10 Days Rwanda Gorillas and Wildlife Safari
10 Days Rwanda Gorillas and Wildlife Safari
Overview:
Encounter Mountain Gorillas in the mist and Golden monkeys in Volcanoes national park – Rwanda
Visit the Kigali Memorial Museum, where over 250,000 victims of 1994 genocide are buried and learn about Rwanda’s ‘dark past but bright future’. You simply cannot appreciate this beautiful country and its people if you haven’t visited this memorial museum.
Scenic drives through Rwanda, known as the Land of a Thousand Hills with its beautiful rolling landscapes dotted with tea plantations, rugged mountains, towering volcanoes.
Reconnect with local people at Nyamirambo women centre township in Kigali – one of Africa’s cleanest and most interesting capitals. Get insights into Rwanda’s heritage at Gorilla guardians Village. Finish your Rwanda tour with a safari to discover the Big-5 in Akagera National park.
This tour starts and ends in Kigali City (Rwanda).
Day 1 – Arusha – Lake Manyara
Arrival and transfer to your hotel. Check in at Hotel des Mille Collines (where the 2004 movie ‘Hotel Rwanda’ filmed based on events relating to families that took shelter on this hotel during the genocide) in Kigali.
If you have some time explore some evening life. Kigali is known for its pleasant, friendly atmosphere.
Accommodation: 5 to5 Hotel: Luxury upgrade: Hotel Des mille Collines
Meals: Fullboard
After breakfast, head out for Kigali City Tour. This tour offers you the true heartbeat of the city. The nation’s recovery is incredible and a testimony to a dark past but a bright future.
You will visit Kigali Genocide Memorial Museum at Gisozi. Learn how an estimated one million Rwandans were killed in nearly 100 days of genocide. At the memorial museum is where the remains of 250, 000 victims of 1994 Genocide are buried. It has a cemetery, genocide exhibition section & a library. A visit to this memorial centre is not only an educational experience that will offer you a thorough insight into the country’s painful past but also provides a truly moving experience.
The memorial is moving – the tour takes two to three hours – It is in memory of the multitudes murdered in Rwanda´s genocide 1994.
You will visit Nyamirambo Women Centre & reconnect with local people, situated in the largest and most vibrant township in Kigali City. The centre provides women and girls the opportunity to obtain practical skills to support each other and succeed in life. You could choose to have local lunch (optional) prepared by local women employed at the centre, allowing us to try local cuisine and popular dishes. You could browse through the centre’s shop, which features handmade, high-quality crafts, fabrics and clothes, made by some of the women. Proceeds from sales helps to support skills training programs for this women Centre.
Accommodation: 5 to5 Hotel/ Luxury upgrade: Hotel Des mille Collines
Meals: Full Board;
Activities: City tour, intercultural experience & road transfer
After breakfast, drive to Volcanoes National Park driving through stunning scenery of flourishing green hills and valleys.
After hot lunch, you will explore the Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, where you can learn more about the research works of Dian Fossey and the history of gorilla conservation. Later return to your lodge for overnight.
Approximate drive time: 3 hours approx.
Accommodation: DaVinci Lodge / Five Volcanoes Hotel
Meals: Full Board
Early morning departure from the lodge to the Volcanoes National Park headquarters in Kinigi for your mountain gorilla trekking encounter. Here you will meet up with excellent park rangers and guides, who will give a talk on the etiquette of gorilla trekking. After orientation on gorilla trekking rangers at the park headquarters, you will be allocated a gorilla family to visit, we take a short drive to the starting point.
In order to minimize animal stress and exposure to possible human disease, daily visits are limited to “only one-hour” viewing.
Accommodation: DaVinci Lodge / Luxury upgrade: Five Volcanoes Hotel
Meals: Full Board
Early morning departure from the lodge to the Volcanoes National Park headquarters in Kinigi for your Golden monkey trekking encounter. Here you will meet up with excellent park rangers, who will give a talk on the etiquette of golden monkey trekking.
Golden monkeys are threatened species that live in bamboo forests of Virunga volcanoes of Rwanda & Uganda and are subject to threat of habitat loss and degradation.
After tracking, this afternoon you will transfer to Gisenyi- Lake Kivu where you will spend your afternoon at leisure.
Accommodation: Gorillas Hotel/ Luxury upgrade: Lake Kivu Serena
After your early morning breakfast, head for boat ride in Lake Kivu including visiting numerous islands and later you will be transferred to Nyungwe which is roughly 2 hours way, with great country side experience looking at the local community and traditional building en route. We shall reach in the afternoon, have lunch and spend the afternoon at leisure.
Accommodation: Chimpanzee Lodge/ Luxury upgrade: One & Only House
Meet your guide, after your breakfast at the lodge and transfer back to Kigali, with an en route visit to King Palace Museum, where you will have a great experience to learn about the Rwandan cultural. You will enjoy and en route lunch and reach Kigali in the afternoon, for dinner and overnight stay.
Today drive to Akagera National park. Armed conflict once devastated this part of Rwanda, and many years of neglect and misuse followed. Yet dedicated work by the local communities resulted in the return of wildlife to the park’s savannas, forested hills, and wetlands.
Akagera National Park offers a remarkable conservation story and is the only park with lions, leopard, Rhinos, buffalos, zebras, giraffes, elephants and hundreds of bird species in the country. Running directly along the border with Tanzania, the park covers 1,122 km2 (433 sq mi) and offers a variety of landscapes including highlands, savannah plains, swamps, wetlands and lakes.
Accommodation: Mantis Akagera Game Lodge.
Luxury Upgrade: Wilderness Magashi Camp.
Meals: Full Board
This morning, wake early and head out into the park for sunrise and try and spot the early risers. Look out for lion, elephants, buffalo, hyenas and others who graze freely in the park. Giraffe are a popular site as well as others in the growing park such as; warthog, waterbuck, zebras, roan antelope, eland, topis, and impala. Return to the lodge for lunch and some free time to relax or take a dip in the pool.
In the afternoon, enjoy safari by boat on Lake Ihema. The cruise will give you a chance to spot more wildlife, such as elephants and buffalos who tend to gather at the banks to have a drink of water. Search out Nile crocodiles and observe birds; there are over 500 species around the lake and its surrounding wetlands. Keep an eye out for shoebill and papyrus Ganolex as well as endemic species such as; herons, ibis, jacanas, plovers, malachite Kingfisher and eagles.
Accommodation: Mantis Akagera Game Lodge.
Luxury Upgrade: Wilderness Magashi Camp.
Meals: Full Board
This morning, transfer to Kigali City for some shopping, depending on your flight time, you will be transferred to the airport to catch up with your flight.
Includes:
- Pick up transfer at Kigali Airport
- All National Park entrance fees
- City tour of Kigali, Kigali memorial museum visit, Nyamirambo women’s Centre.
- Accommodation on a full board basis (breakfast, lunch & dinner)
- 9 nights’ accommodation, 9 dinners, 9 Lunches.
- Private Transportation in 4×4 Toyota Safari vehicle
- Reference Books & Maps, Bottled water in vehicles
- Professional and knowledgeable English-speaking driver/guides in Rwanda & Uganda
- x1 Gorilla trekking permit per person at Volcanoes National Park (US$1500 per person
- x1 Golden trekking permit per person at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (US$100 per person
- x Canopy walk
- All other activities as stipulated in the itinerary, including:
- Game drive & Boat ride on lake Kivu
Excludes
- Entry visa for Rwanda
- International flights.
- Yellow fever inoculation certificate or an exemption letter from your doctor-COMPULSORY!
- Travel insurance (highly recommended)
- Meals and drinks not specified
- Laundry services
- Gratuities to the driver/guide, trackers, hotel staff and porters
- All expenses of personal nature
Details
Duration: 10 Days
10 days Rwanda
This 10 days epic Rwanda safari adventure will give you a great memory of 10 Days Rwanda Gorillas and Wildlife Safari 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 and Volcanoes national park and Akagera National Park adding in a visit to Lake Kivu to spice up your stay. You will as well be able to interact with the local community as you go by your day activities. You will well be able to do gorilla trekking, chimpanzee trekking which is a life time adventure.
10 Days Rwanda Gorillas & Safari.
Destinations: Kigali Memoriam Museum, Nyamirambo women Centre, Volcanoes national park, Akagera national park.
Summary:
- Day 1: Arrival Kigali Airport
- Day 2: Kigali City Tour,
- Day 3: Transfer to Volcanoes National Park.
- Day 4: In Volcanoes National Park – Gorilla trekking
- Day 5: In Volcanoes National Park – Golden Monkey tracking
- Day 6: To Akagera National Park
- Day 7: Akagera National Park
- Day 8: To Kigali Airport – Departure.