10 days Rwanda wildlife tour with Uganda gorillas

On landing at Kigali International Airport the tour driver shall be there to receive you and transfer you to your booked hotel in Kigali. You shall spend the rest of the day at leisure as relax off the jetlag.

Accommodation options:

Budget: YAMBI Guesthouse

Mid-range: Heaven Boutique Hotel

Luxury: The Retreat by Heaven

Meal plan: Dinner

Today you shall depart from Kigali at 7.30am and travel to Akagera National park in the east of the Rwanda. Akagera is the biggest park in Rwanda and has the only savanna habitat in this mountainous country. You will get to the park after a 2.5 hours drive, and on arrival you shall have your first safari experience in the park with a short game drive of 1 – 2 hours. You will spot some wild animals such as zebras and antelopes. You will then continue to your lodge for lunch and some relaxation.

Later you shall go for a boat ride on Lake Ihema which is the biggest lake in Akagera national park. This will be 1 hour ride starting at 3pm. You will see crocodiles and hippos plus other wildlife along the shores. This ride offers a wonderful birding opportunity as there are lots of water birds along the shoes and islands that you shall sight.

Optional activity:

Night game drive: at the end of the day you go for a night safari to look for wildlife that is active at night. The night safari starts at 6pm for 2 – 3 hours.

Accommodation options:

Midrange: Akagera Game Lodge

Upmarket: Ruzizi Tented Lodge

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

You shall have another safari in Akagera this morning, driving to more parts of the park to look for more animals and enjoy the beautiful landscape.

You shall spend the afternoon at leisure.

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

After breakfast, you shall check out of the lodge by 7am and set off for the full game drive in the park. We call it a full game drive because you cover the entire length of the park from the south to the north, and you go through the different environments of the park ranging from thick bushes, woodlands, swamps, grasslands and savannah. Each of these environments will provide beautiful sights and sightings of different types of animals and birds. Expect to see zebras, buffaloes, topi, impala, monkeys, giraffes, and elephants. Lions, leopard, hyena can also be seen but by chance as they are not so abundant.

At the end of the safari you shall have picnic lunch, and then depart for Musanze in the north of Rwanda.

Accommodation options:

Budget: Isange Paradise Resort

Midrange: Five Volcanoes Boutique Hotel

Luxury: Amakoro Songa Lodge / One&Only Gorilla Nest

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Today you shall go for an adventure in the beautiful Virunga mountains. The Virunga mountains are made up of a chain of 8 volcanic mountains which are spread along the borders of Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In Rwanda there are 5 volcanic mountains of the Virungas which make up the Volcanoes National Park. You shall report to the park office at 7am for briefing and then transfer to the park for the golden monkey trekking adventure. The golden monkeys are unique to the Virunga mountains where they occupy bamboo forests along the base of the mountains. They very beautiful monkeys and pretty active which makes them exciting to track.

After the watching the golden monkeys in Rwanda you shall transfer to Bwindi National Park in Uganda

Accommodation options:

Budget: Rushaga Gorilla Camp

Midrange: Lake Mulehe Safari Lodge

Luxury: Clouds Mountain Gorilla Lodge

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

After breakfast, you will get to the park office by 7am for the briefing and allocation to the gorilla family which you shall track and thereafter set off into the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park for the gorillas adventure. Bwindi National Park has up to 19 habituated gorilla groups, the most number of any park. Be ready for challenging trek as the terrain is mountainous and the time taken to find the gorillas could be from a few minutes to several hours depending the movement of the gorillas. You will be allowed a maximum one hour to see the gorillas.

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Today you shall back to Rwanda and visit Lake Kivu. Spend the day relaxing at the beautiful lake.

Accommodation options:

Budget: Inzu Lodge

Midrange: Paradise Kivu

Luxury: Lake Kivu Serena Hotel

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

After early breakfast you check out and transfer to Uwinka for the canopy walk in Nyungwe forest. Thereafter continue to Kigali for your evening flight or overnight.

Today you shall do the morning boat cruise to explore the beautiful scenery of the Lake Kivu. Thereafter check out and transfer to Nyungwe.

Accommodation options:

Budget: EAR Guesthouse

Midrange: Nyungwe Top View Hill Hotel

Luxury: One&Only Nyungwe House

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Today you shall arise by 4am, have breakfast and transfer to the ranger station by 5am where you shall meet the park guides and continue to the park for the chimpanzee trekking adventure in Nyungwe National Park. The chimps offer a different experience from the gorillas because the chimps a lot more active and engage in a range of activities which are exciting to watch because of their similarity with humans.

In the afternoon you shall go for the canopy walk in Nyungwe forest. The canopy walkway is suspended 50 meters from the ground providing breathtaking views across the forest, plus sightings of monkeys and birds at close range.

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

After breakfast, check out and transfer to Kigali

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner