3 Days Wildlife and Uganda Gorilla Safari

Activity Note: The transfer to Akagera national park includes stop overs at Imigongo art centre and Kayonza town.

We’ll depart Kigali for our overland journey to Akagera National Park, situated along Rwanda’s north-eastern border with Tanzania. Our drive will be about three to four hours, but we’ll break it up with a stop along the way in the small town of Kayonza for a coffee break.

Continue and arrive in the park in time and transfer to your lodge for check in. later continue with parked picnic lunch for an afternoon game drive and later drive back to your lodge.

At about 4:30 pm, we’ll start your night game drive and then continue our journey to Akagera, arriving at our safari lodge situated outside the park’s grounds at approximately 5:30pm. After checking in and you’ll be assigned your rooms and rest.

One of Africa’s oldest national parks, Akagera is a 348-square-mile scenic game reserve of savannah, woodlands, and wetlands featuring a dozen lakes linked by channels and papyrus swamps teeming with crocodiles and hippos. Considered one of the safari world’s best kept secrets, the scenery, wildlife, birdlife, and one-on-one experience with nature doesn’t get much better than here as we’ll discover on our game-viewing drive.

Dinner after your night game drive at the lodge dining area.

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

At about 7am, we’ll set off on a game-viewing drive in the northern section of the park, keeping our eyes open for giraffe and zebra in open woodland, or small herds of elephant and buffalo that emerge from the dense woodland to drink at the park’s many lakes.

Picnic Lunch: Around 12:30pm, in the park.

After lunch, we’ll continue our game-viewing drive through Akagera. At about 3pm, we’ll Musanze via Kigali arriving late in the evening and transfer to your hotel close to the border.

Activity Note: Today we depart by road to Mgahinga Nat Park for the start of our Gorilla safari adventure. 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 re 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.

05:00hr – Transfer northwards towards Rwanda/Uganda Border of Cyanika, you’ll be assisted to cross over to Uganda and continue for about 30 minutes to the National Park headquarters to meet your guides for the day. After completing our park formalities, we are embarking 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, groups will return to our lodge by about 1pm. Freshen up, lunch and bid your host goodbye and transfer back to Kigali arriving late in the evening. Drop off at your hotel or residence.