US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Dream come true!!!
Trekking the mountain gorillas has been a dream of mine since I was a child and Golden Rwanda Safaris exceeded my expectations. I am a solo female traveler and, after speaking to Frank and reading glowing reviews, I had no hesitations about booking this company. I had a female guide, Ingrid, who made sure everything was punctual, safe, and organized. I learned so much about the culture and history of Rwanda from her and she made the trip so special and fun. I was able to spend the first day exploring a bit of Kigali, including the sobering Rwanda Genocide Memorial, which you can’t miss if you travel to Rwanda. The accommodations at Five Volcanoes were luxurious and comfortable and the staff was so kind. I could write a full memoir about the trek itself but suffice it to say that it was genuinely life changing. Spending an hour amongst the gorillas was the single most awe-inspiring experience of my life. Everyone truly cares about the conservation of the environment and these incredible animals, and you can rest assured that all your trekking money goes towards protecting the park. The logistics were all taken care of by Ingrid, who was excited to see me living my dream. Seeing the golden monkeys is also absolutely worth doing – you’re completely surrounded by them and they’re a joy to watch.
Huge thanks to Ingrid and Frank for making this the best Christmas ever – it was worth every penny that I saved. I would recommend Golden Rwanda Safaris a thousand times over to anyone traveling in Rwanda, and plan to book with them again when I return with my mom for more trekking.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great Safari with Eastco
My wife and I did a 8 day safari with Eastco in Jan. of this year. The trip was excellent.
We had flown into Kilimanjaro International Airport, and after getting our visas we were taken to our Arusha hotel for the first night. The hotel was right in the middle of town so in the evening we walked around a bit and had a meal at a small Indian restaurant very quiet.
In the morning we were collected by our guide and so the safari started.
Tarangire for two nights staying at Boundary Hill Lodge, what can, we say beautiful views, rooms with a verandah overlooking the plains below and a toilet with a view. Elephants and giraffe were easily seen and in the mornings we could see some antelopes easily, thought they were waterbuck, but who knows.
After two nights here we then went to Ngorongoro and stayed at the wildlife lodge right on the rim again amazing views. The highlight here were the Rhinos seen in the afternoon.
Then followed the Serengeti staying in a tented camp, this camp was perfect after Ngorongoro. We stayed here for 4 nights and were able to catch the wildebeest migration in all its glory.
Cheetah and hyena were the highlight of this part of the trip.
The trip was well set up, guide extremely polite and well versed in both wildlife and idle chatter, this made the trip more interesting as we got a bit of an insight into his family and safari life.
The 4x 4 was well maintained and did the trip without a hitch.
All in all the safari was excellent and I would highly recommend this company.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing fantastic would go with Jack anywhere love them
Bonfire/ Jack far exceeded my expectations. He took care of our group like we were family. We were comfortable at our lodging of choice. Food was good. Tour was fantastic because Jack is very knowledgeable and yet personable.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Very professional team to organize your trip. Best tour company around.
5 star rating is not enough the experience I had with Bonfire was unique. Thanks to Dennis Ndwiga (Nyali) for ur kindness n good service, I had an amazing time in Maasai Mara n I must say this was the best holiday ever n I want to thank Elijah Njuguna amazing tour guide I've ever had.Emayian Camp was dope with excellent service Looking forward to my next holiday with u guys.You will always be my number 1 Travel Agency. God bless you.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Beautiful Gorillas, Safari, and Country
I had a really good experience with this tour operator, and had a great guide, Taufique. He always went above and beyond for us, even finding us some of the best fruit in Rwanda, and driving us everywhere. The Gorillas are amazing, the Safari is great, and everything was incredibly smooth even though we booked less than a week before.
AE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
The tour guide was only interested to get his job done asap. Low knowledge about animals and nature.
Booking was easy and professional. We were picked up by the wrong tour operator which had almost the same name but this was sorted out quickly. The car which we booked had technical issues so we ended up with an alternative for the first day. Our driver and guide was the worst ever. Very bad experience.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent value and responsiveness
As a solo traveler, I joined a 7-day budget camping group safari organized by Foot Slopes that covered Arusha NP, Tarangire NP, Lake Manyara NP, Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Serengeti NP.
There are no guarantees on safari but we saw a ton and I was very pleased. The driver was friendly and knowledgeable, and the cook not only made good food but was an engaging person who made meal times and evenings fun. It was also nice that we were in a Land Rover Defender, which, in my opinion, is a far superior vehicle to the Toyota Land Cruiser that seemed to be far more commonly used by tour operators.
Overall, Foot Slopes offered excellent value for the price.
Unfortunately, some members of my group were clueless about safari rules and common sense safari etiquette and engaged in inappropriate behavior that affected other people in the group. The driver didn't put a stop to this immediately. I spoke with him twice and when he finally did something on the last day of the safari, he handled it in a less-than-ideal manner.
Obviously, a tour operator really has no way to identify clients who will misbehave beforehand, and I empathize with drivers who for obvious reasons have some strong incentives to shy away from standing up to clients, even when they behave like self-absorbed jerks.
It's easy to give 4 and 5 star reviews when everything goes well, but how companies respond to problems reveals a lot about how good they are, and on this front, Foot Slopes was fantastic. My contact at Foot Slopes was very interested in my feedback and within 30 minutes of arriving at the hotel after the safari ended, was on site asking to sit down with me to see how everything went.
He took very seriously my complaints about the other group members' behavior and I believe the company will follow through in talking to the driver so that if he ever finds himself in an unfortunate, touchy situation like this again, he knows how he should handle it.
I'm giving Foot Slopes 5 stars because despite dealing with rude safari mates, I still enjoyed my safari thoroughly, the value was very high, and Foot Slopes clearly cared about my satisfaction and the quality of its offering.
While I'm going to be very hesitant about joining group safaris going forward because of the uncertainty that is present with them (regardless of who the tour operator is), I wouldn't hesitate to do a private Northern Circuit safari with Foot Slopes in the future and plan to do so once I can round up a few friends.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Horrible
STAY AWAY!!!
We were soooo unlucky to have come to this place. The employee who was “helping” us seems very sure about all our requirements and gave us the package that we wanted. However, as soon we’ve started our journey lots of issues started to take place. We didn’t get what was promised in both hotels we’ve stayed in. The safari didn’t include the park fees, which we were not told about and the list goes on...
They were not helpful at all when we contacted them about the issues and in the end it spoiled our trip.
The driver was really good (Philip) but other than that it was a real disgrace.
They should be ashamed
ES
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A wonderful experience!!!!! Truly amazing!
We had an amazing experience. Must say that our tour guide Isaiah is just amazing. We learned so much from him. He knows so much about the animals and taught us about their behaviors and so much more. He was always making sure we were taken care of and was so kind. If only everyone in this world was like him, this world would be a better place. If you travel to Tanzania make sure you travel with Kihindo tours, you will no doubt be taken care of and have a wonderful life changing experience.
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing expérience. We have seen more than we expected. Joseph is the best guide ever ! Than you
We have seen more than expected
Lions
Buffalos
Elefants
Girafs
Hippos
Crocodiles
Gazelles...
Was an magic experience ! We really recommend it