8 Days Rwanda Safari

The 8 days Rwanda safari will take you to Volcanoes national park where you will be involved in a breathtaking and adventurous golden monkey trekking and gorilla trekking activity which gives you an opportunity to spend one hour with these exciting primates in their natural environment. While in the park you will also visit Ibyi’wacu cultural village which gives you an opportunity to interact with the local people, learn about their lifestyle, culture among others. During the safari you will also visit Nyungwe national park which offers an incredible chimpanzee trekking activity and canopy walk within the forest where you will view various chimpanzees, monkeys, baboons, bird species, tree species among others.

Highlights of the 8 days Rwanda safari

Day 1: Pick up and transfer to a hotel in Kigali

Day 2: Kigali city tour and transfer to volcanoes national park

Day 3: Gorilla trekking

Day 4: Golden monkey trekking and cultural tour

Day 5: Transfer to Lake Kivu

Day 6: Transfer to Nyungwe national park

Day 7: Chimpanzee trekking and canopy walk

Day 8: Departure to Kigali international airport

Detailed itinerary

Day 1 of the 8 days Rwanda safari

Pick up and transfer to Kigali, depending on the time of arrival on the first day of your 8 days Rwanda safari you will be welcomed by our driver guide who will brief you about your safari and then transfer to a hotel in Kigali for an evening relaxation, dinner and overnight.

Day 2: Kigali city tour and transfer to Volcanoes national park

On the second day of your 8 days Rwanda safari you will have a relaxed breakfast, check out of the lodge and meet up with your guide for a city tour in Kigali which is one of the best cities in Africa in terms of cleanliness and attractions. During the city tour you will visit Kigali genocide centre where you will learn more about the 1994 Rwanda genocide. You will also visit the craft centers where you will view beautiful art pieces, craft items like shoes, bags, jewelry among others. After the city tour you will have lunch in one of the hotels and then start the journey to Volcanoes national park which is situated in northwestern part of Rwanda. On the way you will have great views of the rolling hills, beautiful scenery, landscape, homesteads, local people among others and upon arrival you will check into the lodge, have dinner and overnight.

Day 3: Gorilla trekking in Volcanoes national park

Gorilla trekking, after an early breakfast on the third day of your 8 days Rwanda safari you will carry packed lunch and meet up with your driver guide to transfer to Kinigi park headquarters for a briefing about the rules and regulations of gorilla trekking. After the briefing you will be put in groups of 8 people where each group is allocated a gorilla family to trek and a park guide who is well conversant with the trails in the jungle. trekking of the mountain gorilla starts at around 8:00am and takes 30 minutes to 7 hours depending on the location of the gorillas because the like to move from one place to another in search of food.

During trekking you will have spectacular views of animals like forest elephants, bush pigs, forest hogs, duikers, other primates like vervet monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys, bird species like collared Apalis, Rwenzori turaco, handsome francolin, red faced woodland warbler among others. Once the gorillas are found you will be allowed to spend one hour with them in their natural habitat which gives you an opportunity to learn about their habits, behaviors, lifestyle, take photos and record videos with a flash less camera to show people back home after the safari. After the one hour encounter with the gorillas you will trek back to the park headquarters, meet up with your driver guide and transfer back to the lodge for an evening relaxation, dinner and overnight.

Day 4: Golden monkey trekking and cultural tour

Golden monkey trekking, after an early breakfast on the fourth day of your 8 days Rwanda safari you will meet up with your driver guide and transfer to the park headquarters for a briefing about the rules and regulations of golden monkey trekking. After the briefing you will start trekking in the jungle which takes about 30 minutes to 4 hours depending on the location of the golden monkeys because they like to move from one place to another in search of food. Once the golden monkeys are found you will be allowed to spend one hour with them in their natural habitat which gives you an opportunity to take photos, videos, learn more about their behaviors, habits, lifestyle, watch them play up in trees which gives you interesting moments on your safari. After the one hour encounter with the golden monkeys you will trek back to the park headquarters, meet up with your driver guide to transfer to the lodge for lunch.

Cultural tour, after lunch you will go for a cultural tour in the neighboring communities where you will visit Ibyi’wacu cultural village one of the interesting cultural villages around Volcanoes national park. During the cultural tour you will have an opportunity to interact with the local people where you will learn about their culture, way of living, taste Kinyarwanda food, learn how local beer is brewed from bananas,  be entertained by Banyarwanda women as they perform Kinyarwanda dance, songs, music and drama, listen to traditional stories among others. After the cultural tour you will transfer back to the lodge for dinner and overnight.

Day 5: Transfer to Lake Kivu

After breakfast on the fifth day of your 8 days Rwanda safari you will check out of the lodge meet up with your driver guide to transfer to Lake Kivu with spectacular views of beautiful scenery, Virunga mountains among others on the way. You will have en-route lunch and upon arrival you will go for a boat ride along Lake Kivu where you will take clear pictures and have great views of the sunset, various bird species, animals like hippos and crocodiles in water and other animals along the lake shores, view fishermen preparing their fishing gears among others. After the boat cruise you will drive to the lodge, check in, have dinner and overnight.

Day 6: Transfer to Nyungwe national park

After breakfast on the sixth day of your 8 days Rwanda safari you will check out of the lodge and meet up with your driver guide to transfer to Nyungwe national park. On your way you will have a stopover for lunch and enjoy great views of the beautiful landscape, homesteads among other. The journey takes about 4 to 5 hours drive and upon arrival you will continue to the lodge where you will check in, have dinner and overnight.

Day 7: Chimpanzee trekking and canopy walk

Chimpanzee trekking, after an early breakfast on the  seventh day of the 8 days Rwanda safari you will meet up with your driver guide to transfer to the park headquarters for a briefing about the rules, regulations and expectations of chimpanzee trekking. After the briefing you will be allocated a park guide who is well conversant with the trails in the forest and then start trekking. Chimpanzee trekking in the forest takes about 30 minutes to 4 hours and during trekking you will have great views of bird species, plants, other primates like black and white colobus monkeys, red tailed monkeys among others. Once the chimpanzees are found you will be able to spend one hour with them in their natural environment which gives you an opportunity to learn about their lifestyles, behaviors, take photos, record videos, watch chimpanzees feed, play, breastfeed, hunt, among others. After the one hour encounter with the chimpanzees you will trek back to the park headquarters and meet up with your driver guide to transfer to the lodge for lunch.

Canopy walk, after lunch you will go for an exciting canopy walk which is a 160m long and 70 meter high bridge. The canopy walk activity was opened in 2010 and Nyungwe national park is the only forest offering this amazing canopy walk in East Africa. The canopy walk starts at Uwinka reception center and goes through huge trees across the steep and deep valley filled thick forest. The canopy walk takes about 2 hours and offers spectacular views of colorful birds like long crested eagle, crowned hornbill, Rwenzori nightjar, white tailed flycatcher, archers robin chat, butterflies, primates like blue monkeys, l’hoest monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys, tree species among others. After the breathtaking canopy walk you will trek back to the starting point where you will meet up with your driver guide to drive back to the lodge for dinner and overnight.

Day 8: Departure

On the last day of your 8 days Rwanda safari you will have a relaxed breakfast, check out of the lodge and meet up with your driver guide to transfer to Kigali. On your way you will have a stopover at the King’s palace and Museum of Nyanza which harbors various Africa’s traditional materials. From the Kings palace you will have en-route lunch and then proceed with the journey to Kigali international airport where you will be dropped for in case you have a flight to catch or at any place of convenience.

End of 8 days Rwanda safari

Tour includes

Tour excludes