Destination: Rwanda
Parks: Akagera National Park, Nyungwe National Park & Volcanoes National Park.
Itinerary at Glance
Day 1: Airport Transfer to Hotel
Day 2: Drive to Akagera National Park for boat
Day 3: Akagera National Park Game drive
Day 4: Transfer to Kigali
Day 5: Transfer to Nyungwe National Park.
Day 6: Chimpanzee Trek at Nyungwe National Park.
Day 7: waterfall hike & Canopy Walk at Nyungwe National Park.
Day 8: Transfer to Volcanoes National Park.
Day 9: Gorilla trekking at Volcanoes National Park.
Day 10: Golden Monkey Trek at Volcanoes National Park & Airport Transfer (evening flight)
Overview
This 10 days epic Rwanda safari adventure will give you a great memory of the Rwandan tour and you explore and wrap up Rwandan attractions in just 10 days. You will be able to visit all the 3 Rwandan parks thus Nyungwe National Park, Akagera National Park and Volcanoes National Park, adding in a visit to Lake Kivu to spice up your stay. You will as well be able to interact with the locals as you go by your day activities. You will be able to do both gorilla trekking and golden monkey trekking which is a life time adventure.
Trip Highlights
- Gorilla trekking
- Golden monkey trekking
- Chimpanzee trekking
- Canopy walk
- Boat ride on Lake Kivu
- Game drives
- Cultural experience
- Kigali city tour
Day 1: Welcome to Rwanda!
Day Itinerary
Upon arrival at Kigali Airport, our company’s safari driver will be waiting to welcome you and provide a short briefing before transferring you to your accommodation in Kigali (approximately 20-30 minutes depending on traffic conditions). You will have the opportunity to rest and prepare for your safari adventure the following day. Our driver will ensure that you are comfortable and ready for an exciting and unforgettable experience exploring the beautiful landscapes and wildlife of Rwanda.
Rwanda’s capital and biggest city stretches across undulating lush hills surrounded by towering mountains, the largest of which is Mount Kigali, rising 1850 meters above sea level. Kigali is the country’s financial, commercial and cultural hub, served by an international airport and featuring a wide range of accommodation options, restaurants and points of interest, including the Kigali Genocide Centre, an atmospheric market and numerous craft shops. With its interesting architecture, busy streets, meandering boulevards, and green hillsides, Kigali is said to be one of the most attractive cities in Africa and is definitely worth a visit. The city is well organized and known for its neatness and hospital people.
Overnight stay at: The Retreat Hotel
Meals: Diner
Day 2/ 3: Transfer to Akagera National Park from Kigali. Travel time +2.3hrs
Day Itinerary
Today, after your relaxed morning breakfast at your hotel, you will be picked by our safari guide and leave for Akagera National Park, the journey to Akagera national park takes about 2.3 hours depending on the stopovers along the way, with the beautiful unwinding landscape en route to the park, feel free to ask the guide for stopovers to capture some photos. The lodge is accessed with the northern entrance and it’s the only lodge that has that access into the park.
You will have two good nights inside the park and you will do enough game drives searching for the big mammals like Elephants, Giraffes, Buffaloes, several Antelope species, and recently the re-introduced Lions and Rhinos. The park is a varied habitat for wildlife and a number of bird species with over 500 bird species in the park making it a birding paradise. You can also engage in other park activities as boat ride, night game drives, bush walking safari and fishing which are at your disposal.
Overnight stay at: Magashi Camp
Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Day 4: Transfer back to Kigali. Travel time +2.3 hours
Day Itinerary
Upon having your relaxed buffer morning breakfast, you will be transferred back to Kigali and catch up with your lunch. You will later in the afternoon head to visit Kigali genocide memorial ground were over 25000 bodies of victims of the 1994 Rwandan genocide were buried in a mass ground. This place acts as a museum and an education center. There is a lot to see and learn from Rwandan history, to date. You will later return to your hotel for dinner and overnight stay.
Overnight stay at: The Retreat Hotel
Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Day 5: Transfer to Nyungwe National Park. Travel time +5 hours
Day Itinerary
Early morning enjoy your buffer breakfast and checkout of the hotel and drive heading to the western province, on your way visit the Royal Palace Museum and Ethnographic Museum in Southern Province, this will give you a great history of traditional ways of living among Rwandans and their past way of leadership of Kingship with an en route lunch. You will reach in the afternoon at Nyungwe national park and spend the afternoon at your leisure.
Nyungwe National Park
The best adventure safaris in Rwanda take you to the heart of the action, to Nyungwe forest. Trips to well-known forests and parks can be disappointing if you don’t get some good sightings of the animals. The secluded trails through the thick foliage and undergrowth are also more exciting as they let you experience the forest as it is- untamed, unpredictable and far removed from all human contact. The most enjoyable way to explore a forest is taking a canopy walk, or following the waterfall trails. Nyungwe National Park in Rwanda is also fed by several river streams, of which is said to be the source of River Nile that serve as watering holes for the animals of the park. It has an estimated 13 primates besides a wide variety of other animals and 310 different species of birds, these include all the 25 species of the Albertine Rift Mountains Endemic Bird Area that occur in Rwanda. Chimpanzee trekking and colobus monkey trekking plus canopy walk, not forgetting the numerous nature walk trails, are one of the leading adventure activities that the park offers. For those who love hiking, Nyungwe forest is your next stopover destination.
Overnight stay at: One & Only Nyungwe House
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Diner
Day 6: Chimpanzee tracking at Nyungwe National Park
Day Itinerary
Today, after your early morning cup of African coffee on a buffer kind of setting, you will leave your hotel to experience the natural forest of Nyungwe, well known for having 13 species of primates, and transferred to the park for briefing and chimpanzee trekking. You will be entitled to one hour on finding the chimpanzees. After doing the chimpanzee trek, head for lunch and some short refreshment. In the afternoon, you can participate in one of the lodge complementary activities, of your choice, or just decide to relax at the lodge.
Overnight stay at: One & Only Nyungwe House
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Diner
Day 7: Waterfalls hike and Canopy Walk at Nyungwe National Park.
Day Itinerary
Today, you will have a romantic breakfast, by the tea garden, and later head for the waterfall hike, at 9 am, where you will enjoy a wonderful hike, exploring the beautiful Nyungwe forest, encountering the birds and other primates, as you visit the waterfalls. You will later return, refresh and have lunch, before heading for a canopy walk in the afternoon. This 70 meters suspended metallic bridge will give you a great overview of Nyungwe forest and on a luck day spot one or two more primates in the forest as you take a roughly 1 and half hours walk on this bridge, that gives you, a cool tree top view and later return in the afternoon for dinner and overnight stay at the lodge.
Overnight stay at: One & Only Nyungwe House
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Diner
Day 8: Transfer to Musanze. Travel time + 5hrs
Day Itinerary
You will be ready to catch up with the beautiful sunrise over Lake Kivu after just getting done with your morning breakfast. You will take a boat ride on Lake Kivu to explore the beautiful attractions within this great lake. You have a nature walk at one of the islands within this lake which is known for harboring thousands of the bats. This lake is also known as a birding paradise as it hosts a number of bird species like the comrand, pied kingfishers, weaver birds, heron to mention but a few. You will later return and drive off to Musanze which is roughly a 3 hours’ drive. Musanze is a tourism area near Volcanoes National Park, where most of the lodges are located since there are no lodges inside of the park.
Gorilla Trekking at Volcanoes National Park
Gorilla Trekking in the Volcanoes National Park offers visitors the unique opportunity of discovering the 10 families of gorillas that live within the national park. Visitors can enjoy a cup of coffee before the trek starts and will be separated into groups of 8 depending on their physical abilities. Each group is guided by a guide and two scouts who are well trained in emergency situations. The amount of time set aside per trek is different depending on where the gorilla family is situated. Some trips may take as little as half an hour and some take the better part of the day
Overnight stay at: One & Only Gorilla Nest
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Diner
Day 9: Gorilla Trekking Experience at Volcanoes National Park.
Day Itinerary
Early morning cup of coffee, then prepare for the gorilla trekking briefing from the park headquarters and thereafter, you will enter the jungle with your packed lunch to search the shy mountain gorillas and enjoy their lifestyle in their real home. After meeting the gorillas, you can sit around these great apes for a whole hour watching their social life as you take pictures. On a gorilla safari, a reasonable degree of fitness is required as well as walking shoes, packed food and mineral water, insect repellent, sunscreen and hut. The gorilla tracking experience takes half or whole day depending on the movements of these primates. After this gorilla tracking experience you will return to your lodge for lunch. In the afternoon, relax at your lodge and enjoy the great ample moment at your leisure. Dinner and overnight at the lodge.
Overnight stay at: One & Only Gorilla Nest
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Diner
Day 10: Golden monkey and transfer to Kigali airport. Travel time + 2 hrs
Day Itinerary
Today after your warm early morning breakfast, you will be picked by our safari driver guide who will transfer you to the park headquarters for briefing and start off your day golden monkey trekking. Just like the gorilla trekking experience, the same applies to golden monkey trekking though not so hectic like gorilla trekking. You will later return to the lodge for lunch and later transfer to Kigali airport to catch up with your evening flight to your home country. End of service!
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch
NB: Option of helicopter flights can be arranged on request instead of on ground transportation
This safari package includes.
- Transportation in a 4×4 safari vehicle
- Accommodation and meals as per itinerary
- Meet and greet service at the airport
- 1 Gorilla permit ($1500), per person
- 1 Chimpanzee permit, per person
- Golden monkey permit
- Waterfall hike
- Game drives
- Boat cruises as mentioned
- En-route lunches
- Golden monkey permit
- Kigali City tour
- Boat ride on Lake Kivu
- Park entrance fee
- Game drives
- Canopy walk
- Drinks at the lodge
- Laundry
- Services of English speaking driver/guide
- 1 liter bottle of mineral water per day per person during safari
The package excludes expenses of personal nature like:
- Visa Fees & flights
- Optional activities
- Tips & gratuities
- International vaccinations
- Health test requirements
- Porter fees while trekking
- Personal travel Insurance
- Personal shopping bills
- Phone call bills
- Extras while at the hotel
- Items of personal nature
Please contact us for a free detailed quote on the option of your choice. We can tailor a request that suits your interests, and budget, as well as we can change or upgrade the lodge options. Write to us with more details about your safari.