Tungeni Serenity Experience Review – An Annoying Experience in Namibia

As soon as I arrived in Windhoek, I was looking forward to visit the Von Bach dam in Okahandja, Namibia,a dam resort owned by Tungeni Africa.I had seen the dam resort on Booking.com, however besides the services advertised by the resort such as bungalows, there were no ratings and reviews left by travelers who had stayed there.However, as I was to discover later on, what was advertised as a “Tungeni serenity experience” turned out to be a Tungeni annoying experience. A tourist resort is not only judged by its natural attractions but also by how it treats its customers, from the booking experience to the quality of services offered at the resort.Tungeni is not exactly what you would call professional and hospitable, neither would you call them efficient. Amateurish is the right term. My experience with Tungeni was like dealing with a bunch of arrogant clowns who just happened to have the money to buy a business they have no clue about.

So when I was in Windhoek, I tried to call their booking office and no-one answered the phone for at least 2 hours.Yes, I waited 2 glorious hours to be able to speak to Tungeni.The rule “customer is king” does not apply to them. It’s more like “customer is slave”. Lack of competition in the Namibian tourism industry is one of the things that would cause a potential client to be taken for granted and wait more than he should. It’s prevalent and even worse in other sectors of the Namibian industry such as banks and supermarkets. There is no sense of urgency, the staff is laidback, obviously not in love with their job and would rather be elsewhere drinking or chatting. It is not surprising to find yourself standing one and a half hours in a short queue than can be cleared in less than 30 minutes by a professional worker.

In my last attempt to call the booking office, my phone call was received by a man who took down my number. He told me to call after an hour because there was a meeting in progress. So the receptionist was attending a meeting and her ‘meeting’ was more important than a customer who wanted to book a vacation with Tungeni.Talk about arrogance or stupidity or both. They couldn’t even bother to put a standby receptionist to handle situations like these.

After 15 minutes, a lady called me and apologized for keeping me waiting. She said she was doing some accounting for tuck shops at Tungeni Lodge. So here lies the problem with Tungeni.Apparently,they have a receptionist who can be excused for not attending to clients just because Tungeni can call her anytime to leave her reception desk and do other jobs such as purchasing, delivery of goods and tuck shop accounting. Clearly, it’s not the poor lady’s fault, but I blame it on the incompetent management.

I finally arrived at Von Bach Tungeni Serenity Experience Lodge at 3:00 pm, but the booking fiasco had taken a toll on my mood. The Tungeni annoying experience definitely left me with no serenity of mind, and I will never come to this place again. Unless you are very patient, ready to be treated like a pest or able to tolerate second-class service, then I would not advise you to book a vacation at this place. Keep your money and use it for something useful. I am sure there are better lodges and hotels to stay in Namibia but certainly not Tungeni or Von Bach Dam. Stay away!