16 Days Rwanda Safari Tour- Primates Trekking, Gorillas, Chimpanzees, Golden Monkeys Tracking, Wildlife Viewing, Culture & Community Tours, Bisoke Hike.

16 Days Rwanda Safari Tour- SAFARI OVERVIEW.

The 16 days Rwanda safari a comprehensive 15nights/6 day safari in Rwanda tour covering Primates watching including the Mountain Gorillas, Chimpanzees, Golden and Colobus Monkeys, Culture and heritage including the Iby’wachu Village, Dancing pots, traditional night fishing in Kibuye, Imigongo Art, Butare Museum and Nyanza Palace, Adventure including Bisoke Volcano hike and Nyungwe canopy walk and optional Musanze caves. The tour in Rwanda starts and ends in Kigali.

16 Days Rwanda Safari Tour – SAFARI HIGHLIGHTS.

Day 1 of the 16 Days Rwanda safari tour: Arrival in Rwanda – Kigali International Airport  

Day 2 of the 16 Days Rwanda safari tour: Day at leisure

Day 3 of the 16 Days Rwanda safari tour: Visit Gisozi genocide memorial & have a Kigali City Tour

Day 4 of the 16 Days Rwanda safari tour: Transfer to Volcanoes National Park visiting the Burera & Ruhondo Twin Lakes to do canoeing

Day 5 of the 16 Days Rwanda safari tour: Hike Bisoke

Day 6 of the 16 Days Rwanda safari tour: Do Mountain Gorilla trekking & Optional visit to the Musanze Caves in the afternoon

Day 7 of the 16 Days Rwanda safari tour: Do Golden monkeys and go to Iby’iwachu cultural village

Day 8 of the 16 Days Rwanda safari tour: Transfer to Gisenyi and visit the dancing pots         

Day 9 of the 16 Days Rwanda safari tour: Transfer to Kibuye and engage in night fishing

Day 10 of the 16 Days Rwanda safari tour: Have a full day market experience and relax the rest of the evening off at the Lodge

Day 11 of the 16 Days Rwanda safari tour: Transfer to Nyungwe and do Colobus monkey tracking

Day 12 of the 16 Days Rwanda safari tour: Chimpanzee tracking and the canopy walk

Day 13 of the 16 Days Rwanda safari tour: Transfer to Kigali and do the Nyanza and Butare palace visits en route

Day 14 of the 16 Days Rwanda safari tour: Transfer to Rwamagana for Imigongo Lessons.

Day 15 of the 16 Days Rwanda safari tour: Day at Leisure

Day 16 of the 16 Days Rwanda safari tour: Drop off at the airport for flight departure

16 Days Rwanda Safari Tour – DETAILED SAFARI ITINERARY.

Day 1 of the 16 Days Rwanda safari tour: Arrive in Rwanda and transfer to the Hotel  

Arrive at Kigali International Airport where you will be picked up and transfer to the hotel for overnight

 Accommodation

Luxury: Hotel Mille Collines

Midrange: Hotel Chezlando

Day 2 of the 16 Days Rwanda safari tour: Day at leisure

You will spend the day at leisure acclimatizing with the Rwandan atmosphere.

Accommodation

Luxury: Hotel Mille Collines

Midrange: Hotel Chezlando

Day 3 of the 16 Days Rwanda safari tour: Visit Gisozi genocide memorial & have a Kigali City Tour

After breakfast, Randi is picked up by Dennis to embark on the tour to the Gisozi genocide memorial. The Rwanda tour allows you to explore the living museum of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The museum features writings, audio presentations in various sections of the gallery that would avail you with the general picture of what actually transpired during the horrific genocide. After this encounter, you drive back to the Motel to pick Jim and then embark on the city drive exploring the Kigali markets and other interesting landscapes.  You can opt to have a cup of coffee at Hotel Mille Collins which is one of the historic places in Kigali.

Accommodation

Luxury: Hotel Mille Collines

Midrange: Hotel Chezlando

Day 4 of the 16 Days Rwanda safari tour: Transfer to Volcanoes National Park visiting the Burera & Ruhondo Twin Lakes to do canoeing

After breakfast, you embark on the transfer to Volcanoes National Park 116km about 2 – 3 hours’ driving through impressive hills of Rwanda that have earned her the naming as the land of a thousand hills making stops at ideal spots for sightseeing and photography. You check-in at your hotel for lunch and short relaxation. In the afternoon, you embark on the canoe ride along the Twin lakes of Ruhondo and Bulera for beautiful sightseeing of these magical water bodies and the Virunga Volcanoes not forgetting the traditions of the communities thriving along the lakes. Retire for relaxation, dinner, and overnight.

Accommodation

Budget: Muhabura Hotel

Midrange: Da Vinci Gorilla Lodge

Luxury: Mountain Gorilla View Lodge

Day 5 of the 16 Days Rwanda safari tour: Hike Bisoke

After breakfast, embark on the hiking Bisoke Volcano which takes 7 hours round trip. It involves a relative hike and like any other mountain, it involves steep ascend at certain levels. Hiking this volcano exposes you to various vegetation covers, wildlife including monkeys, bird species while its summit offers views of the entire Virunga volcanoes and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Retire for relaxation, dinner, and overnight

Accommodation

Budget: Muhabura Hotel

Midrange: Da Vinci Gorilla Lodge

Luxury: Mountain Gorilla View Lodge

Day 6 of the 16 Days Rwanda safari tour Cultural Primates Gorillas trekking: Do Mountain Gorilla trekking & Optional visit to the Musanze Caves in the afternoon

After our breakfast, start your Rwanda gorilla tour by driving to the headquarters for briefing by park officials at 7 am and after entering into the jungle to search for the shy endangered Mountain Gorillas in Rwanda. Requirements like firm walking shoes, hut, insect repellent, sunscreen, rain gears, packed lunch and bottled water are a must plus other tools that one may need once in the tropical rain forest. The Rwanda gorilla safari experience in Volcanoes is beyond gorillas alone. The sights of the Volcanic Mountains that stretch from Congo through Rwanda to Uganda, the verdant green vegetation that shelters their slopes, the counts of birds along with fauna like duikers and buffaloes combine to generate lasting safari memories.  The gorilla trekking Rwanda activity tends to last from 2 to 8 hours or more depending on the day’s gorilla movement. The one hour of direct encounter with the gorillas brings you closer to these ancient apes, look into their eyes, the gigantic structure that makes the most powerful of all apes, and see them forage and play. Retreat from the activity and spend the evening at leisure. Alternatively, you can embark on the Optional Musanze Caves exploration where you explore the ancient Caves of Musanze 2km long dating back to 65million years ago when the lava basalt was flowing out from Volcanoes of Bisoke and Sabyinyo. The Caves with 31 entrances were used as hiding grounds in times of war in pre-colonial Africa and the time of the genocide. Retreat from the activity and return to the lodge for relaxation, dinner, and overnight.

Accommodation

Budget: Muhabura Hotel

Midrange: Da Vinci Gorilla Lodge

Luxury: Mountain Gorilla View Lodge

Day 7 of the 16 Days Rwanda safari tour Cultural Primates Gorillas trekking: Do Golden monkeys and go to Iby’iwachu cultural village (Gorilla Guardian Village)

After the briefing, embark on the golden monkey tracking. The encounter starts at 7 am at the Kinigi Park headquarters where you head to the forest in unlimited numbers in search of these endangered species. You take about 4 hours on the golden monkey tracking experience inclusive of one hour encounter with them where you see them roll themselves on the Bamboo stems and present themselves with no much shyness as it has been reduced through habituation and enjoy the sights of their silver patch. Upon return, you embark on the transfer to Iby’wachu cultural Village to gain an in-depth experience of the Rwandan traditions including the traditional architecture, food preparation, music dance, and drama among others.

Accommodation: Ibywachu Cultural Village

Day 8 of the 16 Days Rwanda safari tour Cultural Primates Gorillas trekking: Transfer to Gisenyi and visit the dancing pots project.

After a relaxed breakfast, you proceed to Gisenyi and visit the Dancing pots project. Today about 33,000 Batwa remain in Rwanda represent 0.4 percent of the population. They are particularly renowned for their skills as potters, dancers, and musicians. This encounter presents an ideal moment of interaction learning their great skill.

Accommodation

Midrange: Paladins Malahide

Luxury: Serena Resort Lake Kivu

Day 9 of the 16 Days Rwanda safari tour Cultural Primates Gorillas trekking: Transfer to Kibuye and engage in night fishing.

After a relaxed breakfast, you transfer to Kibuye driving along the Congo Nile divide trail enjoying the beautiful views of Lake Kivu.  Check-in at Cormoran lodge and spend the evening at leisure preparing for the night fishing encounter on Lake Kivu starting at 6 pm. It is such an amazing encounter with the local fishermen using traditional boats as they set to catch the popular Sambaza of Rwanda.

Accommodation: Cormoran Lodge

Day 10 of the 16 Days Rwanda safari tour Cultural Primates Gorillas trekking: Have a full day market experience and relax the rest of the evening off at the Lodge.

This is dedicated to market encounter exploring the local means of trade, the products on sale, and how a market looks like in an African countryside society. You will then spend the evening at leisure enjoying the comfort of your lodge.

Accommodation: Cormoran Lodge

Day 11 of the 16 Days Rwanda safari tour Cultural Primates Gorillas trekking: Transfer to Nyungwe and do Colobus monkey tracking.

After breakfast in Kibuye, proceed to another famous Rwanda Safari destination – Nyungwe Forest National Park. In the afternoon, you embark on the Colobus Monkey tracking exploring the largest grouping of colobus monkeys in Africa close to 400 monkeys. It is an exciting encounter to view these Black and white Species spread all over trees and most of them with their young ones that tend to be white while still young. The encounter lasts 2 – 5 hours after which you connect to the lodge for relaxation, dinner, and overnight

Accommodation

Luxury: Nyungwe Forest Lodge

Midrange: Nyungwe Hill Top View Hotel

Budget: Gisakura Guesthouse

Day 12 of the 16 Days Rwanda safari tour Cultural Primates Gorillas trekking: Chimpanzee tracking and the canopy walk.

After breakfast, connect to the Park headquarters for briefing at 8 am local time before heading to the forest in search of common Chimpanzees. The forest of Nyungwe is considered as the largest montane forest in the region and is a rich habitat to 310 Species of birds, over 75 mammal Species, 13 Species of Primates of which common Chimpanzees are among along with counts of butterflies, impressive trees, and beautiful orchids. The chimp trek tends to last 2 – 5 hours inclusive of one-hour direct encounter with the chimps as you see them munch fruit, roll themselves on tree branches, socialize, patrol, copulate among other interesting aspects that will lure you to make full utilization of your Camera space. Retreat from the activity and connect to the lodge for relaxation and lunch. In the afternoon, you connect at Uwinka Visitor Center to embark on the afternoon Nyungwe canopy walk. The two-hour walk on top of the forest canopy offers you impressive views of the forest and the species that thrive in it including primates and birds. Retreat from the activity and connect to the lodge for relaxation, dinner, and overnight

Accommodation

Luxury: Nyungwe Forest Lodge

Midrange: Nyungwe Hill Top View Hotel

Budget: Gisakura Guesthouse

Day 13 of the 16 Days Rwanda safari tour Cultural Primates Gorillas trekking: Transfer to Kigali and do the Nyanza and Butare palace visits en route.

After breakfast, embark on the transfer back to Kigali driving 268km about 6 hours’ drive. A stop will be made in Butare in the south of Rwanda to visit the Ethnographic Museum which is the largest Museum in Rwanda with over 100,000 artifacts that bring out the history and traditions of Rwanda in detail. After this encounter, you embark on the tour to the Nyanza palace which is a Royal home to the two Kings of Rwanda namely King Musinga and his successor King Rudahigwa. The impressively build Kinyarwanda hut whose architecture dates back to the times of these Kings. There are also the traditional Inyambo Cows with their beautiful horns and can make a considerable parade. Retreat from the activities in Butare and embark on the transfer to Kigali City arriving in the late afternoon for relaxation and overnight

Accommodation

Luxury: Hotel Mille Collines

Midrange: Hotel Chezlando

Day 14 of the 16 Days Rwanda safari tour Cultural Primates Gorillas trekking: Transfer to Rwamagana for Imigongo Lessons.

This is dedicated to Imigongo lessons exploration in Rwamagana. You drive to the Eastern province of Rwanda close to Akagera National Park where you will spend good time with the local women exploring how the traditional knowledge dating from pre-colonial Rwanda has been enhanced to produce one of the world’s recognized art pieces.  Return to Kigali in the evening marking the end of the tour.

Accommodation

Luxury: Hotel Mille Collines

Midrange: Hotel Chezlando

Day 15 of the 16 Days Rwanda safari tour: Day at Leisure

Spend the day at leisure refreshing from the safari drive.

Accommodation

Luxury: Hotel Mille Collines

Midrange / Budget: Hotel Chezlando

Day 16 of the 16 Days Rwanda safari tour Cultural Primates Gorillas trekking: Drop off at the airport for flight departure

This is another day at leisure and then you will be dropped off at the airport in the evening for the flight back home.

16 Days Rwanda Safari Tour- Primates Trekking, Gorillas, Chimpanzees, Golden Monkeys Tracking, Wildlife Viewing, Culture & Community Tours, Bisoke Hike.