12-Day Best of Rwanda Birding and Gorilla Trekking Safari

Upon arrival at Kigali International Airport, you will get a warm welcome from our company representative, who will work as your safari guide. After he will transfer you to your booked hotel to freshen up, and if time allows, you may have a city tour around Kigali in places like Kigali Market and Kigali Genocide Memorial, among others.  Return to the hotel for dinner and an overnight stay.

Accommodation: Kigali Serena Hotel (luxury)/Radisson Blu Hotel (mid-range)/ Peponi Living Spaces (budget)

Meals: Dinner

On your 12-day best of Rwanda birding and gorilla trekking safari, wake up early, have breakfast, and drive to Nyungwe Forest National Park. Along the way, before reaching Nyungwe Forest National Park, you will look out for several bird species, such as the Papyrus Canary, Grauer’s Swamp Warbler, Stripe-breasted Tit, Albertine Owlet, White-winged Warbler, Papyrus Gonolek, Regal Sunbird, Handsome Spurfowl, Yellow-eyed Black Flycatcher, Blue-headed Sunbird and many others. Retire and drive to Nyungwe Forest at your booked lodge for dinner and an overnight stay.

Accommodation: One & Only Nyungwe (luxury)/ Nyungwe Forest Lodge (mid-range)/ Virunga Inn Resort (Budget)
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

One of Africa’s last great montane forests, Nyungwe Forest National Park is home to a variety of birds, particularly those endemic to the Albertine Rift, Such as Regal Sunbird, Rwenzori Batis, Yellow-eyed Black Flycatcher,  Handsome Francolin, Masked Apalis, Grauers’s warbler, Ross’s Turaco, Nuemann’s Short-tailed Warbler, Rwenzori Turaco, Great Blue Turaco, Chestnut Owlet, Archer’s Robin-chat, Doherty’s Bushshrike, White-tailed Blue-flycatcher, Purple-breasted Sunbird, Olive Woodpecker, Barred Long-tailed Cuckoo, Black-faced Apalis, Stripe-breasted Tit,  and many other species.

Accommodation: One & Only Nyungwe (luxury) Nyungwe Forest Lodge (mid-range)/ Virunga Inn Resort (Budget)
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

One of the best places in East Africa to go chimpanzee trekking is the lush tropical rainforest in Nyungwe Forest National Park. To find these chimps as they start their daily foraging activities, the guides must rise early for this exercise. After receiving a briefing from the guide, set off to find chimps in the jungle. Trackers frequently leave early to locate the chimps and contact your guide. Once you find the chimps, you can spend an hour with them.

Accommodation: One & Only Nyungwe (luxury) /Nyungwe Forest Lodge (mid-range)/ Virunga Inn Resort (Budget)
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

On your 12-day best of Rwanda birding and gorilla trekking safari, we start with a warm breakfast and travel north to Lake Kivu, stopping frequently to see birds in the farmland, marshes, and forests. This birding excursion could take all day, depending on how busy the birding is along the trail. Lake Kivu will provide much-needed respite and opportunities for a shoreline birdwatching experience once you arrive there.

Accommodation: Lake Kivu Serena Hotel/Gisenyi
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

This Virunga Conservation Area, the massif of the Virunga volcanoes, shared by Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Uganda, is one of the most biologically diverse places on earth. Officially, Dian Fossey’s services will always stay to be remembered due to her tireless efforts exhibited during the 1960s; it was here that she began her research on mountain gorillas. With multiple birding stops to witness various bird species, including Regal Sunbird, Rwenzori Batis, Albertine Owlet, Dusky Crimsonwing, Masked Apalis, Rwenzori Turaco, Narina Trogon, Red-faced Woodland Warbler, and many more, the trip from Lake Kivu to Musanze might take roughly seven hours. To get ready for gorilla trekking, you will then spend the night in the lodge or resort you have reserved.

Accommodation: One and Only Gorilla’s Nest (Luxury)/ Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge (mid-range)
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

This day of 12-day best of Rwanda Birding and Gorilla trekking safari will take you to explore the dense jungle of Volcanoes National Park, home to the endangered mountain gorillas. Following an introduction at the visitor centre, you are divided into different groups and assigned a ranger guide who can respond to any enquiries you may have. The trek may take several hours, between 45 minutes and 5 hours, depending on where the gorillas nested the previous night. To get the most out of this gorilla trekking experience, you must be in good physical and mental health. Spending an hour with the endangered mountain gorillas in their natural environment will allow you to observe and learn more about their behaviours, including feeding, playing, and nurturing their young ones. Depending on the time you will spend at the gorilla trekking experience, you will spend your evening at leisure, relax as you wait for dinner, and have an overnight stay at the lodge.

Accommodation: One and Only Gorilla’s Nest (Luxury)/ Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge (mid-range)
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

After breakfast at your lodge on this day of the 12-day Best of Rwanda Birding and Gorilla Trekking Safari, you will drive to Akagera National Park, which is located in eastern Rwanda at the border with Tanzania. Among the species we will be looking for in the marshy areas are Cattle Egrets, Herons, Hamerkops, Sacred Ibis, Hadada Ibis, Village Weavers, Augur Buzzards, Long-crested Eagles, Pied Crows, Village, Black-headed, and Veillot Black Weavers. We shall arrive at our lodge for our stay later that evening for dinner and overnight.

Accommodation: Akagera Game Lodge (luxury)/ Ruzizi Tented Lodge (mid-range)/ Karenge Bush Lodge (budget)
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Have your breakfast and head for birding in the park, where you will search for species like the Slender-billed Weavers, Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters, African Wattled Plover, Rufous-bellied Heron, Swamp Flycatchers, African Fish Eagles, and Greater Swamp Warblers that can all be seen when visiting Lake Ihema by boat. Other species include the following: Black-headed, Squacco, African Jacana, Goliath Herons, Little Bittern, Grey Crowned Crane, African Open Bill, African Darter, Black Tern, Long-toed and Senegal Lapwings, Water Thick-knee, Giant, Pied, and Malachite Kingfishers, and many others. After your boat ride, you will embark on the search for the savanna and forested bird species such as the Spotted Robin-chat, Brown Snake Eagle, Martial Eagle, Pearl-spotted Owlet, and several wildlife species such as Giraffes, Elephants, Rhinos, Lions, Leopards, Hippos, Warthogs, and several antelopes. Retire and return to the lodge for dinner and overnight.

Accommodation: Akagera Game Lodge (luxury)/ Ruzizi Tented Lodge (mid-range)/ Karenge Bush Lodge (budge)
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Wake up at leisure and pack all your travel bags in your safari vehicle, have breakfast, and then start your journey back to Kigali after spending some time birdwatching around the lodge. You go to the airport to catch your return flight at Kigali International Airport. This will mark your 12-day best of Rwanda Birding and Gorilla trekking safari.

Meal Plan: Breakfast and Lunch

Include:

• All Airport transfers
• 1 Gorilla permit per person
• 1 Chimpanzee trekking Permit per person
• Birding fee
• City Tour
• Professional Englis-speaking birding guide
• All ground private transport in 4X4 wheel drive safari vehicle
• Full board accommodation
• En-route meals
• Drinking water

Excludes:

• Travel Insurance
• Tips
• International and domestic air ticket
• Personal items and expenses such as laundry, souvenirs, phone bills, etc.
• Extra meals and activities
• Alcoholic and other soft drinks