Mukisa Safaris Staff
Mukisa Safaris Uganda
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2018)
- Member Of:
- AUTO, USAGA, UTB & UWA
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $100 to $500 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
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Email Burkhard, Jochen, Nico, Sylvio | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
16 incredible days all over the country - from Kidepo-Valley to Rwenzori, from river Nile to Bwindi
At the beginning of December 2018 we decided to make an East-Africa-Trip and bought flight tickets to Entebbe via Addis Ababa and Zanzibar. We had the challenge to organize our trip to Ethiopia (7 days), Zanzibar (5 days) and to Uganda (16 days) in only 2 weeks before departure.
Fortunately I discovered the website www.safaribookings.com which enabled us to get offers from three tour operators in Uganda whithin 24 hours. Thanks a lot for this really good service.
Biggest thanks to Mukisa Safaris with Richard who made all our dreams come true. He fullfilled all our whishes and modificatiins in case of planning the 16-days-route and also to include a five-day-trek to the awesome Rwenzori Mountains. Every requests were answered promptly with good guidance.
At the Entebbe-Airport we were really warm welcomed by our two guides Joane and John and all of the Mukisa-Members. Then we started directly our trip with our 4x4 Toyota Van across the country to Kidepo Valley NP, to Murchison Falls NP, to Rwenzori Mountains and finally via Queen Elizabeth NP to the unforgettable Bwindi Impenetrable NP. Thank Joan and John we had a lot of fun, learned a lot about nature, have seen all the great nature and animals and people, we felt very safe and had most of the time a good wlan-collection. :) The accomodations at lodges or tented lodges were clean, nice and comfortable, the meals also were fine and delicious.
Uganda Is characterized by a very big variety of beautiful landscapes, unbelievable nature and very friendly people. From the awesome Rwenzori Mountains, to the great Bwindi Rainforest, from animals at river Nile to remote Kidepo Valley. We loved it very much.
So thank you so much Mukisa Safaris for this unforgettable yourney with deep impressions and long lasting memories. We wish you all the best, Joane, John and Richard.
Email Tom & Lucy | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Seamless, Friendly & Magical Holiday!!
We travelled around Uganda with Veronica and John, on the "8-Day Gorilla Encounter, Wildlife and River Nile Safari" and had an utterly magical time with them.
Right from the beginning, whether it be pre-trip guidance and communication, feeling safe and looked after, or feeling able to ask questions and receive informed and interesting insights about the world around us, Mukisa Safaris genuinely exceeded all expectations.
We were picked up from the airport very promptly (despite arriving early) and we set off on our adventure.
The rafting in Jinja was an unbelievable way to spend our 1st day in the country - swimming alongside otters being a particular highlight.
Travelling up to Murchison Falls could've felt like a drag, but we were entertained by the beautiful scenery and interesting facts about the local culture and wildlife, only to have our minds blown at the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary.
Murchison Falls was one of the most beautiful places either of us have been, with an abundance of amazing creatures on the individual safaris.
And rounding off the trip with Gorilla tracking was the most incredible experience and made the whole thing feel unbelievably special - we would recommend it to anyone; it was totally worth the price tag!!!!
US
Email Todd | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
5 star service from booking through the sad goodbyes!
Background for my booking: I have always been an avid traveler, fortunate enough to book at least one big trip a year to places I have never been. Usually, I will have trips planned out in some capacity a year or more in advance. However, with COVID restrictions still in place, it was hard to plan ahead where I could go this year. Finally, within only weeks of when I was looking to travel, it appeared sub-Saharan Africa was going to be the region that I could successfully travel to this year and went to work on trying to organize everything on such short notice. Unfortunately, this lead to many headaches in working through the logistics, but also gave Mukisa an opportunity to show just how great their customer service is (as I'll note below)! I had travel credits left over from 2020 with a global tour operating company that was offering trips in Kenya and Tanzania that I used as the initial building blocks from which to build the rest of my African adventure around. I had never been to anywhere in sub-Saharan Africa, but knew whenever I did make it there, Gorilla trekking, chimp trekking, Cape Town and Victoria Falls were high on my list of things to do in addition to the typical safari game drives. Given the dates already locked in for Kenya and Tanzania, the dates I knew I was available to travel, and with the flight availability within Africa, I realized it would not be possible to check off all of my boxes on this trip and instead focused on keeping my travel within East Africa this time. With these parameters in mind, I turned to Tour Radar to start searching for tour itineraries that would cover the gorillas and chimps that would work within my time frame, focusing mostly on Uganda (as that is the most popular country for Gorilla trekking), but also wanted an itinerary to take me to Rwanda as well as I had plans to meet a friend in Congo across the Rwandan land border to hike Mt. Nyrigongo. As I was traveling solo, I was looking for what appeared to be small group tours so that I would have other travel mates to keep me company. Thankfully, I came across Mukisa Safari Uganda that offered a great itinerary on the dates I wanted, starting off my month long adventure in Uganda as my first stop - little did I know how lucky I was to come across them! Never having been on safari before, I did not exactly know what I was looking for in booking a safari company, nor do I have anything to compare the rest of my review to other than my experience with the other operators used on the remainder of my trip. Booking process: Booking on Tour Radar is very simple and straight forward. After narrowing in on this itinerary offered by Mukisa, I started to piece together the rest of my trip as well, finding the perfect outbound flight to Entebbe from the US and locking that in, as well as also lining up the dates that the volcano trekking in Congo are supposed to operate. Having tentatively penciled in what I thought would be the perfect month long itinerary with all of the logistics flowing together, I went ahead with my booking of Mukisa through Tour Radar which was simple enough to do. Within less than a day, I not only had received an email from Richard, the owner of Mukisa, but also a WhatsApp message from him thanking me for my interest in one of their safaris (but relaying some bad news, as discussed below). This immediate responsiveness from the actual owner of the company himself was incredible and put me at ease that I had selected the right company to travel with! Little did I know how much I would need to rely on his responsiveness (and patience) as I will discuss below. The only drawback to the booking process was that this tour turned out to be a private tour rather than a group tour - I think this is more of a Tour Radar issue though for not making it clear on the booking page than it is a Mukisa issue, as Richard advised this was a private tour with his first communication. Despite originally looking for a group tour, I am so fortunate that this turned out to be private because it allowed Richard and I to be more flexible in dealing with everything that happened between booking and departure.
Logistical nightmares/Mukisa's excellent customer service: As mentioned, I received a very quick response from Richard following my booking. Unfortunately, the first thing he mentioned was that due to COVID restrictions, they could not operate the portion of the tour to Rwanda (Rwanda was requiring a long quarantine for arrivals from Uganda), but seemed prepared for this as he immediately provided an alternative itinerary that sounded just as great! However, I really wanted to visit Rwanda as well and began looking at trying to arrive in Rwanda first, then to Congo, before Uganda. Richard was very kind and understanding and then arranged a change of dates for the Uganda tour that would match a later start date and with his revised itinerary. However, not long after, I had heard back from the national park in Congo that runs all of their tourist options in the area that because of the latest eruption of the volcano, they had not resumed hiking yet, but were offering packages for gorilla trekking in their forest as well as relaxing stays on a private lake island. I still wanted to meet my friend in the Congo while I was in the region, but if I was going to do gorilla trekking there, not only would I no longer have time to visit Rwanda first and cross their land border to Congo, but I would no longer want to trek Gorillas in Uganda as well. So, I messaged Richard asking if there was an alternative itinerary he might suggest without the Gorilla Trekking. Once again, he was immediately responsive and helpful and provided a great option that I was excited to proceed with. Now, only about a week prior to my departure, I received another note from the Congo national park that due to an increase in Covid cases, they were delaying any gorilla trekking for a week to allow for their rangers to set up a rolling quarantine period for the safety of the gorillas and asked if it was at all possible for me to come a week later. Frantic and getting stressed about all of these changes, I once again messaged Richard about whether we could do the revised Uganda itinerary, but moving it back up to my original booking date, starting immediately upon my arrival in Entebbe from the US. I could not believe his patience and understanding as within a day, had confirmed the new departure date and itinerary for me and proceeded to finally finalize the booking and take payment. Fingers crossed I had resolved any issues and was on for smooth sailing the rest of the week leading up to my flight. Sadly, I should not have been so optimistic. Because I now had to fly to Congo rather than use the Rwanda land border, I thought I lucked out when I saw a direct flight from Entebbe to Goma. However, a day later, it appeared this flight was gone and I confirmed that all international flights to Goma arrive from Ethiopia. Thankfully, the new departure flight did not impact my Uganda itinerary (just the time I needed to arrive at the airport), but the return flight from Congo to Kenya would require an overnight layover in Ethiopia which I did not want to do. My only option was to actually extend my layover in Ethiopia an extra day and enter and explore the country. Unfortunately, I learned the night before I was set to depart that Ethiopia had suspended their E-visa and Visa on arrival services. Again, I reached out to Richard about the possibility of contacting the Ethiopian embassy when I arrived in Uganda on Monday (it was already the weekend) to obtain a visa. Once again, Richard was so understanding and helpful and built into my itinerary that immediately upon my arrival in Entebbe, I would be brought to the embassy before continuing north for my Day 1 activities. Not only did he arrange for this, but, upon learning that I would need to leave my passport two days for processing, Richard arranged to pick up my passport personally from the embassy and hold on to it for me until I returned to Entebbe. Finally, it was time to fly - after all the stress of this logistical nightmare, I was hoping I had everything sorted away and things would go smoothly once I arrived. Sadly, I had one more headache to deal with! Upon arrival in Entebbe, my baggage never arrived! Once again, 5 star service from Richard and his team as I gave him the luggage office contact info and he remained in constant contact with the airline until my baggage arrived the next day and offered to arrange a driver to bring me my bags faster than the airport courier would so that I would have my necessary clothing for a part of the itinerary that was coming up. This service from this company went above and beyond that I am in disbelief at how helpful they were! If you have never been to Africa, you'll learn to be flexible and embrace the chaos a bit, but I knew I was in good hands with having Richard and his team, all local Ugandans, to help me navigate everything and take much of the stress that I was experiencing before my trip off of my shoulders so that I could finally just enjoy my trip!
My actual trip: Upon arrival in Entebbe, I immediately had a WhatsApp message waiting for me from Richard, stating that his team was at the airport waiting for me - Veronica my guide and Solomon my driver. After the aforementioned issues with my baggage, leaving the airport much later than expected, the airport staff whisked me over to the off-site COVID testing location for a required test upon arrival before entering the country. I was in communication with Richard throughout this process letting him know when I would be complete (it can take quite a bit of time, but some extra $ seemed to turn what was supposed to be a couple hours wait for results to about 30 minutes). I messaged Richard that I was good to go and shortly thereafter, I was approached by Veronica and Solomon who gave me the happiest of welcomes with big friendly smiles on their faces. They lead me to the safari vehicle we would use the rest of the trip and I was finally feeling like I was on vacation! We were initially brought to get a late breakfast where I met Richard in person (thanking him immensely for the help) before setting off for the quick embassy stop and then to the first real stop on the itinerary. There seemed to be only a few different style safari vehicles/tourist vans used in the region. I was given more of a tourist van style vehicle. It was clean and comfortable (did not hurt that it could accommodate maybe 12 or more passengers and I was the only one). The A/C was strong (when needed), the ride was as smooth as one can expect on African roads (nonetheless, bring motion sickness pills if you need it - the "free African massages are no joke!), there was on board WiFi that was mostly reliable, and it of course included the pop-top that is a necessity for safari game drives! If there were more people on the trip, I am not sure if the Toyota Landcruiser truck style safari vehicles with individual seats rather than booth seating would have been better, but for just me on this trip, the van was perfect and had no problem getting naps in on some of the longer drives! The team also kept the van well stocked with water bottles as well as fruits and other snacks we would pick up along the way. As for the team, they were absolutely amazing! I was worried about it being awkward as a solo traveler for over a week, but thankfully Veronica was younger, so energetic and extremely knowledgeable that by the second day, I already felt like I was traveling with friends. Solomon was a little more reserved, but still very friendly, an amazing, safe driver and was excellent at spotting animals on the game drive, ensuring that I got to see some incredible stuff! Despite spending nearly every full day together, from morning breakfast at the lodge until we completed dinner in the evenings, it was never awkward with silence or boring whatsoever. They were there to serve me as if I was family joining them for their trip! The patience and flexibility of Richard is clearly passed down to his team though as we encountered a hiccup one day - a bridge that connects two sides of a river, one where the lion trekking in Queen Elizabeth NP was scheduled to be done, and the other side where the lodge was, was under construction. All traffic was forced to take a ferry across the river (we waited in a long line for this the night before). The next day, however, when scheduled to cross back over for the lion trekking, the ferry was broke down. Immediately, Veronica started working her magic, and in what seemed like no time, she had arranged for Solomon to stay on the one side with our van while her and I got into a small boat that took us across the river where another vehicle and driver were waiting for us to bring us on the lion tracking adventure. The ability for this company to adapt on the fly is invaluable when traveling to such a very unfamiliar place, but never once did I question that they were going to take care of everything to make sure my trip was truly once in a lifetime.
The actual itinerary: As mentioned above, my itinerary departed a bit from the typical arranged tour that I originally found on Tour Radar and booked so thought it would be helpful to include my actual itinerary below. As for inclusions, just about everything imaginable was included aside from non-water beverages ordered at lunch or dinner, souvenirs, any personal purchases and tips which is nice. If you have never done these type trips before, most of the lodges you stay at have a prix-fix menu for lunch and dinner, western style, 3 to 4 courses. You just advise if you have any issues with the menu item and they try to accommodate, but otherwise, upon arrival to each lodge (and usually a nice cold welcome beverage---passionfruit juice being my fave!), the staff would tell us the menu, we would just advise when we would want to have dinner and then the staff was ready to serve us in the restaurant at that time so there was no long waiting for food after a long day. The food was all excellent and I loved that Veronica and Solomon were always thoughtful about what time we should eat dinner - giving me a chance to get settled into the lodge/showered when needed vs. being really hungry and wanting to eat and get to sleep as quickly as possible. Then you would place your time and breakfast order at the conclusion of dinner so that it would be ready for you the next day before heading off on the next adventure. I will say, it seems as though there are only a few different lodge options in each stop, so you will see other safari company trucks and the same groups of people multiple times throughout the trip. While the lodges Mukisa selected were all excellent (usually what I would consider "glamping" with fully enclosed, spacious, fixed tents with electricity, sometimes A/C, fully functional bathrooms/showers, and comfy beds - essentially a hotel room inside of a tent), I do not think this is really a differentiating factor between Mukisa and other companies, but rather it is their excellent service that sets them apart! I will also say, that after experiencing Kenya and Tanzania later on my trip, I unfortunately got to see what a less well-run trip with a different company was like so Mukisa definitely spoiled me as being the first company I dealt with and setting the bar so high! It is also important to note that while Kenya and Tanzania typically get more attention when it comes to safaris (and yes, you see a lot more cats there), there is also many many more tourists there as well so you are often fighting for position with dozens of other trucks trying to see cats, etc. Most people only think of Uganda for the gorilla trekking, but that is a big mistake! The game drives I did in Uganda (especially Murchison - incredibly varied wildlife here in big numbers) along with the great variety of other experiences the country offers made it my favorite part of my entire trip (in large part to, but not solely because of Mukisa). It is such a beautiful country and worth spending time there beyond just the gorillas. Because it is less popular, you'll also often feel as though you are the only one on these game drives, out in an open field surrounded only by thousands of beautiful animals rather than as part of a zoo like assembly line that you get in the more popular safari destinations. Every suggestion by Richard when creating this trip, plus minor changes/additions while on the trip by Veronica and Solomon were spot on as if they knew what I would love before I did. They clearly know their country very well and are proud to show you everything amazing about it!
Day 1: After airport pickup, testing, breakfast, embassy, etc., drive to Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary before arriving in Murchison NP for the night
Day 2: Murchison morning game drive, visit the waterfalls, afternoon game drive
Day 3: Another morning game drive before heading to Kibale Forest NP
Day 4: Chimpanzee trekking and walk through local community village
Day 5: Travel to Queen Elizabeth NP, boat ride on Kazinga Channel (planned evening safari but due to the long waits to take the ferry across the river, we did not have time for this)
Day 6: Lion tracking in QENP; travel to Lake Mburo NP and go for an evening walking safari to see animals up close on foot without fear of predators
Day 7: Bahima Cultural Experience in Lake Mburo NP with a quick drive back through the park on the way out before returning to Entebbe
Day 8: Lake Victoria/Mabamba swamp boat ride in search of the Shoebill bird
Conclusion - I know this was a long review, but I believe Mukisa deserves every bit of detail about how amazing they are. I also believe that because this is an incredibly unique style trip, that some people would benefit from a lot of the details about how safaris work. However, if you are only reading this section, I'll summarize - while I did not have anything to compare Mukisa to before arriving in East Africa, I later learned just what it means to receive 5 star service from a safari company here, and Mukisa deserves every bit of those 5 stars. From the owner, Richard, being extremely responsive, helpful and flexible in organizing the tour, to the friendly and knowledgeable Veronica and Solomon as my guide and driver, to the perfect itinerary showcasing how unbelievable Uganda is, this trip was worth every penny and I would strongly recommend Mukisa to anyone traveling in the area (they do tours throughout East Africa). As noted, you'll see a lot of other safari companies along the way, stopping at the same stops or staying in the same lodges, so what really separates these companies from each other is the service, and I could not imagine being in better hands than with Mukisa!
DE
Email Alex und Anja | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing and unforgettable trip
Hello from Germany, we already come back from a 8 days trip. We can fully recommend this tour operator. Everything was organized as discussed and worked great. We had an really amazing stay with many lasting impressions. We visited Murtchison Falls NP, Kidepo NP and Pian Upe. Especially Kidepo was really a great place to be. Please visit Uganda!!!
Unforgettable family trip in ishasha
I and my family decided to visit ishasha park to see tree climbing lions. We choose Mukisa safaris since we could not go by ourselves because the government is not allowing private vehicles in the parks. Richard our guide and John our driver were amazing and made our trip special.We stayed at Topi Safari lodge and our stay was truly amazing.We thank Alfonso and the entire team at the lodge who made us feel at home with delicious meals and comfortable stay. We loved ishasha park with lots of topis, buffaloes,elephants, bush pigs but we did not see the lions up in the trees so we hope to go back . Thank u Richard and John we will definitely keep in touch for our next trip around December. Mukisa safaris really made our weekend memorable.
AE
Email Mariam | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Exceeded already our high expectations.
The last leg of our vacation was in Uganda and I and my husband choose mukisa safaris Uganda to help us with planning ,customising and organizing our trip. The team was excellent in their communication skills and promptness in returning replies. We checked with several companies and found Mukisa safaris to be the most prompt and informative. On arrival at Entebbe airport, we were gladly received by the company team. Having arrived late in the evening, we were taken to the hotel which was very excellent in their services. The next morning, our safaris of 10 days commenced with driving to ziwa sanctuary where we interfaced with the giant rhinos.we traveled through Uganda's country side and while connecting to the various destinations, we had a lot to see and learn about Africa. We did the Gorilla trekking and the Batwa village visit. Both of this were so awesome and unbelievable experiences. This leg of our journey was a definite description of a true Africa culture and set up and we enjoyed it. Uganda is so beautiful. We just couldn't get over all the views we got to take in. I love this country. Veronica our guide was very informative and knowledgeable about many things and in particular the vast bird species the.so interesting! She had a definite knack of spotting birds from far away. The roads were incredibly rough and rugged and on the edge of the mountain sides but we felt very safe with John driving. I would highly recommend Mukisa safaris Uganda to anyone and already shared this info. Thank you Mukisa safaris Uganda for making our holiday memorable.
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Email Harry | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing holiday of alifetime
With covid-19 pandemic ravaging the world, we decided to travel to Africa for our anniversary after the reopening of airports in most countries globally and Uganda was our desired destination. We searched around for our trip management company and Mukisa Safaris emerged as our company of choice. We're extremely happy that we chose Mukisa Safaris. The company exhibited much professionalism during our trip organization and execution. During the pre-trip communication, Richard was exceedingly helpful and would reply very promptly to our queries. On arrival at the airport, we were picked amidst observing the SOPs directly to our booked hotel where we started off our safari in the morning. We visited several places including Murchison falls, Kibale Forest and Bwindi and we were in the company of our guide Veronica and John. These two are wonderful and amazing people. They were so friendly, courteous and professional. Veronica was so knowledgeable about Uganda and her knowledge about birds and all the animals was breathtaking. Ugandans are loving and kind. They made our stay in Uganda so memorable. I highly recommend Mukisa Safaris.
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Email Julie | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Simply the best
I and my other 9 group members visited Africa early this year and Uganda was our last destination. We appreciate the fact that we chose Uganda as our last destination because it’s where we had the most amazing and fascinating moments our African visit that will forever be memorable. The country has varying beautiful sceneries, amazing and hospitable people who welcomed us at the various locations we visited with genuine smiles. Uganda is so gifted by nature.
We visited several savanna parks and it was so unbelievable that at times, we were standing just a few metres from animals such as giraffes, elephants, lions and others. The special moment was during our visit in Bwindi Forest which is home to Mountain gorillas. Wow. Trekking gorillas was such an amazing moment that anybody who can should undertake. It’s a challenging exercise that involves moving up and down and at times sliding while looking for these giants. After four hours of trekking, we finally located the gorillas and it was the most amazing moment.
We also appreciate the fact that we chose Mukisa Safaris as our trip handlers. They are such a professional, reliable, trustworthy and accommodative company. Being a big group, we had a variety of priorities but all these were taken into consideration by the company. Important to note are the team at Mukisa Safaris. Richard is such a good communicator who replies instantly and very humorous and our trip was organized successfully. Our field team (Veronica, Hamida, Paul, Phiona and John) was exceptional, very knowledgeable, very courteous, friendly and lovely. We miss you guys and certainly, we shall come back.
I highly recommend Uganda as the best African destination and Mukisa Safaris as the company to trust and travel with.
DK
Email Ida Kyv | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
We had an excellent travel to Uganda with Mukisa Safaris - beyond our expectations!
This was my second visit to Uganda - and I still love the country. This time, I traveled for 14 days with my brother where we had chosen to go with Mukisa Safaris. The entire tour was extremely well planed and informative. The company always responded our e-mails immediately. When we arrived to Uganda the company was even better than what we had hoped - and the entire tour was excellent. Our guide was a really good birder - which my brother is as well. Both the driver and the guide were really friendly and we felt safe and well-informed during the entire tour. I can only give Mukisa Safaris my best recommendations
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Email Joel | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Exceptional services
I and my other 3 friends have just returned home from a trip in Uganda and it has been a wonderful and memorable vacation.
After a few days of looking for a travel company, we found Mukisa Safaris and we instantly decided to book with the company. This because Richard exercised exceptional professionalism and promptness. He was exceedingly helpful, accommodative in crafting out the best itinerary that suited the best interests of our group and it was indeed the best travel plan as it enabled us explore and navigate almost the entire country in just 2 weeks. We visited several parks including Kidepo, Murchison Falls, Queen Elizabeth, Lake Mburo, and Bwind Forest. Uganda is such a beautiful country with varying ecosystems that are incredible for nature lovers.
During our entire vacation period in Uganda, our guide Veronica and driver John were amazing people. They were so friendly and they made us feel safe and comfortable. We miss moments of enjoying cutting and eating fruits with them and ofcourse their incredible stories. Importantly, they posses vast knowledge about their country about everything. We slept in eco friendly lodges that were very clean and served delicious meals. Uganda is exceptionally endowed with many animals and during the game drives we encountered many animals including the African Big 5. However, the experience of tracking gorillas is comparable to none. It's such an awesome experience seeing gorillas just close in a few meters. We shall return to Uganda for another experience with gorillas.
We thank Mukisa Safaris for their exceptional services and we highly recommend their professional services.