35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Had a very superb experience with this company from the first day thanks for making it happen.
Very straightforward and highly dependable I liked the transparency from the first day and the professionals in this company are awesome thank you for making our stay enjoyable looking forward to booking our next holiday with you guys.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great custom trip to Rwanda and Uganda
Edris arranged a great 8 day Rwanda/Uganda itinerary for us. The accommodations (mid-range) were all very nice, and our driver/guide Fred was excellent. Fred really put in extra effort to notice what we were interested in - he asked the lodges to specially prepare local dishes for us, made extra stops such as helping us get a custom jacket sewn, pointed out animals long before we noticed them, and knew every bird. Our expectations for this section of the trip were exceeded!
However, we also continued on to 5 days in Tanzania booked through African Pearl but executed by another company. The Tanzania portion of our trip was not as well planned and the guides were not so good. Though Edris stayed in touch with us and tried to improve our experience, the company there in Tanzania was just not committed to providing the kind of 5-star experience that we had in Uganda. I would certainly recommend African Pearl for their home territory in Uganda/Rwanda.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Poor guides, poor itinerary, mechanical problems
My husband and I did a 2 week/3 country East Africa tour, and Essenia was responsible for 5 days in Tanzania. This portion of our trip really did not meet our expectations in any category: itinerary, lodges, customer service and especially driver/guides. We had a lot of trouble communicating with our first guide. English comprehension problems meant we could not easily ask questions about the schedule, animals, or general cultural questions. During game drives we had a lot of trouble requesting him to stop in time to see animals, he did not know the birds or trees, and even misidentified a monkey as a species which doesn't live in Tanzania! After an upsetting first day of game drives, we asked to change guides. Essenia did not seem to take the problems very seriously, and we had to really push them to find someone else.
The next day, our safari truck was leaking gas and we stopped at a garage to have it looked at. 40 minutes down the road the dashboard suddenly started smoking heavily. Just as we bailed out of the car, a call came that they had found a new driver and he was waiting for us with a different car an hour down the road - lucky timing, I am not sure what would have happened if we hadn't already requested a new guide! After a comedy of errors where we waited an hour for the new driver to pick us up while he waited for us to come to him, we flagged down a passing car from another company and hitchhiked to the new driver. Between morning delays to call customer service, mechanical issues and bad coordination we basically lost this entire day of our trip - quite frustrating.
The new guide was better than the first one. I can say he was competent, but no where near the quality of driver/guides we had on other legs of the trip. For example: he kept telling us stories about customers who tried to make requests which he thought were a bad idea ("tried to do his job of guiding") and to show them that they were wrong, he would let them have a really bad experience (ie drive slowly and hit all the bumps on a road) until they apologized and begged him to do it his way after all. We tried to be careful not to upset him so that we didn't have an experience like that.
We also had problems with the overall itinerary/planning, especially scheduling transit time in the morning when animals are more active and game drives in the mid afternoon heat when animals are there but not doing much. It turns out all 4 lodges were actually owned by the same hotel chain. Though they were nice properties, we would have preferred to experience more variety and local flavor - and not the same buffet for every breakfast/lunch box/dinner! These two issues I should have paid closer attention to before booking, when I could have asked for changes. Essenia never followed up with us directly during or after the trip. We did see lots of animals, there are plenty in Tanzania so we didn't feel this was due to any special skills of our guide. In summary: Essenia really let us down and I would strictly avoid doing business with them.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Patrick is a wonder guide - one of life's gentlemen
I have to admit we've been unable to travel to Kenya for some years now but Patrick was our guide on each of our three visits. He's a wonderful guide, careful driver and a good companion - as I said, one of life's gentlemen.
I would unhesitatingly recommend any tour company with which he is associated. Miss you, Patrick!
US
Spectacular sunrises over Rwenzori Mountains
I identified Kisoro tours and Dan through TripAdvisor and contacted him via email. I told him what I wanted to do and we set up a 4 day tour that fit into my limited schedule. Dan picked me up at my hotel in Kampala and we headed out for a 4 day road trip to Queen Elizabeth Park. The journey through the cities, villages and country side was fascinating and colorful. The weather was lovely and I enjoyed seeing Ankole cattle along the way and a lot of dairy cattle and goats grazing along the road. The sunrises over the Rwenzori mountains were so amazing. I took some of the most dramatic photographs of the candelabra trees outlined by the rising sun. Dan was a skilled drive and a well informed tour guide. I would use Kisoro tours again when I next return to Uganda.
GR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The Experience of Life
The 7-day safari tour that I had with BigTime Safaris LTD was by far the greatest experience of my life. I visited 3 days Maasai Mara, 1 day Lake Naivasha and Equator Line, 1 day Lake Nakuru and 2 days Amboseli. In all those places I had quite amazing adventures and captured those unforgettable moments with my photographic gears easily, because our driver and guide tried his best in order to approach at the closest the animals. I recommend everyone to arrange a safari tour with BigTime Safaris LTD, not only because it gives great service but also it is very much budget friendly.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
A Once in a Lifetime Trip - so get the right Travel Company
Gorilla trekking is one of the most exhilarating travel adventures you can experience. I am so glad i put my trip in the hands of Lets Go Travel. No slip ups, complete attention to detail, friendly and competent staff, great selection of hotel and transport. A perfect holiday and life experience.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Holiday of a life time
Holiday of a life time!
2 things that made this holiday great:
The actual experience itself, so the places we visited, the hotels we stayed in, the people we met and the things we saw.
The second and what I would say the most important is the service received from Ubon safari. From before we booked, where they took the time to really understand us as people & what we liked so they could tailor make the experience for us.
Their knowledge was outstanding, they knew all the hotels, locations, tours, safari’s, people, extra’s and was able to again recommend exactly what to do, where to go, who to see, where to stay based on us as individuals, what would suit us, and they married the two up perfectly.
The holiday they put together for us, the hotel choices, the different experiences and the packages was amazing, you didn’t worry about anything, everything down to the finest detail was thought of and catered for. They had the best of everything and access to the best hotels, people, guides, experiences…..everything!
Ubon really cared about us, they followed our trip and made sure we were safe, comfortable and happy throughout the whole holiday and we were treated like kings and queens from the moment we contacted them to after we got back!
I have been around the world and I can honestly say this was the most “out of this world” trip I have ever experienced.
We had so many highlights, each day was truly amazing. Our biggest highlights were:
- The animals…wow! We had the best guide, he knew the park so well, so knowledgeable, he really cared about us having the best time and enabled to get very close to the animals and see things I could never have dreamed of seeing.
- The balloon ride over the Serengeti – unforgettable! What an experience, took your breath away.
- Bush Dinner – Incredible, being so close to nature in one of the most beautiful places in the world.
- Staying in the clouds at the crater….a little fresh, but breath-taking.
- And then pure luxury on the island of Zanzibar, in a stunning villa surrounded with panoramic views.
My only concern is how we are ever going to match this!
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent trip and terrific memories - John (our guide) was great!
I travel the world for business...and through those travels, I heard over and over how the Serengeti was a must trip and simply magical. I spent the better part of two years thinking of and ultimately planning this trip. I primarily selected Bright African Safaris because of their terrific reviews on Tripadvisor. However, I also wanted to work directly with a company that was local and not have our money go to/through an agency...where it wouldnt ultimately go to the local economy. With BAS's help, we came up with a two week, customized trip.
Our guide, John Munhambo was simply superb!! First off, he was Safe! That was extremely important to me...since my entire family was in his hand. Second, he was exceptionally respectful...of the rules of the park(s), the animals, and other guides/tours. He made sure he got us into position to get a good photo but not at the expense of other visitors. I can tell you, other guides/companies were not the same! Lastly, he completely engaged with me and my family for the two week trip. He started off our guide and honestly, ended a friend!
The locations we/BAS selected were terrific. We had lions visit our camp at night on three of the nights. While a bit unnerving at the time, it was also pretty cool (after the fact!).
BAS was great at all phases of the trip. Preparation, quoting, organizing, executing, etc. I would highly recommend them to anyone considering visiting the Serengeti. While the arent the biggest in the region, they cant be beat.
ES
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing!
It was in Christmas Eve when we started to think about the new year’s resolution. What to do? What to improve? What to avoid? When suddenly Jordi came with a very good idea…
What about living one of the best experiences of our life? I was curious… what .. what? What is your next year’s resolution.
Then he told me. We are going to see Gorillas and Chimpanzees in Uganda. We must start looking for the best Safari Company in Uganda to help us to prepare our Safari there and to give us the opportunity to be with our very close ancestors.
I started then looking for references in Google trying to see which the best safari company in Uganda was. I suddenly came across Prime Safaris & Tours. From the very beginning I felt the best company to travel with.
During the preparation of the trip, we received the worse possible announcement: all permits for Gorillas are already booked, so it is not possible to have permits for your selected day. We were really sad, then I said to the responsible of Prime Safaris; Cate, Gorillas are the highlight of our trip, we can not go to Uganda and don’t track Gorillas. Cate started working and working, trying different combinations, different countries until she got our permits. It was fantastic.
Yes, if you are thinking in doing a Safari in Uganda, don’t hesitate and contact them.
1. Because they are very kind people, they give you all the support you need during the preparation of your trip.
2. Because they have the best guides. Ours, Joseph, was an excellent guide, a better driver and the best person.
3. Because they care about their country, they support orphans and schools with their earnings.
For these 3 reasons, if you want to have an unforgettable experience in Uganda, let Prime Safaris to lead it.