We'd rather take your smile to the bank!
Lush Africa Safaris
- Located In:
-
United States
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2004)
- Member Of:
- Association of Uganda Tour Operators
- Tour Types:
- Customizable private tours and fixed group tours
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $25 to $1,000 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
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Email Diego | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Reliability and Quality
My trip to Africa with Lush Africa Safaris was in a way that I dreamt of it and more. Communication with Abbey was fluent along the planning and during the experience. Services along the trip were excellent and made the trip even better, so the accommodations so the guides and drivers.
I encourage you to make a trip to the wonderful land of Africa with Lush Africa Safaris.
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Email Jeff B | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Top Notch Safari Provider. Perfect!
Lush Africa Safari provided me and my wife a top-notch experience in 4 countries, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania (for 17 days)! Abbey took the time for over a year, to plan, develop and make changes to my itinerary, He painstakingly added and removed items to suit my needs and upgraded until we had the perfect safari!! The pricing was more than competitive to other competitors out there, but the service set them apart. We were provided a Golden Monkey Trek, Gorilla Trek, Chimpanzee Trek, Rhino Trek and of course some stellar game drives. We saw everything we hoped to see and then some. Abbey made sure our accommodations were the best, the food and excursions were the best, and let’s not forget about the tour guides! Derrick and Joseph made our particular tours of these countries unforgettable. They were timely in making sure we were where we were supposed to be, and took time to make sure we saw the animals and great migration, including a 35-minute river crossing. They provided extra care in food prep (my wife is gluten free) and even shopping so we did not pay to much. We did a couple of balloon safaris, a sundowner, boat safaris, Volcanos NP, Bwindi Impenetrable NP, Queen Elizabeth NP, Serengeti NP, Masai Mara National Reserve, Kibale NP, Ngorogoro Crater and even a wonderful couple hours at the top of Murchison Falls amongst everything else mentioned. They took the time to stop for any pictures or scenery we wanted to see, provided cold water throughout the day and really made the whole thing completely personalized. A very reliable up and coming provider with great value for the money and communications from start to finish! They even have done tremendous follow up after the safari to make sure everything went as we expected and to our complete satisfaction! Don’t hesitate to contact Abbey and Lush Africa Safari for your future East Africa trip! You will be glad you did!
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Email Mary Daly | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Cyprian was the perfect travel guide.
I was very pleased with my 2023 trip to Rwanda that Lush Africa helped plan the itinerary. My purpose for the trip was to visit the gorillas one more time. I had been to Rwanda in August 2022 with a large tour company to see the gorillas and the eastern border of Rwanda to visit the Akagera National Park. It was a seven day stay in Rwanda.
I loved the gorillas and Rwanda. I had a planned safari trip this summer (2023) to several southern African countries. I decided to return to Rwanda on my own to visit the gorillas and the Nyungwe National Forest before starting the safari. Lush Africa was recommended to me by two individuals on the 2022 Rwanda trip who stayed on to see Nyungwe National Forest, home to chimpanzees and the Black & White monkeys and used Lush Africa.
I found Lush Africa to be as good as any tour company that I have used in my travels. I was offered interesting activity options to select from, beautiful hotels to stay in. and a perfect travel guide, Cyprian.
During the drives from one location to another, Cyprian was an excellent conversationalist. He provided interesting background information on Rwandan daily life. He was also very punctual and got me to all the destinations on time. He secured me a gorilla family located in an area that wasn’t too difficult to access. Which I truly appreciated. He is a safe driver.
Overall, I enjoyed all the Lush Africa recommended activities, Rukari Museum, National Ethnographic Museum, trekking in the Nyungwe Forest for chimpanzees and the Black & White monkeys, the canopy walks and especially, the Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village which was more fun than I had anticipated.
As an older solo female traveler, I found Abbey Rafsanjani, the owner of Lush Africa, and Cyprian made the experience one that I will remember the rest of my life. Rwanda is a wonderful country to visit, so filled with hope.
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Email Michael Gomez | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Wonderful!
We traveled as a family of 3 for two weeks in Uganda and Tanzania. Our private guides Donald in Uganda and Joseph in Tanzania went above and beyond to provide our family with an excellent experience. It was hands off and Lush provided great accommodations and beautiful daily itineraries which included Gorilla trekking in Bwindi, QE park, beautiful Kazinga channel cruise, chimp sanctuary in Lake Victoria tour, Beautiful Serengeti, and Ngorongoro area. Highly recommend
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Email Christine Jones | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Our tour guide made everyday special
Our trip was amazing and an experience I will never forget. Our guide was friendly and knowledgeable about locations and where to ensure we saw as many animals as possible.We stayed at Neptune and were treated like stars. They paid attention to every detail and made sure we were always happy. If you want a trip of a lifetime contact Lush African Safaris
CA
Email Veryl Obodi | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Lush Africa Safaris gave me a tour of a lifetime
As a former tour operator, the idea of booking a tour package became even more complex, simply because I had already been accustomed to the best the industry could offer. Having been at the other end of the spectrum, it felt satisfyingly odd being the client for a change. That said, it was undeniably evident that Lush Africa Safaris was the go-to tour company since it was highly recommended by not one, but by three completely different friends of mine on completely separate occasions. That was the beginning of what would end up being a two-week tour of a lifetime.
Abbey cemented my validation as to why Lush Africa Safaris was the perfect choice because our first correspondence was nothing short of perfection. He sent me a copy of my custom-made itinerary which was so unique to my request and at that particular point, I was sold! I wasn’t looking for the typical standard safari package but more of a re-union with my family and quite honestly, I must truly commend him for his exceptional delivery. The thoughtfulness and attention to detail in the itinerary was so spectacular, all I could do was count days until my trip.
Upon arrival at Entebbe International Airport in Uganda, I was received by a very enthusiastic operations manager - Steven, who ensured that I was well settled in and given a brief of what my next 13 days would look like. The uniqueness of my trip which didn’t involve any safaris/game drives ensured that we explored as much cultural experiences as was feasibly possible. Steven and Angel made sure that I truly immersed myself in the culture by eating local traditional dishes, visiting numerous cultural sites, and driving through the rural villages on dirt roads just to mention a few. They were able to equally tweak, and custom make my itinerary on the go to include some extra and impromptu activities which turned out to be quite memorable.
The highlight of my trip was meeting my family and celebrating my birthday in the most spectacular way, all thanks to Lush Africa Safaris. They truly outdid themselves and I will forever be greatly indebted to them for the nostalgic memories.
All good things must come to an end unfortunately. I wrapped up my trip with a breathtakingly beautiful traditional performance at Ndere cultural center, with performances by the Ndere dance troupe. I left the beautiful Pearl of Africa for Canada with so many great memories that I’m definitely looking forward to more with Lush Africa Safaris. They’ll always be my go-to tour operator. I highly recommend them to anyone looking for a magical experience.
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Email Frank | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Abbey was very accommodating, detailed, thorough and made sure our trip exceeded our expectations!
Simply stated, our African trip arranged by Abbey and Lush Africa Safaris was an extraordinary experience for the members of our travel party and truly exceeded all of our expectations.
Our trip encompassed 10 to 11 days and included time spent in Nairobi, numerous safari drives in the Masai Mara, time spent in Kigali and Gorilla and Golden Monkey Trekking in Rwanda.
Everything regarding our trip, from the initial planning to our departure from the U.S. and arrival in Africa, our stay and travel within Africa and our return to the U.S., went off without complications or delays. Abbey was incredibly accommodating and patient with our travel concerns/questions and significant requested modifications from the original plan.
Our Guides/Drivers arranged by Lush were knowledgeable, always timely, courteous and a major component of our incredible trip. The Guide/Driver for our numerous Safari Drives in the Masai Mara was Samuel and in a word, he was terrific. Always timely and gracious, Samuel was extremely flexible and knowledgeable and we could not have asked for more extraordinary animal sightings that his expertise provided. In Rwanda, Cyprien was equally courteous, knowledgeable, timely and flexible regarding our excursions for our sight seeing and Gorilla and Golden Monkey Trekking. Throughout our time in Africa, Steve and Abbey were present via phone and text messages to ensure our trip went off without complication.
In summary, our first trip to Africa exceeded all of our expectations and Lush Africa Safaris was a significant part of that success. Suffice to say that our future travel plans to Africa will be arranged through Abbey and Lush. Further, we will refer any relatives/friends/acquaintances who express an interest in traveling to Africa, to Lush Africa Safaris and Abbey. Thanks to Abbey, Samuel, Cyprien, Steve and everyone at Lush who had a hand in making our trip an outstanding success!!
Email Mercy Nalusiba | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Lush Africa Safaris was exceptionally professional, and gave us an unforgettable experience!
The service was topnotch; the sights and scenery selected for us were epic! The customer service was amazing. I would recommend them over and over again.
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Email Bridget | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing from start to finish!
I want to sincerely thank Lush for all that that they did to plan our Africa trip and make sure that we had the best possible experience. Our trip was incredible from start to finish! The entire process was so smooth and easy. Philemon, Steven, Peter, and Joseph were all so knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful. They made sure that we saw all that we wanted to see and made sure our trip was an unforgettable experience.
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Email Adnan Sabic | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It was a most amazing experience.
Lush Africa Safari handled our trip to Egypt and Kenya. They made is so convenient for us. Everything from the initial booking to the very end. Superb communication and extremely professional. At each point of our trip the personnel was very nice, caring and knowledgeable. We felt very safe and comfortable. It was truly once in a life time experience that changed our lives and we are very grateful to Lush Africa Safari for the amazing experience.
