Rwanda Safari: 4 Day Gorillas & Golden Monkeys Trek

Activity note: Upon arrival in Kigali, you’ll be picked by our tour guide and be transferred to your hotel—a transfer of about 30 minutes. When you arrive at the hotel, you will check in and receive your room assignment. Kigali Serena is located in Kigali’s business district, just steps away from Kigali City Tower in the centre of the city. Typical hotel amenities include a restaurant, bar, an outdoor swimming pool, and a fitness centre; rooms are likely to feature air conditioning, satellite TV, wireless Internet, and private bath with hair dryer.

Breakfast: Served buffet-style at the hotel beginning at 8am, with a variety of fresh breads, pastries, and hot and cold selections.

Morning:  Around 9am, we’ll depart our hotel for a morning of discoveries in the gleaming Rwandan capital of Kigali. Nestled along picturesque hilltops and pulsing with African charm, Kigali is not only situated in Rwanda’s geographical centre. We’ll begin our day at the Kigali Genocide Memorial, which was conceived both as a tribute to the victims of the Rwandan genocide and to ensure that this history is never repeated. Built over a mass burial ground for a quarter million victims, this moving memorial features various exhibit halls that trace the events of the 100-day genocide, reveal the colonial history of Rwanda and factors leading up to the slaughter, and highlight other instances of 20th-century genocides around the world that speak to mankind’s capacity for cruelty.

Lunch: Around noon at a local restaurant.

Afternoon: We depart for Ruhengeri. We’ll make brief stops along the way, and we’ll take a short break to admire the breath taking views of the Virunga’s, five massive volcanoes looming in the distance. We’ll arrive at our Lodge, Mountain Gorilla View lodge, which is minutes from the main gate of Volcanoes National Park. Lodge amenities include a restaurant and bar. Rooms should include a fireplace and private bath with shower. You’ll have time to settle in before dinner.

Activity Note: Today’s mountain gorilla trek typically involves two to four hours of walking through thick brush over steep, rugged terrain at elevations ranging from 7,000 to 9,000 feet—and can include exposure to stinging nettles and fire ants. As overexposure to humans is harmful to mountain gorillas, contact is limited to one hour—and there is the possibility that they may become agitated and retreat back into the bush in less than our allotted time. Any travelers showing signs of obvious illness may be refused entrance by park authorities.

Breakfast: Served buffet-style at the lodge, beginning at 6am.

Morning: At about 7:00am, we take a drive of about 30 minutes to the National Park headquarters at to meet your guides for the day. After completing our park formalities, we are embark on a once in a life time experience of tracking mountain gorillas. Once you spot them you are allowed to spend an hour watching your closest long lost cousin. This is perhaps one of the most breath-taking experiences on earth!!! You get so close to these awesome giant primates. You stare at each other blankly not knowing who to break the long silence first. Tracking the gorillas through the light mountain forest on the slopes of the Virunga is a magical experience.

These massive primates are extremely rare, with less than 1000 living today. You will get within meters of the family, and be privileged to spend an hour amongst them. The trekking may be fairly strenuous; up to 3 hours or longer at a relatively high altitude. It is important to bring good hiking boots, long trousers, gloves for protection against stinging nettles, some snacks & sweets (for you, not the gorillas) as well as sufficient water as the rain forest gets hot and humid during the day. You will spend one hour with the gorillas, but it is an hour you will never forget. Depending on the length of our trek, we shall return to our lodge by about 1pm.

Lunch: Around 1:30pm at our lodge.

Afternoon: Spent at leisure.

Dinner: Around 7:30pm, in the restaurant of your hotel.

Evening: You are free to relax from the day’s activities at the bar, or retire early to rest up for tomorrow.

Breakfast: Served buffet-style at the hotel beginning at 7am.

Morning: This day is set out for Golden Monkey tracking in the Volcanoes National Park. Entering dense stands of bamboo interspersed with open glades; you will make your way deep into golden monkey territory. Guides lead visitors to the habitat of groups of ‘habituated’ golden monkeys – monkeys that have become accustomed to human presence. Though viewing is kept to a maximum of one hour, travelers can get an up-close look at the golden monkey in its natural habitat. Adult monkeys frolic in plain view, feeding on bamboo leaves and leaping from perch to perch. Females carry their young ones, completely comfortable among onlookers.

Lunch: Lunch will be at your hotel.

Afternoon: Later you will depart for a 2 hours’ drive to Kigali. Engage in last minute shopping in one of the friendliest African capitals, before returning to the airport for your onward international flight back home.