Acrobranch Constantia — Attraction in Cape Town Ward 74

We booked my daughter's 10th Birthday party at Acrobranch Constantia for this past Saturday, 3 Dec 2016. In the booking e-mails we were repeatedly informed that no food and drinks may be brought into the park, but that everything had to be purchased there. When we arrived, however, we were informed (by very unfriendly staff) that the kiosk closed down 3 weeks ago and we could not purchase a single thing there!!! When we asked what are we supposed to do now (it IS supposed to be a birthday party after all), she casually told us there's a Spar down the road, which meant that one of the supervising adults had to leave to go and buy snacks and refreshments. The ziplines themselves were great and the kids loved it. The facilities, on the other hand, leave much to be desired: a container for an office (with a very small, dicey platform for clients to balance on when being attended to at the window), 2 builders' toilets (yuck!) and way too little seating. Paths are very uneven (my younger daughter fell so hard just after we arrived, that she could not even partake in the zipline activity), pathways are hard to detect and there is way too little space to sit down. We were also not informed that you needed to book a table beforehand @ R150, but were told that if one became available we could use it. The (still unfriendly) staff then wanted us to pay full price for a table that we could only use for 3/4 of an hour! I offered to pay half price (which I thought was more than fair since the previous people paid upto the time that we took over), but they were not receptive to the idea.... Add to it a year's supply of dust in 2 hours, and you get the picture of just how miserable this experience was for us. I would not recommend it to anybody: you get the impression that they're milking the clients for all the money they can, and investing nothing into making the park facilities and paths even halfway decent, not to mention tarring / paving the roads or putting down gravel (to try and curtail the immense amount of dust that gets into everything... birthday cake included!). My husband and I are both totally apalled! We have NEVER been treated so badly by any place hosting birthday parties....

I loved Acrobranch. It was the first time I did an obstacle course like it and it was fun and nerve-racking at the same time. I did my course twice and it was tiring but doable. I've read the reviews before booking and one lady had an issue with the toilet,which was a porta-loo(Constantia ). The response was that they were busy upgrading it but when we went nothing has been done,which was disappointing. We used the nearby restaurant's porta-loo at the car park. I thought the bathroom facilities there would be good by the time we went as Constantia is nearer to drive to.

Overall it was a great day there. I liked that you could repeat the course as many times as you liked and that you could upgrade to a more difficult course if you were feeling braver,which I wasn't. The green course was awesome; not too easy or difficult and I just might be talked into doing the next level if we go there again. That's if my nerves of steel kick in by then.

I think the seating could be placed somewhere else and not beneath the obstacle courses. found it a little awkward navigating my way above the spectators and being so near to them and I kept thinking their food will get seasoned with takkie sole and rope dust particles. Doing a more difficult and higher course could solve that problem. Ha, Acrobranch! I see what you did there! Sneakily getting the wussy adults like me to do the other courses :). To be fair there are only seating in one area of the obstacle course, not...

Upon arrival, the office was not manned. ENOCH who later identified was enjoying a chat with staff and only came to serve us when I asked him who was in charge.

We left after he insisted on speaking with the nine year old, and together they would decide which package to use.

Using English when addressing a 9 year old IsiXhosa boy, when the kid cannot read English is nonsense. When the guardian and I protested, Enoch walked off in a huff,slammed the office door closed and closed the window as well.

This is the drama queen you leave in charge. He refused to give us the name of his supervisor, insisting he was the most senior person.

Sorry, that kind of rudeness from a staff person is unacceptable.

The child had two adult caregivers. We are responsible, not a complete stranger with no manners.

And by the way, since the two adults speak isiXhosa, the discussion amongst the staff was...