Instinct Safaris
- Located In:
-
Switzerland
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2011)
- Member Of:
- AUTO, USAGA, UCF & UCOTA
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $200 to $750 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
DE
Email Hermann | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Came for the wildlife but made the best memories with the people of Uganda!
We spend around 2 weeks with the team of Instinct Safarais and our guide Rabani. Besides gorilla tracking in Biwindi, we were struck by the kindness and friendship offered by the people in Uganda. We would love to come back on day once the pandemic is over!
CH
Email Stefan | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent Planning with Good Team
We set out on our safari in January before COVID hit and were extremely lucky to have gone with Instinct Safaris. We had a total of two weeks to see most of Uganda, especially the western half of the country. We started in Kampala and headed north west first to see Murchison Falls National Park - excellent wildlife and people. We then moved to Kibale and Queen Elizabeth National Park, before heading to the rain forest in Bwindi. We spent some 3 days there, tracking the gorillas twice. We then moved back to Kampala. This was a tailored safari. Lodging was great but some of the dinners did not live up to European standards - but thats ok! We were happy to try local dishes, which were a real revelation for us haha! Would come back and book with them again, in the future. When things are back to normal.
CH
Email John | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The best way to visit Rwanda & Uganda!
My wife and I spent 2.5 weeks in Rwanda and Uganda with Instinct Safaris and we absolutely loved it. Rabani and Emma worked tirelessly to ensure that we had the best trip possible! They were very familiar with all the parks, and were excellent guides & hosts for our time there. If/when we go back to that part of the world, you can be sure it will be with them.
CA
Email Michelle | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Exceptional customer service and highly experienced, friendly and professional staff.
We'd been considering going through a larger company, but figured we'd also check out some smaller ones, including Instincts Safaris. We requested a quote and received a reply within a day from the co-founder Niels. He personally worked with us to customize our safari and make all the arrangements for our trip efficiently and thoroughly.
Our guide Rabani was very pleasant and knowledgeable of the region. We were really looking forward to the gorilla hike, and it surpassed our expectations. The hike did take four hours and was quite rainy (and muddy), but we were able to gather some amazing sights that made it worth the while. Accommodations were comfortable, especially refreshing after being outside all day. It was a wonderful trip, and I'd certainly choose them again!
CH
Email Frank und Susanne Hauser | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Traveling in Uganda as a Couple/Mountain Gorilla Tracking
If there was just one description for the Instinct Safaris staff it would be "caring"! Our short four day safari in Uganda started on the 30th of December in Kampala. My girlfriend and I work for a NGO in the city and before returning home for a longer period, we definitely wanted to see mountain gorillas. Instinct Safaris and a few other travel companies came up. After discussions on the phone and in office, they made us a great offer for the 3 night trip and we started the safari. Weather was a little unpredictable and so was the traffic. On the 9 h drive down to the rain forest, we got stuck in traffic a number of times and ran late to get to our lodge, fortunately, our guide Raban already called in to the lodge to make sure that our dinner would not be luke warm by the time we would get there. Instead, he also organized a hot shower for us upon arrival. The gorilla tracking hike was just incredible. We opted in for another community hike on the following day, which took us to some community settlements and waterfalls in the area. As we are both keen bird watchers, we were delighted to see that our guide had some fond bird knowledge. We would highly recommend the company. If you are going, ask for Raban to be your guide!
ID
Email Tori | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Traveling with an 11 year old in Uganda
We traveled September 2015 for two weeks with Instinct Safari, WOW, WOW, WOW! What makes this review slightly different from many is because, beside us 3 women, I brought along my 11 year old daughter. Rabani, of Instinct Safari said that that was the first child he has had on tour and Alma did great! This was actually Alma's third safari in recent years, so I knew she is a great traveler and a pleasure to hang around with. Rabani and our driver, Emma, made this holiday one of the best I have ever been on, which is really something, as we travel a lot. I cannot say enough great things about the people and beauty of the land and animals. Alma loves photography and she was kept busy with the camera recording our entire two weeks. The food in all our lodges, in small restaurants while on the road, as well as packed lunches from the lodges when we were hiking, were of great quality and Alma never had a problem. We stayed in comfortable lodges, travelers hotels as well as permanent tented camps and each one had great, individual charm. As you must be 15 in order to be able to get a permit to see the gorillas and the chimpanzees, Alma was not able to join us on those hikes. She stayed back in the Nkuringo Gorilla Camp by herself while we hiked in Bwindi. What a great place to stay! The entire staff at the lodge made sure Alma was doing fine on her own all day. They offered to take her on a local hike, but she decided to stay and sort out the recent photographs and begin creating her albums that she presented back at her school. When I had the absolute special privilege of spending the entire day with the chimpanzee group in Kibale, Alma went on a gorgeous nature hike with my friend and photographed all the other primates in the area.
On previous safaris, we had a few treks, but often we were sitting the in jeeps for long drives between locations and also on game drives. For this trip, we purposely built in a lot of physical activities. We had horse-back riding, morning balloon ride with champagne breakfast, a couple boat trips, a hike to see the golden monkeys, another 20 kilometer hike through Bwindi besides the visit to the gorillas and the chimpanzees. We moved almost every nigh,t but two, in order to be able to take in all the parks and sights we wanted to visit in these two weeks. When we walked through villages, many were interested with Alma as they normally only see older tourists. We visited a local school and planted trees with the eco club. The children were so interested in talking with Alma. Although she is rather shy, Alma had such a great time. We were all quite tired in the end, but we would do it all again tomorrow if we could. Alma had no problem keeping up and did it with such great spirit. Rabani and Emma were so informative throughout the entire journey that I really believe she learned more in those two weeks than she would ever learn about Uganda in her geology, geography, social studies, economics and biology classes back home.
Without a doubt, we will return to Uganda. I would love to bring the rest of my family to see the gorillas, chimpanzees and everything else that made us fall in love with Uganda. We might have to wait until Alma is old enough to get her permit in 3 more years...can I wait that long?? probably not!! We would love to combine a trip to Rwanda and Uganda Alma said, no problem, Mom, just call up Rabani at Instinct Safari and he will plan it all out for us again. We are all facebook friends now, so easy to stay in touch. Thanks once more Rabani and Emma for everything. Tori
Email Kerry | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Disappointing
Our initial communication with Instinct Safari was good however once in Africa it was definitely downhill. About three days before we were due to fly into Uganda we received the following email.
As the DR Congolese single entry visa is not officially part of our included services, please let us know if you have already applied for it on www.visitvirunga.org and have a confirmation. If, however, you did not yet do so, please let us know (we would further require your job title - in addition to the passport copies we already have - to fill out their online form) and we do it for you. Please understand, that in that case we have to charge the extra US $105 per person they ask for their single entry visa.As your safari lies only a week ahead, please provide us with the requested information as soon as possible.
This was very disturbing as in every correspondence prior to this they had said the following
The DR Congo visas are usually purchased by us as the tour operator simply because details such as border checkpoint and address in DRC etc. have to be submitted during the application process.
.......Highest priority is assigned to the activities in DR Congo, now. With your passport photocopies at hand, it is easy for us to proceed and acquire your travel visas along with the volcano hike.
In this instance I contacted the Director who to his credit rectified this but it did add stress as we had limited internet access at this stage.
The day before we flew in we received another email explaining that we would need a special type of sleeping bag and parkas for sub zero conditions to prevent us suffering Hypothermia while trekking up to the volcano.
The packing list we had received before we left home did not mention this.
Decidedly unimpressed on arrival the guide not for the last time said it wasn't his fault as he had only just received the information himself, although later in the conversation he said he had been to the volcano a number of times before so I'm not sure why the company would not know what you need.
He did explain this situation could also be solved!!!!!
The car they picked us up in was really really old we had just come from a self drive safari in Namibia where we had no dust in the car.
The guide was EXTREMELY difficult to understand his English was poor and his attitude poorer.
He had minimal text book knowledge of the area. Quite honestly I think he and the driver thought it was their holiday. Soon as we arrived at places they would take off and chat with people . There were many instances where either ourselves or someone else would have to search for them.
Communication was almost non existent at the second lodge on arrival he just took off to relax in the lounge . Other guests thought they were also guests there, enthused to tell us some other tourists staying there were travelling to the Congo.
After we trekked with the Golden Monkeys we were supposed to go back to the lodge for a shower and lunch. They were particularly agitated and wanted us to be ready in 30 minutes?!
They then drove dangerously to the Congo border. I kept asking why we didn't cross the Congo border that was quite near. He just kept saying it was unacceptable. We finally arrived at the border he was on the phone and then said it was to late to cross. I then asked to speak to the lodge owner who told me she had expected us at 8.30am and had emailed him this information. He had had wifi access at the lodge. She said you can't drive in the Congo at night. One wonders why a company would create an itinerary that is unachievable as we were always trekking golden monkeys that day, the lodge owner was very helpful and suggested we stay just across the border. He instead checked us in at a hotel on the Rwanda side. I asked him to confirm this with her. He assured me he would. Next day we crossed the border my daughter and I were standing on the side of the road with all our gear, yet again they were nowhere to be found. My daughter eventually located them sitting out the back chatting with friends. The driver was late but they hadn't bothered to tell us. As it turns out they had gone to the hotel they thought we were staying at!!!!! ( the one they recommended)
We had consequently held everyone up to start the trek up the volcano. Again on arrival no explanation that we could put some belongings in bags that had been provided for us. We had been told we would each be provided with a porter but they were carrying our sleeping gear not our belongings. The food for the day was two warm ham sandwiches which would have been in the sun for at least four hours before consumption and a non refrigerated boiled egg. Although they were not responsible for the food they did not care about resolving the situation. During the trek the driver and guide spent most of their time taking selfies at one point when my daughter slipped they laughed and kept walking.
At one stage the cook asked the guide to come over and interpret but he was busy taking photos and initially said "no "until the chef demanded it.
I could add more . I spent six weeks in Africa and have travelled extensively and love travel . This guide / company were the worst I have ever experienced.
Do yourself a favour and pick someone else . Having said that the treks we did were fantastic and with another company I would highly recommend the gorillas golden monkeys and volcano in DR Congo.
Email Judith-Ann Treloar | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Friendly, well-informed guide & driver who let us experience 3 African countries in one tour, GREAT!
We had a true everyday real Africa experience! We requested to see the Gorillas and active Volcano lava lake, and Instinct Safaris put together an itinerary which enable us to see and experience 3 countries, i.e. Rwanda, Uganda and DRC (even though we could have done this from one country only), thus experiencing 3 cultures, accommodations, languages and people! We were made aware of sustainable projects in these countries as well as how poaching is decreasing by involving local communities in tourism. We felt comfortable and safe in the care of our guide (Rabani) and driver (Bosco), especially when dealing with customs at border crossings, and enjoyed the friendliness, food and comfortable beds at the lodges. We would suggest that tourists are reasonably fit for the hiking/tracking and obtain a full packing list early to ensure all equipment needed for the hike and sub-zero temperatures at the volcano summit are sufficient. A worthwhile "bucket list" experience - thank you Instinct Safaris!
DE
Email Jay and Meg | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Fantastic team with a great mission...Created a trip and experience of a lifetime...Outstanding
My wife and I booked our trip to Uganda with Instinct Safari with the primary purpose of seeing the Mountain Gorillas. We contacted several tour operators, and after much hand wringing, we decided to go with the Instinct Safari largely based on the superb communications and just the overall sense of purpose and mission exuded by the Instinct Safari team. I would highly recommend Instinct Safaris as a safari operator.
Our initial communications with Niels were excellent as he provided prompt and candid inputs as we put together our itinerary for a 9-day safari in southwestern Uganda. We were met on arrival at Entebbe by Rabani and Rogers, our guides with a Toyota Landcruiser. Both are extremely knowledgeable, and perhaps more importantly, personable as we spent the next week with both gentlemen. Our next 9 days were exciting as we saw and experienced southwestern Uganda. All of the activities were very rewarding, some of the highlights...chimpanzee habituation trek, game viewing at Queen Elizabeth Park, an early morning hot air balloon excursion with bush breakfast, a trek across the Bwindi Impenetrable forest (complete with a vigorous rain shower...that is putting it mildly), a paddle in a dugout canoe (abrato sp? in the local language wakiga) once again with a bit more rain, and of course the crowning jewel, our two gorilla treks. During our excursions we had, in addition to Rabani and Rogers, Emma and Issa as guides accompanying us to provide greater depth and background to cultural interactions within the local communities. In addition to the gorillas and chimpanzees, we saw many different animals...most striking for us was a leopard sighting, always a magical moment for this most solitary of beasts, and we saw the rather famous tree lions. We greatly enjoyed our time spent in the communities and we even had a chance to briefly visit a local school. I could go on endlessly over all the small details and adventures that encompassed this very enriching experience, but alas there is not enough space.
I wish we could return, as I consider Rabani and Rogers, and the entire Instinct team to be friends. I truly appreciate and applaud their company's mission, particularly the sustainability and community-based aspects. Keep up the good work...Jay and Meg
35-50 years of age
My Highest Recommendations
Instinct Safaris, namely Niels, made it possible for me and my girlfriend to hike the Mt. Nyiragongo volcano in DRC about a week ago. I understand the park has just reopened, so I am glad how smoothly visa approval and all important bookings went. After visiting DRC from Rwanda, we further connected to Uganda (Queen Elizabeth National Park, Bwindi National Park, and Kibale National Park) for more wildlife and a second mountain gorilla track. Our guide was helpful and knowledgeable throughout :-) We recommend this company and if we travel to the region again, they are certainly the agency we will go with.
Markus