3-dagars Ultimate Big Five Safari - Murchison Falls & Rhinos

I had an absolutely fantastic experience with Dark Hills Uganda. From start to finish, everything was incredibly well organised, which made the entire trip seamless and stress-free. As a solo traveller, safety was something I was quite concerned about going in—but I felt completely secure throughout, which made a huge difference to my overall experience. The trip itself exceeded all expectations—we were lucky enough to see all of the Big Five, which still feels surreal! A special shoutout to Francis, who was extremely prompt, professional, and courteous in all communication, making planning effortless. And Chris, our guide, was truly outstanding—an excellent driver, deeply knowledgeable, and clearly passionate about what he does. He added so much value to the experience. Even when we faced an unforeseen issue with the car breaking down, both Francis and Chris went above and beyond to handle the situation quickly and efficiently. They ensured an alternate vehicle was arranged without delay and made sure I got back to the airport on time—something I really appreciated. I couldn’t recommend Dark Hills Uganda more highly. A truly memorable and well-managed experience from beginning to end.

This safari was an amazing experience. Our guide’s name was Nasser, super friendly and was very experienced making our stay memorable. We got to see leopards (from a distance), lions, gazelle, giraffes, rhinos (at the sanctuary) , hippos and more. Dry season from what we were told was a good time to go (great weather albeit maybe hot for some). No bugs during the day but they came out at night. Our lodge didn’t have AC and some bugs managed to get into the room so that wasn’t ideal but staff were all very friendly and lots of great food was served at the lodge for supper. Guide picked us up at our hotel in Kampala, and dropped us off at airport even bringing us to the zoo in between as we had extra time after safari and wanted to feed some animals at the zoo. Note, we also completed payment using pesapal which worked fine.

We had an unforgettable 3-day trip to Murchison Falls organized by Francis from Dark Hills. The whole team was incredibly responsive, attentive, and accommodating, especially when we needed to make last-minute adjustments for family reasons. Our private Land Cruiser was very comfortable throughout the journey from Kampala to the Murchison Falls area and back, making the long drives smooth and enjoyable. The river lodge was a real highlight: a stunning setting, beautiful bungalows, delicious food, and genuinely fantastic service. All activities exceeded our expectations, and our guide and driver, Nasser, managed everything perfectly. He looked after us so well and timed each experience flawlessly. We were also grateful to have Erik capturing the moments along the way. This trip was a joint birthday gift for my partner and me, and we absolutely loved every minute. It’s an experience we will cherish for a long, long time. Thank you to the whole team for making it so special!

The experience was wonderful. I literally thought to myself as the trek began, “even if we don’t find the gorillas, this is incredibly fun!” Donny was my driver and he was great, offering great insight into Ugandan life and culture. You should make sure not to miss this trip if you come to Uganda!

Brian was really great to meet and get to know over the past few days, and he is clearly quite comfortable with all the nuances of driving throughout the area, has good relationships with the park rangers, lodge staff, and restaurant staff, and is friendly and knowledgeable. He literally went out of his way to make sure we got to see a lion as close as possible! The tour overall is great, with so many opportunities to observe and explore wildlife and even some unexpected close encounters with elephants!😂 I highly recommend it for the value for cost as well as the time, being able to see as many different amazing animals as we did over just three days is definitely a flagship highlight of my time in Uganda.

We had a great experience! Our tours were wonderful - the Rhino Sanctuary, driving through the park, game drives, seeing the falls and the boat tour. We saw a lot of animals - rhinos, zebra, warthogs, giraffes, elephants, crocks & a couple of lions! Our guides were wonderful - informative, helping, kind and fun to travel with. The lunch spot had good food and was a nice place to relax for the afternoon. Our only disappointment was our lodging. It was very hot and not as clean as we hoped. Overall a great experience!

We had a great experience! The Rhino Sanctuary, drives through the park, game drives, hike to the falls and boat tour were all wonderful! We saw many animals - rhinos, zebra, warthogs, giraffe, elephants, crocks & a lion! Our guides did a great job! They were knowledgable, kind and fun to be with. The only disappointment was our lodging. It was extremely hot with little to no breeze and was not very clean.

This 3 day safari was an amazing and relatively affordable safari to do while in Uganda. We did our trip in early June, and the weather was perfectly okay. The highlight of our trip was walking at the Ziwa Rhino conservatory and spotting game on our drives. The boat cruise was an added bonus, but I think it could have been slightly shorter than it was. The accommodations were comfortable, the food was tasty, and the trip as a whole felt very safe. We had David as our guide and really liked his friendly personality and how knowledgeable he is. As for Murchison Falls, the park is beautiful and vast. We saw baboons, antelope, elephants, giraffes, lions, hippos, crocs, and various bird species. We didn’t get the chance to see and leopards but that’s okay since I’ve been able to see them on other safaris. It is somewhat busy with tourists which I noticed in comparison to game drives when I went in Kenyan conservatories/game reserves. Especially at the lion sighting… there were maybe 15 other vehicles parked to see a few lions with us. Nothing necessarily wrong with that, but I will say getting a more personal visit can be nice especially when the other vehicles are too loud and scaring off the game. We only experienced this at our lion sighting. Overall we had a great time and would love to come back.

Indeed a once in a lifetime experience. It was totally worth it, a real safari experience with breath taking views. It was only us, no other people, so we felt it really personal instead of impersonal mass turism. The communication was smooth. We had a wonderful driver named Brian, he solved all upcoming issues and our special requests (eating local food, organizing an extra hike to the jungle) and told us amazing stories about local life and traditions, so if you have the possibility, ask for him personally.

A mixed bag. The accommodation at tembo safari camp was amazing, could have stayed there for weeks. The cruise and murchisob falls are impressive and you get to see a lot of hippos. The safari part seemed rushed and both the guide and the ranger seemed focused on getting back as quick as possible. We only drove on one big trail and didn't really see many animals up close. Only saw elephants from very far away. No Lions or leopards either. The rhinos are great though. At the price, I would expect more effort put into the safari.