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.
NG
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing!
My husband and I spent some time in Kenya for our honeymoon. Initially our hotel got us a tour guide who was inefficient but we switched to Kennedy of doyen safari and I can tell you, our holiday experience changed dramatically. He was honest, patient and quite affordable...I recommend doyen safaris anyday, anytime. we'll certainly be back to nairobi and definitely using him.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Superb service, an absolute pleasure to deal with
I booked hotel accommodation, airport transfers, a guided tour, a dinner cruise, and a helicopter ride through Falcon Safaris. All arrangements were booked timeously, and ran very smoothly. The Falcon Safaris staff were extremely friendly, and an absolute pleasure to deal with.
An easy 5 star rating, I would happily recommend Falcon Safaris and use them again.
NL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very proffessional Tour company; Great attention to detail
This could possibly qualify for the best vocation we have had in Years. We really enjoyed our safari with Swift Travel and I am particularly thankful for their efforts.
We also appreciated the attentiveness to minor details like our dietary requirements as well as removing some seats from the jeep to accommodate my husband who could not comfortably bend his knees…
We enjoyed the stay at Sarova Mara and the overall safari experience certainly was more than we hoped for. Our safari trip wouldn’t have been any better without your professional planning and assistance.
Thank you!
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Mokala National Park by Barbara Evans 7
Excellent night safaris with sightings of rare mammals.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Augrabies Falls National Park by Barbara Evans 7
Another world of outstanding beauty and richness.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Rich wildlife experience in stunning wilderness setting - a quite unique unspoilt location.
Wildlife experiences were outstanding including sightings of rare mammals such as the Aardvark, Wild Cat, Brown Hyena, Bat-eared Fox, African Hedgehog and an abundance of birds. This was very much due to the knowledge and expertise of our wonderful Naturetrek naturalists whose spotting skills, knowledge and experience greatly enriched the trip. Local guides at !xaus Lodge where we stayed were equally good. It was a privilege to stay in such a remote, 'close to nature' environment.
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Chobe National Park by Iain in Pagham
We stayed in Chobe Elephant Camp - it 's new - absolutely brilliant great food, accommodation and the staff are incredibly helpful. I have to mention Dorcus she was just wonderful, full of fun and really good at helping us. The Camp is high up with lovely views over Namibia and is totally open so it feels light and spacious. The area has a range of habitats from woods to grasslands to the river forming the Nambian boundary. As it says on the tin there are a lot of elephants here and one could never trie of watching them. One thing we had never seen was two elephants rising out of the river having crossed from Namibia on the bottom totally submerged using their trunks to breathe. We took a boat trip on the river - not to be missed, lots of elephants and birds and just peaceful not being shaken about in a 4x4. We only had two nights here which was just enough, given how lovely the camp was another night would have been good. As with the other camps we were pretty much on our own and met very few people when we wer eout - a real opportunity to feel part of the environment.
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Central Kalahari Game Reserve by Iain in Pagham
We had three nights in the Kalahari and loved the range of animal and birdlife we saw. We stayed in Tau Pan which was excellent - food, accommodation and guides all first class. One highlight was th ebushamn's walk where we saw him making a fire from two sticks (!), Making animal traps, finding ways of getting drinking liquids and getting a soap solution to wash in - all from shrubs or roots. Kalahari itself - three nights was enough for us, we had seen pretty much what was around, the scenery was less varied than other areas (naturally as it's a desert scrub). We could have gone on a long day out but were warned that was more of the same. I wouldn't have missed going there especially for the excellent camp, the birds and animals but I' wouldn't go back again.
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Getting back to Nature
Okavango Delta had an amazing range of habitat from savannah to wetland to woods. In most other areas we found that after 3 days you had "worked" an area. In the Okavango that is not true, there is just so much to see. We deliberately went in the wet season to increase our chances of bird/animal spotting and to enjoy the scenery more. We were very fortunate in that we only had one evening's rain and one overnighter so it was an excellent choice - not too hot either. We stayed at Kwara Camp which was excellent, yes it looks a little tired but that didn't matter, it blended in with the habitat. In with nature - being woken at 3am to hear Lions "purring" just outside the tent wall was quite an experience ( I took my hearing aids out so you can imagine how loud it was) - but you are quite safe inside. One night we had to be taken by Landrover to the main tent (100 metres) because of lions prowling around. The food was varied and all excellent - something for everyone I would think, I thought I might lose weight - wrong so good and so much I put plenty on... Off on the trips we saw the usual suspects hippo, elephant, lion, giraffe, warthog (my favourite), zebra, Antelopes and a tortoise. Painted Reed Frogs when we went out canoeing and an Ostrich family with 8 youngsters. Bird life - well with the range of habitat there is a large number of species you can see. Carmine Bee-eaters, Crested Barbet, openbills and plenty of raptors. How much you see does depend on your guide as well as your knowedge, in particular who you are out for the day with - if you are with people uniterested in birds and only in chasing for wild dogs then you'll see much less bird or insect/butterfly life. We were lucky on our whole Safari in that only once were we in a group that wanted to chase, other times we were on our own and could take our time (saw more birds and animals that way). Another advantage of the wet season when the camps aren't so full. I've just looked back over my Flickr album of Okavango Delta and am amazed at what we saw.
Just go - you won't be disappointed - we spent 3 nights in Kwara and so had the best part of three (two whole plus two half) days, I'm glad we didn't do any less.
