10 Days Best of Rwanda Safari Holiday

Detailed Itinerary

Day 1: Arrival & city tour

Arrival at KGL -Kigali International Airport where you will meet our company representative. Meet and greet, then followed by a briefing session and transfer to Kigali capital. You will proceed to the Kigali genocide center located in Gisozi and it is where over 250,000 victims of the 1994 Rwanda genocide were laid to rest. Explore more about the Rwanda genocide and proceed to the local market to have some fresh fruits or visit craft shops, etc. Note, the Kigali city tour today depends on your arrival time. The evening relaxation and dinner will be at the hotel.

Accommodation

• Hotel Des Mille Collins

Day 2: Game safari to Akagera National Park

Breakfast early in the morning at leisure. After breakfast, start your journey to Akagera National Park 2 hour and 30 minutes drive in a 4×4 tourist vehicle with bottled drinking water guaranteed en route. Reach early and check in at the pre-booked lodge where lunch will be provided.

Have adequate time to relax and in the evening, you will set off for an afternoon boat cruise excursion along Lake Ihema. Aquatic life will be encountered while on a boat and these include crocodiles, hippos, and aquatic birds.

Accommodation

• Luxury: Rusizi Tented Lodge/Magashi Tented Camp
• Midrange: Akagera Game Lodge

Day 3: Full-day game tour in Akagera NP

Game drive: A morning game drive excursion in Akagera introduces you to the park’s lush savanna grassland. Akagera National Park is blessed with a variety of wildlife and on a game drive, expect to enjoy the sight of elephants, buffaloes, antelopes like roan antelopes, elands; leopards, lions, rhinos, zebras, giraffes, and bird species. Retreat and your 2-3 hours of game viewing comes to an end. Settle for lunch at the comfort of your luxurious lodge in Akagera Park Rwanda.

Boat cruise: An afternoon launch cruise excursion begins at 2:00 pm with an experienced guide taking you about 2-3 hours along Lake Ihema. This water lake will have you exposed to its huge profusion of hippos, crocodiles, and aquatic birds.

Accommodation

• Luxury: Rusizi Tented Lodge/Magashi Tented Camp
• Midrange: Akagera Game Lodge

Day 4: Akagera to Nyungwe Forest NP

The Akagera National Park expedition ends today. After breakfast and check out, pick up your property and proceed to your safari vehicle. The driver guide will assist arrange them and you board ready to start your journey to Nyungwe Forest National Park via Kigali city. Lunch will be enjoyed en route and a stopover will be made at Nyanza King’s palace before check in at the lodge in Nyungwe Forest National Park.

Accommodation

• Luxury: One & Only Nyungwe House
• Midrange: Nyungwe Top View Hill Hotel

Day 5: Chimpanzee trekking

After breakfast, leave the lodge for Cyamudongo or Uwinka reception for a briefing session from the park official. After getting the instructions for chimpanzee trekking, the park guide assigned to you will lead you through the forest to look for chimpanzee communities. A trek to see Nyungwe Forest chimpanzees takes 2-4 hours including one hour for photography and observing how they behave.

Other primates will be spotted including the red-tailed monkeys, vervet monkeys, l’hoest monkeys, olive baboons, grey-cheeked mangabeys, Dent’s Mona monkeys, and many birds. You will return and have enough time to relax at the lodge. After lunch, set off for a canopy walk experience along a 50m suspended canopy walkway that rewards with the best sights of primates, birds, and forest canopy.

Accommodation

• Luxury: One & Only Nyungwe House
• Midrange: Nyungwe Top View Hill Hotel

Day 6: Nature walk & Volcanoes NP

Wake up early morning and take a tasty cup of Rwandan tea/coffee. Leave the lodge for a nature walk preferably visiting the Gisakura tea estates and after, return to check out of the lodge. You will connect to Volcanoes National Park in Ruhengeri and a magical view of Lake Kivu will be enjoyed en route.

Accommodation

• Luxury: One & Only Gorilla’s Nest/Bisate Lodge/Mountain Gorilla View Lodge
• Midrange: Five Volcanoes Hotel/Silverback Lodge/La Palme/Le Bambou

Day 7: Gorilla trekking & Guardian Village tour

Mountain gorillas occupy only Rwanda, Uganda, and Congo parks. With only 1063 left, a trek to find them in the wild today is a dream come true. Start the day with a briefing on gorilla trekking rules at Kinigi offices and at 8:00 am, set foot into the jungles of Volcanoes NP to look for any of the 12 gorilla families assigned to you.

The trek requires some level of fitness and remember to come along with some snacks, drinking water, and a walking stick. Have one hour with a family of endangered mountain gorillas, take pictures and you will then start walking back to the lodge. In the evening/afternoon, connect to the nearby local community- Gorilla Guardian village for a cultural tour, and dinner and relaxation will be at the lodge.

Accommodation

• Luxury: One & Only Gorilla’s Nest/Bisate Lodge/Mountain Gorilla View Lodge
• Midrange: Five Volcanoes Hotel/Silverback Lodge/La Palme/Le Bambou

Day 8: Golden monkey tracking -VNP

Visit golden monkeys in Rwanda and your adventure starts at 8:00 am after briefing at the Kinigi offices. The park guide will accompany you on a search for a troop of golden monkeys 2-4 hours which includes one hour of a close encounter and photo taking. In the evening, have enough time to relax at your lodge just sharing your primate experiences.

Accommodation

• Luxury: One & Only Gorilla’s Nest/Bisate Lodge/Mountain Gorilla View Lodge
• Midrange: Five Volcanoes Hotel/Silverback Lodge/La Palme/Le Bambou

Day 9: Dian Fossey trek & Twin Lakes

After breakfast, report to Kinigi for a briefing and to meet a guide who will lead you through the Dian Fossey tomb hike. The 2-3 hours trek through the forest takes you to the Dian Fossey tomb site where Dian Fossey and her lovely gorillas were laid to rest.

This trek offers a deep insight into the Dian Fossey and gorilla conservation legacy she left. When you return, settle for lunch and take an afternoon for relaxation or tour the Twin Lakes- Lake Ruhondo and Lake Burera.

Accommodation

• Luxury: One & Only Gorilla’s Nest/Bisate Lodge/Mountain Gorilla View Lodge
• Midrange: Five Volcanoes Hotel/Silverback Lodge/La Palme/Le Bambou

Day 10: Kigali for departure

Today will be for you to drive back to Kigali and there are two options; either get dropped at the hotel or airport if you have your flight scheduled today. Today marks the end of the 10 Days Best of Rwanda Safari Holiday.

End of safari holiday