8 days Rwanda mountain gorilla and chimpanzee Safari
8 days Rwanda mountain gorilla and chimpanzee Safari is a perfect Rwanda safari package for tourists interested in primates, on this safari you are to visit numerous sites such as Volcanoes national park for mountain gorilla trekking and golden monkey trekking, Nyungwe Forest national park for chimpanzee trekking and Kigali Memorial Genocide sites.
8 days Rwanda Mountain gorilla and Chimpanzee safari starts from Kigali city of Rwanda and also ends in Kigali.
Highlights of 8 days Rwanda Mountain gorilla and Chimpanzee safari
- Day 1: Arrival in Kigali, Rwanda
- Day 2: Kigali city tour
- Day 3: mountain gorilla trekking experience
- Day 4: Golden monkey trekking and community visit
- Day 5: Transfer to Lake Kivu
- Day 6: Transfer to Nyungwe Forest and have canopy walk
- Day 7: chimpanzee tracking and community visit
- Day 8: transfer back to Kigali
Detailed itinerary of 8 days Rwanda safari
Day 1: Arrival in Kigali, Rwanda
On arrival at Kigali International airport you will be picked up by your tour guide and drive to your hotel in Kigali City the capital of Rwanda, have dinner and stay overnight.
Accommodation at Hotel Gorillas
Day 2: Kigali City tour
Have breakfast then go for a city tour visiting some of the fascinating tourist attractions including the Kigali Memorial Genocide Centre exhibiting the history of Rwanda genocide through videos, photographs and history written on a number of articrafts and testimonies. You will also visit a section referred to as the wasted lives referring to the genocides plus holocausts in Southwestern Africa, Bosnia, Armenia and Cambodia.
After lunch you will embark on a drive heading to Volcanoes national park a famous mountain gorilla habitat in Rwanda and Africa, on your arrival you will have dinner then stay overnight.
Accommodation options – Kinigi Guest House, Moderate La palme or Luxury Mountain gorilla view Lodge or Sabinyo Silverback lodge.
Day 3: mountain gorilla trekking experience
Mountain gorilla trekking experience is the highlight of 7 days Rwanda safari and on this day you will wake up early for breakfast then head to the park for the fascinating mountain gorilla trekking experience. You will briefed about the rules and regulations to follow on the experience then trek into the forests of volcanoes national park in search for mountain gorillas with a help of a game range, as you hike through the mountainous terrain of the park you will enjoy watching many plant species, birds and a chain of volcanoes including mount Karisimbi the highest volcano in the chain.
When you find the mountain gorilla, you will be fascinated by the incredible size of the gentle animals, watch them take care of their animals, pick fruits and leaves to eat and get to take amazing pictures (keep in mind your flashlights should be off). Then trek back to your lodge for late lunch then spend the last of the day resting at your lodge or even take a dip in the swimming pool.
Have dinner and stay overnight at Kinigi Guest House, La palme, or Mt Gorilla View lodge.
Day 4: Golden Monkey trekking and community visit.
Have breakfast at your lodge then drive to Gisenyi for a golden monkey trekking experience, you will undergo a briefing session in which rules and regulations to follow in this experience will be read to you then trek into the forest looking for golden monkeys and when you find them you will spend 1 hour in their presence. In this one hour you will take amazing pictures, observe the behavior of the golden monkeys then head back to your lodge for lunch. In the afternoon you will go for a community walk enjoying interaction with the locals, observe the making of locally brewed beer and be entertained by cultural dances.
In the evening you will have dinner and stay overnight.
Accommodation options: Paradise Malahide Hotel or Serena Hotel.
Day 5: Transfer to Lake Kivu
After breakfast at your hotel, you will checkout and drive to Lake Kivu for a boat ride experience visiting the virgin Islands found in the lake such as the Napoleon’s Hat Island. While on the island you can ascend to the peaks of the hat where you will enjoy views of numerous Angola bats in the blue skies. After lunch you will head to Butare visiting the Intellectual Centre of Rwanda, the National University, the national Museum and the Institute of Scientific Research. In the evening you will head to your lodge, have dinner and stay overnight.
Accommodation at Hotel Faucon
Day 6: Transfer to Nyungwe Forest and have canopy walk
Have breakfast at your hotel, checkout and transfer to Nyungwe Forest one of the remaining protected montane rainforests on the African continent covering an area of 970 square kilometers. The forests are a home to a large population of chimpanzees other primate species such as black and white Angolan Colobus monkeys, L’Hoest monkeys, over 270 species of trees and orchids, butterflies, 70 species of mammals and over 275 bird species.
When you arrive in the park you will have lunch at your lodge after checking in then in the afternoon you will go for a canopy walk on the metallic canopy suspended high above the tree tops, on this walk you will enjoy watching chimpanzees, numerous species of birds such as sun birds and the neighboring areas. Later return to your lodge, have dinner and stay overnight.
Accommodation: Gisakura Lodge
Day 7: Chimpanzee Trekking and community visit
Have early breakfast then proceed to the park for a chimpanzee tracking experience, you will be briefed about the experience then head into the forests of Nyungwe looking for chimpanzees, when you find them you will have one hour of watching these beautiful creatures playing on tree tops and take pictures. After the experience you will head back to your lodge for lunch then drive to Nyanza the historical seat for the former kings of Rwanda, while on your visit you will enjoy warrior dances , these dances are a choreographic heritage of Rwanda by the Itore dances adorned with a lion mane completed with sisal fiber and ring of bells worn in their ankles. Later return to our hotel, have dinner and stay overnight.
Accommodation: Hotel Ibis
Day 8: Return to Kigali for departure
Have breakfast then drive to Kigali city where you will be dropped off either at your hotel or at the airport for your departure flight.
End of 8 days Rwanda Safari.
