Consider us for a truly Safaris Boutique Company
Hermosa Life Tours and Travel
- Office In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2012)
- Member Of:
- ASTA & RTTA & TripAdvisor
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $150 to $330 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
for a custom tour
Your request will be sent directly to the operator
If preferred, you can contact the operator directly
Reviews
CA
Email Len | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
An amazing experience
An absolutely wonderful experience form the beginning planning stages to actually touring with the guide. They are very professional and go above and beyond to meet your needs and requests
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Email Robert C. | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing adventure to see the mountain gorillas and beautiful Rwanda!
I have just returned from an amazing 15-day adventure arranged through Hermosa Life Tours, based in Kigali, Rwanda. The head of the company, Oreste, and his wonderful staff including Yvonne and our guide Yves, created a wonderful trip to this beautiful country. It exceeded my expectations in every way.
The tour was well planned and full of interesting activities, including treks to see the mountain gorillas, golden monkeys, colobus monkeys, and chimpanzees. We also did day, night and boat safaris in Akagera National Park. We went on a night fishing experience on Lake Kivu, visited tea and coffee plantations, and even spent time with potters who were making cooking vessels right in front of us. We visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial and were struck by how much Rwanda has transformed itself to become the vibrant, safe and friendly African country it is today.
But the top event of our trip was the trek to see the mountain gorillas. Wow! We got to spend an hour standing next to these incredible animals. Observing them in the wild was a peak experience for me. Pictures really don’t compare to seeing them live right next to you. Visiting the gorillas in Rwanda also helps the local population (via permit fees to see the gorillas) and ultimately helps to protect the gorillas themselves.
Our lodgings were as follows:
Ruzizi tented camp- amazing experience in a luxury tent in the wild. Hippos were in the lake alongside the tents. The staff and food were wonderful.
Radisson Blu Hotel - nicely appointed modern hotel next to the conference center in Kigali. Wonderful breakfast buffet. Helpful staff- especially Innocent.
The Bishops House - Wow! Nice hotel with a beautiful pool, great gourmet food (especially the soups!), and first-class service. The staff even remove your shoes, take them away to wash them and massage your feet after treks to see the gorillas and other primates.
Lake Kivu Serena Hotel - Nice location and pool. The rooms were on the small side. The restaurant serves nice food.
Cleo Lake Kivu Hotel - Wow! Incredible views from this lovely hotel. The food was gourmet. The masseuse gave me one of the best massages I have ever gotten.
Nyungwe Top View Hotel - at first we were disappointed in this hotel, but over our 3-night stay, we fell in love with it. It is located right in Nyungwe park, so the location is great. The buffets for dinner turned out to be delicious and well-prepared, and the staff were so kind and helpful. The accommodations were not luxurious but were spacious and comfortable. One night a local group of musicians and dancers entertained us and we loved the show!
Our guide during the whole trip, Yves, was gentle and although he did not offer us tons of information, he was kind and willing to do everything he could to accommodate our desires for our trip. One day we had just returned from a safari in Akagera, and he ran to tell us that someone had spotted several elephants nearby, so we jumped back in the jeep and found them. It was a great experience. We told him we wanted to see giraffes, and he worked hard to find them. We loved spending time alone with these beautiful animals. Yves turned out to be a great guide for us.
Oreste was available at all times during our trip to answer questions and solve any problems. On our last night, he met us in Kigali and hosted us at a lovely restaurant. What a nice guy and what a great company to arrange an adventure in Rwanda. I have travelled all over the world and never have I felt so well treated as Oreste, Yvonne and Yves treated us. Do not hesitate to book a trip with them. They are very professional and arrange a first class adventure. Rwanda is an amazing country and the people are so welcoming and kind. Definitely put a trip there on your bucket list!
DE
Email Regina | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing tours to the National Parks of Rwanda
I went to tour Nyungwe National Park and Akagera National Park with Hermosa Life Tours as a solo female traveller and had an amazing experience both times. The booking process was quick and uncomplicated and it was no problem to travel solo. My visit to Nyungwe National Park included an overnight stay, Chimpanzee Trekking and a guided hike through the forest. Hermosa Life Tours took care of arranging the permits for the national park as well as my accomodation for the night. I was picked up by my guide directly at my hotel in Kigali with a modern and comfortable 4x4 vehicle. My trip to Akagera National Park was a day trip. Again, I was picked up at my hotel by my guide with a super modern safari vehicle. Again, Hermosa Life Tours took care of organizing the permits/park entry fee. All I had to do was show up and enjoy the tour. We drove through the entire park seeing loads of wildlife! On both my trips I had the great pleasure of being accompanied by my guide Mico. He was a very welcoming and attentive guide who had great knowledge about Rwanda, the landscape we were driving through as well as all kinds of wildlife we were seeing. Mico made sure I was always well cared for during the trip, providing drinks, in-between breaks as needed and introducing me to local food, too. I enjoyed great conversations with him during both trips, also gaining insight to the Rwandan culture. I felt that both trips' itineraries and time schedules were well planned to give me the best experience I could have. I would certainly recommend Mico and Hermosa Life Tours to any traveller visiting Rwanda and looking for a great experience with great value for money.
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Email Joseph | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Hermosa Life Tour in Rwanda Changes Lives!
What an amazing experience getting to know Rwanda and her beauty through the eyes of Yves, our dependable guide and driver from Hermosa Travel.
To post this review is not only an honest account of our group’s experience but also a note of special thanks to Oreste, the owner of the agency, and Yves, our trusted guide and friend. They are the heroes of this story.
Our adventure begins with the usual boring story of flight delays, missed connections, overnight layovers in far-off countries, and finally Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. Our traveling companions were not so unlucky and arrived in Kigali on time for a nice stayover in the Radisson Blue Hotel. The following morning, they were met by Yves, who drove them 3 hours to Akagera National Park where we were staying. He returned to Kigali airport and picked us up later that night only to drive back yet again to Akagera. That’s over 12 hours of driving time for one man and all in one day! We arrived at the park late that night after everyone had gone to bed. We were not aware of it at the time but the gates to the National Park were closed for the night and Oreste was able to get someone to let us in and escort us to our lodge. I can’t imagine this was easy. We arrived at the Ruzizi Tented Lodge around 10:30 pm and the lodge served us a hearty and delicious African dinner. We crashed in our luxury bivouac complete with a full shower and facilities to the sound of a cacophony of hippos, monkeys, birds and insects. Our couple of days in Ruzizi and the Akagera park were filled with safaris, where we saw giraffes, lions, zebras, baboons, elephants, antelope, Cape buffalo, rhinos, warthogs and an amazing variety of fowl. Our meals at the lodge were always well prepared and the staff couldn’t be kinder. We didn’t know it yet but this Rwandan kindness was to be our experience everywhere in Rwanda from the first day to the last.
We then travelled to the Volcanoes National Park and after a moderately difficult trek through mountain jungle had a life altering opportunity to personally interact with a large family of Mountain Gorillas. As fate would have it, we were part of a group of a 8 who were taken to see the Pablo Family Group, which are the progeny of Dian Fosse’s original study group in the 60’s. One of the female gorillas even tapped me playfully as she walked inches by me! This highlight experience was followed by many excursions to see Chimpanzees, Golden Monkeys, Veviter monkeys, Colobus monkeys, Mountain monkeys, and baboons. It was a primate paradise! We stayed at many luxury hotels, including the Bishops House which was a fully restored colonial era mansion once inhabited by the Bishop of Kigali (who we actually saw while guests at Serena, a hotel along Lake Kivu) and the Cleo Lake Kivu Hotel, a gorgeous six star resort hotel on south Lake Kivu with stunning views. By this time we are used to the mind blowing beauty of Rwanda, with rolling mountains of verdant green, and people, beautifully dressed, walking everywhere, going about their day and interacting with each other. There were few cell phones with their distractions and little traffic, although traffic jams are ironically common since the roads are single lanes and must accommodate throngs of people carrying supplies and produce up and down mountain roads. We visited coffee and tea cooperatives. We went fishing with local fishermen and hiked up an Island mountain surround by thousands of fruit bats. We met some amazing people, including Sandra, a guide to our fishing experience who has big dreams, speaks English with an American accent and left a mark on our heart. This lovely adventure obviously wouldn’t have been possible without meticulous and careful planning from Oreste or without the steady confidence and alertness of Yves. We can’t begin to thank them enough for one of the best trips of our lifetimes. We learned so much, always felt safe and pampered, and fell in love with Rwanda. We will be your ambassadors for life. P.S. We love our four T-shirts with the cool Hermosa logo. Thank you!
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Email Milton | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Hermosa is professional, dependable, and responsive.
Yves, our guide and friend, picked us up at the airport and drove us for two weeks on a wonderful trip around most of Rwanda. Rwanda is a beautiful, green , mountainous place. We saw gorillas, giraffes, rhinos, hippos, several kinds of monkeys, chimpanzees, zebras and much more. Hermosa and Yves were very responsive to our questions and needs. I was very comfortable and felt safe and secure throughout the trip. We stayed at higher end properties and there are more expensive and less expensive options available. I highly recommend Hermosa Life Tours and Travel.
Email Tony | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very reliable and responsive - did what they said they would do.
I organise golden monkey trekking innVolcanoes National Park Rwanda through Hermosa. They were always very quick and efficient with their responses and the trip was a success.
DE
Email Dominik | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Great and reliable tour operator
We did the 1D Mount Bisoke hike with Hermosa.
The communication before was very clear. We fully transferred the money to Africa before the tour start with no problems.
Early in the morning, we were picked up in Kigali by Pacifique and really enjoyed the long drives with him, being very entertaining, interested and knowledgable - highly recommend him as a guide!
After a long day of hiking and driving, we were dropped of at the hotel again. The experience was exceptional, we would go with the conpany and Pacifique again.
Hermosa is very professional and reliable
My husband and I were in Rwanda on an extended visit and we chose Hermosa for our first safari in Akagera due to their good reviews. We were completely impressed by their responsiveness to start with, and found them both incredibly professional and reliable. We have since had several more trips by them both in Rwanda and Tanzania, and they have never disappointed.
AE
Email Eden Sam | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Our memories in Rwanda
We are happy to select Hemosa Life Tours as our Tourism company to explore Rwanda as friends, we picked them from Dubai and we really enjoyed our stay in Rwanda, what a wonderful moment with our Guide Pacifique , we saw animals as much as we could bet of him. He is so professional and patient he responded all our questions and needs on time and the office team was very active to respond and their mode of payment was friendly compared to others. We recommend
Email Roberto Family | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Our Kids enjoyed Akagera Safaris
We couldn't make it without having Hermosa Life Tour. Our Kids saw many animals such Lions, elephants, Gilafes, hipps and many more. Our kids are asking to go back in holidays, thank you Oreste Our day trip was amazing