Description
African Gorilla Safari to Rwanda with Dian Fossey Tour, 7 Days
Day one: Arrive Kigali then met on arrival and transferred to your overnight accommodation in Kigali. Booked on a bed and breakfast basis with free Wifi. The African gorilla safari to the Volcanoes commences the following day. Overnight at the Hotel Gorillas or the Kigali Serena if using more up market accommodations.
Day Two: Breakfast at leisure as you enjoy the beautiful scenery of Kigali before beginning a morning tour of Kigali City. Later, the drive up the Mountains winds up at the foot of the towering Volcanoes of the Muhabura and Sabyinyo. On arrival, checked in to your accommodations at the Mountain Gorilla View Lodge for lunch before spending the afternoon on your own. Stroll around the hotel, take pictures and acclimatize for the next day’s gorilla trek.
Day Three: Wake up call and breakfast, thereafter, the morning gorilla safari in the Mountains. The celery eating gorilla family led by the dominant silver back will keep the trekkers entertained. The head tracker follows the Gorillas to an approachable close distance of a couple of feet to allow for photography. View the gorilla family for approximately an hour through the Bamboo forest vegetation before the return to the Lodge. There after, either a picnic lunch or at the overnight accommodation before dinner. Finally, at the end of the gorilla trek, you will have a clean up at the lodge. The evening is free for local self guided or visits in the nearby communities. Meals and overnight at the Mountain Gorilla View Lodge.
Day Four: Hike to Karisoke
Breakfast at the Gorilla View Lodge before meeting your ranger guides to begin the day’s visit to Dian Fossey’s research center in Karisoke. Then begin the strenuous hike up the mountains along a trail to the Kabara meadow where Dian Fossey was first touched by a Mountain gorilla in the wild.
The trek is approximately 3 hours and you arrive for a guided tour at the Karisoke research center, set up by Dian Fossey at a Mountain stream as her base in 1967 as a research base. She lived at this site in a make shift camp and it is here that the great conservation hero of Africa’s Mountain Gorillas met her fate in 1985. You will see the graves of Dian and her favorite gorillas as well as remnants of this center. After a picnic lunch, the guides will be ready for the return descent to the Mountain base arriving late in the evening for dinner and overnight at the Mountain Gorilla View Lodge.
Day Five: After breakfast, we will transfer to the Lake Kivu area in Gisenyi a place of Sandy Beaches and beautiful scenery where the next two days will be spent recuperating from the strenuous gorilla safari and the Karisoke hike. Meals and overnight at the Lake Kivu Serena.
Day Six: Lake Kivu Beach Vacation
Morning breakfast at leisure. The day can be spent relaxing at the sandy beach of Lake Kivu or relaxing by the hotel swimming pool and bar area. One may also consider taking it easy at the spa for a session of steam or sauna. Alternatively a relaxing massage or Yoga or other Spa treatments. Meals and overnight at the Lake Kivu Serena.
Day Seven: Breakfast at leisure, then take a 3 hour drive through beautiful Mountains of winding roads arriving in Kigali to check in for your departure international flight.
Tour price is dependent on the number of people traveling and the category of accommodations used. Please feel free to contact us for more details.
African Gorilla Safari price includes:
- Airport pick up and drop off by a Travelust African Safaris representative.
- Meals as indicated in the tour program.
- Gorilla trekking with ranger guide and safari trackers.
- Dian Fossey hike.
- Private 4×4 safari vehicle.
- English speaking driver guide.
- Services of gorilla guide.
