Day 1: Arrival Kigali/Volcanoes National Park
Upon arrival at Kigali International Airport, you will be met by our company representative outside the Airport Arrivals section. After introductions and a short briefing, depart Kigali and drive north-west of the country to Ruhengeri area – at the foothills of the Volcanoes Mountains.
The Volcanoes National Park lies in north-western Rwanda and borders Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda. The national park is known as a haven for the mountain gorilla and the golden monkey. It is also home to five of the eight volcanoes of the Virunga Mountains (Karisimbi, Bisoke, Muhabura, Gahinga and Sabyinyo), which are covered in rainforest and bamboo. The park was the base for the zoologist Dian Fossey.
Dinner & Overnight – Mountain Gorilla View Lodge (FB)
Day 2: Volcanoes National Park – Gorilla Trekking
Early breakfast at your lodge. After breakfast, you will be transferred to the park headquarters for the gorilla trek registration and allocation of the particular gorilla family to visit. After the briefing, you will return to your respective vehicles for the drive up the mountain to the starting point. Your trek starts in the cultivated foothills of the Virunga’s offering stirring views in all directions.
Trekking can take from two to six or more hours if the gorillas move before the park rangers locate them the next morning. The guides stop frequently to allow trekkers a chance to rest and take photos along the way. At the end of the trek, rejoin your driver-guide and transfer back to your lodge for freshening-up lunch. After lunch, you have the option to simply relax at your lodge, or take-up one of the various optional activities available. Evening at leisure at your lodge.
When they enter the national park, trekkers will be immersed in the mysterious intimacy of the rainforest, alive with the colorful bird calls, chattering golden monkeys, littered with fresh spoor of the mountains’ elusive buffalo and elephant. Through gaps in the canopy, the magnificent peaks are glimpsed, among the highest in Africa yet easily accessible, beckon an ascent. Weaving through overhanging vines, moss-covered hagenia trees and giant lobelias that thrive in the tropical climate, our experienced trackers, who have spent their entire lives in or close to this forest, soon bring us up close with one of the Gorilla families.
Upon sighting the gorillas, you will stay with them for a magical one-hour as they go about their daily life, feeding, playing, resting; raising their young.
Coming face to face with a giant silverback must truly be one of the greatest wildlife experiences on earth!
Dinner & Overnight – Mountain Gorilla View Lodge (FB)
Day 3: Volcanoes National Park – Golden Monkey Trek/Kigali
After an early breakfast, you will be transferred to the park headquarters for registration of your Golden Monkey trek. At the end of the trek, rejoin your driver-guide and transfer back to your lodge for freshening-up and lunch. After lunch, depart and drive down the foothills of the volcanoes – on the scenic but winding road and through the beautiful, rolling hills to arrive back in Kigali in the late afternoon, for check-in at The Manor Hotel. Evening at leisure at your hotel, with dinner on own arrangements
Trekking to see the Golden Monkeys is another highlight of Volcanoes National Park. The Golden Monkey is a local sub-species of the widespread Sykes Monkey, also known as the “Blue Monkey” and is endemic to the high altitude forests of the Volcanoes National Park area. The monkeys are playful and inquisitive and often spend their time leaping from bamboo branches or frolicking on the forest floor. Just as with the Mountain Gorillas, visitors are permitted to stay for only one hour with the Golden Monkeys.
Overnight – The Manor Hotel (BB)
Day 4: Kigali – Full Day City Tour/Depart
Breakfast at your hotel followed by check-out. Morning embark on a full-day orientation/sight-seeing tour of Kigali City, including the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre/The Kadt House – Museum of Natural History and the Presidential Palace Museum.
The Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre is a site of burial for around 250,000 victims of the genocide. It comprises of a Main Historical exhibition, a Children’s Memorial exhibition and an exhibition on comparative genocide, called Wasted Lives. It also has over four acres of memorial gardens containing ten mass graves, as well as the National Genocide Documentation Centre. All exhibitions are printed in three languages (English, French and Kinyarwanda). The Memorial Centre carries an international outlook – dealing with a topic of international significance, with far-reaching implications; and is designed to engage and challenge the international visitor base.
After your tour in the late afternoon, you will be transferred to the Kigali International Airport, for your evening outbound flight.
This will include:
- Arrival + Departure Airport transfers and assistance;
- 02 Nights at the Volcanoes on Full-Board basis;
- 01Night in Kigali on Bed & Breakfast basis;
- Full Day Kigali City Tour on Day 04; (inclusive of applicable fees)
- Extra Lunches on Days 03 & 04;
- Private Transport in a 4×4 Land cruiser;
- Services of an English/French-Speaking Driver-Guide;
- Bottled Drinking Water during the safari (in the vehicle) and while trekking;
- All taxes on the services quoted above.
Does not include:
- Meals and beverages, other than specified;
- Gorilla Permits;
- Golden Monkey Permit;
- Optional activities, as outlined;
- International, regional and local Airfares + Airport taxes;
- Passport and visa fees and service charges for obtaining visas;
- Excess baggage charges levied by airlines;
- Gratuities to driver/guides and other conveyance attendants;
- Laundry and other items of a personal nature such drinks, telephone calls, e.t.c.;
- Personal and baggage insurance;
- Cost for anything not specifically mentioned in the listing above;
- Insurance coverage is available for Baggage, Accident and Trip Cancellation/Interruption at special low cost group rates.
