RWANDA: Birds and Gorillas

Our short trip to Rwanda encompasses three national parks, each providing a unique and fascinating experience. L’Akagera National Park features large tracks of savannah full of grazing herds and their accompanying predators. Here we’ll look for the elusive White-headed Black Chat and other avian specialties. Vast swamps in the park support important populations of Sitatungas, a shy wetland antelope, along with Shoebill. The rainforest of Nyungwe beckons with Albertine Rift endemics, such as Red-collared Babblers, Kungwe Apalis, Albertine Owlet and Rwenzori Turaco. Here we’ll also have the opportunity to track Chimpanzees and other primates. Along Rwanda's northern border, the steep slopes of the Virunga volcanoes support the largest remaining population of Mountain Gorillas. We will track these animals in their open bamboo habitat in the Parc des Volcans, the location for the film Gorillas in the Mist

ITINERARY

Day 1
Arrive in Kagali and transfer for an overnight.

Day 2
After breakfast we'll visit Akagera National Park(approximately 4 hours) arriving in time for lunch and later on an evening game drive in the Park. The Akagera Lodge is situated in the middle of the Park with stunning views of the Akagera River.

Day 3
We'll spend the whole i the Park with a morning and evening game drive to look for wildlife such as Giraffes, Buffaloes, Leopard, Impala, bucks, primates and bird species like Red-faced barbet, southern black flycatcher, crested barbet and the elusive white-headed black chat. the others include Gray wren warbler, golden-tailed woodpecker and Shoebill.

Day 4
We'll start early in the morning and transfer to Kinigi in Ruhengeri province where we'll spend a night in preparation of the following days' Gorilla tracking in the the very Park Nationale Volcans where Diane Fossey did most of her wonderful work on Mountain Gorillas. We'll spend night at the Gorilla Nest Lodge whose accommodation is inform of cabins with good views of the Volcanoes in a distance.

Day 5
Today we'll drive to Park office for registration before the briefings from the Park officials before we are led by the Park guides to track the gorillas in the Volcanoes National Park. There are currently 8 habituated Gorilla groups that are visited daily, and each restricted to 8 people per day. The tracking take between 2 to 8 hours depending on where they were seen the previous day. The tracking itself requires determination to go through all the steep terrain. We will be allowed to spend 1 hour enjoying the extraordinary experience amongst the company of gorillas.

Day 6
All day transfer to Nyungwe Forest National Park.

Day 7
We'll spend the whole in Nyungwe National Park looking for primates such as: Blue and Red-tailed Monkeys, Black and white colobus and many others. the birds include the Albertine Rift endemics like the Short-tailed Warbler, Red-collared Babblers, Rwenzori Turaco, Greuer's Rush Warbler, Shelley's Crimsonwing, Kungwe Apalis and many others.

Day 8
Back into the park to track Chimpanzee in the forest and to look for other wildlife such as duikers, birds and primates.

Day 9
Today we'll drive back to Kigali in time for an afternoon city tour. Transfer to the airport for a late evening flight.