65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Explored the park for 4 hours (50 km) and saw Elephant, Giraffe, Buffalo, Hippos and lots more
Left Mbabane early in the fog and arrived at the Hlane National Park at around 9am. Explored the park for 4 hours (50 km) and saw Elephant, Giraffe, Buffalo, Hippos and large herds of Impala, Warthogs and lots of birds. Unfortunately, no Rhino or Lions. It was a good drive and I saw no other vehicle in that four hours – I think I had the park to myself.
The time I was there it was quite dry (in the middle of a drought) so probably saw fewer animals than might otherwise have been as many of the waterholes were dry.
I stopped at the Park Restaurant for lunch and had a delicious Impala and Cheese Jaffle, chips and salad.
The park was a great place to see animal. I self drove through the park. It could have a few more sign posts as it was not always clear from the map, exactly which track one was on. You do need at least half a day to see the park properly - unfortunately, my schedule only allowed me to spend half a day in the park.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
mind-blowing
The Volcanoes National Park (in conjunction with the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda) is renown as a haven for the rare and endangered mountain gorilla and golden monkeys
Based in Kigali we drove first to see Golden Monkeys.
These fascinating primates are quite used to tourists and, as such, one can approach to within a metre or so before they move away. The golden monkey is found in the Virunga volcanic mountains of Central Africa, including four national parks: Mgahinga, in south-west Uganda; Volcanoes, in north-west Rwanda; and Virunga and Kahuzi-Biéga, in the eastern DRC. It is restricted to highland forest, especially near bamboo. They live in social groups of up to 30 individuals, their diet consisting mainly of bamboo, leaves and fruit, and insects. Due to the gradual destruction of their habitat and recent wars in their limited habitat, the golden monkey is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List.
Then to Iby'iwacu Cultural Village, Kinigi.
This project known as "Gorilla Guardians" is a Non-Profit umbrella organization that aims to improving the lives of reformed poachers and their communities around Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park through provision of conservation incentives, supporting community enterprise development and livelihood-based projects.
It is an unashamedly tourist-oriented enterprise which helps to fund the Gorilla Guardian work.
The village is fascinating, with a variety of cultural experiences where the visitor can learn about traditional agricultural working practices and participate in food preparation and processes such as: millet grinding using stones: carrying potatoes and water on their heads and preparing a local dish. Every evening the village members gather around a campfire and begin a session of storytelling and dancing.
The staff at the cultural village, the guides and porters who navigate tourists to the golden monkey sites and the trackers who take tourists to the trek the gorilla families, are almost exclusively ex-poachers (and their family members) who have been trained to use their former skills more productively in the development of tourism in the area and conservation that this funds.
As a result, gorilla poaching has declined to minimal levels over the last 10 years and the gorilla and monkey groups are thriving
Finally we crossed the border into Uganda, staying in Kisoro in preparation for gorilla trekking on mount Muhabara.
Muhabura, or Muhavura volcano, is the third highest peak and the steepest among the 8 volcanoes of the Virunga massif region. Located at the rim of Uganda and Rwanda, mount Muhabura lies both in the Volcanoes national park of Rwanda and the Mgahinga national park of Uganda.
The trek to find a gorilla family, can take 5-6 hours depending on the movement of the group of gorillas you are trekking - there is a briefing beforehand explaining the parameters within which you are permitted to interact with the gorilla group.
Once leaving base camp the climb is steep but can be accomplished within a single day. We left base camp at approx. 7:30 am: - our gorilla group had been spotted by trackers earlier the same day.
Within 2 hours of leaving base camp at about 10,000 ft. we came upon part of the group : - a female and two youngsters (a baby, about 11 months and a juvenile, about 4 years).
'Mum" was resting, the 4 year eating and baby was being a total pest to both of them as he climbed, fell down, and thumped his sibling.
These beautiful creatures, whilst wild, are habituated and treated us (2 porters, a guide and a guy with an AK 47) with total indifference. The 'baby', however did show interest, approaching us on a number of occasions and attempting to steal a small shiny camera!!
Within 10 minutes of our arrival - we were crouched in against trees silently taking photos - the silverback father arrived, checked us out and then proceeded to sit further up the slope and demolish branches from the small tree he had chosen to feed from.
Watching the small family, we saw reflections of humanity. The interaction between the individuals was intense, often tender and intensely moving. The silverback was magnificent, weighing approx. 250 kg, with a dark intelligent frown. Branches gave in to him without resistance.
Forty-five minutes later, the group became bored with us and wandered off to find further areas of vegetation on which they might graze. The trackers then took us to see two other (solitary) silverbacks, who were part of the same family, but not dominant, and thus not allowed to mate with the female.
We found all three trips: monkeys, cultural village and gorilla trek comparable with any other wild life experience, having previously been on safaris, dolphin watching, diving on the barrier reef etc., but the gorilla trek was undoubtedly the most rewarding and satisfying. We could talk about nothing else for days - I suspect that the gorillas were less impressed with us, pasty, skinny, humans.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
FR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Just perfect
We spent 10 days with Godson travelling through Serengeti, Lake Eyasi, lake Manyara, lake Natron. Godson has all the quality of a good guide with the little plus which gives you the feeling that Tanzania is actually your family.
Flexible, good English, reliable definitely willing to help in case of unscheduled incident (supported me a lot for my luggage lost by the airlines) and able to provide fascinating explanation on many topic with a good sense of humor.
I definitely recommend him.
Enjoy your trip in Tanzania !!!
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Richard deserves a ten star rating, he made our Uganda trip the best memory ever.
My family recently visited Uganda for the first time. We were very, very fortunate to have Richard for a tour guide. I can't say enough good things about Richard. He sent the schedule for the trip and he had organized it to perfection. Richard was so much fun to be with. He was always happy, laughing, sharing his knowledge with us. He is very punctual, he was never late. He is an excellent driver, as it is not easy to drive in Uganda. Also, he is very patient, we were always asking him to stop so we could take photos. He would make lots of long stops so we could just enjoy taking everything in. He's very kind and respectful, at one point he even made personal calls for me because of a lodge booking problem.
His safaris to Murchinson Falls and Queen Elizabeth were perfect. We saw elephants, lions, leopard, chimps, giraffes, water buffalo, crocodiles, hippos, and many more and all kinds of birds. Richard is the only person I would want as a tour guide in Africa.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An adventure of a lifetime!
Mamaland Safaris was thourough ans speedy when communicating with me. They were wonderful to work with. The safari itself was incredible. Our guide, Obed, was so knowledgeable and he had an eagle eye for spotting the animals. My sons and I loved every minute of the trip.
PL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
With Meru Slopes dreams come true
We booked a budget six-day safari with the Meru Slopes company, which included Tarangire NP, Serengeti, Ngorongoro, and Lake Manyara.
The whole tour was perfectly organized, and we highly recommend the Meru Slopes team to all of you who are interested in experiencing fantastic adventures! All the arrangements for the trip were made, and what Geofrey had promised was fulfilled.
Our guide was Benson, an amazing and knowledgeable guy, who is also an excellent driver. He told us a lot about Tanzania's flora and fauna, and shared with us some very interesting information what life looks like in his country. The two nights spent in the heart of Serengeti, when 4 giraffes visited our campsite, were simply unforgettable.
As for the food, it was unbelievably delicious, and all the meals that Richard (our chef) prepared made us crave for more:).
To sum up, the Meru Slopes made our dreams come true, so we would like to warmly thank the whole team (and our co-travellers) for all they have done for us!!! Asante sana, Benson, Richard, Emanuel, and Geofrey!
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
My seven-day tour was incredible.
My first interactions with Gorilla Tours were very easy. They communicated clearly and gave me a full itinerary of my trip. My guide Charles picked me up from my hotel and was great for the full duration of the trip. He really made the entire experience great. I went on a seven-day drip and saw four national parks, including Bwindi. Seeing the gorillas was the highlight of my trip, but the rest of the experiences were great as well.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Exploring the Beauty of Uganda
We worked with Chris at Encounter Africa. He responded immediately to our initial request for information, listened carefully to our interests, suggested supplemental activities, and designed our final itinerary that exceeded our expectations. In the planning stages, Chris was extremely responsive to our questions, often replying to emails within an hour. When needed, he offered several options to address our concerns. In the end, we had a customized itinerary that showcased the beauty of Uganda. Our tour guides/drivers (Martin and Tolbert) were professional, informed, and friendly, and made decisions that optimized our experiences. For example, when observing the chimps in Kabale, rather than attempting to join early morning trekking groups, they suggested we wait and join the late morning/early afternoon groups; as a result, we were able to see the chimps on the ground (as opposed to in the trees) and to spend time with them up close. In another instance, Martin and Tolbert located and drove us to observe a few lions. When we arrived, there were close to a dozen other vehicles there with visitors enjoying the view. It was amazing and after a bit, the other cars left, but Martin and Tolbert stayed sensing that something might happen. They were right; the "few" lions ended up being an entire pride of around 10 lions (including cubs), and they were stalking a nearby group of water buffalo. The ensuing encounter was exciting and unforgettable. We enjoyed other adventures (e.g., mountain gorillas, white water rafting on the Nile), and by the end of our 12 days on the road, Martin and Tolbert were like family.
TW
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
10 days trip for Kenya & Tanzania
Jacqueline is very helpful, she gave us many good advices to arrange this 10 days safari trip. She even help to arrange the additional boarder crossing for my parents. We are very lucky to find them to be our safari agent. Our 10 days safari trip was amazing, we saw not only the Africa big 5, but also the black rhino, which is very rarely to be seen.
I really recommend the safari tour with Brush troop and Jacqueline.
