Motel Santaviva

Everything else on the trip worked out and was well organized, and the Uganda/Rwanda part was especially good. My girlfriend and I booked a 14-day, upper-price tour with Santaviva and Ivan, covering Uganda and Rwanda for gorilla trekking, a Tanzania safari, and four days at the beach in Zanzibar. We had no activities planned for those beach days apart from a Stone Town visit on our departure day. At USD 14,000 for both of us, it was the most expensive vacation we'd taken, and presumably Santaviva's most expensive booking too. Ivan was attentive during the gorilla trek and handled things well. When my luggage didn't arrive, he even lent me his boots. If the trip had ended there, I'd have given it five stars. Tanzania was where things felt wrong. We had a different guide and driver for the safari, who did a very good job, but Ivan came along too. We saw many other tourists and no other group with two guides. Since we were new to safaris in Tanzania, we expected to be asked about this arrangement, but no one asked us. Much of the time it felt like the three of us were the tourists and Ivan was there to take photos and videos for Santaviva's social media and enjoy a holiday. He joined the balloon safari, for example, and received a free premium breakfast with the balloon guests. He was the only guide or driver among around 80 guests to do so. That made us uncomfortable, especially because the staff who arranged it seemed to expect a tip. We hadn't asked for him to join, and didn't want him there. He also wasn't honest with us about the nice accommodation where he was staying. When we raised concerns about this setup, Ivan said Santaviva does it to ensure quality and provide service. He also flew with us to Zanzibar, saying it was to see us off at the end of his journey, or in case we wanted extra activities. It was clear we wanted relaxing beach days. The only activity, a Stone Town tour, was arranged through an intermediary anyway, so his presence made no sense to us. On the drive from the airport to the hotel, he first said his flight was two days after ours, then a few minutes later claimed it had changed and was now before we left, before any activities would take place. But we'd already heard him tell another man about that supposedly changed flight date and time a week earlier, so it was clearly a lie. We came away feeling our trust had been violated, and that we'd overpaid to fund his business promotion and vacation. That wasn't what we intended. We wouldn't recommend booking with Santaviva outside Uganda and Rwanda.

Ivan and the Santaviva team were friendly and accommodating throughout our trip, and our host in Uganda was helpful even before we set off and after we'd left. Booking Santaviva Tours was one of the best choices we made for our African holiday. Ivan knows his work and showed us wonderful hospitality. My husband and I will definitely book with Santaviva again on future travels. 🥰🥰🥰

For 40K to 150K, there are some good rooms here, and this is another solid option in Kisoro Town. The location is right in the heart of town, easy to reach, and quiet. I really like the customer service and care.

Ivan was a really helpful host, and we loved staying here. The staff were amazing too, and I'm still in touch with some of them a year later. We decided fairly late that we wanted to see the gorillas, but Ivan managed to get our permits in time. You feel welcome and looked after here. I'd absolutely recommend it! 👍🙂