14 Days Wild Adventures – Hiking ,Trekking & Community Experience

After breakfast, your guide will be ready to take you to Umusambi village for a biking experience through beautiful scenery and exploring local villages around Kabuga hill. Starting and finishing at Umusambi Village this 22km trail is an exhilarating experience of fun and adventure through local villages with spectacular mountain views. The biking and BBQ package offers you the chance to experience the incredible freedom that two wheels can offer.

On your return, we’ll have a celebration lunch with barbecue which consists of different roasted meats and soft drinks.

After lunch, we’d do a guided nature walk at Umusambi Village, a beautifully restored wetland area, providing a sanctuary for over 50 endangered Grey Crowned Cranes saved from the illegal pet trade. These majestic birds have been disabled as a result of captivity and are unable to be returned to the wild. Their new permanent home provides an enriching environment for them to enjoy nature again.

Return to the hotel in the evening. Dinner and overnight at Heaven Boutique

After your breakfast you will depart towards the south west in Nyungwe National Park.

Enroute, you will do a cultural and historical exploration of Nyanza and Nyanza where you will visit the King’s palace, a reconstruction of the traditional royal residence, the King’s Palace is a beautifully-crafted thatched dwelling shaped like a beehive.

In olden times, Nyanza was the heart of Rwanda. According to oral tradition, it was the site of battles and power struggles. For a long time, the monarchy was mobile, moving the court between various locations. When it eventually settled in one place, Nyanza was the obvious choice. The capital of the kingdom had as many as 2,000 inhabitants, and huts built with the same methods as seen here.

At the back live a few long-horned Inyambo cattle, descended from the king’s herd, whose keepers carefully tend and sing to them, keeping alive a unique tradition.

The elegant cows, derived from the wider Ankole breed, played an important role during ceremonies in honour of the king. They were decorated with rich jewellery and were taught to listen to a trainer’s songs and follow his movements in a stately parade.

Rwanda ceased to be a monarchy in 1962, when it gained independence from colonial rule. However, the breeding and grooming of Inyambo is still carried out and a fascinating insight into Rwanda’s history.

Proceed to Butare where you will visit the ethnographic museum, a gift from Belgium’s King Badouin in the late 1980s, the Ethnographic Museum now houses one of Africa’s finest ethnographic collections.

Seven galleries display historical, ethnographic, artistic and archaeological artefacts accompanied by visual aides, giving visitors a rich insight into Rwandan culture. The exhibits open with geographical and geological displays, moving on to items used in hunting, agriculture, animal husbandry, pottery, weaving and woodwork. Traditional clothing and architectural methods are also illustrated, as well as the social importance of cattle.

Lunch at E-Bis then proceed to Nyungwe forest. Dinner and overnight at Kivu Marina Bay

Head to the park this morning for a nature walk to the waterfalls in the park. This 2.3 km trail descends into one of the most densely vegetated and steepest rainforest ravines on any trail at Nyungwe. Cool misty air and the murmur of a river rise from below, mingled with calls of birds, tree frogs and insects. Ferns, mosses, lichens and flowers are exceptionally abundant in the high humidity.

Several species of primates are commonly found here, as well as many birds.

You may enjoy the sighting of the waterfall from two main vantage points depending upon how wet you want to get. The first is at the end of a short spur, which leads to a picnic bench overlooking the fall at 50 meters distance. Small trees partially obscure the view. The falls can be reached by descending to the wild river below and then clambering over wet rocks to a large boulder in the middle of the Amphitheatre. From here, you’ll be close to the bottom of the falls, where it thunders down.

After lunch, you will do the tea tour in Gisakura to learn how tea is grown, harvested, dried and processed until the final tea, ready to drink.

This morning, you will have the opportunity to track the black-and-white colobus in Nyungwe Forest National Park. These small primates are easily recognizable by their entirely black body with stark white whiskers, shoulders and tip of the tail. A troop of nearly 400 of these monkeys call Nyungwe National Park home, meaning that although sighting wild animals is never guaranteed, you stand a good chance of finding them within an hour or less into the trek.

Social in nature, you will almost certainly experience playful interaction with these curious primates. Doing this trek will give you the opportunity to interact with the largest group of primates on the entire continent of Africa, a truly special experience.

Lunch at the cafe in the park, then check in at the park reception again for another activity.

Meet you forest Ranger and guide will lead your walk to the forest’s canopy with an eye for some of the 310 bird species, butterflies, orchids, centuries-old trees and 75 mammals including 13 primates that live here this walk is a spectacular journey in the largest surviving example of an Afro Montane ecosystem and one of the oldest continuously forested locations on Earth.

The walk includes a 200m long canopy walkway that takes you high above the forest floor providing a unique platform for observing the forest.

Return to the park for dinner and overnight.

Drive to Kibuye, on arrival you will meet your biking guide who will have your Mountain bikes and helmets to take you on an adventurous cycling trip in Kibuye. Evening at leisure at the hotel.

Dinner and overnight at Cormoran Lodge

Arrive to the starting point of the Congo Nile Trail hike, get off your buses to start the hike. After making yourself ready with your backpacks, we will leave our bus with big luggage then start our hike of the day. We are expected to hike for about 5 to 8 km before reaching Bumba base camp. Bumba is a simple but clean base camp with few rooms for the staff and a spacious campsite for the pupils, this camp is at the hill of Bumba hence giving you a chance to view Lake Kivu’s beautiful sunset from the top of the hill and neighboring villages.

The Congo Nile Trail traverses a series of interconnected single paths, dirt roads and hiking tracks through the tropical Kivu Belt Region on the shores of Lake Kivu. As it stretches along the scenic shores of Lake Kivu, hikers on the Congo Nile Trail trek by some of Africa’s few remaining tropical rainforests, vast coffee plantations and hidden beaches.

This trail is scattered with unexplored experiences, often hosted by locals along the trail. For those looking for a genuine, yet safe hiking or biking experience in Africa away from the beaten path, Rwanda’s Congo Nile Trail is a hiking trail waiting for you to challenge her on foot, by bike or by kayak and is one of the most iconic and best hiking trails in Africa.

On this day you will camp at Bumba base Camp.

In the morning we’ll walk down from the hill to the base where we will start our today’s journey. On this day we’ll hike about 12 km approaching the Lake, so it will be a big day compared to the previous one. As you start your walk you will be passing through maize plantations then head to Musasa, on arrival meet our guides for the motorboats at the shores of Lake Kivu then go a short ride to a private island where you will have your picnic lunch admiring the views of Lake Kivu. After lunch you will walk down to meet your boats again for the ride to Kinunu.

On arrival in Kinunu you will be entertained by the community’s traditional dancers, get to learn traditional dances with locals, before you start setting up your tents for the night.

The people in Rwanda are very friendly and are known to be a bit calmer and timid compared to other parts of Africa. As a visitor to rural Rwanda you will stand out. For many people, seeing a foreigner is something exciting, so be prepared for many people to be curious about you, want to talk to you and greet you.

You will never be treated in a bad way, but in some places where you stop you might have a crowd nearby who are curious about what you are doing. The language barrier in rural Rwanda is quite strong and most people except for staff at hotels speak only Kinyarwanda and a few words of English, French or Swahili. Despite the language barrier, people will often go out of their way to help you in case you are lost or if there is a problem.

Many African Lakes are dangerous since there are often hippos and crocodiles living in them. However, when you arrive at Lake Kivu, there are no dangerous animals so you can feel free to walk along the beach after your day hiking the trail.

Dinner and overnight at Rushel Resort

After breakfast you will begin your journey of discovery, by kayaking on Lake Kivu exploring different islands.

In the afternoon, you will do a coffee tour. We’ll visit the island’s small coffee washing station, around which local people will give you a tour to show you how they grow and prepare the worlds’ best coffee from crop to cup. You will learn how coffee is grown, how the beans are selected, washed, dried and finally roasted.

Dinner and overnight at Rushel Resort

After our breakfast, we’ll spend the morning by the Lake enjoying the sand and beautiful colorful views of the Lake from your rooms or lay by the beach.

Lunch followed by a transfer to Gisenyi with a motorboat or drive to Gisenyi. Arrive in Gisenyi and spend the rest of the day at the beach.

Dinner and overnight stay at Kivu Paradise

On this day you will hike Mt Muhungwe, the highest non-volcanic mountain in Rwanda. From the top you can see beautiful views of Virunga mountains and surrounding villages.

After the hike, we’ll transfer to Volcanoes in Musanze where we’ll spend the night.

Dinner and overnight at Amarembo Gorilla Village

Early transfer to the park for briefing and group later head out to the forest to track an endangered species of monkey known as the Golden Monkey. Spend 1 hour watching the monkey families play in the forest! This is a wonderful wildlife encounter as the proceeds from tourists visiting goes towards the research into the protection of this species and how to preserve their environment so that they do not become extinct. And if you’re into birds then make sure to ask your guides to point out the species that you may find on the trails, which if you’re really lucky may include the rather impressive Blue Turaco!

Return to the base, head to the hotel for lunch and refreshment before you transfer to Mukungwa River for a canoeing experience.

The start is a 15 minute transfer from central Musanze (add about 15 minutes from Kinigi). Here your activity leader will give you a briefing on the riverside before you get on the water. The first section is a flat and easy opportunity to learn how to steer your canoe as you float gently downstream. After about 20-30 minutes you will pull over for a short additional briefing about the small rapid, where helmets must be worn. Then as you continue deep into the countryside, you are surrounded by the sights and sounds of rural Rwanda. You’ll be given an additional briefing about the approximately 200m section where the water speeds up as it goes around a few corners. After about 2.5-3 hours on the water the end of the trip is just after a road bridge. It takes about 20 minutes to drive back to Musanze and a further 15 minutes to Kinigi.

Dinner and overnight at Amarembo Gorilla Village

Breakfast at the hotel, transfer to the park headquarters for briefing and grouping later start the hike to the Mount Bisoke which has a crater lake at its top. Get to see beautiful fauna and flora and may get chance to spot some animals such as; forest elephant.

Alternatively, this day you’d opt to do a nature walk to visit Dain Fossey tomb and gorilla graves including her favorite gorilla Digit. This is an educational hike as you learn a lot about Dian Fossey a primatologist who arrived in Volcanoes for research and fell in love with gorillas and dedicated her to the protection of mountain gorillas which led herself to losing her life by poachers who were not happy with her work.

Be back at the base and drive to the hotel. Lunch and refresh then transfer back to Kigali.

Dinner and overnight at Heaven Boutique

In accordance with our departure time will drop you off at the airport in time for check in. Farewell, End!