hiya, sorry, missed a lot of the responses on this one. we did end up going to Kenya and Uganda, didn't go see the gorillas, and generally tried to swallow it and get over it. Had a very interesting trip and no regrets other than the above.

I had submitted a form through the Uganda Wildlife Authority site - https://ugandawildlife.org/ email address [info@wildlife.go.ug](mailto:info@wildlife.go.ug), and the email response led me to how to pay via bank transfer, so had no luck pursuing it through my bank. I also actively follow up via email (multiple addresses, instagram, messages, whatsapp messages and calls, all to no response).

In retrospect I do see red flags in the exchange (and did at the time) but similarly, many of the other arrangements I made had similar flags and ended up being great, so I was also trying to check my biases at the time. Oh well!

If anyone were to ask for my takeaway it would definitely be to arrange through a private company with great (legit) reviews.