The Virunga volcanoes above Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda

5 days, Rwanda

5-Day Rwanda Gorillas and Kigali

Two hours of tarmac from the capital to the Virunga volcanoes, a gorilla family and the golden monkeys

Duration: 5 days, 4 nights
Group size: 2 to 6 guests
Physical demand: Challenging
From: $5,400

About this safari

Rwanda is the short way to a gorilla. Kigali International is two hours of good tarmac from the Kinigi trekking headquarters, there is no light aircraft leg and no murram, and you can land in the evening and be walking into the Virungas thirty-six hours later. That convenience is what the higher permit price buys, and for travellers with limited leave it is usually worth it.

The permit is 1,500 US dollars per person, set by the Rwanda Development Board. It covers park entry, the ranger guides, the trackers and one hour with a habituated family in a group of eight. It is not a soft option. Volcanoes National Park starts at around 2,500 metres and the trekking works up the flanks of Sabyinyo, Bisoke and Karisimbi from there, so the air is thin, the bamboo and hagenia zones hold mud most of the year, and the walk can run to eight hours in each direction. Nettles are worse here than in Bwindi. Gaiters, long trousers and gardening gloves are not optional, and everybody should take a porter.

The trip also does Kigali properly rather than treating it as an airport. The Genocide Memorial at Gisozi is the single most important hour you will spend in the country and it is not a comfortable one. The rest of the city, the Nyamirambo walking tour, Kimironko market, the coffee, is what most visitors skip on their way to the volcanoes and then wish they had not.

Highlights

One hour with a habituated mountain gorilla family in Volcanoes National Park, in a group of eight
A golden monkey trek in the bamboo zone, which is far easier walking than the gorillas and badly underrated
Two hours of tarmac from the international airport to the trailhead, with no domestic flight
The Kigali Genocide Memorial at Gisozi, given a proper morning rather than a stop on the way out
The Dian Fossey Fossey Fund campus at Musanze, which is where the current research actually happens
The twin lakes of Burera and Ruhondo under the volcanoes, and the Musanze cave system
Nyamirambo on foot with the women’s centre guides, which is the best two hours in the city

Day by day

01
Land at Kigali and give the city an afternoon
Kigali International sits inside the city, so you are at the hotel twenty minutes after clearing immigration. The afternoon goes to the Genocide Memorial at Gisozi, where more than 250,000 people are buried and where the exhibition is direct about what happened and who did it. Take the audio guide and take your time. Dinner is in Kiyovu or Nyarutarama, and Kigali eats well.
- Kigali, Rwanda
- The Retreat by Heaven
- Dinner
02
North to Musanze under the volcanoes
Two hours of good tarmac north through terraced hillsides, with the Virunga chain appearing on the skyline about forty minutes out of Kigali. After lunch you visit the Dian Fossey Fossey Fund campus in Musanze, which opened in 2022 and is where the long-term gorilla research is now run from, then the caves cut through an old lava tube on the edge of town. The lodge briefing and a gear check run before dinner, and at around 2,600 metres you will want the fire lit.
- Kigali to Kinigi, Volcanoes National Park
- Bisate Lodge
- Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
03
Gorilla trek from Kinigi
Report to the Kinigi headquarters at 07:00 for the briefing and the family allocation, which is done on the morning according to how far each group is prepared to walk. From the trailhead the walk climbs through farmland, over the buffalo wall and into bamboo, and it can take forty minutes or it can take eight hours in each direction at altitude and in mud. You get one hour with the family. The afternoon is a hot bath and nothing else.
- Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda
- Bisate Lodge
- Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
04
Golden monkeys and the twin lakes
The golden monkey trek is a fraction of the effort of the gorillas, usually an hour of walking into the bamboo zone at the foot of Sabyinyo, and it is one of only two places in the world you can do it. They move constantly and photographing them is harder than photographing a gorilla. The afternoon runs east to the twin lakes of Burera and Ruhondo, which sit in old lava-dammed valleys under Muhabura, with time on the water in a local boat if the wind allows.
- Volcanoes National Park and the twin lakes, Rwanda
- Bisate Lodge
- Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
05
Nyamirambo on foot, then the airport
Back down to Kigali after breakfast, arriving late morning. The Nyamirambo Women’s Centre runs a walking tour of the old quarter that takes in the mosque, a tailor, a hairdresser and lunch cooked in a family home, and it is the best two hours you can spend in the city. Kimironko market for coffee and baskets if there is time, then the twenty minute run to the airport.
- Kinigi to Kigali, Rwanda
- Departure day, no accommodation
- Breakfast, Lunch

What is included

One Rwanda gorilla trekking permit per person, currently 1,500 US dollars, set by the Rwanda Development Board
One golden monkey trekking permit per person, currently 100 US dollars, set by the same board
Four nights on full board at the lodges named in the itinerary, or comparable properties
All road transfers in a private 4x4 with a driver guide, including the airport meet
Park entry, ranger guides, trackers and the armed escort on both trekking days
One porter per guest on gorilla trek day, with the fee paid in advance
The Kigali Genocide Memorial visit with an audio guide and a local city guide
The Nyamirambo Women’s Centre walking tour and the Dian Fossey campus entry
Bottled water in the vehicle daily and a packed lunch on both trekking days
A loan set of gaiters, gardening gloves and a walking pole
All conservation levies and government taxes

What is not included

International flights to and from Kigali
Rwanda visa, which most nationalities can obtain on arrival, and the East Africa Tourist Visa if you want one
Travel insurance, which must cover trekking above 2,500 metres and medical evacuation by air
All drinks, including beer, wine, spirits and soft drinks at the lodges
Tips for your driver guide, the rangers, trackers, porters and lodge teams
A second gorilla permit if you want to trek twice, at the same 1,500 US dollars
The Dian Fossey tomb hike and the Bisoke crater lake climb, both of which need an extra day