Reviews
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Email Randy | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Meet as strangers and leave as friends.
Umoja Motherland tours is a small company that really puts the customer first. My brother and I will never forget the unbelievable Gorilla and Chimpanzee trekking. They are truly life altering events. We were fortunate to have who I think is prob the best guide, Patrick, you could ask for. In addition we were blessed to have an intern Francis, who I know will make an excellent guide also. I am extremely grateful to have met these two men and Agnes too. They provided us with a bucket list trip of a lifetime. If you are interested in safari's and trekking, I highly recommend Umoja Motherland tours. You could not be in better hands. From meeting at the airport as strangers to leaving as friends. If I make it back to Africa, I will use them again. No need in trying another company when we were taken care of so good. Hope to see you all again.
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Email Jen | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great, Personalized Experience
I wanted to take a more in-depth tour of Rwanda beyond the 2-3 day packaged tours offered by various tour groups. Agnes, the owner and operator of Umoja Tours, helped me organize the perfect two week trip of Rwanda. She also talked me into spending a week in Uganda and visiting the gorillas. It was amazing!
Agnes was always available for communication, before, during and after the trip. I was a little intimidated to contact an agency about a private tour because I thought it would be too expensive for me. However, the price I paid was actually less than most packaged tours. The accomodations, food and local guides were all excellent.
I thought this trip to Africa was going to be a once in a lifetime thing but I think I will be going back in a year or so. I will surely book with Umoja Tours again.
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Email MR | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great service for a great tour
Be sure of travel and visit Uganda with them. Wonderful people: very empathetic, patient and great energy. We had just few days y but Agnes did her best for fix everything.
Thank you
Email Danielle | Experience level: first safari
Excellent from start to finish
My husband and I have just completed a 12 day tour of Uganda with Umoja Motherland tours and have had the most incredible time.
This country is breathtakingly beautiful and doing a tour with Agnes and Nasser was more than we could have ever wished for. We have seen and experienced some wonderful moments over the past 2 weeks and have made memories that we will cherish forever. Agnes was fantastic at communicating from the first email that we sent. She worked with us to create a perfect itinerary for our time and budget. She also made sure we had the best rooms at every lodge we stayed at!
Nasser was a brilliant guide, full of knowledge and happy to answer any questions. We always felt safe in the car and knew that Nasser would find the best things for us to see. He also helped us to build up our list of almost 100 birds :)
We have been taken care of wonderfully from start to finish and we are so sad that our time in Uganda with Umoja has come to an end.
It can sometimes be scary booking a big trip like this and you wonder how the tour will be but we cant recommend Umoja enough, it has been the best trip ever!!
Email Catherine | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The experiences were vast. Being a Ugandan, there are some places that I had never been to.
Everything on the tour was as promised. Tour companies usually under-deliver when it comes to domestic tourism, but Umoja Motherland Tours was just about right. I can't wait to travel again with them.
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Email Cait | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing 4 Days Trip
I loved my 4days trip to Queen Elizabeth National Park. It was my very first time to visit this national park.Agnes together with her team planned and organized my safari so well
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Email Annie | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best vacation ever!
I have always wanted to do a safari, ever since I was a child. Rwanda has been a country of interest since I was in high school and seeing gorillas in their natural habitat seemed like the opportunity of a lifetime! I started researching and contacting safari companies over a year ago. A lot of them were far out of my price range, or didn’t seem to respond to my questions or address my concerns in a timely manner.
Umoja Motherland Tours set themselves apart from these other companies immediately with amazing expertise, attention to detail, thorough planning, and fair pricing! Agnes has been answering my questions and planning the trip of a lifetime for me and my boyfriend for over a year! She gave me an inexpensive quote and came up with an incredible itinerary to visit Uganda and Rwanda for 12 days. She responded to all my questions almost instantly and eased all my concerns and had been doing so for about 7-9 months before I even made a down payment or financially committed. She made sure to include the gorilla tracking, but also added amazing stops and activities that I would never have known to include (Lake bunyonyi, Lake Mburo, golden monkey tracking). The amount of care she took with planning our dream vacation showed and the trip ended up being the best I’ve ever had the pleasure of traveling!
Agnes personally picked us up from the airport and introduced us to our guide Phinny. Traveling with Phinny felt more like traveling with a friend who was showing us around his home country than traveling with a tour guide. Phinny was fun and had very interesting and extensive knowledge of every place we went and all the animals we encountered! And we saw A LOT of amazing animals! We saw large herds of zebras (including babies), many different antelope, kobs, warthogs (including baby warthogs), hippos, water buffalo, giraffes, elephants and crocodiles. We saw about 6 different species of monkeys, including baboons and the adorable golden monkeys! We also had close encounters with chimpanzees and gorillas as planned! Phinny was also able to find a Leopard which is very difficult because they hide in trees! He must have the best vision because Phinny would spot an animal from a moving vehicle long before me or my boyfriend noticed anything at all.
Phinny went above and beyond to ensure our trip was memorable. On our last evening in Queen Elizabeth Park, he drove us to a viewing point where hundreds of birds of many different species and other animals gathered to enjoy the water. From this elevated viewing point, we saw a large group of hippos and water buffalo along with crocodiles and warthogs. It was so neat to see so many animals come to one spot. We also encountered a small elephant family (with 2 babies) on this journey and had to stop so that a group of almost 50 baboons could cross the road. It was amazing!
Phinny also looked out for us. On the morning before our gorilla track, both me and my boyfriend woke up with tummy aches! We didn’t say anything but Phinny noticed we weren’t well and negotiated to get us out of the 4 hour gorilla tracking group and into a group that only hiked 45 minutes to find the gorillas. Both me and my boyfriend ended up feeling fine after 20 minutes, but it was nice to have someone looking out for us! Encountering the gorillas was unforgettable and one of the best parts of the trip!
Umoja Motherland Tours planned an amazing life changing trip! They also Did a wonderful job selecting places to stay! We stayed in queen Elizabeth park and could see an elephant bathing in a near by watering hole from our hotel’s lodge! I even saw a baboon run outside my window when I was unpacking! This made us really feel like we were a part of nature! Our favorite place was in Rwanda called Da Vinci Gorilla Lodge. Our room had a lovely fire place and the people who worked there went above and beyond to make us feel like we were honored guests. For the evening, they had a group of local traditional dancers perform. Not only were they talented, but they also informed us about the culture and talked about how their dancing group teaches young children these dances while they are attending school. Da Vinci Gorilla Lodge also has the best food of all the places we stayed. Another place we stayed, Paradise Malahide, had the most friendly staff! It felt like staying with friends as opposed to a hotel. My boyfriend and I would chat with them for hours and they would tell us about them selves and where they grew up and enjoyed hearing about the snow we experience back at home. It’s also impossible to forget the staff at Supreme Adventure Park Cabins in lake Bunyoni! Dinner was typically served in the lodge, however, their staff surprised me and my boyfriend with a romantic candle lit dinner on the dock over looking the lovely lake! They set up lanterns and a bon fire and served us an incredible dinner! It was such a pleasant surprise and was such a thoughtful touch that gave our trip a honeymoon feel!
Our trip was truly amazing! Agnes made the planning smooth and created a fantastic itinerary with amazing sites that created opportunities to see wonderful animals up close and ensured our comfort by selecting wonderful locally owned accommodations. Our guide Phinny ensured that our trip was special and that we were always well cared for.
My boyfriend and I will return to East Africa and we will most certainly do so with Umoja Motherland Tours!
Additionally, after having such a great trip, less than a year later, I tried to plan a trip with my parents with Umoja and Agnes gave me three itineraries with different durations. All three itineraries would accommodate the needs of my parents (Slower pace, nicer accommodations with reasonable prices, plenty of rest time, while still maximizing viewing time of local wildlife). This really showed me the versatility that this safari company can offer! Agnes put all this different detailed itineraries together very quickly without asking for any payment or commitment. My parents, we’re initially not interested and even scared to travel to East Africa, but became excited about the trip after seeing the itineraries and said they would like to go! It helped when I told them how safe my boyfriend and I were on our Trip. You could not find a safer company to travel with! Unfortunately, my mom fell into bad health and is still struggling so we were not able to go. But my mom said, that once she pulls out of this, she would love to go on this trip and I know it will be one my parents and I will never forget!
