Three of us read the enquiry inbox and one of us will reply, by name. We answer within one working day in season and usually much faster, and we will tell you straight away whether the permits exist for your dates rather than writing an itinerary around a hope.
You do not need to know the parks. Dates, how many of you and what you would be sorry to miss is enough for us to come back with a costed routing and the permit position.
Five steps between the first message and the airport. Nothing is charged until step three, and nothing is charged twice.
You send dates and a rough shape. We check the permit calendar the same day and tell you what is available before we write anything.
A dated day-by-day with driving distances, three lodge options per night and a line-by-line cost. Revised as many times as you like, at no charge.
Thirty per cent secures vehicle, guide and lodges. Permits are paid in full and bought at the UWA counter within forty-eight hours; you get the scanned permit.
Sixty days out the balance falls due and we send the final pack: guide's name and number, vehicle registration, lodge confirmations and a kit list.
Permits are released around two years in advance and the dry-season dates go first. Everything else can be arranged much later than people expect.
Firm forest tracks and the shortest treks of the year. Christmas and New Year book out first, sometimes a year ahead.
Ask 6–9 months outWet underfoot, green everywhere, and permits usually available at short notice. The cheapest months and the best for birds.
Ask 6–10 weeks outPeak season. Permits for July and August routinely sell out by February and the good lodges follow a month later.
Ask 4–6 months outShoulder rates, short sharp showers and quiet parks. Our own favourite window and the easiest to arrange late.
Ask 8–12 weeks outIf yours is not here, send it. We would rather answer it now than have it become a surprise at a park gate.
Fit enough to walk uphill on rough ground for two to seven hours, at altitudes between 1,500 and 2,600 metres. Tell the warden at the briefing if you would prefer a nearby family; they do allocate accordingly. A porter makes an enormous difference and we book one for every trekker.
Fifteen for gorilla and chimpanzee trekking, set by UWA and strictly enforced with passport checks. There is no minimum for game drives, boats or the Jinja float trip, and we run family itineraries with children from about six.
We can. Scheduled flights run to Kihihi, Kasese and Pakuba, and they save the better part of a day for around three hundred dollars per person per leg. We drive by default because the crater road is one of the best drives in Africa.
Uganda is malarial throughout, including Kampala. Take medical advice at home, bring repellent with DEET, and use the net. Every lodge we use has nets and most spray at dusk.
Yes, and the Cyanika and Katuna borders are straightforward with the East Africa tourist visa. We will drive you to the border and hand over to a Rwandan operator we have worked with for a decade, but we do not pretend to run Rwanda ourselves.
Guidance, not obligation: ten to fifteen dollars a day for your driver-guide, five to ten for a ranger, and twenty for a porter over and above his fee. Lodges have a staff box. Ugandan shillings or dollars both work.