Typical Ugandan operator by Richard Tusasibwe
Gatatu Safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2011)
- Tour Types:
- Budget & mid-range tours with set start dates and a fixed itinerary
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $65 to $710 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
ES
Email Jose Antonio Nogales | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
If you are looking for a reasonably priced safari, Gatatu is definitely the company for you!!
We searched for the best deals on the web. Gatatu offered a very competitive price and will make sure you get the most for your money. It was the only company that offered them in our price range.
All accommodation was clean, good food, friendly staff.
The owner, Richard, was such a pleasure to work with and really he helped us personalize our trip.
The communication with him was phenomenal. Working with Gatatu was very professional.
Richard has a degree in social work and he started a school to help children.
He uses a portion of the profits from his company to help fund the school and support the children. So, you can feel really good about supporting this tour company. This is also why I believe you will find the best prices here.
Great Canoe Trekking Experience and amazing one day excursion on Lake Bunyonyi.
Our guide, Fred, grew up around that area and was very knowledgeable of the history and culture of the lake area and of Uganda as well.
If you are looking for a reasonably priced safari, Gatatu is definitely the company for you.
Email Stephen Boyle | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great value tour of Uganda's highlights, perfect gorilla experience and blissful Lake Bunyonyi .
This is a Ugandan led tour and its USP is the connection you get with the country through the planned itinerary and the links to local communities that Gatatu offers as part of your experience. This is a budget option that offers real value for money. The accommodation we had was very decent quality, particularly at QE National Park and the Entusi Lodge at Lake Bunyonyi which is as near to an earthly paradise as I've ever encountered. You rough it a little up in the mountains visiting a local community but the rooms there are clean and comfortable and the climate is cool and sleeping is easy. We were well fed and had no problems at all with stomach upsets! Gatatu's foresight in that department was much appreciated. Our driver Stefan was brilliant. His driving was excellent, safe and thoughtful, he was a great guide and a really enjoyable companion. Always willing to answer questions about the wildlife and all aspects of Ugandan life, especially music which is a big passion of mine ( I now have 8GB of Ugandan and other African sounds which I'm gradually working my through). The pace of the tour and its variety were spot on. Not too much but lots to keep you fascinated and delighted. The highlights for me were the cruise along the Kizenga Channel, with a dazzling variety of animals and birds, and above all an amazing encounter with the gorillas in Bwindi INP. We were exceptionally fortunate in meeting them, just the 2 of us, after only 30 minutes trekking. It was a remarkable and deeply moving experience for which I am truly grateful to Richard and his colleagues. The big surprise of the tour for me was Lake Bunyonyi, one of the most beautiful places I have ever been and which I intend to revisit soon. Finally its important to remember that Gatatu is a Ugandan business. Your money benefits local workers and businesses and helps Richard and his colleagues to support a school for poor families in in his local town of Kabale. If you want a really Ugandan experience of the wildlife and landscapes of this beautiful country Gatatu is a great choice.
DK
Email Jens M | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Safari tour to Queen Elizabeth National Park.
It was a nice tour, even there was some small problems/misunderstanding with the accommodation. There was also problems with the walk in the forrest, or actually problems with the road. So do not go for a walk in the forrest in the rain seaso!! The national park even charge you before you going for the forrest, even you cant go to! But all in all it was a great tour & a nice driver/guide...
Reply from Gatatu Safaris
Posted on Dec 14, 2015Thanks for the review, I think we agreed that you will be staying in bush lodge which i believe you did, I am so sorry that you really missed forest walk because of the poor roads leading to the forest, this is good in dry season to have a walk. Please see you again!
Good person.
I met Richard, the company owner, on my trip in Uganda. He is very committed to help people in need and make a difference for them.
The best Safari in Uganda
My name is Anna from USA together with my husband Collin have completed a 10 days primate tour safari with Gatatu Safaris,It has been a very nice safari with our guide George is the most guide we think he could provide with clients correct information, he took us through various national parks in Uganda and Queen Elizabeth together with Bwindi Impenetrable National park has been our best adventure where we saw gorilla’s and Game drive around Queen Elizabeth!
While around lake bunyonyi,we slept at birdnest and food production was the best however we visited the community around lake bunyonyi where we spent a day with Mwendo needy children and orphan project of which Gatatu Safaris support actually sponsored a child which has been our dream for his Education
With our good experience with Gatatu Safaris as a travel company in Uganda, we highly recommend them with their good experience they offer, we have booked another safari for our daughters with Gatatu,we are leaving Uganda soon but we hope to come back!
NL
Email Evert | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Communication difficult, great tour
It took me a while to decide on which gorilla tour from which tour operator to choose. I was looking around for one day tours starting from Kabale or Kisoro. I booked a tour with Gatatu, which had both a good price and good reviews (on safaribookings.com).
Contact with Gatatu was by e-mail with the owner. In his first e-mail to me he said that I would pay at the start of the safari either in Gatatu’s office or to my guide. But because Gatatu had to buy my gorilla permit for the trekking date I asked if I shouldn’t pay for at least the permit before. Then I received a reply that money did have to be transferred to Gatatu’s account.
I had to transfer the full amount which I did, but Gatatu did not buy the permit before the money was received. One week later they had received the money, but it took 3 more days until I received a message from the owner saying he bought the permit the day before. The waiting for Gatatu buying the permit (in total 9 days after payment) and telling me about it made me pretty nervous as I had read that permits could be sold out. Also the payment information I first received turned out to be incorrect and after finding out they had received the money it still took 2 days for Gatatu to buy the permit.
The gorilla tour itself was great. First I could enjoy the landscape during the early morning drive from Kabale to Bwindi Park. Mist was hanging over the valleys, a beautiful sight. Then during the gorilla tour we had found the gorillas very quickly and they came very close, especially 2 babies.
US
Email KAT | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Buyer Beware - Gatatu lied about purchasing our Gorilla and Chimp permits in advance
After researching a few safari companies, we (group of 4) chose to work with Gatatu as they had great reviews and were a small operation located right in Uganda. Clearly something has changed with their business since these last reviews were posted, as our trip was anything but easy. We came to find out Richard and Steven never purchased our gorilla and chimp permits in advance (we found out about the gorilla permits the morning of our trek when we couldn't get in) in spite of telling us they were purchased back in August 2018, when my sister and I made a $2000 deposit (my friends made a similar deposit but I don't know the date). Richard went as far as providing FAKE copies of the gorilla permits. Please keep in mind gorilla permits and chimp habituation permits HAVE to be booked well in advance as only a limited number of ppl can get in per day. After repeated lies from both Richard (and threats via text) and Steven, we decided to part ways and hired ourselves a new driver 4 nights in. If you choose to use them, make sure to get copies of all of your permits in advance and confirm their validity with the national parks.
On a positive note, all of our accommodations were what was promised and we did have a nice $30 add on of a boat ride up the Kazinga Channel with one of Steven's friends. Also, with our evidence of being duped by Gatatu, we were able to get ourselves in for a gorilla trek at Bwindi by the game warden who took pity on us and with the assistance of two locals in Kibale, in for the chimp trek (we couldnt get in for habituation as that was full). All I can say is thank goodness we did not pay them in full and were able to walk away with a few saved dollars. If you have any questions, I have saved all of my communication and texts with Richard. Feel free to reach out.
p.s. Steven picked us up in a green safari vehicle full of roaches on the first day. We should have known what was to come...
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g673829-d10791582-r644516635-Gatatu_Safaris-Kabale_Western_Region.html#
Reply from Gatatu Safaris
Posted on Feb 22, 2019After entering into Agreement with Kara, your sister and sent the first installment of the money,You requested to add 2 more people, You were 3 ladies and one Male unfortunately, You breached the contracted when you reached in our office in Uganda and refused to pay all the balance based on the agreement.
With the gorilla tracking, I admit there was issue but having 2 nights in Bwindi, we knew you would do gorilla tracking and by the way, there is high demand for gorilla permits in Uganda, For people who do not book their safari 6 month in advance, it will be hard to get gorilla permits, why?? Rwanda increased its gorilla permits from $750USD to $1500USD , the demand for gorilla permits in Uganda is very high.
You arrived differently in Kigali, Steven met you with the land cruiser which was white, its not mentioned, on the second, he went to meet Elizabeth and boyfriend, its not mentioned, You not mentioning that you refused to pay on arrival in Uganda, changing the white car to a green which would accommodate 4 of you was a good deal and the vehicle is very new unfortunately i am not aware and was not aware of the Cockroaches because its been used to transport very many people.
There very many people from around the world who pay money to companies and on reached at the airport, no body is there to meet them, I am not sure what you really mean being duped however we are very committed to serve all people from around the world, we have served more and more people after you and before you, we don't bribe people to write good things about us, more good reviews are coming unfortunately it was hard for Steven to go on with you when you threatened to strangle the head was your bear hands and feared for his life.
DE
Email Andy | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
OK but lots of room for improvement
Value for money is only moderate. I found their tour preperation was not adequate, leading to a car break-down which cost us several hours. Not good when your time is limited. Some more time was wasted in a Police control, where it turned out that the car did not have proper insurance with some documentation missing. The driver was definitely striving to do his best, yet he was not qualified as a guide during our game drive. Fortunately and by chance we had a local helping out, otherwise we would have missed lots of interesting sights and information.
US
Email Betty | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Richard is a thief, do not trust this company.
This is NOT a safari company, it is a huckster with a website. Richard insists on money wires in advance but then doesn’t deliver on any of his contracts. He offers nothing but lies, abuse, and third-rate accommodations. After scamming my group for thousands of dollars, I am infuriated to see that people are continuing to try to book tours through him! DO NOT EVEN CONSIDER CALLING THIS COMPANY unless you want to lose money and have your trip ruined. We had to pay for almost our entire trip twice since he took our money but didn’t pay any of the parks or hotels we were supposed to visit. He belongs in jail, I’d love to know how he got out, but hopefully he will end up back there soon enough.
DE
Email Markus | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
WARNING! $ 14,000 fraud and embezzlement
Almost a year in advance, we had booked an almost three-week safari via GATATU for five people in July / August 2019. The trip should cost a total of around 35,500 US dollars. As agreed, US $ 20,000 were transferred in advance. The rest should be handed over on site.
We were promised 2 safari vehicles, which should accompany us on the almost three-week tour, when we arrived at the airport there was only an old and neglected mini-bus that picked us up at the airport in Kigali in the late evening and then did not pick us up agreed boutique hotel but moved to another hotel.
After long discussions I was able to convince the otherwise very nice driver to take us to the agreed boutique hotel. We couldn't reach Richard, the manager of GATATU.
The next day we met the manager Richard in the office of GATATU Safaris in Kabale. It turned out there that not a single one of the agreed lodges was reserved. Richard received from us $ 1,500 for a 5th Gorilla Permit.
Since the owner of the first lodge warned us not to give Richard more money, we agreed that I would pay for all the lodges within the next three weeks on site and use the remaining US $ 14,000 for it.
The next evening it turned out that everything else was not paid for, e.g. the chimpanzee permits, entry to the national parks, accommodation and food for the driver, fuel, costs for the rented minibus etc. etc.
Of the 21,500 US dollars that GATATU received from us, only 7,500 US dollars were used for the gorilla permits, the rest (14,000 US dollars) was pocketed by the manager for no consideration. Richard could not be reached by phone, so on the third day we had to file a report with the tourism police in Kabale.
Richard was on the run, arrested three weeks later and jailed for three weeks. With one of his representatives, who visited us together with a senior officer, we agreed that Richard would repay the embezzled money in payment installments, which has not yet happened. At this point I do not want to report anything about our very negative experiences with the police in Uganda.
I can only warn you strongly against making any deals and especially advance payments to GATATU.
https://www.softpower.ug/tour-operator-who-defrauded-german-tourists-of-shs-81m-arrested-in-kabale/
