Safari Packages · Kigali & Volcanoes National Park
5 Days Meet the Legends: Luxury Gorilla Safari
Gorillas and golden monkeys from one of Rwanda’s finest lodges, with VIP arrival and a private guide throughout.
Duration
5 days · 4 nights
Best season
Jun–Sep · Dec–Feb
Style
Private journey · Luxury lodges
From
$11,500 per person
Overview
Kigali & Volcanoes National Park
Rwanda’s gorilla experience at its most unhurried. After a night in Kigali, you stay three nights at One&Only Gorilla’s Nest, set in a eucalyptus forest at the foot of the Virunga volcanoes, a short drive from the park headquarters in Volcanoes National Park. You trek mountain gorillas, track golden monkeys in the bamboo and spend an afternoon at the Gorilla Guardians Village.
Your private guide is with you from the moment you land. Every permit, transfer and reservation is arranged before you arrive, so the only thing left to decide each day is how you want to spend it.
Highlights
- Three nights at One&Only Gorilla's Nest
- Mountain gorilla trekking
- Golden monkey tracking
- VIP airport meet and greet
- Helicopter transfer from Kigali on request
Every journey is private and can be adjusted to your dates, pace and preferred lodges. Share your plans with us and we will shape the details around you.
From
$11,500
per person · 5 days · 4 nights · 2 sharing
From $11,500 per person sharing in the quieter months, and from about $17,500 in peak season (June to October and the festive season), following the lodge’s seasonal rates. Tell us your dates and group size and we will send a firm quotation. Gorilla and golden monkey permits are included. Permit prices are set by the Rwanda Development Board and may change.
Itinerary
Day by day
We meet you as you step off the plane at Kigali International Airport, walk you through arrivals and drive you to your hotel (about 30 minutes). Over a drink, your guide runs through the days ahead, checks your boots and rain jacket, and answers anything you want to know about the trek. The evening is yours: dinner at the hotel, or a table we reserve for you at one of Kigali’s best restaurants.
Meals Dinner
Stay Radisson Blu Hotel & Convention Centre, Kigali (other Kigali hotels on request)
After breakfast, a private visit to the Kigali Genocide Memorial, the place to begin understanding modern Rwanda. Then something lighter: the Inema Arts Center, where Rwandan painters and sculptors work in open studios. After lunch, the drive north takes about 2.5 hours through terraced hills, with the volcanoes rising ahead as you near Musanze. If you would rather fly, a helicopter covers the same distance in about 30 minutes (on request, at extra cost). You arrive with time to settle in before dinner.
Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Stay One&Only Gorilla’s Nest
An early breakfast, then 15 minutes to the park headquarters at Kinigi, where trekkers gather at 7am and traditional dancers welcome the morning. Your guide will already have spoken to the rangers about the pace that suits you. The walk takes one to four hours through farmland, bamboo and forest; a porter carries your bag and lends a hand on the steep parts. Then the forest goes quiet and the family is there: one hour, never more than eight visitors.
Back at the lodge, lunch and a slow afternoon, then a visit to the Gorilla Guardians Village, where the communities beside the park share the dance, music and crafts of the Virunga region.
Meals All meals and selected drinks
Stay One&Only Gorilla’s Nest
Golden monkeys live in the bamboo on the lower slopes of the volcanoes. The trek is shorter and gentler than the gorilla day, and the troop is lively, quick and wonderful to photograph. You spend an hour with them and are back at the lodge by lunchtime. The afternoon is for the spa or a walk in the forest around the lodge.
Would you rather see the gorillas again? We can replace the golden monkeys with a second gorilla trek to a different family (extra permit, booked in advance).
Meals All meals and selected drinks
Stay One&Only Gorilla’s Nest
A last breakfast with the volcanoes in view, then the drive back to Kigali (about 2.5 hours), or a helicopter if you prefer. Depending on your flight time, there is time for lunch in the city and a stop for Rwandan coffee or crafts on the way to the airport.
Meals Breakfast
What's included
- One gorilla trekking permit per person ($1,500)
- One golden monkey permit per person ($100)
- VIP airport meet and greet
- Kigali city tour
- Gorilla Guardians Village visit
- Private 4x4 safari vehicle with an English-speaking driver-guide, fuel included
- Airport or Kigali hotel pickup and drop-off
- Accommodation as listed, sharing a double or twin room
- Meals as listed in the itinerary
- All park entry fees for the activities listed
- Booking and securing your permits through the Rwanda Development Board
- Bottled drinking water in the vehicle
What's not included
- International flights
- Rwanda visa
- Travel and medical insurance
- Drinks other than water
- Tips for guides, porters and lodge staff (guideline: $20 per guide per day)
- Porters on treks (about $15–20 plus a tip, paid locally)
- Optional activities and personal expenses
Good to know
- Prefer another lodge? We also book Bisate, Singita Kwitonda and Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge, and we will compare them honestly for your dates.
- Add a second gorilla trek, the Dian Fossey hike, or a visit to the Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Fund.
- Helicopter transfers between Kigali and Volcanoes are available on request (about 30 minutes each way).
- The minimum age for gorilla trekking is 15.
- Guide: the best time to visit Rwanda
- Guide: how much a Rwanda safari costs
- Guide: Rwanda visa and entry requirements
Ready when you are
Plan this journey with us
Tell us your dates and who is travelling, and a Rwanda specialist will shape this itinerary around you.