Five staff members and Safari Land cruisers
Simba African Expeditions
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2013)
- Member Of:
- AUTO, USAGA, UTB & UWA
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $270 to $650 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
US
Email Matt | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent service in the Pearl of Africa
Had an outstanding 3 day mountain gorilla trek. Our tour guide Joseph gave us an amazing experience. Will definitely be booking with them again.
IT
Email Marta | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
2-days tour at Murchinson Falls NP
We spent an amazing 2-days tour at Murchinson Falls NP. We really enjoyed the experience and Ashraf, our guide, was absolutely the best!
A journey to remember!
Our experience with Simba Africa Expeditions was amazing. Everything went smoothly starting from the first email we wrote to Simba to receive information about available safari tours till our brilliant guide Remy dropped us off at the airport in Entebbe to catch a flight back home. We outlined in our email what approximately we would like to see and do in Uganda and Simba's tour manager prepared a plan for us on which we then worked together till was absolutely perfect. We kept in regular contact till our day of arrival and Simba's tour manager was very patient in answering all our questions. We were met at the airport upon arrival, introduced to our safari guide and from there we started a 10-day long journey around Uganda. Like all tourists in Uganda we wanted to see and enjoy Uganda's wild life. And our Safari guilde Remy did a great job: we were able to spot and see from a close range pretty much all the animals, including lions (we saw both so to say regular lions and tree-climbing lions) and even leopards, which are not so easy to come across! Also, our guide is extremely informed and knows a lot about animals, their habits, and also about the thousand of birds that exist in Uganda. Our safari drives were a never-ending National Geographic-kind of experience. We were taken extremely good care of. Upon arrival to Entebbe, we learnt that part of our luggage was lost together with our clothes (and one of the cameras), but it did not ruin our experience, as Simba did everything possible to make sure our luggage is returned to us asap. As our wonderful tour manager told us: I will contact the airport every day until I become a pain to them:) And it worked as our luggage was returned to us on our 4th day although we were already some hundreds km away from Entebbe airport: Simba sent its driver to meet halfway with our safari guide Remy while we were enjoying a boat trip ride. Also our hiking shoes bought locally fell apart but again Remy took care of it. He brought the shoes to the local repairman and now these shoes will experience many more years of travel:) Also want to mention that our safari guide is a very skillful and careful driver. That's important as often times roads in Uganda are not as good as in most countries in Europe, for example and traffic can also get a bit crazy. Comfort and safety of tourits is a priority for Simba! Also, all our lodges were great! The staff was everywhere extremely friendly, polite and helpful. We never encountered rudeness or indifference. Also, food exceeded all our expectations. I think we even got a little bit spoilt as almost in all lodges we were offered a finger-licking dessert for dinner (in addition to at least two-course meals):) And of course, fresh fruits and fresh juices everyday is the least your should expect.
We are extremely grateful to Simba Africa Expeditions for organizing such a great trip for us. We did game drives, and boat trips and we saw mountains and lakes and waterfalls. We made amazing memories and thousands of beautiful pictures!
CH
Email Christoph | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Short but intensive 5-day trip to the primates of Uganda
We have done a 5-days tour starting in Entebbe and ending in Musanze/Rwanda.
We had a wonderful holiday and we enjoyed the tour a lot. We especially liked the following aspects of the tour:
- Accomodation: the accomocations were all fine but we especially enjoyed staying at Isunga Lodge which we consider the most beautiful accomocation we stayed at during our whole holiday.
- Our tour included all important components we agreed on and we're very happy that everything worked out so well and that there were no misunderstandings.
- The driver was a very affable and friendly tour guide and we enjoyed travelling with him a lot. He was happy to respond to our special wishes (stops for photos etc.) and we felt very safe driving with him.
- We especially appreciated driving in a big van so we had enough room for the luggage.
- We enjoyed the village walk at Bigodi swamp very much as the guide told us a lot about daily life and about the swamp and the animals and plants living there.
We have a few ideas to improve the tour even more:
- Since we enjoyed the village walk at Bigodi swamp so much, we were a bit disappointed that we didn't have enough time to do the village and the swamp walk completely as we expected. After visiting the chimpanzees we had a very long break in the afternoon at the hotel which resulted in not having enough time for the swamp and the village walk. We suggest to count enough time for both walks and to shorten the break after visiting the chimpanzees.
- Drinking water: We got drinking water in 0.5 liter bottles. We suggest to buy bigger bottles since they produce a lot of garbage.
- On the fourth day of the tour there wasn't any drinking water left and the driver didn't buy any new one for us, although we asked him to. We seriously suggest to buy enough drinking water for every day since we counted on it.
- When we went to see the gorillas the driver din't ask us about our preferences (walk a short or a long way to see the gorillas). After finishing the hike he told us why he had chosen the particular group of gorillas for us. The hike was beautiful but we would have liked to be included in the decision which group we were going to visit. We both would have liked to do a longer hike and we were a bit disappointed that it was over so quickly (25 minutes one way). We're very used to hiking and it would have been good if the driver had asked us for our opinion before making the booking.
- The accomodation at Ruhija (Gorilla Mist Camp) was not as nice as we expected it to be. The room was quite nice just as the view, but there were a few things that didn't work properly. The shower turned out to be a small trickle and the water was not hot. The wifi didn't work at all. Also the light wasn't working at the first night.
- We also enjoyed the village walk at Ruhija. We would have appreciated if we would have had an idea of how much we'd have to tip. Since the walk had already been payed for we weren't sure if we still had to tip but the expectation was obviously there. We generally think that expected tipping in this context can create wrong incentives and dependencies for the participating people from the village. Instead, we are interested in an authentic meeting and exchange at eye level.
Even though, we have a few a series of suggestions to improve the tour, we were more than happy to have done this tour with you and we remember these days in Uganda as an amazing experience.
The communication with the tour company before the tour was very professional and insightful. All our questions and needs were responded to very quickly.
US
Email Shelley (Tusonge Ministries) | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Wonderful experience and wonderful people to work with!
We brought a group of 8 from the U.S. to Uganda for a 13 day mission trip. I was very impressed with the communication I had before our trip. Hajarah worked very hard to accommodate all of our needs. She was very easy to talk to and made me feel very comfortable while I was working with her on all of our details. We were also very happy with the cost of the trip. While we were in Uganda our main driver and Safari tour guide was a man named George. He is the best there is!! He became part of our group and jumped in worked as hard as the rest of us. We were there working with a group of kids and he loved the kids as much as we did. When we went on our Safari to Murchison Falls he was very knowledgeable about the animals and their behaviors. We felt very comfortable even while siting just a few feet from a lion and lioness!! :) The accommodations were wonderful!!
Overall I would highly recommend Simba African Expeditions if you want a well organized trip with super friendly and loving people to work with!! They far exceeded our expectations. We will definatly be using them again!
PL
Email Wiażer | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent service and unforgettable experience
I was on a 3-day gorilla tracking safari which I absolutely loved!
All went pretty much as expected. My overall experience was great. I had no problems during the entire tour. They were very responsive to all my emails.
I appreciate their willingness to discuss and adjust the itinerary according to my tight budget. That made it the cheapest reliable option I found.
I would recommend them to anyone.
Take note that nights are cold in Bwindi and days are not boiling hot either. The Batwa community walk was not authentic.
JP
Email Jess | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The guide is what made the tour amazing
Simba gave me the best price for the gorilla trekking when I was first researching tour agencies. Frank was my guide and was so knowledgeable on every single animal- fuelling the inner animal science geek in me. He was also happy to answer any questions I had, however controversial, on Ugandan culture. My most favourite moments were the things that weren't scheduled: like stopping on the side of the road to buy local potatoes and watching the guide interact in the exchange.
My only request would be an opportunity to buy a small souvenir from the stalls (with guidance), more chance to try traditional food that isnt from a restaurant designed specifically for foreign tourists, and an explanation why the Batwa community walk was omitted when it was mentioned in the original schedule. I also did not need to stay in anything as lavish as what I did as a solo traveller, so if there was more options given at the begining to chose how much I wanted to spend on accommodation, that would be good too.
I would book through Simba again and request Frank, but ask to slightly alter the tour to include the above comments.
Overall, very happy customer! Would definitely like to come back and do the gorilla habitation program.
AR
Email Joana | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Gorilla tracking
It was all great from start to end!! Reachel my driver was very kind and always so happy, she shared with me everything she knew about national parks, animals, trees and uganda itself.
Gorilla tracking was amazing and the batwa walk was very interesting too.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Treated Like Royalty
Simba Africa Expeditions took amazing care of us throughout our three day excursion. They were also incredibly helpful in getting the safari set up and having all bookings taken care of for us in advance. The lodge at Paraa was beautiful, comfortable, and the food was delicious. Both of our game drives were gorgeous and we saw loads of wildlife on each drive. Elephants, giraffe, deer, antelope, warthogs, hippopotamus, crocodiles, hyena, lion, beautiful birds, and a leopard. It was incredible! The boat ride up the nile to Murchison Falls is a must do and a perfect way to end the tour. Thank you Simba!