8 Days Rwanda Wildlife, Golden Monkey Trek and Gorilla Tracking Tour

DAY 1: KIGALI – AKAGERA NATIONAL PARK

You will be picked up from your lodge in Kigali and transferred to Akagera game national park. The drive will take 3- 4 hours via Kayonza to the Eastern part of Rwanda. You will arrive before lunch at the beautiful . After lunch you will start your game drive in search for giraffes in the giraffe valley. The giraffes in Akagera NP were got in January 1986 from Masai Mara near Lake Magadi in Kenya. 2 males and 4 females Masai giraffes were relocated by plane B-747 from Nairobi to Kigali and put in a corral on the peninsula of Rurama. One night on Christmas 1987 an Elephant broke their barrier where they were and they escaped. A ranger died of its wounds when he tried to prevent the elephants. The giraffes traversed the Kiyonza ridges and settled on the plain of Nyamwashama since then also named as the giraffe valley.… they then started multiplying. You will search for topi, Masai giraffe, hippo, crocodiles, zebra, eland, elephant, reed-buck, sable and roan antelope among others. Leopard, spotted hyena, civet and cerval are present, but r seen on rare occasions.. Akagera game lodge or any other lodge of your budget.

DAY 2: AKAGERA NP |VIEW KARANGWE MOUNTAINS

Take your breakfast in the morning for another exploration. You will indulge in an early morning game drive in search for those animals that you might have missed out in the previous game drive. You will later visit to the height of Mutumba, the highest point of the park which provides excellent views of Akagera lakes and the Karangwe mountains in Tanzania. You will move down to the Lake area where you will have a picnic lunch at the edge of one of the beautiful lakes. In the afternoon you will drive back to the lodge before returning to Kigali for dinner and over night at the lodge of your budget

DAY 3: PARC NATIONAL DES VOLCANS

You will drive to Volcanoes National Park. Volcanoes National Park also known as Parc National des Volcans is in the northwestern part of Rwanda. It is bordered by Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda. Volcanoes national park is one of the most popular home for the mountain gorilla as well as a home to five of the eight volcanoes of the Virunga Mountains (Muhabura, Karisimbi, Gahinga, Bisoke, and Sabyinyo), which are sheltered in rain-forest and bamboo. The park was the centre for one famous Research zoologist Dian Fossey. You will have your dinner and overnight at
Budget – Kinigi Guest House or Muhabura Lodge
Standard – Gorilla View Lodge or La palme Hotel or Le Bambou hotel
Luxury – Volcanoes Lodge or Sabyinyo Silver Back lodge

DAY 4: GORILLA TREKKING – VISIT LAKE BULERA & RUHONDO

Well equipped with your tracking gear, you will assemble at the starting point at ORTPN to be briefed about gorilla tracking and then later be escorted at the foot hills of Volcanoes NP to start the gorilla trek. Volcanoes NP is famous for the Mountain Gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei). Other mammals include: (Syncerus caffer), golden monkey (Cercopithecus mitis kandti), Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta), buffalo, black-fronted duiker (Cephalophus niger), and bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus). There are 178 recorded bird species, with at least 13 species and 16 subspecies endemic to the Virunga and Ruwenzori Mountains. The rangers will give you details of all the encounters you will find along the trek. You will encounter the mountain gorillas, spend an hour with them. If tracking ends early, visit the Lakes of Burela and Ruhondo then later return to your lodge for dinner and overnight

DAY 5: MOUNTAIN HIKING | MT KARISIMBI

You will assemble at the ORTPN Offices for registration, briefing and allocation of Ranger Guides who will escort you to trek the Mt. Karisimbi. The mountain gets its name from a Rwandese word that means “white shell”, because it is often white-capped summit. The Karisimbi is the fifth highest snowcapped mountain of Africa. The climb that must start early in the morning takes 6 hours. You will ascend further more via the Bisoke side, before realization of the first stopping place which is at an altitude of 3.700 m for Dinner and overnight half way up of Mt. Karisimbi (Camping gear is required) Packed dinner for our stay on the mountain

DAY 6: TREKKING TOUR

Wake up early and ascend to the very top of Mt. Karisimbi. The trek takes about 4 hours to reach the apex of this snow capped volcano. Wait for the astonishing panorama and charming foliage. Descend down the volcano in 6 hours. Your AA SAFARIS AND TOURS guides will be at the foothill just ready to transfer you to your lodge for dinner and overnight .

DAY 7: GOLDEN MONKEY TREKKING or DIANNE FOSSEY GRAVE TREK

After an early breakfast, report at the ORTPN Office for registration and briefing, thereafter drive to the Volcanoes National Park for the Golden Monkeys trekking or Dianne Fossey grave trekking. The Golden monkey is one of the most rare primates in Africa. It is now believed that the only feasible population of these monkeys are left in the Virunga Volcanoes National park. A lesser populace may exist in the Nyungwe Forest National Park in Southern Rwanda but this has yet to be confirmed. The golden monkey is a dissimilar species of guenon – Cercopithecus Kandti and is prevalent to the Albertine Rift.

While the Dianne fossey trek will take you to the graves of the late famous American zoologist – Dianne Fossey who was murdered while on her research about Gorillas and other primates in Park des Volcans. Volcanoes NP was the base for the famous American naturalist who carried out her research into the gorillas. She arrived in 1967 and established the Karisoke Research Centre between Karisimbi and Visoke. Since then, she exhausted nearly all her time in the park. She is extensively ascribed for saving the gorillas from annihilation by conveying their predicament to the attention of the international community. She was murdered by unknown assailants at her home in 1985, a crime often attributed to the poachers she had spent her life fighting against. Fossey’s dynamism research was later revealed in the movie Gorillas in the Mist, marked after her memoirs. She was buried in the volcanoes National park in a grave close to her research center amongst the gorillas which became her life. You can choose either of the treks because both of them begin in the morning. Retire for dinner and over night at your lodge in Kinigi or if your flight tomorrow is early then we will transfer you to Kigali for your dinner and overnight at Hotel Chez Lando or Hotel Gorillas or Hotel Des Mille collines or Hotel Kigali Serena.

DAY 8: KIGALI CITY TOUR | DEPARTURE

After breakfast, walk around the city, shopping for Rwandan souvenirs and Transfer to the Airport for your home-bound flight.