Travel reviews by The D Family from France

"Perfectly located business-style hotel with a leafy interior garden and large pool, which was exactly what we needed for one night in Kigali. The rooms, food and service were all of European standard, and exactly what you would expect from a modern city hotel. We would stay there again"

"The lodge is well located on the edge of the national park, down a dirt track away from the town, with beautiful views over the volcanoes. The staff are friendly and welcoming and try to do their best. However the lodge feels very dated, the rooms are basic and the food is average. Still worth staying there as there are few other options nearby, but the place could do with full rennovation."

"Good, unremarkable airport hotel"

"A spectacularly beautiful tented camp, in a stunning location overlooking the plains, which has been fully renovated in natural wood and textiles. The whole experience there was fantastic, from the wildlife sightings (we saw all the big cats, with cubs, and with kills) to the excellent guiding, as well as the top-level food and service. Nothing was too much bother for the managers to arrange, and the staff were all exceptionally friendly. The camp has also made a real effort to make sure that there is no plastic anywhere, and is as ecological as possible. Would highly recommend !"

"This was a perfect place to take a family, beautifully located on the river, tastefully constructed but not over the top. As the camp is unfenced, we particularly appreciated having adjoining family tents, giving the children an added sense of security. Our guide Gerard was first-class, knowledgable, patient with the children and extremely professional in the face of two unexpectedly close encounters on foot in the camp: an elephant did a "fake charge" at us as we turned the corner to board the boat, and a hippo crossed in front of our daughter as she returned from the pool. In both cases, he was perfectly calm and dealt with the situation. Nobody, and neither animal, was harmed! My only suggestion might be for the managers to stress early on that such encounters are not rare but common at this camp, and the hippo and elephant concerned are regular visitors.

The safaris were excellent and varied, with the great advantage of being able to go out on the river as well as the jeep (we found a pride of 17 lions at one point, and the birdlife in February was amazing). The tents were exactly what we were hoping for: simple, but elegant and with a sense of being close to nature (that hippo munching grass by the tent in the morning again...!). The camp lay-out was very nice, though I would have added a few more chairs around the camp fire as there was sometimes not enough space for us to sit there. The managers did not seem as knowledgable about the bush, or as keen to chat around the camp fire, as others in some camps we have visited. The food was very good, with plenty of fresh ingredients and spices."

"This is a beautiful lodge, combining elegance and simplicity, perched on the edge of a coral cliff overlooking the sunset and turquoise ocean. As it has family huts, which are spacious and have three separate bedrooms, it is ideal for those travelling with children. The view from the terrace is breathtaking. The lodge itself is well designed, with a biggish pool and tasteful dining room. The foot was very good, with fresh fish from the sea often cooked with local spices.

There are colobus monkeys living in the trees between the lodge, which are very funny to observe. It's important for anybody thinking of going here to know that the lodge doesn't really have a beach, or rather it does but it's not one that you can swim from, as there are rocks in the shallows even in high tide, withnumerous sea urchins. However, at high tide, you can swim straight from the lodge steps, and snorkel, which is wonderful.

Activities were run by the dive centre, and we had an amazing trip at dawn swimming with wild dolphins. Unguja takes wildlife seriously, and only does such trips early in the morning before the other boats get out; after a while, there are too many irresponsible boats out there surrounding the animals, which is a shame.

The only negative points were the cost of a taxi to Stonetown and back, which makes taxis in Europe look cheap. The red wine by the glass was also disappointing, given that there is so much good South African wine available. Otherwise, highly recommended."