Rwanda Gorillas & Golden Monkeys

You report to park headquarters at 7 AM for a briefing, then set off into bamboo forest to track one of the park's habituated mountain gorilla families. The trek can take from one to six hours, depending on where the family is that day. Once you find them, you spend one hour watching silverbacks, mothers and juveniles.

You need reasonable fitness, since the trek can last anywhere from one to six hours through dense, often steep vegetation. How long it takes depends on where the gorilla family is that morning, and nobody knows in advance. Walking on hills before you travel helps, and good boots, gloves and a rain jacket make the forest much easier going.

It's a morning trek on day four to find the endangered golden monkeys, primates with golden-orange patches that are endemic to the Virunga mountains. They're usually in the lower bamboo zone, so the trek is generally shorter than the gorilla trek. They're lively and quick-moving, a good contrast to the gorillas you saw the day before.

The memorial is a sobering and important introduction to modern Rwanda, and you visit it on the afternoon you arrive. It honours those lost in the 1994 genocide and helps explain the country you're about to travel through. The evening afterwards is free, so you can rest or find a quiet dinner in Kigali.

The drive from Kigali to Musanze, the town at the foot of the Virunga Volcanoes, takes about two and a half hours. The road winds through terraced hillsides and banana plantations in the Land of a Thousand Hills. You arrive with the afternoon free to prepare for the trek, and there's an optional visit to the Musanze Caves.

It starts and ends at Kigali International Airport. On the last day you drive back from Musanze to Kigali, with time for the Inema Arts Centre or a craft market for handwoven baskets and coffee, then a final lunch before your airport transfer. That makes it easy to connect onward to other parts of East Africa.

Hotels are chosen with you, and our Arusha team can suggest options in Kigali and the Musanze area to suit your budget and style. You spend the first night in Kigali and the next three near Volcanoes National Park, around the two treks. Tell us what kind of stay you prefer and we'll match it.

Yes. Our Arusha team can connect this trip with a safari in Tanzania, so you see the gorillas and the savanna in one trip. Tell us which parks interest you and your dates, and we'll plan how to link the two, including travel between Kigali and Tanzania. We can also adjust hotels or add days in Rwanda.

Bring waterproof hiking boots, long trousers, a long-sleeved top, gardening gloves for gripping vegetation, a rain jacket and a small daypack with water and snacks. Evenings around Musanze can be cool, so pack a warm layer. Check the current visa and health requirements for Rwanda before you travel, and we'll advise when you enquire.

The Rwanda Gorillas & Golden Monkeys is 5 days and 4 nights. The day-by-day itinerary on this page shows where you go and stay each day.

This trip visits Volcanoes National Park.

It is rated moderate: a reasonable level of general fitness is enough.

It runs for groups of 2 to 12 travellers.

Included: One mountain gorilla trekking permit (Volcanoes National Park), Golden monkey tracking permit, Cultural village visit, Accommodation and meals as shown in the day-by-day itinerary, Private 4x4 vehicle with an English-speaking driver-guide, Park entry fees for the parks visited, Bottled water in the vehicle and All transfers and transportation in the itinerary.

Not included: International flights, Visa fees, Travel insurance (recommended), Alcoholic beverages, Tips and gratuities for guide and lodge staff, Personal items and souvenirs and Optional activities not mentioned in itinerary.