Review about Uganda by CanonBruno
A great destination even more if it is your first trip to Africa. It is a very beautiful country, people are extremely friendly and it is a very safe destination. Most parks are easy of access and you are certain to see wild life
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Excellent Customised Tour by Brilliant Travel Consultant
We had never used a travel agent before, as I always conduct the research and make the bookings. While researching Cape Town, Safari & Vic Falls I found a Pembury Tour that visited all 3, so sent an enquiry. Received an almost immediate reply that a travel consultant would contact us directly. Kerry Kirie contacted us, working to develop a customised itinerary.
Extremely satisfied with the service, we contacted 2 others for similar quotes, but Kerry's level of service was vastly superior to the others, so we went with Pembury.
The level of detail included in the planning is exceptional, which resulted in the entire tour taking place without a hitch. Kerry provides a detailed itinerary by email and then delivers a detailed package at the initial airport pick-up. The package incudes vouchers for all services - hotels, tours, transport, etc should there be any conflict over whether it is pre-paid. We never required any of the vouchers. She also included an excellent booklet she compiled providing information on our various stops. This was invaluable and was well used.
All transports arrived on time, all vehicles were reasonably new and drivers were very safe, considerate and informative. With the exception of the Royal Livingstone, all hotel were good to exceptional.
Kerry and Pembury also encourage feedback and take said feedback seriously to improve their level of service to future customers.
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing animal sightings, lovely lodges, great people and the vast African landscape.
Laura at Amazing Tanzania put together an itinerary that was varied and designed to let us see as many animals as we could as well as to give us a real feel for Tanzania. Communication was easy and friendly. She answered our emails promptly and clearly. The trip fulfilled all of our expectations and more. Everything was extremely well organized and came off just a she had said it would. All of the places we stayed at were lovely, with very good service and food. Our guides were friendly, knowledgeable and amazing spotters. It was great to have them with us for the whole trip. Even the animals cooperated - we saw many awe-inspiring sights including great numbers of wildebeest on the move. We have returned with some fantastic memories of one of the best vacations we have ever had as well as lots of great photos. Karibu.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
We went to Tarangire and Ngorongoro-Crater and saw the Big Five in two days.
Really: I can only say it was quite fantastic! The two national parks are very nice and the tour was well done. We had an excellent Lodge. Our guide was great. He explained us a lot, asked for our wishes and he searched for special animals so that we saw the Big Five. And the price was totally adequate.
Every time again...
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great Experience
Many thanks to Philemon for organising a fantastic Killimanjaro Climb and Safari for us. I can highly recommend Aardvark as we received great support and he really cared for us in every detail.
Super friendly guy and everything in our whole trip went great!
CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Kilimanjaro Trek
As of this writing it's been a year since I was in Tanzania to climb Kilimajro. If you are thinking of attempting to summit, book it with Trek2Kili. You couldn't ask for a better trust worthy crew to climb with. Azizi and his crew are some of the nicest people and the most professional. The food was amazing, I had no issue with what was made it was all delicious! So please contact Azizi at Trek2Kili if you have any questions. They come highly recommend.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The Trek2Kili staff went above and beyond, making this trip the experience of a lifetime.
The staff communication was easy, service was personable and excellent. The trip surpassed my expectations. The safari guides were very knowledgable, the lodges were amazing. The guides and porters on Kilimanjaro were kind, cheerful and welcoming. Tanzania is amazing, but it is these people that make me want return someday.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A dream come true...better than I could have ever imagined!
This is a first-class tour company all the way! Everything is well-planned out and put into place to make the trip one of the most memorable ever. There is a very friendly and welcoming staff who works diligently to make sure the customer gets everything they need and then some! I highly recommend going through Trek2Kili when planning a climb up Kilimanjaro and/or a safari through Tanzania. This is certainly one of the most professional and hardest-working tour companies out there!
A company which ensures your experience meets every expectation.
This was our second experience with Encompass Africa and they did not disappoint. Jono and his team were with us throughout the entire experience even though they were physically located elsewhere. All details were attended to even down to camps knowing that hard boiled eggs should not be on our menu :o). Staff greeted us at each point and ensured we were safely delivered to the next destination. We were in touch with the group from the inception of our travel planning through to when we arrived home. We even brought along a couple from USA who used Encompass Africa tagging on to our trip with ease. This was another fabulous adventure and we can't wait to plan our next one! Would recommend Encompass Africa to everyone and anyone planning to visit the continent.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Our wonderful tour, thoroughly organised by Encompass Africa!
We, a group of 6 adults, have just returned from our nearly 4 week holiday in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana! All this was thoroughly organised by Jonathon Wilson, Director of Encompass Africa and his staff in both the Australian (Brisbane) and South Africa (Johannesburg) offices.
Early 2014, maybe even late 2013, I contacted about 6 companies in both Australia and Africa asking for tour ideas and prices that will coincide with either the start or end of our week of "Golden Oldies Cricket" my partner was to play, at the end of March 2015. We received so many different ideas and prices from one end of the spectrum to the other and we really had no idea who we should pick or what we should do and see. One of the ladies from the cricket team knew Jonathon and organised us all to meet with him. Prior to that I wrote an email to his company asking for quotes on roughly what the other companies had already quoted for us. We wanted to travel through the Garden Route from or to Cape Town from Port Elizabeth do some Safari and see Victoria Falls.
Jonathon, himself came back with quotes for a couple of different. These were so full of information, had prices and coatings for what he had for us and had an interactive map for us to look at to see where we could go, information on the hotels and what was around, it was so very informative and was only the first quote from him! We had made our decision to go with his company because of that info we received! And am so very glad we did!
We had our group meeting with him, and found out about him, his company and how he can make our trip personal! He did that and more! Jonathon lives 6 months in Australia and 6 months in South Africa (his birthplace). So his knowledge of what is around is great, and he and most of his staff have done what he showed us we could do!
Over the next 18 months or so, we emailed quite often and changed and added and tweaked until all 6 of us were happy with what we all wanted to do and see, and not once did any of our many emails not get answered! And promptly! The prices from the quote to when we left did not change unless we added something, which we did often. Even the staff in Johannesburg helped us when we were in their country, met us at the airport, took us to our hotel in Johannesburg and generally looked after us, it felt very personable and was so very much appreciated! I would certainly recommend this company to look at making the ideal quote and trip itinerary for your next/first trip to Africa!
Our itinerary was so thoroughly thought out, and written down for us all with all numbers for every person involved in helping us on our tour, drivers, guides, aeroplane companies names and numbers, all hotel and accommodation names and numbers, so very thorough. We were never left alone to do anything or to find our way. We had drivers for every part who took us to the reception desk of our hotels, introduced us to owners of sanctuaries or safaris, took us to pre-booked restaurants, wine tours, showed us right up to the checkin area for all airports, took us through the customs and visa areas getting into Botswana. We were never alone to worry about anything!
Our tour started in Cape Town where we stayed for 2 nights and then we started on the garden route drive, going through the wine area, stopping at 3 wineries, one of them had a chocolate tasting with the wine, one had cheese tasting and the other was Gary Player (golf player) because one of us like golf! Then lunch at a 5 star winery! I don't drink alcohol so he made sure I was catered for with a juice or a special non alcoholic drink! What a start to a wonderful holiday! Our time on the Garden Route, about 7nights, our guide and driver showed us so much more than was on the itinerary. He took us to an sanctuary for elephants where we were able to walk hand in trunk with them, learn so much from them, we went to a sanctuary for cats, and walked with cheetahs for about 1.5 hours! We went to a bird sanctuary and saw over 500 species of birds, and a monkey sanctuary with so many different breeds to look at, all in the open and no cages! We went on a meerkat adventure and sat and watched these little things playing and going about their daily going ons! We stayed in 3-5 star places, and were treated like royalty in every single place! And nothing was too much trouble!
We then flew to Johannesburg and were driven for 2 nights in Sun City for our golfer to have a game of of golf and us ladies to use the spa! There is so much to do and see, we didn't have anywhere near enough time to see 1/4 of it! Then back to Johannesburg to give our big bags to the encompass office of Johannesburg as we only had limited luggage on the small planes between the safaris! We caught a flight to Skukuza airport and picked up for our first safari at Nottens Bush Camp for 3 nights. Everything was included in this tour, as was all 3 safaris we did, all food, and drink and tours out to look at the animals! We saw the Big 5 on our first day and to say we enjoyed ourselves was an understatement! It was thrilling, and so worth seeing all these animals in the wild, the way they are supposed to be. We learnt so much about the lives of the people here and the antics of the animals! Well worth it, every second! And the camp only held 16 people so it was very personable!
We then went on to Victoria Falls for 2 nights, saw the falls, from ground and a helicopter flight. Us ladies spent time at an orphanage and thoroughly enjoyed that. We went to a Boma for dinner and that was another great experience! All the time with a guide or driver!
The next 2 safaris were at Kwondo Lagoons and a sister place called Kwara. Both for 3 nights and both were reached by a 6seater plane! Another part of our adventure! Both these camps were tented accommodation, on wooden floors, stairs up, full bathroom with outside shower! Very glamorous and very comfortable! And once again, we had a driver and a tracker for our group for the whole time we were there. Both very informative and both very welcoming and both happy to answer all our many questions! We saw cheetahs, lions, leopards, a kill done only one minute prior to us getting there, we saw herds of zebra, elephants, Impala, giraffes and lots of birds! All over all manners of terrain, just so we could see them (all animals) in their natural habitat!
Then back to Johannesburg for 1 night and home to Brisbane!
The whole trip was well thought out and nothing was needed or wanted! Many many thanks to Jonathon and his team in both offices! This has been a trip of a lifetime and I still can't stop talking about it or showing my many wonderful photos of all the animals up close and very personal! Thank you!