Reviews of Simba African Expeditions

Stay in luxury hotels with hidden costs and last minute program changes

The program changed at the last moment,just before leaving,so that from the initial 2 days in the rainforest only half remained and many cultural visits got cancelled(like the visit at the king's palace). The meals promised for one reason or another got reduced and for the remaining I had to pay for water,although it was all inclusive. At arrival the driver wasn't waiting for me and he didn't answer his phone,yet after contacting the central bureau and waiting for around an hour he came and picked me up. I got to see the promised animals and I passed 4 days really pleasantly with Tonny,my driver,which overshadowed the afore mentioned tiny details. Yet if I had to do the journey again,I would book it independently, since Rwanda is a safe country and I would have gotten more for the half price.Indeed for the 5K I paid I would expect impeccable service without tiny traps and tricks.

Nikos

Very friendly, caring, thoughtful staff who show pride in showing their country

Very well run. Excellent accommodations. Great vehicals. Excellent food offered. Kept well to schedule.

Annie

This was a once in a life time experience that unfolded before my eyes meeting all my expectations.

Very professionally booked, scheduled and performed meeting all of my expectations and more. I highly recommend Simba Africa Expeditions and I look forward to more adventures with them in the future. Rain or shine the safari was prepared for what Mother Nature through at us being well prepared at every turn. The scheduling of the days events was perfect in keeping me busy physically and mentally at every moment with a mix of fun, adventure, learning and most important relaxation at just the right time - it was a wonderful once in a life time experience from the moment I woke, through the day and once my head hit the pillow that I hope everyone will be able to take advantage of while visiting Africa. Thanks goes out to the entire team at Simba Africa Expeditions.

Daniel

First Class service from Simba!

I experienced excellent service from this Tour operator starting from my first email sent in 2019 until going on tour with them in Uganda during June 2022. My trip to Uganda was delayed due to Covid . Sharl who is based in the Kampala office answers your emails very promptly and is very obliging. The 6 day safari was very well planned and everything went like clock work. George was a great guide and driver. Very knowledgeable person and interesting to listen to on local news and history and many other discussions that we had together. My two top places I visited on tour was the Murchison Falls, both the falls and the game park as well as the Kazinga Channel at QENP. If I had more time would like to have spent one night in the Fort Portal area to break the long trip between the two parks. One day I would like to return to Uganda and would not hesitate to book again with this company.

Thomas Richardson

Excellent service and unforgettable experience

I was on a 3-day gorilla tracking safari which I absolutely loved! All went pretty much as expected. My overall experience was great. I had no problems during the entire tour. They were very responsive to all my emails. I appreciate their willingness to discuss and adjust the itinerary according to my tight budget. That made it the cheapest reliable option I found. I would recommend them to anyone. Take note that nights are cold in Bwindi and days are not boiling hot either. The Batwa community walk was not authentic.

Wiażer

An Amazing 5 days in Uganda.

We spent an AMAZING 5 days with our fantastic driver and guide Alex. We trekked the gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable NP and spent some time enjoying the Wildlife in Queen Elizabeth NP as well as a boat cruise on the Kazinga Channel. Alex was very knowledgeable, letting us know the names of the various plants, birds and animals, as well as giving us some historical, factual and cultural information. The roads are rough in Uganda, but at no time did we ever feel compromised or unsafe. Every part of our tour was incredible. In Bwindi, we experienced a family of 16 gorillas (babies, adolescents, blackbacks and a silverback). These beautiful animals walked within a few feet of us. This was absolutely a highlight of our trip. Our time at Queen Elizabeth Park and the Kazinga Channel was also amazing. We saw tree climbing lions, kobs, vultures, elephants, baboons, water buffalo, various birds, hippos, warthogs, crocodiles and an unusual siting of a leopard. Our accommodations were excellent and the communication with Hajarah was seamless. Thank you so much for a wonderful experience!

Kim & Frank

Superb safari with Simba African Expeditions

What a wonderful experience from start to finish. Moses, Patricia and our driver Frank were very professional and Frank so knowledgeable. He took care of everything we needed and the Pakuba Lodge where we stayed was right on the Nile. We took loads of photos and Frank went above and beyond driving us through the grasslands to find wildlife. Murchison Falls is a beautiful area, the boat trip and seeing the falls are spectacular but be amazed by seeing giraffes, leopard, lions, elephants, warthog, water buffalo, Jackson heartbeast, kobs and more. As an extra we visited the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary which is a must alongside this fabulous 3 day tour.

Kim

2-days tour at Murchinson Falls NP

We spent an amazing 2-days tour at Murchinson Falls NP. We really enjoyed the experience and Ashraf, our guide, was absolutely the best!

Marta

Short but intensive 5-day trip to the primates of Uganda

We have done a 5-days tour starting in Entebbe and ending in Musanze/Rwanda. We had a wonderful holiday and we enjoyed the tour a lot. We especially liked the following aspects of the tour: - Accomodation: the accomocations were all fine but we especially enjoyed staying at Isunga Lodge which we consider the most beautiful accomocation we stayed at during our whole holiday. - Our tour included all important components we agreed on and we're very happy that everything worked out so well and that there were no misunderstandings. - The driver was a very affable and friendly tour guide and we enjoyed travelling with him a lot. He was happy to respond to our special wishes (stops for photos etc.) and we felt very safe driving with him. - We especially appreciated driving in a big van so we had enough room for the luggage. - We enjoyed the village walk at Bigodi swamp very much as the guide told us a lot about daily life and about the swamp and the animals and plants living there. We have a few ideas to improve the tour even more: - Since we enjoyed the village walk at Bigodi swamp so much, we were a bit disappointed that we didn't have enough time to do the village and the swamp walk completely as we expected. After visiting the chimpanzees we had a very long break in the afternoon at the hotel which resulted in not having enough time for the swamp and the village walk. We suggest to count enough time for both walks and to shorten the break after visiting the chimpanzees. - Drinking water: We got drinking water in 0.5 liter bottles. We suggest to buy bigger bottles since they produce a lot of garbage. - On the fourth day of the tour there wasn't any drinking water left and the driver didn't buy any new one for us, although we asked him to. We seriously suggest to buy enough drinking water for every day since we counted on it. - When we went to see the gorillas the driver din't ask us about our preferences (walk a short or a long way to see the gorillas). After finishing the hike he told us why he had chosen the particular group of gorillas for us. The hike was beautiful but we would have liked to be included in the decision which group we were going to visit. We both would have liked to do a longer hike and we were a bit disappointed that it was over so quickly (25 minutes one way). We're very used to hiking and it would have been good if the driver had asked us for our opinion before making the booking. - The accomodation at Ruhija (Gorilla Mist Camp) was not as nice as we expected it to be. The room was quite nice just as the view, but there were a few things that didn't work properly. The shower turned out to be a small trickle and the water was not hot. The wifi didn't work at all. Also the light wasn't working at the first night. - We also enjoyed the village walk at Ruhija. We would have appreciated if we would have had an idea of how much we'd have to tip. Since the walk had already been payed for we weren't sure if we still had to tip but the expectation was obviously there. We generally think that expected tipping in this context can create wrong incentives and dependencies for the participating people from the village. Instead, we are interested in an authentic meeting and exchange at eye level. Even though, we have a few a series of suggestions to improve the tour, we were more than happy to have done this tour with you and we remember these days in Uganda as an amazing experience. The communication with the tour company before the tour was very professional and insightful. All our questions and needs were responded to very quickly.

Christoph

A journey to remember!

Our experience with Simba Africa Expeditions was amazing. Everything went smoothly starting from the first email we wrote to Simba to receive information about available safari tours till our brilliant guide Remy dropped us off at the airport in Entebbe to catch a flight back home. We outlined in our email what approximately we would like to see and do in Uganda and Simba's tour manager prepared a plan for us on which we then worked together till was absolutely perfect. We kept in regular contact till our day of arrival and Simba's tour manager was very patient in answering all our questions. We were met at the airport upon arrival, introduced to our safari guide and from there we started a 10-day long journey around Uganda. Like all tourists in Uganda we wanted to see and enjoy Uganda's wild life. And our Safari guilde Remy did a great job: we were able to spot and see from a close range pretty much all the animals, including lions (we saw both so to say regular lions and tree-climbing lions) and even leopards, which are not so easy to come across! Also, our guide is extremely informed and knows a lot about animals, their habits, and also about the thousand of birds that exist in Uganda. Our safari drives were a never-ending National Geographic-kind of experience. We were taken extremely good care of. Upon arrival to Entebbe, we learnt that part of our luggage was lost together with our clothes (and one of the cameras), but it did not ruin our experience, as Simba did everything possible to make sure our luggage is returned to us asap. As our wonderful tour manager told us: I will contact the airport every day until I become a pain to them:) And it worked as our luggage was returned to us on our 4th day although we were already some hundreds km away from Entebbe airport: Simba sent its driver to meet halfway with our safari guide Remy while we were enjoying a boat trip ride. Also our hiking shoes bought locally fell apart but again Remy took care of it. He brought the shoes to the local repairman and now these shoes will experience many more years of travel:) Also want to mention that our safari guide is a very skillful and careful driver. That's important as often times roads in Uganda are not as good as in most countries in Europe, for example and traffic can also get a bit crazy. Comfort and safety of tourits is a priority for Simba! Also, all our lodges were great! The staff was everywhere extremely friendly, polite and helpful. We never encountered rudeness or indifference. Also, food exceeded all our expectations. I think we even got a little bit spoilt as almost in all lodges we were offered a finger-licking dessert for dinner (in addition to at least two-course meals):) And of course, fresh fruits and fresh juices everyday is the least your should expect. We are extremely grateful to Simba Africa Expeditions for organizing such a great trip for us. We did game drives, and boat trips and we saw mountains and lakes and waterfalls. We made amazing memories and thousands of beautiful pictures!

Andreas and Anastasia Breunig