Safari overview.
The 5 day/4 nights Chimpanzee Safari ushers you to southwestern part of Rwanda for an opportunity to walk with the chimpanzees and many other primates. Nyungwe Forest National Park is home to habituated chimpanzees and 12 other primates’ species (including a 400-strong troop of habituated Ruwenzori Black & White Colobus), it’s also a birder’s paradise with over 300 species, including 16 endemics, and is home to 75 different species of mammal. You will have the best canopy walk on earth, and also take part in tea tour for an insight on how one of our favorite beverages is grown, picked, dried, processed and brewed. A tour of Kigali city with a visit to the historical genocide museum is a MUST!
Safari highlights.
Day 1: Arrive via Kigali international airport – Overnight in Kigali.
Day 2: Kigali Genocide Memorial Site, drive to Nyungwe Forest National Park.
Day 3: Chimpanzee tracking. Afternoon Colobus monkey walk – Nyungwe Forest National Park
Day 4: Nyungwe canopy walk & Tea Plantation tour – Nyungwe Forest National Park.
Day 5: Road trip from Nyungwe to Kigali City- Return flight.
Detailed Safari Itinerary
Day 1: Arrive in Kigali – Transfer to the hotel.
Welcome to Rwanda! Adventure Consults Airport representatives will meet and assist you through customs. Collect the luggage and meet your personal/private guide for a transfer to the hotel.
Depending on arrival time, you may have a detailed briefing on your safari today/tonight or tomorrow before starting the safari.
Overnight accommodation is included on Bed & Breakfast basis.
Most hotels are about 25 minutes’ drive from the airport.
Inclusions: Bed & Breakfasts basis.
Exclusions: All meals and drinks.
Day 2: Kigali City tour – Drive to Nyungwe Forest National Park. Approx. 6 hours drive.
Meet your driver at the lobby for a briefing on your safari.
Available option for Kigali city tour before heading out to Nyungwe Forest National Park.
A trip to Rwanda would be incomplete without a visit to the Kigali Genocide Memorial! The memorial is a center of education, and peacebuilding and honors the memory of more than one million Rwandans who were killed in 1994. The three permanent exhibitions and burial gardens form part of a meaningful tribute to those who perished and provide a powerful educational tool for all.
The exhibition is shocking, provoking and attempts to piece together the causes and events of the three-month genocide which destroyed Rwanda in 1994. Thousands of first-hand accounts are documented, and personal film footage and photography are showcased, illustrating the collection of events in a simple and striking way. No doubt, 99.9% of the Rwandan population were affected by the horrific violence of the genocide, a dark past that makes the present friendliness and goodwill of the country’s locals more inspiring.
Have a cup of coffee and start for Nyungwe Forest National Park. Lunch en-route and with stops at places of interest, proceed to the lodge arriving late afternoon.
Nyungwe is a verdant 1000-square-kilometer Park in Southwestern Rwanda with over 80 mammal species, of which 12 are species of primates (that include chimpanzees-our closest relatives in the animal Kingdom). The journey to Nyungwe Forest National Park lasts about 6 hours, filled with endless views of the countryside and when you get there, check-in and relax for the rest of the evening.
Meals and Overnight at the lodge/Hotel.
Inclusions: All Meals (Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner).
Some lodges/hotels include all drinks (but excludes premium drinks), and others do not.
Day 3: Chimpanzee tracking – Nyungwe Forest National Park
After breakfast, transfer to the Visitor Center for briefing, then head out to the forest and start the adventurous walk. The chimp trek takes about 2-3 hours and provides an opportunity of spotting other unique species of plants as well as primates such as L’Hoests monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, Angolan Colobus monkeys, lots of birds and orchids that call this forest home.
After lunch, you have an option to make your afternoon more exciting by trekking Black and white colobus monkeys. There’s nowhere on earth you can ever have an encounter with such a big troop of monkeys like in Nyungwe. The afternoon walk begins at 3pm and after finding the monkeys, you will spend an hour with them.
Meals and Overnight at the lodge/Hotel.
Inclusions: All Meals (Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner).
Some lodges/hotels include all drinks (but excludes premium drinks), and others do not.
Day 4: Nyungwe canopy walk & tea Plantation tour.
This morning, you will embark on the Nyungwe canopy walk. The walk offers the real sense of Nyungwe’s scale. It is East Africa’s highest canopy walk with a metal bridge suspended 50 meters above the forest. It’s not for the vertiginous but the views of Nyungwe sprawled out below are unforgettable and breathtaking.
The 160m long and 50m high suspension bridge is accessible as part of a guided tour along the Igishigishigi trail. Along the hour’s walk to the canopy walkway from the Uwinka Reception Centre, you will spot countless butterflies, orchids and colorful birds, including those that are endemic to the Albertine Rift Valley. During the canopy walk, you will have encounters with colorful primates and Birds.
After lunch, go for Nyungwe tea plantation experience. The green walk is filled with detailed and practical experiences on how tea is grown, plucked, dried, processed and brewed. Make yourself a cup of Rwanda tea for lasting memories.
Meals and Overnight at the lodge/Hotel.
Inclusions: All Meals (Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner).
Some lodges/hotels include all drinks (but excludes premium drinks), and others do not.
Day 5: Nyungwe National Park to Kigali City- Return flight
Have breakfast and afterwards start for Kigali City (about 6 hours’ drive). With relevant stops along the way for photography and scenery, proceed to Butare for an early Lunch. Continue with the journey arriving late afternoon and afterward be transferred to the Airport in time for your international return flight.
Check-in for international flights out of Kigali international airport is normally 3 hours in advance. Ensure your flight is anytime later but not earlier than 1600 hours.
Accommodation
Rwanda has got a variety of accommodation categories that provide visitors with different choices depending on personal interest and budget. Being a Holiday, Adventure Consults never dictates where one should stay hence always left to be an individual’s preferred choice.
Here are some of the recommended options.
Accommodation in Kigali City; Kigali has got a variety of hotels to cater for large groups, small boutique hotels with limited rooms and commercial hotels ranging from high end, midrange to budget. Kigali hotels are all on Bed & Breakfast basis.
- The Retreat by Heaven.
- Kigali Serena Hotel.
- Hotel des Mille Collines.
- Kigali Marriott Hotel.
- Four Points by Sheraton.
- Radisson Blu Hotel & Convention Center.
Accommodation in Nyungwe National Park: Nyungwe has got limited accommodation options. They are all outside the park, with amazing rainforest views, private outdoor decks or terraces & more. They all include Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. Standards and extra inclusions differ.
- One & Only Nyungwe House
- Nyungwe Top View Hill Hotel