Matoke Tours

Qualified

Tour 18/10/2014 - 6/11/2014 Uganda - private group 6 persons (Belgium)
We got everything as specified in their programme. Very good guide/driver.
Sipi Falls, Murchison Falls NP, Kibale Forest, Queen Elisabeth NP, Bwindi.
Visit to local projects is also very interesting.

Very nice trip!

We had a lot of expectations about the trip (and all were fulfilled pretty nice) and about the accommodation but there were some troubles in two lodges, but Matoke Tours fixed them well.
We have a very good and professional guide and driver!

Good organized 13-day private safari

We enjoyed our stay in Uganda - thank you very much for the part you contributed to the experience.
With Albert Henry we had a very friendly and reliable driver and guide. Especially impressive his knowledge about birds.
The Gorilla Trekking was an absolute highlight but also the other places impressed with the variety of landscapes and wildlife.
The lodges and hotels you suggested / provided were mostly a good choice:
Especially to mention Mihingo and Kyaninga Lodge which were among the nicest places we have been in Africa.
The only a little disappointing place was Paraa Lodge where we missed privacy and atmosphere (to big with negative side effects - especially in high season).

Great and unforgettable Uganda trip with Matoke

Had a 21 day trip to explore en enjoy Uganda. What a beautiful country! Matoke organized everything great. From the start at home untill even after coming back from the trip. Accomodations are as expected and booked. Next time please no bush elephants so the chimps will come down out of the trees :-)
Great and careful driver, thanks Kenneth! And enthousiastic en involved guide, thanks Bram!

The service was good, everything was pretty much as promised, but I would have expected a more intensive activity during the day (more/longer game drives). I would use them again, but you you make very clear in advance what activity will be provided as a minimum.

Fast corrective action by Matoke

We organized a four day gorilla tracking in Uganda with Matoke. We left Kigali and drove to Rushaga, where we tracked one day and another day we tracked at Nkuringo. If your budget allows, we would highly recommend doing two days gorilla tracking. Our hotel in Uganda was Gorilla Safari Lodge and it wasn’t anything to write home about.
The problem was that Matoke subcontracted transportation to the lodge and the lodge took the outsourcing a step further and hired another company. This third company sent us a driver that could not communicate in neither English or French and had never been to the lodge. We got lost on the way. The lodge did not have a meal ready when we arrived. The driver never wore a uniform and when we met he did not even know the names of the people he was meant to pick up. On day two, our driver was nowhere to be seen and had to be called by the lodge. He eventually came to pick us up and drove us to the wrong entry point. Someone from the hotel had to get in the car with us to take us to the right place. Frustrated with the two days, we wrote to Matoke and the corrective action was decisive and swift. They were unaware that the hotel had outsourced our driver to another company and that they had sent an unprofessional and inexperienced driver. They immediately sent one of their own drivers, gave us a complimentary massage each, covered our laundry bill and were quick to follow up on how things were doing.
I’m happy to say the story ended well and our Matoke driver was everything driver one was not: he was polite, knowledgeable, spoke English, and knew how to get to our destinations. We felt in good hands with him. Matoke was apologetic and responsive, which we appreciate. Our only recommendation would be to choose outsourcing partners more carefully and ensure that if other companies provide one of their services, it is done with the same Matoke standards.

Great time on safari

Our guide had great wildlife knowledge and very patient to explain to us about the animals! We saw all big 5 and more...we had a lot of fun during those few days! Thanks Matoke! Only downside being jeep was old and bumpy.

Good Safari but

Overall great Safari experience and the driver was extremely helpful and knew his stuff. However I was disappointed with the accommodation that was advised for this package. Way below what we were assured.

20 days in Uganda, including Ruwenzori hike

First of all, we were very pleased with our driver / guide: sociable, friendly, humble, non-intrusive, flexible, humorous, AND a cautious driver. Nothing but good about him.

lodgings:
Recommendations:
- Mutanda lake resort near Bwindi Forest, for its pleasant restaurant, nice location, although still an hour away from the starting point of the gorilla tracking, but very good food.
- Bush lodge near Queen Elizabeth NP for the quality of the accommodation, beautiful location and cuisine.
- Kibale Forest Camp was also fine.
- Kontiki hotel was clearly a place of transit .... Ok, but not more than that.
- Bwana Tembo near Murchison Falls was ok for a middle class logde, but I suspect that some tourists do not appreciate that bats can enter the room ...
- Rwakobo Rock: Ok, if you absolutely want to visit Lake Mburo ... Nice and pleasant dining room, good kitchen, but the maintenance of the huts leaves something to be desired ....
THE disappointment: Cassia Lodge: an outdated hotel with no charm, no personality, with furniture that has seen better days, leaking plumbing. The only thing this hotel offer is the view on Kampala. How much we would have preferred staying in the excellent Boma Guest House in Entebbe ...

The local transport: 7 people in a 4x4 van, that was OK. But why are the windows with black plastic embezzled?? This complicates the visibility, requires even more to drive with open windows, but when sitting where the windows are overlapping each other, forming two layers of blackplastic, the visibility is close to zero....

A cooler (coolbox) would have been welcome: for a sundowner 'en route' fot excemple.

The program put well together, we enjoyed it, the wildlife in Murchison Falls, the hike in Ruwenzori Mountains, the chimpanzees (in great shape!), the gorillas. ..

However, surely not insignificant downsides:
- In Murchison Falls was a boattrip foreseen on a fairly large boat, in the afternoon, and the boat was nearly full. We could have done with it: on chairs put in the middle of the aisle (with limited visibility) or put in the hot afternoon sun. Instead we took another boattrip the next morning. The boot halts, to return, just far enough from the falls, in order not to be impressed. We have seen that, if arranged in advance, you can leave boat and continue walking to the falls... Unfortunately we were not informed of this possibility.

Queen Elizabeth NP: Safari in the morning was a complete fiasco. Never seen so few animals during a safari. The guide said that this was because of the drought. Well, normally this is known in advance....So why was no other part of the park visited? The southern part of the lions hanging in trees for example (we afterwards heard many good things about)? The boat trip in the afternoon was worthwhile.

Lake Mburo NP: The walk in the morning was definitely interesting. But in the itinerary was another boattrip foreseen, and it was mentionned that elephants could be seen. Well, Matoke should do that homework better again because in that park there are absolutely NO elephants. So that boat trip was really a letdown.

Overall it was a nice trip, with beautiful scenery, friendly people everywhere, good food, generally good lodges, but I am a bit disappointed: when working trough a tour organisator, I expect better, acurate and complete information.

For further info (I refer to a question I asked you during the preparation of the trip) for the 6 day hiking in the Ruwenzori Mountains, the carriers prefer rather backpacks rather than the common travel bags.

Disappointed with tour organization and transportation issues

My partner and I did a 4 day Gorilla Tour in Uganda and while I would like to say the tour was great, I just can't it was filled with disappointment from Matoke Tours..

Our driver David was a good driver, and drove sensibly throughout the very long drive. However my partner and I didn't really know what was going on. David's communication with us and the other 4 tour guests that traveled with us was a bitter disappointment. He failed to give us any detailed itinerary of the day.... Yes he was only the driver but when you pay a lot of money for a trip of a lifetime I do expect some professionalism with all staff from reputable tour company.
It gets worse though.
We asked our driver to drop us off at Entebbe Airport along with another guest (so 3 of us travelling to airport) instead of going to Kampala and then going to Entebbe which can add another 1.5 hours to 2hours. The driver said he could drop us off and a Taxi would pick us up to take us to the airport. No mention of cost or price here. So one would assume that cause our driver didnt want to drive via Entebbe that Matoke should accomdate us and include this in our tour cost which was $1890 USD for the two of us.
When we got dropped of at the pickup point the taxi driver had been waiting for us for over 2 hours. We were then shocked that he was told to tell us the cost is $40 USD to take us to the airport from there. Which was a crazy price. We paid $23 USD from Entebbe airport to Kampala when we arrived, they charging over double the price and it was 15km shorter distance. We refused to be extorted like this and so the driver then called Eric one of the managers from Matoke to say we wouldnt pay that. He dropped the price to $30 USD which we had no choice to accept, it was late and we had been driving for 12 hours. When we got to airport I got driver to call Eric back and I spoke to him directory and said how unhappy I was with the situation and very disappointed and there lack of communication. He promised he would have someone email me the next day to recity the situation..... now 5 days later and nothing. Just confirms the type of company you are dealing with. You pay a lot of money and then they are trying to rip you off with a taxi.... Transport should really be included, pick up and drop off. Dont try and rip people off to make a few dollars so you can benefit more for tours that already cost us a lot of money.

The Gorilla Tours with the rangers at the National Park was perfect. But it should be and this part of the tour actually had nothing really to do with Matoke Tours as you get dropped at the national park and do the Trek with the rangers and scouts.... This part was great.. The Accommodation and the dinners we had was also amazing.

However the driver and logistics issues left a very sore taste in our month and really resent choosing Matoke Tours for our Gorilla Tour. My advice choose another company that has reliable communication.