We hired a Toyota Prado with rooftop tent and sunroof for great game viewing in Uganda parks for a whole month. 4×4 Car Hire Uganda offered the best price, which is why I approached them initially. From first contact onwards it has been a perfect and very pleasant experience. Maike was incredibly prompt (often replied within 10 minutes) and very helpful.
I asked him dozens of questions relating to the car rental and traveling through Uganda before we even made a booking. He was always happy to help and was valuable source of information. The car rental does not require deposit but as of our consent and trust in this company we only made a $100 deposit, with the rest payable on arrival. No contracts, booking confirmations or other hassle.
Maike was so kind enough to also organize our gorilla permits for us. We were worried about transferring the full amount upfront ($4200 for 06 permits) through bank wire transfer (never even heard of it), but this all went smoothly with Maike confirming receipt of payment almost instantly, and sending the receipts through as soon as they were available and payments to Uganda Wildlife Authority are made early on, but the actual permits are not issued until around 4 weeks prior to the gorilla trekking experience).
Maike always seemed really on the ball, providing receipts even before I had a chance to ask for them. He stuck to all his promises and everything we agreed upon. Receiving all the receipts quickly was very reassuring.
The car was solid and drove comfortably with all accessories working. Better than even expected, there was a car fridge and inverter, which allowed us to charge all camera batteries during our month-long camping trip. We were also supplied with a big gas bottle stove, crockery, clean sleeping bags, table and chairs.
We had everything we needed. The rooftop tent was in perfect condition and only took a few minutes to set up and take down. It was fully waterproof, mozzy proof and the mattress was clean and comfortable. We had one minor mechanical issue with the car, but our organizer sorted this out promptly without any inconvenience or cost to us.
We debated for quite some time whether we wanted to hire a driver/guide for the month, or not. It was difficult to gauge whether this was really needed, how bad the roads really were and how safe it would be to drive ourselves.
We are normally very independent travelers and like to keep to ourselves. Well, here is my conclusion now that our trip is over and we enjoyed the best self-drive road trip in Uganda with 4×4 rooftop tent jeep and I can highly recommend this company to anyone going to Africa on self-drive or on an escorted trip holiday!
