20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Really wanted to like them, left some things lacking
I went on a 3 day Rwanda gorilla trek with Encounter Africa. While I really want to like them, there are a few things that were lacking.
Pros:
1. The driver was nice and friendly. He also spoke good English and very helpful.
2. The car was good and comfortable for the two of us.
3. Accommodations were but clean, safe and hotel staff was friendly.
4. Price: The price was fair.
Cons:
1. Communication troubles: Not sure what it was but the office was extremely responsive at first via email which I why I wanted to go with them initially. But then fell radio silent. So I followed up on skype and had some challenges getting a hold of them. They said that there were issues with their email, so may that is fixed?
2. Quoted a price, and then told us that they didn't have any more availability at the lodging and then wanted put us in a lower quality hotel. Ended up paying the original price for a lower quality hotel. The hotel was fine, but the experience of that change was frustrating.
3. Finally, the biggest issue was that the driver was 2 hours late for the initial airport pickup! This was extremely inconvenient because we did not have Rwanda phones and had no way of contacting the driver. For a minute, I thought we had been completely scammed. He came in the end, but this resulted in us driving back in the hills in dark, getting to the hotel extremely late, and missing a proper dinner (that we had paid for in our room/board).
However, what frustrated me most was they claimed that it was the Uganda / Rwanda time difference that caused the delay. However, Uganda time is 1 hour ahead, so of anything, they would have arrived an hour later rather than 2 hours late. When I mentioned this to them, they then said that it was because they had to pick up the permits. If that were the real reason, then tell the truth the first time. Do not lie or try to pull one on me.
So all in all, I'm mixed on this group. While the rest of the experience itself was incredible (highly recommend the gorilla trek to anyone), there were logistical things that were a lacking and the lying about being 2 hours late was a huge detractor.
CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Picturesque views, great camping and a perfect layover between seeing chimps and gorillas
As far as traditional, savannah type game parks, QENP is one of Uganda's few options. The park's beauty and open landscape is a nice change from the more typical forests in the south west of the country, however, in many respects - e.g. wildlife and vastness - QENP lags far behind parks in neighbouring Kenya and Tanzania. But if you were looking for the standard safari experience you probably wouldn't be looking at Uganda in the first place!
QENP is definitely worth a visit and it's location between Kibale and Bwindi/Mgahinga make it an ideal place to spend a night between seeing the more impressive chimps and gorillas of the other parks. Because the wildlife is rather sparse in the park, grab a guide from the front gate if you must see the leopards and lions, otherwise do what we did and take a relaxing drive through the many tracks along the craters to enjoy the scenery while searching for the herds of elephants, buffalo and other animals.
As for accommodation, I highly recommend camping inside the park if you have the gear - great views, inexpensive and a nice way to experience the park. Don't worry about breakfast as there is a restaurant about 5 minutes from the campsite with an amazing view over the lake.
Considering this isn't Uganda's forte, the park offers some surprising moments and picturesque views. As long as you're not expecting the Maasai Mara, it will add to your experience of the country.
Review about Lake Manyara National Park by Don Petersen
Accommodations overlooking the great rift valley wonderful views. The park has the chance to see a lot of wildlife, and from a scenery standpoint is average. This was were we started our game drives. Worth visiting, but not my favorite location.
ES
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Basic safari billed as luxury, disappointing
Ryan is knowledgable and enthusiastic but customer service is not his strong point, it felt almost like we were following him around on his safari. Despite being billed as a luxury safari the food and accomodation were basic at best. For some reason he asked us in advance for our preferences for food, wines and spirits but then completely ignored what we had asked for. He only supplied one bottle of cheap wine which he shared with us so I ended up buying him more drinks than he provided. I would happily have paid more for the luxury touches I had specifically asked him for but he seemed not to have read my emails - he initially turned up at the wrong airport terminal.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Nairobi National Park by Heather
Nairobi National Park is not one of the best parks to visit in Kenya. If you are coming to Kenya specifically for safari, there are so many bigger and more beautiful parks and reserves in Kenya with greater variety of wildlife. However, I had already been to most of the other big tourist destination parks in Kenya and I had an extra day in Nairobi, so I decided to book a day safari in Nairobi National Park and I'm glad I did. Although it's not as wonderful as the Maasai Mara, Samburu, Tsavo, or any of the other big parks, it is still a wonderful little retreat into Kenya's wildlife that lies just outside the main area of the city. I was a little disappointed with the variety of the wildlife. I asked my guide why we weren't seeing lions or rhinos and he pointed towards the more heavily forested areas where the roads didn't go, and he said they mostly hid over there. We did, however, still see a lot of animals such as giraffe, zebra, many types of antelopes, buffaloes, ostriches, etc. My guide also took me to an area where I was allowed to get out of the vehicle and an armed guard took me for a short walk in search of hippos. We couldn't see them, but we could hear them on the other side of the river breathing loudly and making their unique vocalization. It was very enjoyable. For a 1 day excursion within Nairobi, I enjoyed it very much.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Hell's Gate National Park by Heather
I took a driving tour through Hell's Gate National Park even though you can actually walk or bicycle through it due to the fact that there are no predatory animals in the park. I saw some zebra, giraffe, and a few types of antelope, but I wouldn't come here just for wildlife viewing. For me the highlight was walking down into and through the gorges. It was beautiful and very interesting. A maasai guide took me down and told me some of the history of the area. And I got to wash my hands in a hot geothermal stream that was flowing down the rocks. The beauty of these gorges is definitely worth a visit. There's a lot of geothermal activity in the park and before we reached the gorge, we drove through an area with a lot of plants that were harnessing that energy, which is a good thing, but it detracted from the beauty of the park. Once you got through that area though, it was nice. I was glad to be driving through because it started to rain right after I finished my hike through the gorge. I would love to go back though and maybe bicycle in the park.
Beautiful Park with plenty of wildlife
Really enjoyed our visit to Majete - were able to drive around the park ourselves safely. The riverside setting is beautiful. We saw a lot of wildlife, none of the Big 5 unfortunately, but the highlight for us was seeing a nest of baby Warthogs! An amazing sight. The park attendants were very welcoming. We did a bush walk and safari drive and they were very knowledgeable and friendly. Would really recommend a visit if you're in the area.
Very responsive, but a little disorganized
Robert's company was recommended through the Nairobi Expat Marketplace forum and overall, we had a good trip. The driver who accompanied us was friendly and great at spotting animals (though not necessarily able to tell us much about the animals). Robert was also very responsive to our emails both in the planning stage, and throughout the safari when we needed to clarify things.
My suggestion would be that if you book with Maasai Trails East Africa, to send a confirmation email the day before to confirm that you will be getting water and binocular. Both were forgotten for us, which was disappointing. Maasai Trails reimbursed us for the water we purchased, but no binoculars meant some of the animals further from the road were harder to see. Also double-check the itinerary: our driver didn't know half of our itinerary and there was a lot of confusion over whether he had been given the park fees, etc. Ultimately Robert handled the situation but it would have been nice to not have had to spend an evening calling and clarifying our itinerary.
Despite the forgotten items, we enjoyed our safari experience overall. Thanks, Robert and crew! If you all improve communication within your team members and ensure that what is listed in the package is included in the car, you'll be a 5-star deal.
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Waterberg Biosphere Reserve by Jaco Beukman | www.go-nipper.com
Nice for the locals. Ecosystem unbalanced.