Bass Fishing - Avoid Viva Tours/Natura Expeditions

[Lee]

My wife and I, along with 4 other people, had the unfortunate experience of going on a fresh water fishing trip with your company on Tuesday 4Sept01. Although the scenery was beautiful, the trip itself left much to be desired.

The bottom line was that we only had 3 hours of fishing and spent the rest of the time traveling and waiting for the employees to make preparations.

The "1.5" hour drive to the fishing site took 4.5 hours. We were picked up at our hotel at 6:30 in the morning, stopped for gas in PV (the driver had some problems with dumping gas on the ground), then stopped for ice in some town, then diverted to another town while he went looking for our lunch, and eventually reached the lake. But once we arrived, there were no boats, nor could he find the other guide.

Eventually 9 of us crammed into one boat and went to the"lodge", where we were split into 2 boats. But first, the guide needed to show his wife how to use the water pump. We didn't make it onto the lake until 11AM, but at 12:30, he informed us that we needed to return to the lodge for lunch (for a totally inedible meal). Got back out at 2:30 and quit by 4PM. A total of only 3 hours of very poor fishing.

What I really don't understand is that their brochure seems to indicate that this is supposed to be a professional operation. All other charters that I have ever been on, prepared in advance to allow the maximum experience for the guests, not using charter time for the preparation activities.

The bottom line is that this trip was a rip off. The director, Carlos Gerard C.(viva2000@prodigy.net.mx), hasn't even had the decency to reply to my complaint email.