones if that particular one is not being reasonable. Sometimes that is their pricing though & you’re just not their target market. That’s why due diligence is important so that you have a reference point of how much they normally charge or how much they just charged a client that came before you versus how much they want to charge you.
4. Reckless drivers on the roads
I was so heartbroken yesterday when I came across a video of people who sounded like grown men, getting excited & hyping up the driver for getting the speedometer at the fastest speed that specific car allowed which was 180 km/hour. A few seconds after that we hear screams from the same voices, a crashing sound then silence as the video stops recording. Immediately what came into my mind as I watched that was, “May they not have taken anyone else with them please, either a pedestrian or people in another car“.
That is unfortunately the reality of the caliber of drivers we have and this driving is worse during the festive season when people have been drinking for days and they just have access to cars & the roads. So you want to be as extra careful as possible. Make sure you regularly go for defensive driving & avoid driving at night at all costs. Do not let anyone who has been drinking (no matter how sober they claim to be) or who operates a phone while driving to drive you. You only have one life and many have been killed by family members, boyfriends, girlfriends, spouses simply because they didn’t speak out or they trusted them when they said, “Don’t worry, I have a high alcohol tolerance, I’m fine“. It’s just not worth it… If you are the reckless driver, I have no words for you!
I hope these tips will help make your holiday as enjoyable and as safe as possible for your loved ones and yourself… Remember to always have a little intimacy in your life & as always I’m talking about Intimacy With Nature 🙂
