12 days Rwanda safari Tour is a long adventure safari which takes you around the land of a thousand hills. The safari will take you to 3 national parks that is the volcanoes national park where you will have to spend an hour with the gorillas, nyungwe national park for chimpanzee trekking and akagera national park where you will have game drives and a boat cruise.
HIGHLIGHTS
Day 1; Arrival in Kigali
Day 2; Transfer to Nyungwe forest national park
Day 3; Chimpanzee trekking
Day 4; Nyungwe canopy walkaway
Day 5; Transfer to Lake Kivu
Day 6; Transfer to Volcanoes national park
Day 7; Gorilla trekking and Iby’iwacu cultural village
Day 8; Golden monkey trekking
Day 9; Transfer to Akagera national park
Day 10; Morning game drive and boat cruise
Day 11; Explore the north of the park
Day 12; Kigali city tour and departure
DETAILED ITINERARY
DAY 1; ARRIVAL IN KIGALI
On arrival the safari guide will pick you and brief you about the safari. After the briefing, you will be transferred to your lodge for lunch and a relaxation as you prepare for the next day activities.
DAY 2; TRANSFER TO NYUNGWE FOREST NATIONAL PARK
After the morning breakfast, you will check out of the lodge and embark on the journey to Nyungwe forest national park. The journey takes 4 to 6 hours drive as you go through the beautiful and terraced rolling hills of Rwanda. You will have a stopover in Butare and have a visit to the ethnographic national museum, Nyanza and Murambi genocide memorial sited as well as the king’s palace in Nyanza. On arrival, you will check into the lodge for dinner and night stay.
DAY 3; CHIMPANZEE TREKKING
You will have an early morning breakfast and drive to the parks headquarters in uwinka for a briefing. After the briefing, you will enter into the forest in search of the chimpanzees with the help of the park rangers. Once the chimpanzees are located, you will spend an hour with them as you watch their behaviors and take pictures as well as record moments. Besides the chimpanzees, you will spot other primates such as black and white colobus monkeys, red-tailed monkey and golden monkeys among others. After, you will return to the lodge for late lunch.
Later in the evening, you will go for a cultural encounter within the nearby villages. You will get to learn more about the Rwandan culture, interact with the local people, get to see their daily lifestyles and enjoy their performance from the local dance groups.
DAY 4; NYUNGWE CANOPY WALK
After an early morning breakfast, you will head to the parks headquarters at Uwinka center. This is where the hiking starts from and it leads to the canopy walkway. The canopy walk way is 90 meters long and 50 meters above the ground. While on the walk, you will have views of the forest from a birders eye as well as experience the adrenaline-charged 200m long series of walkways within the forest canopy.
Later in the evening, you will go to Gisakura tea estate where you will be taken through the tea growing process, harvesting and packaging. After you will taste the delicious taste of the final product and return back to the lodge for dinner and night stay.
DAY 5; TRANSFER TO LAKE KIVU
After having breakfast, you will check out of the lodge and embark on the journey to Lake Kivu. On arrival, you will have lunch and then have a boat cruise on the lake. While on the cruise, you will see bird species around such as common waxbill, yellow-billed kites and cardinal woodpecker among others. You will visit the peaceful island of Amahoro and napoleon island which is famous for its bat caves. After, you will return to the lodge for dinner and night stay.
Accommodation choices
Luxury – Golf Eden rock
Mid-range – Cormorant lodge
Budget – Saint Marie
DAY 6; TRANSFER TO VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK
After your breakfast, you will check out of the lodge and embark on the journey to volcanoes national park. The journey takes 5 hours with a stopover in Gisenyi town. While at Gisenyi you will relax and unwind at the beaches on the shores of Lake Kivu. After you will proceed to kinigi and check into the lodge for dinner and night stay.
Accommodation options
Luxury- Virunga lodge
Mid-range – La Palme hotel
Budget – Kinigi guesthouse
DAY 7; GORILLA TREKKING AND IBY’IWACU CULTURAL VILLAGE
After having your early morning breakfast, you will head to the parks headquarters for a briefing. After the briefing, you will enter into the forest in search of the mountain gorillas with the help of the park rangers. The trekking usually takes 2 – 8 hours and once they are located, you will spend an hour with the gorillas as you watch their behaviors and take photos and record moments. After the trekking, you will return to the park headquarters and have your packed lunch.
After the gorilla trekking, you will proceed to iby’iwacu cultural village where you will learn about the cultural history of the people of Rwanda. You will get to peek into the day to day life style of the locals, check out their traditional handcrafts and watch their dance performances from the local dance and drummer’s troupe. After, you will return to your lodge for dinner and a night stay.
DAY 8; GOLDEN MONKEY TREKKING
After an early morning breakfast, you will head to the parks headquarters for a briefing. After the briefing, you will head into the forest for the search of the golden monkeys. Once the monkeys are located, you will spend an hour with them as you watch them play, hunt, breast feed and feed. After the trekking, you will return to the lodge for lunch.
After lunch, you will visit the twin lakes of Ruhondo and Burera where you will enjoy the scenic views of the lake and surrounding hills. You can as well have a boat ride on the lakes as you explore the green hills and wildlife species at the lake. After the visit, you will return to the lodge for dinner and a night stay.
DAY 9; TRANSFER TO AKAGERA NATIONAL PARK
After having breakfast, you will check out of the lodge and embark on the journey to akagera national park and the journey takes 214km. on arrival at the park, you will check into the lodge for lunch for lunch and later in the evening, you will have an evening game drive within the national park. While on the game drive, you will spot wildlife species such as jackals, hyenas, elephants, zebras and antelopes among others. After you will return to the lodge for a refreshment, dinner and a night stay.
Accommodation options
Luxury – Akagera game lodge
Mid-range – Magashi safari camp
Budget – Lake Shakani campsite
DAY 10; MORNING GAME DRIVE AND BOAT CRUISE
In the morning after having breakfast, you will head out for a morning game drive where you will explore the savanna and landscape of the park. You will spot wildlife species such as buffaloes, leopards, rhinos, waterbucks and elephants among others.
After lunch, you will go for an evening boat cruise on Lake Ihema where you will spot wildlife species such as hippos, Nile crocodiles as well as water birds such as herons, African fish eagle, and marabou stork among others. After the boat cruise, you will return back to the lodge for dinner and overnight stay.
DAY 11; EXPLORE THE NORTH OF THE PARK
On the 11th day of your 12 days Rwanda safari Tour, After having morning breakfast, you will have a morning game drive in the north part of Akagera national park. The north part has a number of wildlife species and you will see amazing and breath taking sights such as savanna plains, karagwe highlands of Tanzania and lakes such as rwanyakazinga, Mihindi and Gishanju.
After the game drive, you will proceed with the journey to the city and enroute lunch. On arrival, you will check into your lodge for a relaxation, dinner and a night stay.
DAY 12; KIGALI CITY TOUR AND DEPARTURE
After having breakfast, you will check out of the lodge and embark on the journey to Kigali. On arrival in Kigali, you will have a city tour where you will visit the Kigali genocide memorial, camp Kigali memorial, nyamirambo women’s center, caplaki craft village and kimironko market among others. After the city tour, you will be dropped at the international airport for your flight back home.
12 days Rwanda safari Tour Includes
Chimpanzee trekking permit
Gorilla trekking permit
An English speaking guide
Park entrance fees
Transportation in a 4*4 safari vehicle
Accommodation and meals
All activities on the itinerary
Golden monkey trekking permit
Boat cruise fees
Bottled drinking water
12 days Rwanda safari Tour Excludes
Tips
Life insurance
Personal expenses
Optional activities