Day 1London
This evening you will fly from London Heathrow to Nairobi with Kenya Airways.
On arrival the following morning you will connect to your flight to Kigali.
Here you will be met by a driver-guide from Primate Safaris who will take you to the Laico where you will spend the night. You may like to do a city tour of Kigali, taking in the Genocide Museum which is well worth a visit. It is extremely informative about the events of 1994 which have shaped the new Rwanda you`re visiting today. By learning more about what happened not that long ago, you can see just how far and how fast the country is rebuilding itself.
This morning you driver-guide will pick you up from the Laico and drive you in a private vehicle to Nyungwe Forest. You`ll weave through the rolling hills with some beautiful scenery on your way, and can stop in the town of Butare Rwanda`s second largest city and the former capital, for a break at midday. Here you can visit the national museum and the university before heading further south to the Nyungwe Forest and will enter the national park to get to the guesthouse where you`ll spend the next two nights. This is a really incredible national park, teeming with primates and birdlife and flowers - by staying inside the park, you can really enjoy the wildlife right on your doorstep.
Today you will set off after breakfast for the park headquarters, where you`ll register for your chimpanzee trek. After you`ve met your guide, you`ll start your walk through the Nyungwe Forest in search of the chimps - but don`t forget all of the other primates, birds and animals you can see in the forest, which you can enjoy on your way. Your guide will teach you about tracking the chimpanzees, pointing out signs they`ve left where they have beaten the buttress roots of fig trees for example, as you head towards them. Seeing the chimpanzees playing and interacting in their natural habitat is an incredible sight, and many find it as exciting as seeing the gorillas.
This morning you will drive from Nyungwe along the shore of Lake Kivu to Gisenyi - you`ll start off inland then head west passing some beautiful views of the lake and mountain scenery on your way, and can stop in the town of Kibuye if you want to stretch your legs. You will then head on to Gisenyi, the town at the north of Lake Kivu. Your driver will take you straight to the Lake Kivu Serena, where you can relax for the next two nights.
Day 6Gisenyi
Today is free for relaxing or exploring Lake Kivu - you can go swimming in the hotel pool, or in the lake itself, have a tour of Gisenyi town, or hire a boat to visit some of the nearby islands on the lake. You can decide on the day what you`d like to do - your driver will help you with all of your arrangements.
After breakfast you will set off for Ruhengeri at the base of the Volcanoes National Park. The drive takes around an hour and a half, and will begin with a steep incline up over the dramatic cliff-like hills which then become softer and more rolling as you continue inland. You can get settled into your room at Gorilla Mountain View and spend the rest of the day relaxing in your room, preparing yourself for tomorrow's trek, or if you'd prefer, taking a stroll through the small village of Kinigi buying last minute snacks and drinks you might need.
Today you will set off early after breakfast for the park headquarters where you will register for the gorilla trekking. Once you`ve been assigned a group and have had a briefing from your guide you will be driven to the trailhead where you will start the walk. Your trek will take anywhere from an hour to five hours to reach the gorillas - depending on which group you`ve been assigned. The terrain changes from farmland to bamboo forests, into stinging nettles and rainforest before you will find the gorillas. Trackers leave before the tourist groups to locate the gorilla groups so your guide should know where to take you, and once you`ve found the group you will have one hour with them. Make sure you take plenty of extra film as you`ll be surprised at how many photos you will want to take!
This morning you will depart after breakfast for the park headquarters for your walk to see the golden monkeys in the Volcanoes National Park. This will be a completely different but just as rewarding experience to tracking the gorillas. You will track the monkeys with a guide through the forest of the Volcanoes National Park and you will spend an hour with them once you find them. These beautiful, lively creatures are on the endangered list, and were habituated to tourists after a long research period in 2003. I`m sure you`ll really enjoy seeing these very rare and unusual creatures as part of your stay in Rwanda.
After breakfast your driver-guide will help load all your luggage back into the car and you'll set off to Kigali. Make the most of this last drive (which should take around one and a half hours) taking in the colourful villages and banana plantations on the way. Your driver-guide will drop you at Kigali Airport for your flight to Nairobi where you will have a bit of a wait before your overnight flight back to Heathrow.
Day 11London
Land in London.