35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Kenya by gazthelob
Kenya is just the most fantastic place. The people are so friendly. They say you can't visit Africa just the once and I totaly agree. We have been twice now and I will definately be returning.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Just a fantastic time
We travelled to Kenya in 2008 and Buffalo Springs was the highlight ( along with the Mara) of the holiday. Wildlife sightings are superb in particular the Elephants.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about South Africa by Safari Lover
South Africa is a gorgeous country with rich history and friendly people. The only downside to south africa is their car watchers in bigger cities like Cape Town. They are extremely aggressive and often times, demanding of tips. It became annoying having to deal with someone who would "watch" your car while you ran into the store and then have to tip them for fear they would become angry/hurt you.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
River Lodge - Amazing!!
The River Lodge was our first stop on our honeymoon to South Africa. We went to the River Lodge for 2 nights and then the Dulini Lodge for another 2 nights.
First, when you arrive to the camp you are greeted by first name by Patricia - the nicest woman you'll meet! You are given freshly made lemonade (that tastes like heaven!) and you sign some paperwork and go over the details of your stay. You are then escorted to your room (which is gorgeous by the way) and are told of your afternoon drive - we arrived in time to get the afternoon drive but missed the morning drive.
Every person you meet at the lodge, whether it is your butler (don't worry, they like being called a butler), another person's butler, your ranger, another ranger, anyone on staff - everyone is SO nice. They also know you by first name which is that personal touch that makes you feel like you're visiting old friends (by the end of the trip, you feel like you're leaving a best friend).
The game drives were amazing. Dulini rangers and spotters are the best at what they do. They know basically everything about south african wildlife and were available to answer any questions we had. Our Ranger (Mark) was always a step ahead of the game - putting us in the best positions to see the animals. It was a surreal experience.
The food at the reserve was great - almost too great. I left every meal feeling as if I had just gorged myself. I am lactose intolerant and they made every accommodation to stick to my dietary needs. Again, they went above and beyond every single day.
I can't say enough about the River Lodge. If I could go back and visit everyone and see all the wonderful wildlife again, I would 100% go back to the River Lodge.
NL
under20 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Uganda by Thije Kor
Uganda has several safari destination throughout the country. I haven't experienced much of that aspect of the country, but as far as I have, I can safely state that on some levels it can easily compete with the better parks in Kenya and Tanzania. It may not have such a diverse and big concentration of impressive wildlife as, say Masaai Mara, it also isn't packed with so many tourists and the prices are quite reasonable in comparisation. For birdwatchers Uganda might actually be the best country to visit in the whole of Africa. I am not one myself, but visiting Uganda made me very much aware of the beauty of birds for the first time in my life.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about South Africa by Bob Dewar
For an American, South Africa exceeded all of our expectations. The wine country near Cape Town was very scenic and friendly.
NL
under20 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fantastic wildlife experience in an overly complicated park
Queen Elisabeth National Park is one of the most popular safari destinations in Uganda, but still you can go there and have the feeling you were one of the very few people around. The park offers many activities, from Jeep safaris to bird watching and chimp tracking. I started my day in QE with the latter, but days before actually getting there, I had to go through an overly complicated process of bureaucratic steps, arrangements and phone calls to make my reservations. It was almost as if they just made things as difficult as possible, so that you would just get so frustrated that you'd simply book an all inclusive arrangement at a tourism agency. Which, as a simple budget backpacker, I obviously didn't want.
This continued as I arrived at the chimp tracking site on a motor taxi. As it turned out, my reservation hadn't come through at all. Luckily I was able to take somebody else's place. Then there was the problem of my transport. I didn't have my own car, even though that's usually a requirement for the Chimp tracking safari, since the tour guide has to bring us to a yet to be defined location in the park (and of course the company doesn't have its own transportation). Unfortunately none of the at least six people I spoke to over the phone to try and make a reservation, had the courtesy of telling me this. Again luckily, I was able to drive along with another tourist who did have his own car.
The Chimp tracking safari itself turned out to be amazing. Our tour guide, Stephanie, lead us through a lush piece of rainforest in the beautiful Kyambura gorge, sharing all sorts of information with us about the things we stumbled upon. The site wasn't the ideal place in Uganda to do Chimp tracking (this is most likely Kibale Forest NP), and we were aware of the reasonable possibility of not finding any chimps at all. After a three hour walk uphill, downhill, through bushes and pools of mud in the middle of the jungle, our guide finally spotted several chimps in the distance. Before that, we had already seen a wide range of tropical birds, hippos, baboons, crocodiles, velvet monkeys and an elephant. Even without the chimps it would've been worth the $50. Our guide was an absolute genius and the scenery was beyond beautiful
Almost every other activity happens all the way on the other side of the park, which is about an hour and a half away by car from the chimp tracking site. In the meantime you drive through scenic pieces of savanna, where elephants play games with each other, gazelles graze freely and baboons block the road just to take the piss out of you. Passing the main gate, you arrive at the Mweya peninsula, where you can find a tourist information office, a gas station, a cute restaurant/bar and a wide range of hotels and hostels. I can't judge any of these accommodations as I haven't spent a night in any of them, but the general opinion seems to be that they are remarkably good and well priced for national park standards. The scenery around here is once again brilliant, as you're surrounded by beautiful nature on one side and the stunning lake Edward and the Kazinga channel on the other side.
At the end of the afternoon I went downhill to the shores of the channel, to do the Channel launch trip. This is being done in a standard type touring boat in groups of about 20 people. This was an absolutely amazing experience not many other moments during my time in Uganda can compete with. From the upper deck of the boat I was able to see loads of elephants, hippos, African buffalos, crocodiles, gazelles and monitor lizards on the shore of the channel, living in peace with each other and not caring the slightest bit about us tourists coming so close. Our tour guide was a slightly nervous, but funny man, who enthusiastically provided us with tons of information about literally everything that moved around us. Lastly, seeing the sun setting above the horizon over Lake Edward was a very nice bonus.
Going back wasn't as much a pain in the ass getting there, but only because the staff of the fancy Mweya Safari Lodge were so kind to help me getting a taxi and use their phone to call him, even though I wasn't even a guest of theirs. The taxi brought me to the village of Katunguru, near the main entrance next to the freeway, seperating one side of Queen Elisabeth from the other. From there I was able to take public transport back to civilization.
All in all, Queen Elisabeth National Park provides some of the best tourist attractions in the whole country, for better prices than your average safari in Kenya or Tanzania. It's a major hassle to get there, and dealing with all the complications and the bureaucracy isn't easy if you're on a tight budget, but there's no doubt it's very much worth it.
Great stay, great guides, tremendous wildlife.
Had a wonderful visit. Lodging in a cabin of my own, outdoor shower was very cool.
Good food. Saw 4 of the big five.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Madikwe was a life time expeience, beyound what we had hoped for or expected.
Our stay at Makanyane Safari Lodge was beyond our expectations. The wildlife and scenery of Madikwe left all of us with lifetime memories. The guides were very professional and yet were very real people. We liked the idea of no public driving to disturb the wildlife. Getting within 15 meters of three male lions and hearing their roars left us breathless. We can't wait to return!
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about South Africa by Deb K M
Our guide was kind and well informed, pointing out all the hidden treasures of Zulu Nyala.