5 days Virunga gorillas and Nyungwe chimpanzee tour is an amazing primate tour that begins and ends in Kigali city. This safari will make you visit two primate destinations namely Virunga national park in DR Congo and Nyungwe forest national park in Rwanda. This safari takes you for gorilla trekking in Virunga national park, chimpanzee trekking, and canopy walk in Nyungwe forest national park as well as Kigali city tour.

5 Days Virunga Gorillas and Nyungwe Chimpanzee safari tour highlight

Day 1: Pick up from Kigali and transfer to Virunga national park

Day 2: Gorilla trekking in Virunga national park

Day 3: Transfer to Nyungwe national park

Day 4: Chimpanzee trekking and canopy walk

Day 5: Departure to Kigali

Detailed itinerary 

Day 1: Pick up from Kigali and transfer to Virunga national park

On your first day of Virunga gorillas and Nyungwe chimpanzee tour, our driver-guide will pick you up from Kigali international airport or your hotel and brief you about the safari. You will then start on your journey to Virunga national park located in the eastern part of DR Congo. On your way to the park, you will have a stopover for lunch and you will enjoy beautiful views of the countryside, rolling hills in Rwanda, good-looking scenery, stunning views of Lake Kivu, and many others. You will proceed to Goma Grande Barrier border to obtain your Visa for DR Congo and a gorilla trekking permit. From the border, you will be joined by the Virunga security convoy who will connect you to Bukima where you will check-in into your booked lodge for dinner and an overnight stay.

Meal plan: Lunch and Dinner

Accommodation: Mount Kahuzi Hotel – luxury, Lulimbi Tented Camp – mid-range, Bukima Tented Camp – budget

Day 2: Gorilla trekking in Virunga national park

After early morning breakfast on your second day of Virunga gorillas and Nyungwe chimpanzee tour, you will carry your pack lunch and our driver guide will transfer you to the park headquarters for a briefing about the rules and regulations of gorilla trekking. After the briefing, you will be given a ranger guide and allocated a habituated gorilla family to trek. Gorilla trekking in Virunga national park takes 30 minutes to several hours depending on where the mountain gorillas slept last night, the nature of the terrain, and the speed at which you are trekking. During gorilla trekking, you will be able to see other wildlife species such as bird species, primates, mammals, different tree and plant species among others. Once you allocated mountain gorillas, you will be able to spend a maximum of one hour with them in their natural habitats which allow you to watch them, do their daily activities like playing, breastfeeding, hunting, grooming the little ones, learn about their behaviors and you record videos and take photos to show family and friends back home. After gorilla trekking, you will get back to the park headquarters to meet with your driver who will transfer you to Bukima and later check into your lodge for dinner and an overnight stay.

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Accommodation: Mount Kahuzi Hotel – luxury, Lulimbi Tented Camp – mid-range, Bukima Tented Camp – budget

Day 3: Transfer to Nyungwe national park

After a relaxed morning breakfast on the third day of the Virunga gorillas and Nyungwe chimpanzee tour, our driver-guide will be ready to pick you up from your lodge and transfer you to Nyungwe forest national park. On your way to Nyungwe forest national park in Rwanda, you will be rewarded with stunning views of coffee plantations, local people, traditional homesteads, terraced farmlands, beautiful landscape among others, and upon reaching the park you will head to booked lodge and check-in for dinner and an overnight stay.

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Accommodation: Only & Only Nyungwe hotel – luxury, Nyungwe Top View Lodge – mid-range, Gisakura Guest House – budget

Day 4: Chimpanzee trekking and canopy walk

After early morning breakfast on your fourth day of Virunga gorillas and Nyungwe chimpanzee tour, the driver guide will be ready to pick you up from the lodge and transfer you to the park headquarters for a briefing about how to behave when you meet chimpanzees. After the briefing, you will be given a ranger guide and a chimpanzee family to trek. Chimpanzee trekking in Nyungwe forest national park takes you about 30 minutes to 4 hours depending on where chimpanzees are located and the speed at which you are trekking. During chimpanzee trekking, you will meet other primates, mammals, and different bird species. Once you have found chimpanzees you will be allowed to spend a maximum of one hour with the chimpanzees in their environment where you will be able to learn about their behaviors, take photos, watch them do their daily activities, record videos to go and share with family and friends back home. After spending an hour with chimpanzees, you will get back to the starting point where you will find your driver guide ready to transfer you to the lodge for lunch.

Canopy walk, after lunch you will head to Uwinka Visitors Centre for a briefing about the canopy walk. The canopy walk starts immediately at the Uwinka Visitors Centre and goes through the huge trees. During the canopy walk, you will enjoy aerial views of the national park, trees, animals, birds, primates such as olive baboons, L’Hoests monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, vervet monkeys, and many more. After the canopy walk which takes about 2 hours, you will get back to your starting point where you will meet your driver guide and return to your lodge for relaxation, dinner, and an overnight stay.

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Accommodation: Only & Only Nyungwe hotel – luxury, Nyungwe Top View Lodge – mid-range, Gisakura Guest House – budget

Day 5: Departure to Kigali

This is your last day of Virunga gorillas and Nyungwe chimpanzee tours. After morning breakfast, you will check out of your lodge and our driver guide will be ready to transfer you to Kigali. You will have a stopover on your way for lunch and later continue with your journey. Upon arriving in Kigali, you will go to a Kigali city where you will visit some of the genocide memorials in the city, shopping malls, art galleries, and markets. After the Kigali city tour, your driver-guide will drop you off at your hotel or Kigali international airport for your flight back home.

Meal plan: Breakfast and Lunch

5 Days Virunga gorillas and Nyungwe chimpanzee tour includes

Transportation

Service of an English-speaking guide

Gorilla trekking permit

Chimpanzee trekking permit

Canopy walk

Kigali city tour

Accommodation

Meals

Drinking water

5 Days Virunga gorillas and Nyungwe chimpanzee tour excludes

International flights

Visas

Personal expenses

Insurance

Optional activities not included in the itinerary

Important Information about 5 Days Virunga gorillas and Nyungwe chimpanzee tour

Nyungwe forest national park is found in the southwest parts of Rwanda on the border of Burundi. It is among the oldest rain forests in Africa. The mountainous region is known as the best place for wildlife including the chimpanzees with other 12 primate species, plus the L’Hoest’s monkey endemic to the Albertine Rift. Nyungwe forest national park was first established as a forest reserve in 1903 and then in 2004 became a national park, this park is considered as the second-largest national park in Rwanda after Volcanoes national park because of its biodiversity that cannot be found anywhere in Rwanda plus the entire part of East Africa.

The park is mostly known as a number one national park for chimpanzee trekking in Rwanda, of which every tourist to Nyugwe forest national park do want to miss out on this amazing experience and it is complemented with a Canopy walk experience which is an interesting activity that gives you an opportunity and gets to know more about the oldest rain forest.

Nyungwe forest national park is rich in biodiversity and spectacularly beautiful which making it a priority for conservation in Africa. It is a natural habitat for over 75 species of mammals including 13 primates, hundreds of butterflies, orchids and about 310 bird species.

You can do the Canopy walk experience with a metal bridge suspended 60 meters above the forest and get to know the real scale of Nyungwe forest national park. With its beautiful views of the forest that you will never forget in your lifetime.

Nyungwe forest national park is the best top destination for chimpanzee trekking in Africa which attracts most visitors to participate in tracking experience, other 12 primate species including the L’Hoest’s monkey endemic to the Albertine Rift. The park is also best for bird lovers with over 310 bird species

Nyungwe national park has boosted the growth of the tourism industry in Rwanda with about 140 kilometers of hiking trails, of which these hiking trails allow tourists to explore more details about the forest and its biodiversity. Nature walks in Nyungwe forest national park are usually take 1-8 hours to complete the hike.

You can also visit other fascinating parks of Rwanda which include Volcanoes National Park and you be given the most amazing experience and enjoy from the famous mountain gorilla trekking to golden monkey trekking, Dian fossey, bisoke hike or You can participate in some games by visiting Akagera National Park for the most big 5 sightings that include a night game safari where you will encounter to the nocturnal animals

Facts About Virunga National Park

The park was managed well for the good 35 years but in 1960 as DR Congo got its independence from Belgium, the park management started failing to manage the park. In 1969, the newly elected president of DR Congo known as Mobutu reinstalled reservation of the park and it was now renamed as Virunga National Park. In year 1907’s the park got funding’s to help in the conservation works of the park. In 1980, instabilities begun after the president loosing. In 1980, UNESCO decided to change its view of status of the park and it listed it as an endangered park for gorillas because chaos and poaching where the highlights of the park.

Virunga is a famous area for oil mining and is suspected that by the coming years, 80% of the park’s land will be used up. The southern region landscape of the park is composed of old and new lava flow, montane tropical forest, and alpine forests. The central region landscape is composed of African savannah, marshes, riverine forests, and lake shores. The northern region landscape is made up of lake shores, African savannah, riverine forests, alpine forests, and glaciers.

The park faces high rate for the death of poachers. The park hosts about a quarter of the endangered mountain gorillas.  Virunga national park hosts 3 great ape species like chimpanzees, mountain gorilla, and Grauer’s gorillas.  Okapi is a giraffe/zebra type specie and is known as endangered and also found in Virunga.