We noticed you are browsing from
Summer’s Calling? Answer with Last-Minute Adventure Savings. Explore Here
Here at Exodus we thrive on feedback from our customers. It’s the only way we can ensure our trips continue to be the best they can be. So, for the real tales, twists and turns of the trip you’re interested in, look no further than the reviews from our previous travellers.
Simply use the selector below to search our trip reviews and start reading real feedback from real Exodus travellers who have ‘been there and done that’!
Lots of our clients also like to post handy tips and advice about their travels. It’s great to know what to expect on an Exodus adventure before you go, so make the most of their experience and you’ll make the most of yours!
Once you return from your Exodus adventure holiday, you will be emailed a link to add your review. Any feedback collected is posted onto our website, totally unedited.
Alternatively you can navigate to the relevant trip page and add your review via the Reviews tab.
Select a trip specific review:
A busy trip to see unique animals and some interesting birds. Particularly good for primates. Quite a few early starts. Most accommodation in basic lodges. Food good. Local people friendly and willing to show us round. The holiday gave me an insight into how people live with basic amenities. Wonderful scenery, particularly towards the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. The gorilla trek is tough and the advice to hire a porter to help you with the terrain is good to accept. I would definitely go on this holiday again.
The gorilla and chimp treks are amazing and the highlight of the trip for me. Although I found it tough personally.
The local leaders wow fantastic and extremely knowledgable.
Drink plenty of water throughout the trip and take some dextrose sweets to help give you some energy for the gorilla and chimp treks. Also take your own walking poles although the lodge does provide some wooden ones.
One of my best holidays ever! Majestic wildlife in abundance, fabulous travel companions and a country more beautiful than I expected
Looking into the eyes of the gorillas. A dream for many years
David and Vincent made a great team. Nothing was too much trouble.
Ignore the trip notes which say no wheels on your bag! Soft bag with wheels is absolutely fine and what everyone else had apart from me! Take a rain poncho rather than coat. Be warned early mornings, long drives and no way is this "leisurely". You need to be prepared to trek for several hours over uneven terrain in humid conditions.
We would like to thank Claire for her feedback and we would like to assure her that the Chimps & Gorillas of Uganda trip is still running, and it is featured in our 2016/17 wildlife brochure.
Sarah Ahern- Product Manager for Uganda
A wonderful exposure to wildlife in Uganda and Africa. The highlights are definitely close encounters with gorillas and chimps, but we also saw lions, leopards, zebra, antelope, Impala, hippos galore, Buffalo, etc. At times long drives over bad roads that I was glad our guides were having to worry about but definitely worth it. Food reasonable, often very good with great soups, although packed lunches were often not great but u are hungry so who cares. Hotel standards below western standards, often power and charging ability is limited, and getting a warm clean shower is often but not always available, but the location of most lodges and access to wildlife is what u came for. Come with a good attitude and the friendly people of Uganda will help u realize how lucky u are to share their beautiful country!
Sitting 2 metres away from a HUGE silverback, and then having roll over on the ground and start snoring. A moment an infant came by and posed for us. Chimps fabulous, and on our last game drive as the sun is setting spotting a leopard and having him look at us for a few minutes to finish the day!
Both guides were great, we switched vehicles so I used both David and Vincent. Great drivers and guides, especially thru their "shortcuts"!
Take a torch with new batteries. Good to have more than one camera battery, sometimes charging limited. Drinks very cheap at resorts, US$ after 2013 best, take smaller ones for your bar bill. I would recommending getting $25- 75 in local currency at airport (larger denominations get better rate, remember NEW bills best) despite advice of local rep who met people at the airport, at some resorts no US$ accepted but because I arrived separately I had enough to do some quick exchanges. Most other places US OK, but it might better to tip locals in Shillings to make it easier for them, not a big deal.
This was an excellent trip, in which siting gorillas is almost guaranteed. The chimps were great fun and boat trips with lots of game and birds to see at close quarters were excellent.
Probably being with the gorillas was the greatest inspirational moment as the group of 19 which we visited had lots of playful youngsters who were obviously oblivious of the 7 metre rule for how near we should be. One passed only 6 ins from me while I was busy watching one further away, and the rolypolies down the slopes were very amusing. The Kasinga Channel was a brilliant afternoon too, plus the tree climbing lions and the chimps.
All three of our leaders were excellent and dry knowledgable. Bryn was especially good at bird identification. They also went beyond the call of duty ensuring power through the night which my husband needed for a health issue, even when the accommodation had only generator power. They used the land cruiser battery with an inverter.
Do take gardening gloves and pole/s for the gorilla trek. We were lucky enough to have only a short trek to the gorillas but others had long and steep trekking. It is really an impenetrable forest. Also hire a porter as it not only saves you energy but helps to keep local people employed in a very poor and remote area. Also be prepared for some good, but some very poor and rough roads, but our drivers were second to none and we always felt safe. We had independently booked an extra few days to visit Murchison Falls and it was a highlight of our trip. It also avoided that final day of a long, hot drive ending at the airport for the flight home. Not something we would have wanted to do. Or alternatively book an extra night by Lake Victoria before you fly home.
This was a great holiday and we fell in love with Uganda during the trip. Although most people booking this trip will probably expect the gorillas to be the highlight, we found the chimpanzees’ more energetic behaviour even more captivating, though having a silverback plus females with infants clinging beneath almost brush past us was the highlight of the trip. We saw a leopard resting very close to a track in Queen Elizabeth National Park, saw a tree-climbing lion in Ishasha and had a great boat trip on the Kazinga Channel.
For the trip organised by Exodus the gorilla and chimp trekking were both highlights. We took the optional second day on each occasion and were surprised how differnt the second day was, especially for the gorillas. If you do two gorilla treks your tour leader will try and make sure you see a different group on the second day. After the Exodus trip we spent a few relaxing days in Entebbe, and had the most insprirational moment of the entire trip when we visite a tiny fishing island called Makusa, only an acre but with 450 people living in wooden shacks only just above the level of the lake. Everyone was so friendly and the kids so happy - makes you appreciate that you don't really need all the trappings of modern life.
Male was the group leader and was fine. We spent more time with Sula who we found more lively and keen to discuss anything. We learnt a lot about Uganda from Sula. Both worked really hard to make sure we were happy, and took great care of us.
Don't expect anything special on your first night, the Central Inn was adequate but no more. We stayed at a much better place in Entebbe (Gately Inn) for 5 nights after the end of the Exodus trip. Don't expect to see shoebills on the quick stop at Mabamba swamp. We were lucky enough to see one on a separate trip after the Exodus holiday, but you have to go to the right place. Take at least one walking stick on the gorilla trek, but depending on your age and fitness you may not need one on the chimp trek. Use the services of a porter on the gorilla trek, well worth the $15 plus tip. The plants that look like nettles on the gorilla trek don't sting and we didn't encounter much that would warrant a pair of gloves, but someone on our group went on a more demanding second trek where gloves and robust clothing were needed. Despite the number of flying insects on the gorilla trek none of them seemed to bother us. You may find that you get better results from a good HD video than a conventiuonal camera when trying to capture the chimps and gorillas - more fun watching the videos when you get home too. A good HD video such as a Sony Handycam only weighs a fraction of a camera with large zoom. Tip as generously as you can as local hotel staff and others are on very low wages. If you take a close up of a local person offer money in advance and agree an amount that seems fair. No one has change, anywhere, so get mainly low value shilling notes when you exchange your dollars. The exchange rates for dollars to shillings is much better for values of $50 or above. Take a few extra days at the end and visit Murchison Falls if you have time. If you have time in Entebbe you could visit the Reptile Village and Makusa Island, both well worth the trip.
Whilst the focus of this trip was chimps and gorillas, Uganda rewarded us with a wide variety of mammals and bird life and in contrasting landscapes; forests, savannahs and volcanic craters.
The gorillas were great, but the Kazinga channel was such a surprise, teaming with wildlife and not just birds; elephants, lion, buffalo, hippo, even the elusive forest hog and to cap it all a leopard on the way out.
We had 2 Land Cruisers and 2 guides, Male and Sula. Male was the group leader and very professional, sought and listened to our feedback and gave time for photos on game drives. Both engaged with the group.
Take a pole for the gorilla trek and definitely make use of the porters as a good way of supporting the local community. These guys are on rotation and may only get to porter one trek a month. We ascended around 500 metres from 1400 to 1900, but you could get a group at 2500 metres. If you don't do the 2nd chimp trek I would recommend to do a birding tour in the morning through botanical gardens and marsh. Stephen from the botanical gardens gave a great tour and we saw some 36 different types of bird. Morning is best. Money - I'd suggest accounting for $50 for your local tipping to cover the entire trip. We were responsible for our own tips, and found the local staff and guides preferred tips in schillings. When it comes to changing you will get a better rate at the exchange your leader will take you to. You can pay in dollars at hotels and lodges but the rate is less. Similarly dollars can be used to pay for optional trips in Bwindi.
We picked Uganda for the diverse wildlife and was not disappointed.
Chimpanzee's The Gorillas The tree climbing lion Leopard The Kazinga Channel - Needed more time there
Both leaders were good and flexible with our start times, as we all were so eager to make the most of our time watching animals. We wanted to start as early as possible.
One walking stick is essential for the Gorilla trek no matter how old or fit you are. As they said they are MOUNTAIN Gorillas and it's at altitude. Some long drives but so worth it. US Dollars can be used for payment at most hotels. If you can add a few extra days on to your trip, Murchison Falls we heard was a must - disappointed we hadn't considered this at the time.
This was my first visit to East Africa and I absolutely loved it! Passing through lush jungle and remote villages, I was enchanted by everything that I saw and experienced in Uganda.
There were so many highlights. The noisy chimpanzees of Kibale Forest, hundreds of monkey's lounging in the trees of the Bigodi Wetlands, coming face to face with a family of gorillas after a humid trek in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, spotting elephants, lions and other big game in Queen Elizabeth National Park, seeing hippos line the banks of the Kazinga Channel as a herd of elephants came to drink at the waters edge.... the list goes on!
He was a pleasure to be around with great wildlife knowledge. We all enjoyed his company and everything ran very smoothly. The group were great fun to be with and plenty of stories were shared over a 'Nile Special' in the evenings.
Take a good camera and lens but remember that sometimes you need to put the camera down and just enjoy the experience! Especially when you have just one precious hour with the gorillas. It was magical to just sit and watch their behaviour and interactions without trying to get the perfect photo.
This was a road trip around Uganda with an intention of seeing as many varieties of Monkey as possible.
On the way we saw a great deal more, strange birds, odd looking antelopes and a few things that remain to be identified.
This was a brilliant and unusual trip with a high activity content and some of the walks will stay with me for a long time.
Yes seeing the mountain Gorillas is always going to be great but there were so many other moments. Seeing 3 huge chimps swing out of their tree a few inches away from us, figs in their mouth and the smell of chimp heavy on the nostrils. Seeing the cormorant like African Fin-Foot peck flies off the back of a basking buffalo in Lake Mbouro and minutes later seeing a nest with 2 white backed night herons is just as good as it gets birding-wise!!
A very nice guy. A great driver who throughout the trip never once had a problem on roads which could be difficult and he had to put up with swerving to avoid animals, bikes, odd vehicles and on another occasion a snake. He facilitated all the check-ins seamlessly at the 4 sets of accommodation and on top of all of this he could identify most birds and mammals. Nothing was too much trouble, whether it was loaning me his waterproof or repairing a pair of glasses. He was a jack of all trades and a master of them all. We also had a bit of a bonus in that as well as the group-leader we had a representative from Exodus accompanying us which was fun and we all felt very well looked after.
Be prepared for long walks on uneven terrain. And it rains. A lot. But don`t worry this is a wonderful trip and as long as you are prepared the memories will live with you for a very long time. Electricity supply can be a bit intermittent. Bring torches.
Amazing experience with the gorillas that will stay with me forever.
The scenery and wildlife was beautiful but the gorillas were the highlight and a real privalege to spend time with
Helpful, pleasant and accommodating
Uganda seems almost new to tourism so chill and go with the flow