Why you should consider hiring a local guide: There is great value in hiring a local guide compared to thinking of doing it all by yourself. While we might agree that the idea of DIY (do it yourself) is derived from budget constraints (not for all) in the travel world it is a lot risky to choose self-drive holidays over locally guided holidays.
Although we offer self-drive holidays too, our preference is fully escorted and locally guided holidays.
In this article, we will give you reasons as to why you should consider hiring a local guide when travelling to East Africa, where to hire one, and more recommendations. So, keep reading!
Why you should consider hiring a local guide
Enhanced trip
Having a tour guide by your side during your trip can enhance your experience when travelling. A good guide will be able to explain the local culture and traditions and give you other local insights about the places you visit.
A good guide will know the best hours to visit the attractions to avoid big crowds, how to avoid rush hour, and tricks to let you experience the most out of major tourist destinations even with big crowds.
They can also bring you to off-the-beaten-path spots you wouldn’t have known otherwise and offer personal suggestions on how to get the most out of your trip.
It’s hassle-free
One of the things that may be holding you back from having a great trip is that you have to figure out the small details when travelling around.
Where to go? How to get around? Directions? What time does the place open or close? If you use a guide, you don’t have to trouble yourself with it – he/she will know all the tiny details.
You also don’t have to trouble yourself with planning an itinerary, if you hire a guide, they will make an itinerary according to your preferences and interests. You can customize them as well.
Another thing is the language difference. It’s difficult to communicate especially if you are travelling to places where the people speak little to no English at all. A local guide would be able to translate things for you and help you communicate with people.
You can uncover lesser-known places
You can visit off-the-beaten-track spots and a new place that is out of the major tourist spots with the help of a guide. Don’t you like the thrill of finding places beyond the obvious and aren’t on popular tourist routes? You can be amazed at how the off-the-beaten-path spots can be equally and even more incredible than the major ones.
It’s time and cost-efficient
You don’t have to waste your time to plan a good travel itinerary, as the guides will do it for you. A good guide will structure your itinerary to be time-efficient, probably allowing you to visit more places.
You are probably thinking that hiring a guide is an additional expense, so how can it save money? Here’s how. You don’t have to figure out the route by yourself and risking getting lost which can cost you more money.
A good guide will structure your itinerary to be cost-effective and tell you which way is more cost-efficient to travel around, helping you save money.
Recommended tour guides
There are many places on the web where you can hire tour guides, but you never know what you are getting into, it could be great, or it could be bad, its a lottery.
If you are travelling to East Africa, specifically; Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya & Tanzania, Realm Africa Safaris™ can help you find a great local guide. Our guides are selected carefully to ensure the quality of the work and service. Our website offers many excellent local tour guides options with a track record of excellent service.
Still not convinced? Why you should consider hiring a local guide.
Safety
Private guides have a better understanding of how the local system operates and can help you with things in the country you are visiting that you are not familiar with. You don’t have to worry about getting lost or accidentally travelling to places that are dangerous with a local guide by your side.
Find and eat good food
If you are a foodie and would love tasting some local cuisines, then a local guide can give you suggestions of places to eat that are not just the popular tourist spots but rather bring out the authenticity of the experience. Hiring a local guide is also important especially if you have food restrictions/allergies, but the language barrier is too severe, so you can’t communicate well. Just let your tour guide know and he/she will bring you to the best places to eat according to your preferences and needs!
Discover unique stories and details about the destinations
You can not only visit off-the-beaten-track spots but can also discover unique stories and details about the spots you visit.
It is easy to memorize facts and look up things on the internet. Hiring a guide can give you so much more than that, local insights, traditions, history, and up-to-date factual information about the sites.
You can have a richer, deeper understanding of the spots you visit because the guides will be able to tell you the history and context of the spots you visit from an insider/local perspective and answer questions you have about them.
There are more benefits you can get if you use a local guide when travelling.
Bottom line is… hiring a local guide for your holiday allows you experience things you wouldn’t have otherwise. Guides can make your journey so much more interesting and really add more value to your trip.
Where to hire a local guide for a Safari in Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya & Tanzania
If you are travelling to Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya and or Tanzania, here’s how you can hire good local guides. First, you will have to decide on your destination.
To make it easier for you, here is a list of great tour guides in Uganda. And if you are looking for guides in other areas of East Africa, you may want to click here.
If what you are looking for private tours with set itineraries that you can customize when you book, here are recommendations for Uganda and also other places in East Africa.
