Water experiment at the Equator -Uganda
Katona Tours & Travel
- Located In:
- Size:
- 20-50 employees (Founded in 2002)
- Member Of:
- AUTO - Association Of Uganda Tour Operators, UWA - Uganda Wild life Authority & UTB - Uganda Tourism Board
- Tour Types:
- Customizable private tours and fixed group tours
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $70 to $700 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
US
Email Neal & Beth | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Gorilla Trekking Experience - Kigali to Mgahinga Gorilla National Park (Uganda)
My wife an I went on the 1 day trip from Kigali to Mgahinga National Park in Uganda. To start off, the booking and communication with Jackie was very quick and efficient. She was super helpful and a great communicator.
Our driver Elias picked us up from our hotel in Kigali early in the morning and was perfectly on time at 4am. We cannot say enough great things about Elias. He made our trip AMAZING! He was so friendly, so fun, very informative, very knowledgeable, and always kept a big smile on his face. He was so fun to hang out with on our long drive, it felt like we had our own little tour of Rwanda and Uganda. After the trek he took us to a local place in Uganda for an authentic African lunch. By the time we returned to our hotel in Kigali after the tour it felt like we were family. I highly recommend asking for Elias as your driver.
The drive from Kigali to the park was roughly 3 hours, and it was a really cool drive. A lot of it is through the beautiful Rwanda and Uganda mountain countryside so its quite breathtaking. Crossing the border was easy. They just check your passports and give you a stamp, it takes about 10 minutes.
Once we reached the base camp where the trekking starts, Jerome and Silver from the Uganda Wildlife Authority introduce you and give a briefing of the days activities. The same 2 guys were our guides for the trek in the mountains. Big shout out to Jerome and Silver, they were awesome. Super friendly, very informative, amazing guides through the mountains. You'll also have an armed guard with you so they really make you feel safe for anyone who is a little scared.
It took us about an hour to find the families and I cannot express enough how kind and gentle these beautiful creatures are. We found a big family with 3 HUGE male silverbacks, 2 females, a couple teens, and 3 babies. We were able to hang out with them for an hour and I would say we were only a bout 10 feet away from them. It was CRAZY!!! The babies and teens were running around playing with each other the whole time while the big parents we lounging next to them. We even got to see a mother nursing her baby.
I heard a lot of people say Bwindi is where you must go for Gorilla experiences, but i totally disagree. We had a wonderful and very close encounter with a big family of Silverbacks at Mgahinga, and its much closer to Kigali.
I highly recommend booking this trip with Katona Tours. Get ready for the hike of a lifetime!!!
Side Note: Uganda is one of the most beautiful countries on earth. Just seeing the beautiful countryside alone was worth the trip
SE
Email Lena & Hans | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
They made our trip magic.
We are very satisfied and happy that we choose Katona. Everything from the kommunication before we left Sweden until the moment we had to say good bye to our driver Elias after 3 great days, has really lived up to our expectations. Elias took very good care of us, and did that little extra that made a lot to us. The gorilla trekking from Buhoma was magic and everyone involved dit a great job. Some roads we went on were bad, but no one is to blame for that. Our days at Lake Bunyonyi were also great. We can highly recomend this 3-day-tour.
CH
Email François | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Awesome one-day Gorilla trekking experience
We wanted to go gorilla trekking for a day in Uganda on a late notice, but all the permits were booked. Jackie was amazing and managed to find us two permits for the dates that we wanted. Although there were some small issues (not her fault!), we did get to have an amazing once in a lifetime experience going trekking to see Mountain Gorillas in Bwindi. The driver Richard, that got us to the park and back, and helped us with the activtiy, was super friendly, kind, and helpful, on top of being a great driver.
I would highly recommend Katona Tours, Jackie has been super responsive with all our requests and was very arranging even when things were complicated.
DE
Email Chris | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Gorilla Tour
the tour was perfectly organized: Jackie was very flexible even on last minutes adjustments we had to make. The driver (Cesar) was very good, very proficient in english he brought us safely to the park and back to Kigali despite the fact that we set off at 4.00 am. He knew exactly how to best cross the border Rwanda/ Uganda saving us a lot of time. The tour was exactly as promised, no glitches etc. I can only recommend the tour & the tour operator!
US
Email US mom | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
100% delivery as promised!
Jackie was a great contact. She was responsive and she delivered EXACTLY as she promised. No glitches and the description of everything was exactly what we received. Jackie is also a good source for everything Rwanda and Ugabda, if you want to make it a destination. We visited Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Ugabda and although the Safari in Uganda is not the Serengeti it was much cheaper, prettier and not far off. Uganda was our favorite country and we felt safe the entire time. We are a family of 6 and everyone loved the gorilla experience the most! The hike to the gorillas was easy and not an uphill. The area is beautiful and the village below is a worthwhile destination. We had 2 guides with guns and 2 porters and the gorillas were located by a team of 6 and they too had guns (to protect from wild animal encounters, which we didn't have).
DE
Email Lasse | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Gorilla trekking
We did a Gorilla trekking in Uganda - it was amazing!!!! Mgahinga national park is very recommendable!!! Our driver Elias picked us up in Kigali, Ruanda, and drove us to our Lodge in Uganda and the next day to the starting point for the trekking. After it, he drove us back to Kigali. Elias was the best!!! Ask for Elias when you need a very friendly, openminded and funny driver :-) on top of that, his English was perfect!
DE
Email Ulrich Beckers | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
16 Days Uganda Wildlife Super Safari for one person only
The preparation for the safari took Jackie and me nearly a year. During this time and also later on the manager answered on emails and
questions always unusual fast. In about fifty years I haven'' t found such a safe and loyal travel agency wether in Africa nor in Europe.
The safari was so well prepared that we haven' t had any problems within 16 days. For transportation I had a 4x4 wheel driven Toyota
landcruiser with a driver and at the same time a safari guide, who knew his job best. Sometimes without any signs he mastered the most
difficult tracks and roads. Crossing the NP'´ s in Uganda he mostly knew where the animals were. Very often his colleges were following our
car and had the luck to watch lions in a tree, a smaller leopard in a bush or a fish eagle loosing twice the fish in front of our car. Martin was
an excellent and safe driver, who took care of me, that it was not necessary for me to eat meat. Jackie, the manager, got in touch with her driver
every day and made her inquiries about our safari. The hotels and lodges we have chosen together were all moderate and in a clean
condition. At no time I felt unwell or unsafe. Uganda has a lot of friendly and helpful people. My expectations of this country, especially
landscapes and people, were better than expected. Once more my thanks to a very safe and loyal company.
CA
Email Connie E. | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An amazing experience that was all, and more of what we expected - Excellent!
Dealing with Katona Tours was one of the best travel decisions we have made. We toured Uganda and Rwanda using an itinerary that was planned by Jackie and Katona Tour. We had tons of questions as we planned and they were always answered completely and promptly by Jackie. The tours and all of our accommodations were excellent. Caesar, our guide, was with us for the entire 17 days allowing us to tap into his expertise regarding the culture, parks and animal life of the countries. We would have never had half of the great experience we had without them!! I begin to express our gratitude for their contributions to making this trip the "one-of-a-life-time" experiences we had hoped it would be. We began our journey in East Africa unsure of what to really expect. We left thrilled with our experiences and with a feeling that we had found a friend in Caesar that none of us will ever forget!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOU DID FOR US!!!
GR
Email Yianna | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great gorilla safari
I've contacted Jackie months before our trip to Uganda. From the first moment she was very responsive and gave me all the info I needed for our first trip to Africa. She recommended lodges, hotels and gorilla permits. She took really good care of us during our stay at Uganda.
Denis - our driver - was really helpful and gave us many information for Uganda. The car was excellent and he helped us in any he could during the 3 days of our trip.
CA
Email Trevor | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Absolutely above and beyond what we had expected
Overall, it was a fantastic trip! Jackie was extremely prompt with all communication at all hours of her night, including as soon as she received our wire transfer to pay for the safari. Elias, our guide, was exceptional and showed up early to pick us up in Kigali. When we near the park in Uganda, Elias was told that the main road into the park was closed due to an overturned truck. He then spent he next 2.5 hours trying to navigate an extremely difficult side road in order to make sure that we made it on time for safari. I don't know how he navigated such difficult terrain!
Overall, I would absolutely recommend Katona. I was nervous about booking any overseas tour without being able to meet people in person, but Jackie and Elias made the whole experience fantastic. Jackie even called us on our way back to ask how everything went. Highly recommended!