4-Day Rwanda Safari & Gorilla Trekking

You know the feeling. You see something wrong and think someone should do something about that. Olivier Nsengimana saw cranes disappearing from the wild while people kept them as garden pets. He decided he was the someone. In 2012 there were 300 grey crowned cranes left in Rwanda. Today there are 1,293. Dian Fossey felt the same thing in 1967 and set up two tents in the Virunga forest when there were 250 mountain gorillas left. Today there are over 1,000. Your first morning in Rwanda you meet the cranes. On Day 4 you meet the gorillas. Both are here because one person decided to act.

This is not a standard gorilla day trip from Kigali. It is a four-day journey through three of Rwanda's national parks, built for the traveller who wants more than a permit and a photograph. You start in the city, spend two nights deep inside Akagera where most visitors never sleep, and end face to face with the mountain gorillas in the forest where Rwanda chose to save them.



The two nights in Akagera are the heart of it. By the time you reach Karenge Bush Camp on the northern plains, you have driven the full length of the park, watched the landscape shift from wetlands to open savannah, and earned the dawn game drive where the predators are still out. From there the road leads west to the Virunga Mountains. Day 4 is why you came.

Two nights in Akagera secures your low season gorilla permit. Travel November to May and save $450 per person. The mountain gorillas do not care either way.

Whats Included

• Round-trip transport from Kigali (pickup and drop-off)
• Park entrance fees for Akagera and Volcanoes National Park. Night safari, boat and gorilla trekking Permits.
• 3 full-day safari game drives in Akagera National Park
• Gorilla Trekking at the Volcanoes National Park
• Accommodation at Akagera Game lodge, Karenge Bush Camp and The Mountain Gorilla View Lodge.
• Air-conditioned pop-up roof 4x4 safari vehicle equipped with GPS and a fridge
• Professional English/French-speaking driver-guide & tracker fees
• Comprehensive insurance, including Akagera Emergency Air Evacuation cover
• Complimentary gear: Binoculars, sunscreen, and insect repellent, hiking sticks, ponchos, gaiters and garden gloves.
• Safety Equipment: Satellite phone, maps, GPS, and medical kit
• Lunch at Lake Mihindi with vegetarian options available
• Unlimited bottled water throughout the day and a snack pack for the hike.

Exclusions

• Only drinks are included in your package. Coffee and other beverages are available for purchase.
• The 1hr morning boat safari on Lake Ihema is optional. You can add it as an extra during check-out.
• A map of Akagera National Park can be purchased at the park entrance.
• Porters are charged separately. Please mention this during check-out if you have mobility issues and need assistance.

 What do I need to bring?

• Valid passport (with any required visas or permits)
• Comfortable shoes suitable for uneven terrain
• Lightweight rain jacket for sudden showers
• Neutral-colored long-sleeve clothing (for sun and insect protection)
• Hat, sunglasses & sunscreen to protect from the sun
• Insect repellent (preferably DEET-based or equivalent)
• Small backpack for daily essentials
• Refillable water bottle
• Personal medications (bring enough for the whole trip)

Cancellation Policy

If We Cancel
In over 6,000 trips, we've never cancelled, but reserve the right to do so in exceptional circumstances. If we cancel, you can reschedule or receive a full refund.

If “God Cancels”
No refunds guaranteed for cancellations within 48 hours of departure, regardless of reason - weather, illness, travel bans, or any other circumstance. Add Protect Group's Enhanced Refund coverage (8% additional) to protect yourself.

If You Cancel

• 2 to 1000 days out: Refund minus $20 admin fee or full credit toward a future trip.
• 24 to 36 hours out: No refund, but you can keep it as a future trip credit. (valid for up to 3 years).

Less than 24 hours:  No refund or credit, unless covered by Enhanced Refund Terms.

24-Hour Risk-Free Booking

Changed your mind? Full refund if you cancel within 24 hours. Zero penalty. No stress, no risk.

Premium Safari. Lowest Price Guaranteed.

Book direct online or at our Tourist Information Centers - we guarantee you will receive the lowest price available.

Instalment Payment Options

Split the cost—without paying more. Reserve your trip for 10% down, pay the rest on arrival.

Why Choose Akagera Safari?

We guarantee 4 of the Big 5 during your two nights in Akagera — or we give you a full refund. The real odds are better. 95% of our guests see all 5. Our guides operate on a live sightings network across the park, and if by Day 3 we are still missing an animal we use satellite tracking to find it. Accommodation is on contracted rates up to 30% below standard pricing, and if you need to cancel we are the only operator in Rwanda that offers refunds on gorilla permits.

What else comes with your safari:

All-Inclusive Packages

Book, show up, everything's handled. Round-trip transport from Kigali, meals, park fees, water, and gratuities - all included.

Skip the Line

While others queue at the Akagera park entrance - which gets hectic in the morning - you head straight to the safari briefing by the park warden. Learn the park's history and conservation story before your game drive starts.

Emergency Air Evacuation

Covered by Akagera Aviation for immediate medical airlift. One less thing to worry about.

20+ Years of Award-Winning Safari Adventures

Day 1 — Kigali to Akagera via Nyandungu & Umusambi

Your first stop is Nyandungu Eco-Park, a restored wetland on the edge of Kigali where walking paths wind through medicinal gardens and birdlife fills the reeds. From there you continue to Umusambi Village where you walk among the cranes, hear their story, and have lunch in the open air before heading east.

You arrive at Akagera in the afternoon, check in at Akagera Game Lodge, and head out for a sunset boat safari on Lake Ihema. Hippos surface at dusk. Crocodiles line the banks. The birds come in to roost. It's a quiet, unhurried start and the park is already telling you what it has become.

Overnight: Akagera Game Lodge

Day 2 — South to North: The Full Day Drive

This is the day the park reveals itself. You set off early and drive the full length of Akagera through five different landscapes. The south is water and shrubland. Giraffes at the roadside, buffalo on the hills, elephants in the valleys. The vegetation is dense here and the animals appear and disappear.

The northern plains are something else entirely, open savannah, unobstructed views, and the best leopard country in the park. Leopards are rarely seen anywhere in Africa. In Akagera's north they give themselves away if you know where to look and your guide does. The night game drive after dark is your best chance. Leopards hunt at night and the Kilala Plains are their ground.

You arrive at Karenge Bush Camp by late afternoon. Lunch is at camp with the savannah stretching out in every direction. As the light drops you head out on the night game drive. This is the one.

Overnight: Karenge Bush Camp

Day 3 — Dawn on the Kilala Plains, then West to the Virunga Mountains

You're up before the sun. The northern plains in the early morning are as good as it gets in Akagera. Hyena sightings are rare here not because they hide but because the population is small. Dawn is when they're most active and your guide knows this ground.

Back at camp for a late breakfast, then you begin the drive west. Akagera falls behind you. The landscape changes as you cross Rwanda, the hills steeper, the air cooler, the horizon opening up. By evening the Virunga Mountains are visible. You check in at Mount Gorilla View Lodge at the base of the volcanoes, have dinner, and rest. Tomorrow is why you came.

Overnight: Mount Gorilla View Lodge

Day 4 — Gorilla Trekking in Volcanoes National Park

Nothing prepares you for it. Volcanoes National Park sits in a world of its own, volcanoes rising out of mist, the air cooler and quieter than anywhere you've been on this trip. You feel it before you even enter the forest.

You arrive at park headquarters in Kinigi early. There's tea and coffee, traditional dancing, and a briefing from the park rangers who confirm your permits and assign your trekking group. Then the forest begins.

The trek can take one hour or four depending on where the gorilla family has moved. Your guide reads the forest through broken branches, fresh prints and the smell of vegetation, then leads you in. When you find them there is nothing else. A silverback at rest. A mother with an infant. Animals that Rwanda spent thirty years protecting, living exactly as they should.

You have one hour with them. It goes quickly. After the trek you have lunch, then visit the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund Museum — the story behind the woman who started it all, told at the foot of the mountain where she lived and worked. Then the drive back to Kigali.

Return to Kigali

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