Awe-inspiring Safari in Rwanda
This three days of gorilla safari in Rwanda will start with a complimentary tour of the city of the first colonial resident governor of Rwanda and end with a lifetime experience of tracking the rare mountain gorillas. Before you go to see your long lost cousin in the Virunga Mountains area, you will go to Rwanda’s famous destinations including the Gisozi Genocide Memorial site and a Kigali museum and enjoy the city tour an intercultural exchange. Join this safari, have a breathtaking experience of seeing the magnificent primates on Earth, and enjoy the wonderful culture of Rwanda!
Highlights
Styles
Transportation
4×4 Safari Landcruiser / minivan (up to eight passengers) with pop-up tops and seven window seats for game viewing. Groups of twelve or more people who would like to travel in one vehicle are offered 25-28 seat coasters that have about 16 window seats. The safari vehicles are well maintained to provide a maximum level of comfort and safety.
Drivers / guides
Kubwa Five Safaris recognizes this for a fact. The success of your safari will largely depend on your driver/guide. It is because of this, that Kubwa Five Safaris has a great team of carefully selected and well-trained drivers / guides.
Other information
Gorilla trekking
Please note that you are required to buy a gorilla permit in advance of your trip. Only eight people are allowed to visit each gorilla group per day as the demand is high. To buy your gorilla permit, you will need to provide Kubwa Five Safaris with your full names, nationality, birth-date, passport number, preferred date of trekking, your home address, and gorilla permit fee. The minimum age for visiting the gorillas is 15 years.
A certain level of fitness is required for the gorilla tracking and you may not be allowed gorilla trekking if you are suffering from a communicable disease. In case of sighting gorillas, no flash photography is allowed and a fast film is therefore recommended. For gorilla trekking, please consider booking as far in advance as possible. Booking three months in advance is recommended. The gorilla permits are booked and paid for at the same time.
Facilities
Your accommodation is valid and will greatly depend on your budget. Kubwa Five Safaris can and will help you choose from the list when planning your trip. At whatever level, Kubwa Five Safaris provides the very best for their guests. Please note that Kubwa Five Safaris reserves the right to substitute equivalent or superior hotels. If a hotel of the equivalent standard is not available, Kubwa Five Safaris may substitute the next best quality hotel or suggest a superior at an extra charge.There is free Wi-Fi in the hotels
Kubwa Five Safaris does not have triple rooms in most of the hotels in Rwanda. Most of the hotels have double rooms (a room with one big bed for two people or a room with two single beds occupied by two people), this means the third person will be left without a room to stay and the alternative would be to occupy the single room (a room with one bed). The single room supplement applies for odd (3, 5, 7, 9,11, etc.) travelers. Therefore the single room supplement fee is to be paid by the person occupying a room alone. In this safari, you can choose to be accommodated in Garden Place Hotel (budget), Mountain Gorilla View Lodge (mid-range), or Virunga Lodge (luxury).
The Garden Place Hotel
The Garden Place Hotel is a uniquely spacious hotel offering comfortable stylish accommodation to both business and holiday travelers. Strategically located near the Rwanda volcanoes, the hotel offers a distinctive blend of comfort, warmth, and personalized hospitality. The luxury rooms boast a view of volcanic mountains. The Garden Place Hotel is a perfect option location for those wishing to do gorilla tracking or simply to come relax in the serenity and beauty that the Virunga Mountains of Northern Rwanda has to offer.
Mountain Gorilla View Lodge
Mountain Gorilla View Lodge is located in Kinigi in northern Rwanda and on the edge of the Volcanoes National Park, home to the endangered mountain gorillas. The lodge is located on the foothills of the Mount Karisimbi, one of the volcanic mountains that make up the Virunga Massif. The lodge is about 10 minutes’ drive to the main entrance of the Volcanoes National Park where gorilla trekking starts.
Mountain Gorilla View Lodge is an eco-lodge with 30 spacious chalets. To ensure the least disruption of the surrounding environment, the eco-lodge was constructed with a locally available material. Every chalet comes with a sitting area with a fireplace and has a tea / coffee making machine. The eco-lodge supports the surrounding rural community by purchasing farm-fresh produce that is served in the lodge’s restaurant.
Virunga Lodge
The magnificent Virunga Lodge is the premier luxury gorilla lodge of Rwanda and one of Africa’s finest and most renowned lodges. The lodge is perched high on a ridge with stunning views of the Virunga volcanoes and the Musanze valley to the west and Lake Bulera and Ruhondo to the east. It offers the finest views in Africa, uniquely decorated rooms in the Rwandese style, fantastic food and exceptional, as well as personalized service by the carefully trained staff. It is the first accommodation choice for the luxury traveler who wants to go tracking the endangered mountain gorilla. In 2017, Virunga Lodge has been ranked on Condé Nast Traveler’s list of the best Africa Resorts in their 30th annual Readers’ Choice Awards.
While visiting the Red Rocks Intercultural Exchange Center, you can join the women in squeezing the juice out of the bananas and drink a glass of juice if you are interested.
The following meals are included:
The following dietary requirement(s) are served and/or catered for:
Airport transfer included: Kigali International Airport
How to get there
Arrival by airplane
Please book your flight to arrive at Kigali International Airport (KGL). Transfer from and to this airport is included. Kubwa Five Safaris will pick you up from the airport.
Kigali International Airport (KGL) has the following flights: RwandAir, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Kenya Airways, Turkish Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, Qatar Airways, and Coastal Aviation. You can fly internally in Rwanda by charter flights to most of the safari destinations or helicopter with Akagera Aviation.
Cancellation Policy
On your arrival, Kubwa Five Safaris’ representative with your name printed on an A4 paper will welcome you to Rwanda at Kigali International Airport (KGL) and your day will start with a complimentary tour of the city. Named in 1907 by Dr. Richard Kandt, the first colonial resident governor of Rwanda, Kigali city is surrounded by lush hills of green and is referred as the land of a thousand hills.
You will get to visit interesting spots which may include the craft market, Gisozi Genocide Memorial site, and a Kigali museum. Then, you will depart for a two hours’ drive to Ruhengeri area, the second largest town in Rwanda with its stunning backdrop of five volcanic mountains – the Virungas. You will arrive at Red Rocks Intercultural Exchange Center for lunch, then join the local brew makers to understand the chemistry about the process of brewing a local beer from bananas fruits.
If you find the activity interesting enough, you can join the women in squeezing the juice out of the bananas and drink a glass of juice (optional). You will understand how long juice takes to turn into alcohol after adding in sorghum floor. You will also enjoy the big glass of the local brew. Among other activities, they also do basket weaving and with your visit, this local community will be proud of this activity and families will be supported financially. Later, you will be driven to your hotel for dinner and overnight at the hotel of your choice.
Meal Plan: Lunch and dinner
After an early breakfast, you will proceed to the national park headquarters in Kinigi to meet your guides for the day. After completing the park formalities, you will embark on a once in a lifetime experience of tracking mountain gorillas. Once you spot them, you will be allowed to spend an hour watching your closest long lost cousin. This will perhaps be one of the most breathtaking wildlife experiences on earth. You will get so close to these awesome giant primates.
You will stare at each other blankly, not knowing who to break the long silence first. Tracking the gorillas through the light mountain forest on the slopes of the Virunga is a magical experience. These massive primates are extremely rare, with less than 700 living today. You will get within meters of the family and be privileged to spend an hour amongst them. The trekking may be fairly strenuous with up to six hours or longer at a relatively high altitude.
Kubwa Five Safaris encourages for your own enjoyment to make sure that you are perfectly fit and healthy. They have had people as old as 70 years old do gorilla tracking, so this should not be a problem. All you need is to ask your driver guide to request a shorter group for you if you cannot trek far. You will spend one hour with the gorillas, but it is an hour you will never forget. After the adventure, you will return to the hotel of your choice for lunch, late dinner, and overnight.
Meal plan: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
After breakfast, you will bid your host goodbye and depart for Kigali. You will engage in the last minute shopping in one of the friendliest African capitals before returning to the airport for your onward international flight back home.
Meal plan: Breakfast
