This review was is for our stay at Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge during our Africa trip from Dec. 21, 2014 - Jan. 10, 2015, after which we continued onto Anjajavy L'Hotel in Madagascar, the Dock House in Cape Town, and La Residence in Franschhoek, South Africa. 

This was truly one of those bucket list life adventures that we never will forget. Sabyinyo wasn't perfect, but it was a very comfortable lodge that afforded us the incredible chance to experience the amazing mountain gorillas UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL. Literally. 

Getting to the Lodge from Kigali

On arrival into Kigali, we passed quickly through customs, having already gotten our visas in advance. We had a quick temperature scan, as they were screening everyone for fever as an Ebola precaution. On departing the customs area, we found our driver, Fidel, and our friends' driver (whose name now eludes me)--which at the time we found a bit odd, but we just accepted it. (We had booked separately, us first, and then our friends once they learned of our trip--but Sabyinyo had been advised by both of us that we were friends traveling together.) Since we had separate vehicles, our friends decided to hit the Genocide Museum while we decided to get something to eat in town before heading to the Lodge (a 3 hr drive).

The drive to the lodge is a long one, but a very scenic one. The road conditions were great--paved road almost the entire way. The mountainous scenery was much more dramatic and lushly green than I had anticipated. It was hazy and began to rain a bit on our drive, so we never stopped for any photos. But rest assured, the country is incredibly beautiful--and incredibly clean! We stopped about halfway for a toilet stop, and I surprised our driver by just following him to the local toilet instead of (as I learned later) going to the "VIP toilet" in the restaurant. The local toilet was 3rd world, a hole in a concrete floor, but not even close to the worst I'd seen (having been to rural China and Tibet!).

Our biggest complaint was about the quality of our Toyota Landcruiser--it was old and its shocks completely were shot, and it was a hard ride for the most part. Our friends' vehicle was a much nicer vehicle. It would become a REALLY big issue on our gorilla trek days when we traversed rough unpaved roads for quite some distance. For anyone else, I'd suggest requesting the most comfortable vehicle in order to spare yourself the uncomfortable rides we endured. Again, at this price point, I think all of the vehicles should be comparably comfortable, and this was not the case for us.

After 3 hours of driving, and finally hitting the last off-road section for maybe a mile or two, we reached the Lodge.

Check In

Once we arrived, the stone path from the parking area to the lodge is quite a walk--and climb. There were many comments about it, on Tripadvisor, and now I have a better appreciation. On arrival, it wasn't an issue at all for us...but after a full day of gorilla trekking, returning to the Lodge and climbing up the trail to get to your Cottage/Suite was definitely more onerous! Of course, if you're going gorilla trekking, you should be able to handle this path.

Fortunately, your driver and lodge porters are there to carry your luggage. They were shocked to see that we both had only a domestic carry-on bag, a small add-on bag, and backpack.

(I took these photos as we departed from the lodge, so they all are from the higher elevation view.)













It certainly is a haul up that path!

Finally, we reached the Lodge.



There, the GMs Wendy and Findlay were there to greet us, along with other staff. We were given a warm lemonade drink and given a chance to recover from the walk up on the outside patio while completing our registration.



Then we toured the Lodge itself. The entrance foyer has a lovely seating area, table, and big warm fireplace for cold nights, as my husband quickly learned to enjoy:



The dining room is big and spacious with lots of natural light:





The main entertaining area/club lounge is spacious and has plenty of seating. We used this space on our last full day with our friends to play Wizards, a card game we'd brought with us, while drinking plenty. They are Aussie friends, after all.

All in all, the Lodge is supremely comfortable and feels unbelievably luxurious considering the extremely remote location and environment.
 

Room

We had 3 nights in a Cottage and a 4th night in a Suite. The differences between the 2 room categories is minimal in my opinion--though the Suite did have an unbelievable view as you will see. I wouldn't worry too much about the room category, to be honest--I'd recommend the slightly cheaper Cottage for cost/benefit but recommend the Suite if you simply like a bit more space and/or nicer view. 

Cottage C5 (Nights 1-3)

After we'd had a nice chat and checked out the Lodge, we were led to our Cottage C5. This was where we had our first and most major snafu--two twin beds instead of the single queen bed we had booked.



We spoke at length with the GMs about the fact that we were a gay married couple, not friends or buddies, and that we had booked a single queen bed--not twins. Apparently, all of the queen cottages/suites were occupied, so there was no way to move us for a queen bed. After some drama, the GMs ultimately came up with an elegant solution: they had their own queen bed disassembled and reassembled in our cottage for the first 3 nights of our 4 night stay. (We had to book our 4th night in a more expensive Suite--a more spacious cottage--and that already was confirmed for the queen bed. The fact that our 4th night was confirmed as a queen and our first 3 nights were confirmed with 2 twins should have been their first hint that there had been an error, not even considering the fact that the lodge didn't note that we and our Aussie friends were traveling together.)

On returning from dinner, our new bed was ready and waiting for us.



The cottage was very comfortable but very cold--which I loved. You could at any time request the staff to light the fireplace, which did help...but didn't always last long enough or throughout the night, and which didn't warm the spacious bath at all. (Apologies, as I didn't snap a photo of the bath.)
Turndown before bedtime also included a warm stuffed animal with hot water inside, which warmed the bedsheets considerably--which my husband cherished and which I politely declined, preferring the cold temperatures. At night, the temperature did drop considerably, so it did get quite cold. Our friends told us they found their cottage cold, too, so be warned in advance if you prefer warmer climes.

Shower pressure was an issue, and it took quite a long time to get hot water (turning on faucets helped). But for this location, not surprising at all to us.

We used bottled water for everything, even brushing our teeth--just to be safe.

The view near our cottage:



You are at 8,251 feet elevation, after all. That's me on our first morning at sunrise before our first (Christmas Day) gorilla trek.

We didn't realize until moving to the Suite for our 4th night that they do have space heaters available to help further warm the living/bedroom and/or bathroom. Oops.

Suite S1 (4th night)

On our 3rd full day, our friends left for Kenya. We decided to cancel our golden monkey excursion and just relax in the Suite S1 that we were moved to after breakfast.

The Suites are just a little more spacious than the Cottages--and in S1's case, had some nice views and privacy. Otherwise, though, the Cottage and Suite are almost exactly the same. No need to pay more for a Suite, IMO.



The view



Living area:

Bed area adjoining living room, creating junior suite (just a little more spacious than in the cottage)...sorry a little blurry



Bath--about the same look and size as that of the cottage

As you can tell, there was much more natural light in the Suite S1 than we had in our Cottage C5. I'm not sure that's a big reason for most to select a Suite, or if all Suites had the same increased natural light. But it was true, nevertheless.

Dining

This is the area where we felt most letdown by the Lodge. Our first dinner (Christmas Eve) was pretty good--steak and assorted sides with nice soup and dessert. Beyond that, it went quickly downhill. Our breakfasts were solid and uninspired, but adequate.

Our other dinners were terrible. Christmas dinner was a buffet--never a good idea at a larger property, but seemingly unnecessary for a small lodge on such a special day. The buffet was just awful--though, to be fair, we were all absolutely exhausted from our incredibly long trek that day. Still, I barely could find anything edible. Later, we discovered that much of the meal was frozen and not fresh, and it showed. Turkey was incredibly overcooked, and the "ham" was gamey and incredibly salty. I didn't eat either after a first taste, and resorted to eating small sausages that weren't as bad (or tough).

Our final breakfast on the day we departed was even worse. It looked like I had powdered eggs--they looked almost like grits.

Bagged lunches were provided for your gorilla trekking days. Our first trek day, our bagged lunch included only a piece of fruit, a muffin, and some juice. I had asked for no fruit and no raisins, in particular (allergy to raisins), and I had the same components except my muffin didn't have raisins while my husband's and our friends' did. GM Findlay had told us they didn't even use raisins when I mentioned my allergy, so that wasn't inspiring confidence to find muffins with raisins in everyone else's bag. Regardless, our first trek day was horrendously long, and this bagged lunch was hardly sufficient--particularly for this price.

Overall, food was the biggest letdown for the property. 

Service

Service generally is to a high standard. Obviously, we encountered problems with our bed assigment and with our food/allergy issues.

The service solution for our bed was tremendous--the GMs disaassembling their bed to offer to us to solve the problem was brilliant. But the mistake shouldn't have been made in the first place!

Overall, though, service was outstanding. 

Gorilla Tekking

DAY 1 Gorilla Trek on Christmas Day: Susa A family

This is where the Lodge shines and the location generally is to your benefit. We awoke at 5:30 am with coffee brought to us (ordered the previous night before dinner)--decent coffee, but nothing special. By 6:00 am we were at the Lodge, escorted by security since it was still a bit dark and the paths were not lit by candles as they are in the evenings. (Every cottage/suite is provided a torch/flashlight.)

After our mediocre breakfast, we were suited up with our gaiters covering our shoes and shins up to almost our knees, and offered gloves and backpacks and rain jackets. We declined everything except the gaiters and gloves, as we had our own fleece jackets, rain jackets, and boots. Gloves, Goretex impermeable gaiters and jackets are recommended to prevent being hit by the stinging nettles in the jungle. Suffice to say the stinging nettles hurt, but they were akin to pin pricks that hurt for a second or two but didn't bother me otherwise after that. I got stung on my thigh maybe 5-8 times over the 2 days of treks, but it wasn't that bad to me. My husband and friends got stung occasionally on their hands or torso, as well...but we all agreed we had worried about them more than we needed to. For what it's worth.

By 7:15-7:30 am, we were off with our own driver and by 8:00 am we arrived at the staging area where all of the potential gorilla and golden monkey trekkees meet...and their property guides/representatives "haggle" for which trek you will get assigned.

This is the part of the process that makes the location of your lodge important but not necessarily critical--as you could be in a lodge that is closer to the staging area and yet be assigned a gorilla family that is located far away...or the reverse. Generally, though, I'd recommend not being located too far away if you can help it.

There are 20 mountain gorilla families in Rwanda, and 10 of them are allowed for tourists to visit--in groups no larger than 8 tourists plus whatever rangers, guides, and porters may accompany you. Permits are expensive: $750 per person per day. We had Sabinyo reserve ours in advance, so we were set. Some people arrive hoping to get a permit the same day, and our guides/drivers told us it's a crapshoot, but easier when it's rainy season--but still difficult, and increasingly more difficult as more and more people seem to be coming to see the gorillas. I recommend booking your permits well in advance. (We had booked our first 2 days to trek gorillas, and our 3rd day to trek the easier golden monkeys, which costs only $150 per person per day.)

Gorilla treks are categorized as easy (up to 1 hr trek each way), medium (up to to 2 hr trek each way), and difficult (up to 3 hr trek each way). Please note that these are estimates, as the gorilla families obviously can move around and further away than expected (as we soon discovered the hard way). Our Aussie friend decided she really wanted to see the Susa A family that was originally studied by legendary Dian Fossey--a medium trek they told us for that day.

Little did we know that would involve almost an hour drive to the "trailhead" where we would begin our trek. Nor did we or the trackers realize that another Silverback would enter the Susa A family area, and push the Susa A family higher and higher up the volcano. At the trailhead, we hired porters, one apiece for $10, from the group assembled there. All porters are former gorilla poachers who now earn their living as porters for the gorilla treks--so we felt it was important to hire them for so little money to keep encouraging them to porter and not poach. Even so, it was nice to not have to worry about my backpack weight while trekking--as it turned out to be quite the arduous trek for us. Even a few people who didn't have something to carry hired the porters, though one didn't (and then later used the porter to assist her down the mountain!). If you can afford the $750 gorilla permit, I'd recommend supporting the anti-poaching effort by hiring a porter.

We also were given walking sticks at the trailhead...which I thought would be laughable but which turned out to be quite useful on the trek--both in keeping your footing in some uncertain terrain and also for pushing away stinging nettles or other obstructions in your "path".

Then we were off. It was a beautiful trek with amazing views along the way...but oh my was it LONG and HARD. We ended up going MUCH further up the volcano to find the gorillas--ascending over 3 hr 15 min about 1000 m or so up to about 10,000 feet elevation! Between the thick, lush, and sometimes steep terrain, and the increased elevation, we all were dying. Almost all of the girls ended up needing the porters' assistance, and even one or two of the guys (but not me, my husband, or our one friend) needed assistance. It was grueling...but even I wondered if I should turn back. (This happens frequently on longer than expected treks, where someone just can't continue...and so a porter and/or guide return with them back to the trailhead.)

And then after such a long and arduous trek, we found Susa A--all 28 gorillas. INCREDIBLE. No words. And you can get VERY close! You are supposed to keep 7 m between you and the gorillas, but the gorillas don't know that!

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-Gs...ature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_Ta...ature=youtu.be



The highlight was when I stumbled onto one of the 3 Silverbacks by accident while exploring a bit with the ranger's permission, followed by some of our group (but no ranger, guide, or porter). He came right through the shrub and stood next to me, before backing up after a minute of checking me out.



That's me in my Carolina blue hat and pants. The most exhilarating moment of our entire trip, and among the most exhilarating moments of my life. He was very big (650+ lbs) and yet incredibly gentle and curious. He checked me out and never touched me, but was only a foot away until he backed up to sit/squat as above. My husband snapped the photo from the end of our group, thankfully.

My Aussie friend next to me and I had immediately dropped to our knees and looked down as we had been instructed when the Silverback came up to me, but the girl at the end (out of frame) started screaming. :-) The guides and rangers said our appropriate action managed to keep the Silverback completely calm despite her screaming--thankfully. When you come across a Silverback, you are supposed to (1) not run, (2) drop to your knees/look submissive, and (3) never look them in the eye. Those actions allow the gorilla to know you are not a threat at all. All other gorillas don't require such action--you can stare all you want.

I desperately was trying to take a photo while not looking up at the Silverback--so I had tons of shots of blackness and blue sky out of focus. But I DID manage to get the one money shot:



It was an insane minute or two as he just lingered there checking me/us out.

The Silverback did brush against me when he walked away--another exhilarating moment I will never forget. His fur was quite soft, surprisingly:



Other highlight moments from this Christmas Day trek:





You are legally permitted 1 hr maximum with the gorillas on any day. We probably got about 1 hr 10 min--I think the team was being kind because we had such a grueling trek.

The nearly 3 hr trek back down was in torrential rain--that fortunately didn't start until about 30 min into the trek down, so at least we had perfect conditions while visiting with the gorillas. But the trek down would have been tough under normal conditions, steep and downhill as it was...but the rain made it tougher. Fortunately, there was so much vegetation that it wasn't particularly muddy until we got back to the last hr or so...but then it was VERY treacherous--and I was very happy to have that walking stick. We all were DYING.

When we finally reached the bottom/trailhead, everyone was absolutely exhausted. I actually had decided that I wouldn't even trek the next day--I was just absolutely done. Of course, I changed my mind--but that's how tough our 7+ hrs of trekking up and down that volcano was!

We had another 1+ hr drive BACK to Sabyinyo--we unfortunately had hit one of the most remote trailheads to reach our family, and Sabyinyo happened to be much farther away. Talk about making a grueling day even more brutal!

Suffice to say that we were thrilled to get back to Sabyinyo...but not thrilled to walk back up that stone path to reach our cottages! The Sabyinyo staff take your boots and clean them for you...and also offer free laundry to help keep you sane and pack lightly.

FWIW, we learned the next day that our "medium" trek turned out to be the toughest trek of the day by far...and among the toughest treks the guides/rangers had seen in almost 6 months, even during true rainy season. So it normally isn't so rough! (The next day, it took only a 1 hr trek to reach the same Susa A family.)

DAY 2 Gorilla Trek on Boxing Day: Sabyinyo family

As tough as our first trek was, it still was worth every bit of struggle and exhaustion for all 4 of us. Still, all of us agreed that we could ONLY do our second trek on Dec 26 if it was EASY.

Fortunately, our guides made a very good case for us in the "haggle" at the staging station--and our friend's wife's hobble and my husband's limp did help quite a bit, too. :-)

We drove about 30 min on EXTREMELY rough roads (African massage, they call it), and reached the trailhead and started off again. This trek was much more horizontal but far muddier as a result. Fewer stinging nettles, but I still got stung a few times. After 1 hr of trekking, and not much elevation change at all, we found the Sabyinyo family.

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0sK...ature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGcc...ature=youtu.be

The biggest and oldest (46yo) Silverback in Rwanda



Lots of gorilla juveniles and adults playing/eating bamboo






This was a much more palatable trek...but still tougher than usual for "easy". We needed an hr. The day before us took just 15 min. (Apparently, we aren't lucky in that regard.)

Obviously, the gorilla trekking in Rwanda is INCREDIBLE.

Location

The location is sublime. Period. We were stunned to see how dramatic the toopgraphy was from just outside Kigali all the way to the Volcanoes National Park area where the Lodge is located. But the area around the Lodge truly is spectacular.



You are at 8,251 feet elevation, after all. African sunrise and sunsets always are wonderful.

Again, the view.



 

Overall

Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge offered us an incomparable experience to spend time up close and personal with Rwanda's mountain gorillas. Though food was a big letdown for us, we liked the lodge. Service overall was very good, but we obviously had that twin bed blunder--fortunately rectified after some serious discussion. The cottage location wasn't as nice as the suite location, but otherwise we feel that the cottage is more than nice enough.

Our biggest criticisms of the lodge was food...and the apparent blunders in service/information that seemed to come because of Findlay. Both Findlay and his wife, Wendy, were incredibly nice. I even flirted a bit with Findlay just to harass him a bit (and told Wendy). But Findlay missed a few things, consistently--telling us they don't use raisins only to find muffins with raisins in our lunch bags, telling us something would be done and then finding it not followed through a few times, etc. Minor, but noticeable. Wendy always followed through on whatever we requested of her.

The food is the biggest problem--and a place for improvement. From what I read, this isn't all that unexpected for Rwanda, and even the "best" lodges, so improved food here could further make this property stand out IMO. The pathetic lunch bags also need to be improved--especially since gorilla treks have porters who can carry it for you!

We still recommend Sabyinyo Silverback, as long as you go in with properly adjusted expectations. It is not an inexpensive stay, between the property itself plus the very expensive gorilla permits, but it is certainly one of our best lifetime memories that we are not likely to ever forget.

Gorilla trekking can be tough, but it should not discourage anyone. Younger and less active people can always opt for the "easier" treks, and that was perfectly doable by anyone who wants to go.

It was tough trekking, the toughest we've ever done...but without question the most rewarding we've ever done in our lives. 
 

Rwanda Genocide Museum

On our final day, we departed the Lodge after breakfast around 11 am for the 3 hr drive back to Kigali--with a departing flight at 6 pm back to JNB on RwandAir 102. We had planned to spend the extra time visiting Kigali's Rwanda Genocide Museum, and we knew from our Aussie friends (who had visited it after their arrival) that it was worth a visit.

It's an incredibly worthwhile but very depressing and emotional visit, as you'd expect. Still, we're both very glad that we visited. The displays have text, but the English language translations are at the very bottom in the smallest of type that we've ever seen--clearly no love for English. It was a challenge to read, but we skimmed and moved at a pretty decent clip through the museum's two levels and the children's genocide section. (I always move quickly through museums, being impatient.) I'm not a sensitive guy, but I was moved to tears throughout the visit. Though it deals mostly with the Rwandan genocide, the museum also has sections discussing and sharing video/photos from many of the genocides throughout more recent history.

There is a beautiful garden outside, as well as the graves/tombs where so many of the discovered bodies from the Rwandan genocide were dumped. It is chilling.

There also is a lovely outdoor but covered cafe with sandwiches, shakes, and all sorts of lovely things to eat. It seemed an odd choice to spend some extra time after such an emotional visit, but it also seemed to be a more enjoyable way to kill time before our flight.

We highly recommend the Genocide Museum.

Flights To Rwanda

I begin the report with our UA-SA and RwandAir flights to get there from LAX. We finished the overall trip with EK F CPT-DXB-LAX on paid tickets, as $3200 pp in EK F was a no-brainer! EK F from CPT-DXB had great seats and good food, but uneven service on the 777; EK F from DXB-LAX on the A380 was the best F flight we've ever taken, along with CX F HKG-LAX the previous Jan 2014.)

LAX-LHR United 934 in GlobalFirst:

We are United Lifetime Golds and used UA pre-devaluation miles to get LAX-LHR-JNB tickets. We always have been very pleased with UA GlobalFirst unlike so many others on these boards. Our seat was very comfortable (if dated), the bed was very comfortable for us to sleep (even with me being 6'2" and my husband being 6'5"), and service on this particular F flight was extraordinary. The FAs were amazing--and hilarious. We had a very good time on this flight.

UA started us off with some pre-holiday cheer, which cracked us up:



Our seat was great, and we absolutely love UA GF IFE. For us, it's the best in the business, along with CX F, in terms of movie choice.



LHR United GlobalFirst Lounge

This was our first time in the UA GF Lounge at Heathrow--as we normally just stayed in London for a bit after any of our previous LAX/SFO-LHR flights before heading onward. The lounge was wonderful, with a sit down restaurant with good food, good range and availability of seating, lounges, and even bed-like seats, and service was excellent.










The private bath/shower was very refreshing, too:




LHR-JNB South African 235 in Business:

This was our first experience with longhaul Business class on SAA--and we were impressed. The seat was reasonably comfortable in various positions, and was fully flat when extended into a bed. It was almost long enough for me at 6'2", though my husband definitely had his feet hanging off unless he slept curled on his side. Food was pretty good, but we wanted to sleep, so we ate very lightly, had a cocktail, and I then took another 30 mg temazapam pill and slept for 7 hrs of the 12 hr flight.

My husband awaiting takeoff from LHR:




InterContinental Johannesburg O.R.Tambo Airport Hotel:

The IC is located just across the plaza or street depending on which exit you use leaving the JNB terminals--very convenient. The hotel overall was an excellent transit hotel with good service, excellent food in the restaurant, good wifi, and a decent room size. The bath was small, but we were only there for one night (and would be back again 5 nights later in transit from Rwanda to Madagascar). We would stay here again without reservation should we need to transit JNB again and require a hotel.

Our friends from Sydney arrived later that same day, and we had a great dinner there at the IC. (We had a reservation at Five Hundred at the Saxon Hotel, but we were too tired.)

JNB-KGL RwandAir 101 in Business Class:

RwandAir 101 is a codeshare flight with SAA on a 737-700, but you cannot check in online because it is operated by RwandAir. Business Class was fine (mostly an empty cabin), but the pitch was terrible--not better than UA E+ in rows 2, 3, and 4. Row 1, however, had TONS of pitch, positioned as it was a good 4-5 feet from the front cabin wall--but a family had those seats. We simply moved back a row so no one could recline in front of us to help. Service was fine. Food was adequate, as you'd expect--slightly worse than UA or AA in domestic F at that time. No IFE.