Upon arrival at Kigali International Airport, you’ll meet your driver guide and be transferred to your lodge through the bustling capital. You can take a city tour to see the city’s cultural displays, visit the genocide memorial site, explore the art and craft center, or simply relax by the pool at your hotel, knowing you’ll be heading into the jungle the next day.

Enjoy a relaxed breakfast and embark on a scenic 2.5-hour road trip to Rwanda’s only savannah park, Akagera National Park, located in the eastern province. You’ll go through Rwanda’s beautiful countryside, a landscape dotted with calming scenery and vibrant colours. Upon arrival, you’ll enjoy a short game drive and then proceed to your lodge.

One of the highlights of any visit to Akagera National Park is a boat trip on Lake Ihema, thanks to its large pods of hippos, Nile crocodiles, and abundant water birds. You’ll enjoy an afternoon boat cruise along the lake, offering stunning views of the surrounding area and the rich wildlife from the water. Later, return to your lodge for dinner and an overnight stay.

The largely open expanse is ideal for prime wildlife viewing without disruptions, and steps are being taken to ensure the ‘Big Five’ roam the park in greater numbers over the course of time.

White rhinos in Akagera National Park

After a hearty breakfast, you’ll embark on a morning game drive in the savannah plains to look out for rhinos, lions, zebras, giraffes, topis, impalas, and elephants. Wildlife viewing is excellent during the golden hours when they are most active.  

In the afternoon, enjoy a leisurely boat cruise on Lake Ihema, offering incredible views of numerous birds on the waterfront including the African open-billed stork, giant kingfisher, gray-crowned crane, Senegal lapwings, and Papyrus gonolek. You’ll then return for dinner and an overnight stay.

After an early morning breakfast, bid farewell to the staff in Akagera National Park and embark on a 5-hour road trip to Nyungwe Forest. You will stop at local markets and the traditional palace in Nyanza, then proceed to Butare, where you’ll visit the Botanical Gardens and the cultural museum.

Savour the scenic views as you maneuver the stunning green fields of tea scattered across the hillsides, and before long, small, unique wooden houses surrounding Nyungwe Forest will come into view. Arrive at your reserved lodge and check in. For the rest of the day, make yourself comfortable, relax in the lounge, and meet fellow travelers and share your adventure stories.

Nyungwe Forest is rich with a high biodiversity rating and home to about 13 species of primates, including chimpanzees, Columbus monkeys, and L’Hoest monkeys, as well as up to 300 bird species.

Chimp tracking Nyungwe

After an early breakfast, you’ll transfer to the park headquarters for a briefing session and later be led onto the jungle trails by ranger guides for a rewarding chimp tracking. Before long, you’ll find your designated chimpanzee troop, which you’ll follow and stick with for the next hour.

These apes keep moving, jumping from tree to tree above the forest floor, making noise, grooming, and stopping for snacks or naps; and your challenge is to keep up with them under the guidance of your ranger guide.

After encountering the chimpanzees, you’ll take an aerial view of the Nyungwe Forest and the surrounding areas on the 160-metre (525-ft.) high canopy walkway, considered the world’s best, and then return to the lodge for the rest of the evening.

Canopy Walkway in Nyungwe National Park

Today, you have the opportunity to hike along well-maintained trails over the lush, green valleys of this equatorial rainforest. Nature walk in Nyungwe Forest allows you to explore more details of the forest on foot with a park ranger as you get closer to nature and learn more about what it has to offer.

There are several trails, including Ngabwe, Bigugu, Congo Nile Divide, Muzimu, Rukuzi, Igishigishigi, and Buhoro, offering 140 kilometers of options, ranging from short walks to multi-day treks through diverse forest environments.

Nyungwe is one of Africa’s oldest rainforests and is home to over 1,000 plant species, 13 primate species, 75 mammal species, about 275 bird species, and an astounding 120 species of butterflies. Yet, unfortunately, it’s little known outside of East Africa, despite its huge significance.

You can have a picnic lunch in the middle of the forest and then return to the lodge for the rest of the day.

After breakfast, you’ll transfer to the gorilla sanctuary, where you’ll spend the next two nights tracking the endangered mountain gorillas. The scenic road trip takes about 5 to 6 hours, and you’ll arrive in the afternoon. Upon arrival, you’ll check in to your lodge, relax, and prepare for your unforgettable gorilla trekking experience the next day.

Enjoy a delightful early breakfast and transfer to the park headquarters for a safety briefing (45 minutes). At 8 a.m., you’ll start your once-in-a-lifetime gorilla trekking excursion in a group of seven other travelers.

A packed lunch, comfortable clothes, sturdy shoes, and a walking stick will serve you well when venturing into this gigantic forest. The time spent gorilla tracking is unpredictable; it varies from 30 minutes to 7 hours before finding a family of these gentle creatures.

The location of each gorilla family depends on their feeding range, temperature, and their movement from the previous day. Trackers will go ahead of your group to locate the gorillas. Strict guidelines will be issued at the briefing point, so make sure you remember the most important ones

Hiking through the dense vegetation to find a family of these gentle giants is a fulfilling and unforgettable experience that many people look to undertake. Enjoy the one hour allotted (the only time allowed in the company of each gorilla family per day), watch, and capture this memorable experience.

In the afternoon, you’ll visit the Gorilla Guardians Village, an initiative aimed at preserving mountain gorillas and improving the lives of communities around them. Later, retire to the lodge for dinner and an overnight stay.

After a hearty breakfast, you’ll transfer to the park headquarters for a safety briefing and then embark on a golden monkey tracking excursion in the bamboo forest of Volcanoes National Park.

After the trek, return to the lodge for lunch, and after a little rest, pack up your baggage and transfer to Gisenyi on Lake Kivu, where you’ll spend the night. Enjoy breathtaking views of the stunningly beautiful scenery.

Relax on the shores of Lake Kivu, take a boat out on the lake to view the various islands, swim in its refreshing waters, stroll to the nearby villages, or ramble across a number of hills. After your memorable adventure, you’ll be driven back to Kigali International Airport for your departure flight.