From Volcanoes to Kivu

Rwanda is small enough to cross and varied enough that crossing it matters. You begin in the Virunga bamboo with a gorilla family, then drop to Lake Kivu where the water is warm and there is nothing dangerous in it. The Congo Nile road runs south along the shore for hours. Nyungwe is different again, ancient montane forest with chimpanzees calling before light and a walkway strung seventy metres above the ravine, tea fields pressed up against the boundary.

Best months

June to September is the driest and best for Nyungwe's canopy walk and chimpanzee tracking. December to February is a good second window. Rwanda has run a low-season permit reduction for itineraries that add Nyungwe and Akagera. It is not published on Visit Rwanda's permit page, so we confirm it with RDB before quoting it.

-2.4667, 29.2000

Nyungwe National Park

Day by day.

• Day 1 Kigali

  Arrive in the capital

  Arrive Kigali International, short transfer to The Retreat by Heaven in Kiyovu. Afternoon at the Kigali Genocide Memorial at Gisozi. Dinner and full itinerary briefing.

• Day 2 Volcanoes NP

  North to the Virungas

  Kigali city walk through Nyamirambo, then roughly two and a half hours north to Musanze. Wilderness Bisate Lodge, built in a volcanic amphitheatre. Afternoon planting in the reforestation nursery.

• Day 3 Volcanoes NP

  One hour with the family

  Briefing at Kinigi from 07:00, trek one to four hours through terraces into bamboo, one hour with your allocated gorilla family. Afternoon at leisure or a Bisoke crater-lake hike option.

• Day 4 Volcanoes NP

  Golden monkeys and Karisoke

  Morning golden monkey trek in the bamboo zone. Afternoon Dian Fossey tomb hike to the old Karisoke site, roughly three hours return, or the Gorilla Guardians cultural village at Kinigi.

• Day 5 Lake Kivu

  Down to the lake shore

  Two hours west to Rubavu on Lake Kivu, Lake Kivu Serena on the Gisenyi shore. Afternoon swimming, no bilharzia or crocodile here, and a sunset boat past the fishermen's singing canoes.

• Day 6 Lake Kivu

  Coffee island and the shoreline

  Boat out to a Kivu coffee island for a washing-station tour and cupping. Afternoon kayaking the shoreline or cycling a section of the Congo Nile Trail above the water.

• Day 7 Nyungwe Forest

  South along the Congo Nile road

  Long lakeside drive south, breaking at Cleo Lake Kivu in Karongi, then on to Nyungwe. One&Only Nyungwe House, set on the working Gisakura tea estate against the forest boundary.

• Day 8 Nyungwe Forest

  Chimpanzees before first light

  Pre-dawn departure to Cyamudongo or Uwinka for chimpanzee tracking, calls carrying through the canopy. Afternoon tea estate walk with pluckers, then a tasting at the estate factory.

• Day 9 Nyungwe Forest

  Seventy metres above the ravine

  Morning Igishigishigi canopy walkway, 160 metres long and 70 metres above the forest floor. Afternoon Kamiranzovu waterfall trail or a colobus troop walk, groups here run into the hundreds.

• Day 10 Kigali

  North to the capital, then out

  Five to six hours back to Kigali via the Nyanza royal palace or Huye. Inema Arts Center and Question Coffee, day room, dinner, evening international departure.

What the price actually covers.

From USD 18,650 per person sharing. Permits, park fees and charter legs are inside that number, not added at the end. International flights and visas are not.

• Rwanda gorilla permit USD 1,500 and golden monkey permit USD 100 per person

• Nyungwe park entry USD 100 per day, chimpanzee tracking USD 90 and canopy walk USD 60

• Nine nights across Bisate, Lake Kivu and One&Only Nyungwe House, full board

• Private vehicle and one senior guide throughout, plus all Kivu boat charters

• Kigali Genocide Memorial, Question Coffee cupping, Inema Arts Center, tea estate fees