7 Days best of Rwanda Trip

7 Days best of Rwanda trip takes to almost all the national parks of Rwanda. The safari starts from Kigali city where our driver will pick you up at the airport and then it heads to volcanoes national park where you will spend time with the endangered mountain gorillas and even meet the people from the Iby’Iwacu cultural village.

The safari will also take you to Nyungwe forest national park where you will encounter the endangered chimpanzees for 1 hour and then the canopy walk. Lastly, the safari will take you to Akagera national park for a game drive with opportunities of seeing more than 100 different animals and several bird species.

7 Days best of Rwanda trip

Day 1: Arrival and transfer to volcanoes national park

Day 2: Encounter mountain gorillas and cultural visit

Day 3: Lake Kivu and transfer to Nyungwe forest national park

Day 4: Encounter chimpanzees and canopy walk

Day 5: Connect to Akagera national park

Day 6: Morning game drive and boat cruise

Day 7: Transfer to Kigali

Day 1: Arrival and transfer to volcanoes national park

On the first day of 7 Days best of Rwanda trip, you will arrive at the airport and find our English-speaking driver guide ready to meet you and brief you about the safari. Later you will head out for a Kigali city tour where you will visit the Inema Art Centre, Kirimonko market, and Kigali genocide memorial. You will head out for lunch and later start on your 2-3 hours journey to volcanoes national park. Upon arrival at Musanze, you will check in your lodge for evening relaxation, have dinner, and have an overnight stay.

Meal plan

Lunch, and Dinner

Accommodation 

Five Volcanoes Boutique Hotel – luxury, Da Vinci Gorilla Lodge – mid-range, Kinigi Guest House – budget

Day 2: Encounter mountain gorillas and cultural visit

After an early morning game drive, you will meet your driver guide who will transfer you to the park headquarters for a briefing before heading into the jungle to meet the mountain gorillas. At the briefing point, you will meet the rangers who will teach you about the dos and don’ts of gorilla trekking, and thereafter the driver guide will take you to the starting point.

Here you will meet the armed ranger guides who will lead you through different park trails looking for the endangered mountain gorillas and on meeting them you will spend 1 hour with them while learning about their habits, watching them do daily activities such as hunting, nesting, mothers breastfeeding and you will be able to take the photos with cameras that have no flashlight. When trekking you will meet different park animals and birds but after all, this is done you will trek out of the forest, meet your driver-guide and connect to the lodge for lunch.

In the afternoon, you will connect to the Iby’Iwacu cultural village where you will have a cultural tour with the local people among which some used to be poachers. While at the cultural village you will meet the former poachers and get to listen to their stories, visit craft shops for souvenirs, be part of ceremonies, watch the people do daily activities, and at last you will be entertained by the local people who will take you through traditional dances and drama. Later you will connect to the 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: Lake Kivu and transfer to Nyungwe forest national park

After early morning breakfast, you will check out of the lodge and meet your driver guide to transfer you to Nyungwe forest national park with a stopover at Lake Kivu. When you reach Lake Kivu, you will have a morning boat cruise which takes 2-3 hours of going around the lake with opportunities of spotting crocodiles and hippos and then different bird species. You can also have a simple nature walk where you will be able to spot different bird species. Later you will continue to Nyungwe forest national park and on arrival, you will just check in your booked accommodation have 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 4: Encounter chimpanzees and canopy walk

On day four of your 7 Days best of Rwanda trip, you will wake up to a morning breakfast and then meet your driver guide who will drive you to the briefing point to meet the rangers who will teach you about the dos and don’ts of the trekking activity. You will later join other trekkers and head to the starting point where you will meet the arranged ranger guides to lead you into the jungle to search for the fully habituated chimpanzees.

The searching takes 2-4 hours of passing through different plant species with opportunities of meeting different monkey species like the silver monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, vervet monkeys, different bird species, and much more. When you set eyes on chimpanzees in Nyungwe, you will be given 1 hour to be around these primates, watch them do daily activities, learn about their habits and take photos. Later return to the lodge for lunch and relaxation.

In the afternoon you will be driven again to the briefing point where you will have another briefing but this time about the canopy walk one of its kind in East Africa. After the briefing, a ranger guide will lead you on this 90-meter long bridge raised 50 meters above the ground for over 2 hours with aerial views of the park animals, different bird species, park surroundings, and different plants. Later you will drive back 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 5: Connect to Akagera national park

On day five of 7 Days best of Rwanda trip, you will wake up to morning breakfast, check out of the lodge and then meet your driver for a transfer to Akagera national park. The journey from Nyungwe to Akagera national park takes 5-6 hours and you will have a stopover at the king’s palace, and Rwanda national museum. On arrival at the park, you will just check in your lodge, relax in the evening and have dinner.

Day 6: Morning game drive and boat cruise

On day six of 7 days best of Rwanda, you will wake u early in the morning for breakfast and then meet the driver guide to take you through different game tracks as you search for animals. Having the game drive early in the morning helps you to spot some of the nocturnal animals before they go to their hiding places. On the game drive in Akagera, you will see animals such as zebras, giraffes, rhinos, lions, antelopes, waterbucks, duikers, cape elands, buffaloes, and elephants among others. Return to the lodge for lunch, relax as you wait for a boat cruise.

In the afternoon, the driver will transfer you to Lake Ihema for a boat cruise. During the boat cruise, you will be exposed to so many water animals like the crocodiles and hippos and then different water birds such as ibis, Plovers, Sandpipers, jacanas, herons, Hawk, Malachite Kingfisher, and many others. After the wonderful boat cruise, you will return to the lodge for dinner and an overnight stay.

Meal plan

Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Accommodation

Magashi Camp – luxury, Ruzizi Tented Camp – mid-range, Mutumba Campsite – budget

Day 7: Transfer to Kigali

The seventh day will be the last day of your wonderful safari in Rwanda and on this day you will wake up and have morning breakfast. Later you will check out of the lodge and exit the park with a morning game drive which can give you an opportunity to encounter animals you would have missed the previous day. You will have an en-route lunch and on reaching Kigali, the driver guide will drop you at any place of your inconvenience to end 7 Days best of Rwanda trip.

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