7 Days Best of Rwanda Safari

Breakfast at your hotel, check-out and settle any extras. Visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial, the final resting place for more than 250,000 victims of the Genocide against Tutsis. Kigali Genocide Memorial has been and continues to be a place of remembrance and learning, to honor victims of Genocide against the Tutsis and unsure that never happens again.

Your driver-guide will then transfer you to the eastern part of Rwanda to Akagera National Park, the drive from Kigali to the park is approximately 2h30. Arrive in the Akagera National Park, transfer to the park headquarters for registration and then proceed to Akagera Game Lodge for check-in and lunch.

At 16h00, take an afternoon boat ride on Lake Ihema that will reward you with views of a large number of hippos, huge Nile crocodile, and a variety of bird species. Bird-lovers will be entertained by the majestic African fish eagles and a large concentration of water-birds. In the marshes, keep an eye out for the papyrus gonolek and the sought-after shoebill stork, the cormorants, and many more. Later drive back to your lodge for dinner and overnight.

Overnight: Akagera Game Lodge
Day meal plan: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Breakfast at 06h30, check-out and settle any extras, then proceed on a game drive in Akagera National Park. Plenty of animals can be seen including elephants, giraffes, buffaloes, zebras, hippos, rhinos and crocodiles as well as other mammal species. Known as one of the most scenic savannahs in East Africa, the game drive in Akagera National Park provides you with the opportunity to view gentle hills blending beautifully with lowland swamps and water bodies. Lucky visitors might stumble across a leopard, a spotted hyena or even a lion. Giraffes and zebras haunt the savannah and more than a dozen types of antelope inhabit the park, most commonly the handsome chestnut-coated impala and the world’s largest antelope, the statuesque cape eland.

Picnic lunch will be served in the bush. Exit with more game viewing en-route to Kigali, you will have a stopover at Question Coffee in Kigali for a coffee and then proceed to Volcanoes National Park in Musanze – Kinigi in the northwest part of Rwanda. Arrive at Five Volcanoes Boutique Hotel, the hotel staff will welcome you and assist you to check-in, briefing at the lobby, dinner and overnight.

Overnight: Five Volcanoes Boutique Hotel
Day meal plan: Breakfast, dinner and overnight

Breakfast at 06h00 am followed by your driver-guide transferring you at 06h30 am to Volcanoes National Park headquarters for registration and briefing. Your driver-guide will assist and facilitate on identifying the gorilla family to visit. Tracking can be between 90 minutes and 5 hours depending on what family group is assigned. You will spend one hour with the gorillas, sometimes moving around to stay with the gorillas or following them. The guide will ensure you are in the best spots to take the most beautiful pictures and experience this breathtaking experience properly. You will then drive back to your hotel for lunch and refreshment.

Later in the afternoon around 15h00 pm, you will visit the famous Gorilla Guardians Village, a non-profit umbrella organization that aims at improving the lives of reformed poachers and communities around Rwanda’s volcanoes national park through provision of conservation incentives, supporting community enterprise development and livelihood based projects. Gorilla Guardians Village gives you a rare chance to meet local people in their environment, with a taste of Rwandan culture and traditions. The community you visit will genuinely welcome you as a special guest while they proudly present to you aspects of their traditions and beliefs. This will truly be an experience of a lifetime. Drive back to your hotel for dinner and overnight stay.

Overnight: Five Volcanoes Boutique Hotel
Meal plan: breakfast, lunch and dinner

Breakfast at the hotel around 08h00 am, check-out and settle any extras before departing for Nyungwe National Park through Kibuye with spectacular views of Lake Kivu. The drive from Volcanoes National Park to Nyungwe National Park takes between 5 and 6 hours drive. You will have a stopover, lunch and drive to Kivu Marina Bay Hotel. On arrival the hotel staff will welcome and assist you with check-in, briefing at the lobby, dinner and overnight.

Overnight: Kivu Marina Bay Hotel
Day meal plan: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

At 04h30 you will get your parked breakfast and drive to the park headquarters for chimpanzee trekking briefing and formalities. Then head to the evergreen forest for a great experience that starts at 06h00. Walk-through stunning tea plantations before entering the thick luscious forest. The excursion can last from 1 to 4 hours but you will definitely hear the chimpanzees from the moment you enter the forest. Once found, you will stay an hour with the chimpanzees, watching them play, fight and eat in the atmospheric forest. Allow experienced, expert trackers to guide you on a deep forest trail, learning about these fascinating creatures and the enchanting forest they call home. Return to your hotel around 11h00 and have an early lunch.

Later in the afternoon, your driver-guide will transfer you to the park headquarters for a canopy walk briefing that takes place at 14h00. Your guided canopy walk experience will start at 15h00 pm. Experience the rain forests from a dazzling new perspective on the famous canopy walk, the only canopy walk of its kind in East Africa. This breathtaking construction hangs 60 meters above the forest floor between giant trees and towers, revealing a stunning view of the flora and fauna, both below and above. An iconic experience, not to be missed! Return to your hotel later in the evening, dinner and overnight.

Overnight: Kivu Marina Bay Hotel
Day meal plan: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Breakfast at your hotel around 07h00, check-out and settle any extras. Drive back to Kigali city, with a stopover in Nyanza to visit the famous King’s Palace Museum for an hour and have lunch. Your driver-guide will transfer you back to Kigali International Airport, say farewell to your driver-guide and proceed to check-in for your outbound flight.

Day meal plan: breakfast and lunch