THE TOUR FROM HELL!
Me and my husband thought a trip to Havasu would be a dream come to life. I mean what sounds better than a desert oasis filled with waterfalls! If you don't know me, you may not know that I LOVE waterfalls. Maybe its because the negative ions that flow off of them give me a high, or maybe it is because their surreal splendor leaves me awe-struck. Whatever it is, I just love them!
We booked a three day two night trip in Havasu. No, we did not go with a tour group because we don't know how to camp or set up a tent. I actually grew up camping and honestly Havasu is not really like true wilderness camping as there are at least about 200 other people there with you, in a very close proximity. The reason we booked a tour company to take us was because we did not get a permit in time to go on our own and the tour company provides the permit for you.
Now for the horror!
Day One:
The Tour departed from a city about three hours from the trailhead where we met the tour guides, other guests and had the orientation. It all went okay until the next morning when my husband gave the guide our sleeping bags to pack in their sacks for the donkeys and the male guide refused to pack them for us....Now, this may not sound so bad and maybe like we were being pre - madonnas. But, let me explain to you why this was the biggest bullshit yet (it doesn't even compare to the rest!).
When we signed up for the tour we had an option where we could fill out the things that we would bring ourselves such as a sleeping bag and they would pack it for us in their donkey packs. Not to mention the fact that we managed to pack them in our carry ons and lugged them around on our several day road trip before our nightmare commenced.
We had a small argument over it with the guide and in the end Robert had to carry them in, in his pack that was not equipped for two sleeping bags. My sleeping bag we rigged onto the top and it often fell to one side or the other and the guide never said he was sorry or anything even though it was obviously an uncomfortable situation.
Rob with his oversized backpack. See the purple sleeping bag that we made fit...very awkwardly as it would fall to one side and then the other. All because of those pesky guides. Had we known we were gonna carry both of our sleeping bags I would have also brought a large pack.
The topper is several of the sleeping bags did not work! Four out of eight to be exact. The four unlucky people that got the broken sleeping bags were complaining of being frozen during the night because they could not zip their bags up. Luckily we had two of the companies that did work so we were able to give two of the people ours because we brought our own.
Did they take them in their packs for the donkeys on the way back? Nope! Robert had to carry our sleeping bags back as well. Which was ridiculous because we all packed up the camp at three in the morning and filled the donkey sacks. But, we were not allowed to put ours in.... It was insanity!
I forgot to mention that the guide made Robert take two walkings sticks even though he had said that he did not want them. She literally forced him to take them and he had to also put those in his pack because he did not want to use them.
The ten mile hike that was downhill and extremely flat took us like eightish hours. It was crazy! But that wasn't something that we minded as it was not anyones fault because you always go as fast as the slowest person in a group and that was fine.
Before you get to the campground you have to check - in, at the village of the havasupai people. This was the first and certainly not last time that I witnessed the racism of our guide. She told us that we could not take pictures of the village which was so not true! I read all of the rules of the village and non of the signs or rules mentioned taking pictures and I have seen a lot of pictures of the village. She made shit up like that throughout the entire trip of stuff that we were not allowed to do. I can't remember every account because there were so many... Anyways, then she basically acted like we were going to get mugged if we went anywhere alone and all of our stuff would be stolen if we left it out. Yeah, of course you do not leave your stuff out in the middle of a new village that you had never been. But instead of saying that she basically said it was because the "indians" are really poor and desperate... It was so ridiculously prejudice I could barely believe that it was being insinuated. Did I forget to mention the indian men are also notorious women assaulters.? Yeah she basically said that too....
pics of our first time at the waterfall when we were still having a good time and just giving people the benefit of the doubt. I also almost froze to death because the water and the canyon was soooo cold! I had to sit in my sleeping bag for a half an hour shivering with all my wool on to finally warm up. haha. But it was worth it because...Waterfall!
When we arrived at the waterfall I could let all the happenings of the day go because it was magnificent and it was going to be an epic trip! We had some time to hang out at Havasu Falls and it was a little cold because we went in October - but, it was still amazing! We swam and played and had loads of fun, until it was time for dinner. I will say one thing about them, they did a great job with my food allergies for the first day....until the women guide decided to hate us for her own insane reasons.
Day Two: Where the real Shit went down!
It actually started out really well. We woke up and had a nice breakfast and then began our hike to what I think was more than amazing than Havasu, Mooney Falls.
The only thing that happened in the morning was the female guides inherit prejudice towards the beautiful havasupai people. She told us not to leave anything valuable or to leave our lawn chairs out because "The Tribes People" (her words not mine) notoriously robbed tents and stole peoples things. I was like WHAT THE F**CK! Is this lady even serious. We are in a campsite with over 200 othere strangers and its "the tribes people" that are taking things? At first I was like yeah, it makes sense not to leave our things because we are in an area with tons of other people. But it wasn't the tons of tourists that were going to steal your things it was the "tribes people". It made me sooooooo mad! I probably ranted to Robert (my husband) about it all day. Like, she could have just said don't leave your valuables because they may get stolen there are a lot of people here...
This was just one of many prejudice things she said about the Havasupai People. She was starting to prejudice a lot of the group against them as well. It was soooo sad! Obviously I caught onto her prejudice and could not believe it!
Now to Mooney Falls, you head down a treacherous track/ladder to the falls. We get there and I think - wow! This is amazing, I totally forget about everything else and fall in love with Mooney Falls. I cannot wait to spend the entire day there playing in the falls, and just staring at them. I could have easily spent three to five hours there if it had been up to me. Well we only get about 15 minutes and then have to move on... I asked if we would be coming back and the guides said yes. Because if they had said no I would have asked to stay.
On the way down to Mooney Falls.
Our shady swimming hole. I know - boo- hoo, poor us! It is not that it was not beautiful, it's just we went to Havasu to see waterfalls and be near them and we were forced to go as far away from them as possible. Even though, there were plenty of sunny swimming holes near the waterfall.
I was still happy with the thought of getting to soak in Mooney falls on the way back. Well, we went to a swimming hole in the shade...I did not understand why we had to swim there instead of by the waterfall as there were plenty of swimming holes near to it. But whatever, we were having fun. Then they take us to a canyon. We had just hiked through a F**cking canyon. We were in a F**cking canyon for gods sake. We did not need canyon - ception. Everyone in the group thought it was a little weird and no one had wanted to go there but the guides.... So we went, I was still looking forward to my time back at Mooney falls. Well, long story short we get to Mooney falls and are made to head back to the camp immediately. I started crying in secret to my husband Robert because my spirit was crushed. I was sooooo disappointed and so tired of the women guide. She was incredibly overbearing and just a liar!!!!
NOW FOR THE GOOD STUFF:
We had lunch and all is fine. Except for two poor girls that walked through our camp to feel the wrath of the she tour guide. They accidentally walked through our campsite. Let me explain a little about the camp area - firstly, it is basically a maze and so easy to get lost and there are hundreds of people and tents. There is a main path through the campground with tons of twists and turns. Now...back to the two girls with their giant packs that had just hiked ten miles. Instead of congratulating them on making it. She stares them down and as they walk passed her on a path though our campground she says "Ummmmm this isn't a path, this is a campground, you guys need to go that way" (say that with the most attitude possible). The poor girl says "oh sorry, someone told us this was the way to go." and the male guide says, (which have I mentioned yet, was the women's guide fiance) "Wellllll, they were wroooong" ( with extreme rude attitude).
This is the best part of all! One of the ladies saw this happen and came up and asked if it was okay if she put her plate on the table and the women guide says "oh yeah, of course - I wasn't being persnickety with you - just with them". She self proclaimed that she was persnickety. Which literally means "Placing too much emphasis on trivial or minor details; fussy or should I say bitchy. So yet, again just another of the many examples of the insanity that we had to put up with.
Then the group was going to go up the hill 1/4 mile to some other waterfalls. We let the tour guide know that we were going to stay at Havasu and then meet them up at top and she says " I THINK ... NOOOO" and this is how the convo ensued.
Me: "What do you mean?"
Her: You cannot do that!
Me: Why not?
Her: Because you can't
Me: (I was being super calm, even using my calm voice) "What do you mean? We paid for this trip"
Her: "We have to keep you safe"
Me: "We signed a waiver though, that literally releases you guys of all liability, you know that we are capable campers, as I told you I grew up camping, not to mention this is an extremely high trafficked area, and we just came from those same waterfalls yesterday" (not to mention it was like a five minute walk from Havasu Falls)...
Her: "WE GONNA DO THIS RIGHT NOW RAQUEL?"
She yelled that at me
Me: I was like "YEAH, let's do it" . I was pissed at this point - we were just wanting to salvage what was left of the trip.
Her: She pulls us aside as there were others listening "You could get lost, people die here all the time"
Me: "At Havasu?"
Her: "Yes, people die here all the time just no one knows because the tribe doesn't report it" Then the ultimatium came. "You guys can go back to the campground and get your stuff and leave our tour, which means that you will get no more food, or shelter and be on your own for getting your stuff back. I will let you think about that.... AND SHE WALKS AWAY....
Then, me and Robert started talking. I had loads of food and we were only there for one more night, so we could easily sustain ourselves, not to mention we had our own sleeping bags and double person sleeping hammock that we brought just for fun. So we could have easily stayed on our own. But, at that point I wanted something. I did not know what yet, but I knew that I would not have a valid complaint to the company if we decided to leave. Before we did anything we went with them up to the other waterfalls, which were actually really cool and actually in the sun, which was also nice because the water was freaking cold. Up there we had service and I called my parents and told them everything. My mom said stay and my dad said go considering she was super prejudice against Native Americans and I have a lot of Native American in me. To make a long story a little shorter we decided to stay. We would have left the group if we had another full day there, but we only had a few more hours with them.
Waterfalls we had to go to instead of meeting everyone there. I think the funniest part of it all is that we were just trying to be courteous by letting them know our plans. We could have just stayed at Havasu and then hiked up to them...
At this point, the trip of dreams could not end sooner! I also began documenting everything that had happened in my notes on my phone. That night the women guide was extremely rude and put soy sauce in the food eventhough she knew that I would not be able to eat it. Luckily I had brought my own hot dogs and the male guide cooked it for me as we were not allowed to cook ourselves (which made sense). But, that meant we were totally reliant on the guides. They refused to make Robert tea at night time. Not making an Irishman tea before bed is like a mortal sin. He woke up with a headache every morning because he is a caffeine addict after all and goes through withdrawals at night time if he doesn't get any. They could have warmed him up some water. They were just the worlds biggest assholes!
DAY 3:
We left camp at 4am, helped pack up and they still did not offer to pack our sleeping bags that were so awkward to carry in as we did not bring the proper packs because we were not expecting to have to carry them.
That day the female guide kept having to take breaks and crying. It was soooo crazy. I think it was because she knew that she had messed up. She made sure to be extra mean to us on the way out if she got the chance. At one point we had stopped for a break in the shade and we were talking to another group in the same company and she knew we were fast hikers and everyones started walking and she said "Raquel, Robert we are going now". We did not begin walking and she said "start walking now". Once we made it to the switchbacks out we hauled ass up the hill because we knew that we were home free. We made it back about an hour before everyone else. But sadly our stuff on the donkeys was nowhere to be seen so we had to wait for everyone. When we left and did not tip the guides the look on the females guide was priceless. The male guide knew that he would not be getting a tip, but somehow the female guide was so delusional she still expected one. I would just like to add that I am a very good tipper! I had brought 25percent of the trip cost to tip them - so over $600.
Back at the top, well kind of...this was the start of the trip - hence the reason we actually look happy. If it had been taken at the end of the trip, our faces would have told another story.
I knew that I was not overreacting because Robert (my husband) the most calm person ever, hates conflict, and always lets bygones be bygones was also very upset. We had paid over $2,300 for the two of us just for the guided part of our trip, not including flights, hotel, etc... Long story short we ended up getting our money back, just by relaying what happened back to their supervisor. The supervisor could not believe it, so maybe it was not a reflection of the company, But I will never take a guided tour like this again, if I need a permit for something - even if I have to wait a year before I am able to go.
That ends the story of the trip from Hell. You may think it does not sound all that bad...but it was and if I wrote everything that happened on that trip not only to us you would be reading a short novel, instead of a long blog post. I can guarantee that we were not the only ones that complained.
You may think all is well that ends well. Well.. that is kind of true. I am very grateful that we got our money back because it was a terrible trip. But it did ruin Havasu for us. A place that was meant to be magical and a place that my happiest dreams are made of --- Waterfalls everywhere! Yes, we can go back someday - but we have been there and there are so many other places to see, I have a feeling that we will not be going back for a while.
If you can imagine we are not a fan of guided tours - I have a blog post coming soon on everything you need to know about going to Havasu and maybe a little more. Subscribe so you don't miss it.