Journey Overview
This tailor-made Rwanda tour will take you into the misty bamboo jungles of the Virungas, in Volcanoes National Park, on an excursion to trek and locate a family of mountain gorillas led by a patriarch silverback. You’ll be allowed to spend an hour with the gentle giants under strict guidelines not to make contact. In the same jungle, you’ll also take on the challenge of trekking the endangered cute little golden monkeys. The mystical jungle floor will take a piece of your emotions and physical energy, so be prepared to store some unforgettable memories on the Rwanda Safari adventure.
Highlights
Kigali city tour including the sobering Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre.
Trekking the mountain gorilla in their natural habitat, Volcanoes National Park.
Trek the endangered cute little golden monkeys in the same jungle.
Witness Rwanda’s lush, natural beauty and warm, friendly people.
Know before you go
This tour is physically demanding, which means you’ll hiking moderately steep slope searching for the mountain giants and high altitudes between 2400 and 4507 meters. There strict rules to going in these places and meeting the gorillas and you’ll be escorted by a tracker, rangers and a guide with a group of other six trekking travelers.
Detailed Itinerary
Day 1: Arrival – Kigali
The arrival of your flight at Kigali International Airport, meet and greet assistance, you will be warmly welcomed by our Vazquez Tours & Travel Ltd representative outside customs and immigration hall, safari briefing then introduction to your driver-guide. Thereafter you will be transferred to Kigali Serena Hotel, the drive from Kigali International Airport to Kigali Serena Hotel is approximately 20 minutes.
This is a lovely hotel which we use as a base in Kigali, with all the comforts you could ever need during your stopover. Each room’s, design and detailing reflect the hotel’s Pan-African heritage with sophisticated furnishings perfectly complemented by plush fabrics in bright colour palettes. There are two restaurants here you can enjoy this evening.
Hotel/lodge : 5-Star Kigali Serena Hote
Meal : Dinner only
Day 2: Kigali city tour – Transfer to Volcanoes National Park
Breakfast at the hotel, check-out and settlement of extras. You will be collected from Kigali Serena Hotel and taken on a Kigali City Tour which includes a visit to the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre, and crafts markets.
Kigali Genocide Memorial is the final place for more than 250.000 victims of the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. Here you will be able to visit the three permanent exhibitions, the largest which documents the genocide and pay tribute to the victims. This Kigali city tour will allow you to experience life in the country today and Rwanda’s remarkable recovery is a true statement to humankind’s resilience. Once you have completed your morning tours you will have lunch at Heaven Restaurant - Kiyovu. After lunch, you will drive to The Bishop’s House in Musanze near Volcanoes National Park, which will be your home for the next two nights.
Once you have completed your morning tours you will have lunch at Heaven Restaurant - Kiyovu. After lunch, you will drive to The Bishop’s House in Musanze near Volcanoes National Park, which will be your home for the next two nights.
The Bishop’s House is a luxurious, colonial style boutique hotel with just nine elegant bedrooms, located just a stone’s throw from the wilds of the Volcanoes National Park that is home to Rwanda’s famous mountain gorillas and a myriad of spectacular wildlife.
We adore this lovely property for its colonial style architecture and furnishings which truly sets it apart from others in the area. With just nine luxuriously decorated rooms, this is a haven of tranquility, surrounded by flora and fauna along with sights and sounds of nature, making it the perfect location to unwind and enjoy the calm of the land of a thousand hills. All rooms are furnished with large, antique hand crafted four-poster beds on a wooden floor that envelopes the occupant in warmth and grandeur in the en-suite bathrooms you will be met with hot showers and bathrobes warm and soft to the touch.
You can take your time to ease into your home from home before your big day tomorrow - trekking to find those beautiful gorillas in their natural habitat!
Hotel/lodge : The Bishop’s House
Meal : Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, all soft drinks, local beers, house wine, and laundry services
Day 3: Gorilla Trekking Experience
After an early breakfast, you will be collected at the lodge and driven to the Volcanoes National Park to be allocated a gorilla tracking group. At Approximately 07h00 you will receive a briefing by your trackers, and then drive to the trailhead for the start of an amazing adventure.
Your exhilarating trek, in the footsteps of the rare and endangered Mountain Gorillas, the largest living primate on earth, starts in the cultivated foothills of the Virungas with stirring views in all directions. Upon entering the national park, her paths littered with fresh spoor of the mountains’ elusive buffalo and elephant, trekkers will be immersed in the mysterious intimacy of the rainforest, alive with colorful bird calls, butterflies, etc.
Our experienced trackers, who spent their entire lives in or close to this forest, soon bring us up close with the family. Upon sighting the gorillas, you will stay with them for a magical hour as they go about their daily life, feeding, playing, resting, and raising their young. Coming face to face with a giant silverback must truly be one of the greatest wildlife experiences on earth!
Following this magical experience, you will then make your way back down the mountainside. Arriving back at the ranger station you will enjoy a short transfer back to your lodge for lunch and check-out.
Hotel/lodge :The Bishop’s House
Meal : Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, all soft drinks, local beers, house wine, and laundry services
Day 4: Golden Monkey Trekking Experience – Cultural Safari – Transfer back to Kigali
After an early breakfast, drive to the Volcanoes National Park headquarters where you will be allocated a Golden Monkeys tracking group. At 07h00 you will receive a briefing by your trackers then drive to the trail for the tracking.
The very beautiful Golden Monkey has a golden body, cheeks and tail with contrasting black limbs, crown, and tail-end. Not much is known about their behaviour; other than they live in social groups of up to 30 individuals and their diet consists mainly of leaves and fruit. It is thought they eat insects too. Restricted to the highland forest of the Virungas especially near bamboo, they share this habitat with their big brother the Mountain Gorilla, inhabiting a small area that overlaps the territory of one of the gorilla families together, they face the same threats; snares, human encroachment etc. And are listed on the IUCN Red List critically endangered species.
Tracking usually takes from 2 to 4 hours. Once you come to the habituated families, you will spend the allowed one hour with them as they go about their daily life; adult monkeys frolic in plain view, feeding on bamboo leaves and leaping from perch while females carry their young, completely oblivious of on-lookers. After this amazing experience you return to the lodge for a deserved shower and lunch then check-out. You will say goodbye to the wonderful team here at the Bishop’s House Rwanda.
Later in the afternoon, you will visit the Gorilla Guardians Village, a non-profit umbrella organization that aims at improving the lives of reformed poachers and communities around Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park through provision of conservation incentives, supporting community enterprise development and livelihood based projects.
Gorilla Guardians Village gives you a rare chance to meet local people in their environment, with a taste of Rwandan culture and traditions. The community you visit will genuinely welcome you as a special guest while they proudly present to you aspects of their traditions and beliefs. This will truly be an experience of a lifetime.
After this amazing experience, drive back to Kigali, arrive at Kigali Serena Hotel, the hotel staff will welcome you and assist you to check-in.
Hotel/lodge : 5-Star Kigali Serena Hotel
Meal : Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Day 5: Question Coffee Master Class – Departure
Relaxed breakfast at the hotel, check-out and settlement of extras. You will say goodbye to the wonderful team here at Kigali Serena Hotel. Drive to Question Coffee for a master class session.
The class begins with where coffee transforms from a seed into a fruit-bearing tree-the farm. Our café features a coffee thriving garden that is representative of a classic Rwandan coffee farm, we’ll explain the steps that go into coffee agronomy and harvesting. After you’ve learned about coffee agronomy, harvested ripe cherries and tasted the sweet coffee fruit, you’ll de-pulp your harvest and learn how it’s processed in order to be ready for roasting.
After this amazing experience, transfer to Select Boutique Hotel for your lunch. Depending on your flight schedule, you will be transferred to Kigali International Airport, bid farewell to your driver-guide and proceed to check-in for your outbound flight.
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