8 Day Tour
Spend time tracking the fascinating mountain gorillas. Enjoy driving through the rolling hills. Take a boat ride on Lake Kivu. Visit local villages and markets.
Day 1: International outbound flight
Today you begin your journey by boarding your international outbound flight to Kigali.
Day 2: Ruhengeri
On arrival in Kigali you will meet your private driver-guide and vehicle which will take you through the highlands to Ruhengeri, the base for gorilla trekking. You will have this afternoon to relax and recover from your journey and we recommend an early night to prepare you for tomorrow’s excitement!
Stay At: Gorilla Mountain View Lodge
Day 3: Ruhengeri
Today you will set off early after breakfast for the park headquarters where you will register for the gorilla trekking. Once you’ve been assigned a group and have had a briefing from your guide you will be driven to the trailhead where you will start the walk. Trackers leave before the tourist groups to locate the gorilla groups so your guide should know where to take you, and once you’ve found the group you will have one hour with them to take photos and observe them as they interact.
Stay At: Gorilla Mountain View Lodge
Day 4: Ruhengeri
After breakfast today you will set off to track the golden monkeys in the Volcanoes National Park. This will be a completely different but just as rewarding experience to tracking the gorillas. You will track the monkeys with a guide through the forest of the Volcanoes National Park and you will spend an hour with them once you find them. The walk is generally easier than the trek to the gorillas, although this depends on the monkeys’ movements. There are two habituated troops of golden monkeys, both of which have around 80 members in the family. They are incredibly lively, so can be quite hard to photograph until they settle down or go into a clearing, but are fascinating to watch leaping from tree to tree!
Stay At: Gorilla Mountain View Lodge
Day 5: Lake Kivu
This morning you can have a leisurely breakfast before setting off with your driver for Lake Kivu. The drive takes around an hour and a half, and the rolling hills that characterise Rwanda’s landscape become much more dramatic and cliff-like as you drive on. You will pass small farming villages and banana plantations before descending into the valley to Gisenyi, the town at the north of Lake Kivu. Your driver will take you straight to your hotel, where you can relax for the night unwinding and resting your weary legs after your two days of trekking in the Volcanoes National Park.
Stay At: Lake Kivu Serena Hotel
Day 6: Lake Kivu
Today is free for relaxing or exploring Lake Kivu — you can go swimming in the hotel pool, or in the lake itself, have a tour of Gisenyi town, or hire a boat to visit some of the nearby islands on the lake. You can decide on the day what you’d like to do and your driver will help you with all of your arrangements.
Stay At: Lake Kivu Serena Hotel
Day 7: International return flight
This morning you will depart Lake Kivu and drive back to Kigali Airport. It will take around two and a half hours, or longer if you stop a lot to take photographs, and the road takes you past the Virunga Volcanoes and Ruhengeri on the way.
Day 8: International return flight
Arrive home today to complete your journey.
11 days from £6135 pp
The price reflects the suggested accommodation in this itinerary. This will depend on when you travel and is subject to change. All of our Wildlife holidays are completely tailor-made to your requirements. We are happy to make recommendation to meet the quality and experience you are looking for, within your given budget.
