Essence of Rwanda Gorilla & Akagira Safari

Our Essence of Rwanda Gorilla & Akagera Safari is a wonderful private safari throughout Rwanda with many highlights including tracking chimpanzees in Nyungwe, gorilla trekking in the highlands of the Volcanoes National park, golden monkeys, game-viewing in Akagera and Lake Kivu. On this tour you pack in many of Rwanda's treasures in an exciting 8 night safari.

If you have time we recommend adding another night in or near the Nyungwe Forest so that you can spend more time there.

On arrival in Kigali, you immediately head to Akagera National Park, a very scenic national park with a wide range of plains game and predators. Afterwards you return to the Kigali area where you enjoy on a city tour which includes the impactful Genocide Museum.

Then you head to Nyungwe National Park where you spend 2 nights at a nearby resort on Lake Kivu. Here you enjoy chimpanzee trekking and a canopy walk through the forest. On Day 4, you head along the shores of the scenic Lake Kivu to overnight at Comoran Lodge.

Then you head to the base for gorilla trekking at the Parc National des Volcans (Volcanoes National park). This is a scenic journey through the lush terraced landscape of rural Rwanda. You will stay at Mountain Gorilla View Lodge, though we can easily change your accommodation to Bishops House, Virunga Lodge or  Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge.

On the following day you start early for your gorilla trek. You are given a full briefing, assessed and put into small groups for the gorilla trek. This can take between two and six hours depending on the movements of the gorillas. And the number of rests and photo stops that you may need. After the trek you return to the lodge where you spend another night.  There is time on the following day to do a second gorilla trek or the very popular Golden Monkeys trek or an alternative excursion. You return to Kigali in the afternoon for your onward flight in the evening.

Lower prices for 3 to 6 people

The main itinerary shows per person prices based on 2 people for the Base option. However prices decrease by approx 20% to 30% if you are a larger party, depending on which itinerary you choose and the number of people. Contact us for a tailored quote.

Our Pared Back option here shows the price if you are travelling as a party of 4 people.

Add the Gorilla permit

We have excluded the gorilla permit which is $1500 per person for one day, the chimpanzee permits which are $250 per person (and also the golden monkey permit which is $100.) These are added on at time of quoting for your specific trip. This is because some people like to purchase two permits so that they can visit twice.

But more particularly if you on a visit to Nyungwe outside of the peak season (June to October) then the permit price decreases down to $1050 per person, which is a good saving.

We can use a variety of accommodation on this safari. The Base itinerary uses quite modest accommodation. But we can easily swap out Mountain Gorilla View Lodge for Bishops House. Or you can upgrade even further to Virunga Lodge or  Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge. And similarly, in Nyungwe, you can opt for One&Only Nyungwe as a luxurious upgrade.

Note that you may need to add an extra night in Kigali at the end, depending on your flight connections.

Single supplements for 3rd or 5th person in a group are also available. Contact us for a tailor-made quote.