Should I Book a Guided or self-drive Tour in Uganda?

Known as the pearl of Africa, it is one of the most beautiful countries to visit on the planet. Uganda is gifted by many things but the most attractive thing that one shouldn’t miss before living planet earth is to go gorilla trekking in Uganda’s national parks of Bwindi and Mgahinga national parks. Not only gorillas, the country is well-known for a wide range of bird species, wild animals and in them it harbors the rear type of lions that do climb trees found in the Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park. The country is also good for cultural tours, good scenic grounds, beaches and a city where people never sleep with nightclubs.

With all those gifts she owes, many people all over the world would like to have a visit to this beautiful country but many people find it hard to decide whether to go on a guide or self drive Uganda tour.  Would I like to travel with a guide or by our self? It is important to make an informed decision. Here are the differences between guided and self-drive trips, making it easier for you to decide what to choose. Please bear in mind, however, that choosing a self-drive trip doesn’t mean that you are completely on your own. Our office in Uganda is available to assist you at all times and, even on self-drive trips, a lot of the activities recommend by us such as game drives in parks are guided, in order to give you the best possible experience.

1. A self-drive trip is cheaper because you don’t pay a daily rate for the guide or for his/her accommodation and food. Your choice of vehicle will also make a difference in the overall cost of a self-drive trip. While guided trips can be more expensive as you will have to pay for the guide but the overall cost per person depends on the number of people included in your party. For example, a guided trip will be more expensive for a one to two persons than for a group of six people and above.
2. On a self-drive trip you drive yourself. This might sound appealing but remember that the one who drives has to keep his/her eyes on the road and can’t enjoy the scenery and he will get more tired than the rest. While on a guided trip, everyone in your group is free to relax and enjoy the scenery as your guide drives you around
3. On a self-drive trip you don’t have the luxury of asking a guide to explain certain things, animals or birds, leaving a lot of questions unanswered. While the main advantage of a guided trip may be the fact that you can, at any time, ask your guide questions, allowing you to learn a lot about this amazing country, its beautiful nature and interesting culture here in Uganda.
4. You may think you’ll have a lot more privacy or ‘together time’ on a self-drive trip. This will undoubtedly be the case, however, even on a guided tour we can schedule enough ‘alone time’. While it is a misconception that guided tours grant you no privacy. Our guide also needs this! Therefore, we always try to strike a balance. Basically, the guide is at your disposal when required but he will at regular occasions allow you to enjoy an evening of private dining at a restaurant or an afternoon to yourselves.
5. It is equally a mistake to think that you have no guide during your self-drive trip. Most of the activities we recommend and book for you are led by a guide. In your quote, we will clearly indicate which activities are guided and which are not. Remember, however, that we cannot guarantee the quality of these guides. Some of these guides are very good but some, unfortunately, are disinterested, unintelligible, don’t speak proper English or simply do not know very much. While on a guided tour, even if you undertake guided activities organised by the accommodation establishment and with a local guide, our guide is available to offer additional explanations, which with no doubt guarantee the quality of your experience. Hence once again you will be in the perfect position to enjoy and learn optimally about the culture and nature.
6. On a self-drive trip you are at some destinations responsible for your own game drives. This means relying on your own skill, as well as luck. This could result in either not seeing many animals or seeing an animal but not knowing what it is or what it’s doing. You can arm yourself with books for your self-drive trip, this increases the cost as well as your luggage. While another major advantage of a guided trip, particularly on game drives, it is his expertise when it comes to wildlife. You simply have a much greater chance of seeing more animals with a guide than driving through the park by yourself. Our guides know where to find certain animals, what to look out for, are able to recognise and follow tracks, detect sounds, and so on. And when the guide has found an animal, he can tell you a lot about it. But this should be put in mind that national parks are not like Zoos were you will just find the animal I the cadge. So if you miss out seeing some animals do not complain..
7. Finding your way around while on a self-drive trip is not a problem because with Tailor Made Safaris you not only get a detailed itinerary but we also supply you with a TomTom satellite navigation system at an additional cost for the duration of your trip. All destinations on your trip are pre-programmed into the system, making driving around by yourself easy and hassle-free. This service puts Tailor Made Safaris head and shoulders above its competitors! While it goes without saying that on a guided trip you do not have to worry about finding your way around. Your private guide ensures that you always arrive at your destination on time and without rushing, taking into account your wishes along the way. If you want to stop and take a picture of the scenery on the way, that is possible too! After all, this is your tailor made safari!
8. On your Uganda self drive trip there’s no need to worry about keeping in touch. Tailor Made Safaris includes a Ugandan SIM card for the duration of your trip, allowing you to easily make cheap phone calls as and when you need to. As part of our service to self-drive guests, we regularly send you text messages with advice, or to make sure everything is to your liking. All part of the Tailor Made Safaris service… For the guided, our guides take care of your safety during a guided trip. There is always a very small chance of something going wrong; a double booking on site, a defect in the car, or you ate something bad; anything is possible. In the unfortunate event of something like this happening, you can always rely on the expertise and responsibility of your guide who will take care of the problem.

With this information or differences, one will be able to decide whether to take a self drive or guided tour in Uganda.

Using A 4×4 Self Drive Car On A Trip To Uganda

Do you know that driving yourself on a safari to Uganda is one of the easiest ways to explore Uganda’s secrets, most of Uganda’s natural wonders are hosted in very remote areas deep in the village and they can be easily reached when driving your self-car. Uganda is also known as a pearl of Africa due to very many incredible wonders the country houses. Uganda has very many car hire companies renting cars of different types and many has been in operation for over 10 years with experienced staff and well experienced driver who are knowledgeable with each and every part of the country. You can hire a car in Uganda either for self-drive or with a driver depending on your interest. if you are okay with driving in a strange country and having the requirements like a driving permit you are okay to book a self-drive, however if its okay with you to set at the back and leave it to the driver to navigate you through the all safari. However, many of the travelers according to the TripAdvisor prefer using self-drive, as it gives you the freedom to drive on your own pace and you are free to go whenever you feel like and stop at any interesting place. If you book a self-drive with our company Uganda self drive, you are assured of a good and comfortable vehicle that meets your dreams and not only that we go ahead to advise our clients on some of the best places to visit if a client is renting a car for a safari, we hire our cars according to the destination the client is going whether business, safari, function or any other. We create good relationship with our clients before and even after their safaris that’s why we have very many return clients. We offer personal help and fast response to all our clients’ needs. Whether you contact us via email or phone, our reservations team is always ready to help you in any way possible answering to all your inquiries as soon as possible to make sure you get what you want when you want it. If you want to hire a Toyota Rav4 we offer it at usd 45 per day without a driver and usd65 with a driver. It carries up to 4 members and it can navigate the marram road of Uganda with a lot of easy stopping at any interesting places around. However don’t get surprised to hear the local people on the way calling ‘’Muzungu’’, it’s a local word people use to refer to foreigners, and remember that Ugandan people are hospital so you will find many waving at you.

Depending on your safari destination we also have Toyota land cruiser short and long which can carry from 5 to 7 people, for big groups from 7-9 we have a supper custom and a Van and from 20-30 people we do have a coaster for hire with a driver. All our cars are well maintained and can navigate each and every part of the country. Some of Uganda’s incredible attraction include, mountain gorilla safaris in Bwindi national park and Mgahinga forest national park both located in the south western part of Uganda, chimp tracking in kibale national park, wildlife safaris in kidepo valley national park in the north, Queen Elizabeth national park in the south of Uganda, Murchison falls national park in the northeastern, lake Mburo among many others, mountaineering safari to hike Mt. Elgon and Rwenzori , Jinja for white water rafting, visiting the local communities among others all these places can make your safari to Uganda a memorable one and you can visit each of these places on one safari with the curtsey of our vehicles, a guide is always available to drive you around in case you are not ok with driving in Uganda. Just book your self-drive tip with us everything will be kawa for you and you will have a most breathtaking safari ever since before. Don’t forget to send us an inquiry on info@ugandaselfdrive.com we will get back to you swiftly