Experience up to 13 primate species on this gorilla trekking safari through northern Rwanda! You will first enjoy time spent in the lush Nyungwe rain forest, in search of the boisterous chimpanzees swinging from the canopy above! Continue on to Volcanoes National Park, home to the world’s largest number of endangered mountain gorillas.
Day 1 Travel Day to Africa
Day 2 Kigali
Day 3 Nyungwe Forest
Day 4 Nyungwe Forest
Day 5 Nyungwe Forest
Day 6 Lake Kivu
Day 7 Volcanoes National Park
Day 8 Volcanoes National Park
Day 9 Volcanoes National Park
Day 10 Kigali
Day 11 Your Journey Ends
- Gorilla Trekking
- Chimpanzee Trekking
- Golden Monkey Trekking
- Lake Kivu
- Canopy Walkway
DAY 1 TRAVEL DAY – TO AFRICA
Your safari begins today as your board your international flight to Africa!
DAY 2 KIGALI
Welcome to Africa! On arrival in Kigali, Rwanda, you will be met by your guide and transferred to the Kigali Serena Hotel for your one night stay.
About Kigali Serena Hotel: Home to a vibrant pool deck, Sokoni café and one of Kigali’s best restaurants.
Accommodation Type & Location: Hotel built around the polished atrium in central Kigali
Guest Accommodations: 148 rooms, all newly renovated, with en-suite bathroom facilities, air conditioning, telephone and internet.
About Kigali
Located at Rwanda’s geographical heart, the rapidly growing city of Kigali retains the feel of a garden city, with a satisfyingly organic shape dictated by the verdant slopes over which it sprawls. The compact, low-rise city center surrounds a busy, colorful market, and is studded with souvenir stalls displaying a wide range of lovingly executed local crafts.
Overnight: Kigali Serena Hotel (B)
DAY 3 NYUNGWE FOREST
An early morning breakfast is followed by your drive to Nyungwe forest. On the way, enjoy a visit to Nyanza King’s Palace and the National Museum of Butare. This afternoon you will arrive at Nyungwe Forest Lodge, where you will enjoy you next three nights.
About Nyungwe Forest Lodge: Built to blend in with its environment and is home to 13 species of primate including Chimpanzees.
Accommodation Type & Location: Boutique Hotel situated in a tea plantation on the edge of the Nyungwe closed canopy rain forest
Guest Accommodations: 24 forest facing rooms, each with en-suite bathroom facilities and stunning views over the surrounding plantation
Optional Activities: Chimpanzee trekking, Black and White Colobus monkey trekking, Grey-cheeked Mangabey trekking, Blue Monkey and Golden Monkey trekking, Kamiranzovu Swamp and waterfall walk and cultural walk with guide (cost available on request).
Wildlife: Nyungwe Forest is the largest swathe of montane forest left in East or Central Africa. It harbors about 275 different birds, hundreds of butterflies and orchids, and over 75 different species of mammals – including 13 primates (about a quarter of all Africa’s primates).
About Nyungwe Forest
In the southwest of Rwanda, Nyungwe Forest National Park is an enormous tropical forest with a high canopy. Tall old mahoganies, ebonies and giant tree ferns tower above you, whilst orchids and other epiphytes cling to every branch. Brightly colored birds flit around, butterflies are everywhere, and you may encounter larger forest residents.
Overnight: Nyungwe Forest Lodge (B, L, D)
DAY 4 NYUNGWE FOREST
After breakfast, enter the lush rainforest for your day of chimpanzee trekking! In the afternoon, you will have the opportunity to explore the area at leisure.
Overnight: Nyungwe Forest Lodge (B, L, D)
DAY 5 NYUNGWE FOREST
Early this morning, enter Nyungwe forest to track the black and white colobus monkeys. Along the way, you will have the chance to see thirteen species of primates including chimpanzee, Rwenzori colobus and I’Hoest’s monkey.
The colobus live in large groups including a four hundred-strong semi habituated group thought to be the largest troop of arboreal primates in Africa. Later this afternoon, you have the option to enjoy an afternoon of birding or simply relax at the lodge.
Overnight: Nyungwe Forest Lodge (B, L, D)
DAY 6 LAKE KIVU
Today, make your way up the canopy walkway to view the forest from a different perspective. The walk is approximately 45 minutes into the forest before making your way above the treetops on a suspended bridge. This gives excellent views of one of Africa’s largest temperate rainforests and offers the opportunity to view primates and birds at eye level. This afternoon, you will drive to Kibuye, on the shores of beautiful Lake Kivu, and the Cormoran Lodge for your one night stay.
About Cormoran Lodge: Panoramic terrace overlooking the lake. From the honeymoon cabin you can see the fiery crater of the Nyiragongo volcano, in Congo.
Camp Type & Location: Safari lodge located on the shores of Lake Kivu
Guest Accommodations: 5 en-suite cabins, all with breathtaking views of Lake Kivu.
Optional Activities: Canoeing and boating excursions (cost available on request).
About Lake Kivu
One of the largest freshwater bodies in Rwanda, Lake Kivu covers a 2,700 square kilometer area. Situated at an elevation of 4,790 feet above sea level, it eventually empties into the Ruzizi River flowing southwards into Lake Tanganyika. Set amid the dramatic mountains of the Great Rift Valley and the volcanic Virungas, the irregular shores of Lake Kivu form numerous inlets and peninsulas and myriad forest-fringed waterfalls.
Overnight: Cormoran Lodge (B, L, D)
DAY 7 VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK
In the morning, you will drive from Kibuye to Gisenyi, taking in the beauty of Lake Kivu and the multiple islands. Enjoy lunch in Gisenyi before continue on to Volcanoes National Park and Mountain Gorilla View Lodge, where you will spend your next three nights.
About Mountain Gorilla View Lodge: Panoramic views of Rwanda’s volcano mountains.
Accommodation Type & Location: Safari Lodge located less than a mile away from the Volcanoes National Park
Guest Accommodations: 32 en-suite chalets with fireplace.
Optional Activities: Gorilla trekking (cost available on request).
Wildlife: The Park is home to over half of the regions surviving 650 mountain gorillas as well as the Golden Monkey, a beautiful and distinctive bamboo-associated race of the blue monkey, endemic to the Albertine Rift.
About Volcanoes National Park
The 13,000 hectare Volcanoes National Park was designated national park status in 1925 and protects the Rwandan portion of the Virunga Mountains, a range of six extinct and three active volcanoes that forms the border with Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Volcanoes National Park is the place to experience the most intimate and poignant of wildlife encounters – tracking the habituated gorilla families.
Overnight: Mountain Gorilla View Lodge (B, L, D)
DAY 8 VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK
Today will be your first day of gorilla trekking! After breakfast, you will take a short drive to park headquarters to meet with excellent local guides and trackers who will give a talk on the etiquette of gorilla trekking. You will then hike into the forest where the gorillas were seen the night before and trek from there.
The trekking can take from 1 to 6 hours and climb to altitudes around 7,500 feet. The terrain is rough and at time muddy. Although the hike is physically demanding the beauty of the forest and surrounding scenery make the trekking worthwhile. Once the gorillas are located all fatigue is forgotten, as the experience is often described as being the most profound natural history experience in the world.
Picnic lunches will be provided and it is important to take plenty of water. Cameras and plenty of fast speed film are recommended. It can rain at a few minutes’ notice; hence waterproof clothing is a good essential including waterproof bag for cameras and film.
Overnight: Mountain Gorilla View Lodge (B, L, D)
DAY 9 VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK
Enjoy your second day of gorilla trekking!
Overnight: Mountain Gorilla View Lodge (B, L, D)
DAY 10 KIGALI
This morning, you will have the opportunity to explore Volcanoes National park in the search for the rare golden monkeys. There is a full habituated group of the beautiful primates in the park and this is one of the only places in Africa where this activity is offered. You will then continue on to Kigali and the Kigali Serena Hotel for the evening.
Overnight: Kigali Serena Hotel (B, L, D)
DAY 11 YOUR JOURNEY ENDS
Today you will end your gorilla trekking safari with a city tour of Kigali, including the Genocide Memorial Centre and other cultural sites. In the afternoon, you will be transferred to the airport to connect with your international flight back to the USA.
The Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre was opened on the 10th Anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide, in April 2004. The Centre was built on a site where 250,000 people are buried. The Centre is a permanent memorial to those who fell victim to the genocide and serves as a place where people can grieve those that they have lost. One principle reason for the Centre’s existence is to provide an educational facility. Rwandans believe that it is extremely important for the younger generations of Rwandans who will not have lived through the genocide but whose lives will still be affected by it, to be able to have access to a place where they can learn about the reasons and effects of the genocide.
