5 days Rwanda tour to Akagera National Park in East Rwanda, known for big game viewing drives that expose you to a variety of wild animals such as elephants, buffalos, lions, Masai giraffe, gazelles, impala, baboons, oribi, Butchel’s zebra, topi, bush baby, leopard and bushbuck. Gorilla trekking in Volcanoes national park is the major highlight of this trip in Rwanda.
Day 1: Arrival at Kigali International Airport.
Day 2: Game Viewing and boat ride in Akagera National Park
Day 3: Leave Akagera National Park for Volcanoes National Park
Day 4: Gorilla Tracking in the Volcanoes National Park
Day 5: Return to Kigali for your scheduled flight.
Day 1: Arrival at Kigali International Airport
You will be met by your tour guide on arrival at the airport and drive to the East, through the beautiful undulating plains, composed of dense, broad-leafed woodland, lighter acacia woodland and rolling grassland, also with an extensive series of lakes linked by papyrus swamps forming a sprawling wetland, check-in Akagera Safari lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 2: Akagera National Park Game drive
An early start this morning as you join your ranger in an open vehicle for your safari into the Akagera National Park. A half day game drive offers you the opportunity to spot a variety of wild animals such as elephants, buffalos, lions, Masai giraffe, gazelles, impala, baboons, oribi, Butchel’s zebra, topi, bush baby, leopard and bushbuck. Return to the lodge for lunch.
Proceed for a boat trip after along Lake Ihema, where you will have a closer look on water animals like Crocodiles and Hippos, coupled with large concentration of bird life; over 525 species identified. Unique species such as Shoe billed stocks and papyrus gonolek can be encountered. Endemics include the jacanas, ibis, sand pipers and herons.
Return to your lodge for dinner and a chance to discuss today’s sightings!
Day 3: Akagera – Volcanoes National Park
Start an early drive this morning after breakfast; return to Kigali and connect to Park National des Volcans (PNV) in the north for an absolutely unparalleled experience of Mountain gorilla tracking. Check-in at mountain Gorilla’s Nest or Kinigi Guest House near Kinigi station – Park Headquarters for lunch.
Take a walk through nearby forests to nearby crater lakes for scenic viewing, bird watching and photography. Dinner and overnight at Mountain Gorilla’s Nest/Kinigi guest house.
Day 4: Gorilla tracking in Volcanoes National Park Rwanda 
At 7:00 am local time, breakfast at the lodge will be ready. 30 minutes will be enough for your breakfast and then transfer to the nearby park headquarters where you will be briefed by park ranger on how to carry out gorilla tracking
Hiking on the slippery and muddy Volcanoes slopes with nettles is quite challenging. But the encounter with mountain gorillas erase all the bad memories! You will be allowed to stay with these close relatives of man (mountain Gorillas) for at least an hour for observation and photography.
In the evening visit the panoramic twin volcanic lakes of Burera and Ruhondo. Return to your lodge for dinner and folk tales at the fire place.
Day 5: Final Day of the Safari
After an early morning break fast, embark on a half day hike to Mt Bisoke, which is topped with a beautiful crater lake, take photos and later connect to Kigali International Airport for your flight back home.
End of the tour
Guide price
USD 940 per person based on a group of 6 people traveling, prices are subjected to change.
Price includes:
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Price does not include:
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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.