Detailed itinerary

Day 1: Arrival to Kigali

Welcome to “the Land of a thousand hills” Our representative (your guide) will be waiting for you at the airport to pick you and transfer you to the hotel in Kigali City for overnight.

If you arrive in the morning or early afternoon, you will enjoy a short tour of Kigali City visiting the genocide memorial and Kimironko Market.

Overnight stay: Radisson Blu Hotel

Meal Plan: Dinner

Day 2: Transfer to Akagera National park | Boat Safari

Your driver guide will pick you up from the hotel in Kigali for a short city tour, visiting sites like the Kigali Genocide Memorial and the Kandt Museum. Then transfer to Akagera National Park arriving in time for lunch, check-in at your lodge for delicious meal and a short rest.

In the afternoon you will head the park for a game viewing drive, exploring the park’s savannah plains. Keep an eye out for animals like lions, giraffes, leopards, cape buffaloes, zebras, gazelles and many bird species.

In the evening you will have a boat safari on Lake Ihema for a beautiful afternoon breeze and some sightings of water birds and wildlife. Depending on your interest, join a night game drive in search of the nocturnal wildlife such as lions, leopards, hyenas, serval cats and some nocturnal birds.

Return to your lodge for dinner and overnight stay.

Overnight stay: Akagera Game Lodge

Meal Plan: Full Board

Day 3: Game drive in Akagera National Park

Enjoy a full day game drive in Akagera National Park

Akagera National Park – the only savannah park in Rwanda is home to several big and small mammals. After an early breakfast, your guide will pick you up for a day game drive in the northern sector of the park which is less bush offering better opportunities for animal sightings.

You will take the lakeshore drive along the different lakes as you look for the various wildlife like zebra, giraffes, impalas, elephants, buffaloes, topis and the elusive leopards. On a lucky day, you will sight a pride of lions before they go into hiding.

Akagera National Park has an incredible array of birdlife for any keen birders, you will also enjoy he different landscapes of the park with views of different lakes, mountains and rolling plains.

Overnight stay: Akagera Game Lodge

Meal Plan: Full Board

Day 4: Transfer To Nyungwe Forest – The Home Of Chimpanzees

Depart Akagera National Park for Nyungwe Forest National Park via Kigali City, along the journey we shall have a stopover in Huye for lunch and a visit to the National Museum to learn more about the history and traditions of the Rwanda people.

We arrive in Nyungwe Forest National Park later in the evening, have dinner and stay overnight.

Overnight stay: Nyungwe Top Hill View Lodge  

Meal Plan: Full Board

Day 5: Chimpanzee Tracking and Canopy Walk In Nyungwe Forest

After an early breakfast, leave for chimpanzee trekking in Nyungwe Forest.

Nyungwe Forest is home to 13 species of primates including Chimpanzees, L’Hoest monkeys, and Columbus monkeys. The forest has big population of chimpanzees with groups habituated for chimpanzee trekking tourism.

You will join other visitors at the park headquarter for briefing where a ranger guide takes you through rules and regulations to follow, then start your trek looking for chimpanzees. The time taken on this activity depends on the movement of the chimpanzees and range from 30 minutes to 4 hours and more, you will be allowed to spend one hour interacting with the chimpanzees and watching them go on with their lives.

Return to the lodge for lunch and short, later in the day you can choose to do the canopy walk. The canopy walk allows you enjoy the beautiful views of the forest from above as you admire nature and the incredible views of the forest canopy.

 Overnight stay: Nyungwe Top Hill View Lodge

Meal Plan: Full Board

Day 6: Transfer to Volcanoes National Park

Leave for Volcanoes National Park after breakfast, along the way you will enjoy the different sights and winding roads in the land of a thousand hills. You will have opportunities to have different stopovers for pictures, lunch and stretching depending on your needs.

When you arrive in the park, you will check-in at your lodge for dinner and overnight stay.

Overnight stay: Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge  

Meal Plan: Full Board

Day 7: Gorilla Trekking in Rwanda

Meet the mountain gorillas in the dense jungles of the Virunga Ranges, gorilla trekking in Rwanda’s Volcanoes national park is a ‘once in a lifetime’ experience.

Have early breakfast and head to the park headquarters in Kinigi where you are assigned a ranger and a gorilla family to trek, after the briefing your ranger guide leads you to the starting point of the trek.

Depending on location of gorilla group to trek, you might need to the starting point, enter the forests in search for mountain gorillas. The trek through the habitat of these gentle giants is a fulfilling unforgettable experience that only lucky people undertake.

The trek can last from a few minutes to several hours depending on where the gorillas nestled the previous night as well as their movement. When you locate the gorillas, you are allocate one hour of interacting with the gorillas, watch them play with their babies and pick fruits which they eat among others. You are allowed to take pictures as long as your flash light is off.

Trek back to the park headquarters to meet your driver and head back to your lodge for lunch. You can decide to spend the rest of the day lodge or go for a community walk.

Overnight stay: Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge 

Meal Plan: Full Board

Day 8: Visit the Gorilla Guardians Village & Transfer to Lake Kivu

After breakfast, you will go for a visit to the Gorilla Guardians Village where you will learn about the Rwandan culture. Become a King or Queen for a day, get involved in knitting, learn how to use a bow and arrow and be entertained by songs and folks from the local people.

After this enriching experience, transfer to Lake Kivu for a relaxing experience for all the hectic experiences in the previous days.

 Overnight stay: Lake Kivu Serena Hotel

Meal Plan: Full Board

Day 9: Lake Kivu Experiences

This is a relaxing day which you will spend on the shores of the beautiful Lake Kivu, the activities you can engage in include a visit to the hot springs, take a boat trip to an island, kayaking on Lake Kivu, visit DR Congo – Rwanda border, and relax at the Lakeside in the evening sipping on your favorite drink.

Day 10: Transfer to Kigali for Departure flight

Today is your last day on this 10 Days Best of Rwanda Safari, start your day with breakfast and transfer to Kigali International Airport for your onward flight.  

End of your safari with Mantis Africa Safaris