This amazing Rwanda tour is all about watching the two most sought-after primate species in the forests of Africa, the mountain gorillas and chimpanzees. At the start of the safari, you visit Volcanoes National Park to meet and interact with the endangered mountain gorillas in proximity. After gorilla tracking, you travel to Nyungwe to have an exciting time with the chimpanzees, so playful and dramatic!
TOUR ITINERARY
Day 1: Arrive at Ruhengeri
Upon your arrival at the airport, you will be welcomed by our representative who will make you feel at home since this is a very important feeling for any traveler. The representative will be at your service and you can ask as many questions on whatever subject concerning your safari and more and he will assist you kindly. After this short period of fraternization with our representative, you will then drive north towards the Parc Nationale Des Volcans which is where you will track the gorillas from. En route to the park, you will be treated to various sceneries ranging from the beautiful terraced hills for which Rwanda is well known, the Virunga Mountains, and several other forms of flora and fauna. Rwanda is a very beautiful country and as such you should always have your camera ready to flash because you do not know what you might see around the corner. After this long trip, you will reach the town of Ruhengeri which is like the tourist town of the park and here you will spend the night at either Gorilla Nest Lodge/La Palme Hotel/Kinigi Guest House.
Day 2: Gorilla trekking
You will have an early morning breakfast at your hotel/lodge and thereafter drive to the Headquarters of Parc National des Volcans. While there, you will meet your ranger guides for the day and they will brief you about the behavior of the primates and most importantly on the dos and don’ts of the activity. The rangers are a very lovely bunch and they have been trained in handling the mountain gorilla and several other animals in the park and so if you follow whatever they tell you, then you are assured of a safe fruitful trip. After this briefing by the rangers, you will be grouped and ready for the experience of a lifetime. The gorilla tracking activity is as gripping as it is exploratory, taking you through large areas of the forest along rough paths. Therefore the trackers have to be physically fit in order to handle the sometimes muddy terrain in this mountain area. You will be gone for the most part of the day as it may take you several hours to find a group of gorillas but you will find one anyway and after that, you spend quality time mingling with the primates in very close proximity. Get your camera ready and spread the myth because this is something you have definitely never seen. You will return to your hotel/lodge after this and spend the night there.
Day 3: Transfer to Nyungwe
You are to wake up early enough and have the most important meal during any safari, breakfast.
After breakfast, you will drive to the Nyungwe Forest National Park where you will do the chimpanzee tracking. However, this is not a short journey so it’s best to use the time and take in a few of the beautiful scenes on the road to the park. These scenes are the reconstructed King’s Palace at Nyanza, Butare Museums, and Murambi Memorial. It is highly advisable that you get your camera ready as you will be making stopovers at some of the important places in the history of the country. You will stop over for lunch at Butare and thereafter proceed to Nyungwe National Park and spend the night at Gisakura Guest House.
Day 4: Chimpanzee tracking
You will be provided breakfast to start your day at speed. After breakfast, you will drive to the Nyungwe rainforest at around 6 am to start your search for the chimpanzees. Although not as interesting as the mountain gorillas, these chimps as they are most frequently called are good game since they display rare and unusual characteristics which will get you very intrigued. Since these are not the only primates in the park, you will also track the colobus monkeys which are there in plenty. Another interesting thing about a forest is the possibility of having a glimpse at the numerous animals in the park like birds, reptiles, and butterflies. This is therefore going to be a very interesting trip/safari. You will then drive back to Gisakura Guest House for a good night’s sleep.
Day 5: Departure
You will have breakfast at the hotel/lodge and then depart for Kigali. Depending on whether your flight is early or late you will take a tour of the city and here you will go to the market, handicraft shop visits, pottery projects, genocide museum visits, and many others. Kigali is a very well organized city and you travel through it with maximum ease. Transfer to Kigali Airport to find your departure flight.