Overview
This 5-day Rwanda safari offers an incredible opportunity to experience mountain gorillas in Volcanoes National Park and chimpanzees in Nyungwe Forest National Park. The tour will include a Kigali city tour, scenic drives through Rwanda’s famous hills, and optional cultural and adventure activities. Expect to see mountain gorillas, golden monkeys, chimpanzees, blue monkeys, mangabeys, mona monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, baboons, vervet monkeys, elephants, bush pigs, buffaloes, black-fronted duiker, bushbucks, spotted hyenas, giant forest hogs, elephants, hyenas, and many more; birds like dusky crimsonwing, strange weaver, handsome spurfowl, grauer’s swamp warbler, grey-crested kakamega, Rwenzori turaco, shelley’s crimsonwing, crested barbet, kivu ground thrush, palm nut vulture, regal sunbird, Congo bay owlet, Rwenzori nightjar, Rwenzori batis, red-throated alethe, Albertine owlet, and many more. The trip will start and end in Kigali.
Day 1: Transfer to Volcanoes National Park
You will be picked up at an agreed-upon 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. 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 visit
You will wake up to an early breakfast, then head out to the briefing spot by 7:30 am where you shall be given the rules to be followed by a guide to ensure a smooth trek before you head deep into the forest to experience it. Depending on the targeted Gorilla families given to you to trek, the trekking will take between 30 minutes to 6 hours, it’s during this time that you shall 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, all this will be done with a guide and armed ranger on route with you. Other primates like red-tailed monkeys, blue monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys, chimpanzees, and olive baboons: animals like elephants, duikers, buffaloes, giant forest hogs, otto, civets, and jackals; birds like black-bee eaters, regal sunbirds, black-billed turaco, bushshrikes, Shelley’s crimsonwing, mountain oriole, strange weaver will also be seen during the trek. You will be given water and a snack for when you need it. When done with the trekking, you will head back to the center where the driver guide will pick you up and take you back to your lodging for freshening up and lunch. Once lunch is done, you will head out to the Ibyi’wacu village for a community tour with the help of a local guide. You will take part in local banana brewing, traditional meals, and local herbal remedies with some music, dance, and drama to top off the experience, which can take 2-3 hours. When done, you will head back to your lodging for the night, have dinner, and retire for the night at will.
Day 3: Transfer to Nyungwe Forest National Park
After enjoying breakfast, you will check out of your lodging, and exit Volcanoes National Park for Nyungwe Forest National Park. This drive will take about 5-6 hours; en route, the drive will offer a mix of rolling hills, terraced farms, lakes, and dense forests, which is an absolutely breathtaking experience with a lunch break at Nyanza then you will proceed to your lodging for the night at Nyungwe Forest National Park. You will check-in, have dinner, and rest for the night.
Day 4: Chimpanzee trekking and Canopy walk
You will have an early breakfast, then head to the headquarters for a briefing at 7:30 am before the chimpanzee trekking. Once the briefing is done, you will start the trek with an experienced guide, and this will take between 1-5 hours depending on the location of the group you are tracking. Once located, you will be given an hour to observe the chimpanzees in their natural habitat foraging, breastfeeding, playing, grooming young ones, and nesting. While on the trek you will see monkeys, baboons, and birds. You are allowed to take pictures of the moments after which you will head back to the headquarters where you will be picked up by the driver and taken to your lodge to freshen up and have lunch. With lunch done, you will head back to the headquarters for a briefing, then proceed to the Igishigishigi trail to access the canopy walkway. This will take 1-3 hours depending on your speed, and you will enjoy aerial views of the forest, birds, monkeys, and some snakes with picture moments at the canopy. When done, you will head back to the headquarters where you will be picked up by the driver and taken back to your lodging, freshen up, have dinner, then enjoy the night and retire at will.
Day 5: Checkout and Departure
You will check out of your lodging, have breakfast, and then exit the park for Kigali, which will take 5-6 hours. This drive will offer spectacular landscapes ranging from misty rainforests to rolling hills, tea plantations, and bustling towns, and as you approach Kigali, you will see the city’s modern skyline and organized streets with a lunch break in Musambira. Once in Kigali, you will be dropped off at the desired spot marking your 5 days Rwanda gorillas and chimpanzee safari.
