Uganda Gorilla Safari with 2 gorilla tracking permits/ days- 4 Days

  My sister organized an itinerary through Gorillas and Wildlife Safari. We love that it was Uganda-owned. She worked with Ivan to put together a fabulous itinerary through Rwanda and Uganda... read more for a short eight night trip to trek to the gorillas, chimps, and golden monkeys and with a short safari break at Queen Elizabeth National Park. It was a tight schedule (and we knew that — our schedules didn’t allow for longer trip), but my 65 year old mom and godmother kept up! We still had a few afternoons for relaxing built in. It was perfect! We saw everything we came to see and so much more. Our guide Eric was an incredible driver (most of that driving was not easy!!) and was super knowledge about the history, culture, nature, and especially the animals. For the trekking, we had separate guides (as required), but Eric guided us on our game drives in Queen Elizabeth National Park, and he has an eagle eye for spotting animals and made sure we saw everything. We heded his advice and started our days very early because that’s when animals are most activity. We are so glad we did! All the hotels we stayed at were top notch (we did luxury package). Everything ran really smoothy! I will say that you do spend a lot of time in a really nice SUV but keep that in mind if you are prone to car sickness. The drives were so scenic and we saw and learned so much along the way to the different stops.

  Amazing experience with Gorillas and Wildlife Safaris - We did a 7 night, 8 day gorilla and Safari tour. It was fantastic - we had such a great time. Ivan was quick to respond to all... read more of our questions and Eric, our guide, was excellent. He’s a fantastic driver and incredibly knowledgable about Uganda and the surrounding wildlife. Eric also made sure we got to see everything we wanted to see - in our case a leopard. We couldn’t have asked for a better trip. Thank you to both Ivan and Eric.

  My wonderful 13-day trip across Uganda - I just returned from my wonderful 13-day trip across Uganda with Gorillas and Wildlife Safaris. My interactions with Ivan as well as my guide, Huzaima, were fantastic. Ivan was very... read more responsive throughout entire preparation period answering all my questions and addressing all my concerns. All payments for the permits and tours went very smoothly. With Huzaima, my guide, we developed a friendship. Huza is a very kind and thoughtful person with great sense a humor. With him I felt very safe in completely unknown country. The tour per se was fantastic: within 13 days we circled entire country. The pearl of the tour was habituation experience with gorillas. I opted not to do habituation with chimpanzees and now regret it. I strongly recommend this company to work with if you want to visit Uganda.

  Amazing experience from the start! - We cannot recommend Gorilla and Wildlife Safaris enough! From the very beginning in planning the trip, Ivan was extremely responsive to all our questions and very helpful in creating the... read more perfect itinerary that we hoped for. Our guide, Eric, was just as exceptional. Eric was knowledgeable not just about the country, but all the animals we would see, and everything in between. We appreciated all the information he gave us and his efforts to make our trip memorable (which it was)! Our experiences in the national parks and seeing the gorillas, chimps, tree climbing lions, etc. were everything we hoped for and more. Uganda is a beautiful country and we felt safe every step of the way. GWS coordinated excellent lodges for us to stay at and the meals did not disappoint. Do not hesitate to book with this company! If we return to the area, we would absolutely book with them again and hope to have Eric again as our guide.

  Simply perfect, flawlessly executed - There are so many good things I want to say about our trip, Ivan, and our guide Richard that I'm worried this will be a book. To keep myself in... read more check, I'll use bullet points where I can.

Wilderness trips are my passion and I have traveled all over the world. I did a safari in Uganda in 2009 and told my now husband that he needed to see the gorillas. He had also never been to Africa.

I randomly found Ivan's company by doing Google searches (should have come to TripAdvisor to begin with). One of the many things I love about Ivan's company are the various choices a traveler has, e.g. budget/mid/upscale accommodations, internal flights, etc.

I knew exactly the itinerary I wanted (having been in 2009). I chose mid-range because I didn't want to feel like I was staying at the Ritz when I'm in Africa. I wanted a more "rustic" feel. The mid-range options turned out to be so nice, I wondered if I should have gone budget. 🙂 Kidding, but mid-range was amazing.

I also knew that my husband would not like to do long drives so we took 4 internal flights to several of the villages we stayed.

Ivan arranged everything down to the smallest detail. And when one of our flights decided not to fly us to our next location (full plane), Ivan quickly found a back up flight. Ivan is on it...every detail!

Highlights
- We saw everything! After we landed in Murchison on way to lodge, there were road blocks of giraffes and elephants (my husband was thrilled)

- I wanted 2 gorilla excursions and Ivan asked if we wanted to do gorilla habituation (more time w gorillas, less tourists). We did one of each visit: "normal" gorilla visit and habituation. We liked habituation more.

- Our guide Richard was perfect. He is incredibly smart and well-read and has a progressive mindset (we're from California). He is such a kind and gentle person and we had amazing chats about so many topics. Richard also appreciated my husband's sense of humor (my husband is very funny) and the three of us laughed our way through 10 days together. It was like a 10-day comedy show through Uganda.

- We did not have a bad meal ever. In fact, the food was so good and healthy, we both lost weight (in a good way). If anything, there was too much food and by the 3rd day, I was asking for 1/2 portions for every meal.

- Days are packed with adventure: morning safaris, lunch, afternoon excursion (bat cave, swamp walk, nature walk, boat rides), late afternoon safari, dinner, bed.

Things we'd skip or change next time:
- Boat cruise in Murchison is best done in one of the "speed" boats (vs 2 story cruiser). We, and many others, got bored on the 2 story cruiser. Some people took naps or read books. LOL The falls are a must see from a boat! Just do it in the faster boats.

- Semliki can be skipped due to lack of animals to see. I'm a bit sad to say that because I want to keep supporting everyone and every village in Uganda. I think the area is in the process of trying to get the animals to come back. We did see a lot of baboons and the forest elephant. But when compared to Murchison, it doesn't feel like much.

The Semliki lodge, however, is stunning. I wish my house in America looked like the common area of the lodge. And they have a pool (which we didn't use unfortunately). We wished we were there for 2 nights instead of one just to take advantage of the gorgeous lodge, luxurious tent accommodations, scenery, and pool. Plus the staff was awesome. As we were the only guests there that particular night, we bought all the staff a drink and hung out around a bonfire with the manager and our pilot talking for hours. It made an unforgettable memory that I will cherish forever.

- In Kibale, we will opt for chimp habituation vs the regular chimp visit next time. We did the "normal" chimp visit of one hour. We had an amazing guide and took incredible photos and videos of the chimps. But the pushing by others in our group was a drag. We are not like that (always pushing to be in front) and found this experience uncomfortable.

- Take note that trekking for gorillas can be difficult. When we did habituation, the trackers were blazing a trail using machetes. (I was in heaven). During our "normal" gorilla trek, although we were in a "moderate" group (vs easy or difficult), the roundtrip hike was ~ 5 miles (7 km) with the majority down then up a very steep hill. One person in our group had to get the African Helicopter (basket stretcher) because they couldn't do it.

If you're not super fit, you can still see the gorillas. Just ask to go in an easy group.

- I think most people end with gorillas and if flying, depart from Kisoro. Apparently, Kisoro doesn't have the best weather and often flights are changed. Instead of flying out around 9-10am, our flight left at 7am. That meant a 3:30am wakeup due to 2 hour drive from lodge to Kisoro. Be prepared for your flight time to change and an early wakeup.

I am already planning our return trip in 2024 with Ivan and Richard. I need to see Kidepo National Park, as well as the gorillas (for the 4th time). It's that magical. 🙂

  A Fantastic 15-day personalised safari with a great company and superb guide - We finally managed to complete the trip we had planned for 2020 that we all understand was delayed due to covid.

I have to say that the communication in... read more booking the trip and managing the delays and finally arriving were exemplary.

Ivan is a diligent and responsive manager. I have no issues at all with the company and highly recommend them to anyone looking to book a trip, however long.

Ivan scheduled a 15-day personalised safari for my wife and I which was superb, I didn't know what to expect but the trip was beyond words for the experience we had. The country is magnificent, the people are so friendly and what we saw was brilliant.

We booked the medium standard accommodation and all the places we stayed were exceptional for their views over either the lakes, rivers, waterfalls, or the parks that we would visit later.

The food was very good and plentiful and in 1 place fantastic.

The highlights were the Chimpanzee and Gorilla experiences. Getting so close to wild animals was amazing, their calls and activities something we will remember for ever.

However, be prepared for possibly a very long day to see the Gorillas. The troop we went to see moved and the round trip from start to finish took 8 hours, the first 3 uphill, but they are mountain Gorillas, so it was expected.

It must also praise out guide Kassim, he is a truly knowledgeable, amiable, and likable man who made the trip.

His knowledge on all the animals, birds and locations in the country is outstanding. He answered all our questions on anything we asked and expanded our knowledge considerably on the country and the people who live there.

We are truly grateful to him, and it was a pleasure to spend 14 days with him, nothing was too much trouble and his suggestions on managing the trip were always valid and, in our case, always followed.

We met as strangers but left as friends, an extremely nice man.

We are still living off the memories and will so for the rest of our time.