Day 1: Meet and Greet at the Airport. Transfer to Kigali.

Day 2: Kigali City Tour. Transfer ti Nyungwe Forest National Park.

Day 3: Chimpanzee Tracking. Primates Walk in the Jungles.

Day 3: Transfer to Volcanoes National Park (PNV)

Day 3&4: Gorilla Tracking in Volcanoes National Park (PNV)

Day 6: Hike to Dian Fossey’s Grave

Day 7: Transfer to Akagera National Park

Day 8: Game Viewing in Akagera National Park

Day 9: Visit the Crater Lakes. Game Viewing in Akagera National Park

Day 10: Departure with an optional city tour

Day 1: Arrival and transfer to the Hotel in Kigali for dinner and overnight.

Day 2: Kigali City Tour – Transfer to Nyungwe national park
After breakfast visit Gisozi genocide memorial. Later set off for Nyungwe forest with a stop-over in Butare town, visit the National Museum, and lunch at the Ibis restaurant. Visit Murambi Genocide site en route to Nyungwe then dinner and overnight at Gisakura Guest house or Nyungwe forest lodge

Day 2: Chimps, Black and White Colobus monkey Trekking
Take early morning breakfast and set off to Nyungwe for chimpanzee trekking that rewards you with a wonderful forest life experience. Return late breakfast, relax as we wait for lunch and later go for large troops of black and white colobus monkeys in the forest. Dinner and overnight at Nyungwe Forest Lodge

Day 3: Transfer to volcanoes national park
After breakfast transfer to Kinigi near Parc Nationale des Volcans – home of gorillas. Lunch at Gisenyi on shores of Lake Kivu, dinner and overnight at Gorillas nest loge

Day 4 & 5: Gorillas in the Mist
Early morning set off for gorilla tracking in Volcanoes National park. Gorilla Trekking through the light mountain forest of the Virunga is a wonderful life time experience. Some gorilla families are elusive, and tracking can take a full day, especially when it is wet and muddy. In the afternoon visit Iby’iwachu cultural village.

Day 6: Hike to Diana Fossey’s grave yard
Early breakfast is followed by a hike to Dian Fossey graveyard at Karisoke Research Center. This is where Dian spent about 20 years studying the Mountain Gorillas. The trek to the site is quite spectacular, passes through thick bamboo forest and afro-montane habitats, with criss-crossed trails with tracks of forest buffalo and elephant! Expect to see all sorts of wildlife on our way up and down to the graves, nestled between the beautiful volcanic peaks of Karismbi and Visoke. Dinner and overnight at the lodge.

Day 7: Transfer to Akagera National Park
Depart for Akagera National park with enroute lunch in Kigali, dinner and overnight at Akagera safari Lodge

Day 8: Akagera National Park Game drive
Wake up early for a cup of coffee and embark on a morning game drive in search for elephants, zebras, black rhino, giraffes, lion, leopard, etc. Return to the lodge for relaxation and lunch. In the afternoon enjoy a boat ride along Lake Ihema, see huge crocodiles, hippos and over 450 bird species. Dinner and overnight at Akagera safari Lodge

Day 9: Nature walk
After breakfast enjoy a boat ride on the the Crater lake. This exposes you to Rwanda’s morning breeze. After lunch, go for an evening game drive and see animals while returning to their habitats.

Day 10: Departure with an optional city tour based on time of flight
Leave for Kigali, time permitting, have a city tour, visit local markets, and genocide memorial sites, then transfer to the airport which marks the end of you safari.

Note: This package can be customized to replace Nyungwe with Kibale forest national park for clear and excellent visibility of chimps. Queen Elizabeth national park may also be included. This does not affect the price of this package.

End of the tour

Guide price

USD 1600 per person based on a group of 6 people traveling, prices are subjected to change.

Why do we use guide prices?
The price for every safari depends on the number of people travelling, their ages, the time of year, whether or not international flights are included, the type of transport and accommodation used and the activities undertaken.

We calculate according to the specific dates of your booking because after we publish our itineraries some things may change. For example, hotels may increase their prices, the government may introduce new taxes or some discounts may become available. Unfortunately, we also have to pass on surcharges imposed on us by, for example, airlines when fuel prices or airport taxes are unexpectedly increased.

We would be happy to prepare a quotation, based on your requirements. We normally include most costs in the price so all you need to bring with you is ‘pocket money’ for items like drinks, tips and personal shopping e.g. souvenirs.

Insurance

AMREF flying doctors provide a medevac service in case of illness or injury during your safari. This costs $25pp for 31 days. We recommend this service and can include it in your package price.

Booking

Once you have selected one of our safari packages you need to send us a booking form. When we receive this we will check availability and inform you if any changes are necessary and issue an invoice for a 50% deposit plus the full cost of any tracking permits (in case of cancellation permit fees are non-refundable). Only once this payment is received can we guarantee availability and issue a booking confirmation. Full payment is required 70 days before travel.

Payments and cancellation

We charge in US dollars. Payment is by bank transfer into our Standard Chartered USD bank account in Uganda. You can also pay by credit card although there is a 5% administration charge. For those booking from within Uganda, cash payments are possible at our office.

When we book your safari, we have to pay non-refundable deposits on your behalf, for example to hotels. Therefore, we charge cancellation fees as follows:

30% of reservation costs if you cancel more than 50 days before your arrival date

100% of reservation costs if you cancel less than 50 days before your arrival date

We strongly recommend that you include cancellation cover in your travel insurance.

Disclaimer: We enter into an agreement with you in good faith but we sometimes encounter unexpected changes in local conditions which can affect your itinerary or price. These changes are beyond our control and we are not liable for them. While we endeavour to protect you against the effects of these changes, we reserve the right to amend the agreed itinerary and price in response to them. Such changes include but are not limited to weather conditions, road conditions, supplier price increases, fuel increases, government tax increases, supplier service changes e.g. cancellation of ferry services for river crossings or national park operations (track maintenance, animal translocations). We assure you that, we will always give you as much notice as possible of changes, suggest alternative plans and keep additional charges to a minimum.

Accommodation

To help us select the right accommodation for your safari (and in the absence of a complete national hotel classification system e.g. 1*–5*) we use four levels: high-end, mid-range, budget and backpackers. These terms can mean different things to different people but are helpful to an extent.

Air-conditioned rooms are not available in all hotels. Where AC is available, there is usually an extra charge.

Some locations have a limited choice of accommodation and so, to stay there, you must accept what is available. Where possible we prefer to work with responsible accommodation providers. This means hotels and lodges which are locally owned, employ local staff, support their community and protect the local environment.

Transport

As standard, we use a spacious 7-seater, 4×4 safari Land Cruiser, with pop-up roof, fridge and phone/camera charging facilities. This is the perfect safari vehicle.

Alternatively, we offer a slightly cheaper 7-seater, 4×4 safari van with a pop-up roof.

5-seater versions of both Land Cruisers and vans are also available.

For large group tours we use small buses called Coasters. These usually seat around 28 people, including 5 jump (fold-down) seats in the aisle. They do not have a boot/trunk so luggage is carried on the back seats which reduces the seating capacity. The overhead luggage shelves are small and can only accommodate small bags. Therefore, we recommend you do not over pack.

All vehicles include a driver/guide and fuel for your itinerary. Additional activities, not included in your itinerary, may incur an additional fuel charge. Our vehicles are comprehensively insured, in good mechanical condition and have seat belts fitted.

Please let us know if you have any special travel requirements. For example, if your group has disabled members we will do our best to accommodate your needs.