Rwanda: reviews from our travellers

"Exceeded expectations.

Fascinating country and whist it sounds a little misplaced to say it the opportunity to confront the Genocide added a thought provoking additional dimension to a brilliant wildlife experience. Compared to our other Africa experiences the two stand out features were the opportunity to be more active (moving about on foot etc.) and the feeling of safety and a warm welcome from a people who still have next to nothing in spite of the relative success of rebuilding the country.

All of our accommodations were up to standard even if they are way below the better lodges in other parts of Africa in terms of pure lodge experience.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

At the planning stage perhaps make suggestions for alternatives and give advice to make choices.

For example, in Nyungwe it would have been good to have been offered tjhe forest treks and also a visit to the tea plantation (our guide tried to get us in but it was closed on a Sunday). As related in this form, our guide was quite resourceful in adapting our itinerary when the first day's sites were unavailable and in fact we are glad to have seen a couple of the alternatives that we may have missed otherwise. These could have been suggested in planning maybe.

These remarks really are intended as pointers to improve what is already an outstanding service that we have now used three times (Namibia, Tanzania and Rwanda) and will use again." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 9 on a Rwanda safari

"This is the second trip that my husband and I have used Expert Africa for after travelling to Namibia last year, and our experience this time as previous was exceptional.

Rwanda exceeded all of our expectations, obviously gorilla trekking was a highlight but all other aspects equally as enjoyable.

Rwanda especially was so green, agricultural, wildlife, stunning scenery, clean with kind and gentle people and on the surface full of progress and opportunity after a period of sad history.

It would be our pleasure to return to explore further.

The concept of the East African visa for multiple entry travel to Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya available on arrival in Kigali for a fee of US $100 to holders of a British passport among others is excellent and very convenient.

The service of Primate Safari's and Sura our guide/driver were without fault, from being greeted at the airport on arrival to being dropped off at departure.

Sabina last year and Amanda this year went out of their way to offer their suggestions, experiences and recommendations and tailor itineraries as needed.
It is their personal involvement, enthusiasm and experience which enable them to offer a superior product.

Africa can be a challenging and expensive Continent to travel in but the knowledge and cohesiveness of the Expert Africa team and their local vendors makes the entire experience so special and worthwhile.

They are a credit to their organisation and we have no hesitation in using them repeatedly or recommending to other people.

Many thanks for another superb and memorable trip! We wish you continued success.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

At present nothing that we can think of... a pleasure to deal with." Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 4 on a Rwanda safari

"Organisation from Expert Africa was excellent, and advice choices resulted in a really outstanding trip.

We could not be happier." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zambia safari

"The biggest issue with comfort for the trip was that we were given an older vehicle which is quite uncomfortable from the beginning of the trip until we reached Kivu lake. At Kivu Lake, three days into the Rwanda part, I let Expert Africa know about my concerns regarding the possible safety issues of the vehicle as well as the comfort issues. I had an almost immediate reply from Expert Africa who contacted the tour organizer, Primate Safaris in Rwanda. They met us the next day with a new vehicle for the rest of the trip.

The entire planning of the trip took multiple conversations and emails with the Expert Africa team. They were extremely helpful and worked with us until we found a trip that we thought would meet our desired experience. I believe we had seven iterations before finally choosing the last one.

I would have mixed feelings about going during rainy season again. It was less crowded, which was quite nice. A few plans did get rained out or had to be changed.

The few hotels we stayed at in between various parts of the trip were used only for several hours and simpler, less expensive accommodations would probably have sufficed quite well.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We did not seek other quotes for the trip.

Our previous trip to Zambia with Expert Africa impressed us so much, that we only used them to arrange this tour for us. It was a good decision." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 8 on a Rwanda safari

"We loved every minute of our trip. A new day a new adventure. Superb accommodation, safaris, food and wines.
Loved Africa." Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 12 on a Tanzania safari

"We thoroughly enjoyed the trip it met all of our specifications in terms of culture, history and wildlife.

The visit to Kigali was very moving and a trip to Rwanda couldn't be done without visiting the Genocide Museum to see what the people of Rwanda have been through.

Our visit up to the Volcanoes National Park was everything and more ... the hike up to the golden monkeys was well worth it and was a great prelude to the hike to see the Gorilla's the next day. The Gorilla experience was amazing and the time flew by so quickly it was over in a flash.

To end our wonderful trip we spent a few days on Lake Kivu which again incorporated a trip into the town passing the church where more than 36000 Tutsi's were massacred, as well as the bird life in the gardens of the lodge and on the water's edge.

We found all the staff in the hotels, the guides and all the Rwandan people were really friendly and welcoming throughout our stay." Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 6 on a Rwanda safari

"This trip was worth everything that my husband and I put into it. We hesitated on the cost but then realized that having the exact trip we wanted would be worth it.

I can't gush enough about how perfectly ExpertAfrica put together everything for us. It was also in the perfect order, and met every little thing we had asked for.
We wanted walking safaris, which we got. We wanted luxury, which we got. We wanted parks/reserves that were not as crowded but still had great game viewing. Nothing about the itinerary disappointed us.

I'm also impressed with the order of the itinerary. We thought it strange that we were going to Selous and then Ruaha when everyone we encountered in Selous mentioned that they had come from Ruaha. We wondered why we were doing it the other way, and also wondered, with Beho Beho's level of luxury, if maybe finishing on it would be better. But once we got to Ruaha and experience Kichaka Expeditions, we knew that the trip had been planned exactly right. Though both camps are absolutely great at what they do, if we had done it in reverse order, we might've been a little disappointed.

Also, I want to comment that I was very pleased with Primate Safaris, who worked with us in Rwanda. They were professional, and really great. Our luggage had gotten lost on the way into Kigali, and the company helped us get it to us. The guiding was knowledgeable, friendly, easy to talk to, and we had a really good time.

The only problem with this trip is that it made me realize how unhappy I am with my current day job and it was extremely hard to transition back to regular life. It was almost too good of a trip! All I want to do is return to Africa on another vacation, even though I know it will be a long time before I can...
But for certain, when I do, I will book through Expert Africa.

As a note, though Lyndsey helped with our final details of our trip," Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 10 on a Tanzania safari

"We had an excellent trip with the exception of our trip / flights from Zambia to Rwanda (via J'burg)." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"Our trip to Rwanda unexpectedly turned out to be rather dramatic following the first and only gorilla trek which left us total exhausted and me seeking medical help resulting in leaving the Volcanoes National Park earlier than planned and a 2 night stay at the King Faisal Hospital in Kigali following a diagnosis of pneumonia from which I'm still recovering and will probably do so for possibly another 2 weeks or more. We would not have got through this unfortunate episode without the help of our Primate Safaris driver/guide Sura who assisted in so many ways from paying a hospital bill with his own money to procuring cups of coffee from a cafeteria for me while I was in hospital. Well beyond what was expected for which we are truly grateful.

Having spoken with several people who were trekking it seems to us that better briefing beforehand is required. With trekking up to 3000 metres you have to be physically fit and acclimatised which were not although of course I did not know at the time I was suffering with pneumonia. Comment was made that it's always best to do one trek before committing to another. Appreciate that could be a problem as permits often should be booked in advance. It's not unusual for people to abandon the trek part way and in my case the guide did mention (at the end) there was a thought that I might need to be stretchered off the mountain. Among the people I spoke with was an American lady doctor who said she had to give up on her trek but then again she should not really have been on it as she's asthmatic but no one told her how difficult it might be. Nurses at the hospital in Kigali said they often had patient referrals from the gorilla treks as many underestimate the difficult terrain involved.

It would seem there is a perception among a lot of people that seeing the gorillas in the wild is a trip for everyone. Don't believe it is and can be a lottery. At least we have experienced a meeting with gorillas but at some cost and now plenty of paperwork associated with the insurance claim for reimbursement of hospital fees and the non-refundable trek permit. Would advise would be visitors to seriously think about the risks involved." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 6 on a Rwanda safari

"Thank you for helping us have a memorable trip!" Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 10 on a Rwanda safari