We at Makario Safaris understand the impact Covid-19 has had on the tourism industry and have our esteemed clients in thought; we are all in this together.

Due to the ongoing lock down guidelines from regional governments where our safari portfolio covers as a team we complied and stayed at home utilizing the time for family while mentally supporting each other.

We have been regularly checking on our clients and encourage them to stay hopeful about travelling with us as soon as the travel ban is uplifted and the interest has been growing for new inquiries. For those trips on which deposits had been made to suppliers we advise that you reschedule to future dates of your convenience -up until 2023- rather than cancel as the repercussions of not travelling is disastrous to wildlife and communities that rely heavily on tourism.

As you are aware the tourism and conservation industry is significantly underfunded. While we all have to take the pandemic seriously we are seeing new developments by East Africa partner states easing the lockdown. At the time of putting this write up together Tanzania and Zanzibar are welcoming wageni on wildlife and beach holidays. Kenya and Rwanda have both set new tourism covid19 protocols and announced that their airports will open from the 1st August 2020. I’m hoping Uganda will follow soon but unsure this will happen as Uganda is home to the largest concentration of primates. We share 98.4% of our DNA and I’m afraid this would affect the primates and communities living on the boundaries of the parks.

In regard to permits for trekking primates the Uganda Wildlife Authority and Rwanda Development Board have both given an allowance to reschedule twice until March 2022 for already purchased permits.

Your health and safety is priority hence why we are following the World Health Organization new operational guidelines for Tourism operators. We share with you some among which are currently being implemented;

•Our team wears masks and carries out social distancing while in office
•Our Naturalist driver-guides sanitize the car before and after a safari as part of House Safety and environmental rules each vehicle is equipped with a new set of personal protective equipment
•We are in touch with our suppliers to ensure that they follow the guidelines put in place to ensure your health safety while staying at the respective properties
•We offer you 24 hours medical evacuation by AMREF Flying Doctors should you require emergence medical attention arising from Covid 19

Updated information about covid19 situation in Africa can be retrieved from various health expert websites and one of them the centre for disease control portal.

Are you planning to go on safari in the near future?.…Take advantage of the early bird rates being offered by most of our Partner properties for 2021-2023 and enjoy huge discounts on any safari of your choice. We will also ensure our wealth is distributed in a way that’s beneficial to our staff host communities suppliers and key stakeholders while achieving responsible and sustainable growth of Makario Safaris and it’s affiliates. For every USD 100 DEPOSIT MADE USD 10 WILL BE DONATED TO THE CAUSE.