Our Story
“Kikooko” means animal
in Rukiga.
It also means the thing that surprises you — vivid, immediate, alive. We thought it fit.
Where we come from
Warren Ankwasa grew up in southwestern Uganda, where the Albertine Rift meets the Impenetrable Forest — mountain gorilla country, red soil, rain that comes without warning. He trained as a tourism professional, worked for other operators, and taught at university level.
He watched tour groups arrive from Europe, move through Uganda through a lens someone else had ground for them, and leave carrying stories that weren't quite complete. The money flowed in one direction. The communities people passed through remained backdrop, not character.
In 2013, he did something about it. Kikooko Africa Safaris was built on a single conviction: that travel should carry people closer — to the wildlife, yes, but to the real texture of life here. That the stories guests take home should be ones that changed them. And that the change should ripple both ways.
“What started as only a dream — visiting the mountain gorillas — became the most beautiful holiday of our lives, thanks to Warren's dedication and the entire Kikooko team.”
Verified TripAdvisor Guest
“Kikooko as a whole and our tour guide Alex in particular gave us a truly unforgettable insight into the wonders of this amazing country.”
Verified TripAdvisor Guest, Switzerland
“The kindest person I've ever met was Warren at the travel fair — enthusiastic, warm, and absolutely certain he could make the impossible possible.”
Verified TripAdvisor Guest, Netherlands
A family business — and you feel it
Warren's brother Alex is our lead guide — patient, precise, with over 15 years on the road across Uganda and East Africa. When guests write to us after their trips, they almost always mention Alex by name. His ability to spot a leopard in dense bush at dusk. The calm he brings on a long road. The way he makes everyone feel, without fuss, genuinely looked after.
That family feeling runs through everything. Aminah manages the office in Entebbe with warmth and efficiency — many guests say her pre-trip communication alone set the tone for the whole experience. Ivan guides with the same quiet care. Every person on the Kikooko team treats your journey as if it were their own, because in a real sense, it is. This is where we live.
Uganda is still waiting to be discovered
Uganda doesn't carry the name recognition of Kenya or Tanzania yet. The infrastructure is different. Prices can surprise people who've only compared brochures from large European operators.
But that's also the point.
When you trek into Bwindi at dawn, you're unlikely to pass another group. When you cross Queen Elizabeth National Park at sunset, the light falls the way it has for centuries — unhurried, unmanaged, yours. Uganda is a country with hundreds of stories still waiting to be told, and we think that's one of its greatest gifts.
“Uganda — the Pearl of Africa — truly deserves that name.”
Verified TripAdvisor Guest, Switzerland
What we do differently
The difference between Kikooko and a European-run safari company isn't only local knowledge — though that matters enormously. It's the improvised stop at a fishing village because a guest asked what that smell was. The extra hour at a viewpoint because the light was too good to leave. The guide who quietly reworks the next day's plan so you can spend more time in the gorilla sector.
None of this appears in an itinerary. It lives in the space between the plans — in listening, in anticipation, in the logistics that get handled invisibly while you're watching a sunset.
“Everything was perfectly organized and yet there was always time for spontaneous wishes and surprises.”
Marianne, Soleure, Switzerland
“What Kikooko showed us through our guide Alex is how people live, what moves them — by coming into contact with the people there again and again.”
Daniel A, Winterthur, Switzerland — May 2025
“This trip was not an ‘ordinary tourist trip’ — we learned a lot about Land&People, and it was certainly not a ‘rest holiday’.”
Companion27946215950 — Jan 2025
“We came as travelers and left as friends. No doubt: one day we will return to Uganda and see this wonderful country and team again.”
Stefan G — Jun 2025
“We came as travelers and left as friends.”
Stefan G — Jun 2025“More than just a safari — an immersion in the culture, life and incredible beauty of Uganda.”
Marianne — Soleure, Switzerland“We have taken Uganda into our hearts.”
Daniel — Switzerland, Jun 2025“Uganda's tourist potential is vast and to a large degree unspoilt.”
Ralph_K_CH — Jan 2024“A part of our soul will always remain in Uganda.”
Multiple guests“Everything is possible in Uganda — and with Kikooko, we truly believe that's the case.”
Alice S — Austria, Nov 2025What it means to introduce you to our country
It's not an ordinary trip. Guests go out of their way to say so.
Most guests arrive not quite knowing what Uganda is. They come for the gorillas — and we deliver those. But what they describe afterward is rarely the gorillas. It's the visit to the village where Alex and Warren grew up, the singing and the food, the sense that they were genuinely welcome somewhere they didn't expect. The sundowner on Lake Victoria no one planned.
For us, the question at the heart of every trip is: what does it feel like to truly meet a place? Not to check its landmarks, but to leave with the sense that you now understand something real — something you couldn't have found alone, and wouldn't have been ready to receive without someone who knew it showing it to you.
Uganda surprises nearly everyone who arrives. But only if the introduction is right. We take that seriously.
“It felt less like meeting with a company and more like spending an evening with friends. The perfect start to our journey.”
Alice S, Austria — Nov 2025
“What Kikooko showed us through our guide Alex is how people live, what moves them — by coming into contact with the people there again and again.”
Daniel A — Winterthur, Switzerland, May 2025
The Kikooko Foundation
Tourism that leaves something behind
Every safari we run feeds back into the communities we travel through. Through the Kikooko Foundation, we support over 65 students across Uganda — from primary school through university — connecting them with sponsors, building schools, and creating the kind of opportunity that outlasts any single trip.
Warren established the Basket of Kikooko Education Fund because he believes the most powerful thing tourism can leave behind is possibility. When you travel with us, you're part of that thread.
Learn about the Foundation →2013
Founded in Uganda
65+
Students supported
5★
TripAdvisor rating
100%
Locally owned & operated