Field photo setting off for rhino tracking
Karumuna Safaris
- Located In:
-
Australia
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2010)
- Member Of:
- Uganda Tourism Board
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $70 to $600 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
Email EMMANUEL | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Richard is a trustworthy person, friendly and well informed.
i had a great experience with karumana safaris, the trip was enjoying as well as educative because Mr. Richard was knowledgeable about different places and their tourist attractions.
RS
Email Aleksandar Zivic | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Zero star
I hope you guys who are interested in traveling in Uganda find this review useful and won't make the same mistake as me and my friend did. In this review i will share the part of my experience with Karumuna Safaris and it's owner Richard who we believe is a fraud and a thief.
From the first moment i contacted Richard he was very fast in answering my mails and whatsapp messages,which i liked because that is how an agency should behave with clients. I applied for the journey inDecember and was supposed to arrive in Uganda in March!! It was like that until the moment I paid him the 50% down payment which he requested because he wanted to make sure the gorilla tracking permits are secured. The same story was with my friend who applied for the trip one month after me. The moment I paid him the money, no answers no mails, nothing! Every info I needed I had to wait 3 or 4 days for a response i called him and told him this is not professional. I asked him to make me another trip plan because i had less days in Uganda because of my ticket.
He sent me the plan 2 days before my trip and also found a guide for me and my friend day before our arrival. When we arrived and gave him the rest of the money the problems started. In the Lodge in Queen Elizabeth our guide approached us and told us thar Richard had an accident and hit the boda boda (motorcycle taxi) with his car and the motorcycle driver didn't survived so Richard was detained in prison. My friend and me were concerned but as the gorilla tracking was approaching i was starting to be suspicious about everything because Richard couldn't be reached on any phone and they apparently didn't know which prison he was detained and he was the only one who knew where the gorilla permits are. Our guides brother was searching for permits in his office and he was able to find only one permit. This one permit was paid on March 8th the day we arrived! And he told me in December to pay so he can secure the permit. At this point we knew that we were scammed! With the help of our guide Herbert we managed to pay for another permit 700usd because we came in Uganda specifically for the gorilla tracking. Richard was not answering any calls from our guide and the warden in the gorilla tracking office told us that he know Richard and that the chief of tourist operations in Uganda are awared that he scammed people before.
There was a lot more happening which I could write and if anyone is interested in hearing this can contact me.
This is not a fake profile, which he claims on other reviews of people that were also scammed and according to him want to damage KARUMUNA SAFARIS reputation. If you look the negative reviews it was never his fault!! . The ranger in Kibale national park told us that his driver by the name Dona went to Chimpanzee tracking with fake permits left the clients there and ran away with the car keys. If you don't want things like this to happen to you avoid Karumuna Safaris and Richard.
God sees everything, if Richard is really in prison he should stay there. But if he lied about hitting someone with his car in order to get 700usd speaks volumes about him as a person.
I tried to attach valuable photos (the payment of the permit,screenshots of our chats and more) but the site won't publish them, so if anyone needs to see them I can send them.
CH
Email Andy | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
10Day unforgettable trip with Karumuna Safaris
We had an amazing experience with Karumuna Safaris our guide Moses was so nice he tried his best to make sure that we got the best and we indeed got the best Seeing the gorillas was so amazing with unforgettable memories we highly recommend Karumuna Safaris
Email Aggrey payo | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Tour operator is well experinced, good cars and keeps time with knowedge about the pearl of africa.
The tour operator gave us the best trip to the pearl of Africa, amazing foods and beautiful scenes.
AR
Email Leandro garibaldi | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Worst Nightmare Ever
Avoid this company. The owner/manager Richard, lied to us. He did not respect the contract, put me in different accommodation, much cheaper and very low quality , than i have paid for. I have paid for gorilla habituation but instead of that i just got the regular 1 hour trekking, he ripped me off u$s 800, which was never refunded to me. The driver Dona who was part of the scam, tried to make me pay for a hotel in the middle of nowhere and when i talked to the police the money magically was sent to the hotel.
Please go with someone else to make you trip of a lifetime unforgettable.
Other companies will make your dream come true.
(images removed for privacy reasons)
NL
Email Kim | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Uganda Wildlife experience at its best
Did a 10-day tour through western Uganda with guide Ashadu. Booked a small group trip, but due to circumstances ended up as a solo tour. Ashadu made sure I was very safe and comfortable during the whole trip. He discussed the planning well in advance, as well as being very flexible to weather conditions/energy etc.
Had a lot of opportunities to spot the best wildlife in Uganda.
Staying in a lot of different lofts and hotels, and all were very fine and on nice locations. Food on the way was very enjoyable, with a lot of new things to try.
With a few days left after this 10-day trip, I contacted Richard to offer me a small tour to Jinja and Sipi-falls. I switched from tourguide Ashadu to Richard and enjoyed my last days in Uganda also very well.
They were flexible with my budget.
CH
Email Jeannine | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It was stunning and UNIQUE!
Me and my parents had an amazing safari week tour with Mr. Richard Kisembo. It was one of our best trips in Uganda. He responded to our needs and we always felt safe. Our accommodations were very nice and the staff was absolutely courteous. If there is a any chance to come back, we would choose him again. Thank you for this great adventure experience and making our journey unforgettable, stay blessed! Big hug from switzerland
IT
Email Simone | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A good travel companion who is able to make you feel comfortable and add value to your trip.
As solo traveller and passionate wild life photographer, I travelled through Uganda for 11 days with Richard, a 15 years experienced guide with whom I had preliminarily made contact and defined the details of the trip during the booking stage.
The tour was well organized with sufficient time for relaxing and enjoying the places after tiring days spent on game drives, various wild life activities such as Mountain Gorillas trekking and long driving sessions to reach the next destination. It was also possible to adapt the program based on short notice requests/developments to suit weather conditions and/or travelling schedule; this added value to the experience and made it feel like not pre-packaged but authentic and more intriguing.
I would personally reccommend Karumuna Safaris for the fair value for money and the extensive knowledge and experience of his guide Richard who always showed a high level of preparedeness and availability to respond to the traveller's requests.
Email Chris | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Great destinations, a lot of waiting with little communication
The tour got us where we wanted to go, there were several times where we were asked to wait, tour guide disappeared for long periods of time without providing us information as to what we could do in this time (for example explore) accommodation had been changed and we only discovered this upon arrival at the accommodation. Despite booking a triple share tour this had not been prepared at each location. The vehicle itself left a fair bit to be desired and let us down. There were frustrations which we discussed with the tour guide as they arose. We seen what we set out to see so for that we are grateful. However I don’t believe we really got value for money given the time wasted and missed opportunities as a result. I wouldn’t be opposed to booking with Karumuna again however I would require clearer confirmation on what we should expect.
ES
Email Eduardo | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Friendly and willing to please you and assist you with any matter
I booked a seven days safari trip with Karumuna Safaris visiting Queen Elizabeth, Bwindi Impenetrable forest and Lake Mburo. Since the first moment I got in touch with Richard, he was flexible to made some changes in the itinerary and made the trip really easy. Due to some personal issues I had to cancel my trip and reschedule it for a month later without any problem.Even having experienced some issues in one of the game drives, spending an hour without any other tourists around with the gorillas definitely made my trip an unforgettable experience.
Fair price paid for an interesting week discovering what Uganda has to offer!