What is the cost of a safari in Uganda? One of the most frequently asked questions by tourists who wish to explore Uganda’s national parks. This question always comes to the travelers mind because the finances is the cog of vacation without the money however much one craves to take a Uganda safari one cannot. Therefore in this day and age generation where resources (money) are scarce and come with lots of commitments and obligations to fulfill a traveler has to know beforehand what it costs to go on a Uganda safari in order to do proper planning for the money.

Nevertheless the cost of a Uganda safari is not dubious since Uganda is one of the countries in the world with the lowest cost of living. What one should know Uganda can accommodate all sorts of travelers be it luxury, mid-range and budget travelers. Tourism stakeholders have put up avenues to cater for all people from different walks of life to enjoy Uganda. Therefore there is no fixed cost of a Uganda safari, the cost of the safari is actually determined by the traveler in accordance to the choices of travel items he/she makes on the itinerary.

Most of the local tour operators normally cost the expenses the traveler is likely to incur when he/she has stepped his/her foot in the motherland. The air ticket and travel insurance expenses are always left to the traveler to deal with them.

Since the cost of a Uganda safari is tricky and we cannot come up with an all square cost for all people, we shall look at some of the variables that come into play where costing a Uganda safari

First a traveler has to look at the activities in the itinerary

Uganda has numerous tourist destinations to visit and a traveler can never run of chooses to make his/her preferred itinerary but the tourism places and the tourism activities to engage in come with a cost. Different tourism places have different rates as well as the tourism activities. For instance in all major national parks like Murchison falls, Queen Elizabeth, Kabale, lake Mburo, Bwindi impenetrable national parks the park entrance is 40$ for foreign tourists whereas in minor parks like Mt. Rwenzori, Mt Elgon, Semuliki national parks is 35$. This also applies to the tourism activities as a gorilla trekking will be 700$ come July 2020, chimpanzee tracking 200$ and boat ride and nature walks come with small rates of 30$. Henceforth a traveler has to look at the tourism activities or places to visit to get to know the cost of the Uganda safari.

The Rate Accommodation to Stay

At different national parks and other tourism destinations in Uganda, there is a chain of lodges but these offer different rates to their clients. There is no single lodge that has the same rate with the other but they can have rates with in the same range.  The ranges of prices is where the grouping of luxury mid-range and Budget comes from. On a Uganda safari, the accommodation is one part of costing that takes up the lion’s share in most cases. A relatively good accommodation in a national park is in the range of 100$. Imagine having 4 nights on the trip, a traveler will have to part with 400$ which is some money to put into account. For that explanation, a traveler always has to note the rates of lodges he/she wishes to stay for proper accountability of the cost of a Uganda safari.

The length of the Uganda safari

This is an obvious variable in the cost of a Uganda safari since the more a tourist stays in a destination the more he/she spends due to the fact that he/she has to pay for more accommodation, transport and the places to visit. A tourist who wishes to do a short trip in Uganda is more likely to spend less than the one wishes to take a long one.

The cost of transport

While on a Uganda safari, a traveler will always need a means of transport. Normally the local tour operators offer 4×4 safari car to their clients. The car hire expenses come with a safari guide and fuel expenses as well. The transport cost varies with the type of car a traveler wishes to travel by. For example a 4×4 safari land cruiser modified is more costly than a Toyota Prado or van and also their fuel consumption differs. For the case of the guide the cost can be standard across all tour operators.

The number of people wishing to take a safari

The cost of the Uganda safari can also differ in regards with the number of people taking a safari. The total cost of the safari increases with an increase in the number of clients. This is because there will be need of acquiring tour services like accommodation, tourism activities and transport in large quantities. Therefore the cost of a Uganda safari will always change with the number of tourists.The more number of people on the trip can also work to the travelers’ advantage since it always commands a less cost of a safari per person if the tourists are going to share the costs of the trip.

En Route meals

Most of the tourism destinations of Uganda are located far away from the capital Kampala which is the startup point for most safaris in Uganda. When tourists are traveling to these destinations, they always need to grab something to eat or a meal of the day. The meal time may find them on the way so they need to stopover and get to the nearby restaurant to get rid of the hunger. The expenses of these meals are always included in the costing of a Uganda safari. It is suffice to note that the other meals while at any national park are always quoted with the accommodation rates. Most of the lodges and hotels in Uganda always offer their clients bed and meals incorporated in the same rate.

Tipping and Souvenirs

Well established tour operators always include the tip offs given by tourists to service personnel like tour guides, waiters and housekeepers that serve them on the trip in the costing of the package. Also most tourists wish to buy cultural/traditional curios to take back home. Some of the tour operators quote cost of the souvenirs in the general Quotation of the Uganda safari. So when the tourist wishes to buy particular curios, the tour guide representing the company does the pay for it.

Mark up of the tour operator
Most of the Uganda safaris are all inclusive tours where a tour operator combines the different tour items and sell it as a package all together. The tour operator does the booking of the accommodation, tourism activities and transport and in return he/she has to be paid a commission by the clients for the job done. What the tour operator does in this case is to put a markup of a certain percentage on a particular quotation he/she makes for the client.

There is no exact cost of a Uganda safari and one can never an accurate quotation unless is an expert in Uganda tours and travel like local tour operators. But one can know the standard variable or principle travel items that make up the cost of a Uganda safari. There are also tour operators that put up quotations of Uganda safari on the internet but these are unreliable due to the rules of economics where there is uncontrollable price fluctuations of different travel items.