Rwanda Gorilla & Chimpanzee Safari

Flight from Johannesburg.  On arrival at Kigali Airport, the Covid & Rapid tests will be done at the airport. After the tests are done, you will exit the airport where our friendly safari team will welcome you.  We will start exploring Kigali city with our first at the Brioche Café where you can enjoy breakfast (for your account). 

We visit the Genocide Memorial Centre which commemorates the bravery, strength, and unmatched struggle of the people of Rwanda.

Will visit the Kimironko Market where you can buy handicrafts,  souvenirs, and beautiful vibrant kitenge fabrics.

We enjoy lunch at the Repub Lounge where you can taste some of Rwanda's local food.

Stay: Park Inn by Radisson Blue Hotel (Standard room)

Meals: Dinner & breakfast

After an early breakfast, we drive to Kamembe across the beautiful landscape of rolling verdant terraced hills. En route we visit the Kings Palace Museum at Nyanza and stop at Butare where you will enjoy lunch (included).  This is the historical and traditional power center of Rwanda and here we visit the reconstructed Kings Palace to see how traditional monarchs lived in pre-colonial times.  

Stay: Mantis Kivu Marina Bay Hotel (Executive room)

Meals: Lunch, dinner & breakfast

Enjoy an early breakfast at the lodge before your transfer to the park board office to register for a true Rwanda style chimpanzee tracking and trekking experience.  Return to the lodge.  While at the hotel you can participate in a coffee roasting and tasting experience (for your account) at the coffee processing project which is accessible by boat. 

Stay: Mantis Kivu Marina Bay Hotel (Executive room)

Meals: Lunch, dinner & breakfast

Our morning adventure starts with the Canopy Walk.  The Canopy walkway is nearly 160m long and rises over 75m above the ground, giving a unique ‘eye-to-eye’ experience with the vast array of primates and birds in the upper reaches of the canopy. 

We return to the lodge for lunch followed by a late afternoon Boat Excursion on Lake Kivu with a visit to Nkombo Island.  Shared between Rwanda and DR Congo, Lake Kivu extends across the floor of the Albertine Rift and is hemmed in by a steep terraced escarpment. It is Rwanda's largest lake and the sixth-largest lake in Africa.

Covid test at the lodge to trek the gorillas.

Stay: Mantis Kivu Marina Bay Hotel (Executive room)

Meals: Lunch, dinner & breakfast

After breakfast start your journey to Volcanoes National Park, driving through the stunning scenery of flourishing green hills and valleys. Almost the entire country is 5 - 7 thousand feet high and incredibly lush. Huge indigenous forests and different types of farms stretch as far as the eye can see. 

Stay: Virunga Inn Resort & Spa (Deluxe room)

Meals: Lunch, dinner & breakfast

Early morning departure from the lodge to the Volcanoes National Park headquarters in Kinigi for your mountain gorilla trekking experience. After the briefing, you will drive to the starting point closest to the gorilla family you trek. This is your once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to come face-to-face with a silverback gorilla! You can stay with the gorillas for a maximum of one hour. You'll be privileged to come within mere meters of a gorilla to observe them foraging, playing, teasing each other, and eating.  You will return to the base where your driver will be waiting to transfer you to the lodge. 

During the afternoon you can visit the nearby ex-poacher’s village (for your account). As part of overall conservation endeavors, former poachers renounced their old ways and became conservation activists. Together with their families, they founded this little village where they now participate in eco-tourism showcasing Rwandan culture. Visitors can learn about traditional skills such as fire-making, archery, traditional medicine, the architectural design of grass thatched huts that were built for the kings, and cultural dances, among other attractions.

Covid test at the lodge to return to SA.

Stay: Virunga Inn Resort & Spa (Deluxe room)

Meals: Lunch, dinner & breakfast

Enjoy a morning at leisure with lunch at the lodge (included) or enjoy the opportunity to engage in another activity in the Volcanoes area (for your account).  You can visit the Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Fossey Fund; a beautiful campus built for gorilla conservation (opened on 1 February 2022). Visit the Cindy Broder Conservation Gallery with an immersive public exhibit designed to tell the story of mountain gorilla research and conservation from Dian Fossey’s time to today. The gallery includes never before seen artifacts from Dian Fossey’s almost two decades living with the gorillas, an engaging visual experience, including virtual and augmented reality, and a 360-degree immersive theatre.

You can also book a second gorilla trek (pre-book) or trek the golden monkeys.  Afternoon drive back to Kigali where we'll stop to visit the Question Coffee Café to taste some of Africa’s Best coffees. You will be taken through a short coffee history lesson, harvest cherries from the trees in their garden, taste coffee from all over Rwanda, and create your own custom blend. We enjoy a farewell dinner (included) before your transfer to the airport for your flight home, departing at 23h30 (Rwanda time), arriving at 03h20 (South African time).

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