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Reviews

Sort By: Date Most Helpful Rating 21-30 of 82 Reviews
Onur Cagan Aygun   –  
Turkey TR
Visited: January 2018 Reviewed: May 7, 2018

Email Onur Cagan Aygun  |  20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

Amazing professional tour agency with really good guides
5/5

It was so good to have trip with Gatatu Safaris in Uganda & Rwanda...
Their guides are really professional, we had group tour with them and they took care of everything.
I highly recommended this amazing company to see most beautiful mountain gorillas in their wild lifes.

Ken   –  
United States US
Visited: March 2018 Reviewed: May 6, 2018

Email Ken  |  65+ years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

An Experience to
5/5

My time with Steven traveling around Uganda and experiencing the chimpanzees and Mountain Gorillas was an exceptional experience. I began the planning six months before arrival and Richard was always informative and prompt in his correspondence. I knew exactly what to expect and that was how it happened. The lodging, meals, and travel were all at the level I expected and met my needs. Both the chimp and gorilla tracking went off without any problem and were lifetime experiences. The interaction with the gorillas was fantastic. Steven had good relations with all the tracking rangers and Gatatu seemed to have a very good reputation. Steven's commentary as we drove across the country was informative and interesting. I have a much better understanding of the country and it's people as a result. The visit to the school was inspiring and fun. This was the fifth time I traveled around the world and I've visited and toured in133 countries to date. I found Gatatu Safaris right at the top of quality people and offerings from all my travels.

Klara   –  
Czech Republic CZ
Visited: March 2018 Reviewed: Mar 27, 2018

Email Klara  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

very friendly stuff, focused on customer happiness
5/5

We have been in contact with Richard - gave us great recommendation and tips. Richard helped us to organize safari. We really appreciate his advices he gave us. He was focused on our interest and us to be satisfied. And we really were happy that we got in contact with Richard (very quickly responded on emails and got in touch by phone). Thanks! We enjoyed it and without your advice we would have experienced it!

Barbara   –  
United States US
Visited: February 2018 Reviewed: Mar 3, 2018

Email Barbara  |  65+ years of age  |  Experience level: over 5 safaris

14 Day Luxury Tour of Rwanda and Uganda - Gorillas, Chimps, and Birds
4/5

We just returned from the "14 Day Luxury Tour of Rwanda and Uganda -
Gorillas, Chimps, and Birds", offered by Gatatu Safaris, and I want to give
an honest review of our experience with this local Ugandan company. We are
seasoned travelers in our 70's and have traveled extensively with wildlife
companies all over the world. We decided to take a chance booking with
Gatatu Safaris instead of an American company because we really liked the
itinerary they offered since one of us is a wildlife photographer and the
other is an avid bird watcher. Not only was it a good fit for our interests,
it was less expensive for what it offered compared to the American companies
we considered. We were overall pleased with our experience although there
were a few short comings. For example, at the beginning of the tour, our driver did not
have the promised itinerary of daily activities and they were not occurring.
Calls back to the office resolved this situation to a degree.

Since it was advertised as a bird tour, we expected to have professional
bird guides at each of the parks where birding was mentioned as an activity.
This had not been arranged ahead of time, but was handled by our guide "on
the fly", and we were never sure if we would have a bird guide or not, nor
how knowledgeable he would be. Another surprise was the game drives
themselves. The itinerary on the website listed multiple game drives at the
national parks, and this was one of the main reasons we elected to go with
Gatatu Safaris. On our travels, we have always taken game drives in safari
vehicles with pop up tops allowing the occupants to stand up and see clearly
in all directions, but this was not the case with Gatatu. The game drives
were conducted with our driver, Stephen, in the same vehicle used for
transportation between parks, a 1999 vehicle with cramped seating that was
not air-conditioned nor was the fresh air vent working, so we endured many
long, hot drives on Uganda's very bumpy and dusty roads with the windows
open. Stephen was neither a naturalist nor a birder, but he did arrange to
hire bird guides in some of the parks after we got there, and he did arrange
to rent a pop up vehicle for one of the game drives.

One thing that Gatatu Safaris handled very well was changing our
accommodations for the gorilla trekking to a location where they felt like
we would be able to do the trek more easily since we are both in our 70's.
This took a number of phone calls and a talk with the park director, so we
were grateful that they arranged this for us. One thing that could have been
better were the briefings before each day and each activity - what to wear,
how long it would take, do we need water and a hiking stick, etc.

This was advertised as a luxury safari tour, and all of the accommodations
were excellent, the best available in each of the places where we stayed,
so we were pleased with that aspect of our trip.

My recommendation to prospective travelers considering going with Gatatu
Safaris is to agree on a detailed itinerary ahead of time with the company, print
it out, and bring it with you, and be aware that it is a small local Ugandan
company and may lack the polish you expect with a high-end American or
European safari company.

shiro   –  
Japan JP
Visited: January 2018 Reviewed: Feb 18, 2018

Email shiro  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

I have a nice experience with Gatatu
5/5

I have been arranged 1 day gorilla tour by Gatatu.
Because his company is very small I am amazed that it took several days until I received his reply and I cannot find him in his office in the previous day.
But the arrangement was perfect and tour driver was very gentle.
I was able to spend a nice experience thanks to that.

Shivon   –  
Australia AU
Visited: January 2018 Reviewed: Feb 12, 2018

Email Shivon  |  20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

I had a great experience with Gatatu.
5/5

Thanks gatatu safaris for an amazing 8 day safari. We really enjoyed the variety of activities. Jasper was always helpful and the accommodation was always great.

Thanks once again

Rowan Johanson   –  
New Zealand NZ
Visited: December 2017 Reviewed: Jan 16, 2018

Email Rowan Johanson  |  20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

Gatatu were trustworthy, communicated well and delivered a professional safari
5/5

Gatatu were trustworthy, communicated well and delivered a professional safari. They communicated very well and were always on time. We had a great time trekking through Bwindi impenetrable to see the Gorillas. We made our payments for the permits online before hand and Gatatu handled it very well and followed through on all their commitments and promises.

Evert   –  
Netherlands NL
Visited: November 2017 Reviewed: Jan 10, 2018

Email Evert  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

The review below is the personal opinion of Evert and not that of SafariBookings.
Communication difficult, great tour
3/5

It took me a while to decide on which gorilla tour from which tour operator to choose. I was looking around for one day tours starting from Kabale or Kisoro. I booked a tour with Gatatu, which had both a good price and good reviews (on safaribookings.com).

Contact with Gatatu was by e-mail with the owner. In his first e-mail to me he said that I would pay at the start of the safari either in Gatatu’s office or to my guide. But because Gatatu had to buy my gorilla permit for the trekking date I asked if I shouldn’t pay for at least the permit before. Then I received a reply that money did have to be transferred to Gatatu’s account.

I had to transfer the full amount which I did, but Gatatu did not buy the permit before the money was received. One week later they had received the money, but it took 3 more days until I received a message from the owner saying he bought the permit the day before. The waiting for Gatatu buying the permit (in total 9 days after payment) and telling me about it made me pretty nervous as I had read that permits could be sold out. Also the payment information I first received turned out to be incorrect and after finding out they had received the money it still took 2 days for Gatatu to buy the permit.

The gorilla tour itself was great. First I could enjoy the landscape during the early morning drive from Kabale to Bwindi Park. Mist was hanging over the valleys, a beautiful sight. Then during the gorilla tour we had found the gorillas very quickly and they came very close, especially 2 babies.

Ngoc Nguyen   –  
Vietnam VN
Visited: December 2017 Reviewed: Dec 31, 2017

Email Ngoc Nguyen  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

An experience that I won't forget
5/5

What an amazing experience I had in Uganda! The communication with Richard went smoothly. He answered patiently and promptly every question I asked. Steven was a very experienced driver. He always wanted to make sure that I enjoy the trip and that if everything is ok. He mastered the rocky roads like no other. The meeting with the gorillas was unforgettable too. I got to see the whole family of gorillas which was one of the most amazing things I've ever experienced. The rangers were extremely helpful. They always made sure that I can get the best angle to make photos of the gorillas.
After the tour, Steven even took me to the border with Rwanda and organized for me a taxi to go to Kigali.
And I'm really glad to be the first Vietnamese to ever have booked a tour with Gatatu.
Richard, Steven and the tour itself had definitely made a good impression on Uganda and its people. That was ad adventure that I will never forget.

Ngoc Nguyen   –  
Vietnam VN
Visited: December 2017 Reviewed: Dec 30, 2017

Email Ngoc Nguyen  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

Great experience
5/5

I had a great experience with Gatatu during my time in Uganda.
Richard was helpful from the very beginning and patiently answered every question that I asked.
He's also a really pleasant person to talk to, too.
Steven was an experienced driver, he mastered the rocky roads with ease.
After the Safari he even drove me to the border with Rwanda and organised for me
a taxi to Kigali which I really appreciated.
I got to see the whole family of gorillas and that made my adventures in Uganda even more amazing
and unforgettable. I'm glad to be the first Vietnamese to ever book a Safari with Gatatu.

Disclaimer

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