Buhoma sector, Bwindi. A Bashem group with their Uganda Wildlife Authority ranger.
Lake Bunyonyi, looking south towards the Virunga range.
Kisoro, with the volcanoes standing on the border.
Ishasha, Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Murchison Falls, on the Victoria Nile.
A craft stall on the road south from Kampala.
The Maasai Mara National Reserve.
Amboseli National Park, looking south to Kilimanjaro.
Samburu National Reserve.
Serengeti National Park.
Ngorongoro Crater.
Zanzibar.
Volcanoes National Park.
Lake Kivu.
Kigali.
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest · Uganda
Private safaris and meaningful journeys across Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda, planned in Canada and run by people who know East Africa as home. Bwindi is cold rainforest at altitude, and the guide walks at the pace of the slowest person in the group.
Lake Bunyonyi · Kigezi
No crocodiles and no hippos, which is rare in this part of Africa. Quiet enough that a paddle carries clear across the bay.
Kisoro · the Virunga range
The chain marks the border with Rwanda and the Congo. Terraces go up the slopes in steps until the cloud takes them.
Queen Elizabeth National Park · Uganda
In the Ishasha sector a whole pride does it, which happens in only a couple of places in Africa. The park runs from the Rwenzori foothills down to the Kazinga Channel.
Murchison Falls · Uganda
You hear it long before you reach it. The boat goes up to the base of the falls and the walk comes down from the top.
Roadside stalls · on the way
Masks, bark cloth and drums made in front of you rather than shipped in. Bargaining is expected and nobody minds it.
Maasai Mara · Kenya
The crossing is not a timetable. Guides read the river and the grass, and you go and wait with them.
Amboseli · Kenya
Elephants crossing open pan with the mountain behind them is the photograph people come here for, and it is taken from this side of the border.
Samburu · northern Kenya
Grevy’s zebra, the reticulated giraffe, the beisa oryx, the gerenuk and the Somali ostrich. Dry country, and far fewer vehicles.
Serengeti · Tanzania
The name means endless plains, and the herds move through it all year rather than for one season.
Ngorongoro · Tanzania
The floor sits six hundred metres below the rim, and most of what lives down there never leaves.
Zanzibar · Tanzania
Most people put it at the end, after the driving is done, and stop planning for a week.
Volcanoes National Park · Rwanda
Shorter drives from the capital and a steeper walk. Permits cost considerably more and are counted just as tightly.
Lake Kivu · Rwanda
Where most people go to sit still for two days once the trekking is finished.
Kigali · Rwanda
Most trips begin and end here. The memorial is part of understanding the place, and it is not rushed.
Planned with you from Canada. Once you land, everything is taken care of.
Or start from the reason you are here
Four countries · one company
Bwindi is an hour of your trip. The other two weeks are craters and lakes and roads and the people you meet on them, across Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda. One company carries all of it, registered in Ontario and owned in Uganda, with nothing handed to a stranger in the middle.
See the four countries
Who runs Bashem
He founded the company and still plans the itineraries. When you write to us, you reach him or somebody he works with every day.
His work in tourism, community service and mental-health advocacy is grounded in the same belief: travel should create connection, dignity and lasting value.
Two sides, one company
A registered business, a head office in Whitby, a Canadian phone number answered in Canadian hours.
Owned by Bashem in Uganda and maintained by Bashem's own people. In Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania, licensed partners.
The people in this photograph are the people who will meet you.
This is what the end of it looks like.
The part nobody explains
CanadaBefore you go · Canada
You are dealing with a business that has a head office in Whitby and a phone number answered in Canadian hours. Air travel booked in Ontario is arranged through EA Travel and Tours, TICO 50016923.
Emmanuel, or somebody he works with every day.
Arrival · Uganda
The person at arrivals works for the company you have been writing to. The handover that worries people about safari travel is the one that does not happen here.
A Bashem guide, named in your itinerary before you fly.
Between parks
The long stretches are where trips come apart. In Uganda these are our vehicles, maintained by our people, driven by guides we employ. In Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania, licensed partners.
The same guide, the whole way.
The trek
A gorilla permit is fixed-price, dated and limited in number. What it costs, when it is secured and when it stops being refundable is written down in advance.
Your guide, and the park's own rangers.
The hour
One hour, which is all anyone is given. Everything above this line exists so that the hour is the only part you have to think about.
No arrangements, no logistics, no company at all.
If anything goes wrong at any point on that line, one company is accountable, and it is registered in Ontario.
Where
Primates, wildlife and powerful cultural depth
Refined, compact and conservation-led
Iconic wildlife and exceptional private conservancies
Vast landscapes, the migration and Zanzibar combinations
Or combine two countries in one trip: Uganda with Rwanda, Kenya with Tanzania.
How planning works
Whatever is known so far is enough. A month rather than a date is enough. Nothing is asked for at this point, and no card details are ever taken.
Emmanuel, or somebody he works with every day, reads it and writes back in Canadian hours. The reply says what the route would look like, which months suit it, and what the hard days are.
It states what is included, what is not, and what it costs, with the conditions on the price. Only then does anybody talk about a deposit.
On record
The hard part of booking a first safari is not Africa. It is sending thousands of dollars to a company you found on the internet. So the answers are published here rather than explained on a call.
The company
Bashem Safaris Tours and Travel, a Canadian business. Head office at 1610 Crawforth Street, Unit 38, Whitby, Ontario.
The registration
Air travel booked in Ontario is arranged through EA Travel and Tours.
TICO 50016923 · IATA 96527200, both checkable on TICO's own register.
If plans change
The cancellation terms are published in full, with the real charge bands. Nothing is described as free that is not free.
Payment details never change
Bashem will never email you new bank details, and never asks for a payment to be redirected. If any message appears to, telephone the number on this page before sending anything.
Ask us these twelve questions. Then ask every other operator the same ones.
Read the twelve questions →It might be a once-in-a-lifetime safari, a gorilla trek, a cultural journey, a school or professional group, or a little of everything. Tell us what matters to you and we will design the rest.
Plan My Safari