Peter Amanya and our guide in the safari van
Buyaga Safaris
- Office In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2017)
- Member Of:
- UTB & AUTO MEMBER
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $450 to $1,000 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
_1518729865.gif "Buyaga Safaris")
for a custom tour
Your request will be sent directly to the operator
If preferred, you can contact the operator directly
Reviews
Email Kelsey | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Reliable, great value for money, would definitely recommend.
From the start, Peter was quick to respond and answered all my questions. The Buyaga quote was significantly lower than the other quotes I had seen, so there was of course a slight worry that it wasn't legit/wouldn't be as good. But we had absolutely no issues on the tour, and I would absolutely recommend Buyaga for your Uganda adventure.
Did an 11 day tour with Eric as our guide. He was helpful, always on time, and we felt safe and looked after. He was always happy to answer our questions or give us interesting facts about the area we were driving through, but didn't feel the need to fill the silence all the time, so it was nice and peaceful in the van. Although he didn't know birds like we did, he adapted and would often stop for birds along the way, and even organised a community birding guide for us in Bwindi, which wasn't on the itinerary. Perhaps if you did want someone stronger on bird/wildlife - you could put the request in upfront.
The lodges that were organised for us were of good quality. Some (like Nkundwa) had excellent service and food, others (like Kazinga) weren't as polished on the service and the food wasn't fantastic, but I guess that is the reality of travelling in this region without going for luxury lodges. WiFi is mostly only in the main areas (not the rooms) and spotty at times, enough to send a message home, but not for streaming and slow for uploading videos from the day.
The tour was carried out as per the itinerary, with perhaps just some earlier mornings than the itinerary suggests, but that makes sense as starting a game drive only after an 8AM breakfast is not the way to do it.
We travelled in a Toyota Hiace van - was nice to have lots of space for just the 2 of us and our luggage, but it was quite a sluggish drive, especially up the terrible bumpy dirt roads into the mountains and over the endless speed bumps with what felt like little suspension. We were often overtaken by the Land Cruisers, etc, but on the bright side, gave us extra time to enjoy the scenery on our journeys. No charger available in the van, so you need to have enough battery/packs to get you through the day.
IT
Email Maria Letizia | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent
Our experience with Buyaga Safaris was more than excellent.
Starting from the beginning, Peter was always available to answer all our questions, all the time.
The 10 days tour was amazing, a perfect organization.
Simpson, our driver, was always ready to to satisfy our requests, kind, polite and telling stories regarding the animals and all about Gorilla's.
Excellent service.
We had a great time.
Compared to other quotations regarding Safaris, Buyaga had the best price.
The Lodges were wonderful.
I highly recommand Buyaga.
Thank you Peter for this lifetime experience.
Email Stephen | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The organisation of the trip went very smoothly
Our five day, four night tour included an unforgettable meeting with gorillas for one hour, a boat trip seeing more than 100 hippos, a lovely walk where we were lucky enough to get close up of a chimpanzee and other minor highlights. These memories will stay with us forever and I would recommend this tour. We were also blessed to have an incredible guide who attended to our every request, was always happy, very knowledgeable and was great company. Generally the accommodation was first rate. Perhaps the only downside was there is a lot of driving (day one was nearly 12 hours and days 5 over 8 hours and two other days had more the 4 hours driving.) This was not helped by some minor problems with the vehicle. That said the trip was a great experience and we are tempted to return and see more of beautiful Uganda.
Email Samuel Hunter | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Reliable, honest, hardworking and enjoyable to be around
Fantastic tour. Organised and trip of a life time
Email Cecily Spelling | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A dream honeymoon, a dream trip - book with Buyaga and go to Uganda!
Where do I start with how wonderful Buyaga Safaris is...and Uganda as a country!
After reading all the excellent reviews on here, and Google, I decided to contact Peter at Buyaga to get a quote for our honeymoon as I was especially keen to support a Ugandan led and based company, and I'm so glad I did. Peter was so responsive from the off, understanding our brief, sharing an incredible itinerary and at a remarkably reasonable price, and swiftly replying to all queries before departure. Including a panicked call from us 3 hours before we were due to leave for the airport having discovered we'd not secured the necessary visa - which, as he was in country, was able to help us with at speed and ultimately saved our whole honeymoon! (Thanks again, Peter!!)
The trip itself was beyond all our wildest dreams. We were made to feel like VIP's from the moment we arrived thanks to our excellent guide, Simpson who was just superb in every way. Funny, interesting, patient, an excellent driver, and a general dream to travel with for two weeks.
The accommodation we stayed at was superb. Delicious food, very warm, welcoming staff (that's Uganda for you!) and mind blowing views every where we went. The river Nile, rain forests, savannah national parks, lakes - each hotel had something new to offer so it became impossible to compare them as they were all so superb.
The trips were phenomenal too. Safari breakfasts and dinners on the shores of Lake Albert, chimp treks, gorilla treks, Golden Monkey treks, swamp treks, nature walks up close with the giraffes of Mburo national park, swimming in Lake Bunyonyi, and more. Every day just felt like a new dream was being realised.
We couldn't have imagined anything better for our Honeymoon. Buyaga sorted us out perfectly, and Uganda is a country that has it all - safari, rainforest, primates and apes, lakes, delicious food, wonderfully warm people and so much more.
Book with Buyaga, you won't be disappointed.
IT
Email Claudia Baruzzo | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very nice people, well organised, super trip
The communication from home was very accurate and precise. We were followed for every questions and doubts. It was one of the best prices I found on SafariBookings. Eric was our guide and he was really kind and helpful. The tour itself was very very nice. The places are amazing and every stage was pretty well organised. The most beautiful things about the journey were the lodges. They were almost luxury lodges, at a normal price. And the period was perfect beacuse we were almost alone, also at the gorilla trekking. I will do it again with this company for sure.
GY
Email Kesaundra | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
My best African safari to date!
I've done safaris in Kenya, Botswana, and South Africa, but none have come close to my wonderful experience in Uganda. From the start, Peter at Buyaga Safaris helped me plan all aspects of my 8-day safari, fielded all my questions, and exercised the utmost professionalism. He even checked on my visa application for me when it seemed to be taking too long. Then, once I arrived, I was met by Ossman, a vibrant, smart, and capable tourguide and driver who made my wild-cat dreams come through: we spotted 14 lions and my first leopard! Ossman took care of everything perfectly, and I just had to show up, relax, and enjoy the experience. The vehicle was really nice also. All in all 10/10, I highly recommend Buyaga.
Our guide Simpson made us feel safe, both in Uganda 🇺🇬 and on the road.
We were a little hesitant to go on a private tour in Uganda initially, but are very glad we did. It was an amazing experience. Seeing the animals up so close was great, but we also felt safe and the standard of food and accommodation organised through Buyaga was a pleasant surprise. A private tour means eating meals with your tour guide which we didnt expect but our guide Simpson was friendly and we got along well with him and he is perhaps Africa's best driver. He was also prepared to sort out any issues we had, perhaps best highlighted by him having a pair of hiking shoes repaired at short notice in a local town.
Our tour organiser Peter was also very helpful and kind. This best highlighted by our inability to navigate the visa application website in Australia, and Peter was instead able to quickly organise them at no extra cost.
CH
Email Sven Baumgartner | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Anderson was very symphatic and has a lot of knowledge. Also a great driver!
It was an awesome experience doing my 12 day Safari with Buyaga. My guide (Anderson) is a very symphatic guide, he has a lot of knowledge about the wildlife and the vegetation. I learned a lot from him. The lodges were also very nice and I had a super overall experience!
Email Andrew & Joanie | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
An Epic Journey to Uganda organized by an Extraordinary Tour Operator...
After considerable research on SafariBookings.com, we chose to book our Uganda safari with Buyaga Safaris, a local Ugandan tour operator headquartered in Kampala, Uganda. They offered many tours of differing lengths and most are highly customizable, an important factor in our decision.
We contacted Peter, the owner, and gave him our wish list of stops on our planned safari, including two separate days of gorilla tracking in Bwindi and two days of exploring Mabamba Swamp for shoebill storks. After several promptly prepared iterations, Peter was able to work out a 13-day Uganda safari starting and ending in Entebbe that covered everything we hoped for: Murchison Falls, Kibale for Chimpanzee tracking, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Bwindi for two days of gorilla tracking, Kisoro for Golden Monkey tracking, Lake Bunyoni and finally Mabamba Swamp for two days looking for shoebill storks.
Peter’s quote was very reasonable for two people considering it was inclusive of: private 4X4 Toyota van customized for safari viewing with pop-up top, dedicated driver/guide for the entire tour, non-alcoholic beverages throughout, all meals and lodging for 12 nights, all park fees, two different boat tours, a swamp walk, coffee experience, weaving experience and a banana experience not to be missed, permits for chimpanzee tracking (1 day), gorilla tracking (2 days) and golden monkey tracking (1 day) and two boat tours into Mabamba Swamp to search for shoebill storks. The only additional costs during the tour were for tips and personal items.
Overall, our safari experience was excellent and will provide countless memories for years to come. The comfort level (and price) hotels were all wonderful, with delicious food and generous portions. Most provided WIFI in common areas, reasonable laundry service, very comfortable accommodations. Many had marvelous views or were very close to the activities we had planned. It was refreshing to just show up and be greeted with a friendly smile, a cool glass of juice and be shown to your room. Ordering meals was easy as well. No forms to fill out or other registration formalities, since it was all done before we arrived. There was only one minor issue during our tour, and it was promptly resolved by Peter.
Eric, our driver for the tour, was top notch. Over 13 days and roughly 800 miles, he showed excellent driving skills, was patient, friendly and offered a lot of information. He kept us safe the entire time, so that we could thoroughly enjoy what Uganda has to offer. He even took us on an unscheduled late afternoon game drive in Queen Elizabeth National Park and we were rewarded with an exclusive encounter with a beautiful leopard that came within 20 meters of our vehicle. Magical, indeed.
There are many choices when it comes to picking a tour operator in Uganda. We chose Buyaga Safaris after reading over 80 reviews on SafariBookings.com, with all but one being 5-stars. We took a leap of faith based on those reviews and never regretted it from the moment Eric picked us up on the first day to when he dropped us off on the last day. If we ever find ourselves in need of another safari in Uganda, Buyaga Safaris will be our choice again!
Here is a link to a blog of our trip complete with many photos and videos:
https://ontheroadwithtallguyandjet.blog/2025/02/24/where-wild-turns-to-wonder/