Rwanda: reviews from our travellers

"Our itinerary (Kigali - Volcanoes - Kibuye (Lake Kivu) - Nyungwe - Kigali) let us see a good cross section of this beautiful country. It was structured for the most part aroung gorilla or other primate treks. They were wonderful but anyone considering a similar itineray should understand that most treks take place in the early morning and as a consequence there is a lot of spare time in lodges/hotels that can be quite remote from other facilities and have few of their own- bring a few good books for if the weather is bad! Monkeys (or canopy) in Nyungwe could have been done on same day as chimps and a day saved.

Expert Africa (Liz, Eleanor and Chris) were very helpful in addressing what at the time (Dec 12) was a delicate security situation in the Rwanda/DRC border area with changing FCO advice. As a result we did not stay in Gisenyi which would have more going on than Kibuye.

Our vehicle/guide were provided by Primates Safaris who were very good - we would recommend them if available." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 13 on a Rwanda safari

"Patrick was a great personable driver who added to the overall holiday with his knowledge of the country and willingness to engage in conversation.

Rwanda is a great country who have put the past behind them and are looking forward to a bright future (hopefully). The country is the cleanness I visited in Africa, the people are friendly and embrace all visitors. Children are keen to engage in conversation to practise their English. Food was surprisingly of very good quality. An up and coming country on the world stage and one I would recommend to visit.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

A suggestion would be to offer a boat transfer on the lake for one leg of the journey rather than driving.

If I was to do it again, I would suggest doing the trip the other way round i.e. starting at the Forest and finishing with the gorillas as a highlight. I know that most trips are subject to getting the gorilla pass so this may not always be possible." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 12 on a Rwanda safari

"We very much enjoyed our trip, and would happily recommend Expert Africa to any one wishing to go to this lovely country.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No" Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 9 on a Rwanda safari

"The trip was amazing, Rwanda exceed our expectations and I wished we'd stayed longer. Selous is a worthy extension and I couldn't have been happier with all the guides, transfers, flights and all but one of the hotels!

I would like to put in a plea that EA consider booking Rwandair air connections between Kigali-DAR/Kili. They are by far the most efficient and organised airline I've used in Africa and for clients looking to do a similar trip I would opt to book your own internal flights, than go back to Nairobi using EA partner airlines.

Thanks to Ellie and all at EA for organising a fabulous trip for us." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 5 on a Tanzania safari

"Fantastic but tiring

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

A night on Kivu lake between Gorillas and Nyungwe would be recommended since the drive is long and tiring, especially if you are up early the next day for treks" Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 7 on a Rwanda safari

"Fantastic holiday....worth every penny!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

The only comment I could make is that Travellers should be informed that they must always bring wet weather gear regardless of season rather than just giving a "suggestion". When it rains it really rains and we were there in the dry season!

Everything else was wonderful and we would especially like to thank our guide (Alex), who really made our holiday" Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 8 on a Rwanda safari

"The safari company in Rwanda.
Excellent, exceptional even. The Driver/Guide was very good: always on time, always helpful, always interesting and well informed. And a good driver. What the Toyota safari wagon lacked in comfort it made up for in space and really came into its own in tackling some of the poor tracks as we drove to our trekking departure points. On all three trekking days he looked after us well at the ranger station and made sure we got onto trekking groups well suited to our (limited) ability.

The Transfer Company.
Very good. Punctual, helpful and willing. They went out of their way to take us to an exchange and a chemist and on each occasion escorted us through the airport with an efficiency we could not have matched. Their help was much appreciated.

The Trekking.
Each of the treks start over farm land using the paths used by workers to reach the wall (a wall that marks the boundary between the National Park and the Farm land which was built to keep the buffalo and elephant out of the farm land) for up to an hour, followed by up to four hour more strenuous walking to the habituated group you have been allocated to visit.

Our trek to the Golden Monkeys was about 90 minutes and fairly easy at a modest pace. It was a pleasure to watch and photograph the monkeys for an hour or so as they moved gently and quietly through the trees and bushes. On the return trek we were luck enough to bump into a gorilla group, unique we were told.

Our first gorilla trek was about two hour in total to their location, the pace was leisurely over gradually ascending terrain with just the occasional more difficult clime. On our second trip the family were only just over the wall, so a fairly easy walk.

The experience of being with the gorillas was unforgettable and difficult to verbalise; memorable, moving, emotional, exciting, almost unimaginable; having a silverback just a couple of yards from you is a truly amazing experience." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 5 on a Zambia safari

"everything we had anticipated

generally everything was excellent, except the Milles Collines Hotel was very poor in copmparison and worse than expected" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"We were/are very pleased at your succesful efforts to change our dates etc.

Nairobi airport was not a good experience, both changing to fly to Tanzania and coming back from Rwanda. Talking to others, flying to Amsterdam and then with KLM to Kilimanjaro sounded much easier." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari

"The trip was amazing. It was the combination of the history, the culture and the wildlife that made it all so special. Our driver Sam was very good and answered all our questions and was very helpful in taking us to the places we especially wanted to see that weren't necessarily on our itinerary.

The genocide memorial in Kigali was exceptionally powerful and thought provoking and we would advise anybody travelling to Rwanda to visit there, preferably at the start of your trip because then it is even more incredible to appreciate how far the country has come when you see people working together so harmoniously in the fields and villages.

The wildlife is amazing, the views are beautiful and the people so friendly

We would definitely recommend doing two gorilla treks because you get two very different experiences. Our first trek the gorillas were eating and then on the move through the bamboo. Our second trek we arrived during "social hour" so the youngsters were all playing. Grit your teeth and pay the price it is so worth it." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 11 on a Rwanda safari