Reviews of safaris to Volcanoes National Park

"We had an excellent trip with the exception of our trip / flights from Zambia to Rwanda (via J'burg)." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"Our trip to Rwanda unexpectedly turned out to be rather dramatic following the first and only gorilla trek which left us total exhausted and me seeking medical help resulting in leaving the Volcanoes National Park earlier than planned and a 2 night stay at the King Faisal Hospital in Kigali following a diagnosis of pneumonia from which I'm still recovering and will probably do so for possibly another 2 weeks or more. We would not have got through this unfortunate episode without the help of our Primate Safaris driver/guide Sura who assisted in so many ways from paying a hospital bill with his own money to procuring cups of coffee from a cafeteria for me while I was in hospital. Well beyond what was expected for which we are truly grateful.

Having spoken with several people who were trekking it seems to us that better briefing beforehand is required. With trekking up to 3000 metres you have to be physically fit and acclimatised which were not although of course I did not know at the time I was suffering with pneumonia. Comment was made that it's always best to do one trek before committing to another. Appreciate that could be a problem as permits often should be booked in advance. It's not unusual for people to abandon the trek part way and in my case the guide did mention (at the end) there was a thought that I might need to be stretchered off the mountain. Among the people I spoke with was an American lady doctor who said she had to give up on her trek but then again she should not really have been on it as she's asthmatic but no one told her how difficult it might be. Nurses at the hospital in Kigali said they often had patient referrals from the gorilla treks as many underestimate the difficult terrain involved.

It would seem there is a perception among a lot of people that seeing the gorillas in the wild is a trip for everyone. Don't believe it is and can be a lottery. At least we have experienced a meeting with gorillas but at some cost and now plenty of paperwork associated with the insurance claim for reimbursement of hospital fees and the non-refundable trek permit. Would advise would be visitors to seriously think about the risks involved." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 6 on a Rwanda safari

"Thank you for helping us have a memorable trip!" Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 10 on a Rwanda safari

"Our trip to Africa was a dream come true. It was better than I had anticipated. Staying at Lamai Serengeti was the highlight of our trip.

My husband and I do like to be active, so in retrospect 9 days of game drives was too much for us. Our backs were hurting us from inactivity. I, unfortunately, had not realized, that, of course, we wouldn't be doing much walking within our camps, due to the proximity of wildlife. We did do one walking safari, which was great. We had a second opportunity for a walking safari, but this was at Oliver's Camp where the tsetse flies were brutal, so we declined that opportunity.

As well, the drive down to the crater each day in Ngorogoro was not fun. Extremely bumpy and unbelievable dust. I guess in retrospect I should have asked more questions before we chose our camps. I am a "water girl" - we live on a lake and I am used to humidity, but not at all accustomed to extreme dry and dusty conditions. I just felt terrible the whole time I was at the crater.

Also, some days it was a little much to do a game drive upon arriving after a couple of flights. Travel days - in Africa, even though the flights were short, were tedious days as there was always a lot of waiting around. For instance, we would leave the camp at 8:30, perhaps an hour drive to the airport, then the flight wouldn't leave until 11am, etc." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 9 on a Tanzania safari

"Visiting the mountain gorillas was a fantastic life time experience . We had chosen to do two treks. On our first trek we saw the gorillas within 45 minutes. We turned a corner, and there in all his glory was a silverback munching away six feet away from us.

Our second viewing of a different family took us 2 hours of trekking to find them.Although billed as an easy trek, this group were particularly active and were continually on the move going up the mountain. There had also been heavy rain overnight, making walking conditions difficult. Although this trek proved to be a challenge, we felt we experienced more the true environment, in which these mountain gorillas live. Also we were rewarded with a 10 second glimpse of a mother holding in her hand a 4 week old baby, before disappearing into the bush.

Mountain Gorilla trekking is a must do experience. Although expensive to do ,when you see the gorillas ,you feel you cannot put a price on what you have witnessed." Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 6 on a Rwanda safari

"This was a special trip to celebrate some special birthdays and it was brilliant from start to finish. It completely exceeded our expectations.

The primate trekking throughout was phenomenal and brilliantly organised and to see gorillas in their natural habitat was awesome. Thank you Ellie for advising us to go twice, it was amazing! Expert Africa were professional and knowledgeable in their organisation and booking of the trip. I'd have absolutely no reservations in recommending you to friends and family. Our guide in Rwanda, Alex, was fantastic.

Thank you for making our trip so memorable and we're telling everyone about it!

A true holiday of a lifetime!" Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 11 on a Rwanda safari

"Expert Africa assisted me with the Rwanda portion of my 2017 African adventure and their service and assistance is top notch. Tracy was very helpful and responded in a timely manner to all my questions." Read full review: 5 nights in Africa; 5 on a Rwanda safari

"Our trip to Rwanda was a dream come true.

We were really glad to have gone to the expense to book 3 gorilla treks -- an extraordinary experience I will never forget." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 13 on a Rwanda safari

"The trip was great! At the time I first contacted Expert Africa I was in a panic because the previous tour company we had contracted with had failed to confirm our accommodations with Virunga Lodge while telling us that our accommodations were all arranged. Meanwhile we had already purchased our flights to fit those dates.

Maruska worked through all the possible options with us. We were looking at more high end places like Virunga Lodge to make it special for our traveling companion but finding matches between hotel availability and possible new flight dates was difficult and proving to be wildly expensive. Maruska then suggested that she check with Mountain Gorilla Lodge to see if they had availability for the dates that fit our original flights. I hadn't been impressed with the descriptions I had read of Mountain Gorilla Lodge (they should work on that), but Maruska assured us that the accommodations, though simple, were quite clean and comfortable. This worked out.

We kept our original flights, stayed at Mountain Gorilla Lodge (which was way nicer than expected!) and saved tons of money on our trip. So thank you Maruska for your patience and your smart thinking!

Expert Africa arranged a private guide and vehicle for these travellers, and they commented:

Jeremiah was a wonderful guide. He was a very safe driver and very accommodating to our requests. He was charming and knowledgeable, a pleasure to spend time with. We hope to bring other friends next year so hope we can get him as our driver again." Read full review: 3 nights in Africa; 3 on a Rwanda safari

"We had a tremendous time!

It was a truly memorable trip that hopefully is the first of many trips to Africa." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari