CH
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Wonderful experience
We experienced a wonderful 8 day Safari (based on Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Great Migration, Ngorongoro offer) with Tansania Roadside Expeditions.
Paul was very helpful, friendly and fast when communicating during preparation of the trip. He was very open to adapt and extend the itinerary to make this Safari very individual and meeting our wishes.
Then, upon arrival to the end, everything went smooth and to our full satisfaction,
Ezekiel was not only a very knowledgable guide who knew how to "find" the animals but also became a friend to us on this trip.
Thanks to Paul and Ezekiel for having made this trip possible !
We can highly reccomend this company !!
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
You will never regret booking a tour in Uganda with Matoke Tours!
I don't even know where to begin, so I'll start with GO VISIT UGANDA and do it now! I just got home to Los Angeles, California USA, a week ago, after visiting Uganda for 13 days and all I do is cry! I miss it so much! It was the absolute highlight of my life! I am a 42-year old single woman, and this was my first solo travel adventure. Uganda is truly a special gem and I have visited 6 other countries in southern and eastern Africa. I can tell you, there is no country like this. Uganda stole my heart and I am in love with it! It has stunning landscapes and breathtaking views, the most delicious fresh food directly from the farms, warm friendly people, and the most special chimps and mountain gorillas in the beautiful forests (and big game too)! I have been on several safaris before, so my focus in Uganda were the mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and the chimps in Kibale National Park. Everyone HAS to do this at least once in their life.
I first reached out to 6-7 tour companies and began my research. I first started researching in 2019. I had not heard of Matoke Tours before and found them online through my various searches. I contacted some of of the mainstream larger adventure companies and was not impressed. I have to say I was so pleased with the response time and care from my travel advisor Pleunie van Uden. I am very detailed oriented and have high expectations when it comes to customer service. Pleunie was on it! She impressed me with her professionalism, care, and had a great business skills set too, which is comforting when you are spending so much money for an adventure with such high and life changing expectations. Example, no typos in her email correspondences. It's silly, but that comforted me. She always returned emails within a business day accounting for a 10-hour time difference. The other companies were not as professional and response time was too slow and I felt "lost in the shuffle." I corresponded via email with Pleunie and let her know what I was looking for, how many chimp and gorilla trackings I wanted, my desire for high end lodges and accommodations, that photography was my hobby and I was coming with all my camera equipment, and that safety was a priority as a solo female traveler. She designed a program for me within a very quick turnaround and pretty much had it on the first try, she nailed it. The process was as smooth as can be and felt too good to be true! Then Covid happened. Pleunie was great in assuring me everything would carry over to whenever we could all travel again and once the world was ready again. I stayed in touch with her throughout 2020 and she kept me posted on the status of the country, tourism, and the gorillas. She even let me know when a baby gorilla was born which I was happy to hear. She felt like a friend, even though she was all business. That's how you know you are working with a stellar tour advisor. Then came 2021, dates were re-booked and adjusted a bit to work with my schedule, Covid vaccines rolled in and things were looking good! Just when I would worry everything would get shut down again, Pleunie remained positive and assured me things were looking promising. With each month that passed by getting me closer to September, I felt like I needed to pinch myself, like was I really going to Uganda, finally? With all the Covid protocol and PCR tests needed throughout my trip, Pleunie remained positive, informative, assuring, and was truly excited for me. As stated, I was concerned about safety as a solo traveler, and she really comforted me and made me feel taken care of. Pleunie put together a magnificent program including Kibale National Park, Queen Elizabeth National Park, and the Northern and Southern sections of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. Add on top of that road tripping with my driver guide to each location, which allowed for more sight seeing, interacting with the community, driving through the villages and really getting a feel for the country (well the west and southern side of the country -- I must return to see the North and East). Pleunie was always available while I was in Uganda as well, in case I had any emergencies, she was just a WhatsApp call or text away. She was FANTASTIC. I am already referring Matoke and Pleunie (and my guide Geoffrey, see below) to everyone back home and can't stop speaking praises. Thank you Pleunie for creating the most fulfilling adventure, it changed my life! You nailed it. Incredible job.
Now let's shift the focus to my driver guide Geoffrey Katende. It was like fate that he was my guide. Geoffrey was the absolute best! I tear up just thinking about the journey he guided me through. From the airport pick-up in Entebbe to the final goodbye 13 days later, Geoffrey will be a friend for life. He is a special man. He was very seasoned, so knowledgeable... knew just about everything -- all kinds of facts about Uganda, animals, birding, you name it. I felt like I was in such great hands. Geoffrey is a natural. Hospitality, care, guiding is who he is. I felt so safe and cared for, and we had some great laughs too! As a solo traveler, he was like my travel buddy and always remained professional. He interacted with the locals often through our road trips, we had some great photo shoots and photo exchanges, we made friends along the way with lodge staff and rangers, everyone knew him and I just felt so lucky he was my assigned guide! Geoffrey understood me and adapted quickly, as I can imagine the range of personalities guides have to manage. He has such a good heart and just wants you to truly enjoy your time and fall in love with Uganda, which is absolutely what I did! An example, of his good character: we were driving to Queen Elizabeth National Park and I had stopped to take a photo of the landscape. As we started to drive away, he stopped the car, went in reverse and then stopped the car again, got out of the car and picked up a nail he saw in the street. He didn't want another driver to drive over the nail and pop their tire. That's a good person. I am sure there are other wonderful guides at Matoke but I won the lottery with Geoffrey. I can't wait to come back again! I am so grateful for his guidance, care, and professionalism, all while having so much fun! It was hard to say goodbye, because he took such good care of me. Many tears, many tears. Thank you Geoffrey Katende for being the wonderful man that you are, and Matoke is so lucky to have you! Any guest is lucky to have you as their guide. Oh, and one more thing, he is an excellent driver! He dealt with my need for air conditioning (I can be demanding with that), car sickness from the anti-malaria medication, and driving the bumpy roads at times in the rain -- he was a champion at it and always assured me everything was ok. He sent me home with a delicious avocado he picked out and memories and photos that I will cherish the rest of this lifetime. See you soon hopefully Katende!
Also, a special shout out (mention) to my second guide Jacob, who was fantastic as well. Unfortunately, we only had a day together, as it was the end of my trip and I was only in Entebbe for the night to get my PCR test and await results. He was lovely though in the short time we had together. Funny, outgoing, and personable. He was great help to me at the airport and took me as far as he was allowed to go, with all my heavy luggage (4 bags), in the hot heat! We didn't have much time together, but I can tell he would be loads of fun to have as a guide.
LT
Great tour operator, made the best life time experience for us
We chose 7-days budget safari trip from this company. From the first email with manager called Steve I understood it will be great service. Steve helped me a lot by providing information and answering all my questions which were not always even related to this tour. He used to reply me fast even in late evenings. Also, he organized our COVID tests to enter Tanzania and dropping us in Namanga border to Tanzania. We had some problems there as officers didn’t want to let us to the country as they probably wanted money from us. We just called Steve, gave the phone to the officer and Steve made things clear. Thanks a lot, Steve!!!
No about the trip. We got an amazing tour guide Mansur. He went above and beyond to make this trip amazing for us and worth of money. He was very professional, also he is very bright and smart person, open minded and told us many interesting and real things about Kenya, wild animals and processes happening in nature. He did all his best and we saw Big 5 because of him! He also managed to show us the great migration of wildebeest crossing the river, it was a lifetime experience.
Just few advices for the people planning to take this trip:
First, if you are picky or spoiled don’t take budget trip. Food is always the same: rice, beans and cow or mutton stew. This is not about this particular trip, this is about Kenya all in all. We are not picky people and that food is okay for us. But do not expect burger or spaghetti bolognese here :)
Second, trust your tour guide completely once he is not blindly following written program. The brochures about safari trips were written many years ago, even some lakes are already gone which are mentioned in tour description. Your guide always wants you to have the best experience and sometime it is needed to modify a plan slightly. Experience is the best if you trust your guide and let him do his job.
What is more, do not expect animals to behave like in documentary movies. People who are making these movies are hiding in the bushes for days just to catch a hunting lion. In the real world true happiness is just to see them, even see them walking and not just lying already is a big achieve! Some of them is really hard to find. Be happy just to see them in real life.
Also, be ready to spend many hours on the road. Kenya’s roads system is not well developed. It will take many hours get from one national park to another, once it took whole day for us. The only option to skip this is take a planes but it will be very expensive. For us spending time in the road wasn’t terrible as we enjoyed the view through the windows, you cannot see true Africa if you take planes. We saw local people life, beautiful African nature. Mansur used to stop for a sunset for us, African sunset is one of the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.
One more advice is specially for the girls. If you choose budget safari tour have in mind that two nights you will spend in hotels and four night in tents. My advice is to wash your hairs once you are in hotel :) although tents are really nice and there is a toilet and shower in it, water is not hot. It is okay to wash yourself but not so nice once washing your hair, a little bit cold. So use opportunity to do it once you have a night in hotel.
Big Thank You for Big Time Safari from me and my husband Justin. We really appreciate all your help and the service you provided. It was definitely worth of money adventure.
UY
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
An experience of a lifetime in Uganda
I had the chance to experience Uganda with Jimmy the best-in-class guide and driver. Professional, knowledgeable, responsible and careful about every detail, was key at delivering the best experience and attention while visiting the Pearl o Africa. I travelled solo , so security was a major concern for me. I definitely recommend this service, that allows for sure to have a great experience while in Uganda.
US
Super Safari!
We traveled with a group of four to a safari in Kenya. We did a lot of research and contacted Seven by Far to book our trip. Sylvester at Seven by Far handled all of our flights and bookings. Our itinerary was very full with 4 parks and air transportation between them. The lodging suggested and booked by Sylvester was outstanding. The flights and transportation to them went flawlessly. Our guides at each park were skilled, knowledgeable and very enthusiastic. The guides were more like friends than guides. Sylvester even handled the appointment for our Covid tests to fly home. There were no surprises - except some extras that our tent camps threw in. I would highly recommend Sylvester and Seven by Far.
(And yes we saw the “Big 5” and much more!)
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing Expedition with Raymond and Godson
I found GIE on Instagram and chatted up Mathew Godlistern. I was skeptical at first, but the ongoing service from Mathew and then Raymond were second to none. My questions were answered almost instantly despite the time difference. We put together an amazing 6 days in the central Serengeti. Raymond assigned us our guide Godson, who in my opinion after 4 other safaris, was the best guide I’ve experienced. A true gentleman and an excellent spotter. He knows how to find the right light for your photos. Ray made excellent recommendations for accommodations to fit our budget. He arranged an amazing balloon safari. When we decided to fly back to Arusha at the end instead of drive, Raymond made it happen with ease. With these guys you will find service above and beyond what you will find with the big guys.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Tour operator was amazing and super knowledgeable
I booked the Tour from Miami. I Received a Quote. I agreed and made payment for down-payment. I had a few inconveniences as my flight was delayed and James was super helpful with accommodating our safari. We arrived in Arusha, and was greeted by the Driver Ruben. Ruben was on time and off we went to the start of our Lake Manyara, Ngorogoro and Serengeti tour. It was an absolutely perfect Experience and definitely would chose Twinkle Stars again. The Driver Ruben was amazing and super accommodating to our schedule and had an unbelievable knowledge of the serengeti.
PK
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
They were very professional
It was fantastic!! I’m glad I made the decision. And the guide was phenomenal, very informative and kind. I will definitely be recommending them to others.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Andy and Max made this trip effortless, especially considering Covid restrictions.
Andy called as we arrived at each destination to make sure all was going as planned. This was especially important because we had to deal with multiple Covid tests as we moved from one location to another. He was readily available at each turn of the trip. I had suggested different accommodations but his suggestions were always 5 star and are happy we followed his advice. A last minute flight cancellation did not cause any consternation on his part he rearranged everything to make it work. Each of the guides he arranged at each location were most congenial and went out of their way to make sure our trip was effortless on our part. Needless to say our experiences on the actual safari's was incomparable. The guides and rangers spent lots of time finding the wildlife and then positioning us to get the best photos! Sabi was the best but would not have missed Victoria Falls or the Hipos and elephant herds at Chobe.
Already discussing, this time, with friends, to make a return trip...hopefully NO COVID.
US
Not any better choice than Peafoul
All services were performed with great professionalism and style. If you are fortunate and Patric is your driver he is the best!