This is a 5 days safari in Akagera and Nyungwe national park in Rwanda.
TOUR ITINERARY
Day 1: arrival and transfer to Akagera national park
Our safari representative will meet you on your arrival at Kigali international airport. You will then be driven to Akagera national park. Akagera Game Lodge sits majestically on a ridge overlooking Lake Ihema amidst a mosaic of grass, bush and varied terrain of hills, deep valleys, lakes and marches. Check into the Akagera game lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 2: Birding in Akagera
Pre-breakfast bird watching spree followed by late breakfast. Bird species you may spot in this park are Lilac-breasted roller, black-headed Gonolek, little bee-eater, Heuglin’s robin-chat and brown parrot, Grey hornbill noisy bare-faced go-away bird, Ross’s Turaco, crested barbet, Argot’s chat, Souza’s shrike, White-backed and Ruppell’s griffon vultures bateleur eagle, brown snake eagles, hooded vultures. Water-associated birds can be found on the lakes and include Pelicans, garishly decorated crowned crane, little open-bill stork, marabou stork. Herons and egrets are particularly visible and well-presented, ranging from the immense goliath heron to the secretive black-capped night heron and reed-dwelling purple heron. The lakes also support a variety of smaller kingfishers and shorebirds, fish eagles, papyrus Gonolek, Caruthers’s cistocal and white-winged warbler. Akagera used to be regarded as one of the best places in Africa to see the shoebill, an enormous and unmistakable slate-grey swamp-dweller. After lunch have another birding walk to sight what you missed in the morning. Dinner and overnight in Akagera lodge or Umbrella pine.
Day 3: to Nyungwe forest national park
Pre-breakfast game drive in Akagera national park; where you will most likely sight the early risers. You may be well rewarded with view of elephants, impala, oribi, bushbuck, antelope, zebra, cape eland, giraffe, buffalo, hippo and crocodiles. If you are a lucky visitor you may even come across a spotted hyena, lion or leopard. This is an opportune moment to do more bird watching. Have midmorning breakfast after which you will leave the park. Drive to Nyungwe forest national park with lunch enroute. A night forest walk in the park may reward you with view of the shy forest dwellers like the wild chimpanzees, bush babies, pottos, red-tailed monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys and many others. Dinner and overnight ORTPN Gisakura guest house.
Day 4: Birding in Nyungwe forest
Pre- breakfast birding walk, in the park; followed by late breakfast. Nyungwe Forest National Park is one of the most important bird watching destinations in Rwanda with more than 280 bird species recorded. Most Nyungwe birds are forest specialists and 26 are regional endemics whose range is restricted to a few forests along the Albertine Rift. Resident species include: paradise flycatcher, the red throated alethe, drab Chubb’s Cisticola, green pigeon. Forest specialists include: the great blue Turaco, forest hornbills, Ross’s Turaco, red – breasted sparrow hawk and white – headed wood hoopoe. After lunch, have a forest walk on which you will not only encounter forest birds but also primates like chimpanzee and colobus monkeys. Other types of monkeys in Nyungwe National Park are the L’hoests monkey, Silver monkey, golden monkey; Owl faced monkey, red tailed monkey, Dent’s Mona monkey, crowned monkey, Vervet monkey, and Olive baboon – a savanna monkey that is occasionally seen along the road through Nyungwe and Grey-cheeked mangabey. Dinner and overnight ORTPN Gisakura guest house or similar.
Day 5: Departure
After breakfast, leave Nyungwe and drive to Kigali city. If time allows have a short city tour of the cultural museum and genocide memorials. You will later be transferred to the airport to catch your home flight.
BOOKING AN AFRICAN SAFARI WITH US
