50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Safari Title says it all - Simply The Best
We were collected in Johannesburg by our guide for the 4 days, Alban Rolando, and driven over the High Velde and down the escarpment to Hazyview, although this took about 7 hours Alban was a font of knowledge and made the drive very interesting.
A bit more on Alban, he was an extremely interesting and well educated person who really knew his subject of the animals, their habitat and Kruger, he proved to be great company over the 4 days for myself and my wife.
We changed vehicles in Hazyview to an open backed Safari vehicle and headed into Kruger at about 3.30 on our first day, the game drive finishing at 6.30 (Dusk) followed by a lovely dinner in our lodge.
The accommodation in the Rondials is a bit basic but fine, you do not spend a lot of time in it.
The next day was full, off on a game drive at 6.00, breakfast at 9.30, continued drive until 1.30, lunch at lodge and back out at 3.30 to 6.30 on another drive.
Our final morning in Kruger consisted of another early morning drive followed by breakfast and then back to Hazyview to change back into our air conditioned mini bus.
Throughout our stay in Kruger Alban demonstrated his absolute command of his knowledge of Kruger that he had developed from living there for a few years earlier in his life. Our viewing of the animals, including the big 5, was exceptional.
The next phase was a 1/2 day tour of the escarpment, God's Window and the waterfalls. I was scepticable about this phase of our trip, as I really wanted Safari not sight seeing, how wrong could I be, this part of our trip was fascinating with some unbelievable views and well worth the time spent doing it.
We then arrived at another Lodge, Shiduli, in a private game reserve. This was very luxurious but now we were in a safari vehicle taking 8 people and with Shiduli's guides, I found this a little tame after the open wilds of Kruger and the in depth knowledge and experience of Alban. But after saying that we did see a lot of game and enjoyed some lovely meals and pampering.
After our final morning game drive and breakfast we then departed, driven by Alban back to Johannesburg.
I have been very pleased with Themba's organisation throughout the period from booking the trip to finally being delivered back to our hotel in Johannesburg. I get the impression that it is a small family run business that points their guests' quality experience to the forefront, I would imagine that from talking with Alban that all of their guides will deliver a similar level service to their guests, which is very important when you are spending 3 to 5 days with them.
I will have no hesitation using Themba Tours again and recommending them to my friends
AE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The Safari I really enjoyed with my friends
The Safari team that welcomed and accompanied me and my friends was well organized and friendly, everything was worth it thanks to West East Tours & Safaris for their 5-day safari that they had recommended for me and my friends
CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing Experience
Our experience with Moriti Private Safaris easily surpassed our expectations.
From the moment we arrived in South Africa, Shaun - our guide - made sure that all of our needs were met. The accommodations were stunning, and the food was spectacular. Shaun was easy-going, professional and extremely knowledgeable. What we most appreciated was his genuine care about the environment. From the most obscure riverside onion, to majestic elephants, Shaun provided us with the opportunity to interact with the bush in ways we never imagined. I would not hesitate in recommending Moroti to anyone who is looking for an intimate, ecologically friendly Safari.
We will be back.
Internship at Cycads African Safaris
I'm studying Tourism Management and was looking for an internship in Uganda, my choice fell on Cycads.
The variety of safaris have piqued my interest and I wanted to know more about it.
I was greeted warmly and the team is very helpful.
It's fun to work for this agency and look how a safari tour to Uganda's national parks is compiled.
It includes gorilla tracking, chimpanzee tracking and / or observing the wild life in the park, depending on the interest of the customer.
Everyone wants to experience an unforgettable adventure, I recommend Cycads African Safaris.
MF NP is breath taking, with beautiful and stunning nature with abundance of wild life
In 2007 during Easter period we rented a guide together with 4x4 vehicle. We started our trip from Kampala and on our way to the Murchison Falls NP we had lunch in Masindi. Our guide Ronnie King was really good, reliable and ready to fulfill our requests at the same time following prescribed safety measures. Actually we were planning our game drive together with him.
Firstly we were accommodated in Paraa Lodge and afterwards we spent 2-3 beautiful nights in Red Chili camp under the tents. Inside of the camp numerous warthogs, our first neighbors, were knelling while grazing grass. Sometimes even during night hours they were sneaking around and checking our tents like a frisky kids.
One of the highlights of our trip was Victoria Nile cruising towards Murchison Falls gorge. We saw numerous birds, lizards but mostly hypos and crocs.
Weather was calm, nights bright and often full of stars. During night time we could hear distant roaring and other sounds coming from animals. All in all it wasn't disturbing or reason for a sleepless night. From time to time it was pleasant to hear silence and experience not polluted part of the world.
Upon our arrival back to Kampala we spent one night in Speke Hotel and next day we were boarded on a plane to Sudan. Some of my photos dedicated to this safari were posted in Panoramio and Google Earth.
On this occasion I fell in love with African colors, especially with red and orange, present in soil and stunning sunsets.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Big, flat, tan, and wonderful
My 3-day stay at Mikumi National park was a wonderful break between two sections of intensive training in community-based healthcare. I was dead tired when I showed up after a six-hour drive through dusty roads, and I collapsed on my bed (thick mattress on top of raised stone dais) in the little banda that I shared with some teammates. I soon grew restless and walked through the common area onto our unenclosed "porch".
Our hut was situated in a long line of such buildings, named after various wild beasts of the savannah (I think that we were the cheetah), with the main lodge, dining area, pool, and shops at the far end. We could look over at our neighbors on their porch about fifteen meters away. I was in a team of ten people, so it was wonderful to be together.
The lodge is surrounded by park. We were totally cut off - the only electricity was to the main building for refrigeration (and the pool, of course). Even our huts had no lights. The savannah stretched out forever, a long distance of brown and tan with green splotches here and there. It was then that I noticed that we weren't just "at" the park, we were "in" the park.
Fifty meters in front of the porch where I sat, a group of zebras were rolling around like mad in a dustbowl. Further afield, a small herd of water buffalo milled around a watering hole. There were no fences. We were sitting in a safari.
A late lunch was served at the main lodge. We ate outside at a long table and dined well. I'm a vegetarian, and every effort was made to accommodate me, which was well-received. As we ate, a large grey elephant made his way to the watering hole just a short walk from where we sat. It was majestic. Here I was sipping fruit juice while this monster mammal sipped water right next to me.
After a lazy afternoon spent reading and talking on our porch, we returned to the lodge for a magnificent candlelit dinner. There's something very exciting about sleeping in a place surrounded by wild animals. Their noises helped me off to sleep.
The next day, we took off in two Land Cruisers on our safari. It was a wonderful way to settle the breakfast that we'd just finished. It seemed that we had driven forever when we spotted our first group of elephants, animals that until the previous afternoon I had only seen in zoos. But here they were, and plenty of them!
We found zebras, wildebeests, and plenty of very strange-looking birds. A group of giraffes proved too far a drive around some very steep-sided creek beds, so we watched from afar. For all of its flatness, Mikumi National Park boasts an impressive hidden landscape that you have to be inside to appreciate. Small trenches and treestands provide vantage points, and an easily-accessible, though terribly bumpy network of paths provides plenty of freedom to approach animals from a variety of directions. We even found ourselves a sleeping lioness, although she was clearly too tired to do anything "interesting" for us. :)
The last (and by far most fascinating) stop on our LONG drive through Mikumi was the accidental discovery of a hippopotamus-filled lake. We were driving along and suddenly found ourselves at the edge looking down. After a short drive along the edge, we came to a place where we could park the trucks just a few meters from the water. Hippos are outstanding animals, and we hadn't expected to see them, so it was a real treat. Lucky for us, they stayed in the water, swimming about quite lazily and not destroying us.
We returned to the lodge to eat and sleep, and followed up the next day with another short game drive on our way out of the park.
Although it is a bit of a drive, the hidden treasures of Mikumi National Park are not to be missed!
NL
under20 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fantastic wildlife experience in an overly complicated park
Queen Elisabeth National Park is one of the most popular safari destinations in Uganda, but still you can go there and have the feeling you were one of the very few people around. The park offers many activities, from Jeep safaris to bird watching and chimp tracking. I started my day in QE with the latter, but days before actually getting there, I had to go through an overly complicated process of bureaucratic steps, arrangements and phone calls to make my reservations. It was almost as if they just made things as difficult as possible, so that you would just get so frustrated that you'd simply book an all inclusive arrangement at a tourism agency. Which, as a simple budget backpacker, I obviously didn't want.
This continued as I arrived at the chimp tracking site on a motor taxi. As it turned out, my reservation hadn't come through at all. Luckily I was able to take somebody else's place. Then there was the problem of my transport. I didn't have my own car, even though that's usually a requirement for the Chimp tracking safari, since the tour guide has to bring us to a yet to be defined location in the park (and of course the company doesn't have its own transportation). Unfortunately none of the at least six people I spoke to over the phone to try and make a reservation, had the courtesy of telling me this. Again luckily, I was able to drive along with another tourist who did have his own car.
The Chimp tracking safari itself turned out to be amazing. Our tour guide, Stephanie, lead us through a lush piece of rainforest in the beautiful Kyambura gorge, sharing all sorts of information with us about the things we stumbled upon. The site wasn't the ideal place in Uganda to do Chimp tracking (this is most likely Kibale Forest NP), and we were aware of the reasonable possibility of not finding any chimps at all. After a three hour walk uphill, downhill, through bushes and pools of mud in the middle of the jungle, our guide finally spotted several chimps in the distance. Before that, we had already seen a wide range of tropical birds, hippos, baboons, crocodiles, velvet monkeys and an elephant. Even without the chimps it would've been worth the $50. Our guide was an absolute genius and the scenery was beyond beautiful
Almost every other activity happens all the way on the other side of the park, which is about an hour and a half away by car from the chimp tracking site. In the meantime you drive through scenic pieces of savanna, where elephants play games with each other, gazelles graze freely and baboons block the road just to take the piss out of you. Passing the main gate, you arrive at the Mweya peninsula, where you can find a tourist information office, a gas station, a cute restaurant/bar and a wide range of hotels and hostels. I can't judge any of these accommodations as I haven't spent a night in any of them, but the general opinion seems to be that they are remarkably good and well priced for national park standards. The scenery around here is once again brilliant, as you're surrounded by beautiful nature on one side and the stunning lake Edward and the Kazinga channel on the other side.
At the end of the afternoon I went downhill to the shores of the channel, to do the Channel launch trip. This is being done in a standard type touring boat in groups of about 20 people. This was an absolutely amazing experience not many other moments during my time in Uganda can compete with. From the upper deck of the boat I was able to see loads of elephants, hippos, African buffalos, crocodiles, gazelles and monitor lizards on the shore of the channel, living in peace with each other and not caring the slightest bit about us tourists coming so close. Our tour guide was a slightly nervous, but funny man, who enthusiastically provided us with tons of information about literally everything that moved around us. Lastly, seeing the sun setting above the horizon over Lake Edward was a very nice bonus.
Going back wasn't as much a pain in the ass getting there, but only because the staff of the fancy Mweya Safari Lodge were so kind to help me getting a taxi and use their phone to call him, even though I wasn't even a guest of theirs. The taxi brought me to the village of Katunguru, near the main entrance next to the freeway, seperating one side of Queen Elisabeth from the other. From there I was able to take public transport back to civilization.
All in all, Queen Elisabeth National Park provides some of the best tourist attractions in the whole country, for better prices than your average safari in Kenya or Tanzania. It's a major hassle to get there, and dealing with all the complications and the bureaucracy isn't easy if you're on a tight budget, but there's no doubt it's very much worth it.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing Mt. Kilimanjaro experience with AHLA!
Hi I am 56 years old woman and I hiked Kilimanjaro with AHLA -Arusha Hostel Lodge & Adventures. It was a life changing experience!!! Justin (the owner) and his staff met every need I could have possibly had. Justin stayed right by my side on summit night, encouraging me every step of the way! While climbing up the breakfast wall, Justin offered his hand to me to get up some difficult maneuvers. The food was so delicious...homemade soup every night...and sweet/salty fresh popcorn awaiting us when we arrived at each camp. A cake was made and all of the porters, guides and cooks celebrated my accomplishment in the last camp site. I was so impressed with this company that I ended up giving a total of $1000 tip...never had I done that!! I have reccommended AHLA to many friends and all of my children have now hiked Kilimanjaro and gone on Safari with AHLA. I HIGHLY advise you to go with AHLA..you will not regret it!
An idylic setting for a Malaria-free but authentic Safari Experience
From the moment we were collected from Port Elizabeth Airport, we knew we had made the right decision. Having originally considered staying somewhere where we would fly in a small plane directly into the Game Reserve, we were recommended to Shamwari by so many people that this is where we decided upon.
The accommodation was wonderful, having been designed as large wooden huts covered with tarpauline type rooves which may sound basic but in fact were done in a way to provide luxurious 5 star accommodation whilst at the same time still feeling that you are sleeping in the bush. The bathroom was lovely with huge windows looking onto the bush and the wet-room type shower was a joy to use. Each suite has it's own plunge pool & sunbathing deck and the warthogs do like to join you in the morning & later at night.
The game drives were well organised and our guide JR was extremely knowledgeable & experienced. We we were lucky enough to be in on the capture of a zebra by a pack of lions, from initial set-up through stalking to capture and finally the kill. Not pleasant in itself but to have experienced what would normally only be seen on a wildlife program was a privilege.
Catering was not as good as we had expected but I think as we were unlucky with the rain, so the kitchen was also unlucky in that it couldn't serve meals outside in an informal BBQ environment & more formal indoor service was their forte.
WE would highly recommend Shamwari as a Safari destination
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Beautiful Safari, Exotic Animals
We went to Africa for our honeymoon/first anniversary. Samburu was our first stop and it did not disappoint. We stayed at Saruni Samburu and it was amazing! Highly recommend it! Our suite overlooked a watering hole and the African plains. It was indoor/outdoor and huge with dining and living areas seperate from the bedroom and bath. The staff took amazing care of us while we were there.
The safari was great we saw leopard and her cub, lionesses hanging out in a tree, crocs, ellies and countless others. We rarely saw another car. It felt like we had the entire reserve to ourselves. Highly recommend Samburu National Reserve. It has five types of animals you will not see anywhere else.