Encounter Africa Safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2009)
- Member Of:
- Association of Uganda Tour Operators
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $50 to $300 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
Great
Great experience with Encounter Africa Safaris, Simon (the guide) did a great job, I will recomend it!
US
Email Hetty | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The guide and other workers were awesome and patient
We are deaf and we had guide use gestures and paper and pen method to communicate with us. Highly recommend people to book with your company.
Email Joanna Cary | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Incredible Ugandan adventure - 6 day tour with Encounter Africa
I was organising a solo tour of Uganda and spent a long time researching online for potential tour companies. I settled on Encounter Africa after reading many positive reviews and in the end I couldn't have been happier. It felt like a bit of a gamble paying a lot of money for a gorilla permit and the tour company fees on the back of internet reviews, so it was a big relief to find my guide Hannington waiting for my at the Kihihi airstrip. From that moment, there was no stress whatsoever as Hannington was the perfect guide and driver and took care of everything. Each day was marvellous - with particular highlights being the gorilla and chimpanzee trekking and the Kazinga Channel boat cruise. The accommodation was all fabulous. I booked 'mid-range' and most of the places were small eco-lodge style places with personal service and all included meals. The food was consistently outstanding. I stayed at Buhoma Haven Lodge (incredible views of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest), Ishasha Jungle Lodge, Elephant Hab Lodge (incredible views of Queen Elizabeth National Park) and Mountains of the Moon. Mountains of the Moon was a big hotel and completely different style to the other accommodation. I only stayed there as the usual place Encounter books was full. Although it was a good hotel, it lacked the intimacy and personalised attention of the other places. I found Encounter to be highly professional - Chris was always very prompt and helpful when responding to emails and Hannington was always punctual and responsive and everything ran like clock-work. Hannington made sure that I got on the morning chimpanzee trek, was a very safe driver and ensured I had the trip of a lifetime.
US
Email Tamara x 5 | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Plan your trip, then sit back and enjoy!
After reading other reviews, Encounter Africa Safaris was one of three companies that I inquired with to put together a custom tour for 5 friends. They were the first to respond, were very professional, and addressed each of my requests. They also did a very good job of matching my requests with available activities and accommodations. Although I never met Chris in person, he was very good at taking care of the details from the office. Tolbert was our driver/guide and hero in Uganda. He was very perceptive and did a great job anticipating our needs, accommodating our requests, and keeping us on track. He was informative, sincere, and a fun member of our group! Abdul took care of our transportation needs in Rwanda. We had a special request to visit an area well off the beaten tourist track. Having never been there, Abdul even made the special effort to scout it out in advance of our arrival! He was sweet and had a soft paternal, protective presence. Our itinerary did have a couple of small glitches, one from our group's side, and one from a miscommunication on the company's side. The beauty of it is that Encounter Africa quickly remedied these things before they ever became an issue, making for a very enjoyable and nearly seamless trip. I definitely recommend them and will use them again next time!
Email Megan | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A Mind Blowingly Beautiful Tour of Uganda!
Wow! This was my first time doing any sort of safari package and I had no idea what to expect. From my very first emails with Encounter Africa's staff, I was impressed. They were very accommodating and the activities, driving routes, food and lodgings that they have organized for their guests were all amazing.
Of special note was our fantastic tour guide Hannington; he was fun, informative, and extremely reliable and professional. I imagine having a full time guide with you for five days could end up feeling awkward... but Hannington was an instant friend and made the whole experience unforgettable.
In our particular safari, we hiked with both the mountain gorillas and the chimpanzees, and, obviously, this was a once in a lifetime sort of opportunity. So incredible. But what surprised me was how extraordinary just the drive through the villages and mountains was as well. Not too mention the friendliness and service from EVERYONE we met along the way. All in all, it was a beautiful experience.
Thank you for sharing your country with us!
Rwanda/Uganda Gorilla Adventure with Jason! AMAZING EXPERIENCE
My husband and I just came back from our 3- day Rwanda and Uganda adventure. Planning the trip was incredibly easy. In planning, Chris was extremely responsive to my questions, often replying to emails within an hour. When needed, he offered several options to address our concerns including a late evening pick-up to accommodate our flight.
But who really stole the show was our driver Jason! From the minute we arrived (1:00am) he was there with a smile to accommodate our needs. We visited several genocide museums in Rwanda, ate local Rwandan food, and seamlessly went through customs into Uganda. We even stopped to take several pictures along our drive to Bwindi including the beautiful flame tree and crested crane. Jason was a wonderful conversationalist during our travels often giving us cultural, socio-economic and geographical information that was relevant and well thought out. Our second day started with an early rise, and Jason met us for breakfast to provide a thorough briefing about the experience include recommendations for attire, photography and explanations about hiring a local porter. The gorilla tour was an incredible, once in a life time experience that I would highly recommend to any individual. After the tour, Jason organized an impromptu visit to a local village tribe (BATWA) where we got to sing and dance with the locals. Our return voyage back to Rwanda included opportunities to talk to locales about the genocide and eat delicious food. The land, the people and the animals of both countries will remain in our hearts and minds forever.
I would definitely consider returning back to Rwanda/Uganda and requesting Jason as your driver. The country and people are beautiful. Jason's leadership, attention to details and safety is unmatched and went a long way in creating such amazing memories. Thank you.
FR
Email Francisco | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
100% perfect
We 100% recomend Encounter as they are very professional, reactive to all our emails and provided us with the service that we booked without any bad surprises. All went perfect. Special thanks to our driver Simon. He is a save driver and also great trip companion with very entertaining conversations about Uganda and any other theams. Thanks!!
CA
Email sean | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing experience!
Our guide Jason did a great job! Recommend him to anybody!
Email Eden | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing!! Jason looked after us really well.
Really good communication with Chris, responsive emails and very helpful. The gorilla tour was an incredible, once in a life time experience that I would highly recommend. Accommodation and overall tour was put together well and we really enjoyed our stay in both lodges.
HK
Email Dora | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Trustworthy, responsive, professional, planned per client’s expressed needs
Pre trip:
Chris the responsive front line contact with whom I worked out the itinerary was an indispensable asset. He was the first to respond to my email enquiry sent out to several companies. Having a whatsapp call the same day helped to understand from the start what I wanted and more importantly, allowed exchanges on options and constraints and setting realistic expectations (this is afterall Africa!) I asked for 8 days, But after more research and discussions (not pressure from Chris) to 12 days. Chris often responded in his middle of the night or wee hours due to international time differences!
Itinerary:
We ended up starting from Kigali to Kampala. Started with golden monkeys (very enjoyable; saw lots close up), then the AMAZING Bwindi gorillas (one hour trek awesome, and 4 hours habituation trek totaled 9.5 hours up and down steep dense mountains); Queen Elizabeth National Park (long drive, no lions on trees sighted but amazing boat cruise and relaxation with beautiful views and pool at riverside hotel), followed by chimpanzees (thanks to Tolbert and Martin who suggested changing from early habituation trek to a normal one starting 11:30 mid day so we saw many interesting chimps of various ages feeding on the ground rather than just swinging high up between trees - this is priceless tip!!); then Murchison Falls (amazing game drive and boat cruise with sights of giraffes, lions, elephants, crocodiles, hippos, tobies, etc etc), ending with adventurous white water rafting at Jinja. So glad we included Murchison Falls and Jinja as both proved to be wonderful experiences despite the hard drives.
Accommodations:
I asked for between budget and above average accommodations and compared them from the listings provided by Chris. Most important was to read through reviews and decide what I wanted and was prepared to pay for.
Tips: eg air conditioning is hard to come by in lodges in the wilderness, water from showers often small, sometimes need running to wash out the brownish, maybe colder than wished, expect mosquitos and maybe ants or insects, rooms perhaps further away from main lounge, solar power could run out, fewer power sockets, unavailable or unreliable network and WiFi ... All this is part of safari adventure!
Also some preferred lodgings were on wait list so expect last minute changes.
Transport:
We had two very clean Toyota vans, one for four and another for two people which worked out very well. I am happy to lie flat on row of seats due to poor back and very bumpy roads (called “African Massage”). The driver guides Tolbert and Martin were great drivers on the challenging roads especially in Uganda! They also pulled skills to catch greater sights of lions and other wildlife.
Tip: ask for vans with padded sides along the game viewing top. Also suggest Encounter Africa provides cushions for sitting on top in front for greater comfort for vans with such fittings.
All in all, a super, memorable safari adventure with Encounter Africa who was very professional. Very flexible, responsive and kind. We had lots of fun and laughter together with Tolbert and Martin. Would recommend highly and will use them again in the future.