About us
Experience Uganda
There are a lot of great tour operators in Uganda, and we pride ourselves on being amongst the best of them. Our entire team have either grown up in Uganda, or those of us who were not born here, have lived and worked here for over 10 years. We’re a tight team; everyone who works with us have been part of the team from the start, or from the day they joined as the company grew.
Our combined, diverse backgrounds mean we are connected to both worlds. We know and understand Uganda, how it works and the best ways to operate a safari itinerary here. We’re also connected to our friends and family in our home countries around the world. We understand the time and financial commitments most people make for a holiday to Africa and the levels of service that should go along with it.
As regular and avid travelers ourselves, we genuinely want each and every safari we run to go beyond our clients’ expectations, even if that sometimes means making small adjustments as we go to ensure each trip is the best it can be.
Our operation is based out of our own hotel in Entebbe, which makes a convenient starting point for many of our guests. As one of the few companies with offices near Uganda’s International Airport, we meet every client on arrival, adding our personal touch to each safari and ensuring that everyone sets off into Uganda with all necessary information and knowledge to enjoy their trip.
Kevin Nicholson – Managing Director
In 2008 Kevin decided to take a career break and, on a whim, took a short-term volunteering position with the Jane Goodall Foundation in their Entebbe office. Two days into the job he was asked to cover at their chimp trekking site in Murchison Falls, where he ended up staying and working for a year.
After working for lodges and safari operators in Uganda, then for a large safari specialist in the UK, Kevin along with his wife Leslie started Experience Uganda in 2016.
Based in Entebbe, Kevin oversees the commercial, operational and financial aspects of the business. He also meets many of our guests on arrival into Uganda.
Originally from New Zealand, Kevin loves the outdoors, trail running and has a keen interest in wildlife photography. When not planning and running trips for our clients, Kevin along with Leslie and their two children; Liam and Kiara, love exploring Uganda and travelling to new countries.
Leslie Nicholson – Director / Client Liaison
A native of the small island of Corsica, Leslie travelled and lived in numerous places growing up due to her father’s position in the French military.
One of her most memorable times was 2 years spent living in Djibouti, which formed a lasting connection to Africa for her.
After meeting Kevin in 2010, the pair moved to Uganda to work in lodges and safari operations before opening their own hotel, Karibu Entebbe in 2012, where Leslie still spends part of her time overseeing the running of the property.
With a degree in foreign languages and tourism, as well as living and working many years in Spain, UK and Uganda; Leslie speaks fluenty French, English and Spanish and meets many of our clients on arrival to go through their trip with them. Having travelled (literally) to every corner of Uganda, she knows the country intimately.
Leslie is passionate about yoga and recently qualified as an instructor in her spare time; she also loves exploring Uganda and the world with Kevin and their children.
Rhys Watkins – Sales & Safari Manager
Rhys first came to Uganda in 2010, what was meant to be a short visit of 5 weeks turned into 5 years and Uganda became a second home. After working throughout Uganda on community conservation projects, voluntourism and lodge management, Rhys took a job as manager of Karibu Entebbe in 2013. From here he started organising some of our very first safaris for our hotel guests, something that would eventually evolve into what Experience Uganda is today.
In between stints in Uganda, Rhys also spent six months driving from Uganda to Cape Town and back in his trusty old Landcruiser before heading to the UK and joining a leading tour operator as an African Safari Specialist.
Rhys rejoined Experience Uganda in 2020, first running our operations in Entebbe for two years, before moving to a small village in a remote corner of Central Portugal, where he handles the majority of our sales enquiries, trip planning and trip preparation.
Rhys is currently attempting to learn Portuguese (slowly!) with the help of his long-suffering girlfriend and rescue dog Daisy.
Clare Kisembo – Administration Manager
Also an ex-Manager at Karibu Entebbe, Clare joined Experience Uganda in 2022 after returning from a 2-year contract working abroad in Saudi Arabia.
Clare ensures a high attention to detail on every safari, preparing all the trip documentation for our clients as well as ensuring that all the lodges and other service providers on an itinerary have all the correct details and requirements in advance of client’s arrival.
Clare often meets our clients on arrival into Uganda, sharing her in-depth knowledge of many of the lodges and trekking excursions on our trips that she has visited first-hand.
Originally from Western Uganda, Clare loves travelling to new parts of her country when she has the chance. Along with her family, she’s also part of an emerging wine-making industry in Uganda, producing and marketing their very own wine label Pinolta, currently available in Pineapple White and Hibiscus Rosé varieties at some hotels and lodges in Uganda.
Kamya Lule – Operations Manager
After 8 years’ of guiding our clients around Uganda, Kamya has swapped the driver’s seat for an office chair, heading up our operations in Entebbe.
With an intimate knowledge of Uganda’s safari circuit as well as acquaintances and contacts in every corner of the country; Kamya co-ordinates all aspects of the operation from airport arrivals, to guides on the road, to solving any glitches should they crop up.
An enthusiast for all things new and novel, Kamya spends some of his spare time finding innovative ways to improve our safari experiences, as well as keeping his skills up by still guiding the occasional safari.
Born and bred in Entebbe, Kamya is the youngest of 10 children and was fortunate to spend some of his childhood travelling to other countries within Africa with his economist father. He now lives in Entebbe with his wife and 3 young boys.
Rose Nabweteme – Sales Assistant
Having been a part of our hotel reception team for many years, Rose’s bubbly personality and enthusiasm couldn’t be ignored, so she began to “moonlight” with Experience Uganda, meeting and greeting some of our clients at which she was a natural.
After taking some time out for the birth of her first child, Rose came back to work at a point when we needed to expand our sales team, so we snapped her up.
Rose works with our agents to plan clients’ trips, makes sure each and every detail is correct before travel as well as meeting some of our clients on arrival.
In 2022 Rose went on her first Gorilla Trek with Experience Uganda which magnified her love for nature and tourism at large. She loves travelling to new parts of her country, especially the Western part.
Our Private Guides
When you travel on an Experience Uganda privately guided safari, you’ll be in the capable hands of one of our experienced safari guides; Denis, Marc, Bahati, Farouk, Ben or Davis. Or if you require a specialist French-speaking guide; Rodman, Adam or Vianney.
Every guide who works with Experience Uganda has been in the industry for over 10 years. They don’t just know Uganda or how to handle a large LandCrusier – they also work with us because they are great people to spend 5-20 days in a car with.
In addition to being great guides, each of the guys have many other talents – some that we are still finding out about. From digital design to chicken farming to complex mechanics – there is a depth of knowledge between our team which further adds to our clients’ experiences.
The “Bwindi Team”
Wilson and Joseph are stationed near the airstrips of Kihihi and Kisoro, the two airfields that access Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. Being a good 10+ hours drive from Entebbe, it is popular to fly to Bwindi and our team are waiting to meet you!
Both Wilson and Joseph worked for several years as transfer drivers for some of the top lodges around Bwindi Forest. They know each mountain road intimately as well as the teams at all the lodges and the Wildlife Authority.
You’ll likely find Wilson on the southern side and Joseph around on the northern side, but with both of them in hot demand, they’ll often crisscross the forest or even team up for larger trips.
Pius Mata – Operations Assistant
Pius has a crucial role at Experience Uganda which is to be our Liaison at the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA).
Gorilla and Chimpanzee tracking permits in Uganda cannot be reserved, the only way to secure them is to pay for them in full. This can sometimes involve a very hasty trip into the UWA office, or a well-placed phone call to ensure we can confirm things for our clients.
Pius also ensures that all official permits and corresponding paperwork for arriving clients are ready and correct on time, something that can be much more work than it sounds.
Before joining Experience Uganda, Pius trained as a fight operator from Soroti flying school and also worked as an intern with Turkish airlines as an assistant ground operations.