The Traveler Hired the Wrong Tour Guide ;A Costly Mistake
Lisa always considered it her perfect vacation: a sun-blasted exotic island full of quiet beaches, vibrant markets, and awesome scenery. Yet, she ended up on an adventure of a lifetime-for all the wrong reasons.
The Adventure Starts
The Thrill and Risk of Engaging a Tour Guide
Engaging a local tour guide can easily make an ordinary trip become an extraordinary adventure. A well-informed guide will open one’s eyes to the culture, show hidden gems, and narrate stories that breathe life into destinations. At the same time, risks exist in hiring the wrong guide, which may lead to frustration, wastage of time, or even dangerous situations. This was something Lisa learned the hard way
The Adventure Starts
Lisa was an obsessive planner; booking a local tour guide wasn’t even among her pretrips. A quick search on her laptop turned up a guide named Marco who promised “unique, off the beaten path experiences.” Wonderful reviews and prices that accompanied it made him sound ideal.
What she wasn’t expecting was that “off the beaten path” was really literal.
A String of Disasters
The first bad omen was when Marco arrived after the appointed time of meeting, a packed café near the airport. Marco is very unkempt and restless in dress so much so that Lisa almost wished she had questions about his professionalism, but this course was due to his island time culture.
That waterfall was supposed to be the first site. But Marco does not have an excellent sense of direction. Hours of driving down roads that didn’t have any signboards, trekking in dense jungle, and at the end, they got to the “waterfall”-a little water cascading over some moss-covered rocks.
“That’s usually bigger during the rainy season,” Marco joked awkwardly.
Next morning he wanted her to spend all time with him at what, as he described it was a “local secret festival”. He took her out to his family’s yearly family gathering. She passed hours awkwardly sitting through the backyard of a total stranger being fed foods not identified by her and, also speaking some words she could not interpret, unable to talk through these others. The food was well fine for everything however still she felt something was missing from what she signed to enter to.
Things begin to get terrifying.
On the third day, Lisa became frantic. Marco was unstable and had prepared for nothing, not even close, and it scared her. Snorkeling was the last nail in the coffin. Marco told her that he knew just the place to get a multicolored coral reef full of exotic fish, but when they pulled up in the practically malfunctioning boat, Lisa saw nothing: no life jackets, no radio-nothing.
When Lisa expressed her reservations, Marco waved her concerns aside. “I have done this a hundred times. Trust me!”
Trust wasn’t very easy to concoct when the boat’s engine sputtered and died half-way, stranding them till a passing fisherman towed them back ashore.
Lessons Learnt
At the end of the week, Lisa had had it. She shortened her trip and booked a flight back home and got out of Marco’s service forever. According to Lisa, she learned a hard lesson the hard way: do not take in your tour guide without a serious review beforehand.
Other lessons are shared by travelers as shown below.
Check references beyond reviews. There may be false information on the internet through reviews. Check in-depth testimonials, or if possible, ask around for some previous clients.
Check the qualifications:
Ensure that your guide is licensed, insured, and has sufficient experience in conducting tours within the area.
Ask detailed questions:
Do not be afraid to ask questions regarding safety measures, itineraries, and backup plans.
Trust your instincts:
If it feels off, then don’t ignore it. It is better to be safe than sorry over an unpleasant or unsafe experience.
Perhaps
Lisa’s journey didn’t end precisely as planned, but she surely has a great story to tell and loads of precious wisdom to share. Sometimes the wrong turn leads in the right lesson.
