4 Days Rwanda Gorilla Safari - Land of a Thousand Hills
Tour Code: TAS 83 | [ Kigali Serena Hotel, Lake Kivu Serena Hotel, Mountain Gorilla View Lodge, Iby’ Iwacu Cultural Center ]

At a glance

First in this safari you may visit The Kigali Genocide Memorial commemorates the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Alternatively were could offer a different place to explore for those who may something different. There are remains of over 250,000 people are interred there. There is a visitor centre for students and those wishing to understand the events leading up to the genocide of 1994. The Centre is a permanent memorial to those who fell victim to the genocide and serves as a place in which the bereaved could bury their family and friends. The Centre is managed and run by the Aegis Trust on behalf of the National Commission for the Fight Against Genocide.



Detailed trip itinerary

Day 1: Kigali City, Kigali Serena Hotel (Fullboard)

Met on arrival at the Kigali International Airport by a Serena Representative and transfer to Kigali Serena Hotel for accommodation on bed & breakfast.

Ideally located on one of Kigali's most charming boulevards, the five-star Kigali Serena Hotel is built around a polished granite atrium, which showcases the very best of Rwandese cultural art.

Day 2: Kigali City Tour, Lake Kivu Serena Hotel (Fullboard)

Pick up from the hotel at 09:00, City tour of Kigali City including visit to the Gisozi genocide memorial sites, the Richard Kandt Museum and local markets.

After lunch drive to Gisenyi arriving late afternoon and enjoy the African sunset over the Lake Kivu Serena Hotel. Serenely sited on the white sandy shores of Lake Kivu, the sixth largest lake in Africa, and surrounded by extensive tropical gardens, the tastefully open-plan Lake Kivu Serena Hotel offers the ideal holiday escape destination!

Within three hours’ drive from the Rwandan capital, Kigali City and an hour’s drive from the glorious Volcanoes National Park, home of the world famous mountain gorillas, the hotel overlooks its own private beach and offers a variety of accommodation and hotel facilities. Dinner and overnight stay at Lake Kivu Serena Hotel.

Day 3: Volcanoes National Park, Mountain Gorilla View Lodge (Fullboard)

05:00 transfer to Kinigi at the foot hills of the Virungas for your Gorilla Tracking expedition! Carry with you our carefully sorted and packed breakfast box complete with sufficient energy giving food to sustain you throughout the tracking trip. 07:00 briefing and allocation to a Gorilla Tracking Group. Then drive to the base of the trekking together with other guests allocated in the same gorilla family. Once you have spotted the gorillas you are allowed only one hour and there after the return to the base, where you drive guide will be waiting. Depending on the time you come back you may opt to have lunch at Mountain Gorilla View Lodge.

IMPORTANT - Hikers must be prepared to walk for up to 6 hours a day. Hikers must bring along their own personal hiking gear.

Volcanoes National Park
The park was first gazetted in 1925, as a small area bounded by Karisimbi, Visoke and Mikeno, intended to protect the gorillas from poachers. It was the very first National Park to be created in Africa. The park later became the base for the American naturalist Dian Fossey to carry out her research into the gorillas. She arrived in 1967 and set up the Karisoke Research Centre between Karisimbi and Visoke.

From then on she spent most of her time in the park, and is widely credited with saving the gorillas from extinction by bringing their plight to the attention of the international community. She was murdered by unknown assailants at her home in 1985, a crime often attributed to the poachers she had spent her life fighting against. She is buried in the park in a grave close to the research center, and amongst the gorillas which became her life.

Fossey's life was later portrayed on the big screen in the film “Gorillas in the Mist”, named after her autobiography. The park is best known for the Mountain Gorilla. Other mammals include: Golden monkey, Black-fronted Duiker, Buffalo, Spotted Hyena and Bushbuck. There are also reported to be some elephants in the park, though these are now very rare. There are 178 recorded bird species, with at least 13 species and 16 subspecies endemic to the Virunga and Ruwenzori Mountains.

Dinner and overnight stay at Mountain Gorilla view lodge

Day 4: Iby’ Iwacu Cultural Center (Breakfast)

Depart the hotel at 09:00, en-route you will have a stopover at the Iby Iwacu Cultural Center for first hand encounter of Rwandan culture and heritage.

Iby’ Iwacu Cultural Center.
Offering an adventurous stay in a traditional rural, Rwandan village that has existed for centuries living with and next to mountain gorillas in Parc National des Volcans. Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village gives you a rare chance to meet local people, in their environment, with a taste of our culture and traditions. The community you visit will genuinely welcome you as a special guest while they proudly present to you aspects of their traditions and beliefs. This will truly be an experience of a lifetime as you home stay with the community and become part of their family

Later depart to Kigali City arriving in the afternoon and transfer to the airport (evening flight is recommended).
End of this safari

Tour Inclusions and Exclusions

Tour Inclusions

  • 1st night on bed and breakfast basis at Kigali Serena Hotel
  • 2nd night on full board basis at Lake Kivu Serena Hotel
  • 3rd night on full board basis at Mountain Gorilla View Lodge
  • Ground transportation in 4WD 5 Seater Safari Cruisers on exclusive use
  • English speaking driver guide
  • 01 Gorilla permit per person @ US$1500
  • City tour of Kigali City
  • Visit to Iby Iwacu Cultural Centre
  • 2 litres of mineral water per day per person

Tour Exclusions

  • Drinks
  • Tips for the service
  • Yellow fever vaccination
  • Visa
  • Things of personal use

Easter & Christmas Surcharges
A surcharge would be charged per person per night on Good Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Easter Monday and on 24th 25th, 26th, 31st December and 1st January. The Surcharge would be confirmed at the time of booking for clarity purposes.


For optimal enjoyment of your safari, we urge you to carry the following:
All weather firm shoe pair, short and dress to use during the day, trouser for use in the evenings with long sleeved shirt, sweater or jacket, hat, swimming costume, sunglass, camera, binocular, sun protection cream and insect repellent spray or cream.


Work with Top Africa Safaris

We create fully personalised trips from start to finish, working with you to pick locations, accommodation and guides that suit you.

24 hours turn around time that guarantees quick quotations and their respective itineraries

Value for money! We got a good rapport with service providers thus ensuring competetive pricing for all our products.