The Matoke Tours Team
Matoke Tours
- Located In:
-
Netherlands
- Size:
- 20-50 employees (Founded in 2002)
- Member Of:
- ATTA, AUTO, SGR, UTB & UCF
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $300 to $750 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
Unforgettable Gorilla Tracking Trip in Uganda
We had a really fantastic time last weekend! Aside from the problem with the Aerolink flight to Kisoro on Saturday, everything went very smoothly. Thank you for being available early on Saturday morning to help us troubleshoot. Even though you weren't able to get through to Aerolink, I really appreciated that I was able to call and reach you.
Lake Matunda Resort is wonderful! We were the only guests there. The staff were very warm and hospitable. Service and food was excellent. Our room was perfect. Views were breathtaking. It's one of the best mid-range hotels I've stayed in.
Our transfers to Entebbe, to/from Kisoro and to/from Rushanga were very smooth and timely. Our drivers were safe, reliable, and great ambassadors for the region.
Our gorilla tracking experience was phenomenal! We had one other person in our group. It was only three of us tracking. We only hiked for 40 minutes before reaching the gorilla family. The guides and trackers were excellent, kept us informed and safe. The hour we spent with the family was unforgettable. We lucked out with weather-- it only started to pour rain after we returned from tracking.
So, I'd say we had a really lucky low season experience--benefiting from no crowds, finding the gorillas quickly, and no rain while tracking.
Thanks again for all your help and coordination! I'll be recommending Matoke Tours to friends interested in tracking.
DE
Email Ursula&Uwe | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Northern Uganda Experience
We booked a private tour to north uganda, it was a great experience.
From organization to implemantation, all was perfect. We enjoyed the accomodations, the contact to the people, the wildlife and the countryside.
Special thanks to Sven (organization) and to our guide and driver David!
TH
Email Jim T | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Fantastic Uganda
The experience we had in Uganda was simply fantastic. All the activities were excellent as we saw all the animals which Uganda has to offer, big or small. The gorillas were the unbelievable, an amazing once in a lifetime experience but the Chimpanzee habituation was a real highlight and something I would really recommend to everybody who visits Kibale. A slightly unexpected highlight was actually the swamp walk in Kibale. We saw 7 out of the 8 primate species and the guide Ben, was a fantastic young man, very passionate and really well informed.
A great deal of our positive experience of Uganda was provided by Kaleb, our driver and guide. He was very kind, informed and positive the whole trip. He had a great understanding of the country, people and environment and made us very welcome. He also knew everybody we met which was great.
The accommodation was of a very high standard and was always interesting, either by location or by design. All the food we had was good, especially when we got to eat some of the local food.
Our only slight disappointment was in both Murchison Falls NP and Queen Elizabeth NP where both times the UWA failed to provide rangers for us. We had heard Kaleb make the arrangements for rangers but both times the rangers we booked choose to go with other, independent, 'cash in hand' groups instead. We did not miss out because Kaleb used to be a ranger and still possessed all the skills and connections so we saw all the animals we wanted to. However, it would have been good to have a second set of experienced eyes in the car with us.
When we did have rangers they were excellent. Africano was our guide for the Chimpanzees and he was brilliant as was the whole team of 5 we had for the Gorilla trekking.
Uganda is a beautiful and fascinating country and both we would like to thanks Matoke tours for guiding us through it.
DE
Email Marita Wünsche | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
10 days Uganda - a fantastic trip!
Full of expectation, we started our journey on May 2nd. We are two women traveling alone from Ilmenau. Already in advance, we were pleasantly surprised by the competent, very trustworthy advice by Sven Gilian. Arrived at Entebbe, we felt immediately in good hands when we saw a driver of the first lodge with our name and called our guide soon afterwards, inquired about us and announced for the next morning.
And as the first impression was, our entire trip went. Bryan, our "girl for everything" proved to be a true treasure. Not only did he inform us in detail about the country and the people (in very good German) during the trip, he did everything to make us feel comfortable with his humor, during the almost 1200 km journey.
Quite apart from that, the ride did not bother us otherwise. The wonderful scenery in all parts of the trip was the result. "Uganda, the green pearl of Africa" bears its name rightly.
Again and again we had to use our camera because we had to capture the beautiful landscape in pictures.
The swamp migration, as the first activity, was just right as an entry into the animal world. Unfortunately, the animals, such as the Colombus monkeys, were hiding a bit, but it would become better. And so it happened in the following days. It is very difficult to name a true highlight, because all animal observations were indescribably impressive for us in their own way. Whether it is the all-day trail with the chimpanzees, the tracking and extensive observation of the lions and a leopard, and, of course, the encounter with the gorillas - all in all unforgettable moments that fulfilled our expectations.
At this point, we must also mention the friendly, always helpful rangers, which have always endeavored to satisfy us and to compensate for our lack of English knowledge by slow speaking.
All in all, this trip will be a constant memory for us, and we would like to thank Matoke Tours for allowing us all this.
NL
Email Jeroen | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Thank you Matoke Tours for a great safari trip!
We were with a relatively big group of 9 people. Most of us have done already several safaris in countries like Tanzania, Kenya, South Africa and Botswana. Our main interest was going for a Gorilla tracking and Chimpanzee tracking but we wanted to have also different experiences and did not have much time.
Wim and Ilse understood our wishes quickly, were great, very helpful and informative in their communication and customized our itinerary perfectly. The accommodation were picked very well with nice food, the transport was timely and the different guides were very friendly but even more important very knowledgeable. We had different kinds of wildlife viewing like walking, driving and by boat. Even with abundant wildlife viewing from the pool with a cold glass of beer. :-)
Thank you very much, Wim, Ilse and the complete staff of Matoke Tours, we had an unforgettable trip and we recommend everybody who would like to visit amazingly beautiful en friendly Uganda to definitely go with Matoke Tours!!!
DE
Email Jannika and Anne | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
One week individual tour Uganda - a great experience
We did a week-long tour through Queen Elizabeth NP, Bwindi NP (Gorilla tracking) and Lake Mburo NP. The camps and lodges where we stayed were all beautiful and clean, nice and helpful people. We saw all animals we wanted to see, including lions, gorillas, giraffes and the shoebill. Our tour guide Kule was the best guide we could have imagined: friendly, knowledgeable and a safe driver. Organisation by Matoke was excellent: they were very responsive and helpful during the preparation of our tour and understood immediatelly our wishes and expectations. Highly recommendable!
US
Email Shawn | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing individual trip to Uganda
I travelled for an 11 day trip to Uganda using Matoke tours. Lionel is who I worked with while planning and he was beyond helpful. Always kind and patient with my many questions and made sure all my needs were met. Always easy to deal with, payment options were very easy. I will definitely book with this tour company when I return.
- Cassia Lodge in Kampala is a great place. The food was fantastic and everything was always very clean. It is such a great location too with a great view of the city. Great choice.
- Marafiki Lodge. This was another amazing location. What an incredible view of Queen Elizabeth park from the lodge. Also amazing food, and such friendly staff. I really enjoyed my time here and could have stayed for weeks.
- Chameleon Hill. Also such an incredible place. I really loved the setup of the lodge. Amazing views of the lake at night, such friendly owners, and I like the way that had all guests eat together one night along with the guides. It made us all feel like a big family and I met many new friends. I would choose to stay here again when I return. Just one of the most gorgeous locations I have been on all my travels.
The chimpanzee tour was my favorite tour. It's amazing how close you can get to the animals. While the gorilla's were also amazing, it is so much thicker in the forest that it is hard to always see them. The chimps are so active and are in an open forest, and it made the tour so much fun. I will do this again for sure on my next trip.
My guide, David, was an incredible guide. We had great conversation and he knew so many places to stop and see that I never would have known about. Also, many times he pointed out animals and places to look for them that I would not have noticed. He was friendly, professional, and I feel like I made a friend for life as well. Could not have asked for more.
I will book with Matoke again. Could not have asked for a better experience for my first trip to Africa.
ES
Email Colin Wisbey | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Awesome experience
From our first enquiry until the end of our trip Matoke Tours were excellent.Lionel in the office was helpful and informative.We did a 12 day tour including chimpanzee and gorilla trekking, everything was well organised and everywhere we stayed was delightful.The staff at all the lodges were friendly and always ready with a smile.The concern shown to my wife when she was ill was particularly touching.We knew that close encounters with the chimps and gorillas would be special but we're quite unprepared for the beauty of Uganda as a country,driving through the countryside and villages with Alfred,our driver,was a unique experience.Matoke tours made our holiday a memorable and special adventure,I can't rate them highly enough.
Memorable trip to Uganda, Rwanda and Congo!
My friend and I took a marvelous tour of close to one month to northern Uganda, Rwanda and Congo. Staff at Matoke Tours were very efficient and guides Frank and Anatoly were very knowledgeable and helpful. We chose the northern Uganda tour that included Kidepo and Murchison Falls Game Parks where we saw "the big five". Both parks were extraordinarily beautiful. Plus we went to a rhino preserve where we walked within a few feet of white rhinos. The hotels, game preserves and food were great. We ended the trip at Tchegera Island in the Congo, a grand finale!
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing! Great communication!
I talked with several safari agencies, but decided to go with Matoke due to its competitive pricing and the great reviews I saw on this website. I'm glad I did. Despite the time difference between the US and Uganda, the agency, especially its manager Ilse, were extremely communicative and walked me through the whole planning process. Together, we created a Tanzanian safari that met my family's needs. Our experience last month was exactly as planned. I would like give a special thanks to our driver and tour guide Edward (in partnership with Easy Travel in Arusha) for his unparalleled expertise. We not only saw the Big 5, but other animals we didn't even know existed. He toured us through the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater and Lake Manyara. He took great care to make sure we had a great time and most of all that we were safe always. Thank you Edward!!!!