Big 5 + chimps + gorillas in Rwanda

LOW SEASON (Mar-May, Oct-14Dec 2024)

INCLUDES:

• Transportation in 4x4 safari Landcruisers

• English-speaking driver/guides

• Accommodation and meals as stated in the programme

• One-person rate includes the single-room supplement

• Rwanda gorilla permit

• Rwanda golden monkeys permit

• Pied Colobus and other primates trek

• Chimpanzee trek permit

• The canopy walkway fee

• Butare Museum and lunch in the town

• All park guide fees, park fees, and government taxes

• Mineral water while on safari

• Nyungwe National Park fees

EXCLUDES:

• International flights and departure taxes

• Excess weight fees

• Visas

• Travel and medical insurance

• Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village (own cost of $25 pp)

• Other activities not mentioned in the program

• Driver/guide or local escort gratuities

• All drinks (beers, sodas and water from the hotels)

• Telephone bill

• Items of a personal nature

• Laundry

• Porters

• Gratuities

An Africa Geographic representative will meet you on arrival at Kigali International Airport. After a brief welcome and introduction briefing you will be transferred to and thereafter be transferred to Amata N'Ubuki Hotel to check-in. After settling in you will be taken to the Kigali Genocide Memorial and, if time permits, a city tour including food and Caplaki curio markets. Return to your hotel for a wonderful dinner and sleep.

Overnight at Kigali's Amata N'Ubuki Hotel.

After a delicious breakfast, your guide will drive you to Akagera National Park - a relaxed 2.5-hour journey of 109km. You may stop on the way at roadside curio and art markets to find Imigongo crafts and to taste superb Rwandan coffee. Your arrival at Akagera will be in good time for lunch and an afternoon activity.

The 1,122km2 (112,200 hectares) Akagera is on the eastern edge of Rwanda, where the sinuous bends of the Akagera River mark the boundary with Tanzania. The national park safeguards Central Africa’s largest protected wetland, consisting of a complex system of lakes linked by papyrus-lined swamps. Away from the marshes, the jagged lines of animal pathways weave across vast plains and sweeping highlands like a network of veins, a testament to Akagera’s status as a refuge for savannah-adapted wildlife. Akagera is a Big 5 safari destination.

Dinner and overnight at Ruzizi Tented Lodge.

After early breakfast, you will depart on a morning game drive to find the park's Big 5 and other species. After returning in the late morning to your lodge, a scrumptious lunch awaits, followed by a siesta. Mid-afternoon is a great time to enjoy a boat cruise on Lake Ihema, with an evening game drive back to your lodge. Dinner and overnight at Ruzizi Tented Lodge.

After another delicious early breakfast, you will head out into the park for another exciting day of exploration and wildlife sightings. This time you will take a packed lunch, to allow the time to explore the wildlife-rich northern area of Akagera. Depending on the route taken and encounters along the way, you may stop at the wonderful Lake Mihindi cafe for freshly brewed coffee and toasted sandwiches. You will return to the lodge via the many game drive tracks, for fireside drinks and dinner looking over magnificent Lake Ihema. 

Dinner and overnight at Ruzizi Tented Lodge.

After an early Akagera breakfast, your guide will collect you from the lodge for the 2.5-hour drive back to Kigali. You may stop on the way at roadside curio and art markets to find Imigongo crafts and to taste superb Rwandan coffee. You will arrive in Kigali in time for a restaurant lunch and a possible city tour before checking in again at Amata N'Ubuki Hotel for a comfortable night.

After a leisurely breakfast, your guide will pick you up for the 224 km drive from Kigali to Nyungwe National Park. The drive takes about 6 ½ hrs via a fascinating tour of the famous Butare National Museum, which offers a superb display of ethnographic objects such as traditional ceramics and basketry and explanations of daily rural life in Rwanda. The museum remained surprisingly untouched during the civil war in 1994. After lunch en route, you will arrive in good time for dinner at Nyungwe Top View Hill Hotel, which lies close to the national park boundary.

Nyungwe National Park hosts Africa's most extensive protected tract of montane forest and a biodiversity hotspot of note. Nyungwe covers 1,019km2 (over 100,000 hectares) of forested mountains, burbling streams, sun-starved valleys, and extensive swamps. Part of the Albertine Rift and ranging in altitude from 1,600-3,000m, this high-altitude montane forest towers above Lake Kivu and comprises the watershed between the Congo and Nile Rivers.

After an early morning breakfast, you will head out with a packed lunch to the starting point of your chimpanzee trek. Learn more about chimp trekking here.

After your chimp trek, prepare for the most spectacular views of Afromontane forest anywhere. Nyungwe's 160m long Canopy Walkway hangs 70m above the forest - making for excellent photographic moments and canopy-level views of birds and monkeys. After this exhilarating experience, you will return to Nyungwe Top View Hill Hotel for dinner and a well-earned sleep.

After an early morning wakeup, you will drive to the Nyungwe NP visitors centre at Uwinka to embark on a walk to find the local mega-troop of over 400 Rwenzori pied colobus monkeys. After this exhilarating activity, you will head back to your hotel for a delicious breakfast and to check out.

Your guide will then pick you up for the 5-6-hour 245 km drive to Volcanoes National Park.

Volcanoes is renowned as one of the leading mountain gorilla trekking destinations in Africa. This volcanic landscape's breathtaking scenery includes tropical, bamboo and montane forests, Afroalpine shrubland, thicket, and grassland with marshes and small lakes interspersed. Tucked in Rwanda’s north-western corner on the borders of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, this 160km 2 (16,000 hectare) gem consists of five major (non-active) volcanoes.

You will arrive in good time for lunch. Spend the afternoon relaxing before dinner and overnight at Mountain Gorilla View Lodge.

After an early breakfast, your guide will drive you to the national park headquarters for your gorilla trekking experience. Learn more about gorilla trekking here. Your time with mountain gorillas is limited to one hour once you find them, so make the most of what is one of the most breathtaking wildlife experiences on earth!

After your gorilla trek, you will return to your lodge for lunch and an afternoon of leisure. You could also the Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village (own cost of $25 pp) and mingle with the local community in the cultural activities and traditional Rwandan dances. After an exhilarating and full day, return for dinner and overnight at Mountain Gorilla View Lodge.

After an early breakfast at the lodge, you will return to Volcanoes NP, this time to trek for golden monkeys. Golden monkeys are an endangered primate species found only in the Virunga Mountains range, which covers the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.

Entering dense stands of bamboo interspersed with open glades, you will make your way deep into golden monkey territory where you will have one hour of up-close time with these fascinating and beautiful monkeys.

Back to the lodge for an early lunch and check out for a drive back to Kigali, with a stop en route at Mukungwa River for a spot of canoeing. This relaxing activity of about 2-3 hours includes a few modest rapids and gliding through rural Rwandan countryside.

Your arrival at Kigali International Airport will be timed for your departure flight.