Overview
The 7 Days Rwanda Safari is a remarkable and memorable tour that will take you to 3 famous national parks and these are Nyungwe National Park for chimpanzee tracking, Volcanoes national park for gorilla trekking and Akagera national park for game drive, boat cruise and hot air ballooning tour. There is a also a chance to tour Kigali city where you visit notable attractions like the genocide memorial museum, markets and art and gallery. Also visit Lake Kivu the biggest lake in Rwanda at a border of DR Congo for a boat cruise. This safari therefore combines wildlife and primates.
Detailed Itinerary
Day1. Arrival at Kigali International Airport, pick up and transfer to the hotel
The driver guide will be at the airport in Kigali waiting for you on your arrival. He/she will take you through a quick briefing about this amazing 7 Days Rwanda Safari, the guide will also help you to acquire all the required material that you might have missed bringing and then, head to the hotel booked for your first night.
Day2. Transfer to Nyungwe NP after a short city tour
Leave for Nyungwe national park after enjoying a short city tour where places like the Kigali Genocide Memorial museum, art and gallery center, Kimironko market and more will be visited with a guidance of a local knowledgeable guide. Nyungwe national park is known to be a home of 13 primates that roam in area of 1,019 square kilometres. The journey will take about 5 hours as you enjoy the beautiful landscape of a thousand hill. Arrive and head to the lodge for your dinner and night stay.
Day3. Chimpanzee tracking and optional canopy walk
Wake up excited to meet the human close relative (chimpanzees) after breakfast an experience that will begin with briefing where the park ranger will outline different rules and regulations to follow while trekking, dress code, time taken and expectations while on this trail. Trekking will begin in the jungle while spotting different mammals and birds such as vervet monkeys, Grey checked mangabeys, red colobus monkeys and more.
On meeting the chimpanzees, spend an hour with them following their movements and learning about their behaviors. Members of the community will be searching for food, playing, breastfeeding if they have young ones, grooming young ones and more, this will take about an hour while taking photos and recording memories.
After the experience, head back to the lodge for lunch followed by an optional forest canopy walk in Nyungwe forest. The experience will last for 2 hours as you encounter primates like Black and white colobus monkeys, red tailed monkeys, vervet monkeys and many more others as the birds sing melodies in air. Return to the lodge for dinner and night’s stay.
Day4. Transfer to Volcanoes national park
Wake up for breakfast and head to Volcanoes national park – a protected area with over 12 habituated gorilla families. The road trip will pass via the winding hills overlooking Lake Kivu. You will stop to enjoy the beautiful scenery and also take pictures. Arrive at your lodge in the evening for dinner and overnight stay.
Day5. Gorilla trekking and transfer to Akagera national park
Wake up excited to meet the gentle giants after breakfast. Briefing will begin followed by crosschecking the gorilla trekking permits and then the trek will begin as you spot different eye catching moments covered with lush trees, beautiful birds and primates. Meeting the gentle giants is rewarding as you learn about their behaviors for an hour.
You are not allowed to use flash light camera while capturing photos. The overall experience takes about 3 to 6 hours and after lunch, take a drive to Akagera national park – the only savannah park in Rwanda. This park is known to home the African big five animals and the rare shoebill stork. Arrive at the lodge booked for your dinner.
Day6. Full day Akagera national park safari
Take a full day in Akagera as you explore its beautiful endless savannahs either on a 4×4 game drive, hot air balloon ride or boat cruise. The hot air balloon safari will offer you a chance to explore the park’s beauty in a panoramic view.
The boat cruise done in on Lake Ihema to spot water loving animals and birds like hippos, crocodiles, pelicans, fish eagles and many more. Each experience will last for about 2 to 3 hours.
Day 7. Transfer back to Kigali and fly home
Leave the lodge after a leisure breakfast and transfer to Kigali to board your flight back home and this will mark the end of the safari.