13-Day Exclusive Rwanda Honeymoon

Day 1: Arrival – Kigali International Airport

Welcome to Rwanda the land of “a thousand hills” for a once-in-a-lifetime experience exploring this small but beautiful country. Our guide/driver will be at the airport to receive you and transfer you to your booked hotel.

Today morning after breakfast, your driver guide will pick you up from the hotel to transfer you to Akagera National Park. You will arrive in the park and drive to your hotel for check in. Have lunch and after drive out for a boat safari on Lake Ihema. Have the boat today so that you spend the next day exploring the northern sector of Akagera on safari.

Day 3: Full-day Game Drive – Akagera National Park

Akagera National Park is a Savannah Park with Elephants, Hippos, Buffaloes and Lions. After an early breakfast, we take a game drive in search of these animals, the game drive will take us to the northern part of the park where most of the animals prefer to inhabit. Look out for the Zebras, Giraffes and Impalas which are usually scattered along the game tracks. You will take the lake shore track which normally has several animals because it is near the lakes.

Day 4: Community Village Visit & Relaxation – Akagera National Park

After an early tasty breakfast, you will head out for the community tour to the nearby village bordering the park. Eastern Rwanda is relatively flat compared to the rest of the country and preferred by the pastoralists. You will visit a homestead of cattle keepers and engage in different activities. Start early by joining in milking the cows with your hands. The herdsman will guide you on soothe and milk the cow. You also have lessons on how milk is converted traditionally into different products like ghee and yoghurt. Later, you will return to your lodge for a relaxing dinner and overnight stay.

Day 5: Transfer & Huye Museum – Nyungwe Forest National Park (Approx. 7hr drive)

This morning we depart for Nyungwe Forest National Park via Kigali. We shall stop in Huye for lunch and a visit to the national museum to learn more about the history and traditions of the Rwandan people. Alternatively, you can instead take on the coffee experience at Huye Mountain coffee experience. After this experience, continue to your lodge overnight.

Day 6: Chimpanzee Trekking & Canopy Walk – Nyungwe Forest National Park

After an early breakfast, we leave for Chimpanzee tracking in Nyungwe forest. The forest is rich in botanical diversity and home to 13 species of primates including Chimpanzees, L’Hoest monkeys, and Columbus monkeys with 300 bird species. Your tour guide will transfer you to the briefing area where you will meet the community guide and receive a briefing before you start your trek. The total length of the trek will depend on where the chimps overnighted the day before and after the encounter, proceed for the Canopy walk immediately so that you rest once. The canopy walk allows you beautiful views of the forest from above as you admire nature.

Day 7: Colobus Monkey Trekking & Tea Plantation Experience – Nyungwe Forest National Park

This morning again we leave for the briefing point at the Nyungwe forest. After the briefing, the community guide will lead you to the Colobus monkey trekking. The habituated troops are normally many individuals when in the same group but often split into different groups. Enjoy watching the playful interactions of the monkeys as they groom, feed and play with each other. You are allowed 1 hour in their presence before you start the trek back for lunch and relaxation before you head out for the evening tea plantation experience.

Day 8: Transfer – Volcanoes National Park (Approx. 6hrs drive)

We transfer to Volcanoes National Park after breakfast. Enjoy the different sights and winding roads in the land of a thousand hills. You will have opportunities to have different stopovers for pictures and stretching depending on your needs.

Today, you will meet with the mountain gorillas in the dense jungles of the Virunga ranges. The trek to the gorillas starts with a briefing at the park headquarters in Kinigi where you are assigned a ranger and gorilla family to trek. After briefing, your ranger guide leads you to the starting point of the trek. You might need to drive to the starting point of the trek depending on the location of the gorilla group you are trekking. The trek through the habitat of these enormous animals is a fulfilling unforgettable experience that many people look to undertake. The trek can last from a few minutes to several hours depending on where the gorillas nested the previous night.

Just like yesterday, your driver guide will transfer you to the park headquarters for briefing before you can start your trek. Golden monkeys are generally more active than gorillas and will require you to move as you follow them foraging for food. Once you locate them, you are only allowed to stay with them for 1 hour after which you start the trek back. On return from the park, visit the Ibyi’wacu village (Gorilla Guardians). This is where you will learn more about the Rwandan culture. Become a King or Queen for a day, get involved in knitting, and learn how to use a bow and arrow.

Day 11: Transfer – Lake Kivu (Approx. 2hr drive)

After a relaxed breakfast, you will transfer to Lake Kivu for a downtime to unwind from all the hectic thrilling experiences.

Day 12: Relaxation & Optional Experiences – Lake Kivu

This will be more of a rest day for you to think through your entire journey exploring Rwanda on the shores of the beautiful Lake Kivu. The optional activities you can engage in include a visit to the hot springs, take a boat trip to an island, kayaking on Lake Kivu, visiting the DR Congo – Rwanda border, Village cycling among others or spending the entire day by the lakeside in the evening sipping a way to your favourite.

Today is your last day on this 13-Day Exclusive Rwanda Honeymoon. Start your day with breakfast and transfer to Kigali International Airport for the departure flight en route to Kigali Genocide Memorial Center.