Overview
3 days Rwanda short safari gives you a taste of Rwanda’s highlights from the bustling capital to the once‐in‐a‐lifetime gorilla trekking experience in Volcanoes National Park. During this short safari you will see primates like mountain gorillas, golden monkeys, baboons, red-tailed monkeys, vervet monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys, blue monkeys; animals like lions, leopards, elephants, buffaloes, giraffes, zebras, hyenas, bushbucks, forest hogs, bush pigs, antelopes, duikers; birds like brown-chested lapwig, Carruthers’s cisticola, cabanis’s bunting, Denham’s bustard, bushshrike, blue-headed coucal, wood hoopoe, papyrus gonolek, flycatcher, red-faced barbet, Rwenzori batis, Rwenzori apalis, Ruwenzori nightjar, handsome francolin and more plus the beautiful green and lush vegetation, landscapes, and the clean capital of Rwanda. The trip will start in Kigali and end in Kigali
Day 1: Transfer to Volcanoes National Park
You will be picked at an agreed point at 8:00 am in Kigali by our driver guide from Glory Summit tours, who will also brief you on how the trip will go, and then you will start with a city tour of Kigali by visiting the Kigali Genocide Memorial, an important and sobering site that commemorates the victims of the 1994 genocide. With many of the guides as survivors, the memorial provides a historical overview of the events and serves as a place for reflection with a personal touch from the guide, and this will take about 2 hours. You will have an early lunch, then set off for the Volcanoes National Park, which will take about 2- 3 hours as you enjoy the beautiful green scenery the countryside of Rwanda has to offer and arrive in the evening. You will check into your lodging and have dinner, then rest for the night.
Day 2: Gorilla trekking and community tour
You will have an early breakfast, head to the park offices for briefing from the guide about the regulations and how to behave around the gorillas. With a guide and armed guard, your trek will start at 7:30 am and will take between 30 minutes to 6 hours, depending on the location of the gorilla family you are tracking. Once the gorilla family is found, you will be given an hour to get to see the mountain gorillas in their natural habitat, how they live, care for each other, care for their young, how and when they eat. During the trek, you will be given water when you need it. Expect to see animals like golden monkeys, Angola colobus, blue monkeys, elephants, buffaloes, duikers, bush bucks, forest hogs and birds like francolins, strange weavers, Rwenzori turacos, Rwenzori sunbirds, collared apalis, and woodland warblers away from the mountain gorillas. When the trek is done, you will head back to your lodge, freshen up, and head out to the Iby’iwacu village for a community tour with the help of a local guide. You will take part in local banana brewing, traditional meals, local herbal remedies, with some music, dance, and drama to top off the experience, which can take 2- 3 hours. While at the village you will learn about Rwandan traditions, art, and history. When done, you will head back to your lodging for the night, have dinner, and retire for the night at will.
Day 3: Departure
You will check out of your lodge, have breakfast, and then plan for your exit from the national park. At 10:00 am you will set off for Kigali, which will take about 2- 3 hours. During this time you will enjoy the beautiful green scenery, rolling hills, locals, and picture moments. You will get to Kigali in the afternoon at an agreed point for drop off and this will mark the end of the 3 days Rwanda short safari.
