Day 1: Kigali

Upon arrival at Kigali International Airport, you  are met outside the airport at the arrivals section and transferred to your hotel.

Day 2: Kigali – Volcanoes National Park

After breakfast at the hotel you depart on a City Tour of Kigali.

Visit the Kandt museum, see old Kigali and the craft centres then visit the genocide memorial site. Learn about Rwanda’s history from pre-colonial times to the 1994 genocide; learn about other genocides in the world and how this country has dealt with that past. Tour more and see the new developments in Rwanda; the recovery has been incredible, a testament to humankind’s resilience.

After lunch in Kigali you depart and drive to Ruhengeri which is approximately 2.5 hrs, arriving in the early evening at the Volcanoes National Park HQs. Overnight is at Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge or Mountain Gorilla View Lodge. Evening is at leisure or enjoy optional activities offered at an extra cost.

Day 3: Volcanoes National Park Gorilla Trek

An early breakfast is at the lodge. At 0700 hrs, registration is a simple process where the park staff determines which group of gorillas you will visit. The park staff discusses your fitness level and advises you of the trekking times and conditions to the various groups based upon their location in the park the previous evening. There are a total of 88 gorilla permits available each day with a maximum of eight trekkers visiting any one group.

Once the trekkers are put into groups, each group’s Lead Guide briefs the trekkers of the trekking procedures as well as the “do’s and don’ts” while in the presence of gorillas. After the briefing, trekkers return to their respective vehicles for the drive up the mountain to the starting point.

Trekking can take from two to six or more hours if the gorillas move before the park rangers locate them the next morning. The guides stop frequently to allow trekkers a chance to rest and take photos along the way.

After the trek, rejoin your driver Guide for a transfer to your lodge for lunch, the afternoon at leisure followed by dinner and overnight at Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge or Mountain Gorilla View Lodge.

Day 4: Volcanoes National Park – Lake Kivu 

After breakfast at the lodge you depart from the foothills of the volcanoes and drive to Lake Kivu Serena arriving in time for lunch. Afternoon is  at leisure (enjoy optional activities offered such as boat trip or a Village walk to the coffee plantation at an extra cost). Dinner and overnight is at Lake Kivu Serena

Day 5: Lake Kivu – Kigali – Departure  

After breakfast at the hotel you depart eastwards past coffee, tea and banana plantations on a scenic drive to Kigali. Everything and everywhere, sheer green and hanging on the hills; Rwanda truly – land of a thousand fertile green hills. You will be transferred to the airport for your departure flight. Safari comes to an end.