Seven Day Ultimate Rwandan Wildlife Safari

You'll set off after breakfast for the drive to nearby Akagera National Park.

While Akagera does not boast the sheer volume of animals you might find in the Serengeti or Maasai Mara, Rwanda's only safari park can still boast four of the Big Five and plenty of opportunities to spot animals in the wild.

You'll start your safari adventure with a boat ride on Lake Ihema to see crocodiles, hippos, and various birds.

After your cruise, you'll enjoy an afternoon game drive in the park in search of elephants, antelope, giraffes, zebras, leopards, primates, buffaloes, and the park's latest addition - a pride of lions!

You'll then overnight within the park.

Wake early for breakfast before departing on a sunrise game drive on the Akagera National Park's savannah. It's the best time of day to see predators in action and the sun rising over the plains is a sight you'll never forget.

You'll take a picnic lunch with you and dine out amongst the animals to maximize your time in the park. Throughout the course of the day you'll see vast herds of buffalo and zebras as you head north.

You'll again overnight within the park.

You'll wake early for the scenic drive between Akagera and Volcanoes National Park, stopping along the way in Kigali.

Your time in Kigali will include a city tour that takes you to the Natural History Museum, the haunting Genocide Memorial, and a bustling local craft market. You'll also have the opportunity to enjoy lunch at the historic Mille Collines Hotel - more commonly known as 'Hotel Rwanda'.

After lunch, you'll continue on to Volcanoes National Park to overnight in Musanze, Rwanda's second largest city.

After an early breakfast at your hotel, you'll proceed directly to the Volcanoes National Park's headquarters to meet your guides. After completing the briefing, you'll embark on the once in a lifetime experience of tracking the enigmatic mountain gorillas.

There is no guarantee how long or difficult your tracking experience will be as it depends on where the family of gorillas is and on weather conditions, It can take anywhere from two up to six hours of trekking through the mountain forest at relatively high altitudes. Fitness is definitely recommended for those wishing to undertake the excursion.

One of the most memorable experiences you're likely to ever have, you'll be allowed an hour of close contact with the gorillas once you've found them. You'll be privileged enough to come within mere metres of a family of these rare and beautiful animals, observing their family dynamics and getting to learn a bit about each gorilla's distinct personality in serene silence.

Once your time with the gorillas is done, you'll return to your hotel for lunch.

In the afternoon, you'll pay a visit to the Iby Iwacu Cultural Village to learn about Rwanda's pre-colonial history through a series of demonstrations including cooking, warfare, and more.

We hope you're in the mood for more monkeys, as you'll love spend this morning with the playful and fearless golden monkeys who call the park home. You'll get to observe these acrobatic individuals as they go about their daily lives unbothered by your presence.

After lunch, you'll drive down to to Korongi on the shores of Lake Kivu to overnight.

You'll continue your journey south towards the Nyungwe Forest National Park today, enjoying one of the world's most scenic drives as you weave through hills and valleys along the shores of Lake Kivu.

Along the way, you'll stop off in Nyungwe Forest National Park for your choice of afternoon activities such as a canopy walk, guided hikes, or a waterfall walk.

You'll then overnight in town ahead of tomorrow's chimpanzee trekking experience.

You'll rise early for breakfast and take a packed lunch with you as you go off in search of Rwanda's enigmatic and endangered chimpanzee population. With only four hundred chimpanzees in the country, there's no guarantee you'll see chimps during your day's hike, but your Shadows of Africa guide will do all he can to get you a glimpse of our closest relatives in the animal kingdom.

In the afternoon, you'll make the drive back to Kigali.

Along the way, you may have time to visit the National Museum in Butare or the former King's Palace in Nyanza