Rwanda, Uganda and Congo are very fertile countries where various fresh vegetables are available in plenty. Also, peas, peanuts, beans and eggs can provide alternative sources of protein for any vegetarian.
The fish lovers consider your selves covered, as the region has lakes and rivers which are filled with the local delicacy; Nile Perch and Tilapia. We however kindly request you to inform us in advance so that we can be able to make all the necessary preparations with your corresponding hotels and restaurants according to your itinerary.
We do not arrange flights at the moment. All the prices quoted for the tour do exclude the air fare, and thus we encourage you to book a tour with us but arrange your own flight.
Generally tourists do come in throughout the year, but we advise you to come after the rainy seasons which we believe is the most beautiful and affordable time of year to visit. The vegetation in this period is greener, thick and grown, thus attracting many animals. Also many young animals are born as well in this time of year. In the months of April, May and November, we encourage tourists to visit Uganda during this period because the gorilla permits are cheaper during this season and the national parks are even less crowded than usual.
The equator runs through Rwanda, Congo and Uganda. The region has an average inland altitude of approximately 1150m, the temperatures normally range between 25 ºC-30 ºC during the hot season and the lowest it can get during the cold season is about 17 ºC, except for certain high mountain areas. We therefore conclude that the climate is pleasant throughout the year! Generally there are two rainy seasons across the region; March to May, and October to December. During these rainy seasons, the humidity normally shoots higher and the roads become more difficult to traverse.
The guides that we have at the moment do speak English and French. We are however training a few other guides in Spanish, German, and Italian. We do appreciate if you inform us which guide you wish to have so that we can arrange in advance
All forex exchange bureaus in the capital cities accept dollars, Euros, pounds, Canadian dollars, yens, which you can change to the local currency. The exchange rate in the capital cities is usually higher as compared to the up-country cities where the rate is less advantageous and it becomes difficult to exchange Euros and Pounds. Dollars are the most used currencies in the region; however we always remind you that the forex bureaus only accept dollar notes printed after 2004. Also we encourage you to carry big denominations of $50 and $100, as the lower denominations are exchanged at a much lower rate.
Yes we accept only Visa credit cards. You are required to send us your credit card details (Card number, Expiry date, CVV2) and attach an authorization letter to give us permission to charge your card in case of making any deposit. We also encourage you to use bank transfers.
Note that we only accept credit card payments before arrival, after you arrive; we only accept payment of the balance in cash.
The use of credit cards in Rwanda and Uganda is not a common practice, and many places will not accept your Credit card. However a few major places like luxury hotels and a few super markets will accept the credit cards though the credit card machines are not reliable.
We advise you to tip only when you are genuinely satisfied with the service provided to you. Our recommendation to this issue is that tourists give a fair/ reasonable tip to the hotel staff, local guides/drivers, and cleaners.
Below are a few tipping suggestions:
Your guide/driver: $2 – 7 per day
Porters: $5 – 10 per day
Hotel porters: $1 per person
Rangers and local guides: $10 – 20 per activity
Yes! We can help you tailor-make your tour itinerary according to your interest. You are free to inform us on how you want your tour program, and in case you make a booking and still wish to make adjustments, we shall be glad to assist you.
Musip Adventure Safaris and Toursis in position to assist you choose the finest and spectacular accommodations that will make you comfortable and feel at home during your tour. We choose to take time and visit all accommodations to be able to select the best out of the many for you and we offer any kind of advice from personal experience if necessary.
The kind of criteria we use to select the best accommodations is based on a few aspects which include; the view, services, location, style and price of each Hotel. We also take into consideration the feedback from our previous clients.
Yes! You may bring anything you feel like to support the local community, however, we advise you not to give any gifts directly to the local people. Handing any gift to the locals can generate a begging culture, and most probably it is the same people that receive items each time and very often they are not the people who really need these items.
We instead suggest that you consider visiting Babies homes, Orphanages, and other places that surely need the support.
The Ugandan people are the most welcoming and friendliest people in African continent. They are always excited to meeting you and very interested in discovering more about where you come from. You should be free and open to start up small conversations with the locals, and make sure you always shake hands when you greet, but do not peck on the cheek or kiss especially when it comes to women. Make sure you start any conversation by: “Hello” or “How are you?” then you may ask for any assistance. Always dress decently especially when you choose to go to church, someone’s private house, a school or any official place. You may wear long pants (or dress) and a shirt/ blouse with long sleeves and normal shoes.
The dress code is simple; you should wear long pants and long-sleeved shirt made of light-weight material. You are advised to tuck the cuffs of your pants into your socks to prevent the wild and notorious ants from getting to your body, and a hat on your head is a key to prevent the ticks from getting into your hair. It is always an advantage to carry alone with you a rain jacket and rain pants in your daypack, as well as an extra t-shirt and a sweater just in case the tracking gets long and the forest gets cooler. You should endeavor to have good hiking shoes and never worry about the weight of your backpack: There are porters you may hire at a cost of about $20 to help you with any kind of luggage you with to take with you up the mountain.
The answer is very simple; you are very fit for the trek. Any person above 15 years of age is fit for gorilla trekking. There are porters during the entire trek who are ready to help you with you backpack or lift you in case you feel tired or won out before or after seeing the gorillas, at a fee of USD10 – USD50. The time taken searching for these gentle giants depends on the movement of the gorilla group tracked and where it spent the previous night. The time ranges from 30 minutes to 8 hours to meet the gorillas and you are given a maximum of one hour with them. Gorilla tracking in Rwanda, if you feel you do not wish to move long distances, we advise you to inform your tour guide before the trek such that he can talk to the park warden in order to be given an easy to track group. On the other hand in Uganda, you will need to inform the tours consultant in the course of booking your tour as the gorilla groups are categorized by their location. Though most people say the Rushegura gorilla group in the northern part of the park in Buhoma sector is the easiest to track, it is not guaranteed.
Just like wildlife viewing, gorilla tracking too is on probability though the chances here are very high of seeing the gentle giants. You have a 99% chance of meeting with these remarkable animals. Missing them used to happen during those times after the civil wars in the Virunga region. It is now over 20 years since the last time clients missed seeing the gorillas. In case you miss them, you will be provided by two options by the park management. Either to track the gorillas the following day if you have an extra day or refund 50% of the gorilla permits cost. Otherwise, as a company, at this point the issue is totally out of our hands and we are not responsible. We can only intervene if the money if not refunded or not allowed to track the following day.
We have about 800 mountain gorillas in the Virunga Mountains and these are found in Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. All these destinations are very good for the trek. It all depends on the clients’ budget, time and flexibility. Rwanda is the best for those with a few days like one or two days. It is the only gorilla destination where a client can do the activity in one day and meet his or her flight back home. Rwanda and the DRC offer the easiest to track gorilla groups. On the other hand, Uganda offers a true jungle adventure; you take an 8 hours drive from Kampala/Entebbe to the park or 5 hours from Kigali. This journey offers numerous touristic sights such as the equator; breathe taking terraced hills, long horned cattle, and local homesteads among others. The Bwindi forest is also thick compared to the bamboo forest in Rwanda or DRC, that’s why it is called the impenetrable forest.