Description

Day 1: Arrive in Kigali, Rwanda.
Your driver/ guide will meet you at Kigali International Airport and transferred to your hotel where you will have dinner and overnight.

Day 2: Akagera National Park, Rwanda.
Wake up and have breakfast then depart for Akagera National Park in the east of Rwanda, you will arrive in time for lunch and a relax poolside. Have a late afternoon game drive. You will then have a welcome dinner and orientation at the lodge.

Day 3: Wildlife Game Drive.
A Pre game drive breakfast then go for an early morning game drive and have a chance to see a variety of birds, elephant, hippo, giraffe, spotted hyena, buffalo and crocodiles. In the afternoon you will enjoy a canoe ride on Lake Ihema, which is rewarding, you may see the large number of hippo, the huge Nile crocodile and many birds. Dinner and over night at the lodge.

Day 4: Transfer to Volcanoes National Park.
Following breakfast in the morning, you will depart towards Kinigi in the north-west of Rwanda. You will have a lunch stop in Kigali, and visit the Genocide Memorial, where you will be told stories of survival and the heart-warming stories of recovery and rebuilding hope. The journey goes through the beautiful terraced hillsides that characterize much of Rwanda's landscape, gradually climbing to the base of the awesome volcanoes, sometimes with as many as five peaks visible. You will return to the lodge in the evening and then meet one of the veterinarians from the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project, and hear about their ongoing efforts to protect the Mountain Gorillas. You will have cocktails and dinner with them, and will share some of the stories, challenges, and successes of their important work.

Day 5: Gorilla Trekking.
Today you will take your first Gorilla trek. You will wake up early this morning and drive to the headquarters of Volcanoes National Park where you will meet the trackers and head up the slopes of the Virunga Volcanoes. May visit one of the five habituated groups. Not more than eight people visit any group on any given day, so you can rely on having an intimate experience with our group, whichever group you visit. The trek can be quite strenuous, so you should be able to hike for two or three hours on Steep Mountain trails.

Day 6: Dian Fossey Grave
You will visit the grave of Dian Fossey, located next to that of Digit. The grave site is located at the former Karisoke Research Center where Dian spent some twenty years studying the Mountain Gorillas, and the trek to the site is quite spectacular, passing through bamboo forest and afro-montane habitats - indeed the trails are criss-crossed with the tracks of forest buffalo and elephant! You may see all the behaviors of wildlife as we make our way up and down to Karisoke, nestled between the volcanic peaks of Karismbi and Visoke. Alternatively you can relax at the lodge, visit some of the local villages, or trek to see the endangered Golden Monkeys that also make this area home.

Day 7: Second Gorilla Trek at Volcanoes National Park.
Have breakfast and go trek the Mountain Gorillas the second time. You will be able to visit different Gorilla group than the first visit. You will return and visit the local market. You will have a farewell dinner tonight with the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project Field Staff.

Day 8: Virunga Lodge to Kigali, Rwanda.
You will have a relaxed morning, just immerse in the ambiance of this lovely place, thinking about the adventures of the past week, and prepare to get back home. Depending on your flight schedules you may have lunch at the lodge then depart for Kigali and return flight home.

Day 9: Flights home and End of tour