Engagi Safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2010)
- Member Of:
- ASTA, TUGATA & USAGA
- Tour Types:
- Customizable private tours and fixed group tours
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $250 to $600 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
Email John Semple | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Incredible experience with Robert and his team
Engagi Safaris are very well organised, from the communication we received prior to the trip to the day to day "little things" that Robert and his team were so good at.
We couldn't have had a better time on our Uganda Safari and couldn't recommend Engagi Safaris more.
US
Email Lisa Adamson | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent!
I had the best vacation! A vacation of a lifetime!! It was a trip that I had been wanting to take since I was A little girl. Engagi Safaris was recommended to me by a friend. He said that he had a great experience so I thought I would use the same company. I was going to be traveling alone so I wanted to be sure that I was going to be safe and with a reputable company. I was able to arrange a 13 day excursion with many adventures. Basiima Robert was an excellent guide and driver. He was able to set up a perfect itinerary for me that consisted of chimpanzee habitation, gorilla trekking, Ngamba Island, Nile Rafting, Lake Bunyonyi and game drives and so much more! I highly recommend Engagi Safaris for your trip to Uganda. You will not be disappointed. Thank you so much for giving me my trip of a lifetime. An adventure I will never forget
MY
Email Corrinne | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful 5 days with Engagi Safaris
I had 2 weeks to plan a trip to Uganda and with not much time to research what to do and see, I emailed Engagi Safari for some ideas and prices. Robert was very quick to reply to my emails and was also very accommodating when I keep changing my itinerary. I did the 5 days tour including gorilla trekking in Bwindi, chimpanzee all day immersion and QENP . A friend of mine who has done the gorilla trekking with Engagi Safari some years ago recommended them and after my 5 days with Kenneth of Engagi Safaris I couldn't recommend them more. I was a sole female traveler and they really looked after me. The accommodation choices were great and I felt I was in good hands the whole time. Kenneth is a good guide, lots of knowledge about birds and very passionate about the gorillas. The seamless arrangement by Engagi Safaris made my trip a very memorable one.
NL
Email Robin & Claire | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience!
Early September 2016, my girlfriend and I went on a five day private safari with Engagi Safaris. Of these five days, we used three to do some amazing trips.
First of all, we did the Chimpanzee Habituation experience in Kibale National Park. This meant we went into the forest with a ranger, Jessica for a full day, and we were lucky enough to be the only ones in the group. In our case, it took until lunch time until we found a group of chimpanzees, which was super rewarding after a couple of hours of searching for them. From the moment we found them, we did not lose them anymore and we could just sit and be lazy together with them, but we could also see them play, and interact with each other and some times with us. We stayed with them for a couple of hours and then we left. It was an absolutely amazing day.
As a second activity, we did the famous gorilla trekking. We did this one in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. The experience was different than with the chimps, first of all, because the walk is much harder due to very steep walks (a lot of fun though). The word impenetrable is also in the name for a good reason, the forest is very dense. It also differed from the chimp trekking in that we were only allowed to stay with the gorillas for an hour after finding them. But that hour was really amazing, the gorillas come so close, one even sat down right against my leg. Just imagine a creature weighing almost 200kg just walking straight towards you and parking her big butt right next to you. It was truly spectacular.
The third activity was the Golden Monkey trekking in Mgahinga National Park. This was about 1.5 hours walking up until we arrived in a bamboo forest (which I hadn’t seen before and would already be a reason to go up there by itself). Then we started searching for a group of Golden Monkeys, which took about an hour. We were then again allowed an hour before we went back and called it a day. Also a very nice tour, although compared to the others obviously the lesser of the three.
The rest of the time on this safari was spent driving (we had lots of distance to cover) and relaxing in beautiful lodges. For the first two nights, Robert took us to Kibale Forest Guesthouse, which was truly beautiful. Also, the kitchen was very professional; they made very good food and they were really fast. The third night we had the pleasure of staying in Roberts own lodge, Lake Bunyonyi Resort. And the last night, we stayed in Kisoro town. The accomodation was not as beautiful as we grew used to by then, but it was still a very nice place to relax.
All in all, we were very happy with the safari. Robert arranged everything for us and took very good care of us. He speaks English really well, and he taught us so much about Uganda. He told us about the wildlife there, about the culture, but also about politics. He really knows a lot about everything. And he gave us a really good price for the safari.
DE
Email Tanja & Frank | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Wonderful 2 Day Trip with Engagi
Organizing the trip was totally easy. Robert was very helpful arranging the trip (bank transaction, gorilla permits, etc.) and gave us good advice to plan our trip.
The lodge is completely new and lies at a very quiet place right at lake Bunyonyi.
The only negative side was the aspect of waiting really long for our meals. In addition, communication with the staff was sometimes a bit difficult in English. Despite that, everyone was totally friendly and helpful!
We can definitely recommend booking a trip with Engagi. Great time and worth the money.
SE
Email Margareta | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great experience at gorilla safari and a wonderful stay at Lake Bunyonyi
Me and my son made a gorilla safari in Bwindi impenetrable national park. It was a great experience. We had the best guides, both driver and gorilla trackers and learned a lot about Uganda at the same time. We felt very safe with the driver guide who delivered all service we could think of. We stayed at Lake Bunyonyi Rock Resort, the most wonderful place on earth, so beautiful and peaceful. The lodge was very nice and the service at the lodge perfect. We would very much like to return to this place.
Email Josh | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Gorilla Treck
I stayed at Lake Bunyonyi Rock Resort for 3 nights and went gorilla trecking in Bwindi. Engagi safaris were excellent, ensuring I had a tue one-in-a-lifetime experience!
NO
Email PeterB | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Engagi is a highly qualified outfit
Robert is an experienced and reliable guide. Since moving his accomodation to Lake Bunyoni in 2016 he can offer a complete set up with the highest requirements. Rock Resort is a 4 cottage outfit with European standard and excellent food. VERY clean.
CA
Email Anne | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing 8 day Ugandan safari, highly recommend!
My husband and I booked our trip (aka our honeymoon) with Engagi Safaris after seeing really good TripAdvisor reviews about the company and after reading recommendations for a budget/mid-range safari from online forums. At first we were a little unsure about booking directly with a local safari company (opposed to a well known international company) but after meeting our guide and the owner of the company, Basiima (Robert), we quickly realized that any doubts we had were completely unfounded.
We had an amazing 8 days with Basiima and we couldn't have asked for a better tour guide for Uganda. We had corresponded with Basiima by email prior to arriving about what we were hoping to see (primarily the gorillas, but we also wanted to go white water rafting and go on a small safari before we headed off to Tanzania) and Basiima suggested the perfect flexible itinerary that was within our budget. When we arrived everything had been pre-arranged by Basiima and went off without a hitch. The accommodations (a combination of budget and mid-range) were great - our favourite actually being Basiima's lodge (Lake Bunyoni Rock Resort) which is a beautiful, modern and small lodge (with large rooms) set in a tranquil spot away from the chaos of other resorts on the lake. The staff at his resort were so friendly and accommodating. However, all the places we stayed at were really good including the Haven (set on the banks of the Nile River), the Bush Lodge and the Chimpanzee Guest House (where Basiima had told the staff it was our honeymoon and they had decorated our room with flowers everywhere).
We got along really well with Basiima, who was always on time and went out of his way to make sure we saw and experienced everything we had wanted to see and do (including finding us leopards and tree-climbing lions in Queen Elizabeth National Park which took some effort). When it came time for arranging our groups for tracking gorillas (your guide is the one who'll negotiate your group for you) Basiima told us he had set us up with one of the best guides and I can say with confidence that our guide for the gorilla tracking was so knowledgeable and made our experience with the gorillas that much more amazing. Basiima is also well known in his community (around Kabale) and although it may sound odd, one of our funniest experiences on our trip involved going to the car wash with the locals who knew Basiima. I couldn't stop laughing as they were blasting music, dancing and cleaning the car at lightening speed. Basiima is also extremely knowledgeable about the history, people and wildlife of Uganda so if you're the kind of person who asks about every question that pops into your head, you're in luck!
After experiencing various other guides in Tanzania (on safari, while climbing and while exploring cities), I can honestly say that Basiima was definitely our favourite in terms of personality, punctuality, professionalism AND value. If you're looking for an amazing (and affordable) guide for Uganda (and/or Rwanda) then look no further!
US
Email Laura | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Customized, Fair and Personable
We coordinated our Safari with Robert by email - he was responsive, made good suggestions and was easy to work with.
We told Robert what we were hoping to do, the kind of budget we had available and our time line - and he made it happen. He handled the various unexpected glitches of the trip with grace and good communication and was flexible and able to adjust as we went, making great suggestions of change to our schedule to ensure we saw some of the highlights. Because of Robert's knowledge and insight we were able to see the tree climbing lions and in fact had viewing them all to ourselves.
It was clear to us that Robert knew Uganda well, knew the parks and resorts, supported the parks (and greatly enhanced our experience!) by hiring knowledgeable Park Rangers to join us for our game drives, and was all around a wonderful guide. He was thoughtful with small details to make us more comfortable as well - bottled water in the safari van, and even an inverter so we could charge our phones or cameras. Additionally, Robert is just a personable guy - we enjoyed having him join us for meals and appreciated the various cultural knowledge he willingly shared as we drove between destinations.
He was also 100% true to our arrangement - the price was exactly as quoted with no surprises and no unexpected expenses over the course of the trip. It's remarkable how much more relaxing travel is when someone else is taking care of paying all the day to day bills.
We had a wonderful tour in Uganda, and amazing trip and I highly recommend Robert with Engagi Safaris.