3-Day Rwanda Gorilla Safari from Kigali

Your driver-guide meets you at Kigali International Airport or your Kigali hotel and drives you north to Musanze, about 2 to 2.5 hours away, through the green hills and terraced farms of the Land of a Thousand Hills. If time allows, you can start with an optional visit to the Kigali Genocide Memorial.

After lunch and check-in at your lodge near Volcanoes National Park, relax and get your gear ready. Your guide will brief you on the trek ahead. Dinner and overnight near the park.

After an early breakfast, drive to the park headquarters at Kinigi for the briefing and the assignment of your gorilla family, based on the fitness of the group. Then trek into the forest with rangers and trackers. The hike can take from under an hour to several hours, on steep and sometimes muddy trails at high altitude.

When you reach the gorillas, you spend one hour observing them from a safe distance. Groups are limited to 8 visitors per gorilla family, and the minimum age is 15. Return to your lodge for lunch and a relaxed afternoon, or visit Lake Ruhondo and Lake Burera.

Dinner and overnight near the park.

If you wish, add golden monkey tracking in the morning, or a hike to the Karisoke area where Dian Fossey lived and worked. These activities have separate permit fees and can be arranged for you.

After the activity or a relaxed breakfast, drive back to Kigali, arriving in the afternoon. Your driver-guide drops you at the airport or your hotel for your onward journey.