Kimkim Trip Reviews for Uganda

Our trip to Uganda was right out of a National Geographic documentary thanks to Agnes! Agnes is one of the friendliest, nicest, and most capable agents I have come across, having traveled to 28 countries. She is very aware and always answers all your questions and queries and helps put any concerns you have at ease.
Even during peak season, Agnes was able to get us the lodges and hotels we wanted to book and get the timely gorilla permits - the local guides Khalif and Mr Muha were very hands on and answered all our queries on the local Ugandan culture, customs, food, etc.
we had a very enriching experience and I will definitely book with Umoja again in the future for any other countries they plan tours to!

Cheers to Umoja team for a wonderful experience 😊

It has been slightly more than one year since we have completed our honeymoon in Uganda and Kenya, both of which were arranged through Kimkim. Reason I am this late to post this review is because I promised myself I will never look back and remember all the negative aspects of our honeymoon - however, Kimkim kept spamming me with e-mails, and here we are. Luckily, my wife and I both have taken good notes of these incidents, have screen recordings, videos etc. if anyone is interested... We spent majority of our time in Uganda and this is going to be all about Uganda.

Here we go:
1- You should know that Kimkim outsources its clients' queries onto so-called 'local expert's. What's worse is these 'local expert's than in turn outsource it again to someone local. As an example, when we contacted Kimkim, we were introduced to a 'local expert' called Vivian Kironde (Magic Africa), who was in fact living in Germany, and who had outsourced our trip to another agency in Uganda, and who had in turn hired our guide, Gideon. I do not think anywhere on this web-site you can clearly see this through, though I'm pretty sure they make you sign some disclosures which actually tells the customers that they will outsource everything. In short, these guys have zero accountability / responsibility, which I will tell you more later on.
2- On the original itinerary we were provided with, there were 15-hour travel distances by car & by plane, including a flight at 3AM (which included travel to and from the airport of another 4-5 hours each). Instead of Vivian, we found our own flights and actually did all of the connections ourselves. This all had to happen 2 weeks prior to our trip because of Vivian's incompetence.
3- 2 days prior to the trip, we were asked to pay an extra $820 without any explanations. This was originally asked by Vivian, once again, two days prior to the trip. We had paid our money weeks / if not months before. Imagine paying a huge amount of money, only to be asked for more, and when you ask where does it stop, Olivia from Kimkim tells you these are 'legit' expenses but they will 'gift' it to us
4- We had agreed to an all inclusive 'full board food' with Vivian and Kimkim. However, on the first day of our trip, our guide Gideon told us that this was not the case, instructed by Vivian... I cannot explain the level of 'he said she said' on this trip, and especially with the amount of money we had paid
5- During the trip, when we wanted to change the itinerary for an extra day of stay somewhere, we were quoted $170 / per night, instead of $145 that was communicated originally for that extra night on the Kimkim platform... Luckily, we had written proof, similar to our 'full board food'.

If you have read this far - please read the below as it gets better:
- We were supposed to stay for 3 nights in our final hotel in Bwindi National Park and on our last day, leave for the airstrip at 3AM. However, our guide told us that we should leave and go to a different hotel on our 2nd day, given the roads were very dangerous because of rains and heavy landslide. When we asked if Vivian / Kimkim was in the loop, he said, yes they are
- On our second day, we left to go to a different hotel in Bwindi, closer to our airstrip. After we have left and we moved closer to our destination, our guide told us that we were actually going to stay in a 'homestay' with a 'private butler' etc. We were slightly suspicious, but given we had moved from the original hotel already, had no connection / wifi etc., and was instructed that Kimkim was in the loop, we obliged thinking this should be okay. When we arrived to this 'homestay', it was shocking. The place where we were asked to stay had no doors. I do not want to go into more details out of respect for the lovely people who had opened up their home for us - but clearly something was wrong given we had paid tens of thousands for this trip.
- We then pressured our guide to find us a different hotel and he took us to 2-3 other hotels, which were similar to the homestay, and not at all in line with the hotels we so far stayed in Uganda. Finally, we charged our batteries in one of the hotels we were taken by our guide, and was just searching online, trying to find a connection to contact Kimkim
- We had to find our own accommodation (Engagi Lodge), without any help from Kimkim or Vivian (MagicAfrika), or our guide who was trying to put us through different terrible hotels. We were then promised by each of Kimkim, Vivian, and our guide that somebody other than us would be paying for our alternative accommodation, which in the end was denied by all parties. I'm not at all surprised by the guide or Vivian, but mostly by Kimkim. One word, disgusting behavior from everyone involved. They did not even take our calls and closed all channels of communication. I even tried to contact the founder on Linkedin, after all hopes were gone, and he blocked me...
- We were so lucky to have some of the best people in Engagi Lodge, who had heard our guide Gideon promise us that Kimkim / Vivian / Gideon would take care of our stay. When Gideon turned on his promise, the lovely people of Engagi Lodge told us that they will impound Gideon's car until they get their money from either one of Gideon / Vivian or Kimkim.

To recap - my wife and I paid c.$20k for this trip. A quick calculation back in the day would give us c. $8k for the same trip, if we had done it on our own. We knew that we had overpaid, but we were okay with it, given Uganda is a relatively hard to navigate country and we needed accountability from Kimkim and local expertise from Vivian. However, none of this mattered.

It was extremely stressful and unsafe at certain points in time, with zero accountability from Kimkim.

Do not ever use them. I am more than happy to speak to anyone (just a concerned citizen) - feel free to email.

Thanks,
Oncu
[email protected]

Lucy organised a most fantastic itinerary for us in Namibia and Mauritius. Nothing was too much trouble in the planning stage and she was very flexible and patient in helping us adjust the details of our trip, answering our queries and choosing the right accommodation. Everything went smoothly once we were there.

Gideon, our guide was great, and provided excellent service, and should have been consulted when Vivian was developing our itinerary. The micro-lodges Vivian booked us into were not necessarily the best choices for us, and we suspect a conflict of interest. The Budda Guest House in particular was well out of the way, causing extra travel time.
We will write more about this

Our trip through Uganda was amazing!
The tour was perfect organized, our driver and guide Teo (Able Safaris, a local office, 19 days) was perfect, he managed everything in a good way.
The gorilla-tracking, the beautiful landscape, the game drives, the friendly people,.. all that we will never forget!

Hotel Reviews

Isunga Lodge

Fort Portal, Uganda

A extremely beautiful lodge! The architecture, the design, everything well deliberated. Nice and professional people, amazing view,..

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Rushaga Gorilla Camp

Bugambira

Nice lodge, nice location, amazing activity (gorilla-trakking), one of our best lodges!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Forest Cottages

Kampala

I would never choose this hotel again! Extremely loud music during the whole night (because it is a wedding hotel), the cleanliness in the room especially the bathroom was disgusting.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Arcadia Lodges Lake Bunyonyi

Kabale

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Kidepo Savanna Lodge

Kampala, Uganda

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Topi Lodge

Kampala, Uganda

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Kontiki Hoima

Hoima

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary and on to Gulu

Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kidepo Valley National Park

Kidepo Valley National Park

Quality of Experience

Chimpanzee Tracking & Bigodi Community Walk

Kibale National Park

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Lion tracking in Queen Elizabeth National Park

Queen Elizabeth National Park

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Gorilla Tracking/ Village Walk

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Absolutely perfect!

Didn’t have to worry about any arrangements. The hotels were exactly what we wanted. Every single hotel was more beautiful than the next. Truly a dream holiday!

We just returned from an 18-day trip. What an amazing experience!!! We want to say it was a Trip-of-a-Lifetime, but we loved it so much, we plan to return. This trip was two years in the making due to Covid restrictions. Thank you, Taf, for coordinating this entire trip for us. It was perfectly planned! And we appreciate your prompt replies to all our concerns prior to going. Once we arrived to Uganda, we realized our fears were due to social media/political issues of our own country. To anyone on the fence of visiting Uganda - Just go! You won't regret it.

Upon arrival to Uganda, we were greeted by Agnes and Nasser. These two took care of our every want and needs. Besides the game drives, we asked for cultural experiences. Each day was exciting and we always looked forward to the next day.

Activities we did:
Jinja - Sunset boat ride to Source of the Nile
Game drive of Murchison Falls National Park
Boat Ride to Murchison Falls, also went to the Top of the Falls
Ziwa Rhino Santuary
Fishing on Lake Victoria
Game drive of Lake Mburo National Park
Long Horned Cattle Milking
Water safari on the Kazinga Channel
Chimpanzee trekking
Mgahinga Gorilla National Park - Gorilla Tracking
Batwa Pygmies Cultural Experience
Tour of a private school with boarding and converse with head teacher
Stopped at the Equator
Tour in Kampala - Idi Amin Torture Chamber
Craft markets
Searched for Shoebill bird
Toured Entebbe arboretum
Local community village experience

I could go on and on about our time in Uganda. Loved every minute of our time there and we were sad to leave. Again, thank you, Taf, for organizing this trip. Thank you, Agnes, for accommodating us on the trip. And thank you, Nasser, for guiding and driving us around the entire time.

Long story short, I have planned this trip since last year but as we all know covid; came along and things got cancelled. My initial contact was Anne; which now I consider her as part of my family. She always responded to my questions and she took time from her busy schedule to meet me at the airport. My journey started with Bob; which he was a great guide. I am a solo female traveler and I never felt unsafe. I had a wonderful experience trekking for the silver back gorillas; it’s a feeling you need to experience on your own. The entire team tracking the gorillas and guides were amazing. Never seen how well a group of people worked together in such a remote location to facilitate a great experience. After the trekking I had a wonderful time with game drives, another kudos for Bob because he carries binoculars with him, books of the native animals and he’s well experience and communicates with others within the parks to get you to see more wild life. The accommodations were great, the staff members, the food and service were outstanding; taking in consideration these places are in the middle of nowhere. Driving was fun and relaxing; enjoying the African massage and enjoying the views of various people & scenery. At the end of my trip, I had some discrepancies with CoVid and I had to stay in Uganda. Luckily, I had a best friend at the end of my journey and I was able to get my situation under control and I finalized my trip. Thanks to everyone that made this possible in such a difficult time to travel. Totally recommend!!!

We just returned from an amazing trip to Uganda. Vivian was a true pleasure to work with. She is super responsive and planned us a first-class trip with one week notice. She arranged for the best guide ever in Hamid, who stopped us up at the airport and showed us all over his country for 12 days. We saw the rare African shoebill, chimpanzees in Kibale, lions and elephant in QE park, rare golden monkeys in MGhahinga--each a special trek or exploration. We stayed in beautiful lodges, especially the Volcanoes Kyambura Lodge. Vivian thought of everything and planned a logical and effective loop to end with an epic trek with a four-hour habituation permit to see mountain gorilla in Bwindi. It was a trip we will never forget, nor will will ever forget our new friend Hamid.

I planned my very first trip to Africa (specifically Uganda) using kimkim and I could not be happier with the outcome. I was picked up at the Entebbe airport upon my arrival and dropped again at the airport after 3 weeks to fly back, and in between I had quite a few memorable adventures which I will remember for the rest of my life.
Uganda is a wonderful country full of natural parks, lakes, and wild animals, but I should say the most amazing part of my trip was interacting with Ugandan people on different parts of the country. Ugandans are extremely warm and friendly and no matter on which part of the country you see them, they always greet you with warmth and smile and I should emphasize once again that having the opportunity to travel around the country and meeting these wonderful people has been the highlight of my trip.
I had a wonderful and knowledgable guide (Paul Buzinde) who drove me around the country for 21 days. He knew all the roads in the country, the name of all the birds we encountered in the natural parks, and most importantly made utmost effort to make the trip as smooth and enjoyable as possible. I want to use this opportunity to thank Paul for making this trip a memorable experience for me.
If you're interested in visiting Uganda, 3 weeks of road trip should take you to most of the places that tourists generally visit, but if you want to plan a shorter trip then there are some places that in my idea you should definitely visit. In no particular order they are:
1) Kidepo Valley National Park - Many visitors don't go to this place since it's in a pretty remote area but I think a trip to Uganda should definitely include visiting this wonderful natural park. I visited some 6 national parks in Uganda and by far Kidepo was the most beautiful of them because it has a very open savannah where you can see miles and miles of grasslands with overwhelming beauty. Most of my wildlife sightings also happened to be in Kidepo. In addition, since not many people travel to this park, you might easily happen to have the whole park to yourself, which was the case with me while doing my safari. Keep in mind that traveling to Kidepo will also take you through the remote northeast region of Uganda which is home to Karamojong tribe. Consider this as an added bonus in traveling to Kidepo.
2) Murchison Falls National Park - You will not see hippos and crocodiles in Kidepo but there are plenty of them in Murchison, the views of Nile river is just breathtaking, and hiking to the top of the Murchison Falls and seeing the drop from the top is just an amazing experience.
3) Gorilla tracking in Bwindi National Park - Much have already been said about this elsewhere, but I have to emphasize again that tracking gorillas and spending an hour with them is truly, truly a remarkable experience. If you plan to do only one thing in Uganda, this is it.
4) Lake Bunyonyi - Serene, beautiful lake with plenty of isolated islands scattered on top of it. You will have the opportunity to hike on the hillsides surrounding the lake and interact with local people living on the hillsides.
I would have liked to spend more time visiting the villages on the road but unfortunately this is something which I didn't think about before planning my trip. I suggest for anybody who plans to visit Uganda to consider a couple village walks in different regions of the country, specially in the Karamojong region. It will be a wonderful experience.

I wanted to travel to Uganda for gorilla habituation, golden monkey habituation, and chimpanzee habituation. Agnes was a great help in answering all my questions promptly, and she helped organize the whole trip itinerary for me given the activities I wanted to do. From the moment I landed in Uganda to the moment I left, everything was well taken care of. I had a great time seeing many different types of primates in Uganda, and I highly recommend Agnes and her tour company.

The trip was fantastic driving from Rwanda through Uganda the experience seeing the people, small towns was wonderful. The Gorilla Trekking was much harder than we thought at 7,500 ft above sea level. We live at sea level. Our idea was doing the Habitational on the first day and a regular trek the following day...bad idea as we were very sore after a 10 hour up and down hills including 4 hours following the gorilla family. Following day we just bailed out of the trek as we needed the rest, yet “What an Experience” I even got false charged by the large Silver Back...a real African adventure!
The food at Nkuringo Bwindi lodge was not up to par and I’m not a picky eater so I suggest you make other arrangements at that location. The staff was very nice but even when we write everything we wanted to eat down on paper, it never was correct.... a communication problem. Even Moses our driver translated but it never worked.
The best lodge was Kyaninga. A beautifully log cabin lodge with great food and wonderful staff.
Now for Kim Kim...a great tour company which allows you to deal with the tour operator in the area your traveling in. My questions about our trip were answered within an hour which gave me a feeling of confidence about the upcoming African adventure. Our driver and guide “Moses”was with us at all times if we needed anything... he was great. Overall trip was a 9 out of 10.
Bill & Sue Gordon

Aron Mugisha, our guide was incredible. He went out of his way to meet our needs and show us so much more than we had planned on. 5 stars!

My only complaint (which I feel turned more favorable to us) was that our lodging and area to see the gorillas was changed without notifying us. We had no idea until we checked into a new place that was not on the itinerary. All in all, we loved the change...but it would have been nice to be notified.

I will definitely use your services again. Thank you.