Testimonials
| From: Ulrich Steinmann Düsselring 15 40822 Mettmann Germany |
To: Access Rwanda Ltd. |
Mettmann, 22 November 2011
Commendatory letter
Dear Ossy,
this is to thank you and your team for the wonderful 10 days in November 2011 that we spent with your guide Gaston Jr. in Uganda and Rwanda and to let future customers of you know what we have experienced in this time.
Ossy Kabbatende the owner and manager of Access Rwanda has lived in Germany for a couple of years and even speaks some German. He is in the tourism industry in eastern Africa since more than 40 years and knows very well what service orientated customers expect. We got to know him personally when he invited us to dinner in Kigali on our last evening.
Instead of one of the tour packages offered by his company, we went for a custom tailored tour with the main goal of seeing mountain gorillas and chimpanzees.
After comparing different offers from European as well as African tour operators it was soon clear that booking via an European agency would make no sense, as all European agencies work hand in hand with local companies anyhow and ask a ridiculous amount of commission for their services.
Due to the efforts Ossy gave from the very first minute in combination with the best offer we stayed with Access Rwanda.
I must confess, at first I had some doubts before transferring our money to a country outside the European jurisdiction, but there is really absolutely nothing to worry about.
Our tour started in Entebbe and ended in Kigali.
(Brussels Airlines from Brussels to Entebbe and Kigali to Brussels for approx. EUR 800 / pax)
Gaston picked us up at the airport to drive us to our hotel even before our tour officially started. The vehicle used for our tour was a Toyota Land Cruiser 4×4, not brand new, but in perfect condition. During the time of our stay we have seen a couple of broken down cars of other tour operators as well as cars with serious safety issues (no profile on the tires at all etc.) Gaston cleaned, fueled and maintained his car every evening after he dropped us at our lodge or hotel.
The whole tour could not have been organized any better and all lodges / hotels booked have been just perfect. In fact they exceeded our expectations by far. Our tour package included all non alcoholic drinks as well as 3 meals of high standard per day.
Gaston also showed quite some flexibility as e. g. one time we spontaneously decided that we would like to visit a local hospital to see some more of the countries than only luxury lodges and national parks, or when we couldn´t get enough after a boat-safari in the Queen Elizabeth Nat. Park and asked for an extra game drive in the park.
All in all I can only highly recommend Access Rwanda Safaris as a tour operator.
I have my doubts that you will find a better one for less money. Of course the price will strongly depend on the lodges / hotels booked, so be careful when comparing different offers.
As a long haul commercial pilot I have been to almost 20 African countries. If you haven´t been to Uganda or Rwanda yet, I would like to mention the following:
Not only that they are by fare the most beautiful African countries I have seen, they are also the safest in my opinion. Not one time in our 10 days we have felt unwell or have been approached by people asking for money. In the last days I was walking around in villages with my 2 full size DSLR cameras without any worries. In Nigeria, Ghana, Congo or even Kenya I do not even dare to wear a watch. The people in these 2 countries are just honest, fair and friendly.
My 2 friends an I already decided to come back in the future.
Here are links to 3 web albums with pictures that I took during our trip:
Our 9 nights tour itineary in short:
- First night in Kampala / 1 x Sheraton Hotel
- Full day chimp. habituation experience (CHEX) in Kibale Nat. Forest. (Uganda) / 2 x Ndali Lodge
- Boat Safari and game drives in Queen Elizabeth Nat. Park (Uganda) / 2 x Mweya Lodge
- Chimpanzee tracking in Kyambura Gorge (Queen Elizabeth Nat. Park) (Uganda) / Mweya Lodge
- Mountain gorilla tracking in Bwindi Impenetrabel Nat. Park. (Uganda) / 2 x Buhoma Lodge
- Mountain gorilla tracking in Volcanos Nat. Park (Rwanda) /1 x Mountain Gorillas View Lodge
- Sightseeing Kigali / 1 x Serena Hotel
Best regards,
Ulrich Steinmann (Pilot – Cargolux Airlines, Luxembourg)
Christoph Sülzen (Pilot – Sun Express Germany, Germany)
Oliver Thorsten Müller (Pilot – Air Berlin, Germany)
Subject: Thanks for the holiday!
Date: Thu, 21 Jul 2011 10:25:15 +0200
From: micha@pixelsofnature.nl
To: info@access-rwanda-safaris.com
Hello Ossy, how are you ?
I am doing very fine! Yesterday morning I arrived back home in The Netherlands. I want to thank you and Gaston for the very nice holiday I had, organized by Access Rwanda! Gaston did an excellent job being a driver and guide, traveling through Rwanda. It all was above my expectations!
It will take some time to update my website with a Rwanda chapter, because I took more than 10000 pictures!
All the three Gorilla trekkings I did were fantastic! Also the two Golding Monkey trekking I did were amazing, I was lucky to make some nice pictures when some of the monkeys climbed down a little bit.
I do not regret the extra days I took in Akagera! It is a beautiful park, the views are amazing! Gaston arranged everything very professional! The birdlife around the lakes is fantastic. I took an extra boat excursion in the morning of my last day in Rwanda.
All the best Ossy, I will let you know when I put the photos on my website.
Best regards, Micha
I just updated my website with the photos from my trip to Rwanda. If you like , you can click on the following links:
Subject: Thanks
To: accessrwandaprimate @ yahoo.com
Date: Tuesday, April 15, 2010, 8:36 PM
Ossy:
Thanks for all you did to ensure our Rwandan holiday was great. Gaston was superb, and thanks again for re-arranging the gorilla permits. We had a magical time. I can't tell you how much we appreciate your professionalism and courtesy. If you ever need a reference from former clients, let us know.
Joey and Mickaylla
Subject: Thanks
To: accessrwandaprimate @ yahoo.com
Date: Tuesday, January 13, 2009, 12:14 PM
Hi Ossy,
Many thanks to you and your staff for a wonderful holiday in Rwanda. We really enjoyed ourselves and found Rwanda to be a beautiful and friendly country. The gorillas were all that we expected and more.
Our driver was friendly and courteous and helped to make the holiday so memorable. We will not hesitate to recommend your company to our friends and acquaintances.
Many thanks
Jan & Russell Cand
From: Gina
Subject: Re: Rwanda Tour / 6 days & 5 nights / 19th > 24th Feb 2009 / 2 persons / FB
To: accessrwandaprimate @ yahoo.com
Date: Thursday, February 26, 2009, 9:40 PM
Dear Ossy,
Just a quick email to thank you for a wonderful trip in Rwanda.
We felt very sad to say good bye to Gaston, he took excellent care of us. Always professional, and extremely considerate to our needs at all times. His cheerful personality was a tonic, and it was a pleasure to have him as our guide and to learn so much more about Rwanda and its
lovely people. Please pass on our greatest thanks.
It was lovely to meet you too and to have lunch together, this was a very personal touch, and most
appreciated.
We are already planning our next trip with Access Rwanda, we are unable to wait until next year, so looks like it will be December!
I will confirm in June/July when I go through my usual bidding for leave with British Airways once again!
We are keen to learn more about the volcano trip in the Congo, sounds interesting, but Nyungwe Forest is particularly appealing.
Once again, many thanks and we will most definitely be in touch.
Best Wishes to you and Gaston,
Gina and David
From: Karen Hobbs Subject: Thank you
To: accessrwandaprimate@yahoo.com
Date: Tuesday, February 10, 2009, 2:26 PM
Hello Ossy
Sorry we havenʼt been in touch sooner but work has been busy, it was also Grahams birthday at the weekend so another party!!
Thank you all so much for such a wonderful trip, I canʼt express how much we both enjoyed it, the Gorillas were amazing and Gaston really made the trip for us, he was so knowledgeable and kind. The last minute change to take us to Lake Kivu was perfect, Paradise Mallahide really was paradise for us. Then to finish it all off with that lovely restaurant on our last night, so kind of you to give us those great Tshirt.
I will have no qualms about recommending you in the future, I think you may have already heard from our sister in law Penny regarding a trip next January.
Good luck with the business in the future and thank you again for such a memorable trip.
Kindest regards
Karen
Subject: Thanks
To: accessrwandaprimate @ yahoo.com
Date: Tuesday, January 13, 2009, 12:14 PM
Hi Ossy,
Many thanks to you and your staff for a wonderful holiday in Rwanda. We really enjoyed ourselves and found Rwanda to be a beautiful and friendly country. The gorillas were all that we expected and more.
Our driver was friendly and courteous and helped to make the holiday so memorable. We will not hesitate to recommend your company to our friends and acquaintances.
Many thanks
Jan & Russell Candy
Subject: Kampala Arrangements: VIP Trip
To: accessrwandaprimate @ yahoo.com
Date: Tuesday, January 13, 2009, 4:27 AM
Dear Ossy,
Good morning, and I hope this finds you well an enjoying your week.
The arrangements and the stay of our VIP group in Rwanda were wonderful. The Gorilla Lodge was exceptional, the gorilla trekking 'once in a lifetime' memorable … but mostly they enjoyed you and your entire staff's kind services and gracious attention, and the wonderful and vibrant hospitality of Kigali and the lovely people there. It was the favorite of the entire Africa trip (they had been to Senegal, Mali , Liberia etc)!!
thank you again for everything!
Best regards,
Jan
Enjoy Burundi
Enjoy Rwanda
Enjoy Congo
