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Review of Rwanda Trip - June 2022 Comprehensive Item-by-Item of Itinerary This is a very long review but I suspect if you are reading it, you are serious about this trip.
Trust me, I have done all of the research for you, so buckle up for the best trip we've ever done.
Before I start with the review of ALL parts of trip, here are a couple of important tips: 1.
Bring tons and tons of small (new) bills USD.
20's, 10's, 5's, 1's.
You will use tons for tips everywhere you go.
I never even saw or used RWF (Rwandan francs) the entire trip...just US Dollars!
Bring Gatorade powder for strenuous hikes.
It helps.
I am 58 and in good health but bad knees!
Ok here goes.......... Pre-Trip (Moses) - I have had email contact with Moses beginning in January 2020.
His quick and thorough replies to questions was far superior to any other contact (company) that I reached out to.
Moses was, and has been very professional and has communicated perfectly since the beginning.
We had wired via Western Union a large deposit in 2020 which I was very nervous about, however, Moses gave us a receipt and everything went smoothly.
It was a safe transfer.
If I had not read about this on TripAdvisor I would have been extremely skeptical since this is not done in the US.
Our June 2020 family trip was cancelled due to Covid.
We had 2 years to use the gorilla permits and Moses secured everything for our 2022 trip.
He honored our original deposit and had a fair increase for 2022.
Some of our original hotels were unavailable and booked solid due to the Ellen DeGeneres Ribbon Cutting Ceremony in Kinigi (and Kigali) but Moses really worked hard to secure our original itinerary as best as he could.
I have been in email contact with Moses since 2020 and I trust him 100%, as he is very honest and has done every single thing that he has promised.
We all are extremely satisfied with his attention to detail, honesty, promptness, knowledge, communication and professionalism.
He really prepared a trip of a lifetime for us!
He accommodated our every need/want!!
We loved our cool Land Cruiser vehicle for the week.
It was perfect and roomy.
I feel like he is now a friend who I will reach out to again when we visit East Africa again, and will recommend his services to everyone.
I only wish that I had met him....next time for sure!!
YOU MOSES FOR EVERYTHING!
ARE EXCELLENT AT YOUR JOB AND A GREAT PERSON!
IT WAS EASY TO WORK WITH YOU!
ARE SO ACCOMMODATING!!!!
IT WAS MY PLEASURE TO GET TO KNOW YOU!
Steven (Driver/Guide) - Steven went Above and Beyond in every detail of our trip.
As a driver and guide, he was knowledgeable, friendly, professional, polite, prompt (never even a minute late), likable and flexible.
He communicated everything perfectly to us every step of the way so we had no questions lingering.
He is an extremely safe driver, we never felt uncomfortable...even with all of those twisty-turny roads!
Not a single negative word to say about his service....only the very BEST!
Great communicator etc etc etc!
Steven did so many EXTRA things that are so numerous to mention but I will list some: - Upon arrival, I needed to go to a grocery store for personal supplies (and also wine).
He took us to Simba supermarket in Kigali, no problem.
On our drive from Kigali to Nyungwe, we requested to stop at Murambi Genocide Memorial, which was not on the itinerary.
No problem.
Steven always called ahead everywhere we went to assure everything went smoothly.
While in Nyungwe he suggested going on a Gisakura Tea Plantation and FactoryTour instead of the Tea evening walk which was on our itinerary.
It was OUTSTANDING and a highlight of our trip.
So happy that he recommended it.
He called our tour guide, Obed, ahead of time and made all of the arrangements.
While on our 1 hour Colobus tour, he called our guide in the field to see if we had seen any colobus.
It was not ideal viewing so Steven told the guide to stay until we got to see Colobus and get good photos!
That was such a lovely thing to do and extremely kind.
On a drive in Nyungwe we had seen many monkeys on the side and he stopped the car and gave us all the time we wanted to photograph them.
Additionally, he always asked if we wanted to stop for pictures.
There was a mix-up in communication regarding Covid PCR testing to view primates, so while at Hill Top View Lodge, he, and the receptionist (Allen), both coordinated covid testing by having a Doctor come to the lodge.
The morning that we were supposed to drive from Nyungwe to Kinigi, we requested to leave at 6:30am so that we would have time to visit the Ellen DeGeneres Campus which closed at 4:00.
This extra early start time was not expected by Steven.
This activity was extremely important to me.
Steven obliged with no problem.
We made it to The Ellen Campus in plenty of time to tour without being rushed.
By the way, we had known that the ribbon cutting ceremony was occurring in 2 days by Ellen herself, so we knew that we had to get there because the campus was going to be closed to the public.
If we hadn't gone the day we did, we would not have seen the campus!
Before our drive to Kinigi, Steven had called the 5 Volcanoes Hotel several times to arrange a birthday cake and surprise birthday celebration for our 26 year old daughter.
Her birthday was on our 'driving day'.
Steven arranged for a beautiful carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and writing that said 'happy birthday k....' (the hotel accidentally wrote last name instead of her first name, which was cute).
Arranging this was the most thoughtful and kind gesture by Steven that will be remembered by our family forever.
And appreciated by our family forever!
I asked Steven to stay and celebrate with us, and he did, even though he was very tired himself after a LONG day of driving twisty-turny roads.
This was probably the kindest gesture that anyone has ever offered on any trip we have been on.
Also, he was so cute about it....whispering the details to me ahead of time and giggling with excitement of the surprise to come.
How adorable is that?
<3 By the way, we shared our daughter's birthday cake with movie star, Winston Duke (Black Panther etc) who was sitting next to us at 5 Volcanoes Hotel!!
How cool is that?
We were scheduled to go to a cultural village.
We have done this before in other countries (Zimbabwe and Morocco) and said we would never do one again.
It is uncomfortable and exploitative.
I also think it is tacky and touristy (this was the only thing I did not care for on the trip).
I told Steven that we would go but would not participate in watching the dancing etc.
He called ahead and requested this and everything was fine.
We avoided an uncomfortable situation.
I appreciated that!
He was very understanding about it also.
-Steven offered to drive us to the airport in Kigali for our departure.
He did not have to do this, but he did.
He also offered to take us for Covid testing in Kigali, but we later learned that the Heaven Hotel offered this for their guests.....but the point is, Steven offered to take us, on his time.
We can never thank Steven enough.
We are so appreciative!
I am sure you get great reviews like this all of the time for him but I want to convey that he was outstanding!
Like I said, he went ABOVE AND BEYOND.
This is not a complete list of extra things that he did for us, as there were many little things that are too numerous to mention.
I only wish I had his email or that he was on facebook, because he is the kind of person I would like to stay in touch with.
Now, I would like to go through each item on itinerary and give praises to certain people who did wonderful jobs and places that we especially thought were OUTSTANDING: HOTELS: Heaven Boutique Hotel - (I give it 5 stars) Excellent Service.
Excellent breakfast.
Excellent everything.
Alvin, at Retreat desk, was outstanding (very outstanding and very helpful).
Queen at the hotel desk was super helpful.
There was another girl at hotel desk who was super helpful when we first arrived but I have forgotten her name, unfortunately.
I am sorry.
This was the best hotel that we stayed at in Rwanda.
So glad that Moses was able to book us here and we paid the extra money to stay here (for an extra room because they did not have a triple available anymore due to Ellen DeGeneres crew and journalists in town for the Ellen Campus ribbon cutting).
It was worth it.