5 days gorillas & Nyungwe chimps is a special Rwanda primate tour taking you through lifechanging chimpanzee and mountain gorilla encounters in the country’s leading tropical forest protected areas. The tour combines chimp tracking, canopy walk in Nyungwe Forest and mountain gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park.
Detailed tour
Day 1: Pick up at a hotel, Nyungwe Forest National Park
Nyungwe National Park is found in the Southern province of Rwanda, and today, your journey starts at Kigali capital via Butare route, 6-7 hours’ drive. En-route expected stopover visit include the King’s palace, ethnographic museum, Murambi memorial centre, etc. After Butare city tour, settle for lunch and later, drop off at the lodge in Nyungwe Forest for relaxation and overnight stay.
Day 2: Chimpanzees, canopy walk- Nyungwe
Enjoy an early morning breakfast, after, connect to Uwinka reception to be briefed on chimps trekking rules, and for the park official to assign you a park guide. Tracking Nyungwe chimps can take 2-4 hours, and it guarantees you 1 hour for a close encounter and taking pictures.
Nyungwe hosts 13 primates, and other than 500+ chimpanzees most of which will be encountered, you will also come across primates like baboons, l’hoest monkeys, colobus, as well as birds- a record of 310 bird species all resides in this park. This park will enrich you with primate experience including an afternoon canopy walk, more primates, birds will be encountered during the 2 hours walk on a suspended canopy walkway.
Day 3: Mountain gorilla tour to Volcanoes Park
You will leave your hotel after breakfast, drive to Volcanoes National Park in the Northern Province of Rwanda. This is where 30% of 1063 endangered mountain gorillas reside, and currently, 12 gorilla families can be visited on gorilla trekking. This park was founded in 1925 and it makes it Rwanda’s oldest park, sitting on a compact area of 160sq.km. The route connecting to Volcanoes NP from Nyungwe allows you to view Lake Kivu and rolling hills of Rwanda.
Day 4: Visit mountain gorillas in the wild
After a hefty breakfast, you will be expected to exit the lodge for actual mountain gorilla trekking experience. Trekking the assigned group to you starts at 8:00am, and takes 2-6 hours with guaranteed 1 hour of exploring more about the daily behaviors of gorillas, photography, etc. The gorilla families to be visited at Volcanoes NP include Hirwa, Sabyinyo, Agashya, Karisimbi/Susa B, Umubano, Ugenda, Kwitonda, Amahoro, Bwenge, and others. A
fter a special one hour with these apes, relaxation will be had at the lodge. In the evening, you may consider visiting Iby’Iwacu cultural village to enjoy Rwandese incredible dances, music performance, explore their traditions, cultures, and more.
Day 5: Departure
Drive back to Kigali – 2 to 3 hours, Rwanda’s biggest town and business hub where you embark on a city excursion. Spend some 2 hours/less to explore different sites in Kigali including Kigali memorial centre, craft centers, Kirimonko, etc and settle for lunch before drop off at a hotel/airport for departure.
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