Reviews

Your Words – We tell it like it is! Holiday Reviews by previous Exodus travellers

Here at Exodus we thrive on feedback from our customers. It’s the only way we can ensure our trips continue to be the best they can be. So, for the real tales, twists and turns of the trip you’re interested in, look no further than the reviews from our previous travellers.

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Excellent

4K reviews on

32 Reviews

4.8 out of 5

Sara Johnson

Reviewed July 2026

Trip: Chimps & Gorillas of Uganda

Bucket list trip

Lovely trip; I felt very well looked after. Seeing gorillas up close will stay with me for a long time, and such good sightings were unbelievable. You do need to be reasonably fit to do this trip.

Most Inspirational Moment

Seeing gorillas up close and also seeing pangolins, the world's most trafficked animal.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Umar and Sam were great, professional and caring. Also extremely knowledgeable and went above and beyond to make sure we had a brilliant trip.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Take walking poles and good walking shoes or boots. Take gaiters. Book the extra activities in advance, especially the extra gorilla day. Hire a porter for the walk. Be prepared for long drives and lots of walking. Be prepared for a full-on trip. Unfortunately, we arrived at the first hotel at midnight and left early the next day. I think it would be advisable for Exodus to look at this – maybe organise an earlier flight and then do a tour of the city. Also, as a lone female traveller, I found some of the lodges quite isolated, especially the last one, which was about a 10-minute walk from my lodge and had no phone signal. Although I did love the view and had a warthog sitting on my doorstep. Thankfully, the lovely group I was with made sure I got back safely. To their credit, Sam did offer to move me to a lodge closer; however, I only had one night left by this point. That being said, it's an amazing trip, definitely once in a lifetime.

Willicia Jacobs

Reviewed July 2025

Trip: Chimps & Gorillas of Uganda

Uganda is definitely the Pearl of Africa

By far the most emotional wildlife experience ever and a true bucket list adventure. The abundant wildlife took my breath away. From being entertained by the Chimpanzees in Kibale Forest to Gorilla trekking, even spotted 2 leopards on our night safari and a python swallowing an impala on our safari walk optional excursion. There are a few long drives but see it as free “African massage”. This tour is also highly recommended for bird watchers and had to chance to see African Grey’s, Shoebills, Turacos, Malachite’s and Kingfishers. The Lodges on this trip will maximise your animal-watching experience and all the rooms are spacious. Haven Lodge staff even treats you with warm water bottles in your bed at turndown service. The food was delicious with a huge variety to choose from. Overall, the best experience ever.

Most Inspirational Moment

Being touching distance away from the Gorilla family in their natural habitat in Bwindi Forest and seeing the small ones frolicking and playing. The trackers and porters went above and beyond to make this a magical experience for everyone to reach the family of gorillas mo matter your level of fitness.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Umar was incredible. Great guide and amazing driver with hey focus being our safety. His general knowledge was out of this world and he was extremely patient it all the questions.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Take a warm jumper and a poncho for Bwindi Forest, it does get cold in the evenings and we experienced rain every afternoon. Don't wear bold colours like red, orange or yellow on your Chimp trek, bring gaiters for all walks and don't drink the tap water. Visit the Ride for a Woman Foundation, its an excellent well-thought charity that gives back to the local communities.

Constance Hoffman

Reviewed July 2023

Trip: Chimps & Gorillas of Uganda

Interesting adventure

The itinerary was full with some downtime. Many early mornings which is to be expected to see animals stirring in the cool of day. I spent a lot more on gratuities than listed as during trekking there are trackers, protectors, etc. Everyone had their hands out. The porters are Not happy with payment of 20USD plus 5 tip as listed in the notes. They were expecting almost double and became very unhappy. There is not really a guide but a driver, so don’t expect to get any information/details about the country, etc. They manly drive and keep everyone on schedule. Overall is was a worthwhile trip to see the chimps and gorillas. What an amaxong opportunity to see them within 6 ft of you.

Most Inspirational Moment

Seeing animals on this side of bars Where they should be.

Thoughts on Group Leader

The group leader wad nice but not very outspoken nor outgoing. They need headsets and speakers while driving as you cannot hear them.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Don't disclose to US customs that we were around chimps nor gorillas. Agriculture will pull you over for inspiration.

Katie Watt

Reviewed November 2022

Trip: Chimps & Gorillas of Uganda

Face to face with Mountain Gorillas!

This trip was abundant with wildlife from tracking chimpanzees through the forest, to spotting leopards on a game drive. Uganda has so much to offer as you get to immerse yourself into the culture as you travel through the rolling hills, forests and lakes.

Most Inspirational Moment

It's hard to choose just 1! My top 3 highlights would be: 1. Seeing the baby Gorillas playing and falling over each other, all the families had babies in lock down so you are bound to see some if you visit soon! 2. The optional night game drive in Lake Mburo National Park, even if you don’t manage to spot as many animals at night the stars were the highlight! We all had our heads tilt back in the 4x4 looking at the milky way 3. Watching a thunder storm over the misty mountains in the Bwindi lodge bar

Thoughts on Group Leader

Robert and Sam were incredible! They were both so knowledgeable and really went out of the way to make the trip special.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Bring some gaters for the swamp walk! Although wellies were provided

Berenice Manning

Reviewed October 2022

Trip: Chimps & Gorillas of Uganda

Uganda is a must see

Just returned from this trip which was truly amazing. Great Lakes Safaris provided Sam and Paul as our guides and both were wonderful. We saw two gorilla families that had 4 silver backs as well as young ones at around 3-4 months old. Our hike to track the gorillas was labeled as “medium” difficulty but due to some fortunate travel movements by the gorilla family we only tracked them for around just under an hour in Bwindi before finding them. The chimps were a great experience as well and the trek was an easy trek through the forest. Watching both the Chimps and Gorillas was an amazing experience. The other game drives in the savanna areas/parks brought us leopard, elephants, giraffe, hippo, water buck and so much more. The trip did involve a number of 5-6 hour days of driving through the south west of Uganda which provided a great opportunity to view the diverse country-side and meet the wonderfully friendly Ugandan people.

Most Inspirational Moment

Tracking and seeing the Gorillas. Viewing their family interaction at such close quarters was wonderful.

Thoughts on Group Leader

The group leaders were Sam and Paul who were both fabulous. They were extremely helpful and clearly experts in their field. Could not ask for anyone better and highly recommend them.

Jacqui Cottom

Reviewed September 2022

Trip: Chimps & Gorillas of Uganda

An total immersion into the culture and wildlife of Uganda - epic!!

We have been on several holidays with Exodus and this trip was up with the best! We were astounded by the amount of wildlife we saw on the 10 day trip. The gorillas were the obvious highlight for us but we didn’t expect to get so close. There were two silverbacks, one blackback, four females and two babies, some of which came within touching distance of us. The trackers and trekkers couldn’t do enough to make our encounter special and we felt privilidged to be in this beautiful and remote part of the country. No matter what your level of fitness, the guides made it possible for everyone to reach a family of gorillas and sightings were just about 100 % guaranteed. The chimps encounter was also amazing and again so close up. Aa well as these two days, the rest of the holiday did not disappoint as we embarked upon safaris in the Queen Elizabeth National Park and Kibale forest spotting hippos, buffalos,elephants, lions, giraffes and we were lucky enough to see two leopards and a tree climbing lion. We embarked on two cultural tours in the community and saw how the villages lived and worked and were overwhelmed by their friendliness towards us. The whole trip was an immersion into culture and wildlife and it was hard to believe what we saw and experienced in less than two weeks. Our guides, Robert and Sam were excellent and worked so hard on our behalf and everyone in the hotels were very accommodating, looking after our every need. There were some superb hotels on this trip and only one didn’t come up to the mark. There were some long transfers during the holiday but the scenery and culture seen along the way helped pass the journey and Robert and Sam were great at stopping frequently for breaks and leg stretching!! If you want to experience the culture and wildlife of this vast and beautiful country, don’t hesitate to book. You will not be disappointed!!

Most Inspirational Moment

Coming face to face with a family of gorillas after a lengthy hike into the depths of the forest following our trekkers who were cutting down undergrowth with machetes ahead of us.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Robert and Sam were amazing and bent over backwards to give us this wonderful experience. They managed to spot wildlife whilst driving along and their knowledge of animals and birds was second to none. They were great ambassadors for their country.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Take toys eg balls and primary school equipment so that they can be given to the local schools that you might visit as they genuinely have no resources at all.

Emma Ruffell

Reviewed January 2020

Trip: Chimps & Gorillas of Uganda

Best Experience of all of my travels so far!

Best experience of travel I have ever had. Gorillas just WOW. Chimps were amazing and we saw our first one in 5 minutes. Queen Elisabeth park gave us not 1 but 2 sets of tree climbing lions!! And we spotted a Leopard. Lots of other fabulous game that was not so expected from Uganda. Friendly people everywhere.

Most Inspirational Moment

Wow, seeing the gorilla family in the wild was the best experience I have ever had, just breath taking! It was very hard work getting to them (and we were lucky it took just over 1 hour) so hit the gym before you go, make sure you take those gardening gloves and hire a porter. Don't bother taking walking poles (take up room in your luggage) and they will give you a big stick on site that does just as well (and you don't have to worry about loosing since you have to leave your poles when getting near the gorillas).

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our guide David was fabulous, kept us entertained throughout and nothing was too much trouble. Love him!

Advice for Potential Travellers

Gorilla mist Camp is a bit cold and damp (you are in a rainforest at high elevation after all) so I wish I took another warmer jumper for the evenings (but they do put lovely hot water bottles in your bed). One point I would make - I didn't book the extra Gorilla permits due to money restrictions - the way it is worded on the site is to book them as you are not guaranteed to see the gorillas on one treck, however when you go for your treck they explain that if your group does not spot the gorillas then you can go back on the same permit the next day. (this did not happen to us so no idea if they do keep this promise given the restricted permit numbers).

Anna Anderson

Reviewed September 2019

Trip: Chimps & Gorillas of Uganda

Don’t leave it to chance

Amazing experience seeing gorillas and chimps but make sure any extra gorilla permits are booked when you book as you will be disappointed otherwise.

Most Inspirational Moment

Tracking through the impenetrable forest and spending an hour in the company of a gorilla family. We won’t forget it.

Hannah Fairbanks

Reviewed August 2019

Trip: Chimps & Gorillas of Uganda

Mixed bag - parts excellent, the concept of a second gorilla permit seemingly misleading

One of the biggest selling points of this holiday is the optional possibility of a second day trekking to see the gorillas. Fair enough the permits aren’t guaranteed – completely understandable, but if you follow Exodus’s guidance you are made to feel like a nuisance and from my experience you won’t get one. The webpage tells you to request additional permits when booking, they also bill you for additional permits at this point, but when you ask about the permits the emails you receive can seem quite rude and basically tell you to go away and ask the guide when you arrive. When arriving on the trip and all 7 people said they wanted additional permits and it wasn’t really a surprise that the guide couldn’t conjure these up with less than a week’s notice. This did result in the group participants being fairly cross, people had requested additional permits 8 months in advance, paid for them, been told they were the only ones interested in a second day – which was a lie, etc. it was just incredibly unprofessional for such an established holiday provider. It’s the first time I’ve done a trip with Exodus and I’m still a little taken aback by the lack of organisation related to these permits, the billing of these permits months before any action is taken, and the blunt/verging on rude emails. The gorillas is a highlight of the trip and it’s is sold as a real possibility whereas in fact due to their lack of organisation it was impossible for anyone on our trip.

Most Inspirational Moment

The gorillas were just incredible.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Really nice chap, knowledgeable, helpful and friendly. Unfortunately he hadn't organised a boat trip so we waited around at a hotel needlessly for 2+ hours and went on a later boat trip after about 90% of the animals had left. These things happen and he did go out of his way for us on the rest of the trip.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Don't base booking this holiday on the chance of obtaining a second gorilla permit.

Reply from Exodus

We would like to thank Hannah for her feedback, although we are very sorry that she was disappointed not to have been able to secure a second day’s permit. We only request extra permits once the trip has been guaranteed as, otherwise, the permits will have to be paid for in full even if the trip doesn’t run. Whilst this information is now stated in our trip notes, we are sorry if it was not clearly communicated at the time. Second permits had, unfortunately, already sold out by the time Hannah booked on the trip and, having exhausted all other possibilities, we suggested that there may have been be a slim possibility of the tour leader being able to get some last-minute returns for the group. We regret, however, that this was not the case and we appreciate Hannah’s disappointment. We are very sorry that Hannah feels that her pre-trip enquires were not dealt with in an appropriate manner, as this is not the type of feedback we are used to receiving about the standard of service from our customer operations’ team. We were pleased, however, that Hannah had a fantastic experience overall and that she found her tour leader to be knowledgeable, helpful and friendly. Tom Harari – Product Manager

M Iyer

Reviewed August 2019

Trip: Chimps & Gorillas of Uganda

Another trip I will never forget!

I have had this trip on my bucket list for a while now and it lived up to all of my expectations! David was a fabulous leader and took care of everything!