10-Day Wildlife Big 5, Murchison Falls and Gorilla Safari

We have just returned from a fantastic experience with our 14 day trip through Rwanda and Uganda. Elvis has taken care of everything to perfection and our Guide Samuel was fantastic and a great driver and Guide. Thanks to him we had a great time and I will definitely travel with him again when I come back. Hopefully that won't take too long because Uganda is a gem and Rwanda is very special.

8 Day Safari with LuLu safaris, guided by Audence and Simon. Firstly our guides were incredible. I would definitely recommend requesting them in advance if you book with LuLu safaris. They were amazing at spotting wildlife, really easy to get along with and we hope to remain friends (we still message now weeks after we came home), very knowledgeable about the wildlife and local customs, full of facts, happy positive people and extremely flexible changing the plan where a better option was available or if requests or needed for any reason at all. We started out tour with the Ziwa rhino sanctuary and walked on foot to get a close encounter with 3 sets and a total of 12 rhinos. We were blown away that we did this on foot and got so close. On the same day we went up to Murchison falls national park and saw the waterfalls and river at sunset. We got time the next day to take a river safari to see hippos and crocodiles. We then spent time at the national park and saw 4 of the big 5 and even had an evening encounter with hyenas. We didn’t think we could get and more lucky. After this we had time in queen elizabeth national park and saw all the big 5. Our guides going the extra mile with hours of driving to track one down. We also got up close and personal with two male lions and had our own private spot with them for about 10 minutes until another car turned up. After this we went chimpanzee trekking. After two attmepts and 10km of trekking we had only seen one or two chimps in the far distance and that was our time up. However the ranger wasn’t happy and arranged with the national park office and our guides to come back after lunch and try again. This was no problem for our amazing guides who changed the plan without a moments hesitation. And the next 4km trek we had the most amazing encounter with a group of chimpanzees that have been filmed on the BBC planet earth program. Again we felt so incredibly lucky. Off down south we went to the Bwindi impenetrable forest for our gorilla trekking. On the way we had another lake/river safari and had the most amazing time seeing beautiful birds, hippos and over 100 elephants coming and going. We just didn’t expect to see so many. We got to stop and relax watching them all drink, play and trumpet. On the day of the gorilla trek were allocated a group that started with an incredibly challenging hike. They look at the abilities and any requests people have made and assign the groups accordingly. Some had a long drive but short trek. We had no drive but a long trek with a big elevation change. However it was really worth it. We had just over an hour with a group that included a tree felling silver back, two tiny babies and a female that strolled past and brushed against the leg of my partner. We just couldn’t believe what we had experienced. Due to our flight times our guides changed some of itinerary to accommodate more safari experiences and actually get us to the airport on time. Changing accommodation to suit the day before, wanting to give us the best experience possible. They would answer all our questions, stop whenever we wanted to. Help us buy stuff from the locals and stop for all the amazing photos. Honestly they were incredible. On the drive to the airport their binocular vision spotted something in the distance. So they stopped, reversed and got the actual binoculars out to show us a distant bird. A very rare shoebill. It looked like something from the Jurassic period. Our guides told us we can now go home and tell everyone “we saw the big 6 in Uganda”. We did the entire time in a tourist 4WD van. If possible I would request to do it in the Land Cruiser as the roads are very bumpy. I’m not sure how Audence managed to drive along some of the roads it was a sight to be seen and felt…the African massage. Lucky to not have many biting flies at the time of year we were there but still take lots of bug spray as they are around. We are both vegetarian and have the rare bit of fish. We were amazed at how well catered they were for vegetarians. The food was honestly really good everywhere we went. One more recommendation would be to probably have a bit more time there. It was absolutely jam packed with amazing experiences and got better and better a day to relax and enjoy the scenery would have been nice. Visit Uganda and book LuLu with Audence and Simon as guides. You won’t be disappointed.

Yes... being back in Europe we still want to go back to Uganda with its nice climate and exoticism... We understand that everyday life in this country is not as nice as it looks to tourists, but it is already in almost every tourist trip. The moments with Lulu Safari in Uganda were great..even despite the fact that I suddenly fell ill with a high temperature (advice-wear masks at airports)-Lulu Safaris reacted quickly and changed the route, arranging extra days of stay in other hotels... Already in the first days we saw almost all the big animals - rhinoceroses, giraffes, buffaloes, elephants, hippopotamuses, chimpanzees.. we were not lucky with the representatives of the cat family, but probably the break in illness stopped us.. we did not complete the whole program... About currency-it's take some time to understand UGX amount at USD or EUR, at the end of January 1 USD was approx. 3800 UGX, it's time for mathematic :) Thanks to the guide Samuel - a very responsive, knowledgeable and professional guide, apparently the whole team with Elvis Masiga at the head is like that! During the trip, everything went exactly, the accommodations are great, the food is even too great, the level of organization of the trip is much better than in some European countries... We plan to return to gorilla trekking, which we didn't do on this trip :) Oh Uganda, Land of Beauty!