DE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
I don't think it is possible to get a better Africa experience than by this Uganda holiday
If you like watching animals, I can highly recommend this tour through the various national parks of Uganda. There was always a change from safaris to boat tours and jungle walks ... absolutely amazing! It was very well organized. We even got the chance of additional things to do, in fact a swamp walk and shoe bill watching. The tour guide was very friendly and pleasant. We could absolutely rely on him in every situation, f.e. when roads were an adventure itself. The lodges were very pleasant. In my personal view they were even more luxury than I really needed. Of course it was not a cheap travel, but I never had a feeling that it wasn't worth the money. I really consider to come back once just to see more of this beautiful country.
DE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
amazing holiday in an amazing country - thanks to Hail Tours
We just returned from our 15 day trip to Uganda with Hail Tours. Friends had recommended Doreen and I must say it was a perfect match.
Doreen did everything possible to cater for our individual requests and the result was an individual tour, that was extraordinary. After South Africa and Namibia (both were self-driven), this was our third safari and I must say it was by far the most authentic one. Uganda does have the necessary infrastructure for a nice and comfortable holiday (if you don't count the roads :-)), but is fortunately still lacking the downsides of mass tourism. The lodges were all very nice an comfortable and offered tasty and good food. Usually my stomach is pretty shaky, when I go to foreign contries, so I was a bit worried at first, but it turned out, that that was no problem at all. The local food, which we tried on several occasions, is cooked so long , that its not only tender, its also ready for "western stomachs". And every coupkle of meters you'll find stands with fresh fruit ranging from mangos to pineapples, bananas, ...
An absolute highlight for us was the Gorilla Trekking in Bwindi. Getting face-to-face with those primates without a fence, glas or anything else in between is an astonishing adventure. It's not cheap, but parts of the money go to the local communities thus saving the surroundings of the gorillas. The result is, that the overall population has increased again over the last 10 years.
Our driver and guide Gerald was also amazing. He seemed to know half of Uganda and whenever we arrived at a national park, he was immidiately in contact with the locals and knew right away which spots to go to and which not. And whenever we wanted a sudden change in the plan, he accomodated for that.
Bottom-line: For anyone planning a trip to Uganda, I can only recommend Hail Tours and Doreen without hesitation. While it is a small company, it offers an excellent and very personal service and what I also find very impoertant: The money you spend, stays in the country and thus helps the development of the country and the locals (we've seen first-hand, that that is the case with Doreen).
NL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
So friendly, helpfull and the best company during the kilimanjaro climb
Everything was amazing!! Climbing the kili with kilinge adventures was definitely the best choice ever. Most amazing and special days of my life. Everything was arranged perfectly and the company was the best. Everybody was so friendly and helpfull. Could not have done the climb without them. It would say 10/10
KW
20-35 years of age
Horrible Hosting Experience
If there was a negative one rating, that is what I would give. All of the accommodations except for Reef and Beach were filthy and smelled terrible. The lunches were packed around 7am every morning and left to sit in the sun on the passenger seat until lunch time. We stayed in Arusha for 3 nights. On the first night, the water kept cutting off . On the second, large ants spread all over the bathroom floor and on the third, there was no hot water in the tent. The agreed -upon payment method was changed last minute. We were initially told that we can pay upon arrival however, about 2 weeks before our departure we were told to pay nearly half the amount.
Each time we had a domestic flight we had to practically beg for the tickets to be sent. Even though when the payment method was changed the excuse was that they needed to book our flights in advance.
On our flight from Arusha to Zanzibar, they sent us one ticket and sent our guide another(different Airline). We were extremely confused. Poor poor management. There is no emergency contact number or personal. We arrived at about 5:30am . It was dark in Zanzibar and our pick up was a bit late . He arrived without a sign , a uniform or anything that indicated that he was from Paradise and Wilderness( not even a sticker on his bus). We quite reluctantly got into the bus and were taken to a hotel in Stone Town. We were told we would have to wait until check in time i.e.2pm. which was completely ridiculous because management had our flight details and knew we would be arriving earlier. I tried contacting them via WhatsApp. When they responded, all they had to say was "Kindly be informed that normally check in is 2pm, if you request early check in is subject to availability and we charge 15 USD per room" (copied from WhatsApp) . We were willing to pay that amount but there weren't any available rooms. We ended up having to wait for an extra 6 hours to get our room (which smelled like bowel). They later apologized and offered a complimentary massage but this was not nearly enough. By the time our Safari was over , we were fed up and we decided to leave early. Our original booking accounted for 3 nights in Reef and Beach but we only stayed for 1(we were not refunded). We arrived at Reef and Beach around 8pm and left at 7:30am which brought our trip to an end. HORRIBLE HOSTING EXPERIENCE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Once in a lifetime- must do!!!
Highly recommend!! Had an amazing time. Our tour guide was Ezekiel- he was very knowledgeable, on time, reliable and a great person. Glad we chose this company to experience a once in a lifetime adventure!
ES
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Inolvidable
Espectacular safari. The staff is very profesional and kind in all moments over my espectatives.Very good qualty/price
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Uganda full of miracles!
Pearl Afric is the best Company to experience Uganda in details, wonders and a lot of knowledge. We really loved the whole tour with especially also because of our tour guide Prim. He did a fantastic job and I would like to thank him so much. He was really friendly, lovely and had a lot of knowledge. It was really worth it.
OM
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Incredible - Lost in Africa now feel like family.
Lost in Africa are incredible! Hans and the team are professional, reliable and readily available for any silly questions you might think of. We made all our enquiries and our final booking entirely via WhatsApp which was easy and efficient…the best holiday booking experience we’ve ever had and very reasonably priced.
Patrick, our guide, is like a super human! With a background in animal research and extensive work with African tribes, there is not much he doesn’t know. Patrick is the perfect Safari guide…so considerate of the animals and the parks, full of facts and information and just an all round wonderful person.
We did the 4 day safari and saw so much. The accommodation throughout was amazing, check in/out was easy and we were well looked after everywhere we stayed. Hans really did a great job of hand picking wonderful places for us to stay. The Lost in Africa “hostel” in Arusha was one of our favourite places, it’s a real home from home and a great way to start and end your Safari.
After our Safari ended, we moved on to Zanzibar…again, all arranged by Hans (is there nothing this man can’t do?!).
We fell in love with Africa and Lost in Africa. We hope to be back soon for the next adventure…climbing Kili, rather than drinking it!
Asante Sana to all at Lost in Africa xxx
CZ
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An amazing tour operator, which will certainly take you beyond your expectations!
I can easily say now that we were pretty lucky, we have chosen Best Memory Safaris for our 16 days safari tour! it was a once in a lifetime vacation with such great experience and a fantastic adventure! We travelled along with my parents and they were simply blown away and their dreams came true. Although I must confess that I was a bit nervous at the very beginning as this was my first travel and dealing with tour operator from totally different country remotely, which has an address on P. O. Box, hence everything points to a scam... However, it cannot be far away from the truth!! Since the very beginning, communication with an owner Isaac was such a pleasure, he is soo nice, helpful, understanding, flexible, open for individual wishes and greeted us personally at Nairobi airport. We met our amazing and experienced guide afterwards - Shem. We were picked up at the airport and the journey begun. His feeling to find a perfect spots is admirable and thanks to his sense, we were able to sport BIG 5 and many many more. Elephant clans, cheetahs and leopards from few meters in Masai Mara were stunning!! Shem knows everything about animals and he was willing to answer every single question we had about animals, landscape, people in Kenya, etc. (we had a lot of questions indeed :)) We spent 13 days and I have nothing to say, but praises. We were dropped at coast for last 3 days, from where we were picked up at our very last day and transferred into Mombasa airport. All lodges and hotels were amazing just like the whole tour. Like an oasis in the middle of nowhere with sooo friendly and nice staff, food was amazing. In short, I'm really not able to say anything negative, even minor stuff... everything ideal and I can only recommend this company and Shem as a tour guide! Although, we were told by Shem that all guides working in Best Memory Safaris are just like amazing. Isaac has only real deal guides :). It was our first time, but definitely not a last time! Once again many thanks to Isaac and Shem for such an amazing lifetime experience and folks - what are you waiting for? Book your trip!!
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Stephen was wonderful. He ensured our needs were taken care of quickly.
My team of 19 had a wonderful time. We saw every animal in the reserve. Bushman Tour Group was very professional and tended to our needs. I hope to join them again in the future.
