This Rwanda gorilla trek and Lake Kivu will take you gorilla and golden monkey trekking in the Volcanoes National Park, Chimpanzee trekking in Nyungwe Forest National Park and for a boat safari cruise on Lake Kivu to see crocodiles and hippos as well as birds endemic to this region. This will be a five-day gorilla safari starting with arrival to Kigali and end with a relaxation on lake Kivu.
Day one: this will be arrival and transfer to your booked lodge near or in volcanoes national park depending on your time of arrival and for this case its a before afternoon arrival. You will be met at the Airport by the driver guide who will transfer you to the lodge. You will arrive late relax as you wait for dinner and overnight.
Day two: gorilla trekking and IbyI’wacu community visit
Have an early breakfast and head to the park headquarters where you will receive a briefing on the rules of gorilla trekking and be allocated the gorilla group you will be trekking. In groups of eight people, you will after the briefing be led by the ranger guides into the forest to search for the gorillas in the Volcano Virunga Hills and the verdant Valley. You will be assigned a group depending on your physical fitness since it involves hiking and that some groups are far and need strong and fit people.
Once the gorillas are traced, you will spend a maximum of one hour observing the gorillas in their natural setting. The tracking will be a 30mins to 5-hour exercise after which you will return to your lodge for lunch and later go for the IbyI’wacu cultural village and learn how to prepare local meals, how traditional marriage in Rwanda and local beer, learn the traditional medicine and end with the cultural entertainment. Visiting this cultural village after your golden monkey trek in Volcanoes national park is too entertaining as you learn and participate in the cultural traditions of Rwanda. Return to lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day three: golden monkey trekking and transfer to Nyungwe.
Early morning after breakfast head back to the park for briefing on how to conduct golden monkey trekking. Golden monkey tracking is less strenuous than gorilla trekking since monkeys feed around the lower slopes of the mountain where they can be easily be trekked. It can be done alongside Gorilla trekking and it’s cheaper than gorilla tracking, costing USD 100 to buy the permit.
After the trek, go back to lodge for lunch then take off to Nyungwe national park. Arrival will be direct to your lodge relax as you wait for dinner and overnight.
Day four: chimpanzee trekking and transfer to lake Kivu.
The trekking experience starts at 5am which implies that you should be up earlier. Take breakfast and head to the park headquarters to briefing. Present your documents including the trekking permit of $100. Each trekking group can only have a maximum of 8 members. Nyungwe Forest is a rain forest with a slippery terrain that will require sturdy hiking shoes, a rain poncho in the likely event of a downpour, long sleeved thick shirts for the cold weather, long trousers to protect you from the long creeping undergrowth if you happen to go off the beaten path and binoculars for a better view of the chimps since you may find them high up in the trees.
While in the forest expect to see any other wild animals and birds on your way searching for the chimps. This will make your journey a true experience for Nyungwe. Take lunch and transfer to lake Kivu and go direct to the lodge for relaxation, dinner and overnight.
Day five: lake Kivu and transfer to Kigali
Lake Kivu is located in western Rwanda and is shared with Democratic Republic of Congo with beautiful beaches, great tropical weather, and beautiful scenery. The lake provides the ideal place for rest and recuperation while on your safari in Rwanda. Some of the activities on the lake include, sunbathing, swimming, and water sports like Kayaking, wind surfing & canoeing.
Take a boat trip in the morning after breakfast. boat trips on Lake Kivu can be done from the different on shore towns especially Karongi and Gisenyi and can also start from certain hotels that are very close to the shores at different time intervals, scheduled or unscheduled in the morning, afternoon or sunset with experienced local guides.
Kayaking on Lake Kivu is one of the other exciting adventure one can do on Lake Kivu, with your family or friends or partner, you can immerse yourselves in the serenity of Lake Kivu as you paddle through the scenic shores to relax your minds, enjoy the surrounding attractions and connect with nature. Kayaking excursions can be done in the morning, afternoon or evening hours. Starting points can also be from Gisenyi, Kibuye or Hotels such as Cleo Kivu Hotel or Paradise Kivu Resort among others.
You can also take up the Fishermen Experience on Lake Kivu which is among the tourist activities one can do on Lake Kivu, it is a newly introduced unique and authentic adventure of spending a night with the local fishermen on the waters as they carry out their traditional night fishing activity. You get to enjoy the uniqueness in their local unique style of fishing with their three-wheel combined fishing canoe boats and the rhythmic songs they sing along which usually give most tourists fun filled moments.
A number of stunning beaches are outlined on the shores of Lake Kivu and Hotel Lake fronts, with a great number of Accommodation facilities on Lake Kivu and many sumptuous hotels coming up on this lake around its exciting towns, beach relaxation could be another interesting thing to do on Lake Kivu. This is usually done to refresh from the first finished activities from the different parks which will help you memorize all what you saw in those parks.
You have the choice to make for the above activities and once you are done, you go take lunch at your lodge and transfer back to Kigali.
