8 Days Rwanda Cultural Tour & Gorillas

This 8 days Rwanda cultural tour and gorilla trekking safari will take you to experience an amazing gorilla trekking adventure in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National park with an authentic Rwanda cultural tour and heritage visits to popular cultural and historical sites in Rwanda to learn about the people and culture of Rwanda. You will also have scenic drives to the Akagera national park for breathtaking game drives and a countryside view of the beautiful landscapes of Rwanda explaining why it called to as a land of a thousand hills.

Day 1: Arrival in Kigali, Rwanda

On arrival, you will meet with our tour guide at the airport and get briefed about the whole itinerary highlights of your 8 Days Rwanda Cultural tour and gorilla safari. You will also have a brief tour of Kigali city before traveling to Akagera national park. You will arrive in Akagera National Park and check in to book your lodge or camp for dinner and overnight stay.

Day 2: Wildlife Game Drives in Akagera National Park

Today we start our second day of the 8 Days Rwanda cultural tour with a morning game drive in the northern part of the park hoping to see some of the large game in here including the Elephants, Giraffes, Zebras, Buffaloes and the recently re-introduced lions. In the afternoon, you can opt to go for a relaxed boat ride on Lake Ihema or you can choose to stay resting at the lodge. Enjoy dinner and overnight in the park eager to experience the cultural tour for the next day in the nearby community homesteads

Day 3: Rwandan cultural tour in the Community Homesteads

Your fourth day of the 8 Days Rwanda cultural tour will take you to visit the Eastern Rwanda community where you will experience the unique life of the pastoralists.  We will visit a homestead of cattle keepers and engage in different activities like grazing the local cattle, milking Rwanda cows and the rest. The herdsman will guide you on how to soothe the cow and milk it. After the session, you set the cows for the days grazing. You also have lessons on how milk is converted traditionally into different products like ghee and yogurt. You will also have a good time with the kids to take photographic moments with them and also engage in local plays with the community.

Day 4: Transfer to Volcanoes National Park

Enjoy an early breakfast, relinquishing the past day of Rwanda cultural tour experiences with the locals and later get on a 3-4 hours journey drive to the volcanoes national park the home of mountain gorillas, yes the gorilla beringei beringei, the massive gentles giants. You have several photography stopovers to capture your travel memories as you enter the Volcanoes National Park in the north. On arrival, you will check in at the lodge for dinner and overnight to get ready for the gorilla trekking activity come the next day.

Day 5: Gorilla Trekking in Volcanoes National Park

Have an early breakfast and transfer to the park headquarters in Kinigi to attend to a gorilla trekking briefings from the park ranger guides. Immediately after the briefing, you will be driven off to the starting point of the trek where you will follow trails through the misty forest and the jungles of the Virunga conservation area. This experience in the wild is like no other and certainly one you will remember the rest of your life when you come face to face with the mountain gorilla family. You can only spend one hour with them after locating them after which you will start the trek back to the lodge. depending on the time spend searching for gorillas, you may go for evening community walks and interactions with the locals to get the most of your 8 days Rwanda cultural tour.

Day 6: Iby’iwacu Cultural Village Tour

Our sixth day of the 8 Days cultural tour will take us to visit the gorilla guardians village formerly known as Iby’iwacu cultural village. We will spend half of the day interacting with the Rwanda people here learning about how the Rwandan people lived in their community traditionally which is climaxed by the experience of having a King and Queen. Enjoy a traditional dance performed by the group, and learn about how they made traditional beer and local cuisines. After having a delicious with the locals,  you will spend the afternoon in the village homes of the locals staying near the park and also learn the enchanting way of their life. You will prepare and enjoy a meal together with them

Day 7: Transfer to Lake Kivu 

Enjoy your usual breakfast, and then transfer to Gisenyi on the shores of Lake Kivu for another experience of the Rwanda cultural tour and daily life. Lake Kivu is a beautiful lake bordered between Rwanda and Congo in western Rwanda. On your to-do list, this day takes to experience an amazing boat ride to the Napoleon island, take a visit to the hot springs or simply relax at the beach or by your hotel. After the boat ride, we spend the day exploring the Gisenyi area especially the fishing village. You learn and participate in the traditional fishing methods and fish preservation by the fishermen plying the waters of Lake Kivu.

Day 8: Return to Kigali

What an exciting trip of experiencing the best of Rwanda cultural aspects and heritage. We hope you really enjoyed the game drives, gorilla trekking adventures and a variety of local and community interactions with the Rwanda people. This day you can choose to wake up any time of the mid-morning, have breakfast and start your journey transfer to Kigali for your evening outbound flight to mark the end of your 8 Days Rwanda Cultural tour.

Thanks for interesting a trip with Visit and Tour Rwanda!