Upon arrival at Kigali international airport, you will be met by a Gemsbok Safaris representative outside customs and immigration hall. Safari briefing and introduction to your driver guide. Transfer to The Retreat by Heaven.

After your breakfast you will check out and head for your city tour which includes the Gisozi Genocide Memorial Centre.

The Kigali Memorial is a permanent memorial to those who fell victim to the genocide in 1994. It deals with a topic of international importance, with far-reaching significance, and is designed to engage and challenge an international visitor base. Here you will be able to visit the three permanent exhibitions, the largest of which documents the genocide and pays tribute to the victims of the genocide.

After the city tour, you will drive to the volcanoes and lunch will be at Mille Collines Restaurant. Arrive and check in, freshen up and relax for the rest of the evening.

After an early breakfast at 6:30 am, you will head to RDB offices for briefing on your gorilla trekking that starts at 07:00 am.

Volcanoes National Park protects the steep slopes of this magnificent mountain range – home of the rare mountain gorilla – and the rich mosaic of montane ecosystems, which embrace evergreen and bamboo forest, open grassland, swamp and heath. You may spot a wide variety of bird life but the high point will be spending an hour with the remarkably peaceful gorillas despite their size and appearance as they go about their daily life, feeding, playing, resting and raising their young.

The cost is US$ 10 per person per day for a porter. We advise that you utilize this service. You will be allowed an hour with these wonderful creatures. After the trek you will return to the lodge for lunch.

Optional extra: in the evening you may visit Ibyi Iwacu cultural village. Ibyi Iwacu is changing the traditional perception of what constitutes tourism by turning fate into fame through sharing various aspects of rural cultures and livelihoods into tourist attractions and creating income-generating activities for rural poor people that have reformed from living on bush meat and poaching for generations.

Today, you have an early breakfast and transfer to the park headquarters for the golden monkey trekking briefing. The tracking usually takes about 4 hrs. Once you come to the habituated families, you will spend the allowed one hour with them as they go about their daily life.

Trekking to see the golden monkeys is another highlight of Volcanoes National Park. The Golden Monkey (Cercopithecus mitis kandti) is a local subspecies of the widespread Sykes Monkey, also known as the “Blue Monkey”, and is endemic to the high-altitude forests. The monkeys are playful and inquisitive and often spend their time leaping from bamboo branches or frolicking on the forest floor. There are two habituated groups of Golden Monkey; one group comprises around 80 – 100 members and has its home at the foot of Mt Sabyinyo.

After the trek you will return to the lodge for lunch, check out and transfer to Kigali. Upon arrival, transfer to the airport for your departure flight depending on the departure time. End of safari with Gemsbok Safaris!