Day 1 - Arrive Kigali

Upon arrival at Kigali International Airport, you will be met by our representative and transferred to Kigali Serena Hotel for the night.  Dinner is under your own arrangements.

Kigali’s elegant Serena Hotel is situated in the centre of the city, and attracts guests who seek both business and leisure. The enormous pool and wealth of indigenous trees outside the hotel create a tranquil and welcoming sight for visitors before they step into the lavishly decorated interior charmingly personalised with Rwandan art. As to be expected of any Serena Hotel, the accommodation is spacious and sophisticated with 5-star amenities. As well as its standard rooms, the hotel boasts 25 beautiful suites. Beyond the comfort of the accommodation, Kigali Serena offers a myriad of additional features to help its guests relax: Maisha Spa, an outdoor pool with Jacuzzi, a fitness centre, and two dining options, including Milima Restaurant; one of Kigali’s most popular places to eat. The hotel is equally well-equipped for business travel, with two conference rooms fitting over 500 people, a translation service and an interactive business centre.

Overnight: Kigali Serena Hotel

Meal Plan:

Day 2 - Kigali – Nyungwe Forest National Park

After breakfast, you will drive to Nyungwe National Park. Enjoy lunch at Nyungwe Forest Lodge. After lunch you will go for the unique Canopy Walk.  

Established in October 2010, the Nyungwe canopy walk way extends to 200 feet above the ground stretching to 90m in length. The canopy walk allows guests to explore the higher forest canopy landscapes with the sights of beautiful butterflies, primates and birds in the branches of the trees. The Nyungwe canopy walk commences at Uwinka visitor center and tends to last about two hours.

Overnight: Nyungwe Forest Lodge

Meal Plan: B,L,D

Day 3 - Chimpanzee Tracking

After an early breakfast, you will make your way to the start point for a morning of chimpanzee tracking. These wonderful primates are very much like humans – they can be gentle, caring and tender but they can also be aggressive and irritable very much like humans.

There are approximately 500 chimps left in the Nyungwe Forest and they live in extended communities of up to 100 individuals that break up into smaller sub groups as they forage through the forest. You are likely to hear them before you see them and they may be on the move so you will have to track them through the forest.

Overnight: Nyungwe Forest Lodge

Meal Plan: B,L,D

Day 4 - Nyungwe Forest National Park – Lake Kivu

After a leisurely breakfast, you will drive north to Lake Kivu. The drive takes approximately two hours and the road winds its way through some magnificent scenery. The lake itself is the sixth largest lake in Africa and dominates the border between Rwanda and the DRC. Driving between the towns is simply stunning and around every corner there is a magnificent view.

You will arrive at the Lake Kivu Serena Hotel in time for lunch and the chance to sit on the sand shores looking out over the lake. In the afternoon you will venture out onto the lake on the hotel boats and take a cruise around the paradise islands with a sundowner cocktail in hand.

Overnight: Lake Kivu Serena Hotel

Meal Plan: B,L,D

Day 5 - Lake Kivu – Volcanoes National Park

This morning, you will drive to Volcanoes National Park.

Hidden away amongst the thick rainforest of Volcanoes National Park in the northwest of Rwanda lives one of the planet’s most endangered species: the gorilla. The park, which contains five out of the eight volcanos of the Virunga Mountains, is the most accessible gorilla national park in the world and is home to 10 habituated groups of this glorious creature.

Volcanoes National Park offers other incredible lifetime experiences, including tracking the rare golden monkey, trekking to the top of Mount Bisoke - where lies a magnificent crater lake - and enjoying a guided walk through local communities to learn about their livelihoods and culture. Another popular activity is hiking to the tomb of American primatologist Dian Fossey who spent nearly 20 years studying gorillas in the park. This breath-taking place is the oldest national park in Africa, and offers experiences that cannot be missed by any individual visiting Rwanda.

Overnight: Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge

Meal Plan: B,L,D

Day 6 - Gorilla Tracking

After an early breakfast, drive to Volcanoes National Park HQ to be allocated a gorilla tracking group.  After a briefing by your trackers you will drive to the trail head for the start of an amazing adventure.

The Mountain Gorillas in the Parc National des Volcanes are part of a worldwide population of just over 1,000 individuals. The gorillas you are allowed to track belong to either one of four habituated family groups. For up to five years each, these groups have undergone an extremely delicate process that has gradually brought them to tolerate the presence of humans for a brief period every day and allowed a few privileged visitors to interact with them in the wild.

The gorillas are by no means tame, and are completely wild animals. However, experienced guides will accompany you on your tracking, many of who have been involved in the habituation process themselves. The guides will use their knowledge of the gorillas’ habits and information from the previous day to locate the group’s whereabouts.

Once the gorillas are located, the group will be allowed a maximum of one hour with them. This is one of the world’s truly memorable experiences – a look into one of these magnificent creatures’ eyes brings home the bond that exists between them and us. It also brings home the poignant fact that they are on the edge of extinction, and that our presence here contributes to ensuring their continued survival.

Afterwards, trek back to base where your driver will be waiting to take you back to the lodge for a well-deserved shower and lunch.

In the afternoon, visit Ibyiwacu Cultural Centre. This center is a non-profit organization that aims to improve the lives of reformed poachers. Whilst here you will see a replica of the Kings house, have a taste of the local banana beer and meet and interact with the local people. 

Overnight: Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge

Meal Plan: B,L,D

Day 7 - Golden Monkey Tracking

After your breakfast at your lodge, you will be picked by your driver guide, and drive to the park headquarters where you will be briefed and escorted to track the Golden Monkeys.

The Golden Monkeys are also an endangered species and the park is currently home to two habituated golden monkey troops which consist of approximately 40 members each. The troops live in the bamboo forests at the base of the volcanoes and the tracking experience is very similar to the gorilla tracking experience. There will be no more than eight guests tracking and the departure time is 07:00.

The golden moneys are very active creatures and spend a lot of time up in the bamboo jumping between them which can make them difficult to photograph. However this is a rare and delightful experience and one not to be missed whilst in Rwanda.

Overnight: Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge

Meal Plan: B,L,D

Day 8 - Drive to Bwindi National Park

Enjoy an early breakfast then depart Bwindi National Park in neighboring Uganda. On arrival at the Cyanika boarder you will be met by another one of our vehicles and transferred to Bwindi (approximate drive six hours).

The gloriously named Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park is aptly named: 'bwindi' means darkness and this densely tangled green wilderness is deeply shaded, steeply rising - the elevation soars from just over 1000 meters to almost 3000 - and so rugged and tightly packed, that it's only accessible on foot. Located in south-western Uganda, it is one of the richest, oldest and most diverse rainforests in the region, 25,000 years old boasting over 400 plant species. Within its 330 square kilometers live 120 species of mammals, 348 species of birds, 220 species of butterflies and 27 species of frogs, chameleons and geckos. The park is also home to over 300 mountain gorillas - half the world's population - some habituated so visitors can observe them: standing quietly aside, you can watch these enormous animals getting on with the business of living: feeding, playing, watching you back. They aren't the only primates, they share the forest with almost a dozen other species including chimpanzees.

Overnight: Sanctuary Gorilla Forest Camp

Meal Plan: B,L,D

Day 9 - Gorilla Tracking

Today is the long-awaited day. After an early breakfast, your guide will escort you to the Uganda Wildlife Authority Park headquarters where you will meet fellow trackers and gorilla guide who will then lead you into the forest to find the Mountain Gorillas. The trekking may be strenuous - up to six hours or longer is not uncommon – at relatively high altitude.  Mountain Gorillas are wild animals, and so, sightings cannot be guaranteed, however the success rate is well over 95%.  These massive primates are extremely rare, only approximately 1,000 remaining. You will get within meters of the family, and be privileged to spend up to one hour amongst them.

Returning to the lodge later in the day and time permitting, you may have an opportunity for further forest walks with the guides or a visit to the hospital in Bwindi or just relax.

Overnight: Sanctuary Gorilla Forest Camp

Meal Plan: B,L,D

Day 10 - Drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park

After breakfast, you will proceed to Northern Queen Elizabeth National Park. During your stay you will enjoy a launch trip on the Kazinga channel, game drives & experiential drive in search of lions.

Queen Elizabeth National Park is one of Uganda's most popular game conservancies; within its 2000 square kilometers it harnesses savannah, fertile forest, lakes and wetlands which means it offers refuge to a huge diversity of game. The endless Ishasha plains are hunting grounds for lion. The Kazinga Channel is thought to home the planet's largest concentration of hippo, the wetlands and forests 600 species of bird including the pouting shoebill which stands 4 foot tall. Rare sitatunga antelope live here and so does the Uganda Kob, with his graceful rearward leaning horns. The Kyambura Gorge to the north east of the park, with its thick tree top canopy strung with vines, and the Maramagambo Forest, south of the Kazinga Channel are both chimp country.

Overnight: Mweya Lodge

Meal Plan: B,L,D

Day 11 - Queen Elizabeth National Park

Today enjoy a day of thrilling game drives and a cruise along the Kazinga Channel.

One of the highlights of visiting Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth Park is enjoying a cruise along the Kazinga Channel; a 32 kilometer stretch of water linking Lake George with Lake Edward. Cruises along the Channel have been organised since 1952 - not surprisingly considering the Channel is a fantastic exhibition of the local wildlife. Most of the park’s animals gather here on the river’s shores to drink and bathe, including elephant, antelope, buffalo, crocodile, monitor lizards, and hippo. The hippo population in the park is in fact one of the largest in the world. Morning and afternoon cruises are available, each lasting about 2 hours and are accompanied by a professional guide who regales visitors with stories of the Channel’s history, and explanations of bird and animal sightings. Aside from wildlife, the boat cruise is a wonderful way to admire the park’s stunning setting – including distance views of the Virunga Mountains – and it also bypasses fishing villages where the fisherman can be seen preparing their canoe boats for late night expeditions.

Lion Experiential tourism in Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP) is a unique experience for tourists to involve themselves with monitoring the park’s lions, giving them an almost 100% chance of encountering these magnificent creatures. The experiential is a research program run by the Uganda Carnivore Project where tourists use location devices to track the lions living amongst the park’s Kasenyi Plains. The 1-3 hour trip takes place during the morning or evening and along the way visitors not only get to see these remarkable big cats, but also learn about their habits, behaviours and what tricks researchers use to track them. Whilst an incredible experience unique in Uganda, the lion experiential is not simply an activity for tourist’s pleasure as these excursions are important for QENP’s lion tracking research. Results from the excursions will contribute to the park’s wider date base, and consequently contribute to the understanding of local wildlife and conservation.

Overnight: Mweya Lodge

Meal Plan: B,L,D

Day 12 - Fly to Entebbe and depart

After breakfast you will catch the scheduled flight to Entebbe where you will have a day room to freshen up before your flight home in the evening.

Overnight:

Meal Plan: B