Clients Comments

Parker Synder

I recommend Gabriel’s tourism business Inyamanza Travels. As an American who likes to travel abroad, he is that “perfect guide” for someone who wants to be put in good hands and better understand a foreign country.

I met Gabriel Gahima in 2007 when my wife and I were in Rwanda making video stories. We spent several months in daily contact. I’ll never forget the incredible assistance Gabriel gave us in Rwanda. He demonstrated profound knowledge of his country, and compassion with people of types of experiences. He was particularly sensitive to victims of genocide, while helping to convey their experiences to foreigners like myself, who were trying to better understand Rwanda.

He translated for us when making visits across the country. For instance, while getting to know a ladies’ group that wove peace baskets, he was able to convey the depth of their emotional bonds in a way that made their story come alive.

He treated us as one might treat their own brother, especially a brother who is a stranger in a foreign land, and who comes to visit after a long separation. I remember he would walk a great distance to be with us.

Mason Rostolan

Working with Gaby has been an extraordinary experience. I first met Gaby on a study abroad trip through my university and was astounded with how easy to work with he is. As students, we were very ambitious about all of the things that we wanted to do and about all of the places we wanted to go. He amazed me with how flexible he could make the trip to fit all of our needs and how seamless the experience was. If we even mentioned that something looked interesting, he went out of his way to get us the details and make it possible.

I returned to Rwanda last year to work on a research project and used Gaby’s company again. While the experience was full of spur of the moment decisions on my part, Gaby was very willing to rearrange things to suit my needs.

Overall, I highly recommend Inyamanza travels for anyone who is looking to travel to Rwanda. Gaby is knowledgeable about all facets of the country and is very easy to work with. It has been a pleasure to use his company and I will be continuing to use it in my future travels.

Leah

Inyamanza Travels has been a dream of Gabriel Gahima’s for several years. I met Gaby in 2012 when my faculty partner and I brought our first group of university students to Rwanda for a service-learning study abroad program. At that time, Gaby was working for another tourism company as Operations Manager. Due to the length and complexity of our itinerary, he was asked to guide our group. Over the course of those 17 days, we were able to experience the depth of his knowledge about both the history and current events of Rwanda, his passion for his country, his dedication to service, and his humor.
Since that first trip in 2012, Gaby has branched out and realized his dream of starting Inyamanza Travels. Our group has continued utilizing Gaby as our guide and the motto of his company holds true—we really do get a better experience. Gaby is willing to work with us to make the trip the best experience possible for the students. After seeing the tentative itinerary, he makes suggestions about efficiency, but also about other organizations and individuals that fit within the program objectives. Gaby is also resourceful and is able to put together exceptional programs for a variety of budgets. My faculty partner and I are delighted that we are now working with a company that is Rwandan owned and operated.
Gaby is truly an extraordinary individual and I’m so pleased for him that Inyamanza Travels has become a reality. If you are looking for a better experience—whether for a small leisure tour or a large service-learning tour—you will be pleased with your choice of Gaby Gahima and Inyamanza Travels.

Jay

The feeling of leaving Rwanda today can be expressed in one word: bittersweet. Although I’m excited to walk into my house, see my family, girlfriend and cat, I can’t help get emotional at the idea of leaving this beautiful country. I woke up this morning to the sounds of my fellow travelers running around the Holy apartments, packing their suitcases and discussing last minute shopping ideas (they couldn’t get enough of purchasing those colorful and carefully weaved Rwandan baskets). Outside the window I could hear Rwandans busy carrying on with their lives, I could hear the sounds of children walking to school, adults scrubbing away at fabrics in the wash buckets and guys carrying on with loud conversation through the speaker of their phones. After a long and arduous shower in the unnecessary Jacuzzi bathtub, I put on my travelling clothes, which consisted of a red bandanna, nylon fishing pants, the always-dependable keens, and my Body Glove athletic shirt, sprayed on my favorite cheap traveling cologne (It’s heavy on the juniper notes) and walked down stairs. I saw the familiar sight of the vast Rwandan hills through the window, Geoffrey sitting behind the desk on his cellphone and Justin crawling out of his bed underneath the staircase. We chatted for a bit and talked about the big travel days ahead of me. They shared with me about how much they would miss me and I reciprocated with enthusiasm. I will miss Geoffrey and Justin very much. By the end of the trip, we became pretty good friends and I got to hear their stories about their home life in Rwanda. It just always surprised me that they are around my age and are leading completely different lives from me (Geoffrey and Justin are both 23 years of age). After speaking with them, I sat on the leather couches and thought about my next moves.

I decided that I first wanted to take plenty of time and reflect about my time in Rwanda in the very place I have made a lot of my memories. Hell, now that I think about it, I’m going to miss the Holy apartments. Despite the fact that we had some water and WI-FI issues, I couldn’t think of a better place to stay in Rwanda. It was perfect gateway to all my Kigali travels.

I also don’t think my trip through Rwanda could have been lead by better people. Dr Stone and Ms Horton did an excellent job preparing for the things we would see and experience in Rwanda. However, I would like to give a standing ovation to our tour guide, Gahima Gaby of Inyamanza Travels. Gaby was very knowledgeable and helpful and as we travel through Rwanda. He made sure that we saw the best that Rwanda had to offer and gave us great information on everything we saw around us. Although he was a tall figure with a booming voice, he was very easy to get along with an easy to talk to about any question we had.

Anyways, after some reflection, I began packing and went out to eat for the last time at the Aromas Café. Later that night, we took off from the Kigali airport on a jumbo jet from Brussels Airline.

Taylor

I traveled to Africa with a study abroad group where we spent 28 days traveling around Rwanda doing some touristy things and some not so touristy things. During our travels we encountered experiences including: gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park, working in the village of Kanembwe, going on a safari in Akagera, and so much more but Gaby was the key part that kept the trip running smoothly. Often times we asked him to add things to the itinerary that weren’t originally there and he made it happen. On top of setting up tours of places we wanted to go and meetings with people we might find interesting, he also taught us a lot about Rwanda’s culture and about the country’s history. I enjoyed listening to his stories about this amazing place and always looked forward to driving around the county and hearing a piece of history in each province we visited. From my first night in Kigali I knew I liked Rwanda, but Gaby’s guidance allowed me to see the country through a native’s eyes and after a month in Rwanda I realize I have actually grown to love it.

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