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
US
Email John | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A great tour company!
I have used Matoke tours a total of 4 times for trips to Uganda(I go to Africa almost yearly!) and have always found them to be exceptional in all aspects. The accommodations are first rate, the guides are knowledgeable and professional.
I have to make all arrangements from the USA before I go and I find them to be very reasonably priced, good to work with AND they give good advice about the appropriateness of my requests and give good suggestions for activities.
I have been totally satisfied. If I am touring East Africa they are the tour company I will use!
AE
Email Georgiana | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent experience
Our Uganda trip was beyond our highest expectations. Thank you to Ilse for organising and to our guide/driver/now friend Bob for being the best guide we could have hoped for.
Bob was the perfect guide. He was so incredibly helpful and knowledgeable and advised us on how to make the very most out of our itinerary at every stage. He was friendly, good natured and an excellent driver. He told us a lot about Uganda and its people. Not once did we feel unsafe the whole trip. His recommendations really made our trip.
He advised us on the best way to see chimps in Kibale and the experience was so much better than we had anticipated. When we went to Queen Elizabeth National Park to find tree-climbing lions, Bob found out that they were climbing in a different area than usual and using his local contacts, we ended up being the only car in the vicinity when three lionesses were in a tree. When we went to the place the lions usually climb the next day, we didn’t see anything. But thanks to Bob, that didn’t matter. We also saw a leopard one morning in Queen Elizabeth National Park. We expressed an interest in eating more local food and he spoke to the hotels to accommodate us.
On the last day, we arrived at the airstrip early and Bob managed to get us on the earlier flight from Kihihi to Entebbe, but via Kasese, which meant we flew over Queen Elizabeth National Park. The pilot flew low and we saw swimming elephants, hippos, crocodiles. It was madness. And all thanks to Bob.
We didn’t really know what to expect visiting Uganda, but it was one of the best trips we have done. While we had a structured itinerary, we were prepared to be flexible to take into account tips from Bob, and it really paid off.
Thank you Ilse and Bob and Matoke Tours.
US
Email Sara | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
amazing gorilla trekking
The communication was clear and prompt, we couldn't decide on our itinerary based on work etc... and Harriet was really flexible and worked with us. We flew to Kisoro from Kampala and stayed at Mutanda lake resort and gorilla trekked in Bwindi from there. The resort was amazing, with great views and awesome food. Our driver Emmanuel made our 4 day stint fun and safe.
We decided kind of last minute to do one of the strenuous hike on one of the Virunga volcano mountains, Matoke and Mutanda lake resort accomodated us and made it work.
We loved everything about our trip. Matoke tours took care of it all for us!
BE
Email Johan Torfs | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A splendid 100% satisfying experience giving us everyday of our journey a warm and wonderful feeling
We travelled with our family through this beautiful country. Matoke arranged the best hotels and lodges, located on extremely attractive places all over the country. Our tour was perfectly organised and we all had the time of our live. The program matched with our expectations much more than we might have dreamt of ! Our driver was a surplus. He was a passionated birdwatcher and could give us extra information by informing us about the birdlife in Uganda...We would like to thank the Matoke-team for the perfect organisation. We had the time of our life !
CH
Email Reto, Birgit and Pascal | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Perfect Safari for family of three with Massai Guides and plenty of animals to see
We had booked our safari with Ilse from Matoke Tours and were very pleased with the whole booking process. Ilse provided valuable advice and helped us to compose our individual trip out of several of the standard Matoke offerings with multiple adjustments for us.
Everything worked out as planned - Nairobi, the safari at Masai Mara, Dar es salaam, whale sharks on Mafia Island.
We really enjoyed the safari at the very lovely Masai Mara Eden Camp - surprisingly with a private car with a driver and a guide (real Masai warriors ;-) only for us - we had not expected to get a private car. So everything was very flexible as we could decide anytime when to leave and return from our game drives - our 10y old son seemed to get never tired of driving around and hunting for new sightings, so we had very long days ;-) Maria Eden camp was a perfect fit for us - everything we needed but not to posh. The view onto the river with hippos und crocs was gorgeous, right from our tent.
Mafia Island was great. We snorkelled with 5 or 6 whale sharks. The change of lodging from Kiti Kiblu to Meremeta lodge was also very good as there is not much more to do than the whalesharks on the Kilidoni sido of the island and Kiti Kiblu was - as expected - really quite basic, good enough for 1 or 2 nights, but nothing for a week… Meremeta was a very good fit for us, we liked having dinner together with all the other guests on one long table. For a next time we would also consider staying at https://www.mafialodge.com/ as it is directly on the beach and had a nice buffet with good seafood, but might also be a different price range... Snorkelling in the Chole Bay was also very good - the corals are very healthy and there is lots of colorful fish.
The dayroom in Dar at the slipway hotel on our last day we appreciated a lot - we certainly would not have enjoyed spending 8 hours at DAR airport, and traffic in Dar was much better than expected.
DE
Email Corinna | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
From the first contact to the end of our tour always available to us and always helpful
This was our first trip to Uganda, as we had done quite some traveling in Southern Africa we decided to go for a landcruiser with a rooftop tent (provided by Roadtrip Uganda) without driver. Already while planning the tour changes to our needs and wishes were made promptly and booked accordingly. As March is already low season even some last minute changes were possible. Upon arrival a driver was waiting for us at the airport to bring us to our first accommodation where we would get our car and all coupons the next day. We were very pleased to meet Anna Vos (Matoke) who would become our most important person for the next 2 1/2 weeks and Julius (Roadtrip Uganda).
We were handed once more the itinerary with addresses and telephone numbers, UWA cards for the parks, for the chimps tracking, the gorilla tracking, as well as US Dollar and UGX for some accommodations which were not paid in advance. This was a bit confusing and an extra list with where and when we would need to pay how much would have made it easier.
Off we went, the first challenge was getting out of Kampala, after that it got easier. This night we spend north of Jinja at The Haven, really beautiful set at the Nile Cascades. Next day to Sipi Falls, where we encountered our first problem, Lacam Lodge which sits beautifully on the slope of Mount Elgon with views of on of the falls, does not provide space for a rooftop tent (unless you park your car in the space above the lodge with the facilities being 30 meters lower over unlit stairs). Our first call to Anna, who organized a simple room in the lodge. We got a chance to visit an other lodge as well, but Lacam Lodge is definitely the place to stay, everything is very clean and the food is amazing. If you want to make a hiking tour to the different falls, a community walk, or coffee tour ask for Moses, he is a great guide.
Murchison Falls is next, it’s a very long driving day, but we make good time and decided to enter the park through the north gate, luckily the ferry is running that day. Camping is on the grounds of the Murchison River Lodge some distance from the main building, with modern, clean facilities. We have booked Full Board as we heard that the food is very good and we are not disappointed, you also get a packed lunch therefore you don’t need to rush back for lunch. The cruise to the Falls is commendable, but don’t miss the Top of the Falls.
To Hoima, the road till you leave the park has a lot of construction going on but is generally good, this changes quickly afterwards, this is our first stretch of really bad road till ca. 30 km before Hoima where it turns into a tarmac road. KonTiki Hotel feels like a little paradise, with a lush garden, pool, sophisticated Bandas, regular rooms. We opted for a Banda for a change, although you can perfectly setup the rooftop or pitch a tent.
Kibale is next, staying at the Chimpanzee Forest Guesthouse, again great views on one of the crater lakes. It is close to the starting point for the Chimp tracking, which is an amazing experience, we basically run through the bush to find and follow them, they are real quick. We do an other community walk through tea plantations and around a lake, where we learn a lot thanks to Joel.
Queen Elizabeth NP staying on the Main UWA Campsite on the Mweya Peninsula, this is great, not so much the camp itself but waking up to the munching sound of an elephant not 10 meters away. We had a guard for the night who also maintained a fire, he told us we also had Hippos around the camp that night. Safari with a ranger, we are lucky and see lions but else the Kasenyi Planes feel deserted. In the afternoon we have an other cruise on the Kazinga Channel you shouldn’t miss that, we saw so many animals.
On to Ishasha, unfortunately we had a bad thunderstorm which turned the soil in parts into a muddy slippery slope, that’s when we got stuck. We were lucky some soldiers of the Ugandan Army and an other car with a driver of Roadtrip Africa came along and helped us out. As there was some damage to the car we decided to drive out of the park and to have it looked at in Kihihi. Thank you again Anna, to find us the nice Savannah Hotel for the night and to arrange that we still could get something to eat.
Next place Bwindi, this is probably for most people the reason to come to Uganda, gorilla tracking. Now, we had some trouble with the permits, few days before we noticed that the permits named an other place than we originally had booked and had the camp booking. Which meant again getting in contact with Anna, even though it was a long weekend (Women’s Day) she looked right into that matter and came up with two options, we chose to change our location to Buhoma, where we stayed in the Community Lodge. Also there we set up camp in the 'parking lot' which didn’t matter much as we had a nice green patch. For the mix up with the permits Matoke compensated us with paying for the breakfast and a nice bottle of wine (which we appreciated very much).
For the tracking the change in places turned about to be very fortunate, not only did we reach our designated group of gorillas already after 1 1/2 h but could also watch the biggest Silverback and the youngest baby (3 weeks).
Buhoma to Lake Mburo, we ask for the best way to get there and are directed to Rukungiri because from there it’s all tarmac, but to get there... It’s the first time we are really fed up with the roads in the west, stretches where you go with 25 km/h don’t seem to end, but finally we arrive. Last night out, at the UWA camp near the restaurant, as soon as the sun sets we have company, the hippos are grazing around us while we sit by the fire. The same in the morning, we watch one from our tent . Accompanied by the cries of the African Fish Eagle and the constant vigilance not to get breakfast stolen by the Vervet Monkeys we pack for the last time.
Entebbe Pineapple Guesthouse, what a great place to end our journey, Avocado trees, flowers, a very nice pool, rooms with lake view, a rain shower....the perfect place to reflect and relax before the flight home.
Next time we would probably not go with a rooftop car but with a movable tent, as the most places we stayed at would have accommodated it much better. And although we love to cook for ourselves, this seems like a waste of time because everywhere one could eat either at a lodge or restaurant or at a simple canteen, and it’s never expensive. Furthermore we would hire a driver, not because we could not do it, but because also for the game drives you drive your own car, there are almost no companies or lodges which provide that service.
At any time we would book again with Matoke, Anna was always available to us.
CA
Email Candace | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience gorilla tracking
My friend and I had such a great experience with matoke tours! We organized gorilla tracking from Canada, and corresponding with matoke tour representatives made planning a breeze. They worked with our schedule to make sure we were able to fit everything in.
Even though the drive from Kampala to Mutanda lake resort was long, our guide Mugabe was an excellent driver and we made good time (we arrived in the daylight hours) and he was a super safe driver as well which can be a bit rare in Uganda!
Mutanda lake resort is beautiful and the food was amazing! I only wish we could have stayed longer.
I’ve been wanting to do the gorilla tracking for the past 4 years but never had the time/money so it was great to finally be able to cross this experience off my bucket list! It was just as amazing as I imagined!
Thanks for making this such an unforgettable experience for us!
US
Email Chad | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Custom trip that included so many beautiful experiences in Uganda in 5 days
My wife and I wanted to plan a custom 5 day safari focusing on gorilla tracking and the Virunga volcanoes, starting and ending in Kigali. We reached out to Matoke and Madeleine was responsive, patient and knowledgeable in helping to create the perfect itinerary from several options. She and the Matoke team generally excelled with pre- and post-trip communications.
Our guide for the safari, Big Sam, was super nice. We relied on him mostly as a driver since we were staying at lodges and doing locally-guided activities arranged by our lodge or through the park system. We were so happy that he was such a safe and responsible driver! Our vehicle (a Land Cruiser) was great too, with no issues on the dirt roads off from Kisoro.
Oh... and the trip/safari were AMAZING!! Uganda is such a beautiful country and our experience was so special. It was even more special than we thought it could be. Some highlights: (1) getting so close to the gorillas (we tracked the Nkuringo group, one of 1 groups from the Nkuringo gate), (2) all the kids waving at us from the sides of the road, (3) the football pitch on a hilltop in Nkuringo, which we discovered through our lodge in Nkuringo (Clouds), (4) the Mt. Gahinga Lodge area, which is in the shadow of 3 Virunga volcanoes and was absolutely stunning, maybe the most beautiful place on earth (4) climbing/hiking Sabinyo (thankfully the weather was perfect for us), (5) the Kisozi caldera walk, and (6) all the nice and smiling people we met, including the Batwa in the forest in Nkuringo. We loved our trip and we loved Uganda!!!!
SE
Email Jenny | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Flexible, professional and friendly contact, from start to finish!
Me & my friend finished our amazing tour in Uganda on the 31st of December 2018. The reason we picked Matoke Tours is that we felt very comfortable as soon as the correspondence started. Ann at Matoke were very keen to listen to our wished and to make the best possible experience for us. Together we came up with a program that would suit our needs and interests. And everything worked out really perfect :) On top of this we were also so grateful with our guide Alfred. The three of us got along very well. He is such a sweetheart and we enjoyed having interesting conversations with him, as well as silent moments. He was always polite, humble and patient. We could not have wished for a better guide/driver.
As for the tour itself. Wow, we were not prepared for the beauty that Uganda has to offer! We enjoyed every second. The only thing we might have done different if we would do it all over is to go to Murchison Falls NP instead of QE NP. Our driver kept telling us that it is so amazing there and that there is more animals in that park as well. And I think we would also have skipped Lake Bunyonyi and instead stayed a day extra at Lake Mutanda. Lake Mutanda and the sceneries around it is among the most spectacular we have ever witnessed. It left us speechless! And of course the Gorilla experience was a highlight, which was done close to Lake Mutanda. Not only seeing the Gorillas was extraordinary but the whole trek itself and the mountains and greenery.
Thank you Ann and Matoke for really good arrangements. We are so happy for this trip which will for sure be a memory for life.
Finally, if someone asks for an experience with an orphanage, I suggest to contact Masaka Kids. They are based in Masaka and can be followed on Instagram. When we came they performed for us and we danced with them on stage. So sweet and talented kids :).
DE
Email David | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Matoke Tours - Great parnet for visiting Africa!
First off some facts:
-We were 6 people between 27 and ~50years old from Germany
-Uganda 8 days from mid September 2018
-Tanzania/Zanzibar 5 day at the end of September 2018
It took me a while to find the time to write a review and I'm usually not the guy who likes writing reviews, but me and my co-travelers belief that Matoke Tours and everybody who was involved with our journey deserve some feedback. So here it is:
We started our trip at Entebbe airport and our plane landed quite late (around 10 p.m.). We got out of the airport and at first the heat and humidity hit us quite hard. It was dark, somehow smelly and we didn't really know what to expect. We spent our first night in some small guesthouse near the airport. The housing was somehow strange, there were a lot of mosquitos (which we tried to avoid because we heard all kind of stories about the diseases they might transfer...more of that later), and there were dogs barking all night. But we felt save because the guesthouse was well guarded. At first we thought, that it was not a good idea to travel to Uganda but that first night was literally the only not so good thing about our Journey.
The next days basically went like this: Kibale National Forest (Crater Safari Lodge - excellent!) - Community- and Swamp-Tour -Chimpanzee-Tracking + tropical rain in the forest and being attacked by African bees - Queen Elizabeth NP (Ihamba Lake Resort - Excellent!) - evening + morning Game Drive (same as Safari but Safari seems to be the Kenia-word for Game drive...) - Boat-Safari on the Kazinga channel - Gorilla tracking in the Bwindi National Forest (Mutanda Lake Resort - Excellent!) - Travel to Lake Mburo + Safari-walk in the queen Elizabeth NP (housing at Eagles Nest - great view, cute dog, nice bar, tent - Okay for one night) - flight from Entebbe to Zanzibar with a stay at the Blue Oyster for three days (super nice people, great lodging, nice bar + great cocktails, nice and clean beach, good food and they even send us a Christmas card - would definitely go there again and recommend to everybody!) - Stone Town (Swahili House - great!).
We saw a lot. Crazy African cities, beautiful nature, great rain forests, beautiful lakes, the Indian ocean, lions, elephants, hippos, Crocodiles, Eagles, snakes, giraffes, buffalos and many many more... Every place was full of really nice people, who always wore a smile on their face. And what was very strange: almost no insects and no mosquitos. Sure I got bitten twice but in the end I had more bee-stings that mosquito bites (and that only because we had to pay for the honey that the chimpanzees stole...). Recommendations for travelers: don't buy expensive mosquito-proof clothing- just buy one or two bottles more of DEET 50%.
And one thing or rather one person I did not mention at all: Our guide Big Sam. We were extremely lucky that he was guiding our tour. He is very experienced, he knows the nature, he knows the animals, he knows the authorities and he knew an answer to all our questions. And we had a lot of questions... And most importantly: He is a nice guy. He was joking around a lot and was able to laugh about himself. We had a great time and we think and talk about our journey a lot. We miss Uganda, we miss the people from the Blue Oyster and we miss Sam. We will be back and we will travel with Matoke again!