Safari Overview
This 7 Days Rwanda Chimpanzee Trekking and Wildlife safari has been carefully crafted to give you the best Rwanda safari memories that you will forever hold dear to your heart. This epic safari will see you visit Akagera National Park in Rwanda where you will have an encounter with a diverse range of Africa savanna wild mammals and also engage epic wild boat cruise on Lake Ihema. When you get to visit Volcanoes National park, what awaits you is an incredible encounter with Mountain gorillas as well as the shy Golden monkeys and this is all done and seen in just a week’s time!
Safari Highlights
Day 1: On the first day of this safari, you will transfer to Akagera National Park for an evening game drive.
Day 2: Enjoy a morning game drive in Akagera and a sunset boat cruise on Lake Ihema.
Day 3: The 3rd day will see you transfer to Volcanoes National Park & visit Iby’ iwacu community
Day 4: On this day you will enjoy a thrilling gorilla trekking experience.
Day 5: Trek the Golden monkeys of Volcanoes
Day 6: Enjoy a relaxed hike to the Dian Fossey tombs and the defunct Karisoke research station
Day 7: The last day of this safari, transfer back to Kigali and do a Kigali city tour before you transfer to Kigali airport for departure.
Detailed Safari Itinerary
Day 1: Early morning pick up and transfer to Akagera national park for an afternoon game drive
You will be picked up early in the morning by one of our highly professional safari driver guide from your hotel in Kigali at 7:00am who will give a short briefing of this entire 7 Days Rwanda tour then embark on your 120km 4-5 hours drive to Akagera Game park. This drive will take you through Rwanda’s countryside and as you progress you will realise a change from Rwanda’s notorious rolling hills to expansive savanna plains of Akagera which are home to a wide variety of savanna wild animals. You will get a chance to see some of these wild game as you drive towards your lodge here where you will have dinner and an overnight stay.
Accommodation: Ruzizi Tented Camp
Meal Plan: Lunch & Dinner
Day 2: Enjoy a morning game drive in Akagera and afternoon boat ride on L. Ihema
The day is dedicated to have you explore the enchanted plains of Akagera as you will get to engage in a spectacular morning game drive experience. During this game derive you will come to realise that the habitats of this park are different and thus, every stretch comes with a unique landscape which in turn gives you an insight into the diverse wildlife that exists here which include sightings of the African bush elephants, Masaai giraffes, Leopard, Impala, Buffaloes, Waterbucks, Oribi, Eland, reedbuck, Roan antelope, bushbucks, Lions, Black Rhinos among others. After about 4 hours of exploring the savanna parts of the park, you will return to the lodge and have lunch then in the evening you will transfer to Lake Ihema where you will engage in a soothing sunset boat cruise on the tranquil waters of this lake. During this boat cruise, you will be in for a stunning encounter with a wide variety of wild water dwellers such as hippos and the Nile crocodiles. If the day has been largely clear, watch the sun as it sets on this lake creating a picturesque moment that will forever be imprinted in your memories. You will return to the lodge for dinner and an overnight stay.
Accommodation: Ruzizi Tented Camp
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Day 3: Transfer to Volcanoes National Park and visit Iby’iwacu community
This day will have you transfer from Kigali to Volcanoes National Park, Volcanoes N.P is located 230km or 5-6 hours drive away from Akagera. While on this journey you will encounter numerous Rwandans going about their daily activities and these will range from trade to farming their lands. Also, expect to be blown away by the amazing rolling hills of Rwanda which surely confirm to you why this country is referred to as the land of a thousand hills. Upon your arrival here, you will check into your lodge and have lunch as well after which you will transfer to Iby’iwacu community which is found on the peripherals of this park. Here you will get to see for yourself firsthand how these locals have managed to share these lands with the wild dwellers that are so close to them. You will also get to see how the park has immensely helped in improving the lives of these communities as way of ensuring that they peacefully co-exist with gorillas without getting the urge to hunt them.
Accommodation: Mountain Gorilla View Lodge
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Day 4: Meet the gorillas of Volcanoes National Park.
This day you will get you to actually meet the gorillas as you engage in a memorable gorilla trekking experience which will have you meet these gentle giants in their natural habitat. You will spend an hour observing these majestic creatures in order to have an understanding about their habits which aren’t far from our own.
Accommodation: Mountain Gorilla View Lodge
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Day 5: Trek the Golden Monkeys
Day 5 of this Rwanda safari tour, will see you get to trek the rather shy but intriguing Golden monkeys that reside in the jungles of Volcanoes Park, you will wake up early for breakfast after which you will be given a briefing just like they did for the gorilla trekking. After this briefing you will embark on a guided jungle walk as you track down where the elusive monkeys are. When you find them. You will have an hour with these monkeys to observe and photograph to your satisfaction. At the lapse of this hour, you will begin your journey back to the starting point.
Accommodation: Mountain Gorilla View Lodge
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Day 6: Enjoy a relaxed Dian fossey hike as you visit the Dian Fossey tombs and the now defunct Karisoke research station.
Day 6 is really relaxed as you get to wake up a bit late but still in time for breakfast. Enjoy the sights and sounds Volcanoes which come in a symphony of melodies made by numerous birds that are chirruping to the new day dawn here and these are interjected by animal calls had from deep in the forest. On a clear day, sunrise over the forest of Volcanoes is something worthy to wake early to see. This day will have you visit the Dian Fossey grave to pay homage to this gallant lady/ doctor who braved the jungles of Volcanoes over half a century ago in a bid to study the behaviors of Mountain gorillas. In her book and film “Gorillas in the Mist” Dian said “Little did I know then that by setting up two small tents in the wilderness of the Virunga, I had lunched the beginnings of what was to become an internationally renowned research station eventually to be utilized by students and scientists from many countries.” This refers to how big the conservation efforts have grown over the 55 years of existence of this research station. You will also visit the former Karisoke research station which Dian had named after the two Virunga ranges of Karismbi and Bisoke. However, this research campus has now been relocated to its new state of the art station named Ellen DeGeneres Campus named after the famous American day time show host Ellen DeGeneres.
Accommodation: Mountain Gorilla View Lodge
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 7: Transfer back to Kigali and enjoy a city tour of Kigali before you finally go to the airport for your flight departure.
This is the final day of what has been an amazing tour, and depending on your departure flight time, you will transfer to Kigali and engage in a Kigali city tour. This city tour will have you which will see you visit places like the Genocide memorial museum. This museum will help you understand Rwanda’s troubled past capturing the horrid period that engulfed Rwanda during the 1994 Tutsi genocide in which over 800,000 people are believed to have lost their lives in a period of about 90 days. You can also visit the local market where you will get to see what the locals here eat. Kigali city is an exciting African city that shows that people can achieve just about anything when they put their minds into work. The transformation happening in this city is mind blowing given the horrid past of this nation. Rwandans by all means and standards have refused their future to be determined by their past and you will agree with me on when you visit some of the amazing structures that dot this city such as the Kigali Arena, the Amahoro stadium and the Kigali convention center. At the end of this tour of Kigali city, you will have a lunch break at one of the city’s restaurant at your own cost before you finally depart to the Kigali international airport in time for check-in for your outbound flight and this will bring your time with us to an end.
