The PearlAfric Team
Pearl Afric Tours & Travel
- Office In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2003)
- Member Of:
- AUTO, Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) & Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA)
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $30 to $600 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
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Email Evette Z | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Superb customer service and satisfaction!
Our trip was majestic! Starting from the airport when we were met by our fantastic guide Hannington, each day was a new adventure and exceeded our expectations. He made us feel valued and safe on the roads, in the villages, at the lodges and especially on the safaris! We trekked with chimpanzees and golden monkeys and GORILLAS!! Our lives will be forever changed by the habituation tour/trek with the gorillas in Uganda. We are blessed beyond measure and thank The Lord for showing us His Majesty!
BE
Email Jasmina | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent
It was the first time that I visited Uganda and after this trip I understand why they name this country as ‘a pearl’. It has everything: rainforests and swamps, but also savannahs with a very specific fauna & flora. It was the first time I saw a savannah with palm trees! A richness of nature that hides a huge amount of different animals. Toni (Hannington) guided us from day 1 through this richness. He picked us up in the main city of Kampala (we visited Kampala for one day) and with a lot of patience and experience he drove us out of Kampala. The people who already visited Kampala know that leaving Kampala by car is a real challenge! You can see Kampala as ‘a human jungle’: many people, many cars, many boda boda’s – making a lot of noise, all moving together. You need to have eyes on your back to move in this jungle without causing accidents! But Toni knew the rules and guided us through this jungle without any problems. The first day, we drove 7 hours to Kibale national park. We had a lot of time to ask many questions to Toni about the life in Uganda. The advantage of travelling with a guide like Toni is not only that he brings you to the most beautiful places but also that you can learn a lot about the history, nature and habits of the country. The road from Kampala to Kibale is long but not boring. The landscape you see is diverse and you drive through a lot of colorful smaller and larger villages. We stayed 2 nights in a fantastic place: Isunga Lodge. The lodge has a magnificent view on the rain forest, fantastic! In Kibale we first did the Chimpanzees tracking. A must when you are in Uganda! The opportunity to meet Chimps in their natural environment is a wonderful experience that you can’t miss! It is quite expensive but the money you pay for it goes the nature conservation program. Besides the chimpanzee tracking we also visited Bigodi: a local community project that consists of visiting the swamps and the village. Walking through the swamps with a local guide (her name was Stella) is amazing. The fauna and flora and all the different birds and monkeys… you can’t get enough of it. The tour in the villages learns you a lot about the daily life of the people in the villages. You experience how they make coffee, banana beer, how they weave and colour baskets, and you get the chance to meet the local medicine man.
After Kibale Toni drove us to Murchison Falls. Another drive of 7 hours, and again it was not boring! A variety of landscapes and villages: from the rain forest to the savannah. And again Toni learned us many things about the nature and habits in Uganda. We stayed 4 nights in Murchison falls which gave us the time to enjoy it in a full way. Toni showed himself as a real ranger and safari man: he wanted us to see the big five with the leopard as the crown jewel of this savannah. We did different game drives early in the morning and late in the afternoon. It was surprising to see how much wildlife there is in this parc. We saw many different antilopes, buffalo’s, monkeys, elephants, giraffes, Pumba’s, hyena’s and… lions with baby’s and… 2 leopards!! And the view is amazing! Besides the safari with Toni’s 4 by 4, we also did a boat safari on the Nile, the place where the hippo’s and crocodiles live. I never saw so much hippo’s in my life. They lay lazy in the Nile, they stared at us when we passed by. And the view: the Nile crossing through the savannah… and at a certain moment there they are: the famous Murchison falls! An enormous amount of water that throws itself as thousand elephants into the depth!
From the boat we saw the waterfalls of beneath, after that Toni brought us to the top of the waterfalls. When we started driving to the top the rain falls with buckets out of the sky, but Toni persisted: ‘We can’t miss this, the most beautiful falls in the world,’ he said! And he added: ‘Rain is a blessing for our country’. And he was right: it was an amazing experience to stand in the rain at the top of the falls, feeling not only the rain but also the warm mist of the falls with the sound of the power of water that falls from 45 meters high.
Thanks Toni – Hannington and Pearl Africa – for this amazing Uganda experience!! We will come back to experience other parts of this pearl of Africa.
BE
Email Fanny | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Amazing trip
Our trip to Uganda with Pearl Afric was very well organised. We contacted them a few months before the trip and Innocent, the boss, took the time to adapt the course according to our wishes. Our driver-guide Hannington was very attentive. Cautious on the road, always on time, foreseeing, calm, he took us through a large part of the western region while explaining it to us. Regarding the accommodation, everything was adapted to our wishes. We did not want luxury accommodation but rather budget, even camp or close to the inhabitant. Covid issue, everything was managed by the agency. At no time did we have to worry about formalities. Everything was planned. Little more and which is always very pleasant from our point of view, Innocent, the boss, wanted to meet us during the trip to share a moment together. We therefore recommend Pearl Africa with our eyes closed ;-)
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Email Linda | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
top notch and amazing 15-day tour
My two friends and I had an amazing 15-day trip to Uganda with PearlAfric. Nearly all of our meals were included. This was a fantastic trip, and we saw so much wildlife. With covid precautions, we wore our masks and often had our temperatures checked and our hands spritzed with sanitizer.
Here is a day-by-day breakdown of our adventure:
We started with a visit to Mabamba Swamp where we got to see the infamous shoebill along with so many other birds. Cruising through the swamp, surrounded by papyrus was cool. The next day we visited Ngamba Chimpanzee Sanctuary where we enjoyed seeing the many orphaned chimps. The boat ride across Lake Victoria was wild.
Day 3 we drove to Murchison Falls National Park with a stop at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary on the way. We trudged through the grasses and found a group of six rhinos. They mostly stayed together under the trees, but it was great to see them. Before going to our lodge – Murchison River Lodge, we stopped at the top of the falls to feel and enjoy the power of all that water exploding over the edge. You can no longer do the hike from the bottom of the falls due to safety concerns.
Day 4 brought an amazing sunrise on the Nile as we headed to the park for a morning game drive. We saw lots and lots of animals. I especially enjoyed seeing the baby kob nursing. In the afternoon we took the boat cruise upstream to enjoy the wildlife and see the falls from a different perspective. We had great encounters with lots of hippos and crocodiles. The birds were plentiful. We saw a few elephants with partially missing trunks … perhaps they tangled with a crocodile?
Day 5 was spent traveling to Kibale National Park. The scenery as you drive through Uganda is beautiful, filled with villages and farmland. I love when the children wave and yell, “Mzungu!” lol. Religion is very important here and we saw lots of churches and mosques. (Mostly we saw Catholic and Seventh Day Adventist churches.) Tea plantations were plentiful, and the people work so hard. When we got into the national park, we began seeing baboons on the roadside. At our lodge – Kibale Forest Camp – we walked the grounds and found a great blue turaco and six black and white colobus monkeys. The night sky here is gorgeous.
Day 6: we traveled toward the Rwenzori Mountains to Semliki National Park. This park is known for the male and female hot springs. Our first stop was the female hot springs, and elevated boardwalks allowed us to closely check out the area. We were in Yellowstone Uganda! The ground was bubbling with water pools, and in some areas had colorful orange, beige, and green scattered around. The calcium buildup was cool. Our national park guide, Robert, placed eggs in the boiling water while we walked around. Ten minutes later the eggs were done. We drove to the trail to the male hot spring and followed the boardwalk. This was a large pool of water with steam rising. We enjoyed our hard-boiled eggs in the rest area there. Our final stop in the area was a visit to the Batwa community. We parked on the side of the highway where a large group of villagers greeted us. Most wore colorful clothing, some sporting leaves hanging on their heads and bodies. I felt gigantic next to them. We followed them single file into the forest and to a clearing where they began playing music and dancing in a circle. We joined in.
Day 7: at 6a we did the chimp habituation experience. The habituation experience allows you to spend four hours with the chimps, in addition to the time it takes to hike to them and back. The regular visit only allows one hour with the chimps. I forgot that I’m not the best hiker and went for it. I jumped at the chance to hire a porter. They carry your bag and help you along the trail. Not only does it make my life easier, I’m helping to support the local economy. It was an experience chasing after the chimps through the forest often on non-existent trails. The chimps didn’t wait for me! I enjoyed hearing the calls of the chimps and glimpses of the little guys – sometimes in the trees and sometimes on the ground. Two in our group ended up in mud up to their knees after slipping into an elephant footprint. I didn’t fall, but it was exhausting for me. We returned back to the office at 1:30p. My friends loved it, but I would have been happier with the one-hour trek.
Day 8: we drove about 3 hours to Queen Elizabeth National Park. Not too far into the drive, we did a photo stop at the crater lake featured on the 20,000 ugx bill. We traveled through an agricultural area with tons of cornfields, matoke, and banana plantations. We enjoyed a 2-hour cruise on the Kazinga Channel. This was a fantastic cruise … we saw so many animals – hippos, cape buffalo, crocodiles, monitor lizards, and countless birds. A fish eagle sat on a branch enjoying his catch of the day. After the cruise, we did a short game drive and were rewarded with a mama and two lion cubs. At our home for the next two nights, Bush Lodge, we could hear grunting hippos in the water below.
Day 9: It rained overnight, so it was nice not to drive through dust clouds as we explored QENP. We enjoyed lots of animal sightings including the two baby lions again (along with waterbucks, kob, warthogs, Cape buffalo, hippos, hammerocks, frankolin, vultures, kite and palm nut vulture). We took the ferry across the channel back to our lodge since the bridge is being repaired until October. In the afternoon we drove to Maramagambo Forest and hiked to the bat cave. One of my friends loves caves and bats, although I was disturbed to read a warning sign saying the bats may carry a deadly disease with no cure. Fortunately, we were able to view them from the observation building in front of the cave.
Day 10: we traveled to the Ishasha area of QENP. This was about 70 km away on bumpy roads. We cruised through the park and were rewarded with a new species – topi (reddish brown antelope-like creatures with horns and long faces). It’s interesting in QENP that they burn sections of the grassy areas to encourage new growth. Good food source for the animals. After tremendous searching, we never located any lions … in or out of trees. We did, however, see a leopard in a thicket and then in a tree. It had a fresh kob kill hauled up there. A hyena in need of a dental hygienist was also spotted. We high-tailed it out of one track when we came across a few aggressive elephants. Our guide said they were from the Congo and not used to vehicles or people and very unpredictable. Loved our stay at Enjojo Lodge with lots of resident vervet monkeys.
Day 11 was a travel day to Bwindi. This area was beautiful – we were literally driving on top of the mountain. This is a rainforest, and it had that misty look and feel, plus the temperature was cooler (ahhh). Our home was Lake Mutanda Resort, and the drive through the area is stunningly beautiful. The resort is great with fabulous views including the three volcanoes along the borders between Uganda, Rwanda and the Congo.
Day 12 was the gorilla trek. We drove to the Rushaga area. We had requested an ‘easier’ hike since two of us are not very athletic. We were assigned the Bweza group. I hired two porters – one to pull me, the other to push me up the trail. I couldn’t have done it without them. Miel and group led us through the forest. It was a tough hike for me with all the uphill climbs. I saw the biggest earthworms in the world as we trekked through the forest. After an hour or so, Miel said the trackers were still looking for the gorillas … wtf!? Downhill was tough too, and we climbed over stumps, trudged through mud, and avoided the vines trying to trip us along the path. After 3.5 hours, we were rewarded with the gorillas. Ahhhh. It was great seeing the big silverback so strong, just sitting and eating leaves and completely ignoring us. He passed a little gas for our enjoyment. A young gorilla entertained us the whole time, hanging on top of a tree and swinging around. So cool. Several other gorillas came in and out of view, and we followed them for photo ops. The hour went too fast, and then it was back down the mountain. Along the journey back, we enjoyed our packed lunches. My legs were like jello when we were finally off the trail.
Day 13 took us to Lake Bunyonyi. This is Uganda’s deepest lake and known for its fresh water crayfish (which I did not sample). The drive from Lake Mutanta to Lake Bunyonyi was stunning. We arrived at the BirdNest Resort at 1:15p, and this was the nicest place we stayed on our whole trip. Loved it. We enjoyed the company of the resident pup, Al Pacino. My friend had a go at maneuvering a canoe through the lake while I took photos. Then we all took the motorboat cruise around the lake. We got caught in a bit of rain, but the boat ride was enjoyable. We learned about Punishment Island. Until 50 years ago, when a girl got pregnant, her family would be angry and send her to this island to die. There’s a single tree on the small island and no food or water. It takes two to tango, but it appears there were no consequences for the boys. The families were angry they wouldn’t get a dowry for her since she was ‘ruined’. In the evening we enjoyed a major thunder and lightening show from our balconies. Cool!
Day 14: we traveled to Lake Mburo National Park, the smallest one in Uganda. On the way there, we stopped in Mbarara for a covid PCR test at MBN Lab. The cost was 195,000 ugx with results in 24 hours. This was a quick and easy process. We checked into Rwakobo Rock. This area of Uganda was much drier than the other places we’ve been. We saw our first zebras along with a bunch of ankole cattle. In the late afternoon, we did a game drive in the park. We never made it to the actual lake, but we saw quite a few animals: impala, zebras and babies, warthogs, waterbuck, giraffes, vervet monkeys, and more. My favorite encounter was with the giraffes – we saw 7 or 8 of them, and eventually they were feeding on trees right next to us.
Day 15: our final day began with a walking safari in Mburo. This was enjoyable with more wildlife encounters including zebras, impalas, waterbuck and warthogs. They would all shift away from us as we approached, but it was cool walking so close to them. We spent a good amount of time with a group of giraffes including two youngsters. One was even nursing. Eventually we drove back to Entebbe and got our NEGATIVE covid results via email along the way. Whew! We relaxed in a day room at The Boma and had an 11p flight that evening. All went well, and we showed our covid tests 2 or 3 times to various people.
All in all, an amazing trip. I’d do it all again! Innocent, the owner of PearlAfric, was great to work with in planning our trip, and Abdul was a fabulous tour guide and driver.
Email Karumba | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Great Experience
Everything was handled in a very professional and courteous manner.
The transport, accommodation and safari all lived up to expectation. Prim who was our Driver/Guide was very hospitable, knowledgeable and good company overall.
I would definitely recommend Pearl Afric Tours & Travel
Email Ela | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A once in a lifetime experience with a company who knows and loves Uganda and puts customers first
We began out planning a year ahead. We got the itinerary we wanted as we were doing a few things off the beaten track . We made a few changes and nothing was a problem for Inno who smoothly did everything we asked for. The 3 week trip was faultless. Every day was a new experience. Abdul our driver was knowledgeable and experienced. His driving was fantastic and he was friendly and welcoming without being intrusive. He tweaked our timings to make sure we had the best experience and made us feel safe and special at all times. The trip surpassed our expectations- the safaris, the tracking of lions, chimps and gorillas left us blown away. The whole team behind Pearl Afric was at our service . We felt very special
Amazing experience - special thanks to Raymond!
What a time! We spent 2 weeks trekking, safari-ing and relaxing around Uganda and Rwanda. We couldn't have had a better time! Our guide, Raymond, was top-rate, making sure our experience was perfect. Our gorilla, chimp and monkey treks were mind-blowing. Still can't believe we were so close to the wildlife!
Email Iwona & Robert | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Hannington - The Real Pearl of Pearl Afric T&T
The whole trip was a triumph!!! In terms of accommodations, locations, things we have seen, food we have tried, people we have met and wildlife we have been, just for a while but still, part of. To see all these animals in their natural scenery was magical. Watching gorillas in Uganda and then in Rwanda, when they are eating, playing, living basically, was the greatest and the most wonderful experience in our entire life. I fell in love with Uganda and Rwanda. Such a beautiful countries they are. But probably we was not be able to experience all these things if we would not have our Hannington. The guide, The driver, The tracker, The everything we have had during these two weeks in Africa. He made our trip unforgettable. With him we felt save and secure. Thank you Hannington. This was our first trip to East Africa but I am sure, not the last one. Get ready my friend, we will be back!!!
Email Leah Nicholson | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
This was an unforgettable experience. Well organised and we wouldn’t have changed a thing.
Everything met our expectations and more. Huntington was an excellent guide and looked after us. The gorilla tracking was unreal. We were blessed to see a family of 6 on our first day tracking, and then we counted 21 on the second day (including 4 silverbacks) when we fortunate enough to see two families meet. The lodge where we stayed (Ichumbi Lodge) was beautiful and the staff were incredibly attentive. We will remember this experience for the rest of our lives!
CA
Email Lynn | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An amazing experience!
I booked through Intrepid, but as this was a short tour a local guide was hired. A great choice! Thanks Hannington for sharing your extensive knowledge on Uganda and all the wildlife, for keeping us informed of the itinerary for the next day, for getting us safely to each destination and for ensuring we were well prepared for our gorilla trek. The trip was well organized and seamless, allowing us to just focus on enjoying the wildlife, the culture and of course the gorillas. A trip of a lifetime I won't ever forget!