Africa Travel Forum

Hi,

My soon to be wife and I are going to Honeymoon in Africa. It has been a life long wish to visit Africa and view the amazing wildlife it has to offer, so when I get to do it, i want it to be everything i have dreamed of. We would like to visit the countries of Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda and figure the best way to see what each of these countries has to offer in wildlife is to do a tour.

Can anyway recommend a tour company that may take tours of these countries?

Or if anyone has any suggestions on the best way to travel and see wildlife in Africa, it would be much appreciated.

We will be travelling in Jan for 6 weeks and plan on taking approx 4 weeks on this particular tour / itinery.

Please please give me some advice!!!

Thanks

There are certainly plenty of companies you can use. (my company mainly does tailor made stuff for people)

Be careful to check if in Uganda/Rwanda the tour you join includes your gorilla tracking permits, as some are not guaranteed...they are usually aquired but its quite a long way to go if you don't get them. Also be aware that some companies take you tracking gorillas in the DRC which you will have to decide yourself whether you would be ok doing that. I've not heard of any problems with travelers but as you are probably aware it is a turbulent area.

Be aware that in Northern Uganda (some of the areas near Murchison Falls) have been having some problems recently so you may want to think twice before visiting there. (there are plenty of other places to go, like Queen Elizabeth National Park, Kibale, Ishasha, Lake Mburo, etc.)

Northern Tanzania (the Ngorongoro, Tarangire, Serengeti, etc.) is a bit cheaper to see than the Southern parks, but the southern ones have the advantage of there being less people so its a bit more special for a honeymoon.

Hope you have a great trip once you find one, it sounds like its going to be a wonderful honeymoon :)

I see you are located in Austrlaia so may be my suggestion won't be relevant. Hoewever, Explore Worldwide have all sorts of trips/tours to various parts of Africa, som e long, some short.

Hi Hawkhead, I haven't been on an explore tour (and hopefully I'm worng) but I worked behind the scenes for them for a company I used to work for (another tour operator) and their organisation was terrible :(

They almost had all of their group traveling without the correct visas coz they were so unorganised getting stuff to us in time....

They have high standards when they are out on a tour Ive been told but it put me off booking with them a little knowing how messed up they had let things get. They are a big company as well so theres no excuse that they didn't have someone who should have been responsible for that.

(sorry to anyone who has traveled with them and had a great time, just a bit of insider knowledge about them for reference)

I've never been on an Explore tour either. However, those people I know who have, or who have talked to if I've met up with them while on my own travels, have absolutely no complaints. So perhaps since you've been peripherally involved, they have pulled their socks up..... or whatever.

hi Hawkhead, glad it sounds like everyone whos traveled with them have had a good time, after all thats what counts :)

Must admit it may have been a mistake for them to have been using my old company in the first place...this doesn't look good on me but it was not a good company :(

Ribeniababy,

You said your company tailor makes trips. Can you point me to a website?

Thanks for your comments too.

If people don't think Uganda is a good country to visit for wildlife, are there any other recommendations? I'm pretty keen on Rwanda and Tanzania. Perhaps Zambia?

hmm not sure whether I can give you the website, you could pm me and I could give it to you there without getting wrong i think....I think (ive just been pulled up for having a link on my home page before thats all)

Uganda does have plenty of wildlife, I'm not as clued up on Rwanda but Uganda can offer you the gorillas obviously, chimp tracking at Kibale (as well as many other primates), tree climbing lions at Ishasha, and then you can see your more traditional safari animals like hippos and crocs and antelopes at places like Queen Elizabeth National Park. Its not on the same scale as Tanzania but its a great contrast.

Zambia is the home of the walking safari which is very exciting, but can be pretty expensive.