9 Days Highlights of Rwanda Safari

9 Days Highlights of Rwanda Safari | Primates & Wildlife

Rwanda packs an unusual amount of variety into a small footprint, and this 9 Days Highlights of Rwanda Safari is designed to make full use of it: savannah game viewing in Akagera National Park, chimpanzee trekking and a canopy walk in Nyungwe Forest, and mountain gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park, with a golden monkey trek to close out the trip.

Akagera, Rwanda’s only savannah park, hosts the Big Five alongside a genuinely underrated boat safari on Lake Ihema, where hippos, crocodiles, and a wide range of water birds gather. Nyungwe Forest, one of Africa’s most biodiverse and best-preserved forests, adds chimpanzees and a dozen other primate species, along with a suspended canopy walk. The trip closes in Volcanoes National Park with gorilla trekking, a visit to the Iby’iwacu Cultural Village, and a golden monkey trek through the bamboo forest.

This itinerary suits travelers who want the complete Rwanda experience — savannah, forest, and mountain — in one nine-day trip, with accommodation offered at luxury, mid-range, and budget tiers throughout.

Quick Facts

Highlights

• Day 1: Kigali City
• Day 2: Kigali to Akagera National Park
• Day 3: Akagera National Park
• Day 4: Akagera to Kigali
• Day 5: Kigali to Nyungwe Forest National Park
• Day 6: Nyungwe Forest National Park
• Day 7: Nyungwe to Volcanoes National Park
• Day 8: Gorilla trekking
• Day 9: Golden monkey trekking, Kigali City

Detailed Itinerary

Day 1: Kigali City

On arrival at Kigali International Airport, you will be welcomed by our representative and transferred to your hotel for an overnight stay. Depending on your arrival time, you may take a short Kigali city tour, visiting the Kigali Genocide Memorial Center, the Kigali Convention Centre, the Inema Arts Centre, and Kimironko Market.

Meal Plan: Dinner

Day 2: Kigali to Akagera National Park

After breakfast, transfer to Akagera National Park, Rwanda’s only savannah park and home to the African Big Five and other wildlife. On arrival, head to your lodge for lunch and a short rest.

In the afternoon, take a game drive through the park, spotting lions, leopards, cape buffaloes, zebras, elands, warthogs, antelopes, and giraffes, among others. In the evening, take a boat ride on Lake Ihema, enjoying the scenic lake and its birdlife, including herons, jacana, sandpipers, and papyrus gonolek, along with hippos and crocodiles. Return to the lodge for dinner and an overnight stay.

Meal Plan: Full Board

Day 3: Akagera National Park

After breakfast, head into Akagera National Park for a full day game drive across its savannah plains, acacia woodland, and swamps. Akagera is the largest protected wetland in Central Africa and one of the last remaining refuges for savannah-adapted species in the region.

Akagera National Park

During the morning and afternoon game drives, with a lunch break at your lodge or a picnic site, you will see hippos, lions, giraffes, elephants, rhinos, leopards, hyenas, and zebras, among others. Return to the lodge for dinner and an overnight stay.

Meal Plan: Full Board

Day 4: Akagera to Kigali

Wake for a cup of coffee before heading into the park for an early morning game drive, a good window for spotting predators such as hyenas and lions, along with elusive bird species like the shoebill stork and the swamp-dwelling sitatunga bird. After lunch, check out of your lodge and transfer to Kigali City.

Meal Plan: Full Board

Day 5: Kigali to Nyungwe Forest National Park

Have breakfast, meet your guide, and transfer to Nyungwe Forest National Park with a stopover in Butare.

Nyungwe is one of the most well-preserved forests in Africa and is recognized as one of the most important sites for biodiversity in Rwanda. The park is home to a large chimpanzee population along with a dozen other primate species, including black-and-white colobus monkeys and olive baboons.

Meal Plan: Full Board

Day 6: Nyungwe Forest National Park

Have breakfast before heading into the park for a morning chimpanzee trek. You will join other trekkers at the park headquarters for a briefing, be assigned a sector to trek, and head into the forest in search of chimpanzees. The trek takes approximately two to four hours or more, depending on the chimpanzees’ movement; along the way, you may spot other primates such as olive baboons and black-and-white colobus monkeys, plus a range of birds.

Once located, you will spend an hour in their presence, watching them play in the trees, groom each other, and occasionally play-fight, with plenty of opportunity for photos and video. Return to the park headquarters and head to your lodge for lunch.

Nyungwe Forest

In the afternoon, take part in a canopy walk along a suspended metal bridge above the forest, with views over Nyungwe’s canopy and the birds and primates moving through it. Return to your lodge for dinner and an overnight stay.

Meal Plan: Full Board

Day 7: Nyungwe to Volcanoes National Park

After breakfast, transfer to Volcanoes National Park, home to the mountain gorilla and stretched along five of the Virunga range’s eight volcanoes.

You will arrive at the park in the afternoon and spend the rest of the day at leisure, with dinner and an overnight stay to follow.

Meal Plan: Full Board

Day 8: Gorilla Trekking

Have an early breakfast before heading to the park headquarters for a briefing from the rangers. You will be grouped into eight and assigned one of the park’s ten habituated gorilla families before heading to the starting point and into the forest. The trek typically takes two to six hours, depending on the family’s movement and feeding range.

Once you find the gorillas, you will spend an hour watching them go about their daily lives — feeding, playing, and resting — with plenty of chances for photos and video.

After the trek, visit the Iby’iwacu Cultural Village for a cultural experience, including local dance and drama, a mock crowning of the king, and a visit with the local herbalist. Return to your lodge for dinner and an overnight stay.

Meal Plan: Full Board

Day 9: Golden Monkey Trekking, Kigali City

Have an early breakfast before heading to the park headquarters for a briefing on golden monkey trekking, then head into the forest. Golden monkeys are a rare, endangered species, easily recognized by the golden patches across their bodies, and you will spend time watching them play in the bamboo before taking photographs.

Return to the lodge for lunch and transfer back to Kigali for your return flight.

End of Safari