African Big Five Safaris
- Located In:
-
Canada
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2012)
- Member Of:
- AUTO, UTB & UWA
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $80 to $350 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
I had a incredible experience. The guide was knowledgeable about the wild life and aboriginal people
Everything was well planned, from the start of the day to end. The guide was very welcoming and informative. The lodge was great and clean. The food was good. The wild life was amazing. The guide knew where to take us and was very patient with how long we wanted to stay and take pictures. We got to see the big five! I'm glad we went with this safari! I felt safe and comfortable. Thanks for the great experience!
CA
Email Larry and Pam Field | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic!
Our trip to Uganda was to be the trip of our lifetime, so we needed a good safari operator to make our dream come true. Did we get lucky. We started working with African Big Five Safaris ten months in advance of our 24-day visit. Our trip was to be more than a safari - we wanted a "total" African experience. Meet the people, experience the culture, learn the history, and of course, see all the animals.
The staff of African Big Five patiently worked with us to create a tour package that exceeded our high expectations. Geoffrey responded instantly to every request and presented various options to us. Our package was based on a moderate budget, somewhere between budget and luxury. We were pleasantly surprised.
Our driver and guide, Musa, was exceptional. His personable, easy going manner, extensive knowledge of his country and its wildlife, and superior driving skills, were appreciated by all four of us. He had a very very thorough knowledge of all the game parks, and provided close encounters with every game species, including hundreds of bird species, his specialty. From our well equipped Landcruiser with pop top for game viewing, we saw countless elephant, giffafe, hippo, buffalo, lion, antelope and primate species. Not to be missed, if course, was the gorilla and chimp treks.
Our accommodation never disappointed. African Big Five constantly monitors the lodges it uses, and drops any that don't meet expectations. We are vegetarians, and were impressed that each lodge was prepared in advance to meet our dietary needs. All meals, for the most part, were very good, and service from lodge staff exceptional.
African Big Five Safaris is a small, Ugandan-owned company that, in our opinion, provides big service. Their approach seems to be - look after the details, provide a package tailor made to the client, and build a reputation to ensure their future success.
Because of the length of our tour, we were glad that we had planned for enough rest time in our itinerary so we didn't wear down from the busy schedule.
Uganda is truly the Pearl of Africa. We highly recommend this rich and diverse country as a destination and African Big Five as your tour company.
PK
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It was an amazing experience, Me and my wife had an amazing time throughout our trip.
The best safari ever, Big 5 has the most professional staff and an amazing management, our guide and driver Musa was amazing, highly recommended company. Thank you Maria for this amazing trip, we will be back soon.
Email Stuart & Lorna | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
African Big Five Safaris are a great, professional and caring family run business!
African Big Five Safaris are simply outstanding. We (my wife and I - aged 29) had a fantastic two week trip with them in Uganda. From the moment we contacted them they were incredibly professional, very quick to respond to our emails and organised a great trip for us. Their prices were really fair as well - I got several quotes from other companies in Uganda and the UK and AB5 offered a great value trip. I couldn't recommend them highly enough for a trip in Uganda.
We had doubts about what parts of Uganda to visit, due to safety concerns and changing our minds on what parts of Uganda we wanted to visit, but Geoffrey and Maria advised us about different attractions and allowed us to change our trip itinerary right up to the last minute with no problems.
Our guide, David was really great. He was friendly, smiley, knowledgable and seemed to know everyone in Uganda! His driving was excellent in the face of some very (v muddy and bumpy) difficult roads. He drove at a sensible speed, used a hands free headset when he needed to use his mobile phone and got us safely across Uganda. He dealt with paying all national park fees, hotels, permits and really took the stress out of trip whilst we were there.
AB5 is a great family run business - they are genuinely the most caring company I have come across. I unfortunately picked up a bug for a couple of days. Geoffrey called from the AB5 office multiple times to check with me or our guide David and lodges we were staying at that I was ok / getting better and to check if I needed a doctor. This helped put any concerns I had at ease knowing that Geoffrey/AB5 would help us with medical care if I needed it - fortunately I didn't as it turned out to just be a short 24 hr tummy bug!
Geoffrey and Maria met us at our hotel on our first evening in Kampala, with a giant basic of fresh fruit for our trip (I don't know if this is standard or just when you book a long / certain standard of trip - but it was a really great touch!) and a local mobile phone for us to have in case our UK mobiles didn't work. They again came to the airport to see us off two weeks later at the end of our trip and presented us with a great picture by which to remember our trip.
Some practical information:
- We had a very comfortable 4x4 land cruiser which had a roof that opened up for safaris (also it had perfectly working seatbelts)
- our vehicle had a fridge with cold soft drinks and water for the journeys - we never ran out of cold water at all
-AB5 booked all Accomodation and our Gorilla tracking permits
- we were able to pay half (deposit) using a credit card via Pesapal (African payment system similar to PayPal in UK) and then paid half in cash when we arrived.
Overall a great trip, with a great company, organised by great people. Keep up the great work AB5!
Our itinerary:
Ziwa Rhino sanctuary
Murchison Falls NP
Kazinga Channel
Queen Elizabeth NP
Bwindi impenetrable forest gorilla tracking
Mt sabinyo mountain hike
Edirisa 3 day canoe trekking on Lake Buyonyi
Lake Mburo NP
CA
Email Steeve and Valerie | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
amazing service
we had an amazing experience with an amazing guide Peter Mugogo. we are used of travaling solo around the world and we usually don't use an agency but this time we did and we are glad that we did. The service of African big five is a 5 stars experience. The email exchange were fast and Maria was so nice and she proposed a really good personnal itiniarery. The guide was nice, respectful of the environnement and people and animals and we could'nt have asked for more. He loves his country and gave us so much information and local stories. He brough us to local places and we felt secure. we had quite an adventure out of the ordinary (we got attacked by elephants) but he kept us safe and knew what to do and we are so glad we chose to go with a company. we highly recommand african big five and you can contact us in private for more information if you want. and please bring school material for the orphelinas and do community treks. Uganda is a great country, less touristic and that is what we like don't hesitate book with them :)
Email Jak | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Faultless tour of Uganda with this great operator
We have just finished a 5 day tour of Uganda with this company and we were very impressed with the itinerary and the service provided. Maria did a great job organising the tour and if you are lucky enough to have Peter as your guide you are in for a treat. All in all would highly recommend this company Uganda as a safari destination. Very pleased!
Email Cathy and Andrew | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Professional but personable, knowledgeable, experienced, fun to be with, fantastic guide Edmonde!
We booked this safari at short notice. All communication was prompt and any inquiries dealt with in a professional but personable manner.
Our guide Edmonde was the best! We are pretty easy going people and it was great to have someone who was willing to chat and share their experiences. We loved hearing tales from the past and had many a laugh. Edmonde is very experienced and it showed in the way he dealt with any problems that arose. The two safari tours were great. We saw many wonderful animals, the majestic giraffes being my favourite. The lions missed meeting us as they were on holiday! The boat trip along the Nile River was relaxing and so scenic with hippos, the mighty Nile Croc (who is up there on par with the big Aussie Crocs), elephants and birds. And the Murchison Falls, amazing! If you are going to see these falls please do consider walking to the top. It is amazing. The Rhino Sanctuary was breathtaking. Such wonderful creatures and so close. Sharing lunch and chatting after was great. Also meeting the baby warthog being cared for by the owner of the Sanctuary The trip back to Kampala was slow (!!!) but fun. Lots of chatting, discussion and laughs. Even though this was only a short 3-day safari it was packed with experiences. Just a taste of what is out there. Thank you.
US
Email Kris | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Phenomenal Guide!
Overall, this was a fantastic experience. Our guide was friendly, very knowledgable and really made the trip more enjoyable. I cannot say enough about his expertise, ability to spot well-hidden game and his efforts to ensure our safari was amazing. He succeeded! He is the reason I gave a 5 star rating.
I did not care for the lodging at Fort Murchison and cannot recommend it. I realize that we chose a medium accommodation and the price was good however, our room had a mouse that kept us up at night scurrying around and the electricity was out on the wall the fan was wired to. We were unable to charge electronics or run the fan on what were very warm nights. Also, there are large numbers of black ants in the dining room. They were very aggressive and got into our food and drinks many times despite our best efforts to remove them from our table. The staff at Fort Murchison were all friendly and welcoming.
Best holiday of my life!
African Big Five Safaris is an incredible tour company! They are extremely friendly and are also flexible to make a tour which suits you. Our guide was very knowledgeable and he did everything he could to make it a wonderful experience. They lived up to every expectation and more. They think of all the little things that other tour companies don't. I highly recommend them!
US
Email Linda | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Normal trip became uncoventional due to broken ankle- AB5 support caring/support absolutely awesome
HIghly recommend AB5 to anyone taking a trip to the East African area. We scheduled an 11 day trip that included Nile River Rafting, Gorilla, Chimp and Bird trekking, Murchison Falls, and the mountains and lake areas of Uganda. Had back and forth e-mail discussion to build custom itinerary with dates of our choice.
Didn’t happen as planned because I broke every bone in my ankle the 1st hour of being in Kampala on a self-scheduled afternoon tour with Keefa Motors (AB5 tour to begin next day). It was a strange and unusual, fluke accident that occurred at the Baha’i House of Worship - definitely not anyone’s fault. Solomon of Keefa Motors (http://www.keefamotortours.com/#_=_) was excellent in staying with us and doing his best to make sure I got the needed immediate medical care.
Due to the injury severity and that I am an active person, the ER doctor (most likely British educated) recommended follow-on surgery to insert plates and screws which we decided to do in Uganda due to his glowing endorsement of the surgical competence at a nearby orthopedic hospital (approx 1 hr drive). This decision resulted in hours of hospital prep work at various spots, acquiring and changing money (hospital didn’t accept credit cards so needed large cash amt for anticipated a 3 night hospital stay), stops at airline offices to acquire documentation for airline cancellations/changes and other misc needs. Originally I was scheduled at end of Uganda tour to fly to Zimbabwe for two weeks of volunteer work while my husband was to fly back to the US. Instead of facing the challenge of changing both my husband’s and my return to the US we just changed my flight to return on his flight and do as much as my very limited mobility would allow of the scheduled Big Five itinerary in between the medical associated stuff.
The support provided by African Big Five Safaris was awesome. Not only did our guide (Edmond) continue to support us (lots of carrying me even though we rented a wheelchair because Uganda is not handicap friendly), but the owners of AB5 (Maria and Geoffrey) spent days with us during pre-surgery testing and as we worked through all the above. Making cancellations since parts of the trip were no longer possible was expected, but while in the operating room the doctors decided not to do surgery thus giving us two more days that required re-planning and AB5’s addition of a couple additional unexpected outings so I wouldn’t be just sitting around was well above and beyond of what could be expected of any tour organization. AB5 facilitated every twist and turn that occurred with smiles and enthusiasm.
So to all that read this I say if AB5 does safaris in an area you want to see in East Africa select them as your outfitter. I can’t praise them enough for all the time, effort, flexibility, support and caring AB5 gave us during this unconventional trip.
After review American orthopedic doctors feel the insertion of plates and screws is necessary(even though the alignment and healing looks good). Scheduled for surgery 8/12/16.