Gorilla Trekking Safaris
 

I would like to start planning a gorilla trekking safari for either 2008 or 2009, we have already been on safari in Tanzania. So I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations on who to book with/what company to use etc. Also if anyone had any good or bad experiences and were willing to share.
Thanks in advance for all your help.

I had an excellent experience with Volcanoes Safaris, with whom I booked a private two-country trip in August 2003, with gorillas treks in Bwindi (Uganda) and PNV (Rwanda), plus a short safari in Queen Elizabeth NP. I have read criticism about their price, but I found the private trip, with private automobile, very reasonable (I think it was less than $4,000 for the 10-day trip, with two gorilla permits).

Michael

I used Primate Safaris in Rwanda and Mantana in Uganda. Like Thit Cho, in Uganda I visited other locations besides Bwindi. In Rwanda I just went to PNV and included the golden monkeys as well as the gorillas. Very positive experience in both places.

I've seen positive reports on R & N Explorer and Great Lakes.

Like Michael, I also had a really excellent experience with Volcanoes Safaris for our gorilla trekking trip in January 2007. We did four gorilla treks (two in Rwanda and two in Uganda) and stayed at the Volcanoes lodges at Virunga, Bwindi (Buhoma) and Mgahinga. They were all great and our guide was superb. Volcanoes is expensive, but totally worth it to me. Their agent in the USA is Jane Behrend, who actually lives in Atlanta.

Chris
www.pbase.com/cwillis

We did it a little differently and booked most everything independently saving quite a bit! It was pretty easy to do it this way and you might like to consider this option. We had a private driver who was totally FANTASTIC! He absolutely amde our trip and you could tell he absolutely adored his job. We booked him through ITT (Internationsl Tours and Travel) in Kigali but you could book him directly if you decided to go that way. He has also driven for other companies BTW.

Imelda

Another vote for Volcanoes Safaris. We did a private 2 day trip (not long enough, by the way. Great guide and service.

we booked everything independently (ie the hotels and flights) we then used ITT but did not have the best experience with them as they had said they had the permits and then after we paid they could only secure one permit, then i complained about them and they refunded our money but it was a long process, so we switched to Thousand Hills expedition, we hired a driver and they arranged our permits). its much cheaper to book the hotel by yourself.

HI Fluke,
Sorry to hear about your bad experiences with ITT - I don't know what I would have done if that happened to us :0 (we got our permits through Amahoro Tours with no problems but if I was doing it again I would arrange them directly through PNV - just as easy) - hope your other TA managed to get the permits for you.

I agree with booking the hotel independently - MUCH cheaper, as well as booking flights independently too.

Imelda