Rwanda Primates & Rainforest

You land at Kigali International Airport and transfer to your hotel. In the afternoon you visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial, which explains what happened here in 1994, then take a walking tour through Kimironko Market, a busy and colourful local market. Seeing how far Kigali has come since then is a useful way into the country before you head out to the parks. The evening is yours, and it's worth an early night: the drive to the Virungas follows breakfast tomorrow. Meals: dinner.

After breakfast you drive northwest to Musanze and the foothills of the Virunga Volcanoes. You check in to your lodge, which looks out over the volcanic peaks, and in the afternoon set off on a moderate forest hike to the grave of Dian Fossey, the primatologist who dedicated her life to gorilla conservation. It's a good warm-up for the treks ahead and a chance to try out your boots on forest trails. You return to the lodge for dinner. Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

After a 7 AM briefing at park headquarters, you walk into the montane forest with trackers and rangers to find a habituated gorilla family. The ground is steep and can be muddy, and how long the walk takes depends on where the family is that day. Once you reach them, you spend one hour watching them feed, play and rest. Each group is limited to eight visitors, which keeps the encounter quiet and close. Gorillas are the centre of this trip, and this is their day. Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

A morning trek takes you into the bamboo forest on the lower slopes of the Virunga volcanoes to find golden monkeys. These striking primates are found only in the Albertine Rift, and they're fun to watch as they leap between the bamboo stalks. The afternoon is free. You can visit a local community project, which shows you life around the park beyond the wildlife, or stay at the lodge with the volcanoes in view. Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

You drive west from Musanze to Gisenyi, also called Rubavu, on the shore of Lake Kivu, one of Africa's Great Lakes. The drive takes about three hours, through eucalyptus forest and tea plantations, with views over the lake as you come down. The afternoon is for slowing down: lie on the sandy beach, take a kayak out on the lake or cycle along the shoreline. After the forest treks, it's a welcome change of pace. Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Today is a full day on the road, about five hours in all, first south along the shore of Lake Kivu and then inland to Nyungwe Forest National Park. The route passes Kibuye and the coffee-growing hills before it climbs into the forest. Nyungwe is an ancient montane rainforest, among the oldest and richest in species on the continent. Settle in and get your kit ready, because tomorrow's chimpanzee trek starts early. Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

An early start for chimpanzee tracking in Nyungwe's dense rainforest. The park is home to around 500 chimpanzees and 12 other primate species, including the rare owl-faced monkey and L'Hoest's monkey, though sightings in thick forest are never certain. After lunch you walk the Igishigishigi Canopy Walkway, a 90-metre suspended bridge that hangs 50 metres above the valley floor and gives you a bird's-eye view of the canopy. Keep binoculars handy, as the forest is good for birds. Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

After breakfast you leave Nyungwe for the drive of about five hours back to Kigali, through rolling hills and patchwork farmland in the country's heartland. On the way you stop in Huye, formerly Butare, to visit the Ethnographic Museum, which covers Rwanda's pre-colonial culture and traditions. You reach Kigali for a late lunch before your airport transfer, so an evening flight works best. If you'd like an extra night in Kigali before flying, tell us when you book. Meals: breakfast and lunch.