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
NZ
Email Jason Turner | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
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.
Reply from Matoke Tours
Posted on Dec 2, 2015Dear Jason,
I am sorry to hear you were disappointed in the services of Matoke Tours during the 4-day budget group tour to seeing the gorillas. Basically I read that you expected more information from the driver/ guide and you were not pleased with the airport transfer at the end of the tour. As well the way Matoke Tours handled it afterwards should have been better. I regret this had such a negative impact on a tour that should have been a "once in a lifetime experience" indeed. I am glad you did have a good gorilla tracking and you liked Mutanda Lake Resort and the food from there.
I am really sorry that the airport transfer and communication around that did not go well and had such a big impact on a trip that seemed to be good up to that point. I have sent you an email to ask for your bank details, so I can refund you the full amount of the airport transfer. I hope this will restore a bit of faith in Matoke Tours.
Regards,
Wim Kok
Owner/ Managing director Matoke Tours
CA
Email Léo | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great experience!
We went on a 11 day tour in Uganda this summer (2015). The service of Matoke Tours was above our expectations! We had a mix of budget and mid-range accomodations. Both were very pleasing.
We were on a private tour, so only me and my girlfriend on board, which was great considering the flexibility we had on our everyday agenda.
We had the best guide of all, Anatoli! He was simply great in all aspect: lots of experience, funny, great storytelling, etc.
You shouldn't be worried to go with Matoke Tours for your Ugandan safari.
Email Marc Dankloff | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A well organised safari with special features, excellent lodges and a great guide / driver.
Matoke Tours in Uganda prepared an excellent safari package for our family. Highlights were the guided Chimp tracking, guided crater lake hike including tea plantations and village visit, a guided loin tracking tour off the beaten tracks with a Lion expert. On our game drives in Kibale, Queen Elisabeth NP, Ishasha and Bwindi we saw lots of lions, herds of elephants, an occasional leopard. Highlight of our tour was definitely the gorilla track in Bwindi, impenetrable forest, were we came eye to eye with a silverback and his family. What an amazing creatures! Further worth mentioning that we stayed at excellent safari lodges whereby Katara Lodge, Mutanda Lodge and Mihingo Lodge are worth mentioning for their good dinners and great accommodation facilities as well as their amazingly scenic locations. WMatoke provided a guide and driver Anatoli, who appeared knowledgeable about Uganda, wild life and local environment, but was above all a very pleasant chap with a great sense of humour. We laughed a lot with him and he comes well recommended for anyone who want to visit Uganda. What an amazing country and excellent safari experience.
NL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent camping-safari to Serengeti and Ngorongoro national parks in Tanzania with Matoke Tours.
We are a family with 3 children, aged 4, 6 and 8, and booked our 4 day camping-safari to Serengeti and Ngorongo national parks + 3 extra days in Arusha with Matoke Tours. Matoke Tours was very quick in sending us a program and responding to our questions. Also prices were very reasonable! All communication was perfect.
On arrival at Kilimanjaro Airport we were picked up by our guide who brought us to our lodge in Arusha for 1 night.
After that we did a 4 days/3 nights basic camping safari to Serengeti and Ngorongoro. Everything was organised perfectly!! We had a great very experienced guide who really did his utmost best to find every animal in the parks. The children were very excited and without the guide we would not have seen at least half off all the different animals we have seen now.
Our accommodation was in tents on the public camp sites. The cook and camping-assistant always arrived with a separate feeding-car before us on the camp sites, so when we arrived the tents were set and the food prepared! Tents, sleeping gear, tables and chairs, all were very good quality. We could actually not call this basic camping :-)
After the safari we stayed 3 nights in Arusha in the Ilboru Safari Lodge which is excellent for a family!
Matoke Tours all organised it perfectly and also followed up with us after the safari if we had any feedback on the trip.
We would definitively book with Matoke Tours again and can highly recommend it.
NL
Email Nelly van Roosmalen | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
It was amazing. Wonderfull land, nice people. Everything was great.
The service was very good. Nice lodges and the place from the lodges was perfect. Nice views. Good food.
We have a very nice and a good tourleader. Matoke Tours is a good touroperator.
Thanks for this nice trip.
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Thank you Matoke Tours !!
We have enjoyed our 2 weeks trip through Uganda from the beginning to the end - it was perfect! We went home with memories of unforgetable moments and impressions!
CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
excellent, reliable,informative and professional safari group!
My father and I booked our safari through matoke tours in November/December 2014. We booked pretty last minute and changed our itinerary several times. Juma was able to accommodate our requests and changes every time and was very professional and super punctual about getting back to all my emails. Our safari in northern Tanzania was great. Our guide and driver, Gilbert was super friendly, professional. safe and could answer all of our (many) questions about everything! I would definitely recommend Matoke tours, and particularly Gilbert for any tours. We had no problems and had a wonderful safari! All the accommodation and staff at the hotels were really great as well. Thank you Matoke tours and Gilbert!
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very helpful, knowledgeable and great value - Uganda trip
Juma from Matoke was extremely patient and helpful providing an itinerary which met our requirements. Our driver/guide Dan was friendly and knowledgeable. Our vehicle was not top of the fleet but v sturdy and perfect for our requirements. Kibale forest camp and Entebbe airport guest house were both wonderful. Rihuja gorilla accommodation was disappointing by comparison although still clean and friendly - it just didn't have the wow factor that the others did. The gorilla tracking was amazing - I wish I could do it all over again. I have already recommended Matoke tours to two colleagues.
BE
Email Gerrit Lachaert (Nossegem, Belgium) | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent handling by Matoke tours
This is the 2nd time we booked a trip via Matoke Tours. First was in July 2011 when we did the Mountain Gorilla Trekking in Uganda, and now in September 2014, when we made a safari trip to Selous Game Reserve and Ruaha National Park in Southern Tanzania. At both occasions, we were extremily happy with the support, administrative handling and suggestions from Matoke Tours. From the first request till end date of the tour, Matoke Tours did an excellent job. The suggested lodges/camps were top, the transport was worldclass. Nothing else to be said. We very much enjoyed the call from Matoke Tours on our arrival in Tanzania to check if all went well. I definitely recommend Matoke Tours for your travel to Uganda or Tanzania. Great service, very competitive pricing, great choices for lodging. We plan to do another safri tour in a few years with the grand-children and we sure will book via Matoke Tours.
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Perfect organised safari in a wunderful Country
We booked a two weeks privat tour in Ugande with matoke. Because we have already made many Safaris in Africa, we had exact images like ours travel through Uganda should be. The communication and tips from Matoke while planning the holiday was great. Most of our wishes could be made by them. Special thanks to Anna Grodzki for good service, quick answers and always be there if we had another question.
Our driver/guide was Mussa. He was able to maneuver his Jeep trough the 'massage' roads and the wildlife in order to get us the best spots. He knows exactly the behavior of each animal, he gave us a very professional explanation and many information about live in Uganda. And ,not least, we had a lot of fun with him. Many thanks to Mussa, he did a great job! The accommodations we selected were all very good. The best of all Gorilla Safari Lodge at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
Only in the hotel Birds Nest at Lake Bunyonyi we have something to complain about. Here we lost our booked room and got a bad room (smale sized without a balkony) because a big group was expected. So this hotel is not recommended for individual travelers. But Matoke also tried to solve this problem so that we could change the second day in a very nice room.
All in all we can recommend Matoke as a tour Operator.