Find your ideal Tour
Uganda is alive and waiting for you to discover her magic so come and explore with us. Forever changing, shifting and reinventing herself, Uganda continues to inspire, impress and amaze travellers. If you dream of having an authentic Ugandan Safari adventure, a Safari Retreats Uganda tour is one of the best ways to achieve it. We organize and plan everything for you, leaving you free to relax and really enjoy your African experience.
Know your adventure Safari Tour
An adventure tour is a journey along a suggested route, which is aimed at the more adventurous and adrenalin conscious traveler. It is an off the beaten track adventure and many of the areas that we visit will not have the infrastructure that the “package holiday tourist” may require. The route taken may also change from time to time due to unforeseen circumstances as conditions change on the road very quickly and we will always do what is in the best interest of the tour in these instances.
An adventure tour is different from a package holiday (coach liner for example). Instead of limiting the experience by providing transport and accommodation only, an adventure tour aims to provide a more inclusive experience. We include cultural interaction, game viewing, social interaction and the opportunity to book more adrenaline based experiences such as white water rafting, bungee jumping, mountain biking, village walks, native food tasting and more..
Our belief is that it’s not about the arrival at a destination, but the total experience of the safari adventure tour that is important. We travel together, eat together, learn from each other’s cultures and form a strong, supportive team. Although our guides are professionals, they are not “heroes” and won’t pamper you. Our guides are passionate about Uganda-Africa, enthusiastic and will always do their best to get you through any challenges with a smile.
For a successful expedition, all we need is space under the stars and your willingness to join in and expect the unexpected!
A typical day on tour starts when the sun comes up – we live by nature’s timetable and use as many daylight hours as possible. If you are camping, tents are set up by nightfall in most cases, kettles are boiled, the smell of cooking is in the air and we sit around the camp, enjoying one another’s company and chatting about Africa. For those on the accommodated tours, the only difference is that you sleep in a bed. Every single trip is different – we like it that way!
One of the few things we can guarantee about Africa is that not everything is going to run perfectly. Along the way there are sure to be a few unexpected surprises! These include road closures due to weather conditions, mechanical failure (it happens, but not often) or having wild animals in the campsite! Anything can happen, the main thing to remember is that whatever happens, we are experienced enough to handle the situation and make sure that you still have a fantastic holiday!
Who can go on an adventure tour?
Almost anyone can go on an Safari adventure tour. In the past, the groups tended to be very young as the majority of travelers to Uganda were backpackers. As Africa has become a progressively more mainstream destination (i.e. Africa today is far more accessible than 15 years ago) our guests have also changed. 15 years ago the average age of our travellers was around 23-27 years old and now we have anyone from 8 – 80 years of age. Use this opportunity to slip out of your comfort zone and learn about the people on your tour with you – there are so few opportunities in life that we have to do this, take advantage of it!
When the University semesters end we do get younger travellers making up the majority of certain tours. Outside of traditional holiday periods the age groups can be very diverse. Part of experiencing the tour is about meeting new people and what we can confirm is that 99% of our travellers find that they get along very well. This is because the people that book an Safari adventure holiday in Africa have similar values and interests.
All of our tours, have a maximum of 18 guests on our 28 seater vans, 6 in a luxury safari Land cruisers and 8 in 12 seater van. Our small groups have a maximum of 12 guests on board a 28 seater vehicle (double seats and your own window for each guest – this concept is unique to us and is the “business class” of adventure touring).
We have a large range of nationalities on our tours but about 50% of our travellers come from English speaking countries and the other 50% come from Europe and Asia. Although there are often couples and groups of friends who have booked together, many travellers are single and the male / female ratio generally evens out. The nature of an adventure tour tends to attract a certain age group, and experience has shown us that our adventure tours are best suited for the majority of travellers between the 18 to 60 age bracket. Uganda tours require a hardier and more intrepid attitude to touring and is suited to a younger traveller and if you are planning on trekking with the Mountain Gorillas, you will need to have a higher level of fitness.
We do however accept people older than 60 years on trips because we believe it’s about being willing and able to join in. Suitability for our trips is not just about fitness, it’s about being able to take the rough with the smooth – whether you’re up to your elbows in mud rescuing your sinking Van, climbing the nearest tree in an attempt to escape from charging buffaloes or searching for the only bush in the desert to squat behind – keep an open mind and remember that this is all part of being on an adventure in Africa!
Children between the ages of 16 – 18 are welcome to travel with us . Children between the ages of 8 – 16 years old are welcome to travel with us on a request basis. We put this request out to the other guests on tour and everyone has 48 hours to respond. If there is no response or a positive response, the kids are welcome to travel. If however there is a negative response, we will have to find an alternative tour or departure date. On some tours there are age limits on activities for example gorilla trekking.
When requesting that a child joins a tour, please ensure that you provide us with as much information as possible about the suitability of the child for the tour. This will vastly improve the chances of the child being accepted by the other guests in case of a shared tour.
Camping or Accommodated?
Our accommodated tours are here to fill the gap for an luxury lodge-tour while our camping tours allow you to have a truly African experience.
Camping is more affordable and you don’t have to rely on anyone for anything – only on the heavens when you ask them very kindly not to open up on your tent! If you choose the camping option, when the tour gets to a major city, we will put you up in twin accommodation so that you can have the comfort of a bed for the evening. At most places we visit, there is the opportunity to upgrade to accommodation if you’d like, but it is subject to availability. Please be sure to check the seasonal weather conditions when booking your camping tour as we can’t be responsible for mother nature (tents that get put up and taken down in the rain have a bad habit of being wet). The tents handle a fair amount of rain but if there is a consistent downpour, the likelihood is that you will get wet.
On camping tours, single supplements are optional however on accommodated tours, single supplements are compulsory if you are travelling on your own.
Flexible itineraries
Although we intend to stick to the published itineraries it is critical to understand that the routing can and does change from time to time. Africa is unpredictable and many variables may require changes to the itinerary, this cannot be stressed enough. If we are forced to make a change to a tour we will ensure that we still provide what we specified in our brochure. If we can no longer provide what is published in the brochure we will provide a comparable experience of the same value. We will of course inform you as soon as we can about any changes.
Let’s redefine the boundaries of wildlife exploration.
