10 Days Best Of Rwanda Safaris (Volcanoes National Park – Lake Kivu & Gisenyi – Nyungwe National Park – Akagera National Park)

Day 01 : Arrival in Kigali Rwanda

Transfer to Gorillas Nest in Ruhengeri for early arrivals or Serena Hotel for late arrivals. After a quick rest in your hotel room, you will be given a briefing on the trip for those who are spending the night in Kigali.For those continuing to Ruhengeri, the journey will start after a lunch break in Kigali.
Overnight Serena Hotel Kigali or Mountain Gorillas Nest Ruhengeri – B, L, D

Day 2: Parc National des Volcans

Early morning drive to Ruhengeri, for those who would have spent the night in Kigali, passes through magnificent views of the hilly countryside which give Rwanda its stature as a country of a thousand hills.
Overnight at the Mountain Gorillas Nest – B, L, D

Day 3: Local Community tour

The community tour discovers hidden local culture and tradition. This is the time to discover the day-to-day livelihood of local people and how they spend their time, and participate in local dances while wearing traditional local Umushanana dress.

On this day (depending on trekking time), we offer you a choice of value added package :

• Visit Ruhengeri Market, providing you with an opportunity to see and buy local Rwandan fabrics and to see how local markets are organized.
• Visit our local projects, to see how your travel with us contributes to making a difference in local people lives and interact with project members.
• Attend traditional dance lessons, to see and have a taste of local culture and how it is embedded in the tradition. Taste local food and beer.
• Visit a local household and experience local lifestyle. Listen to a presentation on community development and mountain conservation.
• Go on walks in villages surrounding the park and interact with local people.
• Visit the twin lakes Burera and Ruhondo and marvel at the views of the Virunga mountain chain.

Overnight at the Mountain Gorillas Nest – B, L, D

Day 4: Visit Lake Kivu and Gisenyi

Lake Kivu: Kivu is one of the great lakes in Africa and the largest of the fresh water lakes that gleam in the Albertine (Western) rift of the Great Rift Valley.
The northern shore is subject to eruptions from nearby Mt Nyiragongo.

• Visit water springs and learn the geographic make up of volcanic chain.
• Visit our local projects in the area and interact with project members.
• Visit local artisans and local women weaving associations, and experience home basketry weaving and see how your visit makes a difference in their lives.

Overnight camp at Lake Kivu Serena Hotel – B, L, D

Day 5: Transfer to Nyungwe National Park

En – route along Gisenyi – Lake Kivu – and Kibuye
Lake Kivu:Kibuye is the most attractive of the lake ports, with a series of interwoven and undulating hills. Its among Rwandas hidden treasures, with lush green hills and a peaceful breeze.

During this journey, you will see interlocking landscapes and varying land use practices.

Overnight at Gisakura Guest House Nyungwe – B, L, D

Day 6: Trek chimpanzees

Nyungwe National Park is the only destination in the world where you can see more than five primate species in a single location including rare species such as chimpanzee, mountain monkeys and the angolan black and while colobus monkeys.
Overnight at Gisakura Guest House Nyungwe (B, L, D)

Day 7: Trek colobus monkeys

Nyungwe National Park the only place in the world where you can see a colony of more than 500 individuals in the wild.

On this day (depending on trekking time), we offer you a choice value package :

• Participate in tea harvesting in the neighboring local communities.
• Visit the tea factory and learn about the production processes of one the highest quality tea produced in East Africa.
• Visit local artisan groups to learn and participate in other local community income generating projects. This is also an opportunity to buy local crafts products.
• Listen to a presentation on the ecology of Nyungwe National Park and the ongoing conservation efforts, including the dynamics of coexistence of park/wildlife and local people.
• Watch cultural dance performed by one of the local community dance groups.

Overnight Gisakura Guest House Nyungwe – B, L, D

Day 8: Transfer to Kigali and various cultural sites

Transfer to Kigali. En-route, you will stop at the town of Butare and visit the National Museum which provides insight into Rwandan history and culture.

Along the way to Kigali, you will also visit the famous Kings palace in Nyanza which offers a rich insight into Rwandan pre-colonial history. Your final stop is at the art museum at Rwesero Nyanza. Along the way from Nyungwe to Kigali, you will pass through magnificent hills and cultivated country side.
Overnight at Serena Hotel Kigali – B, L, D

Day 9: Depart for Akagera National Park game drives

Depart for Akagera National Park. The route which passes through Rwandas phenomenal landscape and living lifestyles. After a quick rest at the hotel, you will go on a southern game drive alongside the Lake Ihema circuit.

On this day (depending on game drive time), we offer you a choice of Added Package :
Evening walks around the hotel where you can see various bird species.

Participate in day-to-day local pastoral lifestyle.

Presentation on the ecology of the Akagera ecosystem and the conservation efforts, including the coexistence dynamics between local people and wildlife.
Overnight at Akagera Game Lodge – B, L, D

Day 10: Transfer to Kigali City and departure

Kigali City tour: Kigali is the main administrative and economic centre of Rwanda. With an ever green feel of fresh air, it is the cleanest and safest city in the region. Kigalis face is her fortune; it is this dramatic beauty from which its name is derived.
You will have the opportunity to see the following:

• Visit an artisan shopping center for local arts and crafts shopping.
• Visit the Kigali Museum and learn the history of Kigalis and Rwandas pre-colonial and colonial period as well as the colonial masters in Rwanda.
• Visit the city and see first hand the post genocide development and expansion of Kigali.
• Visit the 1994 Kigali Genocide Memorial site.
• Transfer to the Airport for home flight