Untamed Rwanda Classic Gorilla and Chimps Safari

Itineraries

Itineraries

• Morning flight Nairobi/Kigali. Meet and greet by Peaks of Africa representative. Transfer to Novotel Umubano hotel for coffee and trip briefing. Then depart for Butare, the intellectual and cultural heart of Rwanda 2 hours from Kigali. Visit the King’s Palace at Nyanza now a museum. Later visit the National Museum which houses the finest ethnographic collection in East Africa. Lunch will be served at IBIS HOTEL. Thereafter drive to Nyungwe Forest Reserve via Gikongoro with optional visit to a genocide memorial site. Dinner and overnight at Gisakura Guest House (LD).

• Tracking Chimps and other primates Lake Kivu – After an early breakfast trek through Nyungwe Forest Reserve which extends for almost 1000Km2 across the majestic hills of southeast Rwanda. At least 200 different types of trees are found here, along with hundreds of different flowering plants, including begonia, more than 100 species of orchid, and sensational giant lobelias. Of the larger mammals, primates are the most visible, with 13-recorded species representing 25% of the African primate (this includes about 500 chimpanzees, large troupes of colobus monkeys, grey-checked mangabey and red-tailed monkey). After lunch visit the nearby tea plantation and its factory (Gisakura Tea Plantation). Dinner and overnight at Gisakura Guest House. (BLD).

• This morning, we re-enter the forest for a second chimp and primate trek (primates are not habituated yet). Lunch enroute. After lunch we drive west to Cyangungu on the shores of lake Kivu. Lake Kivu is a beautiful vast inland sea enclosed by steep, green terraced hills that are so characteristic of rural Rwanda. From here proceed by speedboat to the lake resort town of Kibuye. Dinner and overnight at Kivu Serena Lodge. (BLD).

• After a leisure breakfast, drive to Gisenyi at the northern end of Lake Kivu and then to Kinigi. Picnic lunch en-route. Dinner and overnight at Gorilla Nest Lodge (BLD).

• Arrive at the park gates at 08h00. Registration and briefing by park guides. Enter the Parc National des Volcans and trek for 2 to 8 hrs depending on the family and the movement of the gorillas. The authorities permit only one hour of gorilla viewing. Descend for lunch at a lodge and in the afternoon visit the serene lakes of Bulera and Ruhondo.  Overnight at Novotel Umubano Hotel. (BL).
• After breakfast, transfer to the airport for your outbound flight. B.