点评:I was planning a rally in South America and approached a highly recommended guide. After having done the preliminary work on the rally this guide found another job and recommended XplorePeru, and in particular its only employee, Beto.
Beto is a friendly person with a big smile. Did I know then that this smile comes also when he wants to hide that he did not do things he promised to do. So, yes, during the rally we did see him smile a lot.
Beto’s handling of his responsibilities for the rally’s support vehicles left much to be desired. He arrived three days late because his car broke down, and the second vehicle was also poorly prepared, with an old battery that failed on the first day.
My doubts about Beto’s reliability had begun the year before during a scouting trip, where I quickly realized he wasn’t the dependable partner I’d hoped for. As a precaution, I took charge of all hotel bookings myself. Still, I trusted him with organizing meals, thinking it was a straightforward task. Unfortunately, that turned out to be a mistake.
From the outset, meals were a recurring problem. It wasn’t until the final two days, after recognizing that Beto’s “yes” often meant “I don’t know” or “no,” that we finally had water and wine consistently available during meals.
In his own country, Peru, where one might assume he would know the ropes, our journey started at 5 a.m. with a flight to Cusco. We expected a quick drive to the hotel for lunch, but instead, we arrived at 4 p.m., hungry and frustrated after Beto added several unnecessary shopping stops to the schedule. Dinner that evening was another failure; it had been mistakenly booked for the following night when we would be away on a train trip to Machu Picchu.
Poor planning continued in Bolivia, where Beto relied on an assistant to manage border crossings and fuel logistics. The assistant didn’t know the Bolivian border closed for lunch, resulting in a two-hour delay. Later, when fuel shortages became an issue, the assistant proved useless—having spent his wages on alcohol and been left behind in Oruro. Beto made no effort to resolve the situation, but fortunately, group members found a local taxi driver who provided fuel for most of us.
Back in Peru, we were warned of extended road closures in advance. We sent Beto ahead to assess the situation, but he left late and failed to update us, leaving the group waiting for three hours. This delay forced us to drive at night on unlit roads, facing oncoming traffic without headlights.
Adding to the frustration, Beto traveled with the medic but was completely unreachable during critical moments. Both his personal phone and the satellite phone I had provided were inexplicably turned off. Thankfully, no emergencies occurred, but the lack of communication was unacceptable.
On the closing dinner I did thank all the participants and staff, lots of clapping, except, and this was painful, for one person, Beto.
There are countless examples of Beto’s shortcomings. While he might succeed in organizing a small sandboarding trip—assuming his car doesn’t break down.
翻译:我当时正在策划一场南美拉力赛,并联系了一位备受推崇的导游。在完成拉力赛的准备工作后,这位导游找到了另一份工作,并推荐了 XplorePeru,尤其是它的唯一员工 Beto。
Beto 是一个笑容灿烂的友好人士。我当时是否知道,当他想掩盖自己没有履行承诺时,他的笑容也会随之而来。所以,是的,在拉力赛期间,我们确实看到他经常微笑。
Beto 对拉力赛支援车辆的职责处理得非常不尽如人意。他迟到了三天,因为他的车坏了,第二辆车也准备不足,电池很旧,第一天就坏了。
我对 Beto 可靠性的怀疑始于一年前的一次侦察旅行,我很快意识到他不是我所希望的可靠伙伴。为了以防万一,我自己负责了所有的酒店预订。尽管如此,我还是相信他负责安排餐饮,以为这是一项简单的任务。不幸的是,那是一个错误。
从一开始,吃饭就是一个反复出现的问题。直到最后两天,在意识到贝托的“是”往往意味着“我不知道”或“不是”之后,我们才终于在吃饭时始终有水和酒供应。
在他的祖国秘鲁,人们可能认为他知道那里的情况,我们的旅程从早上 5 点开始,飞往库斯科。我们本以为很快就能开车去酒店吃午饭,但结果却是下午 4 点才到,我们又饿又沮丧,因为贝托在行程中增加了几次不必要的购物点。当晚的晚餐又是一次失败;它被错误地安排在了第二天晚上,当时我们要乘火车去马丘比丘。
在玻利维亚,计划不周的情况依然存在,贝托依靠一名助理来管理过境和燃料后勤。助理不知道玻利维亚边境会在午餐时间关闭,导致延误了两个小时。后来,当燃料短缺成为问题时,助手却无能为力——他把工资都花在了酒上,被留在了奥鲁罗。贝托没有努力解决这一情况,但幸运的是,小组成员找到了一位当地的出租车司机,为我们大多数人提供了燃料。
回到秘鲁后,我们提前收到道路封闭时间延长的警告。我们派贝托先去评估情况,但他迟到了,没有向我们汇报最新情况,导致小组等了三个小时。这种延误迫使我们在夜间在没有路灯的道路上行驶,面对没有前灯的迎面而来的车辆。
更令人沮丧的是,贝托和医生一起旅行,但在关键时刻却完全联系不上他。他的私人电话和我提供的卫星电话都莫名其妙地关机了。谢天谢地,没有发生紧急情况,但缺乏沟通是无法接受的。
在闭幕晚宴上,我确实感谢了所有的参与者和工作人员,并鼓掌致意,但有一个人却很难过,那就是贝托。
贝托的缺点不胜枚举。然而,他可能会成功组织一次小型沙板旅行——前提是他的车没有抛锚。