4 Days Rwanda Gorilla Tour and Golden Monkey Trekking

This 4 days tour will start with a tour of the city of Kigali before embarking on a drive to the famed Volcanoes National park. You shall go to visit the Kigali genocide museum where you shall learn about the Rwanda genocide that occurred in 1997. The Kigali city tour includes a visit to Kigali genocide memorial center, the main city market, the presidential palace museum, artisan shops and a few other places that might interest you.

After the city tour, our Guide will take you for lunch at a suitable spot before starting the 3-hour journey to the Volcanoes national park as you traverse the beautiful country-side of Rwanda. Here, you shall discover why Rwanda is referred to as “The Land of a thousand hills”.

Upon your arrival in Volcanoes, check in at your accommodation and prepare for a relaxation, dinner and overnight as you await tomorrow’s gorilla trekking adventure.

Have a delicious breakfast and proceed with your packed lunch to the gorilla trekking headquatres for briefing. The briefing for gorilla tracking starts at 7:00 am in Kinigi. All trackers must be at the park offices and should attend the briefing to get an overview of what to expect during the activity but, also you shall be briefed about what to do and not to do during and after the trek.

After the briefing, you shall be allocated one of the 10 habituated gorilla families in the volcanoes national park depending on your overall physical fitness. Once the briefing is completed, you will be led into the forest by the armed park rangers. You also have the opportunity to hire the service of a local porter to help you with some of the luggage if necessary. Gorilla tracking in the Volcanoes National Park takes between 2 to 6 hours.

After locating your gorilla family, you only have one hour to observe and take their photos. Listen to instructions from park ranger guide and stay calm even when the silverback attempts to threaten you.
After observing the primates for one hour, you will return to the gorilla trekking starting point and pick your trekking certificate

After lunch, shower and rest as you wait for the safari guide to take you to the Gorilla Guardians Village, formally known as the Iby’iwacu cultural village. It started as a place where former poachers would sell souvenir to tourist but has now been rebuilt as a leading cultural center in the country. You will spend time being entertained by cultural performers and if you want, you can join them and have fun. Return to your lodge for dinner, relaxation and overnight.

After your breakfast, you will set off to the Volcanoes National park headquarters again for yet another briefing on golden monkey tracking. Here, you have an opportunity to hire a porter to help out with any heavy luggage.
After hiking for about 2 hours, you will finally locate the impressive golden monkeys as they feed on top of tree branches and on the ground. It’s important to know that golden monkeys are rare and can only be found in three countries including Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. They are critically endangered and face great threats from human activities.

Golden monkeys are very playful and cute, actually sometimes they are even provoking. They live in groups consisting of about 50 individuals
Unlike mountain gorillas, golden monkeys are comfortable with flashes and you can take their photos with flashes.

The next program will be lunch and refreshment after which you will be taken for a drive to visit the twin lakes of Ruhondo and Burera. The main activities are the lake include island hopping, canoeing, nature walks and birding. You are free to choose one of preference. Have fun and return to your accommodation for dinner, relaxation and overnight.

Today, wake up and have breakfast as you also prepare to check out and start a transfer to Kigali. If your flight is scheduled for evening, you can have an optional Musanze cave hike. This starts exactly at 7am and it takes about two hours. After the encounter proceed for a drive back to Kigali where you are dropped off at your desired accommodation oar at the Kigali International Airport. This is where your safari ends. Thanks you for visiting Rwanda with us.