Instinct Safaris

Instinct Safaris is a community-based adventure safari and tour company based in East Africa. We operate in Uganda, Rwanda, and DR Congo. Our local and well-trained safari guides have shown the beauty of the region to more than 275 travel groups in the past six years. We commit to strict company guidelines, which allow us to contribute and give back to the local communities as we are on safari with adventurers from all over the world. Being advocates of sustainable tourism, we promote mountain gorilla tracking, chimpanzee tracking, active volcano hiking, and game experiences, such as lion tracking, and more. Please contact us for more information about your very own safari adventure and join our mission to bring positive sustainable change to the Great Lakes region of East Africa!

Niels first came to East Africa as a development aid worker employed by the German government in 2010. He implemented and helped to create community tourism around Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in south western Uganda. In the village of Rubuguri bordering the Rwanda and DR Congo, a public library, a local bakery, and a hardware rental for farming equipment were opened by him.

Together with Turyasingura Rabani, Niels founded Instinct Safaris in July 2011. In order to promote a sustainable growth of the safari and tourism business in the Great Lakes region, it was of extreme importance to organize a community-centered framework, where profits from tourism would go hand in hand with socio-economic development in the areas Instinct Safaris visits.

Niels is currently enrolled in a PhD program in synthetic organic chemistry at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, after achieving his M.Sc. degree at ETH Zurich and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.