Reviews
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Email Ellen Gutzler | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
charming, but not reliable and cheating
Very bad end to initiallly good experience!
We had an almost 4 weeks trip in Uganda and Rwanda.
The company owner (Meddy) drove us from Rwanda to Uganda and back. We we visited friends, the Murchinson Falls National Park including Budogo Chimpanse Tracking, and Mambasa Wet Lands, toured Rwanda (Musanze, Rubavu, Rusizi, Huye and Kigali). In the ed we did a 1,5 days tour to Akagera National Park. For the last trip, an employee was employed driver.
First everything went well and we had really great experiences. (Not the Company Owner is driving very fast.)
The travel was planned by myself and covened with the Company Owner and we paid in advance. For the last trip the company owner did not only ignore what we had convened, he changed the lodge, which made a big difference, but he did not tell us before and did not give a clear explanation, after questioning. The communication was very bad. I got very angry.
But more important in the end we had a problem about payment.
Arriving at Akagera Park Visitor Center we learnt to our shock, that the companys credit card was not charged suffiently. No explanation. The company owner asked me to pay and he would reimburse me. I trusted him, because he had done this before and he was friend of friend...
But in this case, Meddy first started to delay and to question details.... He was back in Uganda, I was in Rwanda. He did not pick phone. We texted..... In the end he reimbursed but in tranches and up to today incompletely, and only after many discussions, reminders and big delays!!! Up to now there is a still a balance due that he did not pay. He keeps on promising, and then not action but silence.
This startedd early February and we are not mid March!! This is not professional.
Advises: Don't pay all in advance, don't pay on his behalf and do not rate until the very end of the trip and all bills settled!
Reply from Beyond Travel
Posted on Mar 31, 2025Hello Ellen!
Thank you so much for your time to share your feedback and your recent tour with us!We are genuinely sorry to hear that your experience did not meet your expectations
Here at beyond travel we aim at giving our clients a great experiences and am happy to read that you a great experience from the beginning till the last the last 2 days to Akagera National park
As you planned the itinerary yourself and selected all accommodation, we had to go with your itinenery and help arrange everything and also payments. Your first guide Meddy fall sick on this tour four days to end and we replaced him with Renato Brain so that he was to go and access medication
Upon reaching Akerage National Park! You requested our guide Renato to send money to your Ugandan Nephew who you visited previously on this same tour and you would compensate by paying the park entrance to Akegera National Park! As this was sent to them immediately before you even entered the park, as the guide even showed you the transaction proof which was shared to you and also us! This act by our guide to send the money on your behalf to Uganda was surely considered as an of help since you were not able to the money directly by yourself
Regarding the itinerary, we strive to provide all activities as stated. Our records show that all planned activities were conducted. We never changed any accommodation from your itinerary as this was pre planned by you and we only came to help reserve the accommodation and payments and also made sure every goes as you planned, You wanted an upgrade of the accommodation and of course this meant that you would pay extra top up to cover up which you were unwilling to do and also you booked your tour with 1000 usd for a such long trip of more than 25 days, we used the company money to make sure all activities and accommodations were fully paid before the start of the trip as you were paying the reset of the balance on arrival
All this means your accommodation was paid a weeks before you arrived to akagera where you only stayed one night. You requested for an up grade 4 days before heading to Akagera and it was impossible to up grade because this would lead to100% cancellation fees on the booked accommodation
We regret any confusion this may have caused and will work on improving our communication to ensure all guests are aware of their options.
We apologise for the negative impression and inconvenience this might have caused by our tour guide. All our guides are fully trained, certified, and hold annual licenses from the Uganda Tourism Board. They also undergo regular refresher and customer experience training to ensure they provide professional, enthusiastic, and informative service. We regret that this was not reflected in your experience and will address this matter directly with the Guide to prevent it from happening again.
We appreciate your feedback as it helps us improve our services. If you would like to discuss this further, please do not hesitate to contact us directly. We hope to have the opportunity to provide you with a much better experience in the future.
sincerely,
Ahmed
NZ
Email Lara F | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Lovely trip to Murchison Falls with Meddy!
Beyond Travel truly saved my trip when another company cancelled on me for being a solo traveller! In the space of a few days Beyond Travel had quickly organised for me to go to Murchison Falls for 3 days. The communication was excellent and Meddy was a wonderful guide to have as a solo female traveller! I got to see so many animals and loved the boat cruise and especially!! Highly recommend this company as they were very organised, helpful and made sure I had a wonderful experience despite being solo!
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Email Nils | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best company I could have chosen
The gorilla trekking was an amazing adventure. Everything worked smoothly. Best guide (Meddy) you can think of. Everyone was very friendly and the accommodation had good food, greatly views and comfy beds.
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Email Jürgen | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great guy, friendly, helpful, honest.
We had great experiences and lovely days in Uganda and Rwanda. Ahmed, our organizer, is very friendly, always in a good mood and was always there to help us with all of our concerns. We felt in good hands with him and would book him again at any time.
Many thanks.
(automatic translation from German)
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Email Uli | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful Rwandian Experience
We enjoyed very much our trip with Ahmed and his co- driver Chris. Always reliable, safe and on-time. Always patient with us taking pictures!
Excellent Customer service and tour at a very short time
I first want to thank Ahmed the CEO (Beyond Travel) for putting together schedule the itinerary for our 12days wildlife and primate safariin Uganda fora very short time of 2weeks and executing it perfectly.
The selection of resorts throughout the whole tour was really amazing and also reserving the gorilla and chimpanzee treks within a very short time of 2 weeks. Gorilla trekking reservation was the crucial part of our vacation in Uganda.
It was amazing having Sam as our driver guide aka Mr. Silverback for his excellent driving skills, knowledge of plants in the forest and birds and wildlife. Mr. Silverback is very patient,social person and makes sure that we all very comfortable throughout the tour. Due to his experience knew most of almost everything in all national parks we visited
Uganda in general is very much open to tourists with very friendly and helpful people and has various security mechanisms in place to protect he tourists
Regarding the uniqueness of Uganda vs other countries that I have visited like Kenya Tanzania and south Africa is the fact that Uganda is one of the very few African countries where decently priced gorilla and chimpanzee trekking for tourists allowef advance reservation in small groups these treks are very excellently organized by Uganda Wildlife Authority in a safe and enjoyable manner and we were able to see about 11 family members I. One group of including a baby and silverback and a black back and spending one hour with the gorillas in the mist as we were observing g them eat and relaxing and the family bonding habbits in the wild. Apart from the treks mention above, Uganda has walking Safari in lake mburo national park and Rhino Sanctuary
From the start toxxnthe end the communication with Ahmed was really good and this was a lifetime experience for me. We travelled as a group of 5 with friends from Germany . We bonded even more during this amazing tour. As we ended this tour some of us were crying... Who cries as the trips comes to an end??
Who knew Uganda has so much to offer. Flet safe the time. Already planning our trip back to explore the Eastern part of Uganda!!!
Email Umulisa | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Wonderful 10days Rwanda Uganda tour
My experience with beyond travels was so good the communication is so good the service is perfect I liked everything about my tour and the choice of site to visit is 10/10… I’d choose you guys over and over! Thank you
AE
Email Renatus | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Remarkable Rwanda Safari
Ahmed was our guide for 6 days in Rwanda and I’d highly recommend!! He was knowledgeable, of course, but he was also very funny and really added to an amazing trip! He added on some excursions we never would have known about, but they really enhanced our experience. If you get the chance to go to Rwanda, you would be lucky to I have Innocent from Ahmed as your guide. We booked the tour through Beyond Travel. Highly recommend
Email Oprah | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An exceptional and extremely passionate tour guide
I can’t quite explain enough about how breathtaking and superb my trip was with beyond travel & remarkable journeys, my special appreciation goes to Ahmed for being one of the most ambitious, dedicated and excellent tour guide, he shared his knowledge with me about all the places we went to from Rwanda to Uganda and I could clearly see how talented he is at doing his job. Am very grateful for the opportunity to have a marvelous trip with beyond travel and I can’t forget to say Ahmed is really an excellent driver, I would highly recommend beyond travel company.