Joseph,Our seniorguide always ready to welcome you
Crystal Safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 20-50 employees (Founded in 1996)
- Member Of:
- ATTA, ASTA, APTA, AUTO, SKAL, UTB & UTO
- Tour Types:
- Customizable private tours and fixed group tours
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $77 to $800 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
Satisfactory safari provisioning
I chose Crystal Safaris after reading reviews and comparing prices for safaris on this website. They seemed to be solid value for the price, which was the case. I had booked for 3 days to Murchison Falls, then expanded to 6 days. My email interactions with Barbara were fine; she responded quickly with information. However, I wish that more information about the hotels would be included in the package description. I was not prepared for the quality of the room in Paraa Lodge - I expected to have AC and a view, but neither was provided. Knowing more about the hotel prior would have allowed me to manage my expectations, and not be disappointed.
Our driver, George, was very good and attentive to our needs. He did a great job on the game drive to find nearly all animals present in the park - the only one he couldn't find was the leopard, which is not surprising. On our last day with the tour, in Entebbe, George was needed for another tour, so we got a different guide. This guy must have been new to the company, because he did not have quite the same skills and personability as George.
Overall I was satisfied with the tour and would recommend Crystal Safaris.
TH
Email Moragot | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Memorable Experience
Thanks Crystal Safari for helping me realising my dream of encounting the mountain gorillas. Thank you Joseph for taking such good care of us, making sure that everyone was happy. 'Til we meet again, beautiful Uganda.
Email Jenita | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
We had an amazing experience from Kigali to Kivu to Bwindi national park
Our guide who drove us to kivu, Kennedy was good. Then our 2nd guide Hannington took us from Kivu to Mwindi Uganda. He was very knowledgeable calm and helpful always.
We really enjoyed our gorilla trekking experience
Email Sabira | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Tour guide n operator review
A very experienced and knowledgeable tour guide Hannington did an amazing job of managing our trip and guiding us as required and working with us to meet our changing requirements given that we were a large group.
The vehicle was decent but could benefit from some investment as we did have a low battery situation once and the vehicle needed to be pushed...part of the adventure but need not have to happen...
Hannington has great personality and is very easy to get along with and is very sensitive to people's moods and adjusting the tempo accordingly. Very important to have good EQ.
Email Felicity | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing 3 day Tour
We booked a 3 day tour for a couple based on recommendations from a friend to visit Uganda.
The booking process was easy, however leading up to the tour, before departing our home country, we needed to request our itinerary, and when it was sent, we were really advised of how the guide / tour worked.
On arrival, we were greeted by our Guide Hannington. We then discovered our guide would be with us the whole time, which was a delightful surprise.
We have nothing but wonderful things to say about Hannington. His knowledge of the area, and the wider Uganda and Rwanda, along with his friendly personality made it such a pleasure to spend 3 days with him.
Once in Uganda we learned of all the amazing places to visit however sadly our flights and schedule were booked- our only feedback would have been great to know in advance all the other options to add on, as we could have spent 7 days in Uganda instead of 3.
We highly recommend requesting Hannington as your guide if you can - absolutely amazing!
CA
Email Tony | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing trip! Beautiful Country
My wife and I just returned from a 12 day tour in Uganda with Crystal Safaris. The mid range lodges exceeded our expectations. Our guide was very good, although his english needed some work. The vehicle we had was a few years old, and experienced a major mechanical issue (not surprising given the state of the roads!!). However, a replacement vehicle was delivered later that evening, so the breakdown had very little impact on our trip.
We booked the Chimp Habituation experience, thinking we would spend more time with the chimps -- this was not the case, and we had to alter our itinerary as we booked a chimp tracking the following day which was much better for people having never seen Chimps!!
We stayed at 2 Crystal Safari lodges, and Crater Safari Lodge was beautiful, Gorilla Safari lodge was nice!
Email Marjorie | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Beautiful experience
Our tour guide Zayd was very professional, friendly and so knowledgeable about Bwindi and the surrounding areas. He was a great time keeper, we really enjoyed the trip.
Thanks to Christine and her team.
AE
Email Samantha Chalmers | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Well organised, very professional and excellent customer service!
After a very long time of saving, budgeting and planning, I finally went ahead and booked my Gorilla Tracking Experience with Crystal Safaris Uganda. I viewed and researched many tour operators and in the end decided that Crystal held the best package for what I was looking for! It was the trip of a lifetime!! Crystal Safaris tailor made my tour to exactly what I needed and had budgeted for. Barbara, whom I corresponded with via email replied very promptly to all my inquiries and gave me the much needed confidence and reassurance to go ahead with my booking. As a solo traveller you always need to make sure you are in safe and reliable hands, and with Crystal Safaris, I never thought otherwise!! My guide, Joseph was great! He shared a lot of information regarding Uganda as a country as well as the people and ecosystems that inhabit this beautiful country. Joseph really helped to make my trip that much more enjoyable and memorable! Apart from the Gorilla tracking which was just incredible…all of the accommodation which Crystal Safaris had booked me into were great! Friendly staff and lovely atmosphere at all the lodges / hotels from start to finish! Overall I had one of the most amazing trips to date! I would use Crystal Safaris again without questions! Until next time!!
FR
Email Patricia | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Wonderful trip
We had a great holiday in Uganda and I wanted to thank you for organizing this trip.
Everything went very well and we had a great driver. Remmy was very pleasant, very calm and available.
He knows the wildlife very well and allowed us to see many animals. he was also a very careful driver which is very welcome.
We enjoyed all of our accommodations the one we liked the most was the Crater Safari Lodge. We also liked the rwakobo rock.
I will give a special mension to the Hoima cultural lodge which has a beautiful garden and whose atmosphere seemed authentic and very African.
The accommodation that we least appreciated was the Enganzi lodge where the welcome was less pleasant than in all the other lodges and which has a lot of stairs and very slippery, which is dangerous. Otherwise our room was very good.
All the parks were wonderful we saw a lot of animals and also took a lot of photos !
We also enjoyed the stroll on the Kazinga Channel, the walk along Murchinson Falls and the visit to Bigodi which was very interesting.
A big THANK Barbara for this trip!
US
Email Vandermeer Family | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Our tour guide Josh (Joseph) Chiwa was absolutely incredible and made our experience AMAZING!
We traveled to Uganda as a family and has the most amazing time. The accommodations, service, and communications were all first class. Our tour guide Josh Chiwa made our time the trip of a lifetime. He was smart, professional, fun and went above and beyond to exceed all of our expectations. We highly recommend booking a trip with Josh Chiwa. Thank you!!!