Field photo setting off for rhino tracking
Karumuna Safaris
- Located In:
-
Australia
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2010)
- Member Of:
- Uganda Tourism Board
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $70 to $600 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
CH
Email Jeannine | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It was stunning and UNIQUE!
Me and my parents had an amazing safari week tour with Mr. Richard Kisembo. It was one of our best trips in Uganda. He responded to our needs and we always felt safe. Our accommodations were very nice and the staff was absolutely courteous. If there is a any chance to come back, we would choose him again. Thank you for this great adventure experience and making our journey unforgettable, stay blessed! Big hug from switzerland
NL
Email Kim | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Uganda Wildlife experience at its best
Did a 10-day tour through western Uganda with guide Ashadu. Booked a small group trip, but due to circumstances ended up as a solo tour. Ashadu made sure I was very safe and comfortable during the whole trip. He discussed the planning well in advance, as well as being very flexible to weather conditions/energy etc.
Had a lot of opportunities to spot the best wildlife in Uganda.
Staying in a lot of different lofts and hotels, and all were very fine and on nice locations. Food on the way was very enjoyable, with a lot of new things to try.
With a few days left after this 10-day trip, I contacted Richard to offer me a small tour to Jinja and Sipi-falls. I switched from tourguide Ashadu to Richard and enjoyed my last days in Uganda also very well.
They were flexible with my budget.
AR
Email Leandro garibaldi | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Worst Nightmare Ever
Avoid this company. The owner/manager Richard, lied to us. He did not respect the contract, put me in different accommodation, much cheaper and very low quality , than i have paid for. I have paid for gorilla habituation but instead of that i just got the regular 1 hour trekking, he ripped me off u$s 800, which was never refunded to me. The driver Dona who was part of the scam, tried to make me pay for a hotel in the middle of nowhere and when i talked to the police the money magically was sent to the hotel.
Please go with someone else to make you trip of a lifetime unforgettable.
Other companies will make your dream come true.
(images removed for privacy reasons)
Email Aggrey payo | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Tour operator is well experinced, good cars and keeps time with knowedge about the pearl of africa.
The tour operator gave us the best trip to the pearl of Africa, amazing foods and beautiful scenes.
FI
Email John | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
An excellent experience
We booked a trip to kidepo valley national park we had an amazing experience safari in Uganda. We highly recommend Karumuna Safaris.
CH
Email Andy | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
10Day unforgettable trip with Karumuna Safaris
We had an amazing experience with Karumuna Safaris our guide Moses was so nice he tried his best to make sure that we got the best and we indeed got the best Seeing the gorillas was so amazing with unforgettable memories we highly recommend Karumuna Safaris
RS
Email Aleksandar Zivic | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Zero star
I hope you guys who are interested in traveling in Uganda find this review useful and won't make the same mistake as me and my friend did. In this review i will share the part of my experience with Karumuna Safaris and it's owner Richard who we believe is a fraud and a thief.
From the first moment i contacted Richard he was very fast in answering my mails and whatsapp messages,which i liked because that is how an agency should behave with clients. I applied for the journey inDecember and was supposed to arrive in Uganda in March!! It was like that until the moment I paid him the 50% down payment which he requested because he wanted to make sure the gorilla tracking permits are secured. The same story was with my friend who applied for the trip one month after me.The moment I paid him the money,no answers no mails, nothing! Every info I needed I had to wait 3 or 4 days for a response i called him and told him this is not professional. I asked him to make me another trip plan because i had less days in Uganda because of my ticket.
He sent me the plan 2 days before my trip and also found a guide for me and my friend DAY BEFORE our arrival. When we arrived and gave him the rest of the money the problems started. In the Lodge in Queen Elizabeth our guide approached us and told us thar Richard had an accident and hit the boda boda (motorcycle taxi) with his car and the motorcycle driver didn't survived so Richard was detained in prison. My friend and me were concerned but as the gorilla tracking was approaching i was starting to be suspicious about everything because Richard couldn't be reached on any phone and they apparently didn't know which prison he was detained and he was the only one who knew where the gorilla permits are. Our guides brother was searching for permits in his office and he was able to find only one permit. This one permit was paid on March 8th the day we arrived! And he told me in December to pay so he can secure the permit. At this point we knew that we were scammed! With the help of our guide Herbert we managed to pay for another permit 700usd because we came in Uganda specifically for the gorilla tracking. Richard was not answering any calls from our guide and the warden in the gorilla tracking office told us that he know Richard and that the chief of tourist operations in Uganda are awared that he scammed people before.
There was a lot more happening which I could write and if anyone is interested in hearing this can contact me.
This is not a fake profile,which he claims on other reviews of people that were also scammed and according to him want to damage KARUMUNA SAFARIS reputation. If you look the negative reviews it was never his fault!! My name is Aleksandar Zivic from Serbia,my email is azivic90@gmail.com so anyone can contact me to hear every detail. The ranger in Kibale national park told us that his driver by the name Dona went to Chimpanzee tracking with fake permits left the clients there and ran away with the car keys. If you don't want things like this to happen to you avoid Karumuna Safaris and Richard because you are going to be scammed!
GOD sees everything,if Richard is really in prison he should stay there. But if he lied about hitting someone with his car in order to get 700usd speaks volumes about him as a person.
I tried to attach valuable photos (the payment of the permit,screenshots of our chats and more) but the site won't publish them,so if anyone needs to see them I can send them.
US
Email Jack f smith | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Complete fraud and hustler !!
We believe that this company is a fraud and owner Richard does the same hustle to every tourist.
First he did not pick us up at the airport 1 AM and transfer was included in the package.
Then the problems started the next morning. Kisembo came to the hotel with the guide DONA (I believe his son) to collect the balance of the tour.
When we arrived lodge at Queen Elizabeth Park, they sent us to a different lodge. The same in all the places and also the guide Dona (accomplice in the swindling) were asking for more money saying that Kisembo was not sending the money to pay for hotels.
The worst of all was that we had to pay again for the gorilla trek (it was the main reason of our trip).
So please avoid this company, don't make the same mistake like us and ruined the magical time in Uganda. Police should do something with this guy in order to stop tourists been hustle and robbed by local company.
ES
Email Raul | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
I would recommend you avoid this company, who we believed scammed us
This company ls a complete band of thieves from the owner Richard to the drivers/guides.
They only ask for more money when a fix price was set during the booking process.
They dont book the gorilla trekking and then when you are with then they ask for more money saying that something wrong occurred with the manager. If you don’t pay again you are not getting the experience with gorillas. Aldo with the hotels, they take you to cheaper lodges ( you pay for more luxury but you get low rate ones).
The driver/guide DONA is probably part of the scam, even though he always out the fault on the owner Kisembo.
Do trust them please