7 Days Rwanda Primates safari
7 Days Rwanda Primates safari adventure . Welcome to the “land of a thousand hills”!. Rwanda is an excellent place to get experience East Africa. This tour gives you a chance to meet with the friendly locals and track the mountain gorillas and chimpanzees. This tour brings you in close contact with all of the highlights of this fascinating country with a tumultuous history.
7 Days Rwanda Primates Safari Highlights
– Gorilla Tracking
– Chimpanzee Tracking
– Canopy walk in Nyungwe
– Serenity at Lake Kivu
Day 1: Arrival in Kigali
Our representative will be at Kigali Airport to pick you up from your flight and transfer you to your hotel. Depending on your arrival time you may be able to visit some of Kigali’s craft markets to browse amongst the pottery, carvings, batik, weaving, sculpture, musical instruments, leather and fabrics on offer. Prepare to use your haggling skills, all activities and purchases today are at your own cost.
Overnight: Hotel Mille Colline
Meals: Bed and Breakfast
Day 2: Nyungwe Forest national park
In the morning you will meet your driver/guide and you will set off towards the famous Nyungwe Forest, Nyungwe is the largest high altitude montane forest in East and central Africa with a record breaking 13 primate species from colobus monkeys, mangabeys, blue monkeys and, of course, our cousins the chimpanzees. With 300 species of birds of which 24 are Albertine rift endemics and 100 species of orchids this forest is a great eco-tourist centre.
In the afternoon you can go for East Africa’s only canopy walk. This walk takes place above a deep gorge cutting across the massive forest. Lasting about 1½ hours, the walk takes you through some beautiful foliage and animal habitats. En route you will have the chance to spot blue monkeys and unique birds that dwell in the upper levels of the forest canopy.
Overnight: Nyungwe Forest Lodge
Meal Plan: Full Board
Day 3: Chimpanzee tracking & Canopy walk
After a very early morning start, you will proceed to the chimpanzee tracking trail in either the Cyamudongo or Uwinka sections. The total population between the two groups is a healthy 80 individuals. This exciting up-close encounter with human’s closest relative you will not soon forget.
After the chimp tracking you can relax at the lodge or take a walk with your guide.
Overnight: Nyungwe Forest Lodge
Meal Plan: Full Board
Day 4: Lake Kivu
After a relaxed breakfast you will travel to Kibuye on the eastern shores of Lake Kivu. Time allowing, you can visit the Ndaba Falls or take a walk around Kibuye town. In the afternoon you can you can rent a boat and visit a few islands.
Overnight: Serena Lake Kivu
Meal Plan Full Board
Day 5: Visit the Shores of Lake Kivu-Ross Carr Orphanage-Musanze
After breakfast depart Lake Kivu for Musanze town with a visit to an orphanage centre enroute. Rosamond Halsey was a young American fashion illustrator when she married an adventurous hunter-explorer, Kenneth Carr. Together, they journeyed to the former republic of the Belgian Congo in 1949 but they later divorced. Kenneth left, but Rosamond stayed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo until 1955. From there, she moved to northwest Rwanda where she stayed for the next 50 years. She witnessed a big part of Rwanda’s historical events including the 1994 civil war.
She is the author of “Land of a Thousand Hills: My Life in Rwanda.” The resident guide will give us a story about the life and times of this lady, her relationship with local people and Dian Fossey the famous gorilla conservationist. After visiting the orphanage, we continue to Musanze on the foothills of Volcanoes National Park.
Overnight: Mountain Gorilla View Lodge
Meal Plan: Full Board
Day 6: Gorilla tracking
Today’s activity is the most exciting and challenging of our entire expedition. The mountain gorillas in Volcanoes National Park are part of a worldwide population of just about 800 individuals. The gorillas we are allowed to track belong to one of the 8 habituated family groups. For up to five years each, these groups have undergone an extremely delicate process that has gradually brought them to tolerate the presence of humans for a brief period of time every day and allowed a few privileged visitors to interact with them in the wild.
The gorillas are by no means tame, and are completely wild animals. Experienced guides will accompany the encounter. Many of them have been involved in the habituation process themselves. The guides will use their knowledge of the gorilla’s habits and information from the previous day to locate the groups’ whereabouts. Because of this, the time required to track the gorillas varies enormously, from as little as one hour to as much as 8 hours before one returns to the lodge. Once the gorillas are located, our group will be allowed a maximum of one hour with them.
This is one of the world’s truly memorable experiences: a look into one of these magnificent creature’s eyes brings home the poignant fact that they are on the edge of extinction, and that our presence here contributes to ensuring their continued survival. The hour is often over too quickly, and we slowly make our way back to our lodge to recount the day’s adventures.
Overnight: Mountain Gorilla View Lodge
Meal Plan: Full Board
Day 7: Departure
Today after a relaxed breakfast you shall be transferred by your driver/guide back to Kigali. Depending on your departure flight you can visit the Genocide Memorial and Education Centre, which opened in 2004. It’s a dignified tribute to the victims, including a poignant Children’s Memorial, and a detailed description of the darkest hour in Rwanda’s recent history in time to catch your flight back home. Your guide will take you to the airport in time for your flight home.
