PH
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Be detailed
Mwanje the owner is fast in answering query, we were able to agree on the price as early as November 2013 and the terms of payment, I send my deposit as a guarantee of my travel, but after a month he ask again for additional deposit which is not our agreement, nevertheless I sent the money. On the later months he said again that the price rise up due to additional park taxes which based in my research it was implemented Sept. of 2013 way behind before we agreed on the price, he add the price US$ 125.00 pr person which I don't have a choice since I already send 2 times partial payment. I also make clear that I want car with aircon and he agreed to give us a Land Cruiser car with aircon, but during our tour, the aircon is not functioning. So my advice before sending money is to have a contract that in case all your agreement be change, he will return the money or you have the option to cancel your tour.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
bad food, and not enough of it
We stayed at two safari places in Selous Game Reserve, Sable Lodge and Rufiji River Lodge, selected by Gecko. Sable had OK food, but small portions that left you hungry. Rufiji River Lodge had food that was not at all pleasant or appetizing -- you just ate a bare minimum to stave off hunger. At $300/pp/day, I expected better.
Also, the train trip to Selous was not pleasant. 3rd Class or whatever it was is a real surprise for Westerners. Nothing bad happened, but it felt on edge.
Other than these, Gecko did a fine job. I wouldn't use them again, though, I don't think.
IN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good accommodation, Good people, Poor planning
Let me start with Positives:
I started planning for my safari about 2+ months before my travel and that's when I contacted Simon from Wild Race Africa. He has been fantastic with answering queries and clearing all the doubts you may have about your travel plans.
The accommodations provided were good (except for Kimana lodge in Ambseli, where the lady who was managing the lodge seemed least bothered about the guests) for budget safari. Best one was in Masai Mara (Mara Wildebeest camp).
Negatives:
I was kinda asked to change my itinerary just couple of days before my travel (which was fixed from couple of months), which resulted spending one day less in safari.
I was told that as soon as I land at Nairobi, we'll be going to Amboseli. Actually, we were first taken to Wild Race Africa office and then after couple of hours we started for Amboseli.
Time to cover distances were wrongly told, I was told about time taken from Nairobi to Amboseli would be 2.5 to 3 hours and I'll be able to take an evening safari there. Our driver drove for 120 kmph on highway and still we reached after 5 hours. Day wasted.
Itinerary said, after morning game drive in Nakuru we start towards Masai mara for evening game drive. We started on time (after a hurried game drive in Nakuru) and reached Mara by 7 pm. Which means no evening game drive.
We were clubbed with a family which had different itinerary than us. It was left to us on how we manage that. Fortunately the other family decided to change their plans to suit our itinerary. Just wondering what would have happened if they had not changed their plans.
Booked the cab from Wild Race Africa again for Nairobi city tour. Driver came an hour late.
Fortunately I had checked on google maps about the distance between the places and based on that I had calculated the time to travel. Had we planned according to timings provided the driver then we would have completely missed #1 attraction in Nairobi, David Sheldrick elephant orphanage. Being locals there, they were completely unaware of best sequence to cover all attractions in good way.
We had to finish National museum in one hour (we could easily spend 3 hours there) and then we were free by 4 pm in the evening.
I would say again, they give good accommodations, very nice people they have as staff who'll help you plan your trip but many tiny little goof-ups can make difference.
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Beautiful place … too many tourists !
Amazing place with so many animals to observe !
However too many jeeps, too many tourists. Some time you feel like you are in an amusement park queuing for a picture … sad impression !
BE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amboseli 2 days, 1 night at Kimana Tented camp
Let me start by saying that the communication with Peter went good.
He replies very quickly on his e-mails.
(Which, in my opinion, gives you confidence that it's not a scam)
When I had to pay half upfront, I started wondering if it would be a scam or not.
After paying I received a receipt. 2 days later, the driver was at my door to start the Safari as aggreed.
Conclusion: No scam
In our original itinerary it said we would be staying at Kibo.
I decided to stay in my own tent. Peter forgot to mention that it was not posible at Kibo. Therefore he booked us at a less luxurious camp. With, lets be honest, basic facilities. That was a dissapointment since I was expecting Kibo. Which, according to the website, looks very nice.
The driver was friendly.
I also liked the fact that he didn't take many crazy risks on the busy road towards the park.
In the end, I had a good safari.
FR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
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.
CH
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
On time. Good services.
Service was good. Good visits.
The communication was not the best. We took 2 tours the day after our arrival, the person who greeted us told us ok and what time it was but giving us any paper ... but we only paid at the beginning of the visits, it's ok.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The experience were great, the service was great but things were not clearly organised.
The service was great, the safari was wonderful but there were some circumstances that were not well organised. The car we left Nairobi with was not up to standard which took up half of our first day, water was not provided (which according to the outline was). But all was handled properly.
Great communication and flexible operator, but guide could have been better
Mwanje did a great job arranging a safari to meet our requirements. He is a punctual with email communication and willing to go the extra mile.
Be sure to check how long it takes to get from on destination to another by car - especially if you need to traverse Nairobi!
CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Chobe National Park by Jennifer Baird
I was there at the end of dry season so the real action is at the water.