12 Days Maasai Mara and Rwanda Primates Safari

Day 1: Arrival to Nairobi

Your safari begins today with your arrival in Nairobi (JKIA) where you will be welcomed to Kenya by a Kagera Safaris representative and your driver guide. You will then be transferred to your hotel for overnight.

Hemingsway / House of Waine / Palacina Suites / Fairmont the Norfolk / Giraffe Manor / The Boma

Day 2: Transfer to Masaai Mara

You will be met and picked up by a Kagera Safaris representative from your hotel in Nairobi or from the airport. The driver guide will then start you on your journey to Masai Mara national reserve. The journey is by road and will take you through the vast landscape and nature of Kenya. On arrival at your lodge you will be warmly welcomed with a fresh glass of juice and have lunch. After a delicious lunch head for an evening game drive before your dinner.

Drive time – 6 hours OR Schedule flight time – 45 minutes
L & D
Bateleurs Camp / Kichwa Tembo / Mara plains camp / Little Governors / Sanctuary Olonono / Angama Mara / Zebra Plains camp

Day 3 & 4: Full Day Game drives

Breakfast in the morning will prepare you for a full day of game viewing in the famous Masai Mara National reserve. You will carry packed lunch from the lodge and then head out in to the reserve for a whole day of spectacular game viewing. Look out for wildlife – big herds of lions, leopards, elephants, the elusive cheetah, Thomson’s gazelle, wildebeest, buffaloes, impalas, topis, spotted hyenas, zebras, baboons and the graceful giraffes. Your day will end in the evening as you will be transferred back to the lodge for dinner.

Optional Activity – Hot Air balloon Safari
B, L & D
Bateleurs Camp / Kichwa Tembo / Mara plains camp / Little Governors / Sanctuary Olonono / Angama Mara / Zebra Plains camp

Day 5: Transfer to Kigali

Transfer to Nairobi and take a flight to Kigali international airport. Depending on the arrival time, you have an opportunity to do a short city tour.

Kigali Serena / Kigali Marriott / The Retreat / Radisson Blu Hotel

Day 6: Transfer to Nyungwe forest national park

The journey from Kigali to Nyungwe forest national park will keep you a wake as you enjoy the various scenery. Nyungwe forest is located in southern Rwanda en route to Burundi and some parts of the Congo. The tour to Nyungwe forest will start early morning after your breakfast with our first short stopover in Nyanza before proceeding to Huye to tour the ethnographic museum. In Nyanza district there is an opportunity to visit the Kings palace museum which is an alternative to the ethnographic museum. You can discuss with your driver guide on which of the museums to stop at depending on your interests. They both share Rwanda’s cultural history but the ethnographic museum has more items and wide coverage. Arrive in Nyungwe forest later in that evening and proceed to our lodge for overnight.

Drive time – 5 hours Or Helicopter (Robinson/Augusta) – 45 minutes/ 35 minutes
B, L & D
One & Only Nyungwe House

Day 7: Chimpanzee trekking & Canopy walk

Chimpanzee trekking is an intimate experience with the forest and its inhabitants. Your driver guide will transfer you from your lodge to the briefing area in the forest where you are expected as early as 5.00 am. Depending on how big the group is for tracking on the particular day, the ranger guide will divide the group so that one starts the Uwinka trail head and the other at Cyamudongo trail head. The ranger guide will share chimpanzee trekking tips for you while in the forest. In case you need to drive to starting point depending on the trail head you were located, your driver guide will be waiting to transfer you. The forest is rich with botanical diversity and home to 13 species of primates including Ruwenzori colobus, L’Hoest’s monkeys, Red-tailed monkeys, silver monkey, grey cheeked mangabey etc.,about 300 bird species with a number of Albertine rift endemics and several butterfly species.

In the afternoon – take a canopy walk or stay at the lodge to recuperate from the chimp trekking depending on your preference.

B, L & D
One & Only Nyungwe House

Day 8: Colobus monkey trekking

This morning again we leave for the briefing point at the Nyungwe forest. After briefing, the ranger guide will lead you into the forest for the Colobus monkey trekking. One of the habituated troops has more than 200 individuals so you can look forward to experiencing playful interactions of the monkeys as they groom, feed and play for each other. You are allowed 1 hour in their presence before you start the trek back.

B, L & D
One & Only Nyungwe House

Day 9: Transfer to Volcanoes national park

Today you will be picked up from either the airport on your arrival or your hotel depending on where you will be. You will take a short Kigali city tour exploring the major historic and cultural sites like the Kigali Genocide Memorial Center, Craft markets in Kigali, Kandt National Museum, and presidential museum depending on the time. After visiting some of these sites you will have lunch at a restaurant in the city and enjoy local foods or continental meals depending on your preference, remember to let your driver guide know your meal preferences so he chooses the right restaurant. After the lunch in Kigali city we embark on the journey to the home of the mountain gorillas in volcanoes national park.

Drive time – 6 hours Or Helicopter (Augusta) – 35 minutes
B, L & D
Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge / Virunga Lodge

Day 10: Gorilla Tracking in Volcanoes national park

Today after an early morning breakfast you are ready to start your gorilla trekking. The driver guide will transfer you to the briefing areas where you will learn from the ranger guide about the expectations while in the park. In the meantime as you wait for everyone to gather, enjoy the Rwandan hospitality of traditional dances and a hot Rwandan coffee. The ranger guide will share some of the gorilla trekking tips like no flash photography and later divide you in the different gorilla trekking groups. Depending on location of the family of gorillas you will trek, the driver guide will transfer you to the start of the trail head for the allocated gorilla group.

Spend the afternoon at leisure recuperating from the gorilla trekking experience or take on an optional activity of visiting the musanze caves or the twin lakes.

B, L & D
Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge / Virunga Lodge

Day 11: Golden Monkey trekking

Have an early morning breakfast and your naturalist guide will transfer you to the park headquarters just like yesterday. You will receive a briefing from the ranger guide and about your time in the park. Golden monkeys are generally more active than gorillas and might require you to keep moving following them as they feed. You are allowed to stay 1 hour with them after which you leave.

B, L & D
Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge / Virunga Lodge