Experience the wildlife & culture of Rwanda

Kigali

Day 1: Arrival into Kigali

Welcome to Rwanda! On arrival into Kigali International Airport, make your way through passport control and collect your luggage. Once you have reached the arrivals hall, you will be met by a representative who will help you with your luggage and transfer you to your hotel in Kigali.

Kigali - Nyamirambo - Kigali

Day 2: A local lunch & walking tour

A tour from Nyamirambo Women's Center offers you a personal, unique insight into the culture, history, and daily life of the local community. Take a walk with a local guide (who either grew up in Nyamirambo or lives there).

Start with a traditional snack, a brief Kinyarwanda lesson, and an introduction to the Center's activities. It then weaves through Nyamirambo, one of Kigali's oldest neighborhoods. Guides lead participants to a women's hairdressing salon for a free braid, a family compound to pound cassava leaves, two mosques, a lookout over Kigali, and a tailor shop to feel local fabrics. The tour concludes with a traditional lunch prepared by Aminatha, the center's best cook!

After, visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial, a place of remembrance & learning where you will have time to reflect on a tragic time in Rwandaʼs past.

Kigali - Butare

Day 3: Spend the day with a local artisan

Journey south to spend the day with a local artisan. Azizi Life Studio was begun to honor the initiatives and work of the artisans nearby. A day here starts with a drive to a nearby village, where you and your Azizi Life interpreter will be welcomed by the ladies of the weaving cooperative.

After introductions, your chores will begin! Help out in the kitchen, collect water from the valley spring, or cut grass for the farm animals. At lunch sit together and share a meal, before spending the afternoon weaving! 

Later that day, visit the King's Palace, a reconstruction of the traditional royal residence before heading to your new accommodation.

Butare - Nyungwe National Park

Day 4: Tracking colobus monkeys & a tea tasting

Today, you'll journey to Nyungwe Forest National Park. Once you arrive, have the opportunity to head into the national park to track the black-and-white colobus monkey! Sit and watch them in their natural habitat, a truly unforgettable experience.

After, stop at a tea plantation. Learn the art of picking tea leaves and wander through the lush tea estate before enjoying a tasting.

Nyungwe National Park

Day 5: Waterfall hike & canopy walkway

Beginning at your lodge, spend the morning hiking to Ndambarare Waterfall. As you start to hike higher into the forest, enjoy the gorgeous views northwest to Lake Kivu and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Return in the afternoon, and take a moment for lunch before a forest ranger takes you for a stroll through Nyungwe Forest. The walk includes a 200m-long canopy walkway that takes you high above the forest floor providing a unique platform for observing.

Nyungwe National Park - Lake Kivu

Day 6: Trekking for chimpanzees & journey to Lake Kivu

Starting early at 5 am, you’ll head to Cyamudongo, home to Rwanda’s habituated chimpanzees. After meeting your ranger, you’ll trek to find a troop of about 40 chimpanzees, listening for their calls and watching them swing from trees or run around you.

Enjoy lunch at your accommodation before starting the journey to Lake Kivu; check in to your lodge for the night and enjoy dinner surrounded by the deep blue waters of the lake.

Lake Kivu

Day 7: Kayaking adventure

Today, kayak to Napoleon Island where there's a remarkable (and noisy) colony of thousands of fruit bats Here you'll hike to a viewpoint for a spectacular 360° panorama of Lake Kivu. You'll also have the chance to visit a nearby fishing village. 

After you get back to shore, you'll be whisked off for a fascinating tour of a thriving coffee-washing station. Here locals are harvesting, washing, roasting, grinding, and preparing some of the best coffee in Rwanda - and the world.

Lake Kivu - Volcanoes National Park

Day 8: Experience rural Rwanda

Start the day early as you'll make your way to Volcanoes National Park. Once you arrive, visit Handspun Hope Community; here you'll meet the shepherds and members of the cooperative and experience how they develop merino wool. Itʼs a wonderful way to interact with and connect with the locals.

Return to your eco-lodge for a moment to relax and refuel before venturing on a canoe experience on the Mukingwa River, surrounded by the sights and sounds of rural Rwanda.

Volcanoes National Park

Day 9: Searching for golden monkeys

Today, head out into the forest to track an endangered species of monkey known as the golden monkey. This is a wonderful wildlife encounter as the proceeds from visiting go towards the research into the protection of this species and how to preserve their environment so that they do not become extinct!

After, explore the Rwandan countryside on a mountain bike or e-bike, exploring the small tracks and trails that crisscross the landscape.

Volcanoes National Park - Kigali

Day 10: Mountain gorilla experience & farewell

You've saved the best until last! Get up early as today you'll be trekking into the forest in search of mountain gorillas. To see – and walk amongst – a family of mountain gorillas is a wildlife encounter unlike any other on Earth.

After an unforgettable morning, it's time to say farewell to Rwanda. Your driver will collect you and transfer you to Kigali International Airport for your safe flight home.