5 Days Rwanda Luxury Gorilla Trekking Safari
This 5 Days Rwanda Luxury Gorilla Trekking Safari offers you the best of Rwanda, combining a Kigali City Tour with a visit to Kigali Genocide Memorial and cultural immersion, a scenic journey to Volcanoes National Park, a cultural village visit to Iby’Iwacu, mountain gorilla trekking and a visit at the Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, all while staying exclusively at Rwanda’s finest luxury lodges.
Highlights of 5 Days Rwanda Luxury Gorilla Trekking Safari
- Day 1: Arrive in Kigali – Cultural Immersion Experience
- Day 2: Drive to Volcanoes National Park – Iby’Iwacu Cultural Experience
- Day 3: Mountain Gorilla Trekking in Volcanoes National Park
- Day 4: Visit Ellen DeGeneres Camp
- Day 5: Return to Kigali
Detailed Itinerary of 5 Days Rwanda Luxury Gorilla Trekking Safari
Day 1: Arrive in Kigali – Cultural Immersion Experience
On arrival at Kigali International Airport, you will be meet by an Active Africa Vacation Safaris and transfer you to your lodge for check-in and relaxation. In the afternoon, head out for a city tour visiting Kigali Genocide Memorial, local art galleries, markets, and one of the city’s strong restaurant options for dinner.
A visit to Kigali Memorial Centre provides the essential historical and cultural context for Rwanda you will encounter over the following days.
Accommodation: Hemingways Retreat Kigali
Meal Plan: Lunch and Dinner
Day 2: Drive to Volcanoes National Park – Iby’Iwacu Cultural Experience
After a mouthwatering breakfast, you will meet your guide and embark on a journey north to Volcanoes National Park, a drive of approximately two to three hours through Rwanda’s hilly Northern Province. The route climbs from the central plateau into increasingly dramatic volcanic foothills, with the Virunga Volcano peaks appearing above the ridge – line as you approach Musanze.
On arrival at your lodge, check –in, settle and relax as you wait for your lunch. In the afternoon, visit the Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village near the Kinigi park entrance. The village is run in partnership with former poachers who now work in tourism and community conservation, here you will be entertained by Rwandan dance performance, craft demonstration, local cooking, and witness the community’s connection to the gorillas and the park. Also known as the Gorilla’s Guardian’s VilAlage it is grounded and engaging cultural afternoon that adds a human dimension to the conservation landscape you are entering.
- Accommodation: Wilderness Bisate Lodge
- Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 3: Mountain Gorilla Trekking in Volcanoes National Park
After breakfast, you will be transferred to the park headquarters in Kinigi for briefing at 7:00 am. In groups of 8 people maximum, you will be assigned a gorilla family to trek and with your ranger guide, head into the forests search for mountain gorillas. The trek takes approximately 2 – 5 hours or more through bamboo corridors, Hagenia woodland, and occasionally into the upper alpine zones depending on the location of the gorilla family.
Spend one hour with a habituated gorilla family. The gorilla encounter in the Virunga Forest has a quality distinct from Uganda’s Bwindi – misty, high – altitude and often in the bamboo zone where the light flitters differently through the overhead canopy. Gorilla families in Volcanoes National Park are habituated and the precious hour tends to pass quickly.
Spend the afternoon at the lodge, indulge in the spa treatments or sit at the terrace with the view of the volcanic peaks changing color through the afternoon.
- Accommodation: Wilderness Bisate Lodge
- Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 4: Visit Ellen DeGeneres Camp
After breakfast, head to the Ellen Degeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund – a short drive from the lodge near Musanze. The campus is the world’s most advanced mountain gorilla research and conservation center, housing genetics laboratories, veterinary research facilities, decades of monitoring date, anti-poaching coordination, and ranger training programmes.
The visit is guided by Dian Fossey Fund researchers who work with the gorilla families daily. The day covers the science and methodology behind gorilla population monitoring, the treats the population continues to face, the community buffer programmes, and the long – term conservation trajectory. It is a substantive, information rich day that sits naturally after the gorilla trek.
The Campus is physically striking in its own right – purpose – built, architecturally considered, and set against the Virunga foothills.
- Accommodation: Wilderness Bisate Lodge
- Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 5: Return to Kigali
A breakfast, check out of the lodge and embark on a three hours journey back to Kigali where you will be dropped off at the airport for your onward journey.
End of 5 Days Rwanda Luxury Gorilla Trekking Safari
- Accommodation in luxury lodges, meals as indicated
- Gorilla trekking permit
- Entry ticket to the Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund
- All excursions and activities listed in the itinerary
- Professional English-speaking guide throughout
- Ground transport and transfers in a 4×4 safari Land Cruiser
- AMREF emergency evacuation insurance cover
- Government taxes
Exclusions
- International flights to/from Kigali
- Travel insurance (required — not provided)
- Rwanda tourist visa costs and processing
- Extra activities and meals not listed in the itinerary
- Service tips, gratuities, souvenirs, and snacks
- Accommodation after the end of the trip
