Ultimate 6 Days Rwanda Gorilla and Chimp Safari 2024

Arrive at Kigali International Airport, and after completing any necessary paperwork, meet your private safari guide. After briefing, you will drive through Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, and catch the city’s cultural display, visit the genocide memorial site, art and craft centre or just relax at your hotel, depending on your arrival time. You’ll be getting into the jungle the next day.

Accommodation & meals:

• Luxury: Serena Hotel Kigali.
• Mid-range: Hotel chez Lando.
• Budget: Iris Guest House.

Bed & Breakfast.

At daybreak, have your early morning breakfast as your safari guide waits to take you through Rwanda’s beautiful countryside, dotted with calming nature scenery and colour.

This episode of your perfectly crafted 3 Days Rwanda Gorilla and Chimp Safari is a 5-hour lazy drive that will see you take stops at local markets and the traditional palace in Nyanza. You will then proceed to Butare, where you will visit the Botanical Gardens and the cultural museum.

Enjoy excellent scenic views as you maneuver the stunning green fields of tea scattered across the hillsides, and before long, small, unique wooden houses surrounding Nyungwe Forest will come into view. Arrive at your reserved lodge and check in.

For the rest of the day, make yourself comfortable with nature’s own ambiance around the lodge, chill out in the lounge, and meet new people with amazing cultures.

The ride takes about 5hrs.

Accommodation & meals:

• Luxury: Nyungwe Forest Lodge / One & Only Nyungwe Forest House.
• Mid-range: Nyungwe Top View Hill Hotel.
• Budget: Gisakura Guest House.

Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner 

This forest is rich with a high biodiversity rating and home to about 13 species of primates, including chimpanzees, Columbus monkeys, and L’Hoest monkeys, as well as up to 300 bird species.

After an early breakfast, you will transfer to the park headquarters for a safety briefing. Thereafter, you will be escorted by armed ranger guides into the forest jungle for a rewarding rainforest experience. In a short while, you’ll find your designated chimpanzee troop, which you’ll follow and stick to for the next hour.

The chimps keep moving, jumping from tree to tree above the forest floor, making noise, grooming, and stopping for snacks or naps, and your challenge is to keep up with them with the guidance of the ranger guide.

After your unforgettable experience with the chimpanzees in their natural habitat, you’ll take an aerial view of Nyungwe forest and the surrounding area on the high canopy walkway (160 meters (525 ft.)). According to the latest report by Lonely Planet, Rwanda’s forest canopy walkway has been named the world’s best. So enjoy perfect scenic views of the Nyungwe Forest world and then return to the lodge for the rest of the evening.

While chimpanzee tracking is the signature activity in Nyungwe Forest, visitors can also embark on a rewarding forest walk and hike. This episode of your 6 Days Rwanda Gorilla and Chimp Safari offers you the opportunity to hike along well-maintained trails over the lush, green valleys of the tropical rainforest.

Nature walks in Nyungwe Forest allow visitors to explore more details about the forest, get closer to nature, and learn more about what it has to offer. Nyungwe Forest National Park is popular for its biodiversity compared to other parks in Rwanda, and it has contributed to the development of the tourism industry with over 140 kilometers of walking trails.

Nyungwe Forest National Park alone has more than 1000 plant species, 13 species of primates, 75 species of other African mammals, at least 275 species of birds, and 120 species of butterflies. This protected area covers one of Africa’s oldest rainforests and has been rated the highest priority for forest conservation in Africa. Unfortunately, Nyungwe is little known outside of East Africa, despite its huge biodiversity.

You’ll set up a picnic lunch in the middle of the forest and enjoy the friendly service of this beautiful African jungle. Later, return to the lodge, check out, and set off northward to Volcanoes National Park, where you’ll take on your next jungle experience to find a family of habituated mountain gorillas.

The ride takes about 5hrs.

Accommodation & meals:

• Luxury: Mountain Gorilla View Lodge.
• Mid-range: Gorilla Solution Lodge. 
• Budget: Da Vinci Gorilla Lodge.

Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.

After a sumptuous early breakfast, you will drive to the park headquarters for the safety gorilla briefing (45 minutes). This excursion is the highlight of your 6 Day Rwanda Gorilla and chimpanzee Safari, so be ready to get excited by this once-in-a-lifetime encounter.

You can pack your lunch, wear comfortable clothes and shoes, and carry a walking stick when venturing into this gigantic forest. The time spent gorilla trekking is unpredictable. It varies from 2 to 8 hours before finding a family of these gentle creatures.

The location of each gorilla family depends on their feeding range, temperature, and movement from the previous day. Trackers will go before your tracking group to find the gorillas. Strict guidelines will be issued at the briefing point. So make sure you remember the most important ones.

Trekking through the habitat of these gentle giants is a fulfilling and unforgettable experience that many people look to undertake. Enjoy the one hour allotted (the only time allowed in the presence of each gorilla family per day), watch, and capture this memorable experience. Later, you will retire to the lodge for an overnight stay.

After breakfast, you will pack up your baggage, check out, and transfer to Kigali for your departure flight while enjoying the excellent views of the countryside.

The ride takes approximately 3 hours.

• No Accommodation.
• Meals: Breakfast and lunch.

End of the 6 Days Rwanda Safari.