Day 1: Arrival at Kigali Airport. Take a Kigali City Tour through the different Genocide Memorial Sites, Curio shops and Kimironko fruits market.

Day 2: Hiking and Trekking along the colobus Trails in Nyungwe Forest.

Day 3: Chimpanzee Tracking in Nyungwe Forest. Connect to Kibuye in the afternoon.

Day 4: Leave Kibuye for Kinigi via Gisenyi and Ruhengeri.

Day 5: Gorilla Tracking in PNV. Visit the twin lakes of Bulera and Rubondo.

Day 6: Day Hike to the Volcanic Mount Bisoke

Day 7: Drive to Akagera National Park. Take a boat ride along Lake Iheema.

Day 8: Big Game Drive in Akagera National Park.

Day 9: Connect to Kigali, do some shopping & later transfer to the airport.

Day 1: Arrival – Kigali City Tour
Upon arrival at Kigali international airport, our tour guide will welcome and take you for a briefing in the Hotel. Proceed for Kigali city tour, where you will visit the Genocide Memorial Museum, curio markets and the Kimironko fruits markets where you have a chance to meet the local people and choose your fruit basket.

The city tour will also include the old town of Nyamirambo, the new handicraft village and other shops, the Batwa pottery and dance centre and the Gisozi Genocide Memorial. Lunch encountered enroute. The City tour takes a couple of hours and so interesting. Thereafter, proceed to Nyungwe National park, check-in at Nyungwe forest lodge.

Day 2: Hiking and trekking Colobus trails: Nyungwe forest N.P
Enter Nyungwe forest after breakfast to track the Nyungwe Colobus monkeys. A walk in the forest is a whole learning experience conducted by knowledgeable tour-guides well versed in botany, ornithology and interspecies relationship in this forest. There after, return to your lodge for lunch. Dinner and overnight Nyungwe forest lodge.

Day 3: Chimp trekking in Nyungwe forest & Kibuye City
After a cup of coffee, enter Nyungwe forest (0600hrs) to track the chimpanzees; return to the lodge for lunch, thereafter, connect to Kibuye for dinner and overnight in Kibuye Guest house or Hotel Centre Bethanie.

Day 4: Kibuye-Gisenyi-Ruhengeri & Kinigi (PNV)
After early break fast, proceed to Kinigi (Volcanoes National Park Head quarters) from Kibuye via Gisenyi and Ruhengeri. This is a 6hrs drive (213Km). The Kibuye-Gisenyi drive traverses the most beautiful sceneries, providing spectacular views of the tea growing countryside of Gisovu and Kayove. Brief stops are provided for photography and refreshment. A 4hrs drive takes us to Gisenyi for lunch and a brief city tour. There after drive for 2hrs to Ruhengeri and finally Kinigi; the base of gorilla tracking. Dinner and overnight at Mountain Gorilla’s Nest / Kinigi Guest House.

Day 5: Rwanda Gorillas in the Mist: Parc National des Volcans
An early morning breakfast is followed by a drive to Kinigi station – park headquarters for guide allocation and briefing on the Dos’ and Don’ts while tracking mountain Gorillas. This is followed by a drive to the trailheads where hiking and trekking up the hills to the bamboo zone begins. Hiking to the gorillas may take 2-5 hours, depending on their movements. At least an hour with the mountain Gorillas can suffice. Return to your lodge for lunch. In the afternoon, visit the twin volcanic lakes of Burera and Ruhondo. Dinner and overnight stay at Mountain Gorilla View Lodge

Day 6: Day Hike to Volcanic Mountain Bisoke
Enjoy an early morning breakfast and go for hiking Mt Bisoke, with a beautiful spectacular crater lake. The trail traverses the rainforest inhabited by the endangered mountain gorillas that were the subject of the movie – Gorillas in the Mist with Dian Fossey. The hike to the Crater lake takes about 3 hours up and 2 hours down.

Put on long pants to avoid the stinging nettle plants along the trail. The Mt Bisoke hike is suitable for those who are reasonably fit! Return to the lodge for lunch and relax in the evening while discussing the day’s sightings! Dinner and overnight at Mountain Gorilla View Lodge

Day 7: PNV & Akagera National Park: Boat trip
Start a picnic drive to Kigali after breakfast, enroute, enjoy the rolling hills for which Rwanda is well known. Drive to Akagera National park, 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.

After lunch, proceed for a boat trip on Lake Ihema, where you will have a closer look at marine animals like Crocodiles and Hippos, coupled with large concentration of birdlife, with over 525 species identified. Unique species such as Shoe billed stocks and papyrus gonolek are part of the list. Endemics include the jacanas, ibis, sand pipers and herons. Return to Akagera safari Lodge for dinner and overnight!

Day 8: Big 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 here will allow you the opportunity to spot a variety of wild animals such as elephants, buffalos, lions, Maasai giraffe, gazelles, impala, baboons, oribi, Butchel’s zebra, topi, bush baby, leopard and bushbuck. Have lunch and relax while having a discussion about the safari experience, and prepare for a flight back home.

Day 9: Final day in Rwanda
This is the day to say farewell to your fellow travelers, guide and to a country that has been your home for a short while. Following breakfast, you will connect to Kigali, do some shopping and latter transfer to the airport and catch your flight back home.

End of the tour

Guide price

USD 1500 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.