Gorillas in Rwanda

You will be picked up by our guide/driver when you arrive at the Kigali International Airport who will transfer you to your hotel where you’ll spend the night. As flights will arrive at different times of the day, you will spend the day at leisure around the hotel or walk to the nearby Kigali town centre to explore. This evening there will be a welcome dinner at the hotel where you meet your host and the other tour members.

Hotel: Four Points By Sheraton Hotel
Meals: Dinner, Breakfast

After an early breakfast, start a historical exploration of Kigali with the Full Day Kigali City Tour. This tour visits landmarks from colonial, post-independence, genocide and post-genocide times (Stade regionale, Kigali Genocide memorial site, Kandt Museum, Belgian camp). Continue on to Bugesera in the afternoon to visit the Nyamata/Ntarama Memorial sites, these were churches where actual mass killings occurred, and they were transformed into Memorial sites. Enjoy the Kigali nightlife at your leisure.

Hotel: Four Points by Sheraton Hotel
Meals: Dinner, Breakfast

After an early breakfast, depart for Kirehe and visit Imigongo where you will see the practice of ancient artisans in the region. Watch the waterfalls in Rusumo Border between Tanzania and Rwanda). Head to Akagera National Park in the Afternoon.

Hotel: Akagera Game Lodge
Meals Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

After breakfast, leave the lodge by 07:00 hrs to engage in a full-day game drive to spot the Big 5. Akagera National Park is characterised by woodland, swamps, low mountains and savannah. The varied terrain shelters wildlife including zebras, giraffes, elephants, lions, rhinos, leopards and hundreds of bird species, such as the rare shoebill stork. In the southern part of the park is the vast Lake Ihema is home to hippos and crocodiles. Later drive back to your hotel at around 16:00 hrs for the evening at leisure then later dinner and overnight.

Hotel: Akagera Game Lodge
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

After breakfast, your day starts with a morning boat trip on Lake Ihema to see crocodiles, pods of hippos and over 50 species of water birds. Have lunch at the lodge, thereafter game drive through the park on the last game safari before heading back to Kigali arriving for dinner and overnight at your hotel.

Hotel: Four Points by Sheraton Hotel
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

After breakfast you will depart for Ruhengeri, the second largest town in Rwanda with its stunning backdrop of five volcanic mountains – The Virungas. Arrive in time for lunch then spend the afternoon visiting Red Rocks Intercultural Exchange Centre to join the local brew makers to understand the chemistry of the process of brewing a local beer from bananas. If you find the activity interesting enough you can join the women in squeezing the juice out of the bananas and drinking a glass of juice. Understand how long juice takes to turn into alcohol after adding sorghum flour. Enjoy the big glass of our local brew. Join other activities like basket weaving or pick up a souvenir from the local handicrafts or artists' paintings. Later drive to your hotel for dinner and overnight.

Hotel: Classic Lodge
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

This day is set out for Golden Monkey tracking in the Volcanoes National Park. Entering dense stands of bamboo interspersed with open glades; you will make your way deep into golden monkey territory. Guides lead visitors to the habitat of groups of ‘habituated’ golden monkeys – monkeys that have become accustomed to human presence. Though viewing is kept to a maximum of one hour, travellers can get an up-close look at the golden monkey in its natural habitat. Adult monkeys frolic in plain view, feeding on bamboo leaves and leaping from perch to perch. Females carry their young, completely comfortable among onlookers. Return to the lodge for lunch then later in the early evening participate in a bee-keeping activity, where locals will demonstrate how bee hives are set to attract bees and showcase the traditional way honey is processed and harvested.

Hotel: Classic Lodge
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Gorilla Trekking day! After an early breakfast, you will proceed to Volcanoes National Park headquarters – Kinigi to meet your guides for the day. After completing the park formalities, embark on a once-in-a-lifetime experience of tracking mountain gorillas. This is perhaps one of the most breathtaking wildlife experiences on earth! You get so close to these awesome giant primates. Tracking the gorillas through the light mountain forest on the slopes of the Virunga is a magical experience. These massive primates are extremely rare, with less than 1100 living today. You will get within meters of the family, and be privileged to spend an hour amongst them. The trekking may be fairly strenuous; up to six hours or longer at a relatively high altitude. It is important to bring good hiking boots, long trousers, gloves for protection against stinging nettles, some snacks & sweets (for you, not the gorillas) as well as sufficient water as the rainforest gets hot and humid during the day. Gators and jackets are available for hire at your own expense. Return to your hotel to relax for the afternoon and take in the experience you just had.

Hotel: Classic Lodge
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

After breakfast, drive to the port town of Kibuye via Mukamira and Gitarama and enroute visit Ndaba Falls, before your arrival at Kibuye visit. Spend the afternoon exploring the town at your leisure before enjoying the sun set over Lake Kivu.

Hotel: Cormoran Lodge
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

After an early breakfast, depart for Nyungwe National Park. Located in the South West corner of Rwanda, Nyungwe National Park is an untouched natural rainforest that is filled with exciting biodiversity. Covering over 1000 square kilometres, Nyungwe is surely one of the world's most beautiful and pristine mountain rainforests. Arrive at the lodge in time for lunch then enjoy a tea plantation visit in the afternoon. Later return to the lodge for dinner and overnight.

Hotel: Nyungwe Top View Hotel
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Take an early morning breakfast then with your packed lunch drive to the park for the starting point of your chimpanzee trek. Two species of chimpanzees live in Africa. There is the Bonobo and the Common Chimpanzee Pan troglodytes (often shortened to Chimpanzee, and sometimes referred to as the Robust Chimpanzee). The largest remaining populations occur in central Africa (Gabon, DR Congo and Cameroon). With about 400 individuals, the population in Rwanda is an endangered one. However; it should be mentioned that it is not guaranteed to see chimps as they are unpredictable and can move long distances in one day. Nyungwe National Park is the largest block of montane forest in East and Central Africa and it is an incredibly rich area of biodiversity. Later go for the canopy walk which sets 50 metres above the ground with a 150-metre walkway and is the first of its kind in East Africa and third on the continent after South Africa and Ghana. It allows visitors to see the forest from above the trees and be at eye level with birds and monkeys that inhabit the upper stories of the forest. Return to your hotel/lodge for dinner and overnight.

Hotel: Nyungwe Top View Hotel
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

After breakfast, depart for a Kigali with a stop at the King’s Palace. Located on a hill 2km southwest of town, this fascinating museum carries ancient history and is a replica of royal residences. You will have a guided tour that helps explain some of the architectural idiosyncrasies inside the royal compound, including why the royal beer brewer’s hut had an entrance without a lip, and other curiosities such as why the woman who looked after the king’s milk was never able to marry. Behind the royal compound are the Inyambo (sacred cows) with their super-sized horns and despite their fearsome appearance they seem to like nothing better than having lullabies sung to them. Crowning the hill itself is the royal residence of King Mutara III Rudahigwa built by Belgium in 1931. This colonial-style home served as the royal palace until he died. Return to the town for lunch then visit the National Museum of Butare which was donated in 1989 by the Belgium government with some ethnic collection, the design and concept were all realized in cooperation with the Royal Museum for Central Africa of Tervuren; Belgium. Ethnographic objects are grouped together according to the theme giving premium information on daily life. Traditional ceramics and basketry are still manufactured and belong to the finest handicrafts of the region. The National Museum remained surprisingly untouched during the civil war in 1994. Continue to Kigali arriving for dinner and overnight at your hotel.

Hotel: Four Points by Sheraton Hotel
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

After breakfast and depending on your flight departure timings, engage in last-minute shopping in one of the friendliest African capitals, before returning to the airport for your onward international flight back home. This is the end of your remarkable Rwanda experience. Transfers to the airport for outward flight is included or you may wish to extend your time in Rwanda at your own expense.

Meals: Breakfast