65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Elephant Babies!
We booked a 7-day safari with Kenya Expresso Tour (KETS). The owner, Paul Mwendwa,
responds quickly to inquiries. This was my fifth safari with KETS, so I know what to expect: a competitive quote, excellent service, integrity, a reliable vehicle, and a world-class experience that is both unforgettable and safe.
We are patrons of the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, so this safari was customized to allow us to spend time with out foster elephant babies at both Ithumba and the Voi Stockade, as well as the Nairobi Nursery. Paul was also our driver, and was always punctual with our visitation schedule at the orphanages.
Ithumba must be the only place on earth where one can view wild elephants in large numbers as they mingle with the orphans... an extraordinary experience.
We enjoyed several game drives in Tsavo East National Park. Paul has a good eye and strong instinct when it comes to viewing wildlife.
Regarding the exit covid test requirement, Paul made it easy: he took us to West Nairobi hospital that emailed results in 4-hours.
For anyone planning a Kenya / Tanzania safari, KETS should be your first contact.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
5 star service from booking through the sad goodbyes!
Background for my booking: I have always been an avid traveler, fortunate enough to book at least one big trip a year to places I have never been. Usually, I will have trips planned out in some capacity a year or more in advance. However, with COVID restrictions still in place, it was hard to plan ahead where I could go this year. Finally, within only weeks of when I was looking to travel, it appeared sub-Saharan Africa was going to be the region that I could successfully travel to this year and went to work on trying to organize everything on such short notice. Unfortunately, this lead to many headaches in working through the logistics, but also gave Mukisa an opportunity to show just how great their customer service is (as I'll note below)! I had travel credits left over from 2020 with a global tour operating company that was offering trips in Kenya and Tanzania that I used as the initial building blocks from which to build the rest of my African adventure around. I had never been to anywhere in sub-Saharan Africa, but knew whenever I did make it there, Gorilla trekking, chimp trekking, Cape Town and Victoria Falls were high on my list of things to do in addition to the typical safari game drives. Given the dates already locked in for Kenya and Tanzania, the dates I knew I was available to travel, and with the flight availability within Africa, I realized it would not be possible to check off all of my boxes on this trip and instead focused on keeping my travel within East Africa this time. With these parameters in mind, I turned to Tour Radar to start searching for tour itineraries that would cover the gorillas and chimps that would work within my time frame, focusing mostly on Uganda (as that is the most popular country for Gorilla trekking), but also wanted an itinerary to take me to Rwanda as well as I had plans to meet a friend in Congo across the Rwandan land border to hike Mt. Nyrigongo. As I was traveling solo, I was looking for what appeared to be small group tours so that I would have other travel mates to keep me company. Thankfully, I came across Mukisa Safari Uganda that offered a great itinerary on the dates I wanted, starting off my month long adventure in Uganda as my first stop - little did I know how lucky I was to come across them! Never having been on safari before, I did not exactly know what I was looking for in booking a safari company, nor do I have anything to compare the rest of my review to other than my experience with the other operators used on the remainder of my trip. Booking process: Booking on Tour Radar is very simple and straight forward. After narrowing in on this itinerary offered by Mukisa, I started to piece together the rest of my trip as well, finding the perfect outbound flight to Entebbe from the US and locking that in, as well as also lining up the dates that the volcano trekking in Congo are supposed to operate. Having tentatively penciled in what I thought would be the perfect month long itinerary with all of the logistics flowing together, I went ahead with my booking of Mukisa through Tour Radar which was simple enough to do. Within less than a day, I not only had received an email from Richard, the owner of Mukisa, but also a WhatsApp message from him thanking me for my interest in one of their safaris (but relaying some bad news, as discussed below). This immediate responsiveness from the actual owner of the company himself was incredible and put me at ease that I had selected the right company to travel with! Little did I know how much I would need to rely on his responsiveness (and patience) as I will discuss below. The only drawback to the booking process was that this tour turned out to be a private tour rather than a group tour - I think this is more of a Tour Radar issue though for not making it clear on the booking page than it is a Mukisa issue, as Richard advised this was a private tour with his first communication. Despite originally looking for a group tour, I am so fortunate that this turned out to be private because it allowed Richard and I to be more flexible in dealing with everything that happened between booking and departure.
Logistical nightmares/Mukisa's excellent customer service: As mentioned, I received a very quick response from Richard following my booking. Unfortunately, the first thing he mentioned was that due to COVID restrictions, they could not operate the portion of the tour to Rwanda (Rwanda was requiring a long quarantine for arrivals from Uganda), but seemed prepared for this as he immediately provided an alternative itinerary that sounded just as great! However, I really wanted to visit Rwanda as well and began looking at trying to arrive in Rwanda first, then to Congo, before Uganda. Richard was very kind and understanding and then arranged a change of dates for the Uganda tour that would match a later start date and with his revised itinerary. However, not long after, I had heard back from the national park in Congo that runs all of their tourist options in the area that because of the latest eruption of the volcano, they had not resumed hiking yet, but were offering packages for gorilla trekking in their forest as well as relaxing stays on a private lake island. I still wanted to meet my friend in the Congo while I was in the region, but if I was going to do gorilla trekking there, not only would I no longer have time to visit Rwanda first and cross their land border to Congo, but I would no longer want to trek Gorillas in Uganda as well. So, I messaged Richard asking if there was an alternative itinerary he might suggest without the Gorilla Trekking. Once again, he was immediately responsive and helpful and provided a great option that I was excited to proceed with. Now, only about a week prior to my departure, I received another note from the Congo national park that due to an increase in Covid cases, they were delaying any gorilla trekking for a week to allow for their rangers to set up a rolling quarantine period for the safety of the gorillas and asked if it was at all possible for me to come a week later. Frantic and getting stressed about all of these changes, I once again messaged Richard about whether we could do the revised Uganda itinerary, but moving it back up to my original booking date, starting immediately upon my arrival in Entebbe from the US. I could not believe his patience and understanding as within a day, had confirmed the new departure date and itinerary for me and proceeded to finally finalize the booking and take payment. Fingers crossed I had resolved any issues and was on for smooth sailing the rest of the week leading up to my flight. Sadly, I should not have been so optimistic. Because I now had to fly to Congo rather than use the Rwanda land border, I thought I lucked out when I saw a direct flight from Entebbe to Goma. However, a day later, it appeared this flight was gone and I confirmed that all international flights to Goma arrive from Ethiopia. Thankfully, the new departure flight did not impact my Uganda itinerary (just the time I needed to arrive at the airport), but the return flight from Congo to Kenya would require an overnight layover in Ethiopia which I did not want to do. My only option was to actually extend my layover in Ethiopia an extra day and enter and explore the country. Unfortunately, I learned the night before I was set to depart that Ethiopia had suspended their E-visa and Visa on arrival services. Again, I reached out to Richard about the possibility of contacting the Ethiopian embassy when I arrived in Uganda on Monday (it was already the weekend) to obtain a visa. Once again, Richard was so understanding and helpful and built into my itinerary that immediately upon my arrival in Entebbe, I would be brought to the embassy before continuing north for my Day 1 activities. Not only did he arrange for this, but, upon learning that I would need to leave my passport two days for processing, Richard arranged to pick up my passport personally from the embassy and hold on to it for me until I returned to Entebbe. Finally, it was time to fly - after all the stress of this logistical nightmare, I was hoping I had everything sorted away and things would go smoothly once I arrived. Sadly, I had one more headache to deal with! Upon arrival in Entebbe, my baggage never arrived! Once again, 5 star service from Richard and his team as I gave him the luggage office contact info and he remained in constant contact with the airline until my baggage arrived the next day and offered to arrange a driver to bring me my bags faster than the airport courier would so that I would have my necessary clothing for a part of the itinerary that was coming up. This service from this company went above and beyond that I am in disbelief at how helpful they were! If you have never been to Africa, you'll learn to be flexible and embrace the chaos a bit, but I knew I was in good hands with having Richard and his team, all local Ugandans, to help me navigate everything and take much of the stress that I was experiencing before my trip off of my shoulders so that I could finally just enjoy my trip!
My actual trip: Upon arrival in Entebbe, I immediately had a WhatsApp message waiting for me from Richard, stating that his team was at the airport waiting for me - Veronica my guide and Solomon my driver. After the aforementioned issues with my baggage, leaving the airport much later than expected, the airport staff whisked me over to the off-site COVID testing location for a required test upon arrival before entering the country. I was in communication with Richard throughout this process letting him know when I would be complete (it can take quite a bit of time, but some extra $ seemed to turn what was supposed to be a couple hours wait for results to about 30 minutes). I messaged Richard that I was good to go and shortly thereafter, I was approached by Veronica and Solomon who gave me the happiest of welcomes with big friendly smiles on their faces. They lead me to the safari vehicle we would use the rest of the trip and I was finally feeling like I was on vacation! We were initially brought to get a late breakfast where I met Richard in person (thanking him immensely for the help) before setting off for the quick embassy stop and then to the first real stop on the itinerary. There seemed to be only a few different style safari vehicles/tourist vans used in the region. I was given more of a tourist van style vehicle. It was clean and comfortable (did not hurt that it could accommodate maybe 12 or more passengers and I was the only one). The A/C was strong (when needed), the ride was as smooth as one can expect on African roads (nonetheless, bring motion sickness pills if you need it - the "free African massages are no joke!), there was on board WiFi that was mostly reliable, and it of course included the pop-top that is a necessity for safari game drives! If there were more people on the trip, I am not sure if the Toyota Landcruiser truck style safari vehicles with individual seats rather than booth seating would have been better, but for just me on this trip, the van was perfect and had no problem getting naps in on some of the longer drives! The team also kept the van well stocked with water bottles as well as fruits and other snacks we would pick up along the way. As for the team, they were absolutely amazing! I was worried about it being awkward as a solo traveler for over a week, but thankfully Veronica was younger, so energetic and extremely knowledgeable that by the second day, I already felt like I was traveling with friends. Solomon was a little more reserved, but still very friendly, an amazing, safe driver and was excellent at spotting animals on the game drive, ensuring that I got to see some incredible stuff! Despite spending nearly every full day together, from morning breakfast at the lodge until we completed dinner in the evenings, it was never awkward with silence or boring whatsoever. They were there to serve me as if I was family joining them for their trip! The patience and flexibility of Richard is clearly passed down to his team though as we encountered a hiccup one day - a bridge that connects two sides of a river, one where the lion trekking in Queen Elizabeth NP was scheduled to be done, and the other side where the lodge was, was under construction. All traffic was forced to take a ferry across the river (we waited in a long line for this the night before). The next day, however, when scheduled to cross back over for the lion trekking, the ferry was broke down. Immediately, Veronica started working her magic, and in what seemed like no time, she had arranged for Solomon to stay on the one side with our van while her and I got into a small boat that took us across the river where another vehicle and driver were waiting for us to bring us on the lion tracking adventure. The ability for this company to adapt on the fly is invaluable when traveling to such a very unfamiliar place, but never once did I question that they were going to take care of everything to make sure my trip was truly once in a lifetime.
The actual itinerary: As mentioned above, my itinerary departed a bit from the typical arranged tour that I originally found on Tour Radar and booked so thought it would be helpful to include my actual itinerary below. As for inclusions, just about everything imaginable was included aside from non-water beverages ordered at lunch or dinner, souvenirs, any personal purchases and tips which is nice. If you have never done these type trips before, most of the lodges you stay at have a prix-fix menu for lunch and dinner, western style, 3 to 4 courses. You just advise if you have any issues with the menu item and they try to accommodate, but otherwise, upon arrival to each lodge (and usually a nice cold welcome beverage---passionfruit juice being my fave!), the staff would tell us the menu, we would just advise when we would want to have dinner and then the staff was ready to serve us in the restaurant at that time so there was no long waiting for food after a long day. The food was all excellent and I loved that Veronica and Solomon were always thoughtful about what time we should eat dinner - giving me a chance to get settled into the lodge/showered when needed vs. being really hungry and wanting to eat and get to sleep as quickly as possible. Then you would place your time and breakfast order at the conclusion of dinner so that it would be ready for you the next day before heading off on the next adventure. I will say, it seems as though there are only a few different lodge options in each stop, so you will see other safari company trucks and the same groups of people multiple times throughout the trip. While the lodges Mukisa selected were all excellent (usually what I would consider "glamping" with fully enclosed, spacious, fixed tents with electricity, sometimes A/C, fully functional bathrooms/showers, and comfy beds - essentially a hotel room inside of a tent), I do not think this is really a differentiating factor between Mukisa and other companies, but rather it is their excellent service that sets them apart! I will also say, that after experiencing Kenya and Tanzania later on my trip, I unfortunately got to see what a less well-run trip with a different company was like so Mukisa definitely spoiled me as being the first company I dealt with and setting the bar so high! It is also important to note that while Kenya and Tanzania typically get more attention when it comes to safaris (and yes, you see a lot more cats there), there is also many many more tourists there as well so you are often fighting for position with dozens of other trucks trying to see cats, etc. Most people only think of Uganda for the gorilla trekking, but that is a big mistake! The game drives I did in Uganda (especially Murchison - incredibly varied wildlife here in big numbers) along with the great variety of other experiences the country offers made it my favorite part of my entire trip (in large part to, but not solely because of Mukisa). It is such a beautiful country and worth spending time there beyond just the gorillas. Because it is less popular, you'll also often feel as though you are the only one on these game drives, out in an open field surrounded only by thousands of beautiful animals rather than as part of a zoo like assembly line that you get in the more popular safari destinations. Every suggestion by Richard when creating this trip, plus minor changes/additions while on the trip by Veronica and Solomon were spot on as if they knew what I would love before I did. They clearly know their country very well and are proud to show you everything amazing about it!
Day 1: After airport pickup, testing, breakfast, embassy, etc., drive to Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary before arriving in Murchison NP for the night
Day 2: Murchison morning game drive, visit the waterfalls, afternoon game drive
Day 3: Another morning game drive before heading to Kibale Forest NP
Day 4: Chimpanzee trekking and walk through local community village
Day 5: Travel to Queen Elizabeth NP, boat ride on Kazinga Channel (planned evening safari but due to the long waits to take the ferry across the river, we did not have time for this)
Day 6: Lion tracking in QENP; travel to Lake Mburo NP and go for an evening walking safari to see animals up close on foot without fear of predators
Day 7: Bahima Cultural Experience in Lake Mburo NP with a quick drive back through the park on the way out before returning to Entebbe
Day 8: Lake Victoria/Mabamba swamp boat ride in search of the Shoebill bird
Conclusion - I know this was a long review, but I believe Mukisa deserves every bit of detail about how amazing they are. I also believe that because this is an incredibly unique style trip, that some people would benefit from a lot of the details about how safaris work. However, if you are only reading this section, I'll summarize - while I did not have anything to compare Mukisa to before arriving in East Africa, I later learned just what it means to receive 5 star service from a safari company here, and Mukisa deserves every bit of those 5 stars. From the owner, Richard, being extremely responsive, helpful and flexible in organizing the tour, to the friendly and knowledgeable Veronica and Solomon as my guide and driver, to the perfect itinerary showcasing how unbelievable Uganda is, this trip was worth every penny and I would strongly recommend Mukisa to anyone traveling in the area (they do tours throughout East Africa). As noted, you'll see a lot of other safari companies along the way, stopping at the same stops or staying in the same lodges, so what really separates these companies from each other is the service, and I could not imagine being in better hands than with Mukisa!
RO
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The best safari agency
Suricata Safari was our family for 5 days. I have no words to express my gratitude for all what they made for us. Starting with the food, who was absolutely fantastic, our chef Salim cooked for us as a 5 star chef ( we named him during the trip Boss Salim :) and finishing with Fredie our guide who was a real enciclopedy and very very dedicated to our needs and also a big thank you also to Hary, the owner of the agency, all are amazing people. I recommend Suricata Safari from the bottom of my heart!
CH
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing trip thanks to Eco-Africa Climbing
I can only recommend Eco-Africa Climbing to anyone who wants to climb Kilimanjaro, and / or go on a wonderful safari in Tanzania.
Eco-Africa Climbing is a local tourist agency that promotes environmental and social ethics and proudly (rightly) claims its partnership with the KPAP (Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project).
They were fantastic from start to finish, responsive and very accommodating. They were able to concoct a tailor-made program for me according to my particular wishes and interests.
Regarding the ascent of Kilimanjaro, they have done everything possible to make this unique experience as good as possible (excellent (and abundant) food, comfort, benevolence and kindness on the part of the whole team, ... ) and so that the goal (namely the top) is reached, which it has! :)
They also organized a tailor-made safari for me, which was fantastic from start to finish and allowed me to see beautiful landscapes and animals galore!
Between the ascent and the safari they also kindly offered a small visit to the Moshi center / market as well as a tasting of a local dish (unfortunately I can't remember the name;)
Thank you again very much to Eco-Africa Climbing for this professional, efficient organization, for their kindness, and for allowing me to make my dream come true!
DK
50-65 years of age
Despite the complicated logistics of Covid-19 restrictions, Sunny Safaris managed to organize the pe
Despite the complicated logistics of Covid-19 restrictions, Sunny Safaris managed to organize the perfect ascent to Kilimanjaro. These restrictions necessitated a lot of negotiation, but Sunny Safaris was always flexible, creative and intent to overcome the difficulties. Me and my son had an unforgettable experience thanks to an impeccable organization, which included pickup at the airport, lodging, ascent and return to the airport. The guides were always attentive and helpful, the whole team supportive and everything was carried out in a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere. Due to an amazing cook, the food was fresh and delightful during the whole period of 6 days. I cannot recommend Sunny Safaris enough and wouldn't hesitate to make use of them again.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best Safari Experience
This was the trip of a lifetime and it owe it to this company. I did a solo trip- 7 day safari in Kenya. I did my first day touring the city of Nairobi with Moses. We went to the Elephant Orphanage and Giraffe Sanctuary.Then off to my safari with Joseph which entailed a couple days in Samburu, A day in Lake Nakuru, a day in Sweetwater seeing the park and chimpanzee rescue center, , and then onto the Masai Mara for a couple days. All accommodations were 3 star of higher and I liked each place I stayed at. The food was great at each lodge/camp as well. Safari van was perfect for viewing and always keep clean each day for perfect viewing and Joseph made sure I saw every single animal I wanted to see and knew exactly how to make that happen. He was always prompt each morning when we would meet before we headed out on safari for the day. He was very knowledgeable about all the animals and polite the entire trip. If I return for a safari ever in Kenya then I would definitely request him to be my safari guide again. The road trip between each park was about a 5 hr drive each time and I actually liked that because it gave me an opportunity to really see the country of Kenya and how all the different villages live. If I had questions along the way about the different tribes Joseph had an answer and I liked that too. Covid testing before my departure was super easy as well at the last lodge I stayed at for my stay the covid testing company had someone come to my lodge to take my sample and within 1 day had my test results emailed to me and the lodge printed it out for me so I could have it for my flight departure.
I loved seeing the Big 5 and the entire experience of the safari but I have to say the part of my trip that has stuck with me and really made it a life changing trip was my visit to the JudiMo Education Center in one of the slums in Nairobi to visit the children of the school. It was my last day on the trip before I got dropped off at the airport. My flight didn’t leave until midnight that night so in the morning Joseph and I left the Mara park early, did a little bit of looking for animals on our way out of the park then drove to the school for the afternoon to see the children. Moses set this all up for me and I’m so grateful he was able to do it for me. Joseph helped me buy a bunch of food for the 120 kids we were visiting and I got to spend 3 hrs with them before Joseph dropped me off at the airport.
I would highly recommend Spirit Of Kenya to anyone looking to go on safari. From day one when I inquired Vanessa was super helpful in answering all my questions and setting my itinerary up. Great customer service on her part, from Moses, and from Joseph. Thank you, Spirit of Kenya for the trip of a lifetime!
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Uganda Adventure
We loved the service we got from everyone associated with Speke! Our drivers were all fantastic! They're so knowledgeable about everything Uganda! We spent the most time with Kasamba and were very sad to part ways. His humor, smarts, and personability made our trip perfect. In addition, all our Speke helpers got us through customs, navigated the airport, and made all the details easy. We couldn't have done it without them! Thanks to all of them including Jimmy, Daniel, and of course Kasamba. We love you guys!
BE
stunning
Everything was just perfect
I don’t usually give a review but lodgi and African big cats deserve it.
I’m not an easy person and I always look for a high standard activity and places to stay and lodgi (our driven) hit them all.we spent the most incredible days in Arusha and Serengeti .
And we saw all we wanted during the safari (lions rhino buffalo girafe etc...,)
As a remote traveller's, our schedule was really tight and lodgi helped us to manage our safari and be always connected to our office .I didn’t even think that I will be possible.
Thanks again for this amazing dream
BY
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
NICE TEAM
Excellent safari organization. Everything was clearly planned and the program was implemented in full. Special thanks to Steve for help with all questions and the best guide Patrick for a fun and educational adventure.
SL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wayfairer exceeded our expectations
After a quick phone call with Maggie to discuss what we were hoping to do during our time Rwanda, she laid out the perfect itinerary for our trip. When we arrived in Rwanda, every hotel was better than we expected. Our tour guide/driver (Egidi) for the week was so helpful, friendly, and went out of his way more than once to give us a great experience. We will definitely use Wayfairer for our next adventure!