Rwanda: reviews from our travellers

"I planned it as a trip of a lifetime and thanks to Expert Africa, Claire Scott, and other members of the team so it proved to be just that. Now I have the 'bug' to do another trip.

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Just one, a bit nit picking, but your superb wallet would have been even better if it had wrist strap attached as it would save fishing it out of the hand luggage.

This traveller later commented on his guide in Rwanda:

Kamanzi Aloys was great with his knowledge from football, Rwanda history and the local flora & fauna. Plus his driving skills were 1st class if you have experience the roads and the tracks you will understand." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 5 on a Tanzania safari

"Very helpful in planning the trip. All arrangements went well." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari

"We loved every second of the trip. Although we were only in Rwanda four nights we did so much it felt a lot longer. Visiting Kigarli and the genocide museum was an interesting and humbling experience. The country is beautiful and very clean. The people were welcoming and friendly where ever we went.

Seeing the gorillas was a memory we'll never forget. Every guide we had (I hope I have remembered their names correctly - Edward, Francis and Pappy) was excellent, very friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. Seeing the Golden Monkeys was another interesting experience and a great contrast to the gorillas.

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Tracy has been great and has promptly answered any questions we have had. The service has been excellent this is the second time we have travelled with Expert Africa and will certainly do so again in the future." Read full review: 6 nights in Africa; 4 on a Rwanda safari

"We both really enjoyed the trip. It was wonderful to have the opportunity, in my case, of returning to Rwanda and seeing more of the country and its people - and of course, the beloved gorillas - a real privilege. My travel companion, Darrell, for whom it was the first time, had a wonderful time too, and I think, I hope (!), understood why I was so enamoured of the country.

Private guide in Rwanda

Patrick was always punctual, patient, calm, friendly and efficient. A very good driver especially on the bumpy stretches of road.
He always attended to our requests (postcards, money changing, a local market etc) He tried to negotiate suitable groups for us to join on the gorilla trekking - very much appreciated. He also saw to my "revisiting" (and showing Darrell) Virunga Lodge and Hotel des Milles Collines. I loved the way Patrick just walked into both places although we weren't guests there - I'd expected to see them only from the outside!

Patrick also did an excellent job in knowing how, when and where to give out Darrell's pens and notebooks to children (as you know, it can be chaos) and also in giving away clothes Darrell discarded at the end of the trip. It gave us great pleasure to see the happy faces.
Patrick always answered our questions but we thought maybe he could have been a little more spontaneously informative on the trip in general, as he was, in fact, on the tour of Kigali. However, it may be considered by himself and his office that he is mainly the driver and each place/activity has its guide." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 6 on a Rwanda safari

"I count myself as very lucky for having been able to take this trip to Rwanda and Tanzania. Both countries are so beautiful, and it is a profound spiritual experience to see nature in such raw form.

From a practical standpoint, everything went smoothly, and from the moment I boarded the BA flight to Nairobi, I didn't have to give a thought to logistics, and was just able to relax and focus on the trip. This was my third trip with Expert Africa and I can't imagine using another travel agency. I really trust Expert Africa and would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari

"The trip was exellent and the country was amazing. The people of Rwanda are friendly and warm, its great to visit a country that has not been totally overdeveloped by tourism.

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The tags for the bags, document wallet was a very nice touch." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 6 on a Rwanda safari

"We had a wonderful, memorable holiday with lots of interest in truly beautiful surroundings. We received a really friendly welcome wherever we went. Our holdiday was really made by our driver/guide, Johnson, from Primate Safaris, who drove safely, worked incredibly hard, was friendly, informative and always went out of his way to do things for us.

We were also very moved by the history of the place and individual stories from local people. The gorilla trekking was fantastic and the trip to the Akagera park magical.

We had such great fun as a family and with Johnson and local people we met, felt part of a bigger family for a short time. Would love to return.

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Re trip - It might be useful to stress that getting money and small change was tricky (ATMs not working at all in Kigali or elsewhere and getting money from a bank took about an hour!). Also, to maybe advise people that tipping is widely expected and people need to budget for this and try to get small denominations of notes. We found dollars are far more usable where we were than euros.

maybe have a 'very good' category for this form as sometimes it was difficult to choose between good and excellent." Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 6 on a Rwanda safari

"It was a great holiday.
Primate Safaris were really good at trouble shooting and were lovely people to meet. They gave us confidence from the start which is great when arriving tired in a new country.
Some difficulties in paying respect to the people who died in the genocide early on in the holiday which was important for me.
The Solice visit was great and worked well but I don't think Primate Safaris and Solice had spoken before the day. Sophie was very helpful and informative and Patrick again ensured everything went well. With hindsight I would have prefered this experience, and visited the genocide memorial at the start of the trip rather than the end.
Thanks.

Driver/guide within Rwanda
We both found Patrick a great guide and very personable. It was a pleasure to have access to his company and information. He was also great at sorting out any issues and being flexible." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 7 on a Rwanda safari

"Bottom line we enjoyed our trip a great deal and thought it was money well spent. Our guides Eric, Emmanuel and Jackson and their vehicles provided us opportunities that may not have been present if we were sharing vehicle or along with a group. The (3) gentlemen were very professional with a sincere interest in our well being and happiness. The lodges and camp were comfortable and had great staffs.

A few notes of what was not, it was not hot, there was not a lot of bugs, there was no traveler sickness, there were no bad meals, there were no cold showers, there was not dry/brown surroundings, there was no concern for safety.

Thanks again for all your help with our trip and we will recommend your services to our friends and family. Someday we hope to visit Africa again and have so many wonderful memories from this trip. Happy New Year to you and your staff.

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Our transfer from Olakira Camp (Serengeti) to Rhino Lodge (Ngorongoro Crater) was a full morning and we did not arrive until after 2:00 pm which was past lunch serving period. The Rhino Lodge kitchen staff really went out of their way to get us a hot lunch and it was very good. It may have been better for Olakira to send us off with a box lunch?

Either way, Pam and I were not concerned and the meal was worth the wait. We just hoped we did not put the kitchen in a distressful position." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 5 on a Tanzania safari

"Overall, we had a fantastic trip to Rwanda. Got great gorilla sightings and a bonus sighting of one of the research groups on the way back from Karisoke. We had to walk through shoulder high stinging nettles to get out of their way but it was worth it!

The people of Rwanda are lovely, very friendly, welcoming and they seem genuinely delighted that we chose to visit their country. The country itself is beautiful, stunning landscape and incredibly clean. I enjoyed it as much as I did the first time I visited and would love to go back again! William [Rwanda guide] was very good, very polite and very knowledgeable. Would maybe have been nice if he was a little bit more talkative at times, but he appeared a bit shy. Could not fault his guiding though and he looked after us very well.

He asked us to say hello to Tracy. He talked about guiding you a couple of years ago and sends his best wishes!

And on the final evening when we were feeling fed up about going home, we visited the Palacina suites in Nairobi - wow what a place! Beautiful rooms and a fantastic meal to finish our trip. We would definitely go back there! Thank you for the suggestion!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service

Keep doing more of the same! I would definitely use you again for a bespoke trip to Africa and would happily recommend you to others - in fact I have done so already!" Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 6 on a Rwanda safari