This 9-Day Rwanda Safari starts and ends in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital, and covers the country’s most sought-after travel destinations.
These include Kigali city, Akagera National Park, known for its boat trip on Lake Ihema, the Big Five, and its plant life.
The itinerary also covers Nyungwe Forest National Park, known as Rwanda’s primate capital. Volcanoes National Park is the trip’s main highlight, home to over 400 mountain gorillas, making up more than a quarter of the world’s remaining mountain gorilla population.
9-Day Rwanda Safari Highlights
- Day 1: Arrival in Kigali, city tour and overnight
- Day 2: Transfer to Akagera National Park
- Day 3: Game drive and boat cruise
- Day 4: Morning game drive and transfer to Volcanoes National Park
- Day 5: Gorilla trekking and evening cultural tour
- Day 6: Golden monkey trekking and Dian Fossey or Musanze Caves tour
- Day 7: Transfer to Nyungwe Forest
- Day 8: Chimpanzee trekking and canopy walk
- Day 9: Return to Kigali
Detailed 9-Day Rwanda Safari Itinerary
Day 1: Arrival in Kigali, City Tour and Overnight
On arrival at Kigali airport, meet your company guide, who will brief you on the final itinerary. Transfer to your booked hotel in Kigali city. Depending on your arrival time, take a city tour of Kigali, one of Africa’s cleanest cities.
The tour includes the Kigali Genocide Memorial, which documents the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, and the Kigali craft market, where you can meet local artisans and pick up souvenirs.
Visit the Presidential Palace Museum, Nyarutarama Golf Club, the Richard Kandt Museum, and the Belgian Memorial site. Afterward, have lunch at a traditional restaurant in the city.
Time permitting, visit the Ntarama and Nyamata Genocide Memorial sites on the outskirts of Kigali, two more historical sites tied to the 1994 genocide. Return to your hotel for dinner and an overnight stay.
Day 2: Transfer to Akagera National Park
Depart early for Akagera National Park, a drive of about 2 to 3 hours. The park sits along the Akagera River plains and is home to elephants, lions, hippos, buffalo, antelope, and a wide range of bird species.
The drive covers about 110 km and takes roughly 2.5 hours, passing through Rwanda’s rolling hills along the way.
Arrive at park headquarters in mid-morning and register before the Behind-the-Scenes tour. Park management walks you through Akagera’s history as Africa’s second-oldest national park, along with its anti-poaching work, conservation measures, and its tracking room, which monitors the park’s lions and rhinos. Dinner and overnight stay at your lodge.
Day 3: Game Drive and Boat Cruise
After breakfast at your lodge overlooking the plains, take a game drive to look for Akagera’s Big Five residents, including early risers, nocturnal species, and predators such as lions, leopards, and hyenas.
The drive lasts about 3 to 4 hours. Return to the lodge for lunch, then take an afternoon boat cruise along Lake Ihema, a 3-hour trip on Rwanda’s second-largest lake.
The lake’s shores hold herds of buffalo, pods of hippos, and large numbers of birds. Return to the lodge for the evening.
Day 4: Morning Game Drive and Transfer to Volcanoes National Park
Have an early breakfast, then take a short game drive on your way out of Akagera, heading north toward Volcanoes National Park.
Akagera holds a wide range of savannah wildlife, including lions and rhinos. Lions were reintroduced four years ago and their numbers are growing steadily; rhinos have been in the park under a year, so a sighting isn’t guaranteed but is possible.
This stretch of savannah includes several lakes, adding further chances to spot birds and hippos. The drive lasts about 3 to 4 hours. Return to the lodge to rest before continuing.
Transfer to Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda’s Northern Province, arriving for dinner and an overnight stay.
Day 5: Gorilla Trekking and Evening Cultural Tour
Have breakfast at the lodge, then head to park headquarters for the pre-trek briefing on gorilla trekking guidelines.
A gorilla trek in Rwanda takes you through rainforest with views of the Virunga range, home to buffalo, forest elephants, other primates, and a large bird population.
After the hike, you’ll come face to face with the gorillas and get up to one hour to observe them, take photos, and learn about their daily life.
This is the highlight of most Rwanda wildlife safaris. Watch the gorillas feed, play, and go about their routine.
After the trek, have a picnic lunch and return to the starting point to meet your guide, who will drive you back to the lodge.
In the evening, take an optional community tour to the nearby Iby’Iwacu village for cultural performances, traditional activities, and local stories. Return to the lodge for the overnight stay.
Day 6: Golden Monkey Trekking and Dian Fossey or Musanze Caves Tour
Have breakfast, then return to Volcanoes National Park headquarters for the golden monkey trekking briefing. Enter the bamboo forest on the lower slopes of the Virunga Mountains, home to these rare primates. Trekking time runs 1 to 5 hours depending on the monkeys’ movements.
Along the way, you may see blue and black colobus monkeys, vervet monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, and olive baboons.
In the afternoon, choose between touring Musanze Caves or hiking to Dian Fossey’s grave, in tribute to the primatologist who died protecting mountain gorillas in the Virunga region.
Day 7: Transfer to Nyungwe Forest
Depart after breakfast for Nyungwe Forest. The drive passes rural villages and small towns, taking about 5 to 6 hours, with a picnic lunch stop at Lake Kivu, taking in views of the Congo Blue Mountains along the Congo-Nile route.
Nyungwe is one of Africa’s oldest rainforests, home to a wide range of plant and animal life, including Rwanda’s largest primate population, with chimpanzees, l’Hoest’s monkeys, olive baboons, red-tailed monkeys, and black-and-white colobus monkeys.
Optional activities around Nyungwe include guided forest walks, tea plantation visits, cultural tours, hiking, and cycling. Overnight stay at a lodge overlooking the forest.
Day 8: Chimpanzee Trekking and Canopy Walk
After breakfast, drive about 30 minutes to Nyungwe Forest park headquarters for the pre-trek chimpanzee briefing.
Enter the forest to track chimpanzees along paths marked by droppings or their calls from the canopy. Rangers and trackers help locate a troop as quickly as possible; sightings occur on roughly 95% of treks.
Once you find them, spend about an hour observing their movements through the canopy.
Have lunch, then begin the canopy walk at 2:00 pm. The Nyungwe Forest Canopy Walk is one of the few in Africa and the first of its kind in East Africa, a suspended bridge offering wide views over the valley and forest below.
The trail extends to the Kamiranzovu swamp, home to bird life, orchids, and a waterfall. The full canopy walk takes close to 2 hours and gives close views of the treetop wildlife, including black-and-white colobus, l’Hoest’s monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, blue monkeys, and bird species found only in Nyungwe.
Day 9: Return to Kigali
After breakfast on your final day, begin the drive to Kigali, stopping after 2 hours in Butare, Rwanda’s second-largest city, for a cultural visit.
Visit the King’s Palace, restored to its 19th-century state using traditional materials, for a detailed look at Rwanda’s traditional monarchy.
The nearby Ethnographic Museum of Rwanda holds a wide collection of historic Rwandan artifacts, and you’ll be treated to a traditional Rwandan dance performance during the visit.
Afterward, have lunch and continue to Kigali in the evening. Check in at your pre-booked lodge for an overnight stay, or transfer to the airport for your onward flight.
End of 9-Day Rwanda Safari.
