8-day Rwanda Primates & Wildlife Classic Safari
8-day Rwanda Primates & Wildlife Classic Safari
Have a great time while discovering the best of Rwanda attractions in this 8-day Rwanda Primates & Wildlife Classic Safari. You get to visit places like Nyungwe, Akagera, and Volcanoes National parks. You will do main activities such as game drives, boat cruises, gorilla trekking, and chimpanzee tracking. Alternatively, go for a forest canopy walk in Nyungwe Forest National Park. Other attractions will be in the city of Kigali such as the local markets, museums, and art and gallery centers. Also, you visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial grounds and many more. Lake Kivu and the twin lakes of Burera and Ruhondo are also part of the safari. Enjoy the beautiful scenery with different hills from which the country generates its name of the land of a thousand hills.
Detailed Itinerary of the 8-day Rwanda Primates & Wildlife Classic Safari
Day 1: Arrival in Kigali city and city tour
Upon arrival at Kigali International Airport, the driver guide will pick you up. He will take you through a briefing and immediately take a short Kigali city tour. The tour will let you encounter different attractions such as the Kigali genocide memorial grounds, the art and gallery Centers, local markets like Kimironko, churches and mosques, and more. Head to the hotel for your dinner.
Day 2: Transfer to Akagera National Park
Transfer to Akagera National Park a home of the big five animals and the only savannah national park in Rwanda. The journey to the park will take about 3 hours but is very rewarding. This is so because it involves spotting beautiful landscapes covered with hills. Take an evening game drive where you will spot animals like zebras, Masai giraffes, warthogs, antelopes, lions, and many more. Head to the lodge and this will be the end of the day.
Day 3: Full day in Akagera National Park (hot air balling and boat cruise)
Take a full day discovering Akagera National Park and this will include taking a hot air ballooning and afternoon boat cruise. The hot air ballooning will offer you a chance to explore the savannahs with an aerial view. There is a lot to explore during this day such as the hippos, crocodiles, lions, leopards, and elephants. Also, expect to see buffalos, antelopes, zebras, giraffes, warthogs, and many more. The boat cruise takes place on Lake Ihema and each experience takes about 2 hours.
Day 4: Transfer to Nyungwe National Park stopover at the former presidential palace
Leave Akagera National Park and transfer to Nyungwe National Park with a stopover at the former presidential palace. This is a historical site where the former president died on this spot in an airplane crash. Take a tour of this amazing historical museum and proceed to Nyungwe National Park.
Day 5: Chimpanzee tracking and canopy walk
Have a briefing at the offices of the park after having a buffet breakfast at the lodge. Some of the aspects that you will cover during this briefing exercise are the rules and regulations. Some of them are; not feeding wild animals, always keeping a distance, and not mimic or imitate them. You should not feed and drink in front of these primates, and many more. Begin the experience under the great supervision of the park ranger guide. On meeting a troop of chimps, spend an hour with then head back to the lodge for a hot lunch.
Take part in the evening experience of the canopy walk where you get to discover the beautiful Nyungwe forest from an aerial view. The primates will be jumping from one side to another M as the birds sing in the air. This canopy is a bridge-like structure made of ropes and small timbers at a height of 70m and 160m long. Spend a maximum of 2 hours and spot vervet monkeys, colobus monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, L’hoest monkeys, and many more.
Day 6: Transfer to Volcanoes National Park
Leave Nyungwe Nation Park for Volcanoes National Park. Upon your, visit Lake Kivu and take a short boat cruise, have lunch here, and proceed to the park. Volcanoes National Park is among the oldest national parks in Africa. It is home to two rare primates: golden monkeys and mountain gorillas. This park is a great historical site for Dian Fossey. She was a researcher and primatologist who saved a good number of gorillas. Arrive and head straight to the lodge for your dinner.
Day 7: Drive to the park offices and Gorilla trekking experience
This will be the most exciting day of your 8-day Rwanda Classic Safari. It will begin with an early morning breakfast and after a drive to the Park offices for briefing. This exercise is important since you will encounter the rules and regulations of gorilla trekking. It also guides in the allocation of the gorilla family, the assignment of the park guide ranger, hiring a porter, and many more.
Begin the tour with the guidance of the park ranger guide as you will meet other attractions like the birds, trees, and small primates like vervet monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, and many more. Meeting the group of gorillas called a family is a great opportunity. You will spend an hour in their presence as you take memorable photos. After the experience, you will head back to the lodge for leisure. The experience can even last for 8 hours while in the jungle, depending on the movement of the gorillas.
Day 8: Visit the twin lakes on the transfer back to Kigali
Have a delicious breakfast and then check out from the lodge followed by a transfer back to Kigali. Have a visit to the twin lakes of Burera and Ruhondo. Then after, have an optional canoeing experience where you will meet fishermen. Proceed to Kigali for lunch and later drop-off at the airport and this will be the end of the safari.
