Ultra-Luxury Rwanda Gorilla & Rainforest Experience

After landing at Kigali International Airport, you will be welcomed by your guide from the Primate Safari’s team who will transfer you to Kigali Serena Hotel. Located in a secure neighbourhood just a five-minute walk from the CBD, Serena's design seamlessly blends contemporary five-star comfort with rich Rwandan heritage, art and culture. Serena is the ideal place to unwind after a long international flight and prepare for your luxury gorilla trekking safari in Rwanda.

The 8-hour road transfer to Nyungwe will meander through the emerald landscapes of Rwanda. Your first stop is Butare, the cultural heart of Rwanda, where you’ll enjoy a fascinating tour of the Butare National Museum: an ethnographic museum containing pre-colonial objects of Rwandan culture like traditional clothing, maps, photographs and historical artefacts.

After a delicious lunch at a local restaurant in Butare, you continue to Nyungwe Forest National Park. The largest mountain rainforest in Africa, Nyungwe is rich in flora and fauna, with over 260 species of trees and shrubs, and over 100 types of orchid and giant lobelia. One & Only Nyungwe House is situated on the edge of the ancient Nyungwe Forest and will be your stylish home for the next two nights on this luxury Rwanda safari. Settle into your luxury suite with its in-room fireplace and exceptional views of the surrounding mountains.

After an early breakfast, you head out with your expert guide as you hike through an ancient rainforest, its misty hills vibrant with birdsong and the calls of chimpanzees. Nyungwe is like a scene from a fairy tale. Giant mahogany and ebony trees tower above you, while orchids cling to every branch. Brightly coloured birds and butterflies flutter around as you quietly follow the call of Nyungwe’s renowned primates. You will spend about an hour in the company of a chimpanzee family, observing their engaging playfulness and human-like characteristics.

You’ll savour a delicious lunch back at the lodge, after which you’ll have the option to enjoy East Africa’s highest canopy walk. This activity will give you a true sense of the sheer scale of Nyungwe as you stroll high above the forest and take in the incredible views.

After breakfast at Nyungwe House, you’ll depart with a packed lunch on a 6-hour road transfer. The journey passes through the mesmerising, terraced hillsides that characterise much of Rwanda’s landscape, also known as the ‘Land of a Thousand Hills’.

Your home for the next few days is the incredible Singita Kwitonda Lodge, set in a remote section of untouched forest on the fringes of Volcanoes National Park. Your suite boasts uninterrupted views of three forested volcanoes in the national park – Volcanoes is home to five of the eight extinct volcanoes that make up the Virunga Mountains. Equipped with a dressing room, private terrace with a heated plunge pool, and a cosy fireplace, Kwitonda Lodge elevates your luxury gorilla trekking safari in Rwanda.

You spend the next two days tracking gorillas through the forested slopes of the Virungas. Spending time with endangered mountain gorillas in their natural habitat is arguably the most soul-stirring and profound wildlife encounter on Earth. There are less than 1 000 mountain gorillas left in the world - trekking into their native forests is the only way to see these critically endangered gorillas, as they cannot survive in captivity. Trekking takes place in the mornings, after which you’ll have lunch back at Kwitonda Lodge and spend the afternoons at leisure.

After breakfast at the lodge, you’ll depart the foothills of the Virunga Volcanoes and head south through coffee, tea and banana plantations on a breath-takingly scenic drive back to Kigali International Airport.