Day 1Arrival
Welcome to Rwanda
Welcome to Rwanda. On arrival at Kigali International Airport you are met and assisted through entry formalities, introduced to your driver-guide and transferred the short distance to your hotel. The evening is yours to rest after the journey.
Day 2Akagera
East to Akagera National Park
After breakfast you drive east to Akagera National Park, Rwanda's only savannah park, with an en route game drive bringing you to your camp beside the lakes. The afternoon follows the rhythms of the bush, with activities led from camp.
Day 3Akagera
Game Drive and Boat Cruise in Akagera
A full day in Akagera follows lion, elephant, buffalo, zebra and giraffe across rolling acacia country, with an afternoon boat cruise on Lake Ihema among hippo, crocodile and a wealth of waterbirds. Akagera's quiet, lake-strewn landscapes are among the most beautiful in the region.
Day 4Volcanoes
West to Volcanoes National Park
You travel west to Volcanoes National Park, the Rwandan flank of the Virunga massif, where forested slopes rise to a chain of volcanic peaks. The rest of the day is at leisure to take in the views, with an optional scenic flight to Musanze available in place of the drive.
Day 5Volcanoes
Golden Monkeys and the Dian Fossey Story
After a briefing at the park headquarters you track a troop of the endangered golden monkey through the bamboo-covered lower slopes. In the afternoon you visit the Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, a window into the conservation story that brought the mountain gorillas back from the brink.
Day 6Entebbe
Fly to Entebbe and Kampala City Tour
A short road transfer to Kigali connects with your flight to Entebbe, where you are met and assisted through arrival formalities. The afternoon brings a tour of Kampala, Uganda's lively capital set across green hills, before settling into your lodge near the lake.
Day 7Murchison Falls
North to Murchison Falls, via Ziwa Rhino
You head north to Murchison Falls, breaking the drive at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary to track white rhino on foot. Entering the park, you pause at the Top of the Falls, where the Nile is forced through a narrow gorge, before an evening game drive as the plains come alive in the cooling light.
Day 8Murchison Falls
Murchison Game Drive and Falls Cruise
A morning game drive across the northern plains seeks lion, elephant, buffalo and Rothschild's giraffe, followed by an afternoon at leisure. As the day softens you board a private launch for a sundowner cruise to the foot of Murchison Falls, with hippo, crocodile and birdlife along the way.
Day 9Kibale
Fly South to Kibale Forest
A final morning game drive and an early lunch precede the scheduled flight south to Kasese, where your guide meets you for the short transfer to Kibale, the primate capital of East Africa, and your forest-edge lodge.
Day 10Kibale
Chimpanzee Tracking and Bigodi Wetland
After a briefing you venture into Kibale's ancient rainforest to track a habituated chimpanzee community, watching them feed, groom and move through the canopy. The afternoon brings a guided walk through the community-run Bigodi Wetland, rich in birds and monkeys.
Day 11Queen Elizabeth
On to Queen Elizabeth National Park
You drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park beneath the snow-capped Rwenzori, the fabled Mountains of the Moon. The rest of the day is at leisure, with activities led from your lodge on its private reserve.
Day 12Queen Elizabeth
Game Drive, Salt Lakes and Kazinga Channel
A morning game drive across the Kasenyi plains and a visit to the Katwe salt lakes fill the early hours, followed by an afternoon boat cruise on the Kazinga Channel, where hippo, buffalo, elephant and prolific birdlife gather along the shore.
Day 13Bwindi Impenetrable
Fly to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
An early transfer to Kasese connects with your flight to Kisoro, in the far southwest, where the lodge meets you for the transfer up into the hills. Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, shelters a significant share of the world's mountain gorillas.
Day 14Bwindi Impenetrable
Mountain Gorilla Trekking
Today is the heart of the journey. You follow expert trackers into the dense forest in search of a habituated gorilla family, spending a treasured hour in their presence as a silverback holds court and juveniles tumble nearby. The day closes with a sundowner looking out over the forested ridges.
Day 15Bwindi Impenetrable
Leisure in the Hills
The day is yours to rest and take in the activities of the lodge and its surrounding community, or, for those who cannot get enough of the forest, to set out on an optional second gorilla trek with a different family.
Day 16Kigali
Return to Kigali
A leisurely breakfast precedes the road transfer back across the border to Kigali. In the city you visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial, a dignified reflection on Rwanda's history, with time to take in the energy of one of Africa's cleanest and most welcoming capitals.
Day 17Departure
Departure
After breakfast you are transferred to Kigali International Airport for your onward flight, closing a journey that has spanned two countries, two great forests, the savannahs of Akagera and Queen Elizabeth, and an unforgettable hour with the mountain gorillas.
