Bella Africa safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2015)
- Member Of:
- Association of Uganda Tour Operators, uganda wildlife association & licensed guide by uganda tourist board
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $40 to $500 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
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Email Robert-Jan | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Pleasant and Carefree Safari with Relaxed and Expert Guidance
One of the reasons for us to choose Bella Africa was the idea that they only work with female guides. When a male guide showed up in our Entebbe Hotel on the starting day of our safari we were unpleasantly surprised. Bella seems to have intended to tell us that our female guide was not available but for technical reason the message did not reach us. During the 15 days of our safari Ben Aloysius Kyenyune (our guide) proved to be a nice guy and a good and expert safari guide. We have visited beautiful places and saw a great number of animals. We especially enjoyed the tranquility at some remote locations, like Kidepo NP. The accommodation was quite simple but good. Recommended!
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Email JT | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful experiences with a great driver and many opportunities to explore Uganda.
The experience was wonderful! It is a well rounded adventure thru Uganda. Spending time with mountain gorillas was the highlight, although, all the animal sightings as well as the opportunity to experience nature, (including the people) was a fabulous opportunity. All the activities were wonderful, and the accommodations were appreciated. I probably would have preferred a ramp up of the accommodations- some were more spartan than others, and I like to leave on a high note- however, all had wonderful parts to them, especially the wildlife that were all around us and all the employees accommodating. We were not surprised by the BBC ranking of Uganda as the #1 most welcoming country in the world. Air conditioning in the van would have been nice, especially when on the red dirt roads where it had not rained for a while- SO much dust. However, I would do it all again, and most likely will.
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Email Peter | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing 7 Day Chimp/Gorilla Experience!!!
It was a pleasure to work with Bella Africa Safari's from start to finish. We were on the road when we booked and did not have access to our banks back home to wire money for our deposit. Bella went ahead and set up a way for us to pay with a credit card. We also had a complicated itinerary in which members of our group would be arriving in Uganda at different times. Arranging separate pickups at the airport for both groups was not a problem at all. That was great customer service!
A few days before our safari Bella informed us that she had gotten sick and was no longer going to be our guide. We were disappointed at first, but as soon as we met our guide at the airport, we knew we were still going to have an unforgettable experience. In Kibale Forest we had an amazing encounter with the chimps. We got to see a group of about 10 chimps (including babies) descent from the treetops to the forest floor around up. Our experience trekking for the Gorilla's was definitely the highlight. We got within mere inches of the Gorilla’s. One ever charged us for a moment giving our group an awesome thrill!
The reason I gave 4 stars instead of 5 is because communication between our guide and our group could have been a little better. We actually trekked for chimps one more time in addition to the experience above. The second time was supposed to be in the gorge but the chimp trackers cancelled the trek because of extreme heat. Instead of telling this up front, it seemed as if our guide was trying to convince us to skip the trek and rest up for the following gorilla trek. He ended up working really hard and found us another area to do some chimp trekking for that afternoon, but he never told us why we did not go to the gorge. We found out the reason (extreme heat) from the other couple who was trekking in our group. If instead of trying to convince us not to trek, he just let us know that the chimp trackers cancelled the trek and that he was having a hard time finding a replacement trek, we would have been very happy.
On our Gorilla trekking day our guide never let us know that he was anxious to get to the gorilla trekking headquarters and eventually drove off without any of us and told a member of our group that we could walk. Luckily, we were staying only about a 15 minute walk away. We concluded later that he ended up leaving so that he could get us a spot trekking for a family not too far into the forest. If he just told us that he needed to leave to go get us a good gorilla family to trek for, we would have been so grateful and happy that he left to secure us a good gorilla family. Instead we were confused about why our guide would take off and make us walk right before we were about to spend hours walking to find the gorillas. In both of these instances, clear communication about that was going on would have made us very happy.
However, I will say those are minor things, we still had an unbelievable, unforgettable experience. We chose the mid-range option and all of our lodging was superb and included fantastic meals. If I were to visit Uganda again, I would not hesitate to contact Bella Africa Safari’s to arrange my tour. They offered a great tour, at a great price, with great customer service from start to finish.
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Email Ilse | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Great views, sighting, location, everything is taking care off by Bella and her team!
Bella organized a 3 day trip to queen Elizabeth for me and another volunteer. We could tell what we wanted to do in those 3 days (schedule is flexible). You pay a bit more then some other Tour operators but thats definately worth it. Everything is included, food, water, soda's, even snacks were bought. The accomodation was fully booked so another location was arranged, other issues were solved immediately.
We had a nice driver, stopped where ever we wanted a picture of the amazing view, saw several lions, 2 shoebills (gamba stamp is a must see!) and stunning sunsets. It was a great relaxing weekend away from Kampala!