Highlights of Rwanda Safari - Sample Itinerary

Sample Highlights of Rwanda Safari Itinerary at a Glance

DAY 1 – Kigali Serena Hotel/Kigali – Bed and Breakfast – Today on arrival into Kigali airport, you will be met and escorted through customs and immigration and then driven to Kigali Serena hotel for an overnight stay.

DAY 2 – Magashi Camp/Akagera National Park – Fully Inclusive – After breakfast, your guide will collect you from your hotel and take you on a tour of Kigali and the Genocide Museum. After lunch you will be driven about 2 hours 30 minutes with your private car and driver to Magashi Camp.

DAY 3 – Magashi Camp/Akagera National Park – Fully Inclusive – This morning you will go out for a game drive. Return to camp for lunch and out on Lake Rwayakinga to view the large variety of water birds and aquatic animals such as hippo, crocodiles and the rare sitatunga.

DAY 4 – Magashi Camp/Akagera National Park – Fully Inclusive – Early morning fishing expedition on the lake, relaxation and birding from camp after lunch and a later afternoon/evening game drive to spot the nocturnal creatures in the area.

DAY 5 – One&Only Nyungwe House/Nyungwe Forest National Park – Fully Inclusive – After breakfast, you will be driven to Nyungwe National park and to the One and Only Lodge. After settling in and lunch you will explore the rain forests of Nyungwe Forest National Park or go on a tour of the Gisakura Tea Estate.

DAY 6 – One&Only Nyungwe House/Nyungwe Forest National Park – Fully Inclusive – This morning you will head out early to trek the chimpanzee and the other 12 primate species in the area, including the colobus monkey.

DAY 7 – Bisate Lodge/Volcanoes National Park – Fully Inclusive – Today you will be driven to Bisate Lodge in the Volcanoes National Park where you will be staying for the next 3 nights.

DAY 8 – Bisate Lodge/Volcanoes National Park – Fully Inclusive – After an early breakfast you will be taken to the Volcanoes National Park Headquarters where you will receive your briefing and prepare for your gorilla trek. Tracking mountain gorillas through the dense African forests is a magical experience. Typically, tracking can take from 3 to 8 hours.

DAY 9 – Bisate Lodge/Volcanoes National Park – Fully Inclusive – Today you will have your choice of activities including golden monkey trekking, exploring a network of scenic hiking trails, visiting the tomb of the world-famous Dian Fossey and the Karisoke Research Center or enjoying a beautiful day hike to the crater lake on Mount Bisoke.

DAY 10 – Bisate Lodge/Volcanoes National Park – Breakfast – This morning, you will be driven about 3 hours back to Kigali airport in time to check-in for your onward connection.

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Serena Hotel/Kigali

Ideally located on one of Kigali’s most charming boulevards, the five-star Kigali Serena Hotel is built around a polished granite atrium, which showcases the very best of Rwandese cultural art. Relaxed yet elegant, the hotel centers on the Executive Lounge and Bar, which opens onto a wide sundeck overlooking the newly refurbished swimming pool. Also overlooking the pool, the popular Milima Restaurant offers a wide range of all-day buffet choices, while the relaxed Sokoni Café offers inside and outside poolside seating.

Rwanda’s capital and biggest city stretches across undulating lush hills surrounded by towering mountains, the largest of which is Mount Kigali, rising 1,850 meters above sea level. Kigali is the country’s financial, commercial and cultural hub, served by an international airport and featuring a wide range of accommodation options, restaurants and points of interest, including the Kigali Genocide Center, an atmospheric market and numerous craft shops. With its interesting architecture, busy streets, meandering boulevards, and green hillsides, Kigali is said to be one of the most attractive cities in Africa and is definitely worth a visit.

ACTIVITIES

Tour of Rwanda Genocide Museum
Tour of Kigali markets and city

ROOM CONFIGURATION

The hotel features 148 rooms. Guests can choose from a selection of 60 Standard Rooms, 37 Superior Rooms, 19 Deluxe Rooms, 18 Junior Suites, 7 Prime Rooms, 6 Executive Suites and a luxury Presidential Suite. In-room facilities include 24-hour room service, air-conditioning, Wi-Fi, tea/coffee making facilities, mini-fridge, hairdryer, private safe and a flat-screen satellite TV.

Magashi Camp/Akagera National Park

Magashi Camp is situated in the productive and phenomenally diverse north-eastern corner of Akagera National Park, overlooking scenic Lake Rwanyakazinga. Akagera comprises some of the most scenic savannah in East Africa – open plains, woodlands, lakes, swamp and grassy low mountains – and is home to one of Africa’s highest hippo densities, large crocodiles, as well as the rare sitatunga and more than 520 bird species. Teeming with plains game, Akagera also boasts a healthy population of lion which were introduced by African Parks in 2015 after a 20-year absence; black rhino were reintroduced in 2017. Magashi – the only exclusive-use area in Akagera – also harbors a good density of leopard.

ACTIVITIES

Game drives (twice per day)
Boating – an excellent way to view water birds and aquatic animals around Lake Rwayakinga
Birding – renowned as one of the best birding areas in the world with over 520 species recorded here
Fishing – on a catch and release basis

ROOM CONFIGURATION

• Canvas tented accommodation on an elevated deck with elevated wooden walkways connecting tents to the main areas

• Each tent comprises en-suite facilities with an indoor shower, single vanity basin and separate toilet, wardrobe, pedestal fans, luggage rack, writing desk and chair, hat and coat stand, easy chairs, seating area, mosquito net, electronic safe, tea and coffee making facilities, multi-plug adaptor charging facilities for mobile devices, mini-bar and outside deck with seating area.

• Two-way emergency radios have been fitted in the tents and may be used by guests to contact camp management in the event of an emergency.

PROPERTY AND ROOM FACILITIES

Bar, Pool, Electrical Outlets, En-Suite, Fan, Internet Access (Complimentary), Laundry Service (Complimentary), Mini Bar, Mosquito Nets, Safe, Tea / Coffee, Verandah

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One & Only Nyungwe House/Nyungwe Forest National Park

One&Only Nyungwe House is set amongst the rich tea-plantations of Gisakura, In Southwest Rwanda, just south of Lake Kivu on the Burundi border. The property is set on the edge of the iconic Nyungwe National Park, which covers approximately 1,020 square kilometers of rainforest, bamboo, and swamps.

The One&Only Spa provides relaxing treatments, while the One&Only Gym allows guests space and equipment for a refreshing workout. Additionally, guests can relax in the infinity pool while having a snack and drink and enjoy a meal by the trees with a picnic or at the elegant restaurant.

The Nyungwe Forest National Park, located in the country’s southwest, bordering Burundi, is especially popular for chimpanzee trekking. This mystical park, bursting with greenery, is the natural habitat of 13 primate species and well over 275 bird species. This National Park is one of the most biologically diverse high-altitude rainforests in Africa. The 13 species of primates include black and white colobus monkey that has been recorded in groups numbering several hundred, the blue monkey, grey-cheeked mangabey and habituated chimpanzees. Inside the majestic forest there is a canopy walkway so that visitors are able to experience the rainforest from a completely new perspective at 200 feet above the forest floor between giant trees. The canopy provides a stunning bird’s eye view of the park’s amazing wildlife and its natural environment.

ACTIVITIES

Chimpanzee/Primate Trekking
Tea plantation tours – Gisakura Tea Estate
Explore the rainforest

ROOM CONFIGURATION

All rooms include tea and coffee facilities and an en-suite bathroom with an indoor shower, wilderness-view shower and stand-alone bath.

PROPERTY & ROOM FACILITIES/SERVICES

Bar, Pool, Restaurant, Shower, Tea / Coffee, Television

Bisate Lodge/Volcanoes National Park

Bisate Lodge is located in the natural amphitheater of an eroded volcanic cone and has dramatic views of the peaks of the volcanoes, Bisoke and Karisimbi, rearing up through the Afro-alpine forests of nearby Volcanoes National Park. Six luxurious en-suite Forest Villas maximize comfort and views, while retaining environmental principles and reflecting the culture of rural Rwanda. Each guest contributes to Bisate’s biodiversity conservation and local community projects – making a far-reaching impact on an iconic critically endangered species: the mountain gorilla. Bisate is within easy driving distance of Volcanoes National Park Headquarters, from where gorilla treks depart daily.

Bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo in Rwanda, the Volcanoes National Park is best known as a sanctuary for the region’s rare mountain gorillas. Visitors flock here to experience a face to face encounter with these intriguing creatures. The park is set high on the jungle-covered slopes of the volcanic Virunga Mountains. Highly regulated treks through the reserve allow visitors to spend an hour at a time with these incredible primates in their natural habitat. While the gorillas are without a doubt the main drawcard, visitors can also look forward to exploring a network of scenic hiking trails, visiting the tomb of the world-famous Dian Fossey and the Karisoke Research Centre and enjoying a beautiful day hike to the crater lake on Mount Bisoke.

ACTIVITIES

Acitivities include:

A Guided visit to the nearby community including the farmers who cultivate and sell their vegetables to Bisate.
Gorilla trekking takes place from Volcanoes National Park headquarters where guests are allocated to one of the twelve habituated gorilla groups for a one-hour encounter.
Golden monkey trekking – View this beautifully-colored primate, which is endemic to the area and lives in groups of up to 30 individuals in the Park’s bamboo forest.
Guided walks in Volcanoes NP – A full-day guided hike to the summit of Mount Bisoke (3,711m) can be strenuous but is worth the effort, offering sweeping views of the rainforest and crater lake
Nursery visit and tree planting – Bisate’s agronomist, Jean-Moise, will show you around his tree nursery and help you plant a sapling as part of our reforestation project.
A spectacular, challenging hike to Dian Fossey’s grave and the ruins of her Karisoke Research Center, set in the saddle of Bisoke and Karisimbi volcanoes at an elevation of some 3,000 meters.

ROOM CONFIGURATION

Bisate’s sophisticated architectural and interior design is rooted in the Rwandan building tradition as exemplified in the design of the Royal Palace of the traditional monarch. This spherical, synthetic thatched structure echoes the thousands of hills that dot the Rwandan landscape, while the richly detailed interior exhibits surfaces and screens made from a variety of woven materials with strong resonance in Rwandan culture.

Each 91 square meter Forest Villa consists of a generous yet intimate combination of bedroom, reception space and bathroom, all warmed by a central fireplace and with breathtaking views out across your private deck towards Mount Bisoke. With only six villas, the real generosity in the Rwandan context is the amount of private and exclusive space that surrounds Bisate, cosseting it in a rare natural landscape brimming with Albertine Rift biodiversity and beauty.

Villa Description: En-suite facilities with indoor shower, bathtub and double basin vanity, separate toilet, fireplace, easy chairs, luggage rack, tea and coffee making facilities, electronic safe and mini-bar, complimentary wireless internet connection and two-way emergency radios.

PROPERTY & ROOM FACILITIES/SERVICES

Bar, Electrical Outlets, En-Suite, Fireplace, Heated Towel Rails, Internet Access (Complimentary), Laundry Service (Complimentary), Mini Bar, Safe, Tea / Coffee, Verandah

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