pgoody

Which companies are the best for gorilla treks?

spassvogel

A friend of ours spent 3 nights at CLOUDs www.wildplacesafrica.com www.ugandasafaricompany.com and she was thrilled.
That's the only camp on that side of the rim which means no herds of tourists! The camp is involved in community work and the manager offers guests the opportunity to get involved - if the guests are interested. Lots of information.
The treks are a bit more "demanding" as guests have to manage approx. 500 hights meter to reach the forest. But the gorilla family is very much habituated/99% successrate.
For people who are not that sportive: they can hire folks who carry them - compareable to the old colonial days which is not everybody's cup of tea. But these 200$ extra are very much appreciated by the people.

The other company I know is www.sanctuarylodges.com which is on the other side of the rim where the whole trekking is more commercialised.

The friend who did 2 trekkings at Clouds also stayed at Ngamba Island near Entebbe where she visited the Chimp colony.

Her resumee: The chipms combined with the landscape alone made the trip (one week 16000US$) worthwhile.

Happy planning!

SV

JaneB

We used Travelust last year and were pleased. They have a website.

spassvogel

oops - should also mention:

http://www.wildfrontiers.com/index.p...,Africa|Uganda

SV

Leely2

pgoody, I am starting to research this and am interested in hearing more recommendations too. For what it's worth, you might want to check Association of Uganda Tour Operators (AUTO).

http://www.auto.or.ug/

Leely2

And a number of people on this board have used Volcanoes Safaris, which I believe operates in both Uganda and Rwanda. Pretty expensive, I think, but many find them worth it.

http://www.volcanoessafaris.com/

dlo

Hi leely

Are you looking to head to Uganda? I was more than happy with Great Lakes.I haven't been here forever,have you been back to Africa in the last couple of years?

Leely2

Hi dlo, how are you? I haven't been back to East Africa since 2006. I am hearing the call of the wild however. If I can get through the next few months still gainfully employed, yes, I'd like to go to Uganda in May/June. What about you?

Sorry for the hijack, pgoody. This reminds me that you should look at the New East Africa Trip Report Index. dlo's report (they got married on the trip, if I remember correctly) is there.

http://www.fodors.com/community/afri...port-index.cfm

dlo

I'm glad to hear you're thinking of heading back.You will have to keep us informed of your plans.

I never lost the itch to go,i just had to work like a dog for the last 3 years to get all the new additions to the house paid for.I'm tired but everything is paid and i'm done working 2 jobs.The wife wants to go away in Feb so i'm considering everything from Egypt to California.

We are def going back to Africa in 2011 though.

cat_lover

Good Earth Tours was our travel company because we went to bot Tanzania and Uganda. Narry was fantastic coordinating with James (I think that was his name) at Travelust. Our guide in Uganda was Medi who was WONDERFUL. I can't tell you enough how important a great guide is. If you click on my name, you can read my Uganda trip report which includes Ngamba Island.
Have fun!