Rwanda’s Wildlife and Heritage Safari

After an early breakfast, you will be transferred to the Kinigi Park Offices by 7:00 AM, just in time for the morning briefing and registration before heading to the starting point of the Mt. Bisoke hike. With your packed lunch and hiking gear in tow, you'll begin your ascent with the assistance of your guides and porters.

As you hike to the summit of this volcano, you'll enjoy lunch along the way before returning to the starting point, where you'll meet your guide for drop-off at your hotel.

Mount Bisoke is a dormant volcano that is one of eight in the Virunga conservation region of East and Central Africa. It rises to 3,711 meters and features a crater lake and lush vegetation at its peak. The hike to Mount Bisoke is a challenging one-day trek that requires good physical fitness, and it is recommended to hire a porter to help carry your water and daypack.

Afterward, you'll have dinner and spend the night in preparation for gorilla trekking the following day.

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch Dinner.

After an early morning meal, you will head to the park headquarters with your packed lunch to receive a briefing on the guidelines for interacting with the gorillas. Following this, you will enter the forest in search of the gorillas, which may take between 2 to 6 hours depending on their movements. You will have the opportunity to observe and spend up to one hour with the gorillas.

Later, you will visit the Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund in Rwanda, a hub for gorilla conservation and scientific research.

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch Dinner.

The hike is designed to offer tourists an educational experience about the renowned American primatologist and conservationist, Dian Fossey, who devoted her life to studying mountain gorillas. She established a research camp in the valley between Mount Karisimbi and Mount Bisoke, which is why it is called ‘Karisoke’. Fossey's efforts to safeguard the mountain gorillas and their environment brought her into conflict with harmful elements, including poachers, ultimately leading to her tragic death. She was laid to rest among the gorillas close to her Karisoke Research Center.

The hike takes place in the morning. Participants should arrive at the park office in Kinigi by 7 am to meet the ranger guides for a briefing. Around 8 am, you will drive for approximately 30 minutes to the base of Mount Bisoke, where the trekking begins just outside the park at the parking area. A walking stick will be provided free of charge at the starting point, and porters will be available for hire to assist with carrying your bags and providing support during the hike.

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch Dinner.

After enjoying breakfast, head to the park headquarters for your second encounter with various endangered species in the volcanoes. The trek to see the Golden Monkeys is typically an easy one, lasting about 1-2 hours. These rare old world monkeys are now found exclusively in the Virunga mountain range. Similar to the Mountain Gorilla treks, Golden Monkey excursions occur in the mornings, allowing visitors to spend an hour with the monkeys.

Following the trek, return to your lodge for lunch. In the afternoon, you might want to explore the vibrant Musanze market, where you can stroll through numerous stalls offering a variety of goods, from bananas and beans to colorful fabrics.

This area is renowned for its fertile volcanic soil, making it a prime vegetable-producing region in the country. This will be a great chance for you to see a range of vegetables and fruits available at the market.

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch Dinner.

Following an early breakfast at the lodge, head to Lake Kivu to relish the morning breeze by the shore, which is about an hour's drive to Rubavu. Spend an hour there before continuing on your journey, which will take approximately 4-5 hours to Nyungwe National Park, with lunch along the way. Nyungwe Forest is the oldest and largest rainforest in East Africa. You will arrive at the park in the late afternoon and check into your lodge for some relaxation, dinner, and an overnight stay.

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch Dinner.

Today, following your breakfast in the morning, you will depart from your hotel for an adventure tracking chimpanzees in Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda. This forest is renowned for its 13 species of primates and has been designated as a park for briefings and chimpanzee trekking. Once you locate the chimpanzees, you'll have one hour to observe them. After your trek, you will return to the hotel for lunch.

Post-lunch, you'll head back to Nyungwe National Park for a canopy walk, and then return in the afternoon for dinner and an overnight stay.

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch Dinner.

Enjoy an early breakfast before returning to Kigali. On your way to the city, you'll stop for lunch and visit the Rwanda National Museum in Butare. Continue on to Kigali, where you will be dropped off at the airport for your flight home.

Meal plan: Breakfast Lunch.