Safari Reviews

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mmorse1034   –  
United States US
Visited: March 2009 Reviewed: Sep 15, 2011

50-65 years of age

Review about Bwindi Impenetrable National Park by mmorse1034
Overall rating
5/5

How often do you have to step out of the path of an oncoming Mountain Gorilla and have him look you in the eyes as he goes by?

mmorse1034   –  
United States US
Visited: March 2009 Reviewed: Sep 15, 2011

50-65 years of age

Review about Kibale National Park by mmorse1034
Overall rating
5/5

Beautiful

Dena   –  
Canada CA
Visited: July 2011 Reviewed: Sep 15, 2011

20-35 years of age

Murchison Falls National Park: Wishing I was back there...
Overall rating
5/5

There is one very visceral feeling from my time in Murchison that I hope never leaves me...we were maybe 40 minutes into our game drive through the wildlife reserve having already seen a number of giraffes and , the sun was on it's way to being fully up, but there was still a hint of the pinkish orange sky that enveloped us as the sun rose earlier that morning. The rest of my group had taken their seats again in our pop-up top van as our most excellent guide, Park Ranger Patricia was explaining we were heading to a different area of the reserve, in search of the big 5...it was a rare quiet moment with my normally chatty group (they were all friends/colleagues). I stood up, bracing myself against the side of the pop-up and with a clear view in all directions, saw that there was not another soul on the red dirt road ahead and no one coming behind us, the wind was blowing in my face and in the moment I felt like I was in a different world...

As you will see, I have given Uganda as a safari destination an "Excellent" rating.
While I do not have a frame of reference as this has been my only safari, it was everything I hoped for even in my most wistful imagination moments.

Wild Life:
On our game drive we saw 3 of the big 5...including a male and female lion...only the leopard eluded us, and as we were in north of the river, Rhinos are not found in the area we were in, and unfortunately my groups travel plans did not allow for another day of game driving on the reserve. There were numerous giraffes which were my personal favourite with their graceful necks and gentle eyes. Buffalos, Elephants and Hippos were also plentiful. Though part of being in Uganda for me was to disconnect from technology - it has its purpose...the drive was most exciting when our Ranger got a call on her cellphone of a lion spotted. Our great driver told us to hold tight as we took off to try and get a siting of the lions. We were very fortunate to come upon the lion pair after they had just mated (!) and made their way across about 100m open field to a thatch where they hid out and relaxed, post, ah coupling. There were also many other types of wildlife, the beautiful Ugandan Kob, the tini, very cute Oribi, the mighty looking waterbucks, slightly strange looking Jacklope as the Ugandans called them (aka Jackson's Hartebeest), warthogs, baby crocodiles were spotted as well as

Scenery:
From the view of the Nile Delta as we made our way through the park to our rest camp, to the sunrise as we completed our ferry crossing at Paraa to start the game drive, to the vistas across the wildlife reserve, the scenery was serene and breathtaking.

Weather:
Unbeatable - I don't know if we were just extraordinarily lucky, but the only time it rained was as we were driving from Masindi and as we entered the park in the late afternoon the day prior to our morning game drive. We were treated to a lightening show in the afternoon off in the distance over the river delta, and later again that night the lightening was off in the distance over the river. The days were sunny and warm but not too hot (coming from a Canadian), the nights were comfortable. I would say you need long pants and a light sweater at night and for the early part of the game drive as you will likely start just before or around sunrise.

Accommodation and Food:
We stayed at the Red Chilli Rest Camp approximately 70km inside the park from the Kichubanyobo entrance gate. The rest camp was staff were very friendly and welcoming, our group stayed in the Rest Camp tents which were also very comfortable. They were the heavy canvas army style tents, 2 regular twin sized beds were in each tent. There were also Yerts (fixed structures) available, or if you are prepared to camp, they provide a camping area to pitch your own tent. The food was also very good, while I do not have a picky palate and enjoyed more local authentic Ugandan cuisine, the Red Chilli does cater to a more westernized palate, you certainly will not go hungry as portions are usually quite large. And if you enjoy good coffee, make sure you try the "filtered African coffee" at some point, somewhere in Uganda, they have excellent coffee. (You must specify filtered coffee or they will give you regular instant coffee). Food prices were very reasonable and there was a good selection of beverages and beer!
There were clean, well kept, bathrooms with regular flush toilets and sinks as well as showers if you needed. Make sure you bring a flashlight or miner's headlight for night time. At the Red Chilli Rest camp, due to it's proximity to the river, Hippos come up and graze on the grass at the camp at night - so you need to be careful if you are making any night time bathroom trips. Baboons and warthogs are around during the day, so do not leave any food in your tent!

Important note - the Red Chilli rest camp has a charging station where you can plug in your various electronics and/or charges - i.e. camera, lap tops etc. Power can be an issue in Uganda as it seems a lot work is being done on their power systems so there are periods of power shedding/blackouts. When the Red Chilli had to switch to generator usually the charging station is off, but it is good to know, as I was worried about keeping my camera batteries charged after a long day of shooting on the game drive.

Transportation:
We were fortunate to travel in a pop up top mini van, this was perfect for the game drive, the side windows opened wide so for the photographers out there you had options to get good shots from all sides of the vehicle. As we were out on our drive, it was clear the limitation for others who may have been in a jeep type vehicle such as a Land/Range Rover with no open top capability, as you cannot get out of your vehicle on the reserve for obvious reasons (except one designated area at the river where hippos were resting) if you are not in a pop-up top vehicle, you will definitely be limited in photographic opportunities. Our vehicle was comfortable and we had a great driver, Phineus who seemed just as knowledgeable about the park as the ranger who accompanied us . He made sure to remind us to be up and ready early so that we could be first on the first ferry out of Paraa, as there were a number of vehicles and the ferry can only hold so many, late comers have no choice but to start their game drive later and of course there tends to be more animal movement earlier in the morning. The Red Chilli happens to be quite close to the crossing at Paraa.


Other Highlights:
We also took a boat tour on the White Nile with Nile River Tours (I think-hope that is the name of the operator). At any rate there were of course big boats, however, our group of ten preferred the smaller boats, easier to get closer to the shore and see the wildlife from that perspective. Our group was divided 8 of us were in one boat, and 2 paired up with another foursome in a smaller boat of 6. Our river guide was excellent, knowledgeable, funny and interesting. He was able to not only talk about the wildlife but the geography and history of the park and the immediate area. The boat left from just south of the Paraa ferry dock, travelled up the river to Murchison Falls and then back down again. The trip was about 2-2.5 hours, it could have gone on longer, I would not have minded, though there were not bathrooms on board so, my bladder may have eventually complained.

The boat tour was fantastic and I would highly recommend it, especially if you are a photographer, amateur or professional - but as I said, try getting on a smaller boat. I was able to get some fantastic shots. There were a couple of huge herds of elephants that came down to the river to drink, buffalos as well and in the smaller boat we could get quite close to the shore to get a close look. Though I wasn't fast enough to get a photo, we saw a massive crocodile take down a baby hippo on the river bank.

Finally, on the morning before our departure, we took a relatively short hike, about an hour total, up the top of Murchison Falls. We drove up to a certain point, it was not a long drive. The hike was not too physically demanding and you have a choice actually to skip the hike and just go straight to the falls. But the path again allowed for some more interesting photo opportunities to shoot down river, where we were on the boat the day before. The path has a steep point, that is short, just make sure to wear sturdy shoes (i.e. no flip flops/thongs), but even those who are less fit can easily do it, just go slowly. Once at the top their is a level foot path that goes along the river canyon that you can follow, they we turn back, the path diverges and we had towards the top of the falls. Be Careful - there aren't really any barriers or fences, so you can essentially walk right up to the edge of the falls - the water is extremely powerful and mesmorizing.

Uganda on a whole was a wonderful experience, the purpose of my trip was in part work/volunteering with an NGO, so I was constrained with how much time I could spend, but I definitely could have spent at least another day on a game drive. Overall, I would have loved to have spent more time in Uganda but alas I had to return to Canada. I would have also been very interested in visiting one of the other parks, to the south east where the zebras and rhinos can be found. I heard wonderful feedback from some of my colleagues who were able to stay longer and head to southwest for some rest and relaxation at Lake Bunyonyi and do some gorilla tracking/trekking in Bwindi NP.
I cannot say it enough, I would go back in a heartbeat.

alkisaka Visited: July 2007 Reviewed: Sep 16, 2011

About: Uganda
Great "off the beaten path" destination away from the usual tourist traps
Overall rating
5/5

Though it is a country that is tourist friendly, it can be experienced in an "off the beaten path" way. The people are very friendly where ever you go. In Kampala there are low cost guest houses and hostels i.e. Makerere University Guest house for the thrifty traveler to 4-5 star accommodations like the Sheraton and Munyonyo Speke resort on the shores of Lake Victoria. The weather is moderate for the equator (low 80s during the day with about 30% humidity) due to the elevation which averages around 4,000 ft. Transportation is pretty much like anywhere you pay for what you get but generally it is a lot cheaper than other safari destinations like Kenya. The food is good especially the fruit. For fine chinese cuisine in Kampala I recommend Fang Fang restaurant which has two locations in the city. For good African fare any of the nice restaurants in the hotels will do. The scenery especially around Lake Victoria and in the west as you head to the Ruwenzori Mountains is exquisite with tall grass savannas with undulating green hills and terraced farming plots winding around the hills and valleys.. On the way to the north you will cross the Nile at Karuma falls a real spectacular site. The source of the Nile at Jinja is another must see. Uganda is a great place to see and experience. It's one place where the old and the new seem to thrive side by side in a tenuous yet complimentary harmony

Boaz Rottem Visited: September 2002 Reviewed: Sep 17, 2011

About: Zimbabwe
Stunning! A great place to get close to the wild!
Overall rating
5/5

Zimbabwe offered a great opportunity to get very close to wildlife. Most of all I was amazed by the huge numbers of wild elephants roaming very near my Jeep. this offered a wonderful chance to observe these majestic animals and take great photographs of them. Victoria falls are absolutely stunning!

kim   –  
United States US
Visited: August 2008 Reviewed: Sep 17, 2011

20-35 years of age

About: Kenya
Review about Kenya by kim
Overall rating
5/5

Lots of wildlife. Gorgeous setting. High tourism and resort presence diminish bush vibe. Focused on mammals so will not rate birding.

Boaz Rottem Visited: September 2002 Reviewed: Sep 17, 2011

Review about Hwange National Park by Boaz Rottem
Overall rating
5/5

A great ' Bush ' experience. I saw many Lions and lots of Elephants.

kim   –  
United States US
Visited: August 2008 Reviewed: Sep 17, 2011

20-35 years of age

I would do it again
Overall rating
5/5

Wildlife, scenery, weather, accommodations, food, transport, our guide - all amazing. The guides knew where all the animals like to hang out. I was only here for 4 days, so I only saw a small portion of this reserve, and I would love to go back and spend more time on my own. I worry about the noise and pollution impact of so many diesel engines, the high number of tourists in the area, the seemingly high number of dirt roads, and water consumption due to tourism in a savanna setting that seems quite arid. The hotel we stayed at was very well maintained, the staff were wonderful, and the food was tasty. I loved the architecture, and thought it contributed to the "bush feel". I appreciated the commitment to electricity conservation and the fact that solar water heating was used. It was unfortunate that our drives happened in the mid-day when lighting is not very conducive to photography. I generally do not like being on organized tours - I prefer the freedom that going alone provides - but it was worth it to have a guide here since I wasn't well educated about the wildlife and it was my first time to Africa. I hope to visit this reserve again, as well as others in the region, and would like to do a walking safari. Our group's focus was on The Big Five and other large mammals so I didn't feel comfortable rating birding. I did see a number of pretty cool birds just by chance! Four days wasn't enough...I want to spend 4 months out here!

matreze Visited: June 2011 Reviewed: Sep 18, 2011

Review about South Africa by matreze
Overall rating
5/5

South Africa is simply the best place in the world for viewing wildlife in luxury while still being close to civilisation.

matreze Visited: June 2011 Reviewed: Sep 18, 2011

A completely unique, unrivalled experience!
Overall rating
5/5

The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (KTP) is a long way from civilisation, but the trip is definitely worth it.

We stayed for approx. 10 days and in that time we saw a stunning selection of animals and birds, ranging from cheetahs, leopards and lions to springbok, wildebeest and tiny field mice.

The weather during our stay was just about right. Being winter in the desert, it did get cold at night (about -6 degrees Celsius), but temperatures reached 25-30 C during the day.

We stayed only in the three main camps of Twee Rivieren, Mata Mata and Nossob. The accommodation was comfortable, well equipped and clean. However, remember that the shops only have the bare essentials, so it is advised to take all supplies with you.

Of course, the highlights of the trip are always what you see not necessarily where you stay. Suffice it to say that you never know what is around the corner, but you can almost guarantee that every day will produce at least one stunning sighting - be it a cheetah kill, hyenas tending to their cubs, honey badgers foraging or bat-eared foxed frolicking in the dusk light.

The other sight that must be experienced is the African night sky. With no light pollution, the high altitude and clean air, the view of our universe is unbelievable. Look up at night and you will see satellites, falling stars and with some help from binoculars even some planets such as Saturn.

I can only recommend the KTP. I will definitely be returning in the future, hopefully many more times.

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