10 Days Best Of Rwanda Safari
per person
10 days best of Rwanda safari is a tour that gives travelers interesting in exploring Rwanda an opportunity to explore three national parks in the country. The safari starts with a Kigali city tour and thereafter takes you to volcanoes national park where you trek the mountain gorillas and visit the Iby’iwacu cultural village before heading to Nyungwe forest national park for chimpanzee trekking and the canopy walk. The same safari will take you to Lake Kivu and then Akagera national park where you will do a game drive to see some of the 1000 large mammals and then the boat cruise on Lake Ihema.
10 Days Best Of Rwanda Safari highlights
- Day 1: Arrival and Kigali city tour
- Day 2: Connect to volcanoes national park
- Day 3: Encounter mountain gorillas in volcanoes national park
- Day 4: Encounter golden monkeys and transfer to Lake Kivu
- Day 5: Boat cruise and nature walk.
- Day 6: Transfer to Nyungwe forest national park
- Day 8: Connect to Akagera national park and evening game drive
- Day 9: Morning game drive and boat cruise
- Day 10: Transfer back to Kigali city
Day 1: Arrival and Kigali city tour
On the first day of the 10 days best of Rwanda safari, you will arrive at Kigali international airport and our driver guide will welcome and then brief you about the safari. After the meet and greet session, you will drive to the Kigali genocide memorial where you will be able to get more information about the incident of the 1994 Rwanda genocide and spot some of the remains of the victims. You will later try put any of the local restaurants with local dishes for lunch and thereafter head to Kirimonko market where you meet and interact with the local traders to know how they live their day to day life and you can even buy some of their local food. You can also take a visit to Inema Art Centre and get to support some of the local craft makers by buying some of their souvenirs. Later head to your booked lodge for dinner and an overnight stay.
Meal plan
Lunch, and Dinner
Accommodation
Kigali Serena Lodge – Luxury, The Retreat Kigali – mid-range, Step Town Motel – budget
Day 2: Connect to volcanoes national park
On the second day of 10 days best of Rwanda safari, you will wake up and take your breakfast and meet up with your driver-guide who will take you Musanze. The journey from Kigali city will take you 2-3 hours and on arrival, you will check in your lodge and wait for lunch.
In the afternoon, you will drive to the park headquarters and meet the rangers who will brief you about the hike and give you an armed ranger guide to lead you through the hike to the grave of the famous primatologist. The hike to Dian Fossey grave takes 1-2 hours of going through the park trails with opportunities of meeting different park animals like the buffaloes, duikers, giant forest hogs, elephants, and different bird species. When you reach The Dian Fossey grave, you will be able to know more about is life, what she did to protect the mountain gorillas and you will see her grave near her favorite gorilla digit in the cemetery. Later you will return to your lodge for dinner and an overnight stay.
Meal plan
Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
Accommodation
Five Volcanoes Boutique Hotel – luxury, Da Vinci Gorilla Lodge – mid-range, Kinigi Guest House – budget
Day 3: Encounter mountain gorillas in volcanoes national park
On the third day of 10 days best of Rwanda safari, you will wake up for a morning breakfast, get your trekking equipment and meet your driver-guide to take you to the park headquarters where you will meet the rangers to take you through the briefing exercise about the rules and regulations of the gorilla trekking activity. After listening to the rangers you will be allocated a mountain gorilla family to trek and the driver guide will drive you to the starting point where you will meet the armed ranger guides.
The armed ranger guides will take you through different park trails as you spot different park animals such as elephants, duikers, giant forests hogs, bushbucks, bird species, and much more. When you spot the mountain gorillas, you will be allowed to watch them do daily activities like nesting, hunting, breastfeeding, you will learn about their habits and you will take photos. After 1 hour, you will trek out of the forest, meet your driver and head back to the lodge for lunch.
In the afternoon, you will head to Iby’Iwacu cultural village where you will have a cultural visit to the communities in this village with opportunities of interacting with former poachers. You will witness the people do day to day activities, be part of the ceremonies if any, taste the local foods and at the end of it all you will get entertained by the traditional dancers. Return to the lodge, relax, get dinner, and an overnight stay.
Meal plan
Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
Accommodation
Five Volcanoes Boutique Hotel – luxury, Da Vinci Gorilla Lodge – mid-range, Kinigi Guest House – budget
Day 4: Encounter golden monkeys and transfer to Lake Kivu
On the fourth day of 10 days best of Rwanda safari, you will wake up early in the morning and have breakfast. You will later head out to the park headquarters for a briefing about the rules and regulations of golden monkey trekking as an activity. After you will be allocated a family to trek and you will meet a ranger guide together with your group members to lead you through different park trails as you are looking for the endangered primates.
During the search of these golden monkeys, you will be able to meet some of the park animals like monkeys, giant forest hogs, duikers, elephants, and several bird species but as soon as you set your eyes on the golden monkeys, you will be given 1 hour to be around these apes, learn about their habits, watch them do daily activities like nesting, playing, hunting and take photos. Later you will trek out of the jungle, meet your driver-guide for a drive to the lodge for lunch.
After lunch, you will check out the lodge and start on your journey to Lake Kivu which is found on the borders of DR Congo and Rwanda. On arrival at Lake Kivu, you will proceed to your booked lodge, check in and spend the rest of the evening relaxing. Dinner and an overnight stay.
Meal plan
Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
Accommodation
Lake Kivu Serena Hotel – Luxury, Palm Garden Resort – Mid-range, Paradis Malahide- budget
Day 5: Boat cruise and nature walk.
On the fifth day of 10 days best of Rwanda safari, you will wake up to the beautiful views of Lake Kivu and you will get served the morning breakfast after which you will be taken to the lake for a morning boat cruise. There are no hippos and crocodiles in Lake Kivu and the water is said to be bilharzia free so after the boat cruise, you can even do swimming. While on a boat cruise, you will be able to see different water birds such as African Pied Wagtail, Tropical Boubou, spotted Yellow-throated Greenbul, Speckled Pigeons, Ashy Flycatcher, Chin-spot Batis, Cardinal Woodpecker, Common Waxbill, and Bronzed Sunbirds among others. You will return to the lodge for lunch and in the afternoon you can choose to have a nature walk. Dinner and an overnight stay.
Meal plan
Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
Accommodation
Lake Kivu Serena Hotel – Luxury, Palm Garden Resort – Mid-range, Paradis Malahide- budget
Day 6: Transfer to Nyungwe forest national park
On the sixth day of 10 days best of Rwanda safari, you will wake up and have a relaxed breakfast before checking out of the lodge and meeting your driver-guide for a journey to Nyungwe forest national park. From Lake Kivu to Nyungwe forest national park it takes 5- hours with an en-route lunch and on arrival at the park, you will check in your lodge and relax. Later you can decide to have a simple nature walk around the lodge, then dinner and an overnight stay.
Meal plan
Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
Accommodation
One&Only Nyungwe House – luxury, Nyungwe Top View Hotel – mid-range, and Gisakura Guest House – budget
Day 7: Chimpanzee trekking and canopy walk
After morning breakfast on the seventh day of 10 days best of Rwanda safari, you will meet your driver guide who will transfer you to the park offices to get a briefing from the rangers. After the briefing, you will be allocated a chimpanzee family to trek and a safari driver will lead you to the starting where armed ranger guides will lead you through park trails looking for the chimpanzees.
While searching, you will all get chances of spotting different park mammals, several primates, and different bird species and on setting eyes on the apes, you will be given 1 hour to be around these apes, watch them do daily activities, learn about their habits and take photos using flash less cameras. Later you will trek out of the jungle and meet your driver who will transfer you to the lodge for lunch before heading out for the canopy walk.
Later in the afternoon, you will go to the park headquarters and have a briefing about the canopy walk from the rangers. Later a park guide will lead you on a 90-meter long bridge, built 50 meters above the ground and during the 2 hours walk you will have an aerial view of the park surrounding, trees, watch different monkey species, and different birds. Later you will return to the lodge for dinner and an overnight stay.
Meal plan
Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
Accommodation
One&Only Nyungwe House – luxury, Nyungwe Top View Hotel – mid-range, and Gisakura Guest House – budget
Day 8: Connect to Akagera national park and evening game drive
On the eighth day of 10 days best of Rwanda safari, you will wake up to a morning breakfast and later check out of the hotel to meet your driver who will be ready to take you to Akagera national park. the journey is a bit long but with rewarding views of the beautiful scenery along the way. On arrival at the park, you will check your lodge and have some lunch as you wait for the next activity.
In the afternoon, you will meet your driver to take you for an evening game drive around the park. The game drive will give you an opportunity to see different animals like elephants, Topis, Bohor Reedbucks, water-bucks, Oribis, giraffes, zebras, leopards, hyenas, bushbucks, sitatungas, roan antelopes, lions, duikers, klipspringer, buffaloes, impala, and Cape elands among others.
Meal plan
Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
Accommodation
Magashi Camp – luxury, Ruzizi Tented Camp – mid-range, Mutumba Campsite – budget
Day 9: Morning game drive and boat cruise
On the ninth day of 10 days best of Rwanda safari, you will wake up and have a morning breakfast and meet your driver for a morning game drive. The game drive in Akagera national park takes 3-4 hours of moving around the park looking for different animals such as Zebras, elephants, Bohor Reedbucks, Topis, water-bucks, buffaloes, impala, Oribis, hyenas, bushbucks, duikers, sitatungas, giraffes, leopards, roan antelopes, lions, klipspringer, and Cape elands among others. Later you will return to the lodge for lunch as you wait for the sun to calm down and then you have an evening boat cruise.
When the sun calms down, your driver-guide will take you to Lake Ihema which is inside Akagera national park for a boat cruise. The boat cruise on Lake Ihema will give you high chances of seeing water animals like the hippos, crocodiles, and different waterbird species such as the shoebill stork, White-tailed blue Monard, and African Harrier Hawk among others. Return to the lodge, have dinner, and have an overnight stay.
Meal plan
Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
Accommodation
Magashi Camp – luxury, Ruzizi Tented Camp – mid-range, Mutumba Campsite – budget
Day 10: Transfer back to Kigali city
This will be the last day of your 10 days best of Rwanda safari and so you will wake up to a relaxed breakfast and check out of the lodge. Your driver-guide will transfer you to Kigali city with a short morning game drive as you head out of the lodge. You will be served lunch on your way and on arrival at Kigali you will be dropped off at any place of your inconvenience.
Meal plan
Breakfast and Lunch
Tour includes
- Gorilla trekking permit
- Golden monkey trekking permit
- Park entrance fees
- Cultural tour
- Kigali city tour
- Transport
- Service of the English-speaking guide
- Accommodation
- Drinking water and meals indicated in the itinerary
Tour excludes
- International tickets
- Visas
- Personal insurance
- Tips
- Personal expenses
- Porter fee