Setting the record straight
If you’ve been following the Vic Falls bungee jumping accident story in which 22 year-old Erin Langworthy survived falling into the Zambezi River after the bungee cord snapped, you will have come across posts and news reports fingering Safari Par Excellence as the ‘guilty’ operator.
Don’t shoot the booking agent
Let’s just get this straight. They are not the bungee jump operators. Safari Par Excellence was Langworthy’s chosen booking agent and as such can not possibly be responsible for the bungee equipment in any way. The unlucky woman just happened to have booked her excursion through the company. She probably did so based on their good reputation. Good reputations are earned and I’ll tell you how these guys won my support:
In my numerous dealings with the company most recently during last year’s Put Foot Rally, the team there went to every length to make sure the sometimes demanding and often rowdy participants were extremely well looked after and accommodated. While they saw to the 100-plus Put Footers, Sarah Mackenzie and operations manager Tony King were also taking care of their regular business who inevitably were a slightly more subdued group of tourists. I’m sure that the Put Footers will back me (and Safari Par Excellence) on this. You can read my story mentioning their service here.
But that’s not all
As further indication of their genuine desire to please – on the Put Foot Rally, Tony King went so far as to arrange a marching band to accompany the rally convoy delivering the Bob’s For Good shoe drop. Nobody asked him to. He wasn’t paid and having spoken to him, I know it was a very difficult thing to arrange with the local military. This is the Zambian Army we’re talking about after all. Read my colleague fellow Put Foot team mate Christie Fynn’s a report here.
Sarah, whom I imagine to have spent the entire night Googling ‘Safari Par Excellence’ news posts and attempting to set the record straight, has posted a comment below yesterdays post of the bungee snap video.
Inform yourself
They have also put out an official statement here and you can see what the Victoria Falls Bungee company is saying about this the first such incident in 17 year history of the operation here.
Disclosure
Oh, and before the flamers out there start screaming ‘paid endorsement’ or whatever, I’m obliged to say that this was a totally unsolicited post, not by my editor or the parties involved. I have simply had personal experience of their exceptional service and as a travel journalist feel compelled to come out in their defense.
I wish both the team at Safari Par Excellence and the bungee guys the best of luck in what must be a massive wake-up call for all involved. I’d also like to echo their commendation of Erin Langworthy for her bravery and good-spirits in the face of this incident.
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