SUMMARY

Day 1: Transfer to Volcanoes national park

Day 2: Gorilla Trekking in Volcanoes national park

Day 3: Cultural tour at Iby’iwacu cultural village

DETAILED ITINERARY

Day 1: Transfer to Volcanoes national park

You will be picked by one of our representatives from Great Nest Image Safaris who will brief you about this 3 days tour. Later you will take a short Kigali City Tour exploring the major historic and cultural sites like the Kigali Genocide Memorial Center, Craft markets and Kandt National Museum depending on the time. After you will then have lunch and later embark on the journey to the home of the mountain gorillas in volcanoes national park.

Accommodation

(Mid-range accommodation)

• Le bamboo gorilla lodge

(Budget accommodation)

• Garden Palace hotel

(Luxury accommodation)

• Five volcanoes lodge

Meals & Drinks

• Breakfast
• Bottle Drinking water

Day 2: Gorilla Trekking in Volcanoes national park

After an early morning breakfast, you will be transferred to the park headquarters for a briefing about the do’s and don’ts while doing your gorilla trekking. You will also be given information on the groups to trek and after you will be transferred to meet your ranger guide and later you will start your trek into the jungles of volcanoes national park. Trekking the mountain gorillas in their natural habitat of the Virunga volcanoes is an experience that will stay with you every waking moment. After locating them, you are allowed to spend up to one hour with the gorillas. In certain instances the young gorillas may come closer to you or out of curiosity touch you but you are not expected to respond because the silverback could respond violently as it tries to protect the young one from you. Spend the afternoon at leisure recuperating from the gorilla trekking experience or take on an optional activity of visiting the musanze caves or the twin lakes.

Accommodation

(Mid-range accommodation)

• Le bamboo gorilla lodge

(Budget accommodation)

• Garden Palace hotel

(Luxury accommodation)

• Five volcanoes lodge

Meals & Drinks

• Breakfast
• Bottle Drinking water

Day 3: Cultural tour at Iby’iwacu cultural village

After breakfast, you will explore a bit of culture at the Iby’iwacu cultural village to have a taste of the history and culture of Rwanda. Some of the members of this cultural village are former poachers who depended on the forest for survival, this cultural village contributes heavily to conservation of the mountain gorillas because they are able to earn from sharing their culture as opposed to poaching. Later you will be transferred to Kigali to your hotel or take your flight back home.

End of the Tour

ACTIVITIES

• Mountain gorilla trekking
• Hiking
• Village experiences

Optional activities

• Birding watching in Bwindi

Birders with a limited amount of time in Buhoma are strongly urged to stick to the Munyaga River Trail, which starts on the edge of the park behind the gorilla tracking trailhead and follows the same old road through the forest south of Buhoma as the waterfall trail. The open road provides better birding opportunities than a narrow forest path and on a good morning you could hope to see over 60 bird species. Among the common species seen include; the great blue turaco, black bee-eater, red-tailed bulbul, bar tailed trogon, Doherty’s bush-shrike, white bellied robin-chat and much more.

• Birding in Queen Elizabeth National Park

The park has a bird list of more than 501 different bird species which in fact makes it the best place for enthusiastic birders to enjoy such a tour. Among the species commonly seen here are: the Long-tailed Cormorants, African Mourning Doves, African open-billed Stork, Great-white and Pink-backed Pelicans, Squaco Heron Grey-capped Warbler, Grey-headed Kingfisher, as well as the Swamp Fly-catcher.

• Village walk in Bwindi

This 3 hour stroll through Buhoma and its margins immerses visitors in the customs and practices of the Bakiga and Batwa people. The tour takes in varied activities such as farming, brewing local beer, dispensing traditional medicines and concludes with dancing displays by members of the Batwa community.

• Visit the Traditional Salt Mine at Katwe in Queen Elizabeth National Park

You will have an opportunity to check out this very old salt mine which since the fourteenth (14^th) century has been in existence up to date. You will see the traditional mining methods being used by the locals to mine the salt as well as their fascination way of life.

• Nature Walks in Maramagambo Forest (Queen Elizabeth National Park)

We organize short and longer nature walks guided by very knowledgeable and skilled guides inside the Maramagambo forest. During these walks, holidaymakers will get an opportunity to visit the bat caves found near the breathtaking Blue Lake. These ancient caves today are habitat to large pythons which prey on the hundreds and hundreds of bats that live here. You will also encounter several beautifully colored butterflies and several bird species as you explore this forest.

Number of Days

3 Days / 2 Nights

Included

• Gorilla trekking permit
• A professional driver/guide
• All transportation including fuel
• All activities (included in the itinerary)
• All accommodation (included in the itinerary)
• All Taxes/VAT
• Roundtrip/Airport transfer
• Bottled Drinking water

Excluded

• International flights
• Personal items
• Meals
• Additional accommodation before and at the end of the tour
• Tips to porters and driver/ guide
• Government imposed increase of taxes and/or park fees

PERMITS

• In Rwanda Gorilla trekking is done throughout the year and a Gorilla permit goes for $1500 per person per day.

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE SAFARI

• Gorilla trekking permits.
• Good physical, fit health and mental condition.
• Travelers must be at least 15 years old on the day of the trekking.
• Travel & Health insurance arranged from your home Country.
• Hiking shoes.
• Water proof Jacket.
• Long Sleeves shirt & Waterproof Pants.
• Warm Jacket.
• Photography is permitted, although you must not use flash

Standard 4X4 Safari Vans/Land cruisers

Our standard mode of transport is by road and we use 4×4 Safari van and Land cruisers with open roof tops customized for game viewing and photography.  Each Safari van/Land cruiser comes with a professionally trained driver/guide with fuel for the whole safari. Each client is entitled to a window seat and can take up to 8-10 people. We also have very comfortable super customs which can carry up 6 people with their luggage also have small vehicles like Alphads, Harrier and much more that can carry 4-5 people.