5 Days Rwanda Gorilla Trekking & Akagera Wildlife Safari

Detailed Itinerary

Day 1 – Kigali Arrival & Cultural Discovery

Your flight touches down in Kigali. The first thing that comes to mind is the Africa you built in your imagination. Everything you thought was wildly constructed is now—clean and orderly. Your private pickup from the airport and check-in at a boutique hotel in Kigali overlooking the hills will follow. An orientation briefing will be accompanied by fresh passionfruit juice. Later, you’ll visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial.

It’s an experience that words cannot do justice to. This explains why Rwandans are remarkably self-possessed. In the afternoon, stroll around Kimironko Market and notice the fabric stalls, vendors selling enormous avocados, and gregarious piles of spices. Don’t forget to visit Question Coffee Café. Coffee lovers will be pleased—Rwandan coffee tastes sweet and bright. In the evening, enjoy Rwandan fried plantains and brochettes served on the terrace of Heaven Restaurant. Tomorrow you’ll need to wake up early, so tonight get some sleep.

Overnight

• Budget: Five to Five Hotel Kigali
• Standard: Heaven Boutique Hotel
• Luxury: The Retreat by Heaven

Day 2 – Volcanoes National Park: Gorilla Trekking

You will remember today for the rest of your life. This is the special moment you’ve been looking forward to. As you travel to Volcanoes National Park, you might smell eucalyptus trees and rain on the wind. It’s time for the gorilla trekking briefing session. Be warned: no sudden movements, no touching the gorillas, and no flash photography.

The start of the hike is a mix of an idea and a path. Sometimes it’s a clear trail, other times only a suggestion underfoot. Your guide halts, and everyone falls silent. You hear a low grunt and the rustle of movement. Enormous shoulders and black fur slip between vines. A juvenile gorilla pauses mid-chew to stare directly at you.

Twenty-five minutes in their reality. Every second takes effort to absorb. Your camera can never replicate it. In the afternoon, you return to your lodge. Hot baths, clean clothes, delicious meals—everything feels earned and deeply satisfying. Dinner by the fireside follows. Other travelers share stories, still stunned by the day’s encounters.

Overnight

• Budget: La Locanda
• Standard: Mountain Gorilla View Lodge
• Luxury: Bisate Lodge

Day 3 – Scenic Drive to Akagera National Park

Mile by mile, Rwanda reveals itself. After breakfast, you set out east toward Akagera. From volcanic green landscapes to spacious savanna fields—your driver knows just where to stop for photos. By midday, you arrive at your lodge inside Akagera National Park.

Expansive lakes and plains unfold in every direction. Sometimes, hippos appear as dark lumps in the water. You’ll have lunch on the terrace. The afternoon is yours to nap or wander around the lodge grounds. A whimsical warthog may cross your path at a leisurely pace. In the evening, drinks under the stars and dining to the soundtrack of frogs and distant hyenas completes the day.

Overnight

• Budget: Akagera Rhino Lodge
• Standard: Ruzizi Tented Lodge
• Luxury: Magashi Camp

Day 4 – Akagera Safari: Big Five Game Drive

A day the savanna will imprint on your heart. At dawn, acacia trees frame the road in golden light as the sun rises. Expected wildlife sightings include elephants along the track, ears wide and listening, buffalo showing mild suspicion toward your jeep, giraffes grazing from treetops, and a lion relaxing in tall grass, tail flicking flies away.

Lunch is overlooking Lake Ihema, where hippos surface with great sighs and crocodiles laze in the shallows. In the afternoon, more game drives await. Every bend reveals something new—impalas, jackals, zebras grazing side by side. The evening brings you back to your lodge to relax. You’re dusty from the ride, but exhilarated by wildlife no film can capture.

Overnight

• Budget: Akagera Rhino Lodge
• Standard: Ruzizi Tented Lodge
• Luxury: Magashi Camp

Day 5 – Sunrise Safari & Departure

One last wild morning. Your final game drive is a last chance to spot leopards and rhinos before you go. At noon, brunch at the lodge features fresh fruit, eggs, and Rwandan coffee you’ll wish you could take home by the gallon. In the afternoon, you return to Kigali.

Watch the landscape transform again—from plains to rolling green hills. There’s time for one last stop for craft shopping: woven baskets, wood carvings, and brilliantly colored kitenge cloth. Early evening brings your transfer to the airport. You will depart with dusty boots and a camera full of proof that the world is bigger and wilder than you remembered.

Overnight
Not applicable (departure day).