ENCOUNTERSAFRICA
6-Day Green Season Gorilla Trek

Rwanda - Fly-in safari

6-Day Green Season Gorilla Trek

Duration
6 days
Countries
Rwanda
Suited to
2-8 guests
Pricing
From USD 6,080

The journey

Rwanda between November and May is the country at its greenest. Terraced hills run the colour of new tea, cloud sits low on the Virunga cones, and the lodges charge a fraction of their July rates. It is also the quieter half of the year: permits that sell out months ahead in August can often still be found a few weeks out, and you share the trailhead with far fewer people. This programme spends three nights at Five Volcanoes Boutique Hotel, ten minutes from the Kinigi park gate, with one gorilla trek and a golden monkey trek. It then crosses the country on the Kivu Belt road to Nyungwe, the largest protected montane rainforest left in East Africa. Two nights at Nyungwe Top View Hill Hotel buy a dawn chimpanzee trek and the canopy walk, 160 metres of steel bridge strung 70 metres above a ravine. The last leg is flown, Kamembe to Kigali in 40 minutes rather than six hours by road. The price is built on the Rwanda Development Board's published low-season permit of USD 1,050, a 30 per cent reduction on the standard USD 1,500 for November to May treks that also spend two nights in Nyungwe or Akagera, which this itinerary does by design. Akagera and its Big Five can replace the forest leg and still qualify.

Your camps, day by day

Stay 1

Kigali to the Virungas

You land at Kigali International, meet your driver-guide and take an hour at the Genocide Memorial before the road north. The drive to Kinigi runs about two and a half hours on tarmac, through terraces that are luminous green at this time of year. Five Volcanoes Boutique Hotel sits ten minutes from the park gate, and dinner is by the fire while you sort layers, gaiters and boots.

Stay 2

One Hour, Seven Metres

Breakfast at six, then the short run to Kinigi headquarters, where rangers match families to fitness over coffee and Intore drumming. Rwanda issues 96 permits a day and caps each group at eight people. In the wet months the gorillas feed lower down, so the walk in is often under an hour, through nettles and bamboo, before your strictly timed sixty minutes begins.

Stay 3

Golden Monkeys in Bamboo

A gentler morning. The golden monkey troops live in the bamboo zone on the lower slopes of Sabyinyo, so the walk is flat by Virunga standards and the hour with them is pure movement, forty or fifty animals crashing through green stems. The afternoon is yours for the twin lakes at Burera and Ruhondo, the Musanze caves, or a chair by the fire.

Stay 4

The Kivu Belt Road

The long day, and the one people remember. You run southwest from Musanze along Lake Kivu, past Karongi and its terraced inlets, with a lunch stop on the water. It is roughly six and a half hours to the forest edge. Nyungwe Top View Hill Hotel looks straight over the canopy at Gisakura, and the sound after dark is tree hyrax rather than traffic.

Stay 5

Chimps at First Light

You leave in the dark for the briefing, because chimpanzees move at dawn and the trackers want you close when they do. Nyungwe holds around a thousand of them across 1,019 square kilometres, alongside twelve other primate species. In the afternoon comes the canopy walk at Uwinka, 160 metres of suspension bridge hung 70 metres above the ravine floor.

Stay 6

Tea Fields and Home

A last walk through the Gisakura tea estate, where the forest ends in a hard green line and Angolan colobus cross the boundary trees. Then 90 minutes down to Kamembe on Lake Kivu and the 40-minute flight to Kigali, which saves you a six-hour drive on your departure day. Your guide meets you again in Kigali for the airport run.

Safari highlights

  • Green season trekking from November to May, far fewer people
  • Three nights at Five Volcanoes, ten minutes from the Kinigi gate
  • Dawn chimpanzee trek in Nyungwe's montane rainforest
  • Canopy walk 70 metres above the forest floor at Uwinka
  • The Kivu Belt road south, past Karongi and the lake terraces
  • Forty-minute flight Kamembe to Kigali, not a six-hour drive

What is included

Included

  • 5 nights accommodation, per person sharing
  • One Rwanda gorilla trekking permit at RDB's published low-season rate of USD 1,050 (standard rate USD 1,500)
  • Nyungwe chimpanzee trekking permit and the Uwinka canopy walk fee
  • Golden monkey permit in Volcanoes National Park
  • Road transfer Kigali International Airport to Volcanoes National Park, about 2.5 hours
  • Road transfer Volcanoes National Park to Nyungwe on the Kivu Belt road, about 6.5 hours, and Nyungwe to Kamembe Airport
  • Domestic flight Kamembe to Kigali, 40 minutes, on the final morning
  • Private 4x4 and English-speaking driver-guide throughout, including the daily park headquarters transfers
  • All meals on full board at both lodges, park entry fees, ranger guides and trackers, and Rwanda VAT

Not included

  • International flights to and from Africa
  • Rwanda visa and entry permits
  • Comprehensive travel and medical insurance, including trekking and altitude cover
  • Premium spirits, champagne and imported wines
  • Porter hire at the trailheads, about USD 20 per trek, and gratuities for rangers, trackers, guides and lodge staff
  • Items of a personal nature, curios and telephone calls
  • Optional second gorilla permit at USD 1,500 and the Dian Fossey grave hike at USD 75

Frequently asked questions

How much does a 6-day green season gorilla trek in Rwanda cost?

From USD 6,080 per person sharing, rising to about USD 6,580 over the December to February window. That covers five nights on full board, three at Five Volcanoes Boutique Hotel and two at Nyungwe Top View Hill Hotel, one gorilla permit at RDB's low-season rate of USD 1,050, the chimpanzee permit and canopy walk, the golden monkey permit, a private 4x4 and driver-guide throughout, and the Kamembe to Kigali flight.

Is there a cheaper gorilla permit in Rwanda's green season?

Yes, and this price is built on it. The Rwanda Development Board publishes a standing 30 per cent low-season discount, USD 1,050 instead of USD 1,500, for treks between November and May on itineraries that also spend two nights in Nyungwe or Akagera with at least one paid park activity. This programme meets those conditions by design, so the discounted permit is what you pay. Trek outside November to May, or drop the forest leg, and the full USD 1,500 applies and we re-quote.

What is Rwanda's green season actually like for gorilla trekking?

November to May means mud, and plenty of it. The volcanic soil turns to grease on the steeper pitches, so gaiters and a porter are worth the USD 20. In exchange you get soft, diffused light that suits photography far better than hard dry-season sun, forest that is thick and flowering, half the number of trekkers at the Kinigi briefing, and lodge rates at their lowest of the year.

Are gorillas harder to find in the rainy season?

No, and the trek is often shorter. Rain pushes fresh growth and bamboo shoots down the lower slopes, so the families tend to feed at lower altitude rather than up near 3,000 metres. Trackers follow each group from first light and radio their position before you set off, so the walk in can be under an hour. Sightings are effectively guaranteed year-round.

How much does it rain in Rwanda between November and May?

Less than the word rainy suggests. March to May is the long rains and November the short, and the pattern is usually a heavy afternoon downpour of an hour or two rather than all-day drizzle. Mornings are often clear, which matters because treks start at seven. Temperatures at 2,500 metres sit around 15 to 20 degrees Celsius by day and drop sharply after dark.

Are international flights included in this Rwanda itinerary?

No. International flights to and from Africa are excluded and booked separately into Kigali International. Everything inside Rwanda is included, including the domestic Kamembe to Kigali flight on the final morning. Kigali to Volcanoes National Park is road only, about 105 kilometres and two and a half hours on tarmac, priced per vehicle, so two travellers pay the same transfer cost as one.

How do you get from Kigali to Nyungwe Forest?

By road it is 225 kilometres and five to six hours. We drive it once, southwest from Musanze on the Kivu Belt road past Karongi, which is the scenic way and takes about six and a half hours with a lakeside lunch. Coming back we fly: Kamembe Airport is 40 minutes from Kigali and about 90 minutes by road from the Nyungwe lodges. Helicopter charter exists but costs several thousand dollars.