8 Days Rwanda Ultra Luxury Safari

Upon your arrival in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, you will be warmly welcomed to the “land of a thousand hills.” Your driver/guide will be standing at the Arrivals hall holding a placard with your name so you cannot miss him. After the meet and greet, you will transfer to your hotel for an overnight stay. If your flight lands in the morning or early afternoon, you will have the opportunity to embark on a short city tour of Kigali, including a visit to the genocide memorial.

After breakfast, your driver guide will pick you up from the hotel for a brief city tour, which may include visits to the Kigali Genocide Memorial and the Kandt Museum. Following the tour, you’ll embark on a journey to Akagera National Park. The park is named after the Kagera River, which runs along the eastern border of the park – connecting Lakes Ihema and Shakani. The river is key for the wildlife in the park as well as the people that live in this part of Rwanda. Upon arrival, you will check in at lodge you have chosen, enjoy lunch. After lunch, go on an exciting boat safari on Lake Ihema. This afternoon adventure will provide you with stunning views and the chance to spot various bird species and wildlife. Depending on your interests, you can also opt for a night game drive to observe nocturnal animals.

This day is dedicated to exploring Akagera National Park, a savannah park home to diverse wildlife. After an early breakfast, your guide will pick you up for a full day of game drives, especially in the less bushy northern sector of the park, which offers better opportunities for animal sightings. You’ll take the lakeshore drive along various lakes and look out for animals such as zebras, giraffes, impalas, elephants, buffaloes, topi, duikers, elands, and roan antelope among the herbivores. In addition to lions, other predators you will be on the look-out for include hyena, side-striped jackal, the elusive leopards and mongoose. Visitors can see the Big5 in Akagera and this was made possible when in 2017, conservation efforts were made to bring back the black rhino. The park is also famous for the rare and elusive Sitatunga – a species of antelope that inhabits swamps. Bird enthusiasts will also be delighted by the park’s diverse avian population. The park’s landscapes, which include lakes, mountains, and plains, offer a beautiful backdrop to your safari.

After breakfast, you’ll set off for Volcanoes National Park or Parc National des Volcans – part of a transboundary ecosystem that is shared between three countries (Rwanda, Uganda and DR Congo) that are connected by the Virunga Mountains. Volcanoes National Park is a 160 square-kilometre reserve that includes evergreen bamboo forests, tropical rainforests and partial grasslands, valleys, serene lakes, a chain of volcanoes and farmed foothills. The drive is picturesque as you view these landscapes on winding roads that Rwanda is famous for. You’ll have opportunities for stopovers to take pictures and stretch along the way. If you arrive with time to spare, in the evening you can do a 2-hour trek to primatologist Dian Fossey’s tomb and the Karisoke research station.

Today, you’ll have the unique opportunity to meet the mountain gorillas that live in the forested highlands of the Virunga ranges. The gorilla trek begins with a briefing at the park headquarters in Kinigi, where you’ll be assigned a ranger and a gorilla family to trek. Following the briefing, your ranger guide will lead you to the starting point of the trek, which may require a short drive depending on the location of the gorilla group. The trek through their habitat is a truly unforgettable experience, with the duration varying from minutes to hours, depending on the gorillas’ nesting location the previous night. Gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Nature enthusiasts who make it add to the legacy of primatologist Dian Fossey whose research into the endangered Mountain Gorillas in the Virungas brought light to the plight of these gentle and elegant endangered big apes. When you finally locate the family that you are tracking, take in everything as you watch the gorillas go about their day – feeding on the green leaves, bamboo shoots, wild celery, stinging nettle and wild fruit. If there are juvenile gorillas, enjoy them play about and take it all in. Take lots of pictures (and a selfie if you happen to have a gorilla in your selfie frame) and video as the one-hour will be over before you know it. After, you trace your way back to the trail-head where your driver/guide will be waiting. You head back to the lodge for a hot lunch. After, you have the rest of the day to yourselves and can relax. Now is a good time to look back on your awe-inspiring encounter with the mountain gorillas through the lens of your camera.

Optional Activities: Visit Dian Fossey’s tomb, Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund

After breakfast, commence the drive to the stunningly beautiful Nyungwe National Park, which is nestled in the southwestern corner of Rwanda, close to the picturesque town of Cyangungu. Part of the Albertine Rift eco-region, Nyungwe is expansive and awe-inspiring. This beautiful oasis, adjacent to Lake Kivu and close to the borders of Burundi and the DR Congo, sprawls over 970 km² of lush green montane forest. This forest stands as the largest remaining montane forest in Africa and has been a silent witness to the world’s changes since the Ice Age.

The park boasts a staggering 1,060 recorded plant species and 85 mammal species, with a special spotlight on its 13 primate species including the rare owl-faced monkeys, golden monkeys and the Angola Colobus monkey. In terms of birds, 310 species have been recorded in Nyungwe, which makes it an important birding destination. Birds to look out for here include red-coloured mountain babblers, purple-breasted sunbirds, paradise flycatchers, white-headed wood hoopoes to mention a few. The drive from Lake Kivu to Nyungwe is about 2-hours and so you arrive with a large part of the day to spare. On arrival, you check-in at Nyungwe Top View Hill Hotel and can have the rest of the day free. Later, dinner and overnight stay.

After an early breakfast, you will embark on a thrilling chimpanzee tracking adventure in Nyungwe Forest, a rich ecosystem known for its botanical diversity and as a habitat for 13 primate species, including chimpanzees, L’Hoest monkeys, and Colobus monkeys, along with over 300 bird species. Your guide will take you to the briefing area, where you will meet your community guide and receive instructions before commencing the trek. After the chimp trek, you can choose to do the Canopy Walk to admire the forest from above.

On your final day, after breakfast, you’ll depart from Nyungwe and head back to Kigali. At Kigali, you will visit Nyandungu Eco Park. Here, you can enjoy lunch and can make the 10km walk if you like. Later, you will be taken to the airport in time for you to check-in for your onward flight home.