7 Days Rwanda Akagera and Gorillas Safari

About this safari

This trip pairs two very different parks. Akagera National Park offers game drives and a boat cruise, and Volcanoes National Park offers gorilla trekking. You can see elephants, giraffes, buffalo, hippos and Rwanda's reintroduced lions, then walk into the forest to find mountain gorillas.

Akagera is Rwanda's only savannah park, about 2 hours from Kigali. It offers day and night game drives. Boats leave Lake Ihema at 7:30am, 9:00am, 3:00pm and 4:30pm, and private trips can be arranged. On the water you will see Nile crocodiles, hippos and many birds along the shore.

Akagera also has sport fishing, a behind-the-scenes programme with the park's conservation staff and cultural visits to nearby villages. From there it is a 4-hour transfer to Volcanoes National Park, home to Rwanda's mountain gorillas and golden monkeys.

Day by day

Day 1: Arrive in Kigali

Your guide meets you at Kigali International Airport and takes you to your hotel. You receive a full briefing on the safari and the rules to follow in the days ahead. Bed and breakfast.

Day 2: Kigali city tour, then transfer to Akagera

After breakfast you spend a half day touring Kigali. Stops include the Kigali Genocide Memorial Site and Museum, the Nyamata Genocide Church and local markets.

After lunch we drive to Akagera National Park for an evening game drive. Full board.

Day 3: Full day in Akagera, game drive and boat ride

The morning game drive covers the northern sector of the park. What you see varies by the day, but elephants, zebras, giraffes, buffalo and lions are regular sightings.

You return to the lodge for lunch. In the afternoon you take a boat out on Lake Ihema to look for hippos, crocodiles and animals along the shore. Full board.

Day 4: Transfer to Volcanoes National Park

After breakfast we transfer to Kinigi, Musanze, for Volcanoes National Park. It is about 2 hours from Kigali. The road passes through Kigali and Rwanda's rural villages.

You arrive in the evening for dinner and the night at your lodge. Full board.

Day 5: Gorilla trekking and community walk

Pack lunch and water, and hire a porter if you like. After the briefing at park headquarters, rangers assign you a gorilla family and you set off into the forest.

The hike takes a few hours or most of the day, depending on where the gorillas were last seen. On difficult ground you can hire a sedan chair carried by local porters.

At the gorillas, you have one hour for photos and video.

In the evening you visit Ibwiwacu Cultural Village, run by former poachers who are now guides, to learn about the culture and history around the park. Full board.

Day 6: Golden monkey tracking, then transfer to Kigali

After a morning briefing at the park office, you track golden monkeys. These troops range less widely than gorillas, so the walk is shorter and you find them sooner.

You return to the lodge for an early lunch, then transfer to Kigali for the night. Full board.

Day 7: Departure

Rest at your hotel until it is time to leave. After lunch you transfer to the airport for your flight. Breakfast and lunch included.

Where you stay

These are the lodges we usually use on this route. If one is full, we book a similar place of the same standard.

• Kigali: Scheba Hotel or Chez Lando Hotel (budget); Heaven Boutique Hotel, Mille Collines Hotel or Lemigo Hotel (midrange); Kigali Serena or The Retreat (luxury). Bed and breakfast.
• Akagera National Park: Akagera Game Lodge (budget); Ruzizi Tented Camp (midrange); Magashi Camp (luxury). Full board.
• Volcanoes National Park: Le Bambou Gorilla Lodge or Davinci Lodge (budget); Mountain Gorilla View Lodge, Five Volcanoes Lodge or Ingagi Park View Lodge (midrange); Bisate Lodge, One & Only Gorilla Nest, Bishop's House, Virunga Lodge or Sabinyo Lodge (luxury). Full board.