Customized small-group trips across Rwanda, Uganda, and Tanzania. Gorilla trekking, safari, birding, and cultural visits. No buses. No checklist tourism. Just Sam, you, and the place.
A trip to East Africa shouldn't feel like a checklist of things you saw through a window. It should be the trip you keep telling people about ten years later.
One hour with a habituated mountain gorilla family in Volcanoes or Bwindi. Chimps in Kibale's canopy. The Great Migration in Tanzania.
The Kigali Genocide Memorial. School and village visits. Time with a Batwa community and at an artisan cooperative.
Sam has guided in East Africa for 20 years and is certified by both the Uganda and Rwanda Safari Guides Associations. He's the trip.
Sam Elliot Kamugisha was born in Uganda and lives in Kigali. He has guided in East Africa for 20 years, working with some of the region's most respected outfits. Dan Spears, an award-winning bird photographer from Baltimore, handles the US-side trip coordination.
You won't be in a group with strangers. You won't be on someone else's itinerary. You'll be on yours, with Sam.
Mountain gorillas share approximately 98.4% of their DNA with humans, so to see them up close and in the wild is a profound experience that more than once has brought tears to my eyes. To see the moms interacting with their babies while the silverback stands guard, protecting his troop, is something I have never forgotten.— Dan Spears, on trekking with Sam
Email Dan with the rough shape of your trip: gorillas, birds, safari, cultural, or some mix. He'll ask the follow-up questions.
Sam and Dan put together a custom itinerary. You pick the parks, the lodges (high-end or value), and the pace. We handle the permits.
Sam meets you in Kigali or Entebbe and you're off. Just your party. Never with strangers.
Email Dan, our US-based coordinator, and we'll start designing your trip.