Anonymous
GB
Visited:
June 2012
Reviewed: Oct 29, 2012
Email Anonymous
| 20-35 years of age
| Experience level: over 5 safaris
Gorilla trekking Tour
5 / 5
5
/5
5 / 5
3 / 5
4 / 5
4 / 5
I had wanted to hire a car and drive through Uganda, but after spending over a month trying to secure gorilla tracking permits to no avail, I was told that often the Ugandan Wildlife Authority are uncooperative with individual groups of tourists as they are paid of my tour companies, whether this is true I’m not sure but I tried contacting them by both email and phone for over a month and received no correct info and was just led around in circles with false email addresses etc...
If you are situated in Uganda it’s a different ball game and it seems it’s a simple process to obtain the permits from the UWA office in Kampala. Seeing as I didn’t want to risk arriving and there being no permits left I decided to give up and book through a tour agency. In the end I’m so glad we did, we booked the permits and a driver to take us from Kampala to Queen Elizabeth National Park for a safari, on to Lake Bunyonyi for a night, down to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest to track gorillas and
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finally across the Rwandan border to Kigali.
All the booking and communication was done through Jackie from Katona, who was extremely helpful and answered all of my questions, gave great advice and put together multiple itineraries based on each new request, for us to look through.
When we arrived in Kampala we found the office easily and paid the balance and made some final arrangements which all went smoothly. (It’s worth noting that USD notes printed before the year 2000 and which are smaller denominations than $50 are not accepted anywhere in Uganda).
We met our driver the next morning and he was quiet but helpful throughout the trip. Overall the value for money was amazing and we got to see so much more and got a lot more packed into the time we had there. You are read about our experience in Queen Elizabeth National Park and our experience tracking gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest here, we never would have seen so much wildlife both on the safari and on the drive without our driver’s sharp eyes. We also had baggage missing from our flight when we landed and the company arranged for it to be driven down and meet us the day after the tour started, they took away all the worry and did this all completely free of charge
The Far HorizonsVisited:
April 2012
Reviewed: Jun 4, 2012
4 / 5
4
/5
4 / 5
4 / 5
5 / 5
5 / 5
Uganda is an unspoiled destination, because it has never suffered the mass tourism of Kenya and Tanzania. The people are friendly and welcoming by nature, and there is plenty of opportunity to get out of the vehicle and explore on foot and to interact with the locals.
Game densities in some places are very good, but here, you have to work a little harder to spot your game than in other, more popular destinations. Also, top end accommodation can be hard to find in certain areas. However, Uganda has a beguiling charm, and will get under your skin. At the end of a multi-country African safari, Uganda will linger as one of your fondest memories, sometimes for reasons you can't quite put your finger on.
Brian
CA
Visited:
September 2010
Reviewed: Sep 20, 2011
20-35 years of age
The review below is the personal opinion of Brian and not that of SafariBookings.
Wildlife disappointing compared to Serengeti area
3 / 5
3
/5
3 / 5
4 / 5
4 / 5
/ 5
Having done a safari in the Serengeti immediately before Uganda it was always going to be difficult to live up to expectations. The quantity and variety of wildlife was poor in comparison. The people in my group who were starting with Uganda were quite thrilled with what they saw so I may be being overly harsh. Our guide explained that much of the wildlife was decimated during the Idi Amin era and is still recovering so perhaps in the future it will improve. The campsites we used varied quite widely from fairly developed areas in Jinja/Kampala to merely a flat area near the river at Lake Mburo. The gorillas and Bwindi forest in general were amazing and did make the trip to Uganda worthwhile in my opinion.
nickvp
GB
Visited:
July 2010
Reviewed: Jul 18, 2011
Uganda is not an obvious Safari destination. It's variety in scenery, people and wildlife makes it an truely recommended and unique travel, especially for someone who has already seen the big game Safari in Kenya or Tanzania. In Uganda you can see tree hanging lions in the morning and Mountain Gorillas in the afternoon, there is no other country in the world that has that. We went with drifters, a tour operator that uses very comfortable trucks (instead of jeeps) for groups up till 16 people. In my opinion, the trip was such a great experience because we camped almost every night and we had the most fantastic guide Anthony Washford to drive the truck, cook the food and plan all the excursions such as the astonishing Gorillas at Bwindi.
RedCany0nVisited:
September 2013
Reviewed: May 14, 2015
The review below is the personal opinion of RedCany0n and not that of SafariBookings.
3 / 5
3
/5
5 / 5
/ 5
4 / 5
4 / 5
Uganda lacks the infrastructure (and mentality) for ecotourism that would make this destination more desirable. The cost of accommodations around the country was extremely high and the quality of the food and lodging, for the most part was relatively low to mediocre.
Val
AU
Visited:
August 2024
Reviewed: Oct 12, 2024
Email Val
| 65+ years of age
| Experience level: first safari
A new adventure every day
5 / 5
5
/5
5 / 5
4 / 5
4 / 5
4 / 5
We toured Uganda for 17 days mid range accommodation. We took many game drives, launch trip on Kazinga Channel, gorillas and Chimpanzee trekking, plus visted Lake Bunyonyi and local villages. We had the most amazing holiday with many animal sightings. Accommodation was very good and food excellent.
We felt very safe whilst in Uganda.
Uganda represents great value when compared to other African Countries
Our main TIP for other travellers is not to leave any money in your room or unattended. Even if it is locked in a bag, unfortunately we had some money stolen from a locked bag which was opened and relocked so it was not evident we had money stolen.
Catherine McDonald
US
Visited:
August 2024
Reviewed: Sep 16, 2024
The review below is the personal opinion of Catherine McDonald and not that of SafariBookings.
Uganda has terrible road structure, but wonderful wildlife and people.
3 / 5
3
/5
5 / 5
4 / 5
5 / 5
3 / 5
Uganda is a beautiful country with wonderful people and amazing wildlife. What I did not enjoy was our car ride from the airport in Entebbe to Bwindi National Forest. It took 10 hours because their roads are in terrible shape, two-lane highways through small towns all the way. The distance we traveled would take 4 hours on roads from the US. But because they don’t have the infrastructure we do, it took 10 hours.
Natalie
HK
Visited:
July 2024
Reviewed: Aug 6, 2024
Email Natalie
| 35-50 years of age
| Experience level: over 5 safaris
Uganda is worth visiting
5 / 5
5
/5
5 / 5
5 / 5
5 / 5
4 / 5
My friends and I spent 12 days in Uganda in July. This was our first time to travel to the country. It is worth visiting. The people are polite and friendly. The sceneries are beautiful. There are also full of wild lives. The most unforgettable experience for me was the chimpanzees trekking and the gorilla trekking. Although it consumed rather lot of my energy, the sweat and the effort was paid off when I saw these beautiful creatures. I am also happy to see how Uganda people protect the wide lives and how they help the local community via tourist industry.
The lodges I stayed are also wonderful. Most of them are with very helpful and friendly staff. I enjoyed very much the stay in Uganda. I must not forget to mention Tubale Safaris, the travel agency. Their service is very professional and the staff are very responsible. My friends and I were taken good care of during our stay in Uganda. Our needs were addressed in a very responsible and timely manner. Ayub Munowa was our
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driver guide. He is amazing. He is very caring, responsible and professional. He was very sensitive to our needs and prepared us well for all the activities. He is very well-organized and plans everything well. We are so blessed to have him with us and thank him for showing us around as well as telling us a lot about the wide lives in Uganda.
Eduardo Miranda
GB
Visited:
May 2024
Reviewed: Jun 6, 2024
The review below is the personal opinion of Eduardo Miranda and not that of SafariBookings.
Good but not amazing
3 / 5
3
/5
5 / 5
3 / 5
3 / 5
1 / 5
We went to Bwindi in May ans the experience was good , seeing these animals is a unique experience.
I think we were not lucky enough to see a big silver back as the one we saw was small. I think the price is pretty high for what you get to be honest
Our guide was not as attentive as I expected and we had a elderly person in out group who hired a a porter who was not that helpful
Nice experience in general
Urs
CH
Visited:
January 2019
Reviewed: May 3, 2019
Email Urs
| 50-65 years of age
| Experience level: over 5 safaris
The review below is the personal opinion of Urs and not that of SafariBookings.
Great country to see wildlife
3 / 5
3
/5
4 / 5
4 / 5
4 / 5
0 / 5
Murchison Falls National Park, Impenetrable Forest and the Vitunga Mountains offer great opportunities to see wildlife. People are very friendly and travelling is quite easy. Outside the national parks there is, however, not too much to see or do from a tourist perspective.