Day 1: Arrival and Transfer to Kigali for a brief city tour. 

 On the first day of your 14 days best of Rwanda safari. Your safari guide will meet you at Kigali International Airport or at your hotel and welcome you, pick you up and take you to Kigali City and take you to your lodge, check in to any hotel in Kigali after receiving a briefing on the journey and be served with lunch.

After lunch, take a city tour of Kigali in the evening. You’ll visit the memorials for the Genocide there, go to the museum, and then head back to the lodge for dinner and the overnight stay.

Meal plan: Lunch and dinner

Day 2: Transfer from Kigali City to Nyungwe Forest National park.

 You should get up early on day two of your 14-day safari to experience the finest of Rwanda, eat breakfast, and then set out for the trip to the Nyungwe forest national park. The trip from Butare to Nyungwe Forest National Park takes about three hours. Visit the museum, the palace, and have lunch en route before continuing to the lodges to check in, have dinner, and overnight.

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.

Accommodation: Nyungwe Top hill view inn

Day 3: Chimpanzee Trekking in Nyungwe national park, Rwanda.

On the third day of your 14 days best of Rwanda safari, get an early start so you may take a break and eat your breakfast, with your packed lunch before meeting your driver for a ride to the park headquarters for a quick meeting about what to do and what not to do around these primates. After the briefing, you will be grouped in different groups of 8 members and then a guide and armed ranger will be assigned to you, and you will depart for the forest to begin your trip among these powerful monkeys in their natural habitats. In the Cyamudongo forest, this action lasts from 30 minutes to six hours. After you reach the chimpanzees, you will only be permitted one hour to encounter and photo opportunity. After your chimpanzee trekking is over, head back to the lodge for dinner and a night’s stay.

Meal plan: Breakfast, parked Lunch and Dinner.

Accommodation: Nyungwe Top hill view lodge.

Day 4: Forest walks in Nyungwe forest. 

 On the fourth day of your 14-days best of Rwanda safari, you’ll get up, have breakfast, meet your driver guide with packed lunch and then travel into the forest to walk along a clearly marked track. There are numerous hiking pathways in the Nyungwe forest, each of which is intended to endure for a specific amount of time. Through this water fall trail, visitors can spot many water birds, primates, animals, and other forest creatures. After the day carrying out forest walks return to the lodge after the water fall trail to relax, dinner and overnight stay.

Note: I advise you to do a coffee plantation tour as a backup activity in case you need one after the Waterfall hike.

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Accommodation: Nyungwe Top hill view lodge

Day 5: Canopy walk in Nyungwe forest.

You will eat breakfast and leave for a canopy walk in the Nyungwe forest on day 5 of your 14-day safari through Rwanda with packed lunch. At a 50 m high canopy, the walk is approximately 160 m long. The canopy walk starts from Uwinka receptions offering the best sighting of some primate species including Golden monkeys, chimpanzees, L’Hoests monkey, Baboons, Vervet monkey, Grey-cheeked, and different bird species such as Crimsonwings Ruwenzori Batis, Handsome Francolin, montane Double Collared Sun, Dwarf Honey guide, several mammals such as duikers, bush pigs, Golden cats among others. After the activity you will go back to your lodge for dinner, and overnight stay.

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Accommodation: Nyungwe Top hill view lodge

Day 6: Transfer to Kibuye.

 On day six of your 14-days best of Rwanda safari, you’ll get up early, enjoy your breakfast, check out of the lodge and meet your driver for a ride to Kibuye, where you’ll visit the site of the genocide and enroute lunch, before continuing to Lake Kivu for an afternoon cruise and some beach time. After a long day you will check into your lodge for dinner, evening relaxation and overnight stay.

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Day 7: Transfer from Kibuye to Gisenyi.

On day 7 of the 14-days best of Rwanda safari, you will have breakfast served at the lodge in Kibuye, then check out to meet for the approximately 5-hour drive to Gisenyi with the spectacular views along the way. Enjoy your lunch on the way, then spend the evening in Gisenyi. Arrive at your Gisenyi lodge for dinner and a night’s stay.

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.

Accommodation: Paradise Malahide Deluxe

Day 8: Transfer to Ruhengeri, then to Volcanoes National Park.

On the eighth day of your 14-days best of Rwanda safari, take a quick tour of Gisenyi before taking the transfer to Ruhengeri. Check out of the hotel after lunch and begin your travel to Volcanoes National Park, where you will arrive in the late afternoon and check in into the lodge for dinner and overnight.

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.

Accommodation: Da Vinci /Le Bambu Gorilla lodge – Midrange

Day 9: Gorilla trekking.

On the ninth day of your 14-days best of Rwanda safari, you can anticipate waking up early, eating breakfast, and together with your packed lunch. Then, you’ll meet your driver and travel to the park headquarters for a briefing before beginning your gorilla trekking safari in Volcanoes National Park. Gorilla trekking takes a period of 30 minutes to 4 hours, as gorillas keep on going deep in the forest looking for food. And once the gorillas are found you can be given a period of one hour to be in the presence of gorillas, as your identifying their characteristics, watching them play, feed, taking their pictures. After gorilla trekking, return to the lodge for dinner and the overnight stay.

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Accommodation: Da Vinci /Le Bambu Gorilla lodge – Midrange

Day 10: Golden monkey trekking.

On day 10 of the best 14 days best in Rwanda, you will get up early for breakfast, get your packed lunch bag once more, and meet your driver for a ride to the park headquarters for a briefing on the golden monkey trekking. After that, you will begin the trek into the forest looking for the golden monkeys that takes 30 minutes to 4 hours, and once the golden monkeys are spotted, you can be given one hour to be in the presence of golden monkeys. Where you will get to spend some time with the most stunning and jovial primates and as well sighting the park’s beautiful biodiversity the plant species, animal species, bird species. After finishing the Golden Monkey trekking, return to the lodge to refresh up, then spend the evening visiting the twin lakes of Bulera and Ruhondo before going to bed. After return back to the lodge for dinner, evening relaxation and overnight stay.

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.

Accommodation: Da Vinci /Le Bambu Gorilla lodge – Midrange

Day 11: Bisoke hike.

On day 11 of the 14-days best Rwanda safaris, wake up, have breakfast and go to the park headquarters for a briefing on the Bisoke hike before beginning the challenging but exciting journey of climbing the Bisoke volcanic mountain. Along the way hiking Mount Bisoke you will have lunch and stunning views of the animal species, bird species and plant species until you reach the top of Bisoke. Once you get at the summit of the mountain you will enjoy the spectacular views and feel like not leaving. After you will return to the lodge for dinner and overnight after the hike.

Or on this day, you may opt for a hike to Diana Fossey’s tombs situated on Karisoke research center.

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Accommodation: Da Vinci /Le Bambu Gorilla lodge – Midrange

Day 12: Transfer to Akagera National park.

On the 12th day of your 14-days best of Rwanda safari, have a leisurely breakfast before checking out of the lodge and meeting your driver for a ride to Akagera National Park, an area of Rwanda that is home to many different wildlife species, including the big five mammals and birds. After arriving, check in at the park’s lodge before departing for an evening game drive. After the drive head to the lodge for dinner and overnight stay.

Meal plan: Breakfast, enroute lunch and Dinner.

Accommodation: Akagera Game lodge.

Day 13: Morning Game drive and evening boat cruise on Lake Ihema

On day 13 of the 14-day best of Rwanda safari, you will rise early, eat breakfast, and meet the driver for an early morning game drive. This will give you the chance to spot a variety of wildlife, including the incredible big five mammals like the  lions, elephants, buffaloes, rhinos, leopards, and other animal species including servals, warthogs, and other nocturnal mammals before they head back to their hidden places, as well as elephants, buffaloes, giraffes, zebras, and other nocturnal mammals. Additionally, you will be able to see many of the native bird species of Akagera as well as migrating birds.

After the morning game drive, head back to the lodge for lunch before making your way to Lake Ihema for an exciting boat cruise where you can see plenty of hippos, crocodiles, water birds, and mammals along the lake’s banks. After the evening boat cruise return to the lodge for dinner and overnight stay.

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Accommodation: Akagera Game drive

Day 14: Transfer to Kigali for departures.

 On the fourteenth day of your 14-days best of Rwanda safari, you will have a leisurely breakfast at your lodge, pack your belongings carefully, check out of the lodge and then meet your driver to travel to Kigali. After eating lunch on the way, you’ll head to the airport to catch your flight or at your lodge.

Meal plan: Breakfast and Enroute Lunch