35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
The most exhilarating, wildlife and cultural experience that will stay with me forever.
I was met at the airport and after a bit of a search trying to read the name sign I found my guide/driver.
He was excellent throughout with his animal knowledge, conversation and hospitality. The driving was as comfy as the roads allowed and allowed perfect views from the front and once the roof was removed from the rear.
Via Via guest house was a perfect location from/to the airport and has a great eco policy. Buhoma lodge, Enjojo lodge and QE bushlosge safari tent were great. Food and beds were all ideal.
There was amazing scenery although due to mist/overcast conditions I wasn't able to fully appreciate them. I loved passing through villages and the Bwindi community walk was brilliant- a must! This was an additional extra and because the gorilla trekking finished early I had time for this. The local guides were superb answering all my many questions. Walking through the countryside; visiting the tea and banana plantations; healer man experience; meeting children as well as seeing the old village tribal traditions was fascinating. Visiting the woman's cooperative group at the end was delightful- so good to see happy women who have had a tough life. What a great day!
The safari drives were very rewarding- lions, tree climbing lions, elephant and hippo; yellow baboon, Vervet as well as black and white Colobus monkeys; common and Defassa waterbuck, bushbuck & Kob; buffalo, warthog, Nile monitor and crocodile; lots of birds including hammerkop, cattle, little and great egret, black backed, squacco and grey heron, fish eagle, helmeted guinea fowl, pied and woodland kingfisher, sacred and hadaba ibis, yellow billed, marubu and saddle billed stork, Egyptian geese, spoonbill, great white pelican, black backed and grey headed gulls, spur winged and crowned plovers/lapwing, hoopoe, long tailed starling, lilac breasted roller, black winged stilt, cormorant, tern and black kite.
And finally saving the best until last was the gorilla trekking in Bwindi forest. The permits are not cheap but I got my moneys worth plus a lot more. The 'Ride for a woman' greeting dance started the whole event off brilliantly. Our briefing was professional and demonstrated how they seriously they took their role and respinsibilities towards the gorillas and their habitat. As I was in a group of older people we tracked and found the closest Rushegura gorilla group within an hour. 1 hour of observation was plenty to observe behaviours and interaction amongst the group. Seeing the juveniles playing; baby feeding from its mother before exploring around the silverback; grooming; tree climbing and eating figs; movements through the forest; and the silverback walking 5-8 metres away from me were wonderful. I felt quite emotional when the baby took hold of my trouser leg, thinking I was one of the group, as it passed by me! Such a great 1 hour of my life.
The only one thing I didn't do that I should have added to my itinerary was a chimpanzee safari but we can't be greedy.
I would recommend Buffalo Safari Camps travel company to anyone visiting Uganda and hope to return one day. Thanks!
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A wonderful trip backed up by meticulous planning and engaging staff.
My Wife and I have been on a number of planned trips similar to the one provided by Compass Odyssey but none have provided the detailed planning, advice, support and attention to detail that Kate & Darren provided for us on our visit to the Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe) and Chobe NP (Botswana). We were treated to some excellent accommodation, bountiful refreshments / meals and well trained staff who were totally focussed on providing a caring and attentive service.
The trip produced for us, two significant highlights (1) to see and experience the Victoria Falls in all their glory from both the Zimbabwean and Zambian sides, accompanied by a knowledgeable and interesting guide and (2) three days of safaris providing us with close up views of all manner of wildlife, birds and insight into the ecosystem in which they all live.
Certainly a trip that will live long in the memory - along with the hundreds of photos taken.
CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Time of my life!!
I highly recommend Seven Wonders Safaris. Amazing organiszation with great guides. Everything was perfect and went as planned. Time of my life so far. Thanks again Seven Wonders.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great experience!
We have just returned from the three Rift Valley Lakes Safari [
Lakes Naivasha, Nakuru and Bogoria ] plus wildlife tracking in Masai
Mara. We want to thank you for a fantastic and well-organised holiday.
In particular, we would like to give our thanks to Robinson who was an
excellent driver and guide. We saw an amazing number of animals and he
was very informative about them, the plants, birds and the areas which
we traveled through. We would certainly recommend Grey Impala Safaris to
our family and friends....
JP
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
African savanna!
I was very grateful to have you pick me up at Dar es Salaam Airport even at around 3:00 in the early morning. They also helped me purchase SiM cards, which have nothing to do with the tour. The tour itself is about 7 hours from the airport, with a one-way break to Mikumi National Park. The road was paved and it was a Japanese car, so the ride was not as bad as I thought, but it was still hard for 7 hours. They always drop in for a rest break (we chose a beautiful place if you could, and asked for a beautiful place). The driver was fluent in English and very kind. In the national park, transfer to a jeep and go to safari for about 4 hours on the first day. The animals you see seem to change each time, but you can also see rare (?) Lioness. Accommodation is not possible or impossible, but it was necessary to be careful that a big monkey came to open the door to the entrance.
On the morning of the second day, we had a safari tour, but we couldn't see any animals in terms of time. The jeep driver changed in two days and seemed to be a person who explained a lot and a person who took time to take a picture. It was a wonderful tour to experience the Tanzania savanna in a relatively short time.
(automatic translation from Japanese)
CH
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Incredibe
Very good organization, top team and guide. We return with magical memories.
CY
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Best service and professionalism , I had a splendid trip .
The services is up to expectations and me and My family had the times of our lives , best holiday I have had in years .
CY
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Lion King Adventures designed a trip that matched exactly what we were looking for
Lion King adventures made the best they could do for us to have the most wonderful time of all . We visited Tanzania and Zanzibar for our honeymoon and it was an once of a lifetime adventure . They arranged everything for us including the hotels which were extremely nice and the safari itself. Our safari guide was very kind and he could answer anything we asked for. He knew exactly were to take us and what to show us . We saw all big five and that thanks to Good Luck! Yes our guide’s name was Good Luck :) We couldn't ask for a better guide :) Pendo the manager of the agency was very kind too, and reachable anytime . I could contact her anytime and she was pleased to reply to anything . Thank you Lion King adventures for making our honeymoon unforgettable
PT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fair value
We did a "5 Days Masai Mara Lenchada Camp-Lake Naivasha Sopa lodge-Amboseli Kibo Luxury camp" tour. As other reviews mentioned, Lenchada Camp (on Masai Mara) was (to be generous) basic. Sopa Lodge on Naivasha was great and Kibo camp was a clear (for the better) contrast to Lenchada. Lodging wise, it was good to see different realities / offers, on what could be completely different budgets.
Overall was an excellent experience, for a (very) fair price. Can also say that our driver (John) drove us very safely, managed to find all the animals and managed to satisfy our special (unscheduled) requests. Unlike some other comments, our van was clearly 4x4, and can't find fault on the offroad driving.
Communication was good, never had to wait too much for an answer from Lennox. Pesapal (for payment of the deposit) looks like a cheap copy of paypal but seems legit.
They do mix & match people on the tours, so we had a van with 7 people on the Masai Mara part (I believe from different companies), but was only our group on the remainder of the trip.
We also did a tour on Nairobi, with Daniel. He even offered a few extra stops, but due to jet lag we opted to go straight to the hotel.
CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A great safari that exceeded all our expectations.
I have been on safari together with my partner for 5 days. All of us are extremely satisfied with MangiEmpire Adventures but especially with our amazing safari guide! He was very friendly, attentive and well organized. Because of his great knowledge we were able to ask him lots of questions about the locals, the country, the landscape, plants and of course about all the beautiful animals we have seen. I have got to know a lot of interesting things i did not know before. The lodges and campus weer also very nice. They were all different from each other and the stay in every one of them was a great experience of its own. We saw everything you could ask for and especially loved the breath taking wildlife in the Serengeti. We also were extremely lucky to see two MARA rivers crossings with hundreds and hundreds of Wild beasts Thanks to the great personality and funny humor of our guide, we were laughing a lot and had an unforgettable time in Tanzania. In conclusion I can say our safari tour was an amazing experience and definitely worth doing it. Thank you guys at MangiEmpire Adventures! We miss you.