10 Day Best Of Rwanda Midrange Tour

Itinerary

Day 1: Arrive Kigali International Airport

Stop At: Kigali, Kigali, Kigali Province
On arrival at Kigali International Airport, you will be met by your driver/guide and be transferred to your hotel in Kigali.
Duration: 6 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Lemigo hotel

Day 2: Depart for Nyungwe National Park

Stop At: National Museum of Rwanda, RN1/Road to Nyanza The museum actually is situated in the town of Nyanza, Butare Rwanda
After breakfast, your driver-guide will collect you for the 6 ½ hour drive for Nyungwe National Park. En route you will visit the famous National Museum at Butare and the ancient King’s Palace at Nyanza.
The museum was donated in 1989 by the Belgium government. The design and concept of the museum were realized in co-operation with the Royal Museum for Central Africa of Tervuren in Belgium. Ethnographic objects are grouped together according to themes, giving insightful information into daily life in Rwanda. Traditional ceramics and basketry are still manufactured and belong to the region’s finest handicrafts. The National Museum remained surprisingly untouched during the civil war in 1994.

After lunch in Butare, your journey will continue to Nyungwe National Park, arriving for dinner and overnight at your hotel.

Duration: 1 hour

Meals included:
• Lunch
• Breakfast
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Nyungwe Hilltop View Hotel

Day 3: Chimpanzee Trekking and Nature Walk

Stop At: Nyungwe National Park, Butare Rwanda
After an early breakfast, you will collect your packed lunch (provided by the hotel) and drive to the park for the starting point of your chimpanzee trek.

Nyungwe National Park is the largest block of montane forest in East and Central Africa and has an incredibly rich biodiversity. Two species of chimpanzee occur in Africa. There is the Bonobo and the Common Chimpanzee Pan troglodytes (often shortened to Chimpanzee or Chimp, and sometimes referred to as the Robust Chimpanzee). The largest remaining populations occur in central Africa (Gabon, DR Congo and Cameroon). Approximately 400 individuals remain in Rwanda’s endangered population of chimpanzees. However, it should be mentioned that seeing the chimps is not guaranteed, as their movements are unpredictable and they can move long distances in one day. However, the rangers will do their utmost to locate them for you and are in constant radio contact monitoring their whereabouts

Return to the lodge for lunch. Later depart for your nature walk through the forest, visiting the Kamiranzovu Waterfall.
The forest comprises amongst many things at least 200 tree species and over 280 bird species and more than 100 different types of colorful butterfly which make it a true feast of the senses for the nature lover.

Duration: 4 hours

Meals included:
• Lunch
• Breakfast
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Nyungwe Top View Hotel

Day 4: Colobus Monkey Tracking + Canopy Walk

Stop At: Nyungwe National Park, Butare Rwanda
After breakfast, and equipped with your packed lunch, we will head again to the National Park where you will have the opportunity to do the Colobus Monkey trekking. The most famous of Nyungwe’s primates is the Ruwenzori Colobus a race of the more wide spread Angola Colobus which is confined to the Albertine Rift. The Ruwenzori Colobus is extremely arboreal as well as an acrobatic leaf-eater. It is simply differentiated from any different primate discovered in Nyungwe by its black general colour and snow-white whiskers, shoulders and tail tip.

After lunch, it is time for your canopy walk. Set 50 me¬ters above the ground, the canopy walk has a 150-meter walkway and is the first of its kind in East Africa and only the third on the continent (after South Africa and Ghana). It allows visitors to see the forest from above the trees and be at eye level with birds and monkeys that inhabit the upper storeys of the forest.

Duration: 6 hours

Meals included:
• Dinner
• Breakfast
• Lunch
Accommodation included: Nyungwe Top View Hotel

Day 5: Depart for Kibuye

Stop At: Kibuye, Kibuye, Western Province
After breakfast you will depart for Kibuye which lies at the eastern tip of Lake Kivu. Kibuye is often hailed as the most impressive scenic spot of the lake. The unpaved road gently curves back and forth as it weaves through hills and mountains beside the lake from Gisenyi to Cyangugu. Eucalyptus trees line the road, while every corner of the hills is terraced with bananas. Villagers smile and wave. In fact, you may end up with hands tired from waving, and feel like royalty at the end of the trip!

Arrive for lunch at Moriah Hills Resort. Afterwards, take a boat trip to the island of Amahoro - Napoleon's island - with its colony of fruit bats (aptly known as One Bar Island, for the reason you may guess!) Deeply incised creeks, towering mountain ranges and islands offer a magnificent panorama.

Duration: 4 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Moriah Hills Resort

Day 6: Depart for Gisenyi

Stop At: Lake Kivu, Kibuye Rwanda
After breakfast continue to Gisenyi, Rwanda, the largest port on Lake Kivu. You will arrive in time to check in and have lunch at the hotel.

You are welcome to swim at Lake Kivu, one of the African Great Lakes. It lies on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda. The afternoon is spent in this largest port on the Rwandan shore of Lake Kivu, which our guides will have pleasure in describing to you as he guides you. Enjoy a boat ride to one of the islands in Lake Kivu or simply explore the town, enjoying the hustle and bustle of the local market or wander through the leafy streets admiring the old colonial buildings.

Duration: 4 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Paradise Malahide hotel

Day 7: Depart for Ruhengeri

Stop At: Lake Burera and Lake Ruhondo, Rwanda
After breakfast you will depart for Ruhengeri with a stop at the Imbabazi Orphanage, which was founded by Rosamond Halsey Carr (1912-2006) in 1994. Since that time Roz and her staff have cared for more than 400 children although the children’s home has since been closed. Roz wrote the book "Land of a Thousand Hills: My Life in Rwanda," with her niece, Ann Howard Halsey, chronicling her love affair with one of the world's most beautiful and tormented regions. She is also the 2004 recipient of the Volvo for Life Award and a movie chronicling her life is currently in production. Take a walk around the homestead and see the flowers that were planted by her. Have a cup of tea/coffee as you watch the local dancers and enjoy the traditional local entertainment.
Continue to Ruhengeri area, the second largest town in Rwanda, with its stunning backdrop of the five volcanic mountains – the Virungas - arriving for check-in and lunch.
In the afternoon, you will drive to the twin lakes of Bulera & Ruhondo, beautiful lakes located at the base of the Muhabura volcano, close to the border with Uganda. They are surrounded by steep hills with a backdrop of the Virunga volcanic mountains. These twin lakes are great spots to experience and not worth missing. Their deep blue waters, ringed by steep hills and tall waterfalls, with the outlines of the nearby Virunga Volcanoes, provide a spectacular backdrop. There are great photo opportunities at the view point.

Duration: 4 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Mountain Gorilla View Lodge

Day 8: Gorilla Tracking

Stop At: Volcanoes National Park, Musanze Kinigi, Ruhengeri Rwanda
You will be up early on the morning of your Gorilla Tracking for a good breakfast in preparation for the day’s physical activity. You will report for registration at the ranger station by 8 AM. After a briefing by the rangers, your gorilla trek will start. The trek usually takes between three and six hours so a reasonable degree of fitness is required, as well as a strong pair of walking boots or shoes.
The rangers will guide you through the fields, up the gentle slopes of the volcanoes and into the bamboo forest. The mountain gorillas are under 24-hour monitoring for their own safety, so you’re almost guaranteed to see them. The rangers monitor each gorilla family by keeping in close radio contact.
In part due to gorilla tourism, the population of gorillas is slowly increasing but the species remains critically endangered. Gorillas and humans share almost identical genetic material and their health must not be compromised by coming into contact with human diseases (via our food, for example). To reduce transmission of disease from humans to gorillas, you will also be advised to keep 7 meters from the gorillas.

Once you have located the gorilla family, you will be asked to leave all your belongings to one side, and approach the gentle giants, just with your camera. The guides will interpret the animals’ behaviour for you. Females and their young, young males and even a dominant Silverback may be seen: feeding, playing, interacting with each other, or just sleeping! You will never forget your encounter with the gorillas. They will be quite curious to see you! You are allowed exactly one hour with the gorillas before returning to base.
Tracking the mountain gorillas is a physically demanding experience. In the afternoon, you may want to rest, or you may wish to go on a village walk, visit the local market or visit the grave of famous primatologist Dian Fossey of “Gorillas in the Mist” fame who studied the gorillas of this area.

Duration: 6 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Mountain Gorilla View Lodge

Day 9: Golden Monkey Tracking + Intercultural Exchange

Stop At: Volcanoes National Park, Musanze Kinigi, Ruhengeri Rwanda
Entering dense bamboo interspersed with open glades, you will make your way deep into the golden monkey territory of Volcanoes National Park. Ranger guides will lead you to the habitat of groups of ‘habituated’ golden monkeys – monkeys that have become accustomed to human presence. Although viewing is kept to a maximum of one hour, travelers can get an up-close look at the golden monkey in its natural habitat. Adult monkeys frolic in plain view, feeding on bamboo leaves and leaping from branch to branch. Females carry their young, completely comfortable among onlookers.

Return to your hotel to freshen up and have lunch. In the afternoon, optional activities may be a visit to the Iby’iwacu cultural village to watch a cultural dance, meet a local medicine man, or even discover the house of a local king. These cultural activities are popular with visitors and offer alternative incomes to reformed poachers. Another option is to take a trip to the local brewers to understand the chemical process behind brewing local beer from bananas. Just for fun, you can even join the women in squeezing the juice out of the bananas and drink a glass of juice. Other activities you may learn about are basket weaving, an important cultural activity in Rwanda. Through your visits, the activities support the local community financially.

Duration: 5 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Mountain Gorilla View Lodge

Day 10: City Tour and Shopping + Depart

Stop At: Kigali, Kigali, Kigali Province
After breakfast, your driver will collect you for the two-hour drive to Kigali. Depending on the time of your flight, you may have a chance for a complementary city tour of one of Africa’s most well-run and friendly capital cities. Interesting optional spots to visit may include the craft market, Gisozi genocide memorial site and Kigali museum. You will have a chance to do some last-minute souvenir shopping here or at the airport before your flight back home.
Duration: 2 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
No accommodation included on this day.