Gorilla safari in Rwanda
| country: | Rwanda |
| departures: | 2008: 15 Feb, 20 Jun, 23 Aug, 6 Sep |
| price: | From £2395 (8 days) including flights from the UK, 2 gorilla permits per person. Price based on a minimum of 4 people travelling. We also offer tailormade trips. This trip can also be booked without flights |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
read 2 travellers reviews
the amazing things you'll be doing
A truly unforgettable experience; the people & gorillas!
Rwanda is a lush and colourful country covered in mountains, volcanoes and primeval rainforest, home to over half of the world’s population of mountain gorillas.
These beautiful creatures live in a tiny oasis of ever decreasing forest located in The Virunga National Park in northern Rwanda and it is here that you will have the opportunity to come face to face with some of our closest living relatives and the rarest of the great apes.
Spending time in the company of these magnificent creatures is a privilege and undoubted pleasure that for many represents one the most incredible wildlife experiences possible.
A visit to Rwanda will leave you with unforgettable memories of a very special place – the warmth of the Rwandese people, the spectacular countryside and of course, the iconic mountain gorilla. You will also be touched by the optimism and vitality of the Rwandan people who are working hard to rebuild their communities and livelihoods and who always offer a very warm welcome to all visitors to their country.
This tour not only gives you the opportunity to see the mountain gorillas but also gives you a deeper understanding of their fragile environment and the issues that local people and wildlife face living alongside each other. Each person participating on this tour helps fund a variety of community and conservation initiatives in the country as well as being entitled to a year’s membership to the Gorilla Organisation UK.
We were one of the first operators to start taking clients back to Rwanda once the door to tourism was re-opened and it remains one of our own personal favourites.
Rwanda is a lush and colourful country covered in mountains, volcanoes and primeval rainforest, home to over half of the world’s population of mountain gorillas.
These beautiful creatures live in a tiny oasis of ever decreasing forest located in The Virunga National Park in northern Rwanda and it is here that you will have the opportunity to come face to face with some of our closest living relatives and the rarest of the great apes.
Spending time in the company of these magnificent creatures is a privilege and undoubted pleasure that for many represents one the most incredible wildlife experiences possible.
A visit to Rwanda will leave you with unforgettable memories of a very special place – the warmth of the Rwandese people, the spectacular countryside and of course, the iconic mountain gorilla. You will also be touched by the optimism and vitality of the Rwandan people who are working hard to rebuild their communities and livelihoods and who always offer a very warm welcome to all visitors to their country.
This tour not only gives you the opportunity to see the mountain gorillas but also gives you a deeper understanding of their fragile environment and the issues that local people and wildlife face living alongside each other. Each person participating on this tour helps fund a variety of community and conservation initiatives in the country as well as being entitled to a year’s membership to the Gorilla Organisation UK.
We were one of the first operators to start taking clients back to Rwanda once the door to tourism was re-opened and it remains one of our own personal favourites.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Depart for Rwanda late evening for the overnight flight with Kenya Airways via Nairobi. |
| Day 2: | After changing planes in Nairobi, you will be welcomed on arrival at Kigali and taken on a short sightseeing tour of the city. After lunch, you then depart along a beautiful road, over ridges and hills of steeply terraced fields, for the world-renowned Parc National des Volcans (PNV) home to the mountain gorilla. PNV forms a contiguous conservation unit with the Virungas National Park and Mgahinga National Park, which respectively protect the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ugandan sectors of the Virungas and is where Dian Fossey undertook her pioneering studies of mountain gorilla behaviour. Overnight Gorilla’s Nest Hotel. (HB) |
| Day 3: | Today you will track the gorillas! The PNV has more habituated groups than any other park and thus is arguably the best park in which to track and see gorillas. Naturally the gorillas move around, so to track them you will have to do the same - be prepared for a tough, arduous day in the rainforest, following muddy paths and with rain possible at any time. However, the effort is well worth it - the excitement of being on the trail of the gorillas is electric and coming face to face with the great primates is truly an amazing experience. Overnight at Gorilla Nest (FB) |
| Day 4: | A second opportunity to track these magnificent creatures. It is important to bear in mind that no two groups are the same and depending on the size of the group, the experience will be unique every time. Some groups will have a number of playful juveniles, allowing you to enjoy a very relaxed experience, whereas a smaller group with infants will have a charged atmosphere as the silverback ensures he asserts his authority in your presence! The trackers will ensure you get a different group allowing for a variety of gorilla encounters. Overnight at Gorilla Nest (FB). |
| Day 5: | This morning, you trek to the remains of Karisoke, a nature walk of about 6 hours, and a fascinating way to explore the park and get a glimpse of the remains of Dian Fossey’s camp. Karisoke is located in a beautiful meadow between the Karisimbi and Visoke volcanoes with the Mikeno volcano in the distance. Remains of the old buildings can be seen here as well as graves of some of the gorillas that have died during the last 30 years, including the famous Digit, who was killed by poachers. Karisoke is also the final resting place of Fossey herself and allows for a thought-provoking journey through this spectacular environment. Overnight Gorilla’s Nest Hotel. (FB) |
| Day 6: | Today you will have the opportunity to go gorilla tracking for a third time (this permit is not included in the cost of this itinerary and is subject to availability) or alternatively you can embark on a community walk, exploring the fascinating villages nearby to see how the income from tourism is being put to good use, or track to see the habituated golden monkeys. In the afternoon return to Kigali to enjoy your last night in Rwanda and celebrate your encounter with the gorillas. Overnight Mille Collines Hotel. (B) |
| Day 7: | This morning is at leisure for you to relax and unwind, or offers you the chance to visit the powerful Genocide Museum, as well as spend some time enjoying some last minute souvenir shopping. You will then be transferred to the airport for your overnight flight home, transiting in Nairobi. |
| Day 8: | Arrive UK early morning. |
travellers' tales
Gorillas, chimps, hippos, tree lions, the people, the landscape. All were memorable in different ways and added to the trip. Excellent. People should not be scared of Uganda it has so much to offer. (more)
this tourism business won an award
in our 2005 First Choice Responsible Tourism Awards - organised by responsibletravel.com in association with The Times, World Travel Market and Geographical Magazine.how this holiday makes a difference
 This trip supports the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International and the International Gorilla Conservation Programme. Each small group trip contributes up to US $600 to the International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP) whose goal is to ensure the conservation of mountain gorillas and their regional afromontane forest habitat in Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It is a partnership between WWF, Flora and Fauna International in the UK and the African Wildlife Foundation in Nairobi. This trip also includes a year’s membership to the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund. In 1998 this company was the first tour operator in the UK to ensure all flights were Carbon Neutral through the Climate Care Levy they pay on all flight tickets – something that most other travel companies have only just begun to offer. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |