9 DAY WORLDS’ GREATEST PRIMATE SAFARI AND VOLCANO HIKE (ULTRA-LUXURY)

Welcome to Kigali, Rwanda.  Our tour representative and your driver/guide will meet you at  Kigali International Airport in the early morning.

Here we warmly welcome you and transfer you to Question Coffee Cafe for a tour breifing and early morning cup of Rwanda's finest specialty coffee.  Rwanda has some of the highest-grade specialty coffee in world with edial growing conditions and Question Coffee are the leaders in Rwanda.  At their Kigali HQ you will take their Coffee Master Class and learn about growing, production and tasting their rich Bourbon coffee.

After the master class we switch it up with a much more somber but highly impactful visit to the Kigali Genocide Memorial.  This tour is challenging, highly transparent, educational and strangely inspiring as you will be amazed at the reconciliation and rebuilding post the 1994 tragedy.  It’s hard to believe the safe, clean and fast developing country you are in today came from such tragedy.

We will then take a quick lunch at Hotel Des Mille Collines (Hotel Rwanda)  in Kigali before heading off on the 2.5 hour scenic drive to Musanze at the foothills of Volcanoes National Park.  Along the way there will be scenic photo opportunities and you will discover why they call Rwanda the Land of a Thousand Hills. On arrival we will have lunch and then check in to your accommodation and refresh. 

In the early evening before dinner we have a unique and educational behind the scenes presenation with The Gorilla Doctors.  This team of veternarians and assistants take care of the health and wellbeing of sick and injured Gorillas in the region.  You will get unique and interesting in depth information on threats, treatments and Gorillas behaviour which will add terrific value to your upcoming treks.

Dinner and overnight at your accommodation.

After and early breakfast your driver guide will be waiting at your acommodation reception at 6:30am to transfer you to Volcanoes National Park Headquarters which is where your Mountain Gorilla Trek breifing occurs.

At the breifing you will be instructed on Gorilla Behaviours and what to do during your encounter.  After the brefiing your gudie and trekking group will leave for the start of the trek at the foothills of Volcanoes Naitonal Park.  The trek starts through farmlands and then into the thick mountainous rainforest.

Most treks last between 2-6 hours, with 1 hour spent observing a family of Mountain Gorillas in their natural habitat.  There are only around 1000 Mountain Gorillas left and Volcanoes National park has around 1/3 of the population.  Watching the silverbacks, black backs, mothers, juevinelis and baby gorillas interact is said to be one of the world's great natural animal encounter expereices. 

In most cases you will be back at your acommodation around lunch time.  Take a few hours to rest and refresh before your driver/guide takes you to the nearby Iby'Iwacu Cultural Village.  Not only does this village show you the traditions and culture of pre-colonial Rwanda but it has also been a succesful vehicle to rehabilitate ex-poachers back in to society and a productive existence.

Return in the late afternoon to your acommodation for dinner and overnight.

Breakfast at leisure  and check out for 60-minute drive to the border town of Gisenyi where we meet a ranger/guide from Virunga National Park who will assist you through the border at 1pm and transfer you to Virunga National Park.

After the border crossing it’s around a 90-minute drive through Goma and in to Virunga National Park and your accommodation of choice surrounded by stunning African rain forests and mountains. 

Dinner and overnight at your accommodation

This morning is your Mountain Gorilla Trek in Virunga National Park.  At the last census 327 of the 1000 existing Mountain Gorillas where identified in this park.

Early in the morning after breakfast you will transfer to the starting point of the Mountain Gorilla Trek and be introduced to your park ranger and guide.  Here you will be briefed on Gorilla etiquette and the rules of the encounter before heading off across some farmland before entering the rainforest and up the mountain in search of your Gorilla troop.

There are advanced trackers in the forest who can give an indication of where the Gorillas where last seen, however Gorillas are highly nomadic, moving regularly to find new food sources so the trek can take between 2-6 hours depending on their movements.

Once you come across the Gorillas your excitement levels will peak as you spend an hour with these stunning, huge creatures and their gorgeous and playful offspring in what is often described as one of the world’s great animal encounter experiences.

After the trek return to your lodge and share stories across the lodge fire on your incredible encounter.

So many unique once in a lifetime experiences during this tour and climbing the live Volcano Mt Nyirangongo is a highlight. 

After breakfast and a relaxing morning, we head off for the ascent starting point which leaves at 11am.  The hike is not difficult in terrain but it is 6 hours of ascent which requires good fitness and strong calves and legs.  There will be several rest stops along the way you we recommend hiring a local porter to help carry your clothes and refreshment up the mountain.  A porter is only $15 USD plus tip and well worth it.

You will reach the summit shelters before sundown and first get to take in the magnificent views of the surrounding Virunga’s before making the very short final climb to the craters edge.  Looking over the edge in to the large lava lake is stunning and a photographer’s dream.  

We’ve included in your package a sleeping bag and food.  Dinner will be at the shelters just below the crater’s edge.  Remember it’s cold up here so add layers of clothes.

Overnight at Mt Nyirangongo Banda Shelters.  

Breakfast is served at the crater shelters at 7am.  Then it’s time for the decent which takes around 4 hours. 

Most groups arrive back at the starting point by 11am.   We will have an English speaking driver/guide on hand to transfer you to Hotel Ihusi.  We have hired a day room so you can have a shower and refresh before having lunch on your own account at Hotel Ihusi.

After lunch we leave at 1:15pm and your driver/guide will take you on the quick transfer from Hotel Ihusi to Port Ihusi and assist you on to the Fast Ferry service that leaves at 2pm.  It’s a 3-hour boat grip across the stunning Lake Kivu with lot's of views of traditional fisherman and terraced farms on the hillsides on both sides.

You should arrive at Bukavu around 5pm.  Here we have a private driver/guide to greet you and take you to your hotel.  This bustling border trading city of around 200,000 people has a freindly and relaxed vibe and is know for it's coloruful terraced houses and for being the entry point for the world's largest primate, the Eastern Lowland Gorillas.   

Your driver/guide will provide a breifing of the next days activities and timings before leaving you to check in, have dinner and overnight at your acommodation.

Not so long ago there where hundreds of thousands Eastern Lowland Gorillas, however through war, vegetation loss and disease the population of the world’s largest Gorilla is in super-fast decline and there are thought to be only 25,000 left today and considered critically endangered because of that rate of decline and its causes.  That makes today’s trek all the more important.  If strong eco tourism can be established this will assist local communities see and receive the benefits which will help Kahuzi-Biega National Park stablise then grow its populations. 

Eastern Lowland Gorillas are thought to have separated from Mountain Gorillas around 200,000 years ago.  Whilst similar the Eastern Lowland Gorilla is even larger with the biggest males weighing up to 250 kilograms.  They are also not as shy as the Mountain Gorillas and can look at them in the eye without them feeling threatened or nervous. 

Your private driver/guide  we pick you up at your Bukavu hotel around 6:30am and take you on the bumpy transfer through villages to Kahuzi-Biega National Park headquarters.  Here the rangers will brief you on the history of the park, the trek rules and the different behaviour of Eastern Lowland Gorillas.  It's a very intersting briefing.

Then it's a short 4WD transfer to the trek starting point.  Treks here can be as little as 45 minutes before you encounter the Gorillas but of course it's not predictable so can be up to 3 hours.

On arrival you get to spend 1 hour watching an Eastern Lowland Gorilla family interact and behave.  You will instantly notice the differences to Mountain Gorillas and the rangers will describe their family selections an heirachies. 

After the trek we have an interesting return journey Rwanda as we stop of first at the nearby Lwiro Chimpanzee Sanctuary.  This Sanctuary on the outskirts of Kahuzi-Biega takes care of orphans and injured Chimpanzees as well as other wildlife.

We will then have your packed lunch before heading off to the nearby Reserach Center for Natural Sciences.  This is one of those unheard of gems.  It's a teaching campus for students but holds incredible archives and skeletons of historical animals and primates. 

Around 3pm we will head off for the Rwanda border where you driver/guide will assist you across the border and back to your Rwandan driver/guide who will then transfer you to your nearby accommodation overlooking Lake Kivu.

Dinner and overnight at your acommodation on a full board basis.

Wake up and have an early breakfast as we leave around 06:30am for Nyungwe Forest National Park Headquarters for your Chimpanzee Trek breifing and registration before heading off to the trek starting point. 

There are around 500 chimpanzees in this region of Rwanda making it an extremely important region for conservation of this rapidly declining relative.  Depending on the trackers information you may get on of the larger troops of around 60 or a more intimate troop of 20-30.  Either way chimpanzees are usually much more active and shy of humans than the Mountain Gorillas and are truly amazing to watch and try keep up with.  Sharing 98.7% of human DNA you will be astounded by their intelligence, confidence and traits.

Return to your lodge to freshen up after the trek and have lunch. 

Then we will return to Nyungwe Forest to explore this Ancient Temperature Rainforest from a whole new perspective and , via a canopy walk.  Nyungwe is Africa’s largest remaining and oldest temperature rainforest and from this vantage point you can take in the amazing birdlife and vegetation.  It takes about a 20 minutes to trek to the walkway where you should spend at least half an hour taking in the sights.

In the late afternoon return to your accommodation for dinner and overnight.

After breakfast we leave for our final primate trek of the tour.  It's very close to Nyungwe House so no need to get up early as we leave around 9am.  The Colobus Monkey population in Nyungwe is large and growing.  These unique black and white monkeys love the Ancient Temperate Rainforest, food it offers and minimal predators.

After the Colobus Monkey's return to Nyungwe House to freshen up and check out as we depart this beautiful part of Rwanda for about a 2 hour transfer to Butare where we will take lunch and then travel on a further 30 minutes to Nyanza.

Nyanza is home to the Kings Palace which offers a detailed look into the Rwandan traditional seat of their monarchy.  It is an impressive re-enactment display, restored to its 19th century state and made entirely with traditional materials.  Many facts and skills and cultural uniqueness are learnt at this very interesting site.

After the King's Palace we will depart for a further 2 hour trip back to Kigali.  Upon arrival we have a day room organised to shower and refresh before we take you for a farewell dinner at one of Kigali's most popular restaurants where you can reminensce about your incredible journey and experiences over fine food and wine.

After dinner we will transfer you to the nearby Kigali International Airport for your late night departing flight.

African Unique Safaris and Tours wishes you a safe onward journey and emotional memories that will move you long after your return home.