The company guide/driver will warmly welcome and receive you upon your arrival at Kigali International Airport. The guide will ensure a smooth transfer to the pre-booked hotel/lodge in Kigali city, allowing you to relax and recharge for the exciting days ahead.

As you drive to the hotel/lodge, you will enjoy a glimpse of the breathtaking scenery and the vibrant city life, igniting your anticipation for the experiences ahead.

Meal Plan: Dinner

After an early morning breakfast, you will embark on 2-3 hours of road driving to Akagera National Park. Along the way, you will enjoy beautiful views of the steep terrain and undulating plains that characterize the region. The Park, which covers 2,500 square kilometers, boasts a diverse ecosystem that includes open Savannah grasslands, home to several wildlife species such as buffaloes, elephants, monkeys, hippos, giraffes, zebras, leopards, lions, and different species of antelopes, among others.

Upon arrival, you will instantly begin exploring the park by conducting a game drive, searching for animals such as giraffes, zebras, antelopes, elephants, buffaloes, and an incredible array of bird species.

After a delicious hot lunch, you will go for a shared boat excursion on Lake Ihema, where you will see abundant wildlife in and around the lake.

Lake Ihema is one of the most well-known lakes in East Africa that has high populations of aquatic animals such as hippos and crocodiles. During the boat trip, you will spot playful hippos, sunbathing crocodiles, and several birds, such as the pied kingfisher and African fish eagle.

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Today, you will get another chance to explore Akagera National Park's treasures in greater detail. During the game drive, you will encounter several animals, including elephants, buffaloes, giraffes, and other species.

After completing a game drive in the park, you will drive for 2-3 hours to Kigali city. Once there, you will visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial, which is home to more than 2500 victims of the 1994 genocide. This genocide memorial center serves as an educational hub and a museum offering insights and knowledge about the history of Rwanda.

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

After breakfast, you will leave Kigali city and embark on a thrilling scenic drive to Nyungwe Forest National Park, the monumental and one of the oldest rainforests in Africa. However, you will have an en-route visit to the Royal Palace Museum in the Huye district. This museum sheds light on Rwanda's pre-colonial history and subsequent emergence as a contemporary African nation. It further gives an insight into Rwanda's vibrant social, economic, and cultural aspects.

After a visit to the Royal Palace Museum, you will have lunch before resuming your journey to Nyungwe. Upon arrival at the lodge, you will spend the rest of the evening relaxing on the lodge's private balcony, enjoying beautiful sights and sounds of nature, or walking around the lodge's environs.

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

After an early breakfast, you will have a short drive to one of the three briefing centers, namely, Uwinka, Kitabi, or Gisakura, where experienced park rangers will take you through the guidelines and procedures about chimpanzee tracking. After the briefing exercise, you will begin trekking through the forest to embark on the thrilling adventure of tracking the chimpanzees.

Besides chimpanzees, the forest is home to 12 other species of primates, including L'Hoest's monkeys, and more than 322 species of birds, some of which you may observe during the tracking experience. Once you have located the chimpanzees, you will have one hour to spend near them and then walk out of the forest to the starting location.

After a fruitful chimpanzee tracking experience, you will return to the lodge for lunch and a few hours of relaxation.

Following a delicious lunch and a few hours of relaxation, you will drive to the Uwinka Visitors’ Center for a 3:00 PM canopy walk on a 70-meter elevated walkway above the ancient Nyungwe Forest. The suspended walkway is about 160 meters long, and it offers walkers beautiful views of Lake Kivu and the far-reaching parts of the forest, as well as the opportunity to spot various species of animals and birds.

After the canopy walk, you will return to the lodge for relaxation and an overnight stay.

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

After a fruitful exploration of Africa's oldest forest, Nyungwe, you will embark on a 3- 4-hour drive to Lake Kivu, located in the Albertine right alongside Rwanda's border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. As you drive along the winding road, you will enjoy the stunning views of the hilly terrain, and the many islands of Lake Kivu will be in clear view.

Upon arrival at the hotel/lodge, you will have lunch and enjoy a few hours of relaxation. Next, you will select one optional activity from a range of options available on or near Lake Kivu. These activities include fishing, boat rides, kayaking, nature walks, coffee plantation tours, and many more.

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

After breakfast, you will embark on a 1.5-hour drive to Musanze to participate in a cultural experience at Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village. This cultural center is in the Musanze district of the northern region of Rwanda, close to Volcanoes National Park. At the Cultural Village, the community will warmly welcome you as a special guest, with presentations about their traditions and customs. You will interact with the local people in their local setting and participate in cultural and traditional customs that include day-to-day activities and artifacts.

Note: Provided you have sufficient time, you can engage in any of the several optional activities after the Ibyacu cultural experiences. Musanze town, strategically located in the foothills of the Virunga ranges, offers many other activities, including biking, cycling, and guided community walks.

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Following an early breakfast, you will take a short drive to the collection center for the briefing exercise that begins at 8:00 a.m. The experienced park rangers conduct the briefing sessions to provide tracking participants with trekking guidelines and procedures. After the briefing, you, with the other 07 participants, will be assigned to one habituated gorilla family. You will then embark on a thrilling trekking expedition through steep and heavily forested slopes until you eventually find the gorillas within the dense forest.

You will have an hour to spend with the gorillas once you find them, during which time you can take photos and watch them go about their regular lives.

After the gorilla trekking experience, you will return to the lodge for relaxation and an overnight stay.

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Our "09 days of wild encounters, adventure in Rwanda, and gorilla trekking" safari concludes today with a 2-hour road trip to Kigali International Airport for your departure flight. As you travel, you will be captivated by the magnificent views of the undulating terrain that defines Rwanda as the "country of a thousand hills." 

Meal Plan: Breakfast & Lunch