Murakaza neza — welcome to Rwanda! Touch down at Kigali International Airport where sunlight skims green ridgelines and bougainvillea spills over the verges. After formalities, meet your smiling host at arrivals for a seamless, air-conditioned transfer to your hotel in central Kigali (about 10 km, typically 20 minutes depending on traffic). En route, the city unfurls across a quilt of thousand hills: red-earth lanes, neat gardens, and shining modern districts stitched together by tidy roundabouts.

Check in, refresh and breathe it in—crisp highland air with a whisper of roasted Rwandan coffee. If energy allows, ease into the rhythm with a gentle orientation ramble: terrace cafés around Kiyovu, design boutiques filled with basketwork and bold prints, or the leafy avenues of Nyarutarama where jacaranda shade dapples the pavement. Late afternoon is perfect for a golden-hour view from a rooftop lounge: hills rolling to the horizon, the skyline pricked with new-builds, and the city’s reputation for safety and cleanliness immediately apparent.

As dusk lights the hills in amber and the city hum softens, settle in at your hotel. Tomorrow, Kigali will open wider—culture, cuisine and the road that climbs toward Rwanda’s mist-tipped volcanoes. Overnight in Kigali.

Wake to Kigali’s soft light and point your compass east toward Akagera National Park—Rwanda’s only savanna reserve and the realm of wide skies, oxbow lakes and papyrus-fringed shorelines. After breakfast, meet your driver for a shared transfer operated by Magashi, then settle back as the city’s tidy boulevards melt into rolling hills quilted with banana groves and red-earth farms. The road gradually flattens; acacias appear against a horizon that seems to step back with every kilometre.

By late morning, the park gates welcome you into a landscape of open savanna, thornveld and glittering lakes. Arrive at your lodge in time for a relaxed lunch—fresh salads, grilled tilapia, sunshine-sweet fruit—served with views that run to the water’s edge where hippos puff like steam engines and jacanas tiptoe over lily pads. After a short siesta, meet your ranger for an afternoon game drive (shared vehicle), the light softening to honey as you roll out along sandy tracks.

This is predator hour. Scan the tawny grass for the sleek geometry of lions or a leopard unspooling from a sausage tree’s shade. On the lakeshore, elephants ghost through fever trees; buffalo churn the shallows; and giraffes draw calligraphy against a peach sky. Birdlife is superb—fish-eagles stitch their cry across the water, bee-eaters flash neon along the banks, and storks ride thermals high and effortless. As the sun folds behind the ridgeline, pause for sundowners—tonic fizzing over ice, the air warm and grass-scented—then trundle back to camp under a first scatter of stars.

Overnight in Akagera. Drift off to the basso hum of hippos and the far-off call of nightjars, with tomorrow promising more of the park’s lakes, grasslands and big-sky drama.

Wake to the low chuckle of hippos and a horizon rinsed in apricot. With coffee steaming in the cool air, you roll out of camp for a golden-hour morning game drive. The Akagera landscape opens in layers—open savanna, thornveld, and papyrus-lined lakes that catch the light like mirrors. Your ranger reads the signs: fresh pad marks bevelled into dust, a tremor of alarm calls from francolins, the clean geometry of a lion shouldering through tawny grass. Giraffes tilt like punctuation marks between acacias; elephants ghost from fever trees; buffalo churn the shallows and stare from beneath horn-boss helmets. Birdlife dazzles—lilac-breasted rollers flash neon, fish-eagles stitch their cry across the sky and grey crowned cranes step like royalty through dew-silver meadows.

Return to the lodge for a hearty breakfast and a mid-morning pause—pool, deck chair, binoculars on the rail—before the day’s blue deepens toward the wetlands. After lunch, you head to Lake Ihema for a gentle, open-boat safari along reed-fringed channels. Hippos surface like breathing boulders, crocodiles bask open-mouthed on mud banks, and pied and malachite kingfishers fire from papyrus perches. Look for shoebill storks in the distance, jacanas tiptoeing across lily pads and a flotilla of waterfowl—egrets, herons, pygmy geese—that make this lake a year-round spectacle. The air smells of warm vegetation and clean water; the boat’s wake scribbles silver hieroglyphs behind you.

As heat softens, you trade boat for tyres and roll out again for the afternoon game drive—predator hour. A leopard may unspool from sausage-tree shade; hyenas thread through grass like smoke; topi and eland graze in bronze light. Sundowners materialise at a lake overlook—tonic fizzing over ice, horizon copper-bright—before a gentle return to camp beneath a first scatter of stars.

Overnight in Akagera. Fall asleep to nightjars and distant hippo grunts—an authentic Akagera National Park lullaby.

Trade papyrus lakes for high forest this morning. After breakfast, you take the shared Magashi transfer back toward Kigali, where you rendezvous with your private vehicle and driver–guide for the westbound journey. The road climbs and unspools across the famed thousand hills: red-earth terraces, tidy villages, and slopes quilted with banana and beans. Today stitches Rwanda’s cultural heart to its emerald crown.

Nyanza (Rukari) — Royal Heritage — Your first pause is Nyanza, seat of Rwanda’s monarchs. Step into the restored King’s Palace complex where thatched royal huts curve like crescents of woven light, and long-horned Inyambo cattle stand regal beneath sweeping horns. Guides bring court traditions to life—music, ritual, craftsmanship—as you wander between reed-walled compounds and modern interpretive spaces. It’s a living doorway into the nation’s pre-colonial past, set against hills that roll like silk.

Butare (Huye) — Lunch & Learning — Continue to Butare (now Huye) for an included lunch at a local restaurant: grilled tilapia or goat brochettes, cassava, plantain and bright salads. Time permitting, dip into the city’s academic calm with a swift visit to the Ethnographic Museum, a beautifully curated sweep through Rwandan art, basketry, music and daily life. It’s a gentle palette-cleanser before the forest deepens and the air cools.

Into the Green — Nyungwe Bound — Westward the road narrows and the world turns tea-green. Carpets of tea plantations ripple to the horizon, dotted with pickers’ bright wraps; mist begins to snag on ridgelines and the scent shifts to damp leaf and woodsmoke. Enter Nyungwe National Park, one of Africa’s oldest mountain rainforests, home to 13 primate species, orchids, and a cathedral of giant trees. The light goes soft and mossy as you wind along the escarpment; blue monkeys sometimes vault the verge in a blur of tails and chatter. Arrive at your forest lodge by late afternoon for check-in, a warm welcome tea, and the sense that the outside world has hushed at the treeline.

Wake before dawn to mist floating like lace along the ridgelines of Nyungwe National Park, one of Africa’s oldest highland rainforests. With a thermos of coffee and headlamps bobbing, you rendezvous with park rangers for a detailed briefing on chimpanzee tracking—trail etiquette, distance rules and how to move quietly through the understorey. Then you step beneath cathedral-high trees where buttress roots fold like drapery and the forest smells of damp leaf and wild ginger. Duets of black-and-white colobus chatter in the canopy; sunbirds embroider the air with flashes of metallic green; and your guide reads the forest—fresh knuckle prints in mud, half-eaten figs, a burst of calls rolling up-valley.

Chimpanzee Encounter — The first hint is a rising chorus: whoops swelling to a drum-roll of barks and pant-hoots that vibrate in your ribs. Suddenly they’re there—chimpanzees threading the lianas, juveniles swinging like acrobats, an alpha shouldering through vines with deliberate grace. You keep a respectful distance while rangers manage the view, cameras clicking in soft bursts. For an unforgettable hour you witness grooming circles, branch-thumping displays and the quicksilver intelligence in amber eyes. When the group melts back into green, the forest hush returns—leaf-litter sighs, raindrops ticking on fern tips—and you climb toward the trailhead with a grin you can’t quite shake.

Back at the lodge by late morning, sink into a chair with a mug of Rwandan single-origin coffee and watch cloud shadows skate across tea-bright hills. The rest of the day is yours to laze by the fire, wander a short garden path with binoculars, or choose one of the following optional tours (extra cost):

Wake to mist lifting off emerald ridgelines and a chorus of birdsong across Nyungwe National Park. With the morning at leisure, linger over mountain coffee by the hearth, take a short garden ramble with binoculars, or add one of Nyungwe’s signature adventures before you depart for Lake Kivu and the lakeside town of Gisenyi (Rubavu).

Scenic Transfer to Lake Kivu — Mid-morning, collect a generous picnic lunch, meet your driver–guide and set out west. The road winds through hills ribbed with tea and banana, villages neat with kitchen gardens, and viewpoints where the land seems to roll forever. As altitude eases, the air warms and a wide slate-blue shimmer appears—Lake Kivu blooming between volcanic cones. Pause at a scenic lay-by for your picnic: grilled tilapia wraps, seasonal fruit and a thermos of highland tea with a view that unspools to the Virunga skyline.

By late afternoon you descend into Gisenyi (Rubavu), palm-lined and languid at the water’s edge. Check into your lakeside hotel and breathe in the hush: fishing pirogues nodding at moorings, children skipping stones, the far lights of Goma pricking the opposite shore. Walk the Rubavu waterfront promenade, dip toes from a small sand crescent, or sip a chilled passion-fruit juice as the lake shifts from pewter to molten copper at sunset. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

Overnight in Lake Kivu. Fall asleep to gentle shore wash and the distant thrum of night boats—Rubavu at its most serene.

Wake to the hush of Lake Kivu, a pewter sheet turning silver as the sun slips over the Virunga volcano line. Today is pure leisure: palm shadows on the promenade, fishing pirogues nodding at their moorings, and the slow rhythm of lake life setting the metronome for your day. Take your coffee on the terrace and watch morning light skate across the water, then design your own blend of relaxation and light adventure.

Overnight in Lake Kivu. As night falls, the water pricks with a constellation of fisherman lamps—Kivu’s own starfield—while waves write a gentle lullaby against the shore.

Rise well before dawn to the hush of Lake Kivu and a sky rinsed pewter. With a packed breakfast and hot flask in hand, you drive northeast toward Ruhengeri (Musanze), gateway to Volcanoes National Park. As the road climbs, the Virunga volcano chain heaves into view—cone after perfect cone stitched with mist and terraced farms. At the park HQ in Kinigi, rangers gather trekkers for coffee and a thorough gorilla briefing—group assignments, forest etiquette, distance rules and how to move quietly over steep volcanic slopes.

Gorilla Trekking — Boots laced, gaiters on, you set out with an expert guide, trackers and optional porters (highly recommended). Trails needle through Hagenia groves, bamboo stands and fern-damp gullies; the air smells of moss and wet leaf, and your breath paces the altitude. Trackers read the morning like a book—fresh dung, a tuft of silver hair on bark, knuckle-prints in the mud—until a soft signal passes down the line: the family is close. Masks up, voices to a whisper. And then they’re there—your gorilla family threaded through green: juveniles cartwheeling over vines, mothers grooming with needle-fine fingers, a silverback the color of storm metal watching with ancient calm. For one luminous hour (strictly timed) you share the glade, cameras clicking in soft bursts, hearts beating in synch with the forest’s slow breath.

When the rangers call time, the family melts into bamboo and the forest exhales. You pick your way back along the ridge, legs pleasantly shaky, stories already forming. At the trailhead, your driver meets you for the short return to the lodge near Ruhengeri. Lunch tastes brighter after the climb—soup steaming, grilled tilapia or brochettes, mountain greens—and the afternoon is yours to rest, sort photos, or stroll the gardens with volcano silhouettes keeping watch. After dinner, tuck in early; tomorrow’s highlands hold more possibilities.

Overnight in Ruhengeri. Sleep comes easily with volcano silhouettes on the horizon and the day’s hour of wonder replaying behind your eyes.

Wake beneath the watch of the Virunga cones and let the morning unfold at your pace. Linger over rich Rwandan coffee on the terrace, sift through yesterday’s photos with volcano silhouettes for company, or lace up for another forest adventure. Today you can remain at leisure or opt to join a second gorilla trek or a lively Golden Monkey Trek in Volcanoes National Park (permits are not included and are payable extra).

Return to the lodge for a hearty lunch and an unhurried afternoon. Read by the fire, book a soothing massage (if available), or stroll the gardens as clouds ribbon the volcano rims. As dusk drifts in, sip mountain tea and watch the light go copper over terraced hills. Overnight in Ruhengeri.

Wake to volcano silhouettes inked against a pearl morning. After a final mountain coffee and unhurried breakfast, meet your driver for the southbound run to Kigali International Airport. Terraced hills quilt the roadside; market stalls brighten the verges with pineapples, avocados and woven Agaseke baskets. As the road unfurls, the Virunga cones slip behind and Kigali’s tidy boulevards rise to meet you—clean, calm and green.

Arrival at the terminal is smooth and well-signed. Your host assists with luggage and goodbyes. Check in for your onward flight (please book departures after midday to allow comfortable transfer time), then browse for last tastes of Rwanda—single-origin coffee beans, local honey, and elegant basketwork—before security. Find a window seat at the gate and let the last eleven days replay: dawn mists in Nyungwe, lantern boats on Lake Kivu, and that held-breath hour with mountain gorillas in the bamboo.

Wheels up, the hills fold into cloud and light. You carry them home instead—in the scent of roasted Arabica, in red-earth dust on your boots, and in memories bright as the Rwandan sun.