Bella Africa safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2015)
- Member Of:
- Association of Uganda Tour Operators, uganda wildlife association & licensed guide by uganda tourist board
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $40 to $500 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
NL
Email Regelink | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic safari with our great guide Ben Aloysius Kyeyune
Last june we went with a group of seven people on a four days Murchison Falls safari tour with a rhino and chimp tracking organised by Bella Safaris. It was fabulous. We will never forget this fantastic experience. We saw so many wild animals and great landscapes. It was well organised, with a very personal approach. A day before the safari guide Ben Aloysius Kyeyune visited us on our hotel and went through the plan of the trip. So we were very prepared before the safari started. Ben was great. He knows so much about the national park, all the animals, their behavior and everything about the country Uganda and the way he does his job is so full with passion. Beyond his knowledge, he's a very nice and fun person to hang out with and a very good driver too! We recommend other people this safari very much. Especially tourguide Ben, because he is very qualified and skilled and a great person!
Thanks again for this great trip!
DE
Email Manuel | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Everything you dream of and more
We had already been looking forward to the Safari and were very confident about what to expect thanks to the great reviews and the good contact with Bella and her staff before the trip. Nonetheless, we were still pleasantly surprised.
Our guide Suleiman was friendly, knowledgeable, reliable and fulfilled our every wish. Every game drive he tried his best to show us as many animals as possible. When our car broke down (something that can always happen on the difficult African roads) he drove us as far as we could and organised another car that picked us up so that we only arrived a few hours later than planned at our destination.
The lodges were absolutely top notch and each one unique: An outdoor restaurant at the banks of the Nile, an infinity pool overlooking the infinity of the Savannah, balconies with a view over the mountains, great service, good food. Two of us were fasting and all hotels catered breakfast for us before dawn.
And that all for an amazing price: We got a private tour for four people at a price that would have not even gotten us a group tour in any of the more explored countries.
That brings me to the last point of the review: The beautiful country Uganda. Initially we were also looking at the more famous countries for Safaris. However, we are very happy that somebody recommended Uganda to us. Not only is it way warmer than Southern Africa at the time that we travelled, it is also still not as explored as neighbouring Kenya or Tanzania. Which makes it cheaper and less touristy. We saw plenty of elephants, rhinos, giraffes, hippos, crocodiles, bulls and a few lions (even the rare kind that sit on trees). We even got to see a hyana and two jackals. We got to walk with Zebras and saw a bush baby and a civet cat during a night safari. And Uganda has two highlights that none of the other popular Safari destinations have: Chimpanzees and Gorillas. The permits alone cost 150 and 600 Dollars. Bella includes these fees in her tour package price, making it even more bang for the buck. I am usually a person that prefers individual traveling to tours and I have never been so happy to hand the organisation over to a tour operator.
All four of us can highly recommend to do a tour with Bella and her great guides. Thank you Suleiman, Bella and team for a great time!
NL
Email Annie | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great experience with Bella Africa Safaris!
After a lot of e-mail contact with the office of Bella, finally we had a wonderfull time with our two guides: Donna and Richard.
Everything we liked to be arranged was possible. They picked us from the airport and the next day we drove to Tororo. We visited the place where our daughter during 4 months had done her internship at the hospital and the hospice of Tororo. It was great to get the opportunity to see this place.
The next days we had a wonderfull safaritrip to the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, Murchison Falls for a game drive, a boat safari and a hike to the top of the Murchison falls.
Then we drove to Kibale Forest Camp. The next morning we did a chimpansee track in the rain forest and an afternoon swamp walk.
The day after we hit the road again for an African massage (the african roads are different as we are used to). The following destination was Queen Elizabeth National Park. We did a boat safari on the Kazinga Channel, where we spotted a lot of animals. Next day we enjoyed an early morning game drive. The afternoon we stayed at our Bush lodge to relax and we where surprised by seeing lots of elephants in our front yard.
Our final safaritrip was at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, where we hiked to see a Mountain Gorilla Family. Also this was an unforgettable experience.
We stopped at Lake Mburo to see some zebra's and ended our trip in Entebbe.
Our guides told us very many things about Uganda, nature and the animals, fantastic!
We were very happy to have Richard and Donna as our drivers/guides. We were also happy with the stay in different Lodges Bella booked for us.
We recommend Bella Africa Safaris to everyone!
Memorable safari
Wow.We had already been looking forward to the Safari and were very confident about what to expect thanks to the great reviews and the good contact with Elias and his staff before the trip. Nonetheless, we were still pleasantly surprised. The itinerary was great. Our trip was booked by WU who was our team leader. It was a great experience.
Our guide Kareem was friendly, knowledgeable, reliable and fulfilled our every wish. Every game drive he tried his best to show us as many animals as possible. I will recommend this company to China travellers. May be they should also employa chines guide
Email Simone | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing Adventure...Visiting with the magnificent Mountain Gorillas....my dream come true!!!
I am a single female traveller. I had the most wonderful trip. Bella and Justine were very prompt in replying to my communications, any adjustments that i wanted to make... I wanted to trek with the Mountain Gorillas twice....these additions to the itinerary were not a problem. The accommodations were so lovely and the food, I am gluten free, was delicious. I couldn't have asked for better guides than Amanda & Moses, they were magnificent! The safari was like 3 friends travelling together.....I had the most wonderful time. I am planning my next trip to the "Pearl of Africa". I can hardly wait to revisit with the magnificent Mountain Gorillas. Amazing Amazing Amazing! Thank you Bella Africa Safaris.
Email Vicky | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing trip of a lifetime with expert guide
We visited Uganda last summer and from the first email Bella and the team were really friendly and informative but not pushy. We did an 11 day safari including a magical Gorilla trek and so many amazing animal viewing opportunities. Ben our guide was AWESOME. Maybe we got lucky but he was so knowledgeable and went out of his way to find us some amazing animals, including a beautiful leopard trotting across the grasslands in Queen Elizabeth National Park, a white rhino mother and calf at the Rhino sanctuary (wild living) and a couple of sleepy lionesses dozing away in a Candelabra tree, among so many more. He was also passionate about the animals and their conservation which we feel strongly about, but unfortunately not all wildlife tour companies do.
The accommodation was impressive for our budget - the tented camps are brilliant and give you a 'luxury' tent feel whilst being really close to the wild - don't forget your headtorch! Staying in Kibale Forest camp and Rwakobo Rock were some of our favourites. The food was excellent in most places and the chefs were happy to make adjustments for vegetarian needs (give advance notice if you can!).
We had some great adventures with Ben and the 4x4 minivan (don't be put off by these vehicles, ours was the most comfortable of our month long trip and you can be in it for hours driving the bumpy murram roads) and as well as teaching us so much, we felt like we had made a friend by the end of the trip and were even more sad to leave!
We are trying to plan a way to go back to wonderful Uganda as there is still so much to see, and would definitely contact Bella and Ben for a guaranteed amazing trip! What are you waiting for?! :)
US
Email Rob and Wendy | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Bella Safari exceeded all expectations; it was the trip of a life time!
From the moment we selected Bella Safari we were pleased. We were immediately greeted and welcomed by the team on both email and WhatsApp. Our and worries were set aside. We put 110% trust in Bella and her team and were not disappointed.
We honestly did not know what to expect however, from the start our loving driver and guide Donah put us under her wing and made sure that we were comfortable and cared for. I cannot imagine a better experience. The sights were amazing and the accommodations perfect. We were awed and inspired by the beautiful country and people.
This was going to be our one and only trip to Uganda. We are now talking to family and friends about a repeat.
The smiles and memories that we carry with us are without a doubt due to this experience. We would choose Bella Safari and Donah over and over and over.
FR
Email Mathilde | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing discovering of The Pearl of Africa with Bella Africa Safari, a passionate and funny team
Bella Africa Safari provides a perfect and tailor-made service
US
Email Lara Vimercati | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
An amazing way to visit Uganda
My sister and I travelled through Uganda for 13 days with Bella Africa Safaris. We had an amazing time with our guide Ronnie. He was very knowledgeable, friendly, fun and always making sure we had a great time. The team was very helpful in organizing a tailor-made safari for us.
We loved the country and the overall experience with the cmpany. The only thing we would have liked different was that the tour program given beforehand was more detailed and accurate. Sometimes it was not entirely reflecting of what was happening or included in each day.
Overall we definitely recommend to visit Uganda with Bella Africa Safaris.
IE
Email Barbara | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY - THEY WILL ROB YOU!
Do not use Bella Africa Safaris as Bella basically took our money and left us hanging high and dry.
We found this out the day after our arrival in Kigali when it turned out that nothing was paid for: no car, no permits, no activities. We did have phone calls with Bella herself who told us that she had financial problems, but all would be solved within 3 days and we just needed to advance $2000 for the first 3 days so that she could sort herself out. She would meet us in person back in Kigali, apologize and ensure us we will have a fantastic trip. Needless to say that never happened. We had no choice but to pay for everything all over again it was that or taking the next flight home. We were lucky to still be able to get gorilla permits and I wont mention the financial impact of having to pay for this trip of a life time twice.
We sent the deposit back in February to ensure all permits would be bought well in advance but nothing was done. So this was not a last minute problem with cash flow as one of the versions of the story we were provided with
I repeat DO NOT use this company they are a sham. Rwanda is amazing but our trip was spoilt by Bella’s dishonesty and greed. We went to Rwanda and have been back for 3 weeks and the last thing we heard she was going to ask for a loan and reimburse us every penny. This was 2 weeks ago. We will never see our money again don't waste yours as well, find another company.