You will arrive at Kigali’s small and friendly airport in the morning and be met by your vehicle and guide who will accompany you on your trip, offering you a unique insight into Rwanda both past and present.

Once introductions have been completed, you will make the beautiful drive to Parc National des Volcans which sweeps along smooth roads around river valleys and through traditional Rwandan villages.

It is around two and a half hour’s drive to the frontier town of Musanze, which features heavily in the screen adaptation of Gorillas in the Mist and it is here that you will get your first glimpse of the imposing Virunga Volcanoes which are the home of the endangered Mountain Gorilla. From Musanze you head straight toward the giant green volcanoes up into the rural villages that surround them where you will come to Mountain Gorilla View Lodge.

Depending on the time of your flights arrival a visit to the Genocide museum in Kigali City can be included as well as day rooms for those arriving with very early morning flights or just need to freshen up after a long journey.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Overnight: Mountain Gorilla View Lodge

Gorilla Tracking in Parc National des Volcans is a legendary once-in-a-lifetime opportunity which starts early in the morning as you drive the short distance to Park HQ where you are often met by performances from the historic Intore Dancers as you await your briefing and get put into the groups consisting of other adventurists you will be tracking with.

Rwanda lets you decide the gorilla family you wish to see on the day of tracking, and some of the best entertainment of the day is the rush of guides as they run across the HQ pavilion to secure the relevant places on their clients’ preferred treks.

Tracking might begin an hour away or so depending on where the gorillas are located, but once you enter the forest it will not be long until your guides make you aware of their presence as you pass nests and broken branches used by the Gorillas. Usually tracking takes between one and four hours to reach the gorillas, where you will spend an hour before hiking back down the mountain to your vehicle and drive back to Mountain Gorilla View Lodge full of new stories to share!

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Overnight: Mountain Gorilla View Lodge

Another chance to enter Parc National des Volcans this morning as you track the endangered Golden Monkey. Thought to be a subspecies of the Blue Monkey, this small primate’s region overlaps the Mountain Gorilla in the Virunga region which is its sole habitat. Some groups have been habituated to human presence and make for a highly enjoyable trip into the forest as they bounce between trees and play around you in the bamboo forests.

Other guests prefer to trek deep into the forest to Dian Fossey’s former research station at Karisoke, where the ruins of her camp as well as the grave sites of Fossey and her favorite gorillas lay. For the really adventurous an attempt to summit Mt Visoke or Mt Muhavura can make for one of the most spectacular views in Africa before returning for a well-deserved dinner at Mountain Gorilla View Lodge.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Overnight: Mountain Gorilla View Lodge

Your safari comes to an end as you make the drive back to Kigali. If there is time you may wish to stop at the cities Genocide Memorial Centre, a touching reconstruction of the recent history of Rwanda which serves as a remarkable insight into the recovery of this small nation that lost so much.

Meals Included: Breakfast