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
AR
Email Martin | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Unique thoughtfulnes
Richard and Steve are an incredible duo. Not only they delivered on all the expectations around the Gorilla trekking, but also they went above and beyond by taking me out to local restaurants in their spare time.
This will make your Uganda experience significantly better
Reply from Gatatu Safaris
Posted on Oct 20, 2018Thank you, was great booking with us and was our pleasure to give you our best experience in Uganda, we are here to help with all your questions and booking and finally gorilla tracking is a life time experience.
Thank you again for sharing your good experience globally!
Richard
NL
Email Johan Janssen | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Warning: don’t book with Gatatu!
For our honeymoon we booked a Gorilla tour 5 months in advance. We also transferred 1.300 USD to Gatatu. Gatatu confirmed the booking by e-mail and we even drove to Bwindi NP to start the Gorilla trek. After the introduction the driver (no connection with Gatatu) told us something is wrong. No booking was made by Gatutu with the Uganda wildlife authority and also no permits left. Meaning we couldn’t do the Gorilla trek, the main reason we booked a flight to Uganda! On our return to the lodge we met with someone from Gatatu (interim manager) and he apologised and we asked for a full refund which we received. We understood from him and someone from our lodge that Richard, owner of Gatatu, is in jail for fraud! We are very disappointed with Gatatu. From everything during our trip this was the only thing that had to go right because the permits are very limited. Gatatu, NEVER AGAIN.
US
Email Thomas Mell | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing Luxurious Primate Experience
Gatatu Safari is a Ugandan based locally ran tour company. The communication with the owner (Richard) is phenomenal. Richard will answer all your questions and change anything and everything you like. He will work with you on customizing everything of preference from activities to lodging upgrades (tents, deluxe rooms, lodges, etc.) He answers most e-mails the same day. Also, the prices they offer can not be beat. We stayed in luxury lodges and Gatatu was the only company that offered them in our price range. The best part about the company is that the owner (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 as the money does not feed into some euro-based big business. This is also why I believe you will find the best prices here. Note that since the company is not a Euro-business, they do not accept credit card at this time. Payments are made via wire transfer, if this worries you please feel free to contact me or Gatatu can put you in contact with my facebook to confirm your money is safe (and also check out some tour photos)! Working with Gatatu was very professional. They picked us up where we requested right on time and we were dropped off to our exiting destination promptly. Vehicle, safari guide/driver, and bookings were all as promised. All-in-all we were very happy with our tour. We have many recommendations if needed about activities and lodges. I would say your best bet for Primates is through Gatatu as many other companies have a significant mark-up. Gatatu will make sure you get the most for your money.
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/
PL
Email Justyna | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great experience
We had very good experience with this operator. They organized for us the gorilla trek and transfer to Kigali. Richard was always very responsive and went an extra mile to help us with additional things like buying bus tickets or arranging lodge transfer. Thank you very much Gatatu crew, you rock!
DE
Email Jakob | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Spontaneous safari
We came to Uganda a bit unprepared so that we booked it (8 days through Uganda, 1999 US$) only fife days before the tour started.
All in all it worked out pretty well. We had the most amazing experiences visiting the Gorillas and having all the other experiences.
The accommodations and the food that was provided three times a day were very good. Being two university students we most likely would have booked less comfortable lodges and hotels and eaten less often and in less expensive restaurants.
The transport was mostly good. We had a very kind and caring driver who even picked us up from Jinja which was an extra two hour drive for him. Unfortunately, the car broke down twice within the eight days which caused some irritation and made us wonder about the State of our car .
Even though they handled both breakdowns pretty good we would have enjoyed a better communication about how it might affect our plans for the day.
In addition to that we would recommend to read the program carefully. At two occasions the guides forgot about smaller activities mentioned on the program.
The payment has been quite stressful for us as we did not bring that much cash to Uganda an the ATMs wouldn’t let us withdraw more than two million a day (of course this a problem that occurred due to our spontaneous booking). Nevertheless, we would have enjoyed to be able to pay with either credit card or by money transfer.
All in all it was a good experience and we would mostly recommend it.
Fantastic trip
GATATU Safari was very professional and kind . Ready to solve immediately all the problem that can occur when you travel in country like Uganda , still not perfectly turistized . All the accommodation were excellent (o obviously in relation what the place can offer), in particular Lake Bunyonyi was an amazing place with stunning views on the lake . Of course Gorilla experience was fantastic even if very hard ( you must be really in a god shape to walk on steep and steep slopes for five/six hours but ...... view the Gorilla repays you abundantly the efforts
Email Mike | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great & friendly service
Richard and Steven were great, and provided everything we needed for a fantastic one day gorilla trek. They allowed flexible pick up and drop off,which made it very easy to fit into our trip. Highly trustworthy and friendly, would definitely use again and recommended to anyone.
Email Kate Ruscoe | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Excellent safari! 100% Ugandan owned and operated!
My self, partner and mother had an amazing experience with Gatatu safaris. We did a 9 day safari to see the gorillas, chimps, Queen Elizabeth national park, Murchison Falls and the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary.
All of the preplanning with Richard was professionally organised. He would always reply to emails as soon as possible and I was very impressed with the level of his service.
The safari itself was budget but there were touches of luxury thrown in there. It was super flexible and we were most impressed with our guide Steven. He was a great guide, a fantastic driver where we were made to feel safe and he took all feedback onboard quickly and professionally. He made sure the vehicle was tidied and washed every day which was a nice touch.
All of the accomodations and meal choices were great and Steven went above and beyond to make our trip special and to ensure we were happy at all times.
The only thing I could make improvements on if there could be a pair of binoculars in the vehicle for guests to use. But we will make sure we bring our own next time.
We were happy to put our payments into a company that is 100% Ugandan owed and operated. No part of our money was going to an overseas travel operator. I feel happy that we have supported a local operator and all of our funds have gone to suppliers owned and run in Uganda.
We hope to be back one day and we will tell our friends what an amazing company Gatatu is to see the Big 5 and much more with!
Thank you for helping us make wonderful lasting memories,
Kate, Mike and Rebecca
TR
Email Onur Cagan Aygun | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing professional tour agency with really good guides
It was so good to have trip with Gatatu Safaris in Uganda & Rwanda...
Their guides are really professional, we had group tour with them and they took care of everything.
I highly recommended this amazing company to see most beautiful mountain gorillas in their wild lifes.