Reviews

Sort By: Date Most Helpful Rating 31-40 of 99 Reviews
Laetitia   –  
France FR
Visited: February 2023 Reviewed: Feb 22, 2023

Email Laetitia  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: over 5 safaris

Reliable
5/5

Great service and very responsive. The trip was organised exactly as I imagined and I had a great time. Saw gorillas up close, chimps, hippos, elephants and so much more.. My driver/guide was available, knowledgeable, responsive and on time. I would say that Bamboo Ecotours is a safe pair of hands. You can trust them to ensure your trip is seamless! Also good value for money. I was a solo traveler and felt safe and comfortable during my whole trip in Rwanda and Uganda.

Julia   –  
United States US
Visited: February 2023 Reviewed: Feb 21, 2023

Email Julia  |  20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

Friendly and reliable.
5/5

Had a FANTASTIC tour with Bamboo Ecotours. As a woman traveling alone I felt safe the whole time. Had excellent food & my guide knew a ton about the locations we visited. They were able to secure me a gorilla trekking permit last minute.

I loved my tour and wish I could have stayed longer.

Klavs   –  
Denmark DK
Visited: February 2023 Reviewed: Feb 8, 2023

Email Klavs  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

Perfect trip with Amanya and Bamboo Ecotours
5/5

Going with guide/driver Amanya from Bamboo Ecotours on the 2-day-tour from Kigali to Bwindi National Park seeing mountain gorillas.
Nice person, good at telling about Rwanda and Uganda, the trek and so on - and a safe driver.
Would definitely recommend others to go!

Sh   –  
United Kingdom UK
Visited: December 2022 Reviewed: Jan 15, 2023

Email Sh  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: over 5 safaris

Terrific and Professional!
5/5

I did a 7-day tour with Bamboo Ecotours, including both Rwanda/Uganda. They were very helpful in also adding Akagera to their more standard 6 day Rwanda & Uganda Wildlife Safari itinerary. Edison and our driver/guide Fred were very professional and went above and beyond throughout. I would highly recommend them. It was an absolutely incredible experience.

Jon   –  
United States US
Visited: October 2022 Reviewed: Jan 12, 2023

Email Jon  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

Gorillas were an amazing experience! Would do it all again!
5/5

TRIP PLANNING & BOOKING
Our coordinator was great to work with and very responsive to our needs. We had a short fixed window to work within and wanted to do a lot, in which they were very accommodating. We received a highly customized experience, even accommodating last minute changes we introduced. In the end, we received a detailed itinerary was a plan for an exciting adventure.

TRIP DETAILS
It was 3 days in Uganda - river, chimps, tribe, and gorillas.
- Chimp Trekking Forest: Kalinzu Forest
- Gorilla Trekking Forest: Mgahinga Gorilla National Park
- Boat Ride: Kazinga channel
- Hotel 1: Buffalo Safari Lodge
- Hotel 2: Mutanda Lake Resort
- Tribe: Pygmies (Echuya Batwa)
Both hotels were great, but fell in love with Mutanda!

THE RIVER EXCURSION
We started with a boat ride, touring herds of hippos, buffalo, crocodiles, lizards, and birds among other river dwelling creatures. The guide was knowledgeable and friendly. While not the highlight of the entire experience, it was fun seeing giant reptiles and albino buffalo, as well as learning about ‘loser’ buffalo, removed from the herd.

CHIMP TRACKING
The hike through the forest may have been more exciting than the chimps themselves. We went during the winter when the chimps stay at the top of the trees for warmth, so we weren’t able to get close to the chimps, rather watch them walk along the tree traps and sleep. Highly recommend going during the summer when they come down to the ground for the cooler temperatures and you get better viewings.

GORILLA TRACKING
By far the highlight of the whole trip. We were able to see the gorilla family after 1.5 hours of walking, which is considered quick. We got up close to the gorillas and took lots of pictures. It felt shockingly safe, despite their huge size. Watching the baby gorilla play with grass and spin around was another little highlight.

THE GUIDE
Our guide was super friendly and very helpful. He was a source of information, and helped with things like exchanging money and covering when out of cash. A very joyful individual to be around. More than helpful and very flexible with our random requests. Thank you, Amanya!

TIPS FOR TRAVELERS
- Bring lots of cash and small bills for tips
- Bug spray
- High socks for ants that like to bite
- Prepare for rain, mud, and slippery ground

Fabian   –  
Germany DE
Visited: December 2022 Reviewed: Jan 2, 2023

Email Fabian  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

Come as a guest stay as a friend
5/5

Perfect organize! Charles would help you with anything and your wishes! He is very friendly and helpful! Know he is a friend

Belinda   –  
United Kingdom UK
Visited: November 2022 Reviewed: Dec 2, 2022

Email Belinda  |  50-65 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

Anazing trips and superb organisation
5/5

I cannot recommend Bamboo Ecotours highly enough! Edison was the most superb organiser from day one. As a highly organised person I met a kindred spirit! From the planning stage to the trip, he was mega efficient, quick to reply, and so helpful with organising - even items outside the tour of which the highlight was mountain gorilla trekking. Our guide Fred was so knowledgeable and looked after us so well. The trio lived up to all our expectations - and more!

Fabio Canalli   –  
Brazil BR
Visited: November 2022 Reviewed: Nov 30, 2022

Email Fabio Canalli  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

All good as planned.
5/5

My guide and driver Herbert was very good. We faced many challenges in the roads but he is very skilled to overcome all of them. Also, a nice company during the trips. I recommend Bamboo Ecotours and Herbert as tour partners.

Jose   –  
United States US
Visited: October 2022 Reviewed: Nov 16, 2022

Email Jose  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

Amazing service and very friendly.
5/5

The whole experience was impeccable and tailored to our taste. The staff was very nice and friendly and everything went very smooth.

Louisa   –  
Netherlands NL
Visited: October 2022 Reviewed: Oct 23, 2022

Email Louisa  |  20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

Highly recommend for Gorilla Trekking in Uganda
5/5

We (Louisa and Peter) did a Safari in Tanzania before and while our tour operator for Tanzania also offered us to plan the Gorilla trek, we felt more comfortable in picking a local tour operator in Uganda.
We studied reviews on here and shortlisted Bamboo Ecotours. The communication with Edison via E-mail to plan and book our 2-Night/3-Days Gorilla trek went absolutely smooth.

The planning process went transparent and also flexible in terms of adding on activities later on. We only decided on the actual day that we wanted to add the Coffee making experience and were able to do so. (Highly recommend for coffee lovers). We were considering to add another cultural experience on our last day (return to Kigali), but then felt a bit tired and opted only for the visit of the Genocide Museum. It was really great that we could be this flexible with other activities outside of the main event : The Gorilla trek

The gorilla trek is in the end organized by the local authorities - so has nothing to do with Bamboo ecotours. But also this was organized very well. We especially loved the local dance group that performed for us before the actual hike and really motivated us :)
In our case, it rained heavily after we had our one hour meet and greet with the Gorillas. Shout out to future trekkers : Please read the tips and instructions and try to pack accordingly: pack raingear, wear proper hiking shoes, wear long-sleeved shirts and also gloves come in really handy.
I didn't bring my gloves and I made it just fine, but it would have been better if I had brought them.

As back to Bamboo Ecotours: Our Guide was Fred, he is very kind, friendly and shared information about the local people/customs and also a bit about his own hometown/family. He also accommodated us very flexible with our requests on activities and was open to our suggestions.

We also felt that we paid a fair / competitive rate for our experience compared to other offers/quotes we have seen.
Maybe it would have been nice to see a few more different options for accommodations prior to booking, but in the end we were also happy with the one that we had (Ichumbi Gorilla Lodge). The lodges itself look like tree houses (without being actual tree houses), very dreamy and romantic. You feel like being in the middle of a rainforest. One of the perks is that the lodge offered to wash 4 pcs per person for free - that was very nice. The dinners were very good (no buffet, you ordered a few hours in advance from a small cart). Breakfast did not have a lot of choice, but it was fine. The packed lunches were small and not up to the standard that we were used from Tanzania.
After our Gorilla trek, the lodge provided the service to clean our shoes, that was very sweet and helpful.

Last but not least:
Big thanks for Edison and Fred for making this trip and experience special and completely carefree for us!

Average User Rating
5.0/5
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