4 Days Luxury Gorilla Trekking Experience
Encounter mountain gorillas in their natural habitat, close enough to hear their every breath, is a sought after experience and a privilege to many and that is what you will experience on this 4 Days Luxury Gorilla Trekking Experience.
Upgrade your once-in-a-lifetime experience with a stay at the opulent sanctuary of Singita Kwitonda.
Highlights of 4 Days Luxury Gorilla Trekking Experience
Day 1: Volcanoes National Park
Day 2: Gorilla Trekking Experience
Day 3: Golden Monkey Trekking Experience
Day 4: Departure
Detailed Itinerary of 4 Days Luxury Gorilla Trekking Experience
Day 1: Volcanoes National Park
Welcome to Rwanda – The Land of a thousand hills. On arrival at Kigali International Airport, you are met and accompanied through to collect your luggage and pass customs.
Meet with your private English speaking driver-guide and depart for a guided orientation Kigali City tour, including a visit to the Genocide Memorial with a light lunch. Then make your way to Volcanoes National Park – a journey of approximately 3 hours.
On arrival, check in at your luxury lodge – Kwitonda Lodge, which is named after a legendary silverback gorilla. This luxury lodge is located on 187 acres and shares a 1.2 km border with Volcanoes National Park. Each of the eight luxurious suites features a private heated plunge pool, wellness treatment area, in-and outdoor fireplaces and large timber – framed windows that welcome breathtaking scenery and volcano views inside. You will have some time at leisure to take in the beautiful vistas and walk about on the property. There is a Conservation Room and a nursery and vegetable garden which provides fresh produce for Kwitonda’s farm-to-table food journey.
Enjoy dinner and overnight stay.
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Singita Kwitonda Lodge
Day 2: Gorilla Trekking Experience
Wake up early for breakfast and head to the park headquarters for briefing about gorilla trekking. Then walk with the park’s guides to meet with the gorilla family appointed to the group of 8 people maximum.
There are twelve habituated gorilla families living in Volcanoes National Park open for gorilla trekking, with a few others habituated solely for scientific research. The groups or troops, consist of at least one dominant silverback along with several females and youngsters. Gorilla families in Volcanoes National Park are Susa, Igisha, Karisimbi, Sabyinyo, Amahoro, Agashya, Kwitonda, Umubano, Hirwa, Bwenge, Ugyenda and Muhoza.
You will hike up to an estimates location of the gorillas, the hike can last anything from 30 minutes to four or more hours, reaching an altitude of between 2,500m and 4,000m. Once you reach the gorillas, you will have 1 hour to spend with them, watching them going about their daily life of grooming, feeding, playing and relaxing in the forest. You then hike back down to the hotel, freshen up and enjoy a late lunch.
Spend the after at leisure, you can choose one of the activities offered at the lodge such as a nursery walk, cycling through the resort, nearby villages and farm roads, bird watching, or spend time with the chef and learn to make some delicious local dishes.
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Singita Kwitonda Lodge
Day 3: Golden Monkey Trekking Experience
Another day to wake up early, this time to track the golden monkeys. These primates are highly endangered and are mainly found in rainforests of central Africa, living in the Virunga Mountain ranges. Encountering golden monkeys in Volcanoes National Park is a highly immersive wildlife experience as trekkers are surrounded by up to one hundred monkeys foraging in the forest and jumping from tree to tree.
The golden monkeys live in bamboo vegetation close to the base of the volcanoes so the hike to find them is on fairly flat terrain and the distance is not far, making this activity not as physically demanding as the gorilla trekking experience. You have 1 one to spend with the golden monkeys and return to the lodge for a late lunch.
In the afternoon visit the Ellen Degeneres Campus of The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund. The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund was established in 1967 and works to protect and study gorillas and their habitats. Also, to empower people who live near their forest home. With a team of almost 300 working in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Fossey Fund is the world’s longest running and largest organization dedicated entirely to gorilla conservation.
The campus features original artefacts that have never been displayed before, including items from Fossey’s almost two decades of living among the gorillas. Enjoy dinner and night at the lodge.
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Singita Kwitonda Lodge
Day 4: Departure
After a leisurely breakfast, you are transferred to the nearby airstrip for the return flight to Kigali by helicopter.
Arrive in Kigali Airport, assistance for the check in of your own flight out. Depending on your flight time, you can have a short Kigali City tour visiting the Genocide Memorial Centre and other amazing sites worth exploring.