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You will be met by your guide on arrival for the week ahead. Drive and have a tour around Kigali and sleep here before your adventure to south-west for chimpanzees, the placid waters of Lake Kivu, Volcanoes National Park and its forest-draped peaks for gorillas, golden monkeys and culture.
Day 1- Starts at Kigali International Airport
You will be met by your private guide at the airport for your transfer to the Hotel in the city. Arrive at the hotel, check in and refresh, then prepare for a tour in Rwanda’s capital-Kigali. Visit the Genocide Memorial, Local markets, and other city attraction in the city with your guide.
Overnight at Ubumwe Grande Hotel
Day 2- To Nyungwe Forest Via Nyanza
The journey southwest to Nyungwe National Park starts right after breakfas. The drive is a perfect introduction to this “country of a thousand hills”. It takes you through farmlands and rice fields, and you will have lunch en route, typically reaching your lodge- Nyungwe Top View Hill Hotel. The lodge has stunning forest views, and you will enjoy this after around six hours. You will have stops for photos, and a de-tour to the King’s Palace in Nyanza, and be free to chat to your guide about the options. The visit to the King’s Palace Museum gives an interesting insight into the country’s cultural history and monarchy. It’s also well placed to break the long journey to the park.
Overnight at Nyungwe Top View Hill Hotel
Day 3- Chimpanzee and canopy walk
The trek to see the chimpanzees at Nyungwe Forest National Park can be exhilarating. While sighting them in dense forest is a bit challenging, to sight them jump around in the tree tops, their almost human characteristics to the fore, makes this forest venture an exceptionally rewarding half-day excursion. After in the afternoon, do the canopy walk at the park. You will have a night at the shores of Lake Kivu in Cyangugu.
Overnight at Emeraude Kivu Resort
Day 4- To Volcanoes National Park
This morning after a cruise on Lake Kivu, you’ll drive north, leaving the lake behind and driving off-shores, the increasingly hilly terrain of the “Land of 1000 Hills” developing high after around four hours in the foothills of Volcanoes National Park, and DaVinci Gorilla Lodge. Along the way, you will pass a number of tea and coffee plantations interspersed by the occasional villages, so if you’d like to stop to explore or experience tea picking, or perhaps look around have a chat with your guide, the choice is yours. When you arrive at Volcanoes, you visit Ellen DeGeneres Campus of Dian Fossey and then check in at your lodge.
Overnight at Da Vinci Gorilla Lodge
Day 5- Gorilla tracking and Gorilla guardian’s village tour
Gorilla trekking day. This is at Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park and is a magical experience, transcending any other wildlife encounter we are aware of. Meeting a gorilla group in their forest home, led by a dominant male (silverback) together with a cluster of females and juveniles, is an adventure that fully repays the eye watering price in unforgettable memories and images. Your driver-guide will work on the transfer to the park headquarters at Kinigi and introduce you to the park guides and rangers for a briefing and your gorilla group that you will trek to. After visit the gorilla gaurdians village.
Overnight at Da Vinci Gorilla Lodge
Day 6- Mount Bisoke Hike
Mount Bisoke which is also called Visoke, standing at 3711 meters Above Sea Level, is a dormant volcano in Rwanda with part of it in the Democratic Republic of Congo where it is called Mt. Bisoke. The peak of Mount Bisoke lies in Rwanda. It is one of the 8 volcanoes that make up the beautiful Virunga Mountains that are spread along the borders of Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Today you will do a hike to the mountain and return. In the afternoon you can visit the twin lakes.
Overnight at Da Vinci Gorilla Lodge
Day 7- To Kigali and exit
Have breakfast and drive to Kigali. The drive back to Kigali Airport takes you through the fertile, rolling hills of western Rwanda. It’s a fascinating journey of around four hours, depending on any stops you make en route (do ask your guide about the options) before arriving in time for you to make your onward connections.
