4 Days Nyungwe Chimpanzee and Lowland Gorilla Trekking Safari

Overview.

Make the most of this 4 days’ vacation. This is an escape to your cousins, the chimpanzees and the lowland eastern Gorillas. It is also time to identify Botany, birds, mountains and more in the most comfortable way.

The safari to the southern part of Nyungwe national park in the southern part of the republic of Rwanda, and a Kahuzi-Biega national park in Democratic Republic of Congo. Nyungwe national park is one of the primate capitals in Africa, with over 13 primates, with the chimpanzees Being dominant.

Others are the white and black Colobus monkeys, grey checked monkeys, olive baboons, and more. Kahuzi-Biega National Park hosts the sought after lowland gorillas, a species of gorillas found in the DRC Congo. Activities you will engage in include;

chimpanzee trekking, gorilla trekking, bird watching, photography, and site seeing. The trip starts and ends in Kigali Rwanda.

Detailed itinerary.

Day 1: Transfer to Nyungwe NP. Afternoon Canopy Walk

You will meet and greet our company driver guide at the agreed point. After, a briefing will be followed by a 5-hour road trip to Nyungwe National park, with the view of the zigzag roads, dotted homesteads in the countryside, the lush plantation cover and busy towns. There will be an enroute stopover at the King’s palace in Nyanza where you will uncover Rwandan culture, as well as see long – horned Inyambo cattle.

After this brief stopover, proceed with the drive to the park south of the republic of Rwanda. You will have lunch enroute, get to the park for registration and then embark on the day’s main activity, the canopy walk adventure. The canopy walk way is 200m bridge suspended about 7m from the ground.

As you are on top of the forest canopy, you will take photography, take in the clear views of tropical forests, birds and some primates such as monkeys may come your way. At sunset, we call it a day as you will return to the lodge for check-in, dinner and peaceful nap.

Day 2: Chimpanzee trekking and Transfer to Bukavu town

At daybreak, greet your intestines with a cup of coffee, and thereafter go to the Gisakura briefing point for a chimpanzee pre-trekking briefing.

Chimpanzees are one of the cleverest primate species on earth. They make over 25 sounds which you are not encouraged to imitate once in their presence, spend most of their time playing on the tree branches and running on the ground, feed on vegetables and tactically pick ants to feed on with grass as though a fox. You spend about 1-5 hours trekking them, and upon locating, you will have an extra hour to watch, and take photos of how you have found them. These are man’s closest relatives, sharing over 98.5% human like DNA.

After spending time at the jungle, you will return to the lodge to refresh and have Lunch, which is followed by a check-out for a transfer to Bukavu in the southern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. At Rusizi border post, your documents will be verified before being let in to D.R. Congo. Drive to your lodge in Bukavu town for check-in, refreshment, dinner and a night stay.

Day 3: Lowland gorilla trekking. Evening at leisure.

Start the day with a heavy breakfast meal at the lodge. After, proceed for a pre-trekking briefing and registration at 7:00am at the park headquarters. The ranger guide will explain different trekking dos and don’ts, assign you to a gorilla family to trek, and explain about the gorillas. The lowland gorillas belong to the eastern gorilla species together with the mountain gorillas. Gorillas possess over 95% human like genes, and are only found in the continent of Africa, around the high altitude areas of Africa. They are the most powerful primates in the world; with bodies covered by fur. In the jungle, they feed on fruits, roots, stems, leaves and more as it is available.

You will walk through the forest, for about 1-8 hours, first visiting where they were last spotted. The ranger guide will help you identify the different species of plants, birds, and mammals that might come your way. Upon locating the apes, you have an hour with them, to take Photos, study and also ask the ranger guide any question. Scientists report that man and gorillas have a common ancestral which you can see through the common attributes. After your lowland gorilla trekking exercise, you will have a Lunch break, and thereafter return to the lodge for refreshment, a leisurely afternoon, dinner and overnight stay.

Day 4: Depart back to Kigali.

After feasting on a mouthwatering breakfast at the lodge, you will check-out of the lodge for a transfer to Kigali via Nyungwe forest. Enroute, you will have a scenic stopover at the ethnographic Museum and other historical sites such as the Genocide memorial site in Kigali city where thousands of victims of Tutsi and Hutu conflict were buried and are remembered as a move against the act. Lunch will be around the city, and then a departure to your next destination.