Primate trekking, wildlife safaris, and birding

A beautiful trip, perfectly organized In January I contacted Allen from Shoebill Safaris and put together an 8 day round trip with her. She took care of everything, the permits for chimpanzee and gorilla trekking and all the shelters. From the beginning I had a good feeling as the offer immediately had a fair price. At other organizers, prices were initially mentioned that were far too high, which could then be renegotiated. Shoebill didn't need that.Our guide was Simon, with whom we immediately got along well. In the course of the trip, a real friendship has developed with him. He was very attentive and took perfect care of us.In the eight days we did the Mabamba Swamp Tour and saw the Shoebill. We were also on Ngamba Island at Chimpanzee Sanctuary. Afterwards we did two chimpanzee trekkings in Kibale National Park and Kyambura Gorge. We also did game drives in Queen Elisabeth National Park and made Lake Mburo, where we saw elephants, buffalo, hippos, giraffes, zebras and many antelopes. The highlight, however, was the gorilla trekking in Bwindi. Simon made sure we saw the Rushegura group. In this group there were two silverbacks and two juveniles. In other groups there were neither.We will never forget this day in our lives, it was very special!During this time it was also my birthday and Allen and Simon surprised me at the lodge with a cake.We had a wonderful time in Uganda, everything was perfectly organized. We will definitely travel to this adorable country again, then a little longer and definitely again with Shoebill Safaris!

The perfect Honeymoon! Myself and my husband booked a 16 day safari with Shoebill Safaris for our honeymoon. We are both wildlife enthusiasts (working in the wildlife sector) and keen birders. With the help of Allen, our perfect honeymoon was planned and booked, incorporating all of the activities we wanted to do, as well as suggestions from her. This was an easy and seamless process. She was always on hand to answer any questions we had too. The lodges she booked were lovely and made us feel very special. Our guide was the amazing Simon. He drove us around Uganda for the full holiday, providing expert guidance along the way. He was relaxed, humorous and experienced. Making for the perfect companion on such a long trip. We visited Murchison Falls, Kibale, Queen Elizabeth, Bwindi, Lake Mburo, Lake Bunyonyi and Entebbe. Each part was magical and different from the last! From seeing gorillas in the wild to spotting our first Shoebill, watching baby elephants walk past our Jeep to visiting local communities. It was a perfect trip and a once in a lifetime experience that we are very grateful for! As birders, we were also interested in the smaller stuff, and not just the big game! Simon was more than happy to stop for anything of interest and help us see some dream bird species. He also helped us with ID, since there was so many new species for us over the 16 days. We appreciated how attentive and considerate he was, even when we had schedules to keep to. This was our first time visiting Uganda, and Africa. It has definitely made us want to return, to see more wildlife and experience different cultures. A massive thank you to the Shoebill team for making it so special! *a special thank you to Simon for his efforts when I became very unwell. With his care, and that of our lodge (Ride 4 a women) in Bwindi, along with the wonderful medical care at the Bwindi Community hospital, I quickly recovered. Simon not only looked after me when I had to go to hospital, but also helped to rearrange our Gorilla Trekking, which we appreciate was a rare exception! This was a highlight experience for us over the 16 days, and would not have been possible without him!

Uganda 2 Safaris - Amazing Experience We are a family of 4 older teens - we did 2 Safaris both with Shoebill Safaris.We booked everything online and payed for everything before arriving in Uganda.Mrs. Allen is in charge of all the bookings and receiving payment. She is very responsive and sets up amazing Safaris.Our 1st safari was a 3 Day 2 Night to Murchison and Ziwa. We were picked up at our accomodations in Kampala by our Guide, Driver and advocate Mr. Yona. The Safari was spectacular and Mr.Yona was extremely knowledgeable and full of experience. 2nd Safari was 4 Day 3 Night at Nmahinga National Park in Kisoro. We did 1 Cultural day in Rwanda and Golden Monkey Trekking in the park. We stopped over in the Equator We really enjoyed Both Safaris and of Course our Driver - Guide and Advocate Mr. Yona. Definitely Recommend to anyone traveling to Uganda.

beautiful country, beautiful people I returned from a 6-day safari adventure that included both gorilla and chimpanzee trekking — and I can confidently say it was one of the most incredible trips of my life. As a solo traveler, I was a bit unsure of what to expect, but I was made to feel completely comfortable and welcomed by everyone involved.The itinerary was well-organized and thoughtfully paced. Each day brought a new highlight — from game drives through breathtaking landscapes to the once-in-a-lifetime encounters with gorillas and chimpanzees in their natural habitats. The treks were absolutely worth every step, standing just meters away from a family of gorillas is something I’ll never forget.The team went out of their way to make sure I was safe and enjoying myself. I never felt lonely or out of place; instead, I ended up meeting wonderful people who made the experience even more special. If you’re a solo traveler considering this kind of trip — go for it! I felt safe at all times, and there was a strong sense of care and professionalism throughout.One tip: if you can, try to join a group tour or share the experience with others. Not only does it make the trip more social, but it also helps with costs — which can add up on a private tour. That said, even solo, I have no regrets ;-).Highly recommend this experience to anyone with a sense of adventure and a love for wildlife. It’s hard to put into words how powerful and humbling it is to see these animals up close.

Very enjoyable short visit to Uganda. Although I only had 3 days available, the helpful and competent staff managed to deliver everything I had hoped for. The morning booting in the Mabamba Swamps was fabulous even if we did not find any stork but many other birds. My driver, Yona was friendly and patient despite the horrific traffic. Chimpanzee tracking in the Budongo NP was incredible, the game drive in Murchison NP most exciting with fresh lion kill, a leopard, many elephants, giraffes and cobs plus birds. And I thoroughly enjoyed the boat trip on the Nile. Overall a most enjoyable short visit to Uganda. Thank you!

Amazing and Life Changing We rented a vehicle for a mission trip we had a driver from the ministries in Uganda we were working with but the staff still checked on us regularly to make sure we didn't need anything else I actually know the owner and he's always been very passionate about making sure people enjoy their trips and are able to do what they are there to do So if you ever need a guide or a vehicle for a East African adventure or you need logistical support for your missions trips my friends at Shoebill Safari are definitely the people to help make sure you're trip is a success

An amazing experience that really exceeded our expectations Amazing four day Safari to Murchison Falls with my son. Allen was hugely responsive, getting back to my many questions and suggestions same day. With her advice and flexibility we were able to design exactly the trip I wanted and even managed to squeeze in an extra morning game drive (in which we saw a leopard really close up!).We saw everything we wanted to see in abundance - herds of elephant and giraffe (several times and some very close up), kob, oribi, hartebeest, baboons, hippo, fish eagles, hornbill, bee eaters - and many things we hardly expected to - lioness cleaning herself and leopards twice. One of these walked from behind bush straight out in front of us Our guide, Jonah, knew where to find things and was constantly checking with other drivers and rangers for recent sightings. He really went over and above at all times and that very much made the difference to what we saw.

3 Weeks in Uganda This was our 2nd time travelling with Shoebill Safaris. Richard didn't let us down, his knowledge of birds and wildlife and his passion for his country made sure we had a great trip. Richard and Allen organised events through our 3 weeks, village experiences (fascinating), waterfall hikes (get to Sippi Falls if you can) and Rhino tracking. We saw lots of wildlife and over 200 species of birds - not bad for amateurs. Richard was helpful and supportive throughout our trip, we would definitely recommend him and his business.

Great tour! They were great and accommodated our tight schedule. They worked with us to make sure we had enough time to see what we wanted to see! We only had a couple hours between flights and they brought us to a shoebill in the swamp! We even saw it eat a fish!

Viele schöne Bilder mit nach Hause genommen Die ganze Reise war perfekt, die Transfer z.T. Mit "african massage" 🙂 so wie es sich auch hier gehört. Unser Guide hatte in den Parks scharfe Augen und uns auf Tiere aufmerksam gemacht, die wir sicher ohne ihn nicht gesehen hätten. Gerne wieder. Die Lodges waren sehr unterschiedlich und jede hatte auf ihre Weise einen eigenen Scharm. Jeder Tag war gefüllt mit schönen Erlebnissen. Uganda ist eine Reise wert.