Arise early for breakfast then at 06.30hrs: transfer to the National Park HQs for your Gorilla Tracking adventure. After registration, participants are put into groups of 8, allocated a gorilla family to track and a specialist Gorilla Tracking Guide to lead them.

Please remember to bring your passport and gorilla permit as the park officials insists in verifying participants details. Being a rain forest, rain can be expected at any time or day throughout the year and sections of the terrain can be wet, muddy and slippery. We recommend water proof boots above the ankle preferably gators, long sleeved tops and pants to protect from stinging nettles, a light raincoat, a small waterproof bag for your cameras and other gadgets and a light rucksack. The park office provides a rudimentary walking stick that comes in handy especially when descending. Porters from a local association are available to help with carrying your luggage for a small fee. Although the tracking may be hard and require a degree of fitness, no one should feel discouraged to do the trek as regular general fitness more than suffices. Your guide and porters are also always at hand to help with trek and we have had persons up to 80 doing the trek without too much trouble.

0700hrs: Briefing by your guide then drive to the trail head from where the trekking begins. Your guide will lead you, first, through local homesteads and small scale pyrethrum farms then into the forest and up the volcanoes through interspersed bamboo forest and grassland with stunning views in the footsteps of the rare yet critically endangered Mountain Gorillas. They, the guides, never seem to run out of interesting stories and demonstrations about the forest, conservation, the vegetation (some of it medicinal), especially the gorillas and their behaviors, diet and families as well as other of this forest’s inhabitants.

Upon sighting the gorillas, you will stay with them for one unforgettable hour as they go about their daily life – feeding, playing, climbing, relaxing, sleeping, raising their young; almost oblivious of your presence but definitely curious, especially the little ones who sometimes come rather close. It is a magical and breathtaking experience.

But the hour is always over too soon and you hike back to base where your Driver will be awaiting to transfer you back to the lodge for a deserved shower and lunch.

NB:

Gorilla Permits are limited in number, maximum 80 tickets sold per day on first come first served basis.

They sell first, the only way to guarantee availability is to buy.

We normally request our guests to pre-pay in advance so we buy on their behalf subject to availability.

Once bought, they are virtually none refundable and non-transferrable.

Children below 15 yrs are not allowed on Gorilla Tracking. based on need to be mentally mature/physically fit enough for own safety in presence of 'wild' animals. We can however arrange alternative activities.

Many people do ask whether it is possible to do a second day of gorilla tracking and if yes, whether or not such a second trek is worthwhile.In Rwanda, unlike in Uganda, the terrain is not so steep and difficult and therefore it is physically possible to do two treks. Our experience is that when guests encounter the gorillas the first time, they are really excited, a little scared and very busy capturing photo moments. And that on a second trek, they are more ‘experienced’, they are calmer, relaxed and composed and more observant so they really enjoy connected time with gorillas, making it great value. A second gorilla trek is therefore recommended although of course it costs more money for the trek and often additional day of accommodation.

After breakfast transfer to the Park HQs for a Golden Monkeys Tracking experience.

The beautiful Golden Monkeys are considered the little sisters of the Mountain Gorillas with whom they share the Virunga Volcanoes; suffering the same threats ranging from human encroachment, habitat loss, poaching and snares as well as wars and together are listed on the IUCN Red List of endangered species. A primate species of the Old World Monkeys and endemic to the Virunga Volcanoes and KahuziBiega in eastern DRC, they are a relatively big monkey, similar to the blue monkey but with a beautiful Golden-Orange flowing cape on the back and rear as well as contrasting black limbs and face more reminiscent of the Colobus Monkeys. They live in social groups of up to 30 or 40 members feeding on fresh bamboo shoots, leaves, fruits, branches and insects and tend to sleep in the same location high up the bamboo trees day in and day out.

After registration and briefing by your guide, 0700hrs: you will proceed to the trailhead where the trekking into the forest begins. Our guests visit/track one of the two habituated families, in groups of maximum 8 persons; Your guide is always at hand to tell all the amazing stories about the monkeys – they know some of them by features and name – their place in the eco-system, their proclivity to being poached as well as why should be conserved.

Upon sighting the Golden Monkeys, you will spend a fascinating hour in their presence as they go about their daily life. They are ample fun to see, and also excellent to photograph although it can be a little difficult even as they jump from tree to tree.

After the hour is over, you will hike back to base where your guide will be waiting to transfer you back to the lodge for a shower and lunch; the excursion normally last 3 to 4hrs round trip.

In the afternoon, enjoy sightseeing around the Twin Lakes (Burera and Ruhondo), two beautiful crater lakes curved into the volcanoes and only separated by a thin strip of earth. They are visible from a ridge around a local village but if time allows, guests may stop for tea or coffee at a nearby lodge with stunning views or enjoy a walk down and through the local village to see how the people eke a life of farming, small scale trading and fishing on the lakes.

Join your guide on a tour to Ibyi’Iwacu ex-Poachers Village for a Rwandan cultural experience. Situated in Kinigi at the foothills of the Sabyinyo Volcano, 'ex-Poachers' as it is popularly referred to, is an award winning conservation initiative where former poachers were persuaded to desist from poaching and instead come together to form this replica of a Rwandan traditional village with a king’s palace and four traditional huts where they showcase aspects of Rwandan culture, traditions and customs and earn a living as conservationists. On arrival at the village, guests are welcomed with cultural drums, song and dance then led by a village guide through the various exhibitions including traditional rural life, cookery and foods, weaving, grinding, fire-making, a traditional healer with a herbal and spiritual medicine’s ‘laboratory’, archery, javelin, a blacksmith and architecture, Rwandan kingship, palace life and coronations as well as the villagers’ previous life as poachers and their new found passion in conservation and how they have benefited. At the end of the tour, you will have an opportunity to learn a few steps and moves in the very captivating Rwanda cultural dance as well as buy some local curios and crafts including the popular agaseke (traditional baskets), calabashes, hammocks, traditional wooden crockery, dancing bows, arrows and beautiful drums of all sizes.

Join a guide on an exploration hike of the darkMusanze lava Caves which date back 65m years. Armed with a helmet, headlamp and walking-stick, follow your guide through the dark caves with cascading lights from the surface and learn about ancient rock formations, stalactites, lots of Rwandan history dating back centuries to the liberation struggle in 1994 as well as other interesting features and creatures including a resident colony of bats. The walk normally takes about 2hrs and advance booking is advised.

As male mountain gorillas mature, the fur on their back turns from black through gray to almost white - much the same way a man's hair turns gray but this does not affect the females. it is the origin of the name 'silverback' which signifies a mature mountain gorilla male. At around its onset, the gorilla will have acquired mating rights by wresting a family from an older silverback or bringing together several females and thus now heads a family with several females, some juveniles and some black-backs, quite like a human polygamous family, where he demands exclusive mating rights. He stays in charge until death or when older and weaker is deposed by younger fellows.

You may also opt to relax or go out to mix and mingle with local Rwandans and have fun at lunch, drinks and dinner outings. Your driver will be on standby to suggest interesting places and nice spots but the fresh grilled fish in a traditional setting at ParadisMalahide is not to be missed.

Nyungwe rain-forest National Park in southern RWANDA is one of the most beautiful and the largest remaining stretch of montane forests in East Africa. It is home to a wide variety of mammals and 13 species of primates including Chimpanzees and large troops of Angola Colobus Monkeys that inhabit her fairytale world of ancient trees, bushes and shrubs species some dating back to the ice ages; all grown over steep and fertile green valleys and ridges surrounded by beautiful tea plantations. Amidst her well maintained hiking trails, guests enjoy regular guided Forest Hikes down to stunning valleys with beautiful waterfalls; Track the semi-habituated family of Chimpanzees at dawn as they de-nest, or track large troops of Black & White Angola Colobus Monkeys in Gisakura or down in the valleys below. Nyungwe is also a bird lovers’ paradise with numerous species including many endemics recorded. A guided Bird Walk from Uwinka will return many species ticked. The adrenaline pumping Nyungwe Canopy Walk, a foot-wide suspension bridge hang over huge pylons across two ridges at 80m above a deep valley’s ground is the only one of its kind in East and Central Africa. With your specialist guide, enjoy stunning views over the forest canopy extending as far as the Virunga volcanoes; and learn about unique canopy species of plants, mammals, birds and butterflies as the bridge sways in the breeze and your heart threatens to pop-out, still amazing anyway. At the adjacent tea plantations, we offer cultural encounters meeting and mingling with local peasant farmers as they harvest tea, an activity they eagerly welcome our guests to participate in as they share their stories. In the evening, you may partake of the tea tasting ceremony offered at Nyungwe Forest Lodge. There is so much to do and love in Nyungwe forest National Park, one of Rwanda’s best kept secrets.

Transfer to the park offices for Guided Forest Hike (3hrs ) up and down Nyungwe’s valleys and ridges with a specialist botanist Guide. At the deep of the valleys, you may encounter beautiful waterfalls and streams as well as birds and different primates. The variety of trees, shrubs and flowers is almost mind boggling and your expert guide cannot stop with the amazing stories, teaching you everything about the forest as well as its trees, flowers, plants, shrubs as well as some of the wildlife. Nyungwe is definitely one of the most beautiful rain forests and one cannot help the fairy tale land feeling.

Transfer to the park headquarters at Uwinka for your guided Colobus Monkeys Tracking excursion visiting with one the habituated families of Angola Colobus Monkeys in this stunning rainforest; some families can be as large as 400 members!! Whilst the hike up and down the valleys in Nyungwe’s terrain can be challenge, encountering these beautiful monkeys in their natural habitat is an absolute delight. After spending an hour with them with potential for amazing photos, you will hike back to Uwinka base and transfer back to lodge or proceed to your next activity.

For a light weight version, you may enjoy Colobus Monkeys tracking in the Gisakura tea plantation or one of the other tea plantations where you also meet and mingle with the local people; Rwandans are not only absolutely charming, they also have incredible stories of their culture, traditions and customs as well as the war, the pain as well as their country’s incredible and delightful rebirth from the ashes.

Transfer to Nyanza, the pre-colonial capital of the Rwandan kingdom and currently the cultural heart of Rwanda. Tour the Royal Palace Museum, steeped in history and tradition dating back over three centuries and recently refurbished, completely of local materials, to its former glory; learn about Rwanda’s pre-colonial history, culture, traditions, kingship and systems of governance; visit the Royal Palace which has been restored, entirely of traditional materials, to its 19th century grandeur.At the adjacent Rwesero hill, the Rwesero Art Museum displays contemporary paintings and sculptures on genocide, unity and brotherhood in a house initially intended as a palace for King Mutara III Rudahigwa, the last King of Rwanda. But never got to see it completed as he died, under mysterious circumstances, just before independence when a routine vaccination went awry. Only his tomb remains, next to that of his queen, Rosalie Gicanda, who was killed during the 1994 genocide!!

Rwanda’s capital since Independence and the economic center for the last 100 now celebrated as the cleanest and best organized city in Africa, Kigali is a beautiful cosmopolitan city of 1m with wide boulevards, world class hotels, restaurants and entertainment spots, government and diplomatic offices as well as an international airport. Tour lower Kigali around Nyabugogo open air market and considered the heart of Kigali’s informal economy (a little crowded) then continue to the Kigali genocide Memorial Center built to commemorate the over one million people who perished during the 100days Rwandan genocide in 1994; although obviously a moving experience, it is nevertheless a part of our recent history and helps put everything else into perspective; very well-designed and organized for its purpose and nobody should feel deterred from visiting. Through pictorial, video and physical displays, you learn about the Rwandan genocide, how it was triggered and executed and the resultant mayhem. In a separate section, you learn about other genocides in the world and contemplate what lessons humanity can learn from these events. Continue past the ‘skyscraper’ city center with her paved, clean and well-maintained boulevards and international hotels, via the Parliament building which still retains gunshot marks from the fighting in 1994 to the new developments around Kimihurura, Kimironko and the Nyarutarama suburb popularly referred to as the Beverly Hills of Kigali and see firsthand Rwanda’s amazing transformation from the ashes; the recovery has been incredible – a true testament to mankind’s resilience in the face of unfathomable odds. If time permits, you may also stop at the Richard Kandt natural-history Museum, The ex-Presidential Palace, the Belgian Memorial as well as Kaplaki crafts center where you can bargain for some very unique Rwanda souvenirs including beautiful and colorful wall hangings made from cow dung. A stop at one of Kigali’s nice local restaurants for lunch where you can mix and mingle with local Rwandans is also a popular activity; you will be amazed how clean, organized, safe and beautiful Kigali is.

Go out to mix and mingle with Kigali’s local Rwanda crowd on a lunch, drinks or dinner outings. Interesting and popular Kigali hotspots include Bourbon Coffee at MTN Centre in Nyarutarama for high quality specialty coffee and local, high end fast-food), the adjacent Virunga Bar for a taste of Rwandan local drinks in a local setting, Chez Lando Restaurant in the Kimironko area (local choma ranch, drinks and Sports Bar), Kaima (nyamachoma (roast meat) ranch), Wahome’sCarWash Restaurant (Kenyan nyamachoma and sports pub), Republika Lounge (high end local restaurant in the Kimihurura area serving continental dishes with a Rwandan flavor), Sean-John Restaurant (local Rwandan foods, very good), Heaven Restaurant (American restaurant in the heart of Kigali), Zen (a high end Oriental restaurant in the upmarket Nyarutarama area) or the continental and specialty restaurants at Kigali Serena Hotel, Hotel des Mille Collines, Lemigo Hotel, The Manor Hotel and others.

On arrival at the Uwinka Park offices, you will be met by your specialist park guide for a briefing, then hike down the steep slope to the beginning of the canopy walkway where you climb the massive pylons by stairs onto the bridge.Elevated across a valley and over the forest canopy (over 70m at the valley’s lowest point), this single file, foot only 200m long swaying bridge, the only one of its kind in east and central Africa, allows you to observe and learn about unique forest canopy features and creatures including flowers, shrubs, insects, monkeys, other small mammals as well as birds and butterflies. From its vantage point on a clear day, one can enjoy splendid and extensive views across most of the forest even to Lake Kivu and the Virunga volcanoes.

Arise at dawn with coffee/tea and cookies then at 04.30hrs: transfer to Cyamudongo forest (35kms/1½hrs) with your specialist park/guide for a morning Chimpanzee Tracking. Our object is to catch the 35member habituated family as they de-nest at day break. Chimpanzee tracking entails hiking in steep and sometimes wet and muddy conditions in the thick vegetation of cyamudongo. Participants are advised to pace themselves and follow the guide’s advice.

Upon sighting the chimpanzees (60% chance), you will spend time observing them as they go about daily life; up in the trees or down on the ground, feeding, or grooming, mating, sparring, trammel beating or just howling and screeching as they do so powerfully.

At the ready, you will hike back to base where your driver/guide will be waiting to transfer you back to lodge. Usually, guests are back around 11.00am for a late breakfast.