Intore Dancers
Umubano Tours
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2007)
- Member Of:
- RTTA, PURE TRAVEL & EAC VISION
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $220 to $1,700 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fantastic tour operator and extremely helpful/informative
Myself and my wife travelled with Umubano Tours in March 2015 and we have nothing but good things to say about the company or their staff.
All enquiries before the trip were made with Herbert, who answered all questions (big or small) and also was also willing to answer questions which were not about the tour.
Herbert was willing to structure our tour around what we wanted to do and there were no pressures to stay to a standard/ready-made tour, although there were some example itineraries and Herbert's assistance to guide us. A variety of hotels/lodges were also offered subject to our budget.
Once all aspects had been agreed, a full detailed itinerary was provided along with some additional useful information about the country itself.
On arrival we were met by Bosco who was to be our guide for the next five days. From beginning to end Bosco was a great guide, being informative and helpful throughout our stay - he would also always make sure that we were well fed!
In addition to the information about the area/gorillas, Bosco was also kind enough to share his personal experiences as well, including those of the Genocide, gorillas and his (many) children.
Wherever we went with Bosco we always felt safe and welcomed - especially as Bosco seemed to know everyone!
If anyone is considering using Umubano Tours I would have no hesitation in recommending them as highly as possible.
Thanks again for the memories!
Outstanding service: friendly, honest, thorough, efficient and with plenty of initiative
In January 2015 I toured solo Rwanda and South Western Uganda on my bicycle. The opportunity to travel came unexpectedly so I was forced to quickly put together the trip’s itinerary over a few evenings. I knew little about the area and was worried about getting a gorilla permit with such short notice during the high season. Therefore, I drafted a mail with a long list of questions which I sent to over 25 local and international tour operators. I received lots of replies, with most limiting themselves to put pressure on me to book services without addressing my queries. Only one reply clearly stood out over all the others, including some prestigious American and European-run operations: Umbano Tours. The mail Herbet Gato sent me was perfect: it was concise, knowledgeable, accurate and friendly. There was no pressure to sell services; it just explained how they could help and brought to my attention issues related to my plan that I was overlooking due to my inexperience in the region. He also put himself at my disposal to discuss my plans over the phone/Skype, even if it meant for him working late in the evenings and over the weekend. What impressed me the most is that I was obviously a ‘bad customer’ for a tour operator because I was travelling self-sufficiently with my bicycle. Umbano did not make juicy commissions from fancy hotels nor enjoyed high margins from all-inclusive fancy tours out of me. I was treated like VIP even though I booked cheap budget hostels and only wanted a gorilla permit (without guide/tour/transportation). In summary, they were friendly, honest, thorough, efficient and displayed initiative. I ended up requesting tailor-made services like car collections for myself+bike from remote non-touristic locations which were carried out with Swiss-style precision and reliability. Herbet also arranged a custom tour to the Nyiragongo Crater in Congo which took care of visa, transportation and bicycle storage. This was also perfectly organised plus I could see my safety was taken very seriously. In Congo I met other travellers who had booked similar tours with other agencies at much higher prices, thus demonstrating that Umbano offers excellent value-for-money in addition to outstanding customer service. I cannot recommend enough Umbano tours and Herbert’s assistance. To make things even better, you will also have the satisfaction of dealing with a 100% African company and thus helping the local economy. Umbano: a no brainer win-win.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fantastic tour of Rwanda!
Umubano Tours organized our eight day tour of Rwanda in April 2015. Herbert (the Head of Operations) gave us lots of helpful advice while we were planning the trip and provided a good choice of itinerary and accommodation options. We spent two days in Akagera NP (safari), two days in Volcanoes NP (gorilla & golden monkey trekking), a day at Lake Kivu and two days in Nyungwe NP (chimpanzee trekking) before returning to Kigali. It was one of the most enjoyable holidays my wife and I have ever had. Our guide Didier was professional, friendly, courteous and knowledgeable and a great ambassador for the country. The transport provided was comfortable which was important with a lot of travelling in a short amount of time. We were happy with all the hotels and lodges suggested but particularly Nyungwe Forest Lodge which has stunning views of rainforest and tea plantations. I would thoroughly recommend Rwanda as a holiday destination and Umubano Tours as a tour operator.
CA
Email Shaadi | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Trekking for Gorillas with Umubano Tours
In April of 2015 I travelled to Rwanda and completed four gorilla treks, all organized by Umubano Tours.
Umubano Tours was highly recommended online, prompting me to reach out to its principal, Herbert, for an itinerary. Herbert was extremely helpful in planning the trip, always quick to respond with good advice. In country, my guide was Bosco, though Herbert also made sure to introduce himself and ensure I had everything I needed. Bosco was a fantastic guide, very personable and willing to help with whatever I required.
I recommend Umubano Tours without reservation. This is an excellent company that went out of its way to make sure my trip was a massive success. I will certainly use them again for any tours in regions they service.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A very reputable outfit
Seeing the mountain gorillas of Rwanda has been a dream of mine since I was a young child, and choosing Umubano Tours as our safari operator met all of my hopes and expectations.
Booking + payment:
We discovered them after some internet research into companies and the great reputation that Herbert and his staff have earned themselves. All of our questions were answered with prompt correspondence and everything ran reassuringly smoothly before heading out to Rwanda. Payment schedule was clear and easy enough to transfer after a visit to the bank. We paid a remaining 50% in USD upon meeting Herbert in Ruhengeri.
Accommodation + Gorilla trek:
The night preceding our gorilla trek was included in our package. We stayed at the Muhabura Hotel (you can check it out on TripAdvisor) and they helped us get hold of Herbert and meet him in the restaurant to explain our itinerary for the following day. They also gave us (for a fee) a packed lunch we could take on our trek.
We did their 1 day trek into Volcanoes National Park - all that we could afford on our backpacker budget. The groups of 8 people tracking each family have not necessarily all booked with Umubano and are led by Volcanoes NP guides, but after conversations with the others in our group, Umubano seem to have been an excellent choice of operator, especially for the price they charge. Whether to do more than 1 day of trekking is up to you - whether you want different types of hike (different families come with varied difficulties of tracking) and are happy trusting whatever mood the family are in on the day you see them.
Driver + logistics:
Gerard our driver was excellent and even drove us to the bus station free of charge from our hotel at the end of the day. Things were a little unclear when we arrived at the hotel included in our safari package, but the manager of the hotel helped us call Herbert, who assured us he was coming to meet us that evening. Herbert gave us a great explanation with a map and discussed our options about which families we might want to track.
Overall:
Cannot recommend Umubano Tours enough. They were polished, friendly and affordable - a perfect combination for an unforgettable safari.
Email Willowann | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing Family Adventure: highly recommend this very reputable and trustworthy company
My family of four spent 8 days in Rwanda over Christmas last year (2014) as part of a 5 week trip to East Africa. I booked the whole Rwandan section of the trip through Umubano Tours (including our Gorilla Trekking Permits) and can't recommend them highly enough. From my first email contact with Herbert he was professional, friendly, informative and always replied promptly to my emails.
I had a very definite idea of what I wanted to include in the itinerary right down to the accommodation I wanted to use. Whilst Herbert was happy to make suggestions on what was attainable to fit into the trip he was always respectful of my wishes and with his help we had the most amazing adventure. I was a little hesitant about wiring the money for the trip (a 40% deposit initially followed by a final payment prior to departing from home) but Herbert was very quick to send through receipts and copies of the Gorilla permits when they arrived.
Our guide Didier was just wonderful, he was friendly, happy and informative, and nothing was too much trouble for him. He was waiting for us at the airport and we set off straight away for the Mountain Gorilla View Lodge. The following day Didier helped secure our position to hike to the Susa group. During our trip Didier made sure that we always had plenty of water and we made impromptu stops for snacks and photos as we travelled, we even stopped to visit a beach side festival in Gisenyi! Our family enjoyed talking with Didier and learning about his country and culture from him. We shared many funny moments and he helped to make our trip a unique experience. It was a pleasure to have Didier as our guide.
Rwanda is a truly beautiful country and the people are very friendly. We have been blessed to travel a little over the last few years and every trip we say ‘oh this is our favourite place’ but Rwanda will always be special to us. My advice would be if you get the chance to visit Rwanda take that chance, you won’t regret it. I would also suggest that Herbert and Didier are the perfect people to help make your trip an enjoyable and unique, once in a lifetime experience.
HR
Email Darjan | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
UMUBANO TOURS excellent and very proffesional services!
Umubano tours-excellent and very proffesional services! Our group of 6 persons booked 2 weeks tour Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda with Umubano, and we were fully satisfied with their excellent services and best prices in compare with other travel agents. If you plan your tour to one, two or all three countries, I recommend Umubano tours. Bellow is my message sent after our tour to director Herbert who organized us whole tour:
Hello Herbert!
We arrived home, and we just want to thank you for excellent service for our tour. Program was great (we only missed drum makers on the way to Kampala, since they were not on the way), accommodation was very good (only at Nyungwe was a bit lower because of common showers and toilets and lodge was full of guests, but on the other hand for example accommodation with a view to lake Mutanda was stunning), and the food was great all the way. Gorilla trekking in Uganda was unforgettable.The price for the tour, even high in compare with other destinations, was the best in compare with other travel agents which I contacted, and I contacted many of them.
We all traveled a lot before, and we agree that this was the most beautiful parts of Africa we visited.
Specially we want to say that we were very satisfied with Chris as our guide and driver. We really don't have any complaint to him, since he was on high level each day.
Finally I want to thank to you for your prompt and detailed answers to all my questions and e-mails. All by you was professionally done.
We will surely reccommend your agency to anyone who plan to travel to Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda. And I already recommended it to my friend who has travel agency in Croatia and who plans to run this tour in the future.
TR
Email Gul Fatma Engindeniz | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
I can say only one word = perfect organisation
When I decided to make a trip for Rwanda, I contacted around 10 travel agencies. Only Umubano Tours replied to all my questions very quickly. And for this reason I choosed Umubano Tours for realising this trip. My experience and my feelings have right. The organisation was perfect. My guide Didier also gave me a lot of informations about Rwanda, the life of the people. I visited a lot of African countries but this trip at Rwanda was excellent.
Email Michelle Tinkhof | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Breathtaking. Beyond amazing and beyond what words can explain. Experience of a life time !!!!!!
Their communication, organisation and tour guides were brilliant. Everything from the minute we met them were profesional. They were AWESOME!!!!!
CA
Email Anwar Shamsi | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent Trip to Rwanda Organized by Umubano Tours
I recently finished a fabulous trip to Rwanda (July 03 – July 08, 2015) that was organized by Umubano Tours. This was my first trip to Rwanda and I have come back with great memories. I had been in touch with Herbert (Head of Operations and Owner) for almost eight months prior to my trip and he helped me create an itinerary that included everything that I wanted to do and more. Herbert was always very professional and prompt in responding to my emails, answered every question with detailed answers and provided me with valuable suggestions.
Also before I write any further, I want to thank my guide (and now friend) Didier for his wonderful personality, kind and helpful nature and immense knowledge that made my trip all the more special. Didier is such a gentle soul with so much genuine love for Rwanda. I really enjoyed his company and I am so glad he was my guide.
During my stay in Rwanda I stayed at the following accommodations: “The Manor Hotel” in Kigali, “Mountain Gorilla View Lodge” near the Volcanoes National Park, “Lake Kivu Serena Hotel” on Lake Kivu and “Nyungwe Forest Lodge” at Nyungwe National Park. Each accommodation was extremely comfortable, the rooms were nicely appointed and clean, locations were beautiful, all necessities were taken care of and everyone was super nice and friendly.
The activities that I embarked on were: Kigali Genocide Memorial, Cultural Village tour near Volcanoes National Park, Gorilla Trekking, visit to a Fishing Village near Lake Kivu, Kamiranzovu Falls, Murambi Genocide Memorial and the National Museum. Each and every one of these activities was very well organized, very educational and had a profound impact on me.
I think what impressed me the most was the resilience of the people of Rwanda to overcome their tragic past and their determination to move forward and work towards building a bright future. It was amazing and heartwarming to see how friendly the people of Rwanda are and what an effort they are making to turn their lives around. I feel honoured and privileged to have visited this wonderful country and I have come back with amazing memories.
I would very strongly recommend a visit to this beautiful country and would have no hesitation in recommending Umubano Tours as the trip organizers. Thank you so much Herbert and Didier for the wonderful time that I had in Rwanda.