Samuel representing us at the WTM London Expo 2015
Prime Safaris & Tours
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2012)
- Member Of:
- AUTO, ATO, UTB, UWA & UCF
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $180 to $800 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
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Email Ann C. | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The Best
My sister and I were guided by Joseph Nyanzi through Uganda to see the chimps and the gorillas. I cannot recommend this company highly enough. My sister had traveled with them in 2018 so it was automatic to use Prime Safaris again. The experience that Cate Makanga planned for us was exactly as we had requested and a great value. The accommodations were the very best; location, comfort, service, security, food.
The experience with the chimps and gorillas was awesome. I never imagined we would be so close to the animals and that we would see so many. I had dreamed of this trip for so long and it did not disappoint.
If you plan a trip with Prime Safaris, request Joseph Nyanzi as your guide. Joseph is very experienced. He seems to know everyone in Uganda and is eager to share his knowledge and patiently answered our endless questions. Everyone we met was warm, friendly and proud of their country and of the nature that they protect.
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Email DonnaMM | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Personal service great trip
The guide picked me up at my hotel about an hours drive from the embarkation point. We had a wonderful conversation about life in Uganda, its history, current conditions etc. I really enjoyed the personal service. The boat staff were also very friendly and informative. I enjoyed my time at the chimpanzee sanctuary. Then the Prime Safari guide picked me up and had a most enjoyable trip back to my hotel with a stop to purchase crafts. I really appreciated all the personal attention.
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Email Brad | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best tour guides
Prime Safari made our vacation the most memorable one to date. They took care of us from Uganda all the way to Tanzania. Every step of the way, with our own guide. Very polite, friendly, and informative. They made everything about the trip smooth and easy. We also knew what to expect next, and they were always on time for pickups, drop-offs, you name it. Highly recommend this company to any traveling through Africa. We saw all of the big 5 and then some in Tanzania. Also got to hang out with the gorilla families in Uganda. Best vacation experience I've ever had.
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Email Katie | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Exceeded Expectations!
We had such an incredible experience with Prime Safaris! Both of our guides were so knowledgeable and friendly and went above and beyond for our group. Vincent and Mark felt like they became part of our family and we were so sad to say goodbye. Our safari experience at Bwindi was out of this world spectacular and we also loved our trips to Chimp Island and Jinja. Wow. Thank you so much Prime Safari for your planning, communication, service and all fun! I will be recommending your company to every person I hear travelling to Uganda!
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Email Calvin | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Incredible adventure, everything we wanted!
Prime Safaris was absolutely incredible, even from the initial communication. They were prompt in responses were willing to change things time and time again while we were deciding what to do. They were patient and were helpful with recommendations. My own 2 favorite parts of the trip were the things they recommended that I did not even know about!
The trip started with Denis (our guide) picking us up from a friends home in a residential part of Makindye. He was friendly and on-time and we really enjoyed our time with him. He was interested in getting to know us and was always giving us great information on the things we saw. He kept us fed and was really a lot of fun!
Prime Safaris recommended we do the Chimpanzee sanctuary in Budongo Forest as well as the Rhino sanctuary in Ziwa. Both were absolutely incredible on foot up close experiences that I will never forget. They were incredible neat locations and both had a good cause worth our support. Primes Safari's also honored our request to do multiple and to take boat ride on the Nile up to Murchison Falls. They organized everything. We just had to show up and take pictures!
Sleeping accommodation options were given and we chose what we though best fit our budget and it was phenomenal. we just picked one and they handled everything else.
One thing I want to really express is just how easy Prime Safari's made the trip for us. I originally had planned to not use a company (since I had lived in Uganda for about 2 years prior to our trip), I planned to plan everything myself, Then I started to learn about wildlife permits other things that if I had missed may have put a huge whole in our tip. So I elected to use a company and they took care of everything. I just showed up to enjoy. So fun so great!
IT
Email Patrizia | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
If you want to visit Uganda go with Prime Safaris!!!
I checked several tour programs and several different Companies, and we decided to go with Prime Safaris because:
1) Cate was really flexible and organized a taylor-made tour for the 2 of us
2) Cate always answered immediately to my e-mails (and thay were a lot)
3) The price of Prime Safaris was one of the less expensive of the market
and at the end we were very happy, since the organization was absolutely perfect, and Joseph, our guide (he is definetely not just a driver) was a true problem-solving man; he is a very good person, and we loved every minute with him.
We decided to pay for the Gorilla Habituation Permit, which costs more than the double of a normal permit, but allows you to stay with the gorillas for 4 hours instead of only 1.
Well, I would suggest everybody to make this experience: it's true, it costed the half of our budget, but to be so close to the gorilla is such an amazing experience that, if after 1 hour I should have gone, I would have cried.... :-)
Thanks Joseph, Cate and Simon for this unforgettable experience!!!!
CH
Email Christophe | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
9 phantastic days in Ugnada with Prime Safari
A lovely experience in Uganda. Excellent driver (Joseph), friendly and super supported team in the Office (Cate was leading for us). We stayed in 5 hotels and all of them were perfect. Although my 1400 photos were stolen the day we landed back in Geneva (hence I can't attach any to confirm my words), we will keep excellent memories of our visit in Uganda and I feel like doing it again, I will for sure use Prime Safari to organize it. THANKS
DE
Email Dominique | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Safari in Bwindi Forest, Queen Elisabeth Park, Kibale Forest
Excellent safari tour around Bwindi Forest, Queen Elisabeth Park and Kibale Forest !
Travelling alone, I was a bit anxious about the tour but I found it very safe especially because of my very kind guide/driver Mark ! I thank him so much.
Very good safari tour regarding the lodges, the game drives, the timing ( 6 days tour ).
Thank to Cate for the quick answers while preparing my travel !
Wonderful Uganda !
Email Tom | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Safety, Planning, Transparency and Trust were at the heart of it...
Prime Safaris Uganda gave a good first impression. Cate wrote in a welcoming and professional manner with strong salesmanship. The emails were filled with ‘exciting’, ‘thrilling’, ‘adventure’, ‘amazing’, ‘rewarding’ and many more positives. It was to be a 21 day custom trip starting in Rwanda and traversing throughout Uganda using budget accommodation. I was swayed to pay an average of £300 a day for the trip. I had high hopes.
The trip didn’t go well at all. I’ll start by describing safety concerns then describe some of the days in relation to the accuracy, transparency and planning. At the end is a series of tips worth reading to prepare for a safari in Uganda or nearby.
3 of the lodges had Mosquito Nets which were torn, with holes in or not properly attached to the bed. Both the guide and myself frequently ended up with stomach problems so I gave him some of my medicine to help
The car was in serious disrepair. Loose electric cables and faulty air conditioning which worked half the time and regularly leaked onto the feet.
Later on, the speedometer and other instruments stopped working. The guide mentioned that we’d be lucky not to be stopped by the police.
One of days early in the trip was a visit to Lake Bunyonyi. We reached at midday and the guide left me at a lodge on an island while he looked for accommodation on shore. He soon messaged me to say the car’s axle broke and he'd search for a replacement part. I did not see or hear from him until the following day. When I raised this with Prime Safaris, they responded with a defensive email denying the breakdown happened at all. I couldn't tell if the guide was lying or they were. Two days later, I was left alone again while the guide said he would take the car to get the AC repaired. Later, in conversation, he mentioned that he tried repairing it using tape so I'm not sure where he went that day. It wasn't repaired and began leaking again.
A day on the itinerary had a briefing of “amazing cycling experience traversing the Fort Portal Crater field with scenic crater lakes and hollows. From the activity, transfer to Lake Albert enjoying the views of Albertine Rift valley including the scenic flats, escarpments and the Blue Mountains of Congo. Enjoy a thrilling bush dinner under the lush tropical sky.”
The day had under an hour of cycling along a city road. It was really disappointing and made worse by all available bikes having grave faults including some with nonfunctional brakes. I went with working brakes but faulty gears.
Before we set off along the road to the Amabere caves, I asked for a helmet for safety but they said they had none. We cycled at a leisurely speed but, strangely the bike guide needed to pause every few minutes to regain his breath. The remainder of the trip, cycling up to the crater lakes, was cancelled due to lack of time.
After driving back to town, we had a rushed lunch and the Prime Safaris guide admitted he was surprised all this activity and distance to travel was planned for a single day. We set off at 1pm and drove at full speed to reach by 8pm, luckily sooner than expected because the guide managed to find out about a shortcut from speaking to locals. When we reached, the reception said it was too late for the bush dinner and we would have needed to have arrived by 6pm for it to be ready. Later, while waiting for a meal, I conversed with a member of staff and learnt that they hadn’t even received a request for the bush dinner in advance. I raised concerns with Cate by email and she responded again with hostility, asserting that I was an hour late to breakfast and took multiple stops of 30-40 minutes. “The guide advised against such stops which would cause late arrival but you said it was okay for late arrival”. I was taken aback as it wasn’t true. It became clear that they phoned the guide and he came up with these lies to try and defend himself. It shows that Prime Safaris are not interested in listening to their customers, only in defending their mistakes.
Another surprise was a day described in the itinerary as “Take up a lasting authentic cultural to the indigenous Karimojong on the great hills of Mount Morungole.” “It’s an active adventure to the Mountains and it’s a whole day experience with great sightseeing as well.”
It turned out to be a short drive to a nearby small town where a local gave a brief spoken tour of their customs. It was all there was to do so we drove back to the lodge to rest before having lunch. The guide said he knew that this was what to expect and he’s unsure why the office described it as a full day with active adventure.
A similar falsehood occurred earlier in the trip with the activity at Lake Bunyonyi described as “do canoe paddle exploring the Island Communities & the fishermen”, “a canoe ride exploring this amazing lake, hopping between Islands and visiting the Islands to view the way of life of the Islanders and their traditions.” It turned out to be a motor boat trip with a member of staff from the lodge talking a bit about the history of the area. He didn’t know what else to offer so stopped at a nearby market and chatted to locals he knew.
There are many other examples of the experience not matching the itinerary that was sold.
To conclude, the initial customer service, exciting itinerary and great expense gave me high hopes. When things started going wrong and Prime Safaris put me at great discomfort, I raised the concerns with Cate by email. I asked her to focus constructively on the remainder of the trip and hoped for the best. Surprisingly, I received defensive and hostile replies, dismissing all the concerns. Prime Safaris were not interested.
Following each email, the office phoned my guide a number of times and became very aggressive with him. It made him visibly upset, trying to defend himself, and the trip deteriorated as a result. Feeling we were both victims, I chose to confide in him and mentioned that I might request a partial refund.
When I returned to the UK, I received a very hostile email from Cate who stated she was disappointed I did not want to meet her and her peers at their office, revealing that they gathered “a comprehensive day to day report about what transpired during your tour, photos, voice recordings and videos which we had intended to share with you”. Realising that they wanted to intimidate me with recordings made behind my back, I was relieved I did not meet them.
The email ended with Cate stating that Prime Safaris “are satisfied that you got your moneys worth and are not giving back any refund what so ever. Wishing you a wonderful stay back home.”
By no means am I trying to say the entire experience was awful but, when you consider that I spent £6000 for a 21-day trip and could have realistically hired a quality guide myself, BOUGHT a car that was reliable and had a much better experience for a lot less money, it was a huge regret going with Prime Safaris.
Tips
• Remember insect repellent and lots of anti-diarrhoea medicine.
• Bring a few lightweight long-sleeved shirts to protect against insects and sun
• Bring something warm if you’re visiting high altitudes.
• Use a walking stick if going walking; many paths aren’t maintained and can be very slippery. They’re often provided.
• Brace yourselves for small lizards about the accommodation – might find them moving across the walls in your room. If you’re in a sealed tent, have a look around to make sure one didn’t get trapped in.
• Two weeks max is more than enough to see the best bits.
• Check the route planning if you’re using a customised itinerary and watch out for days where there’s a tight squeeze for participating in activities and making long drives.
• Avoid Queen Elizabeth national park in Uganda. Guides I spoke to said many companies leave it out because the growth of nearby towns caused wildlife to migrate.
• Many guides are primarily experienced in driving and networking, not wildlife. If you’re concerned with competency of the guide, don’t hesitate to ask for a new one. Part way through the trip, I lost trust in the guide and requested a new one. Steven Ashley replaced him and turned out to be a brilliant guide with great enthusiasm and experience. He told me he’s happy to arrange safaris directly. Message me if you’d like his email.
• If you do go with Prime Safaris, ask for Steven Ashley as your guide. Steven is someone who always has a smile on his face and his positivity makes you forget about the failures the company makes.
Reply from Prime Safaris & Tours
Posted on Aug 24, 2018Hello Mr Shawn,
I thank you for having travelled with Prime Safaris BUT without a choice let me give a background of your safari with us then letter respond to your grievances. You paid very little money -5800 pounds (276 Pounds per day) opposed to what you stated, for a 21 Days days safari to ALL Rwanda parks, ALL Uganda`s parks. This money included gorilla permits, Chimpanzee permits, ALL park entrances, boat cruises and all safari activities, safari Landcruiser (upgraded from a safari van for your comfort for free), fuel, driver guides` fees and full road accommodation for 21 days in standard safari lodges. This was way too cheap price for such a trip BUT we did it for the good of your health as you told us that you needed our help to offer you this safari as part of your therapy to treat your epilepsy disease and seizures as recommended by your doctor. You didn't seem interested in having a wonderful trip BUT rather you were much bent on achieving a premeditated refund demand right from the start to end of your trip.
You kept on altering your trip itinerary, cutting it short and demanding for extras that we gave you where we could. The drugs you consumed throughout your trip made you rough to your guide at all times, hindered you from enjoying your trip, caused some stops that caused changes in the itinerary, greatly inconvenienced your guide and kept you not sober and hostile to your guide to an extent of threatening to hurt him as well to some lodge staff e.g at Gorilla Mist Camp where you dragged a waitress into your bed (a lady) after she had put a hot water bottle into your room and she screamed for her life until other staff members came to her rescue. We did our best to ensure a great trip with all that was in our power including protecting you from imprisonment but you frustrated our efforts at most of times in order to pursue your premeditated refund but we are convinced that you got your monies worth and much more.
You requested for a very understanding gentle guide for your safari to ensure you recover well from your mental sickness. We therefore allocated Mark Elliott one of our finest guides with credible reputation, professionalism, tourism knowledge, customer care and a man whose service has earned a commendable number of excellent client reviews on our TripAdvisor, Safari booking and other review platforms.
You made your safari very difficult to execute due some unique demands you made that neither Mark your guide nor our office staff could offer you due to their illegality OR unacceptability: -
Please have this detailed response: -
Mark Elliott- your guide could not sleep in the same bed with you to keep company in your hotels as you requested him for personal & professional reasons. Guides stop being with clients after dinner OR after dropping them off at their hotels when the day`s activities are done then go to their guides’ rooms. On Day 2, even when you threatened to call Cate to demand for another guide that would do what you want, Mark still couldn't do it. On day 4 when you sent Cate an sms saying that Mark abandons you alone at hotels and drives away yet you want him to stay with you, she called him only to get surprising stories. He requested to quit your safari because on Day 1 you had told him to work with you to achieve your intentions of claiming for a minimum of 1000$ refund (a share of which you promised to give him but he rejected your request & offer) as you had done to the last 10 safari companies you did safaris with plus a computer selling company (back in the UK ) that you threatened to blackmail if they didn't give you a new laptop (you had messed up the one sold to you but they didn't know) and you even got a better brand. We requested him to hang in there even when you started to show him your black mail review to Prime safaris and himself, copies of which you started sending Cate day by day starting from Day 3 showing how you intended to blackmail Mark & Prime Safaris OR else she meets your demands which she rejected to your wrath.
On Day 4 when you accused us of neglecting your epileptic condition by Mark refusing to sleep in the same bed with you, Cate told you Mark is a married man & it was unethical for a guide to sleep in a client’s bed but also that if you wanted a nurse she was willing to organize one for you at your expense BUT you insisted that it had to be your guide cause you had paid a lot of money for your trip. Like with ALL your allegations against Mark including but not limited to negligence to your life, lack of tourism knowledge, bad driving and a car that breaks down every time, you requested Cate NOT to tell Mark about your complaints which was impossible because we can never keep quiet when our clients safari in messing up.
Your Safari Car broke down several times:
Like Cate told you the first time you made this allegation, your guide deferred from your allegation and said there was no moment at any one time when the Landcruiser (a bonus upgrade given to you instead of the safari van you paid for) got faulty otherwise you would not reach to all your hotels and parks, done all your safari activities on time let alone have no garage time OR a replacement for 21 days from Rwanda parks to all Uganda parks.
Earlier in Bwindi on day you got so angry cause Mark told you he couldn't track Gorillas with you since he had no Gorilla permit, you sent Cate a WhatsApp message demanding for a refund cause of this accusing us of not taking your epileptic condition serious and we left you go in the bush without your care taker (Mark). Like she told you earlier, you were in the hands of the professional government rangers who carry out this activity and Mark had fully briefed them about your condition as required. On the day you tracked Chimps in Kibale forest you forced us pay for Mark to track chimps with you if at all we cared about saving our company from a getting a 1 star review that you again showed him already drafted a copy of which you emailed to Cate (this very one you edited and posted on our TripAdvisor page), Mark advised us to pay for his Chimp permit (which we did) so that he could go with you as you were not mentally stable and he was afraid you could cause chaos to the rest of the group during tracking which would cost our company a lot with the authorities.
As you remember, you cut the chimp tracking short ( as you did so to other activities during your safari that prompted Cate to request you put in writing all activities you didn't want to do to avoid future claims that is was us who offered less that what you bought but you refused) and told him to drive you to you to a town and you restock your marijuana if you are to stabilize and continue with the trip, this we refused Mark to do as its illegal and unprofessional and this is when he told you that `you would be lucky if the police doesn't arrest the both of you with the company car if you went for those drugs. He therefore drove you to lodge but still you asked him to take you to a local bar and you smoke some Shisha, again we refused him to do so cause of the obvious illegality and risk of hanging in a local bar at night in your health condition not forgetting you had a cycling activity early morning that required energy. He excused himself to go at the guides accommodation and rest as he had a long day the following and it was already 10:00pm. You got Angry and sent a WhatsApp sms to Cate accusing Mark of being a bad guide less your expectation and he can’t take good care of you as he always lives you sleep alone late in the nights & he always leaves you alone at the lodge and he drives away claiming he is going to wash the car, among so many other complaints BUT demanded she doesn't tell Mark your guide anything for you were just telling her about how bad you experience is in order for her to start thinking of a some compensation since you had seen many of our cars in the parks and Prime Safaris is a big company.
Cate refused to honor your demands and told you that according to her you had gotten all you paid for and much more such as the extra meals you demanded for and never ate them at ALL lodges at our expense, a bonus car upgrade etc . When she told you that Mark should not wait for you take your medicine at 12:00 am as you had subjected him to doing, and advised you to stop pressing him sleep in your room daily cause he had to rest after dropping you at your lodge to freshen up, eat and sleep in order to drive you safely and guide you better with activities. You got so angry that Mark had told Cate lies about you yet these demands you had made known to her earlier yourself. You accused her of trusting her guide more that our clients instead of listening to her clients` demands.
In your refund demand WhatsApp on Day 12 to Cate you stated that ALL bikes were faulty and your cycling guide stopped at various points fixing his bike and yours, which is very untruthful. Now in this review you say that helmets for safety were not available and he always ran out of gas and you had to stop for him to regain breath. Honestly you had a helmet on, watch the attached video of you putting on a blue helmet on your head cycling behind our guide https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCbRWz4hXSU. ALL our cycling guides are very physically fit and they do this activity for a leaving, it’s very unlikely that they can run out of oxygen and a client waits for them to regain.
Regarding the missed bush dinner, you woke up late from your Fort Portal lodge at 9:00am due to body weakness from your drugs (Marijuana) despite several wake up calls, you finished your breakfast at around 9:30 am and got to cycling point at 10:30 (2hrs 30 min late) this made the day’s activity start at 11:00 am, late by 2hrs which forced the cutting short of the cycling experience at around 1:40pm and you did not cycle to top of the hills (not the caves as you stated because you began with cycling to very caves), to enable you have lunch and proceed on a 5hr drive to Lake Albert Lodge where you arrived at 8:00pm. Due to the 2 stops you forced the guide ( Mark ) one for 30min and another 40min to smoke your marijuana (please watch this video of one of these stops you now deny forcing Mark to makehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWxHsT207OA ) against his advice that you would get late for entry in Kabwoya Wildlife Reserve and even miss your bush dinner (as you clearly told him you did not mind missing the bush dinner), you made it late to the park and we had to negotiate with the park authorities to let you enter. The dinner was very pre-arranged but because you arrived very late no one would risk serving a client bush dinner at 8:00 pm to avoid being attacked by wild animals.
Mark Elliott tried to also advise you to avoid stopping on the road and smoke Marijuana to avoid the risk of being arrested (the both of you) and damaging our company reputation BUT you threatened to hurt him if he didn't stop for you to smoke your drugs and you started narrating to him a series of ways of how you murder your prey. It was at this moment that he drove off road, parked for 40min, followed with another of 30min along the way, as you embarked on smoking your drugs he called office to let us know that he was going to be late and miss the bush dinner due these stops and he requested office to call the park authorities to request for your late park entry BUT further he requested to strictly be recalled from your safari due to accumulated stress from you during this trip that had caused him sickness.
We had decided to call off your safari BUT remembered you may not have a ticket for that day to fly back home, we also thought of handing you over to tourism police of Uganda then we remembered they would imprison you right away having been under the influence of illegal drugs, so Cate suggested we call your Next of kin -your mother (name withheld) to let them organize for your flight back home but also call you and advise you to stop the gross misconduct.
After taking your mother through the full story, she asked us not to allow you smoke Shisha BUT she admitted awareness of your marijuana smoking for medical reasons but was worried that you are abusing it. She further requested us not taken you to police, not to call your Dad (he would be too mad with you) about it and not to tell you we called her otherwise you would worsen. She further requested us to persist with you to complete the therapeutic safari to help you improve your health as she figures how to let your sister call you and come you down.
As you remember when you got to Murchison Falls you turned very violent to Mark we withdrew him and gave you a Father figure guide -Stephen whom you told upon arrival to drive to Pakwach (a nearby town) & you buy marijuana BUT he told you that it was illegal and he couldn't.
The final 4 days of this trip with Stephen were a little better as we kept in touch with your family who tried to restrain you from misconduct.
After your trip Cate wanted to meet and debrief you but you told her that you know she had recordings of you in a bad state and she wanted to press you with them so you asked Steven to drive you to the airport because Cate had already sided with Mark instead of attending to your requests.
My appeal to you is for you to appreciate whatever we did for you in thin and toil to ensure your safari was completed than black mailing us.
It is regrettable that this great review platform Safaribooking is being used by dishonest greedy travelers to force refunds from innocent service providers and if they resist this, a terrible review is posted on their page to blackmail them.
Samuel Makanga
Managing Director
Prime Safaris & Tours Ltd
Email Richard | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great guide. Great experience.
10 out of 10. Myself and girlfriend had a 8day tour of Uganda and it was amazing. Initially I wanted to see all of Uganda but after speaking with Cate we concluded it would be much better to not go up north due to time and concentrate on the west and south. This way our days would have less driving and more time for activities, also it would allow time for stops and photographs on route. We had a mid range tour, travelled in a land cruiser.
The whole trip was amazing Stephen our guide had a amazing knowledge of all wildlife and really made an effort to show us everything. It was very interesting to chat with Stephen about any subject matter and he really made our trip special.
Cate was great at organising the trip and would respond within hours overall we had about 80 messages back and forth but she was always eager to help organise the trip.
I would recommend spending the extra for mid range as I have no complaints about any lodge we stayed in and no problems with transport.
Prime safaris was an amazing tour operator and I would recommend to anyone I know. Uganda is amazing and I will be going back again soon.