Ecotourism in action
Bamboo Ecotours
- Office In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2012)
- Member Of:
- Association of Uganda Tour Operators
- Tour Types:
- Customizable private tours and fixed group tours
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $110 to $600 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
for a custom tour
Your request will be sent directly to the operator
If preferred, you can contact the operator directly
Reviews
NL
Email TB | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Good communication, good planning
We planned 4 days gorilla and chimpanzee trekking tour plus lake Buyonyi visit with Bamboo. They helped with every aspect of the trip during uncertain times. Everything worked very smooth. We stayed in nice clean places. Our Driver/ Guide was great
FI
Email Sabrina | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Just easy, professional and affordable
Backpacking in East Africa is quite hard (especially during COVID) and I have to say that with Bamboo Ecotours I had the best experience in all East Africa. Communication through email and whatsapp was quick, clear and professional. Payment happened easily with no extra cost through an secured online platform (very thankful for no cash when you have to pay 700$ for only the gorilla permit). My guide and driver was great and the vehicle excellent. They helped me to do all the activities I wanted from Kisoro for a reasonable price and by reducing all the buzz around. They also helped my with logistics sush as accomodation and buses. I did the gorilla trek in Bwindi and hiked Sabyinyo in Mgahinga, plus a transfer to Lake Bunyonyi. I reccomend the activites as well as Bamboo Ecotours! Uganda is beautiful!
Budget tour to trek the gorillas in Bwindi National Park
I chose Bamboo EcoTours for their budget-friendly option to trek the gorillas in Bwindi National Park. They provided me transportation from Kisoro to Buhoma and return to Kabale. Although my gorilla trekking experience was rather underwhelming, I nevertheless enjoyed the ride as Jackson was very professional and helpful. Perhaps if the tour included a packed lunch for the price I paid that would've been even nicer.
Email JBtimes | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Expert organisation of four-day Gorilla Trek in Uganda
Bamboo Ecotours were really great to deal with. Edison was prompt in answering emails and queries. The trip worked out perfectly and met our expectations without exception. We were able to fit everything into a tight schedule. Our guides Joseph and Herbert were very well organised and made sure we had a good time and were always safe and well looked after. The gorilla trek itself was real highlight and was very well coordinated. It only took one hour to get to the spot where our designated family group appeared to be waiting for us to arrive. We were amazed to find the gorillas sitting around going about their daily business and not bothered by our presence. The thrill of being so close to these wonderful creatures and sensing how comfortable they were was truly beautiful. To know that they were not threatened by us, was the most rewarding experience. We were able to observe them for more than an hour and of course took plenty of great photos and videos of the silver backs, mothers, juveniles and a couple of adorable babies. We also hired (our own expense) a porter to assist with our bags and getting us up and down the muddy mountainside. This was agreed to be very worthwhile. During our four-day tour we also travelled through three other parks and saw a variety of wildlife up close. We got to see nearly all of the creatures mentioned in our itinerary. The accommodation booked by Bamboo Ecotours was of a very high standard and did not disappoint. The guides were very punctual and thorough in their organisation of our tour and we felt we received great value for money. I would highly recommend Bamboo Ecotours to anyone wanting to make a similar trek through Uganda and/or Rwanda.
US
Email Derek | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great way to see the best of Ugandan Wildlife
I had an amazing experience in Uganda thanks to Bamboo Ecotours. The 5 day tour covers everything! You see Gorillas, do game drives for local wildlife, a game boat ride, and see the chimps. They put the entire package together and made it all work. I would definitely use them again.
CA
Email Stephanie | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Majestic experience!
We loved our time in Bwindi and Rushaga Gorilla Camp. The warm hospitality of the people was incredibly welcoming and the gorilla trekking was something words can't describe. Edison was extremely responsive, timely, reliable and helpful in organizing our package and I would highly recommend him. The drivers he arranged for us, Fred and Gerald, were also excellent and had a ton of knowledge to share. Fred was very friendly and we appreciated his expertise. Overall, I would strongly recommend Edison for his outstanding service and to experience the majestic gorillas of Uganda.
CA
Email Lani | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great tour, professional company and guide
My friend and I did a 4 day gorilla and lake tour of southern Uganda from Kigali. I would highly recommend both the tour, the company, and our guide Fred. Communication with the company was easy, they were very responsive, payment was easy, the hotels we stayed at were great, and our guide Fred was very professional and had a lot of information to share with us. He was a great driver and also seemed knowledgeable about our questions on local history and culture.
I had hoped to see gorillas interacting with one another, but unfortunately for us our gorilla family were found in a very dense part of the forest so this wasn't possible, and we couldn't see them very well. We did, however, get to see the silverback very clearly. Fortunately were were just 4 tourists in our group so we were able to easily maneuver around each other in the dense vegetation to get a good look at him.
I would also highly recommend doing the 4 day tour and going to the lake. The hotel there was wonderful and the setting gorgeous, with many volcanoes in the background. The lake is swimmable (no bilharzia) and you can rent paddleboards or a canoe, or take a boat across to an island and hike. Lots of options of things to do there. Plus the food was delicious.
I don't normally give 5/5 reviews, but all in all this experience was great!
Email Joana Rosa | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very impressive company
I haven't been on my safari yet but I've been exchanging emails with Edison (owner of Bamboo Ecotours) for several months and I must say I'm very impressed with his promptness, efficiency and attentiveness. I'm looking forward to meeting the rest of the team and to spending 14 days exploring beautiful Uganda.
CH
Email Vincent Roten | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Beautiful experience
Everything worked fine. We saw the gorillas. I can recommand it. It is just quite expensive but worthy.
US
Email Tom | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing 10 day western Uganda wildlife safari (including chimps and gorillas)
Just returned from an amazing trip, and all I can say is how amazing Bamboo Ecotours was. We chose to do the 10 day Western Uganda wildlife tour as we had 3 weeks total to spend in East Africa, and wanted to do more than just primates in Uganda, since clearly it has so much more to offer. And I am so glad that we did this, it was an amazing experience.
From the time we first inquired about the trip, Edison was nothing amazing and professional! Our tour guide Joseph and driver Herbert did such a great job - any time there was even a small issue they all went out of their way to help correct things (and these were problems that were beyond their control - if you don't own the hotel you can't make the staff care - but you can confront them about the issues and help your clients which they certainly did). Not that any issues impacted our enjoyment, because it was a great trip. All the lodging was mid-range either lodges or permanent tents/bandas - I think we actually liked the tents/bandas best - stayed cooler and felt closer to nature. Honestly liked all the places we stayed quite a bit. Also have to commend the transportation - 4 wheel drive mini bus type of thing (with pop up roof). The roads in Uganda (especially in the areas in/around/between the parks) are mostly dirt and many were actively under construction - and the vehicle never had any issues and had lots of room for us. Most companies seem to just have a single driver/guide - I really liked that for this type of longer tour we had a driver and a guide. The driving was very difficult and it was nice that we could ask questions without disturbing our driver, but they also worked as a great team. Really liked that setup.
Some specifics about places we went to:
-Ziwa Rhino sanctuary was amazing, was able to get so close on foot with a ranger (and unfortunately didn't see any other rhinos during our total 3 week trip so this was great to have included)
-Murchison Falls national park was absolutely gorgeous and had so much more wildlife than I could have imagined - the boat tour on the Nile was fantastic and relaxing, and lead to a hike to the top of the falls - also amazing
-Kazinga channel (essentially adjacent to QENP) was great. It was the end of the dry season and very hot, so pretty much all the animals were at the water's edge. We did a boat trip here as well - but small boat with only 2 other people plus guide and driver so we were able to get very close (which was different than the big double decker boat on the Nile)
-Kibale for the chimps and Bwindi for the gorillas were just amazing, once in a lifetime kind of experiences. In both cases the animals ended up just a few feet away and we got such good pictures
-Before the chimp trek at Kibale we did a swamp walk in Bigodi swamp including a community walk and stop at someone's home to see how banana beer and gin were made - optional activity but highly, highly recommended
-Last stop was Lake Mutanda - wish we had more time here, was gorgeous! Did more cultural activities here - visited with the Batwa people and then went to a coffee plantation (small, family owned) - which was so incredible. Had options of activities for this day - I think we chose well and I really like that these were community activities where money we paid went directly to individuals in the community and not to some other company.
Overall I really just can't say enough good things about Bamboo Ecotours. They will of course do a great job if you just have a few days and want to see primates - but I really would recommend seeing more of the country with them. We spent a week in Tanzania after this and it was different - so I don't feel at all like we duplicated things. Thanks to Edison, Joseph and Herbert for making this incredible experience possible!
