6 Days Rwanda Safari Gorillas & Chimps Vacation

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Day 1: Arrival, Kigali City

Arrive at Kigali International Airport; after processing your visa, you’ll follow Rwanda entry guidelines and verify your Covid negative test. With your private Rwanda Safari Gorillas & Chimps Vacation driver, you’ll then transfer to your hotel in Kigali.

Meet and greet by your private tour driver/guide, and after a briefing session, drive through the Kigali capital and catch the city’s cultural display before you check into your hotel in Kigali.

Depending on your arrival time, enjoy a Kigali city tour, visit the genocide memorial site and art and craft center or relax at your hotel and nurse that jet-lagYou’llll is heading into the jungle side the next day.

Accommodation and meals
Hotel des Mille Collins, Dinner

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Day 2: Road Trip to Nyungwe Forest NP (5 Hours)

Wake up the African sounds of Kigali city and have your breakfast; your private driver will be waiting to take you through Rwanda’s most beautiful countryside dotted with calming nature scenery and color.

This part of the tailored Rwanda Safari Gorillas & Chimps Vacation is a 5-hour lazy drive that will see you take stops at local markets the traditional palace in Nyanza and continue to Butare, visit the Botanical Gardens and the cultural museum. Pass through stunning green fields of tea scattered across the hillsides and the tiny unique wooden houses surrounding Nyungwe Forest just before you arrive at the lodge and check-in.

For the rest of the day, make yourself comfortable with nature’s ambiance around the lodge, chill out in the lounge and meet new people.

Accommodation and meals
Nyungwe Forest Lodge (Luxury): Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and drinking water

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Day 3: Chimpanzee Tracking in Nyungwe Forest

Have an early breakfast and transfer to the park headquarters for a briefing on the chimpanzee tracking activity. Escorted by a park ranger and a guide, get onto the jungle trails to another rainforest experience. In a short while, you’ll find your designated chimpanzee troop, which you’ll follow and stick with for the next one hour.

The chimpanzee bands keep moving, making noise, grooming, stopping for snack or nap, and your challenge is to keep up with them with the guidance of the park guide.

After your unforgettable experience with the chimpanzees in their nature setup, you’ll take an aerial view of Nyungwe forest and beyond on the 160 meters (525 ft) high canopy walkway. According to the latest report by Lonely Planet, the Nyungwe canopy is the best forest canopy walkway for forest adventures in Africa.

Suspend your emotions and let loose, shout at the top of your voice and free yourself, spread your arms and your eyes as far as you can see, and re-invent your emotional self: this is the place you want to be.

Return to the lodge for the rest of the evening.

Accommodation and meals
Nyungwe Forest Lodge (Luxury): Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and drinking water

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Day 4: Nature Walk in Nyungwe Forest Jungle

While chimps tend to garner most of the spotlight here, this part of the Rwanda safari gives you the simple pleasure of hiking along well-maintained trails over the lush, green valleys of the equatorial rainforest—just what you need after the Covid pandemic forced staycation.

You’ll find that quite simply, Nyungwe Forest National Park is Rwanda’s most important area of biodiversity. In these jungles are no fewer than 1000 plant species, 13 species of primates, 75 species of other African mammals, at least 275 species of birds, and an astounding 120 species of butterflies. It has been rated the highest priority for forest conservation in Africa, and its protected area covers one of the oldest rainforests in Africa. Despite its vast biodiversity, Nyungwe is little known outside of East Africa.

In the middle of the forest, you’ll set up a picnic lunch and take in the friendly service of this beautiful African jungle. Later return to the lodge, check out and set off northwards to Volcanoes National Park, where you’ll take on your next jungle experience to find the mountain gorillaIt’llll take about 5 hours +/- to get there.

Accommodation and meals
One&OnlGorilla’s’sOne&OnlGorilla’s’s Nest (Luxury); Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and drinking water

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Day 5: Gorilla Tracking Experience in Volcanoes NP

With an early breakfast, drive to the park headquarters for gorilla briefing (45 minutes). The gorilla trekking experience in Volcanoes National Park is a major highlight on the Rwanda Safari Gorillas & Chimps Vacation in these jungles, so take a breath, collect all your intrinsic emotions and excitement and get ready to be wowed. Make sure your expectations are floating; you wouldn’t want to drown in too much of less or more than we bargained for.

When venturing into this gigantic forest, a packed lunch, comfortable clothes, shoes, and a walking stick is a must before. The time spent gorilla tracking is unpredictable; it varies from 2-8 hours before an encounter with the family of these gentle creatures. The location of each gorilla family depends on temperature, their feeding range, and movement of the previous day with the trackers ahead of your tracking group. Strict guidelines will be issued at the trailhead briefing point; make sure you remember the most important ones.

Enjoy one hour with the gorillas (the only time allowed in the company of each gorilla family a day). Watch and capture this memorable experience as they go about their day-to-day activities; the young ones playing around the old ones, feeding each other, and eating foliage. The sight of these extraordinary creatures is the climax of this entire safari. Later retire for an overnight at the lodge.

Accommodation and meals
One&Only Gorilla’s Nest (Luxury); Lunch, Breakfast, Dinner, and drinking water

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Day 6: Kigali – End of Trip

After breakfast, lazily checkout and drive to Kigali, taking in the vibrant views of Rwanda’s countryside. The ride can take approximately 3 hours.

No Accommodation
Breakfast, Lunch, and drinking water.