12-Day Gorilla & Chimp Trekking in Rwanda & Kenya

• You'll be collected from the airport.
• Accommodation before the tour starts can be arranged for an extra cost.

Kigali - Akagera National Park

Upon your arrival in Rwanda, you will be welcomed by a Kubwa Five Safaris guide, who will be holding an A4 paper with your name printed on it at Kigali International Airport. You’ll then be transferred to Kigali for a city tour and a visit to the genocide memorial site, which gives a brief history of Rwanda.

You will then be driven to Akagera National Park, which features over with over 12,000 mammals, including Africa’s “Big Five”—lions, elephants, buffaloes, rhinos, and leopards—as well as over 500 species of birds.

On arrival, you will check in at your lodge and have lunch. After lunch, you will head out for an evening game drive. The park hosts a variety of big mammals, with the most sought being lions, buffaloes, giraffes, zebras, elephants, and hippos. After the game drive, you will take a boat trip on Lake Ihema to watch hippos and crocodiles in the water or by the lakeshore.

Dinner and your overnight stay will be at the hotel.

Main Destination:

Akagera National Park (Rwanda)

Best Time To Visit June to September and mid-December to mid-February (It is drier and wildlife is easier to spot)

High Season June to September (The park is busiest at weekends)

Best Weather June to October (Sunny, but not too hot)

Wildlife in Akagera NP

GiraffeCommon

BuffaloAbundant

ZebraAbundant

HippoAbundant

White RhinoOccasional

LionOccasional

Show more

ElephantOccasional

Black RhinoRare

LeopardRare

HyenaRare

CheetahNone

WildebeestNone

Wild DogNone

Accommodation:

Dereva Hotel

• Mid-range hotel located outside Akagera NP (Rwanda)

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

Akagera National Park - Kigali

After an early breakfast we’ll depart for a morning game drive in Akagera National Park. We will be searching for big mammals like elephants, giraffes, buffaloes, several antelope species, and the recently re-introduced lions and rhinos. The park is a varied habitat for wildlife and a birders haven, with over 500 bird species recorded here.

Around mid-day, we’ll drive back to Kigali. You will have lunch on the way. Dinner and your overnight stay will be at the hotel.

Main Destination:

Kigali (Rwanda)

Accommodation:

Chez Lando Hotel

• Mid-range hotel located in Kigali (Rwanda)

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Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

Kigali - Volcanoes National Park

After breakfast, you will be driven northwards to Volcanoes National Park. Upon your arrival in Musanze, you will visit the Dian Fossey Center.

In the evening you will visit the Iby’iwacu Cultural Village to learn more about the local culture through community interactions and traditional dance.

Dinner and your overnight stay will be at the hotel.

Main Destination:

Volcanoes National Park (Gorillas)

Best Time To Visit June to August (It is drier and hiking is easier)

High Season June to September (Permits are scarce)

Best Weather June to October (Sunny, but not too hot)

Wildlife in Volcanoes NP

GorillaCommon

ChimpanzeeNone

ElephantRare

BuffaloRare

White RhinoNone

Black RhinoNone

Show more

GiraffeNone

LionNone

LeopardNone

CheetahNone

ZebraNone

WildebeestNone

HippoNone

Accommodation:

Garden Palace Hotel

• Budget lodgeoutside Volcanoes NP (Gorillas, Rwanda)

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

Volcanoes National Park

After breakfast, you will gather at the park headquarters with your trekking gear and drinking water for a briefing before you venture into the forest for your gorilla trek.

Volcanoes National Park is known for its primate species. There are twelve fully habituated gorilla families living here, as well as a few others habituated solely for scientific research. The troops consist of at least one silverback along with several females and youngsters.

The gorilla troop names are: Susa, Igisha, Karisimbi, Sabyinyo, Amahoro, Agashya, Kwitonda, Umubano, Hirwa, Bwenge, Ugyenda, and Muhoza.

Dinner and your overnight stay will be at the hotel.

Main Destination:

Volcanoes National Park (Gorillas)

Accommodation:

Garden Palace Hotel

• Budget lodgeoutside Volcanoes NP (Gorillas, Rwanda)

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

Volcanoes National Park - Lake Kivu

After breakfast in the morning, you will assemble at the park headquarters with your trekking gear and drinking water for a briefing before you venture into the forest for your golden monkey trek. While participating in the trek, you will learn interesting facts about their lives in order to make the journey more interesting.

After lunch you will drive to Lake Kivu, which borders Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. After reaching the lake, you will enjoy the rest of your evening by its shores.

Dinner and your overnight stay will be at the guest house.

Main Destination:

Lake Kivu (Rwanda)

Accommodation:

Cyimbili Guest House

• Budget guest house located at Lake Kivu (Rwanda)

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

Lake Kivu - Nyungwe National Park

After breakfast in the morning, you will either go kayaking or enjoy a boat ride on Lake Kivu before your approximately 2.5 drive to Nyungwe National Park.

You will have lunch on the way and then continue to the park, arriving in time for a canopy walk. The canopy is set 50 meters above the ground, and its 150-meter walkway is the first of its kind in East Africa and third on the continent overall (after South Africa and Ghana). It allows visitors to see the forest from above the trees and be at eye level with the birds and monkeys that inhabit the upper side of the forest.

Dinner and your overnight stay will be at the lodge.

Main Destination:

Nyungwe National Park (Chimps)

Best Time To Visit June to September (Dry weather, best chimp trekking)

High Season June to September (Popular gorilla trekking time in Volcanoes NP)

Best Weather June to October (Sunny, but not too hot)

Wildlife in Nyungwe NP

ChimpanzeeCommon

White RhinoNone

Black RhinoNone

LionNone

LeopardNone

CheetahNone

Show more

ElephantNone

GiraffeNone

BuffaloNone

ZebraNone

WildebeestNone

HippoNone

Accommodation:

Nyungwe Nziza Eco-Lodge

• Budget lodgejust outside Nyungwe NP (Chimps, Rwanda)

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Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

Nyungwe National Park - Nairobi

After an early morning breakfast, you’ll pick up your packed lunch and then drive into the park to the starting point of your chimpanzee trek.

Nyungwe National Park features the largest block of montane forest in eastern and central Africa and is an incredibly rich area of biodiversity.

After chimpanzee trekking, you will have lunch and then drive back to Kigali for your evening flight to Kenya. Upon arrival, you will be greeted by a Kubwa Five Safaris guide, who will be holding an A4 paper with your name printed on it at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. You’ll then be transferred to the hotel for dinner and your overnight stay.

Main Destination:

Nairobi (City, Kenya)

Accommodation:

Ibis Styles Nairobi Westlands Hotel

• Mid-range hotelin Nairobi (City, Kenya)

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Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

Nairobi - Lake Naivasha

After breakfast, you will be transferred to Lake Naivasha National Park. This beautiful lake has so much in store for you to look at and enjoy.

Upon arrival, you will check in at your hotel and then go out on an evening boat ride. Dinner and your overnight stay will be at the resort.

Main Destination:

Lake Naivasha (Naivasha, Kenya)

Accommodation:

Burch Resort

• Budget resortat Lake Naivasha (Naivasha, Kenya)

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

Lake Naivasha - Hell's Gate National Park - Lake Nakuru National Park

After breakfast, you will go on a two-hour bike ride in Hell’s Gate National Park. You will then transfer to Lake Nakuru National Park, arriving at your hotel in the afternoon. After lunch, you will head out for an evening game drive.

Lake Nakuru National Park's claim to fame is its flamingos and the over 400 other species of birds found here. The lake itself is a soda lake on the floor of the Rift Valley. The sight of potentially millions of flamingos is quite spectacular—from a distance the lake appears ringed in pink!

Lake Nakuru has also earned a reputation as an important haven for endangered species, particularly the Rothschild giraffe and the black and white rhino. Lions, waterbuck, buffalo, and baboons are also residents here.

Dinner and your overnight stay will be at the hotel.

Main Destination:

Lake Nakuru National Park (Kenya)

Best Time To Visit June to February (Best for wildlife viewing; little rain)

High Season July to February (The park gets very busy)

Best Weather June to February (Little rainfall)

Wildlife in Lake Nakuru NP

GiraffeCommon

White RhinoCommon

BuffaloCommon

ZebraCommon

HippoCommon

Black RhinoOccasional

Show more

LionOccasional

LeopardOccasional

HyenaOccasional

WildebeestVery Rare

ElephantNone

CheetahNone

Wild DogNone

Accommodation:

Hotel CityMax

• Budget hotel located less than 1hr drive from Lake Nakuru NP (Kenya)

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Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

Lake Nakuru National Park - Masai Mara National Reserve

After breakfast, you’ll depart for an early morning game drive in Lake Nakuru National Park. Lake Nakuru is one of Kenya’s renowned soda lakes and is world-famous for attracting millions of flamingos to its alkaline shores. Witnessing these legions of fuchsia-pink flamingos feeding on the abundant algae that grows in the warm and shallow waters is a sight to behold.

After the morning game drive, you will be transferred to Masai Mara National Park. You will pass through the floor of the Rift Valley, arriving in the evening. Over 450 species of animals have been recorded here.

After an evening game drive, dinner and your overnight stay will be at the camp.

Main Destination:

Masai Mara National Reserve (Kenya)

Best Time To Visit June to October (For general wildlife viewing) and August to October (For wildebeest migration)

High Season June to October and December to March

Best Weather June to October (Sunny, but not too hot)

Wildlife in Masai Mara NR

ElephantCommon

GiraffeCommon

LionCommon

CheetahCommon

ZebraAbundant

WildebeestAbundant

Show more

BuffaloCommon

HippoCommon

HyenaCommon

LeopardOccasional

Black RhinoRare

Wild DogVery Rare

White RhinoNone

Accommodation:

Miti Mingi Eco Camp

• Budget tented camp located just outside Masai Mara NR (Kenya)

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Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

Masai Mara National Reserve

After breakfast, you will head out with packed lunch for a half-day game drive in the park in search of zebra, wildebeest, lion, cheetah, elephant, and buffalo (among others).

It is in the Masai Mara Game Reserve that perhaps the most spectacular event of the natural world takes place: the annual migration of millions of wildebeest and zebra from the Serengeti (in Tanzania) in search of water and pasture.

In the afternoon, visit the local Maasai village for a cultural tour. Here you’ll learn about the community and interact with the local Maasai people. An overnight at the village can be organized upon request.

Optional Activity: A balloon safari at an additional cost of $485 USD per person can be organized for the early morning on this day, after which you’ll proceed with the normal program.

Dinner and your overnight stay will be at the camp.

Main Destination:

Masai Mara National Reserve (Kenya)

Accommodation:

Miti Mingi Eco Camp

• Budget tented camp located just outside Masai Mara NR (Kenya)

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

Masai Mara National Reserve - Nairobi

After breakfast, you will be driven to Nairobi, where you will do some shopping for local souvenirs that you can take back home to show to your friends and family members.

After shopping, you will have lunch in town, then be driven to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport for your scheduled flight back home.

Main Destination:

Nairobi (City, Kenya)

Accommodation:

No accommodation (End of tour)

Meals & Drinks:

• Breakfast & lunch (Dinner not included)
• Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

• Additional accommodation can be arranged for an extra cost.
• You'll be dropped off at the airport.