A fraction of Home To Africa Team.
Home To Africa Tours and Travel
- Office In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2012)
- Member Of:
- ASTA, APTA, AUTO & USTOA
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $55 to $500 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
CA
Email Barbara and Jim Hollingworth | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Truly amazing 8-day gorilla treking adventure with an outstanding company and wonderful guides.
Elias, owner of Home to Africa, was on the button from the get-go - we think he must work 24-7!!! We were looked after from start to finish by Karim and Moses, who went the extra mile for us, including a 10-hour drive in the middle of the night to get two of our company, delayed by airlines, to the morning gorilla trek. Karim is incredibly knowledgeable, both in terms of the culture and the wildlife. The accommodations were all unique and had their own charm, the service was impeccable; the Mount Gahinga Lodge on the second to last night was exceptional - a five-star lodge with five-star service. I wanted to travel with a local company (20% of their profits go to local charities and initiatives) and I must say that this was the best company with the best service I have ever done eco adventures with - and this includes 2 trips to the Serengeti, and trips to the Amazon, the Galapagos and rafting the Grand Canyon. Finally, the gorilla treks and the golden monkey trek were amazing - just to spend an hour in the company of these wonderful animals was a privilege. I recommend this tour company to anyone who is interested in gorilla trekking and/or cultural tours in East Africa. Uganda is a beautiful country inhabited by beautiful, welcoming Ugandans!!
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Email Brian | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best travel experience of our lives!
Our 12 day trip with Home to Africa was the best travel experience we have ever had. The trip planning with Elias was extremely efficient and he was quick and helpful with his responses. We were able to tailor our trip exactly as we wanted, including varying times of arrival and adding in a fishing trip for a couple of us. We originally planned a trip for 7 but 2 people had to cancel 30 days before and they were refunded appropriately according to the refund policy. The accommodations were fantastic but I should note that we upgraded them from the base accommodations (for a very reasonable price difference). In particular we really enjoyed the Marafiki Lodge, Arcadia Lodge, Isunga Lodge, and the 2 Friends Beach Hotel. We used a pop-up van which was very comfortable for 5 guests plus our driver and made it through some pretty rough roads without difficulty. Our guide, Derrick, was absolutely awesome. He fit in great with our group and we always wanted him to join us for meals and drinks so we could hang out more. He went above and beyond to help us try foods and pick up souvenirs that weren't readily available. When we stopped in crowded areas or were shopping he was always there acting in our best interest and looking out for us. Can't recommend him enough. The wildlife was fantastic. We had great experiences with the chimp trekking, where they sat on the ground with us for the entire hour, the gorilla trekking, and with the shoebill stork sighting. We also were able to get much closer to much of the wildlife than we expected and got some awesome photos. Our only disappointment was not seeing the tree-climbing lions of Ishasha but they had just done some burning there and the lions probably moved away for a short period of time. Certainly not the fault of the company. The food on the trip was way beyond what we expected. Every meal was fantastic, usually with multiple courses for dinner, and reasonably priced alcohol at the lodges. Considering how remote the lodges were, we were very surprised by how good and varied the food choices were. Staff at the lodges were all fantastic and with a much higher level of service than just about anywhere else we have traveled. One last piece of advice- make sure you stay at Arcadia Lodge on Lake Bunyonyi. I did not think there would be much of interest at the lake and almost wanted to cut it out of the itinerary but it ended up being one of the most mesmerizing views I have ever seen. But the beauty of the lake can only really be appreciated from the top of the mountain where Arcadia Lodge is located. Definitely worth the upgrade. I really can't say enough about our experience with Home to Africa. Everything was way beyond our expectations and for a very reasonable price compared to what many companies are offering.
DE
Email Nicole Schultz and Torsten Goly | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Great Uganda trip with Home To Africa
We were looking for a travel agency that is not only based in Uganda but also belongs to locals. We found Home To Africa!
Already on our first mail we received within one hour a detailed answer from Elias (Head of Home To Africa) and it was not
long and we had an individual tailor-made itinerary, which corresponded exactly to our expectations due to the valuable hints
and tips from Elias. That was first class! In the beginning of February we started and met our guide Tony, who led us through
Uganda for three weeks. Tony has a great knowledge of almost everything, he's a great driver and a very nice companion to
travel with. Thank you, Tony!
Our trip was great in every way. Very nice and friendly people, great landscapes and an outstanding flora and fauna. Chimpanzees
and gorilla tekking were just two of many highlights. Home To Africa did a wonderful job, from organizing the trip, choosing beautiful
lodges, to finding our forgotten clothes. Absolutely great again!
We have been traveling for 20 years and worked with many travel agencies, but Home To Africa deserves a special commendation.
This was not our last trip to Uganda (Rwanda, Tanzania) and we looking forward to further planning with Home To Africa.
But there is another important thing! Already during our trip, we noticed that Home to Africa has taken into account many social projects
and a large part of the travel price is donated to charitable institutions. For this we another star!
We thank Elias and Tony and of course all the other colleagues of Home To Africa! See you soon!
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Email Michael and Jacki Willette | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Experienced African-specialist travel agent recommends Home to Africa and extra-ordinary guide Karim
Our first experiences in Africa were wonderful itineraries sampling Capetown, wine country, and game parks, so this time we wanted to experience the Africa of the African people, but still have the experience of seeing amazing wildlife and landscapes. Uganda has 10 National Parks, richly populated and less-traveled wildlife reserves and a vibrant variety of cultures, like the Karamajong and the Batwa (pygmies). Uganda is one the safest countries we traveled through in Africa.
We had heard enough about Uganda to choose it, not only because the gorilla trekking permits are now half the cost of the more-traveled Rwanda, but Uganda offered so much more, including a thrilling afternoon in the forest with chimpanzees, and also a new opportunity to see a newly habituated community of golden monkeys (which might remind you of orangutans).
You will want a great guide and a sturdy vehicle to fully experience Uganda. I want to recommend a great company and remarkable individual with whom we spent three weeks. Home to Africa is the company and the guide I highly recommend is Karim. Karim was our driver, our teacher, our friend and our wonderful ‘mother hen’ for our three-week trip. Home to Africa crafted an itinerary that held surprises for us every day. We not only visited the ‘source of the Nile’ in Jinja but did so in a raft that crashed through thrilling rapids and then allowed us to float serenely in our vests. We spent fascinating hours in the vehicle and around the dining tables learning about Uganda’s history, culture and people from the scholarly Karim, only to experience it all in the days that followed.
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Uganda and Rwanda are amazing countries. Great people and good food and very affordable. Amazing landscapes, nature reserves and parks. We even saw the most elusive green breasted African pitta in kibale Forest. That was stunning. The holy grail bird for birders. As she is hardly ever seen even by ardent hardcore bird watchers. What luck we saw one and even took pictures. We had a blast with gorillas and even saw a leopard let alone lions and all. Time of our lives we had. And Rolex. Best food item We have ever had. Our guide Alex was lovely and tried very hard to accommodate anything we wanted and he sure did. Lovely experience.
Only drawback and was a MASSIVE ONE was that our car was a Toyota hiace wagon that was in shambles with no air conditioning and very uncomfortable so please in the future do ask about the car you will be provided with. For us it was a learning experience for sure so please make sure your future ride is a Toyota Land Cruiser minimum with working air conditioning.
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Email Ray | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Exceptional service ... loved it!
My best friend and I went with Home To Africa after a lot of research ... it has been about a month since we returned but still can't help talk about it! We had a terrific time - Elias was exceptional with communications, flexibility on itinerary, etc. Alex was a great guide and helped us see it ALL!!
The hotels were terrific ... and the people of Uganda (and therefore the service) are AMAZING!!!
The only downside was the comfort of the vehicle - the A/C was fickle (even in February, Uganda is hot) and the roads need a few billion dollars of investment. So I would confirm the specific vehicle type that would be used.
However, I would 100% recommend Home to Africa ... they literally treat you like you are family!
IT
Email Maria and Emmanuel | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unforgettable experience with extremely professional staff
Our Safari with Home to Africa was extremely nice. Before embarking on our journey, communication with the company was seamless and Hedmond helped us in the organization of every detail and answered to all our questions. Even though the itineraries seem fixed, Home to Africa managed to accommodate every request. Upon arrival in Entebbe, we met our guide Karim, who was with us for the entire journey. His professional advice and wide knowledge on wildlife and other topics made our journey exceptional. The accommodations were all up to our expectations and even above, all of them had fantastic view on parks, provided good food and the personnel was always friendly and helpful. This was our first Safari experience and Home to Africa, and especially Karim, made an unforgettable experience that we aim to repeat very soon.
Email Nerea | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
From Kigali to Bwindi: Fantastic service and amazing experience.
Me and my boyfriend decided in the last minute to travel to Bwindi for a long weekend. When we contacted Hedmond, he was very helpful and made it easy for us even with the payment option (as we wanted to use transferwise and it was not going to be a direct payment). Anyways, within 4 days everything was organized, visa, tour, gorilla trekking... and when we arrived to Kigali Oscar picked us up and drove us to the border with Uganda, where we met our friend Derrick. I have to say... what a fantastic music taste ;) We relaxed and enjoy the whole experience so much, and ended our trip in Lake Bunyonyi, a very nice proposal from Hedmond. Also, I would like to take the chance to thanks the whole team of Home to Africa because he had some trouble with the payment and they were patient enough. Highly recommend!
Email Charles | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Generally very caring personalized service provided by knowledgeable driver/guides and admin.
Home To Africa promptly provided answers to all our initial inquiries. They provided a personalized itinerary to meet our safari expectations and goals.
At times it felt like one of our driver guides was "clock watching" which meant we had to leave Ngorongoro Crater earlier than we would have liked in order to cope with the long drive to meet our time schedule.
Throughout the process, the communication was very good, the service excellent and the safari in total lived up to expectations.
I would recommend HTA as they try very hard to provide an experience that is memorable and achieves the clients' needs. Choice of accommodation was excellent and the food plentiful.
Thank you Elias and staff and our wonderful guide in Uganda - Karim - a real gentleman!
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Email Carrie Mann | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Elias and the Home to Africa team are amazing!
I contacted Home to Africa to assist with arranging gorilla permits in Uganda. From the first contact, Elias was extremely responsive and patient with answering all of my questions. He was able to arrange the permits quickly and even went out of his way to send me a receipt on a public holiday! The whole time, Elias made me feel really good about my choice to work with him and I felt like Home to Africa was very trustworthy, even though we were only communicating by email about pretty large amounts of money from thousands of miles away. I cannot say enough good things about the service Home to Africa provided and their excellent communication. I will be doing most of my trip backpacking independently, but if I ever come back to Uganda to go on safari with a tour company, Home to Africa would be the first company I would consider going with. Thank you Elias and everyone else on the Home to Africa team!