8 Days Rwanda Primate & Wildlife Safari Adventure

Detailed Itinerary

Day 1 – Arrival in Kigali

As the plane door opens, you see rolling bright hills bursting with life.

• Morning/Afternoon:
  Your booked airport pickup will be waiting to greet you. Transfer to your boutique hotel.
  Check in and decompress—most travelers feel the altitude a bit, so take time to adjust.
• Evening:
  Dinner at Heaven Restaurant—brochettes, plantains, and Rwandan coffee you’ll start missing before you leave.
  Early rest.

Overnight

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

Day 2 – Kigali City Tour & Transfer to Akagera

From the city’s gentle bustle to the open savanna.

Morning: Visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial with a guide. It’s moving, necessary, and helps you understand where Rwanda has come from.
Quick stop at Kimironko Market—mango pyramids, woven baskets, and kitenge cloth.

Afternoon: Drive east to Akagera National Park. The air dries, the sky opens wide, and the land flattens into golden plains.
Check into your lodge overlooking Lake Ihema.

Evening: Sunset game drive—look for giraffes, antelope, and hippos in the dusk.
Dinner under a star-filled sky.

Overnight

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

Day 3 – Akagera Full-Day Safari

A day when time feels heightened and unhurried.

• Early Morning:
  Depart before sunrise to catch elephants crossing the track, lions resting, and buffalo grazing. The fresh savanna air is unforgettable.
• Midday:
  Lunch with a view of the lake, watching hippos and crocodiles surface and submerge.
• Afternoon:
  Continue the drive across the northern plains. Birdlife is spectacular—fish eagles, herons, lilac-breasted rollers.
• Evening:
  Return dusty but exhilarated. Dinner and stories by the campfire.

Overnight

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

Day 4 – Transfer to Volcanoes National Park

Transitioning from savanna to volcano country.

• Morning:
  Breakfast, then head west. The drive is long but rewarding—banana groves, villages, and children waving as you pass.
• Afternoon:
  Lunch stop in Musanze.
  Arrive and check into your lodge near Volcanoes National Park. Cool mountain air drifts down from the peaks.
• Evening:
  Dinner by the fire. Early bedtime—gorilla trekking starts at dawn.

Overnight

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

Day 5 – Gorilla Trekking in Volcanoes National Park
The day you learn you don’t need a device to feel connected.

• Early Morning:
  Trek briefing and permit check. The guide explains how to behave: no sudden movements, no flash, slow gestures only.
  Begin your climb—sometimes on trails, sometimes gently pushing through vines.
• Trekking:
  A rustle and a low grunt. You look up—and they are here.
  A silverback sits calmly, fingers laced around bamboo. A baby climbs its mother’s back, wide eyes locked on you.
  You stay for an hour, and your phone never leaves your pocket.
• Afternoon:
  Return to the lodge. A hot shower feels especially earned today.
• Evening:
  Dinner with fellow trekkers. Everyone is quiet, reflecting on what words can’t fully capture.

Overnight

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

Day 6 – Golden Monkey Trekking or Cultural Visit

One more encounter in the Virunga slopes.

• Morning:
  Either trek to see the playful golden monkeys—darting through bamboo in copper flashes—or visit Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village to learn traditional skills and hear stories from ex-poachers who now protect wildlife.
• Afternoon:
  Lunch and leisure time at the lodge.
• Evening:
  Dinner fireside. The evening is yours to journal or simply sit in gratitude.

Overnight

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

Day 7 – Transfer to Lake Kivu

Mountains ease into calm waters.

• Morning:
  Breakfast, then drive southwest toward Lake Kivu.
  The road winds along the shoreline, green hills on one side and the blue lake stretching toward Congo.
• Midday:
  Arrive in Gisenyi and check into your lakeside hotel.
• Afternoon:
  Optional boat ride or relax on the terrace while fishermen drift by in wooden canoes.
• Evening:
  Dinner by the water. You realize you haven’t checked your email in days—and don’t miss it at all.

Overnight

• Budget: Paradise Malahide
• Standard: Lake Kivu Serena Hotel
• Luxury: Cormoran Lodge

Day 8 – Return to Kigali & Departure

A last day of quiet peace.

• Morning:
  Breakfast at the lake with a side of reflection.
• Afternoon:
  Drive back to Kigali. One last chance to pick up woven baskets or carved masks at roadside stalls.
• Evening:
  Check in for your flight. Departure comes with the sense that you’re leaving richer in ways you didn’t expect.

Overnight
Not applicable (departure day).