Pakuba Safari Lodge

Pakuba is situated at a lovely location with a beautiful view of lovely sunsets over the Nile River. Meals are all served buffet style, food was ok, dining staff were wonderful, kind and attentive. My room was nice and had enough outlets to charge camera batteries and phone. Outlets in rooms are not always available at lodges so was thankful my room provided them. Found the staff at reception a little aloof, one lady at reception acted put off when asked a question as if she couldn't be bothered. Staff outside of reception were all wonderful. It was incredibly hot during our visit, possibly 100 degrees with 70% humidity. Rooms offered AC which was great when it was working. The biggest problem for visitors is that the power went out 3 times within 24 hours. Initially it was out for a block of rooms and mine was out when I checked into my room. The two other times it went out affected the whole camp. All the other lodges during my 2 week stay had a backup generator that was engaged within 15-30min of the power going out. Pakuba staff said they had a generator but seems it was not put to use and/or it wasn't powerful enough or in good working order. Not sure. The 3rd time the power went out was night time, so it was pitch black in my room. In trying to find my suitcase to get my head lamp I struck my toe on a chair leg and broke my toe. I didn't share that with staff, just dealt with it. Had it x-rayed when I got home and the radiologist said it was broken. I did have laundry done at this lodge. They give you an itemized list of the cost of each item as do the other lodges. It is a little pricey but seems to be in line with other lodges. Keep in mind throughout Uganda, laundry depends on the weather as they line dry items so they may or may not be able to launder clothes. I did stay at one lodge that had a dryer but that is unusual for the majority of lodges. They had a beautiful pool near the dining area which helped some guests cool off. The view of the water from the dining areas was lovely. I would stay at Pakuba again in spite of the power issues which factored in to the cause of my injury.

Big and well functioning lodge with very friendly and caring staff. Nice view from the dining terrasse over the Albert Nile. Good starting point for excursions to boat rides, chimpanzee trekking etc. The rooms were good. They could be a little more charming, but nothing was missing.