8 Days Maasai Mara and Rwanda gorilla safari
The 8 days Maasai Mara and Rwanda gorilla safari is an exciting safari that will take you to Maasai Mara national reserve where you will enjoy great views of wildlife including the big five mammals which include elephants, buffaloes, lions, leopards, rhinos, other animals like elands, gazelle, topi, reedbucks, giraffes, zebras, hyenas, hippos, impalas among others which will be viewed during the game drives. The 8 days Maasai Mara and Rwanda gorilla safari, you will also take you to Volcanoes National Park, where you will engage in an adventurous gorilla trekking experience where you will be able to spend time with the endangered mountain gorillas in their natural environment.
Highlights of the 8 Days Maasai Mara and Rwanda gorilla safari
Day 1: Pick up and transfer to a hotel in Kigali
Day 2: Kigali city tour and transfer to Volcanoes national park
Day 3: Gorilla trekking in Volcanoes national park
Day 4: Golden monkey trekking and Ibyi’wacu cultural tour
Day 5: Transfer to Kigali for the Flight to Nairobi/Kenya
Day 6: Transfer to Maasai Mara game reserve-evening game drive
Day 7: Full day game drive in Maasai Mara game reserve
Day 8: Morning game drive and departure to Nairobi
Detailed itinerary
Day 1: Pick up and transfer to a hotel in Kigali
Depending on your arrival time at Kigali international airport on the first day of the 8 days Maasai Mara and Rwanda gorilla safari, you will be welcomed by our driver guide who will brief you about the safari and then transfer to the hotel in Kigali for dinner and overnight.
Day 2: Kigali city tour and transfer to Volcanoes national park
On the second day of the 8 days Maasai Mara and Rwanda gorilla safari, you will have breakfast at leisure, check out of the hotel and meet up with your driver guide to go for a city tour where you will be able to visit Kigali genocide memorial Center, craft centers, Kimironko market among others. After the city tour, you will have lunch and later transfer to Volcanoes National Park. Upon arrival, you will go for a twin lakes tour of Lake Burera and Lake Ruhondo where you will be able to enjoy stunning views of the terraced farmlands, bird species among others. From the twin lakes, you will drive to the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 3: Gorilla trekking in Volcanoes national park
Gorilla trekking,
After an early breakfast on the third day of the 8 days Maasai Mara and Rwanda gorilla safari, you will carry your lunch box and meet up with your driver guide to transfer to the park headquarters for a briefing about the rules, regulations and expectations of gorilla trekking. After the briefing you will be divided in groups of 8 people where each group will be allocated a gorilla family to trek and a park guide who is knowledgeable about the mountain gorillas. Gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park takes about 30 minutes to 6 hours depending on where they are located and during trekking you will be able to view other wildlife species. Once the mountain gorillas are found you will be able to spend one hour with them which gives you an opportunity to learn more about their lifestyle, behaviors, habits, take photos, watch them carry out their daily activities and record the fascinating memories to show people back home.
After a breath-taking encounter with the gentle giants, you will trek back to the starting point where you will be awarded a certificate for participating in gorilla trekking and then meet up with your guide and then meet up with your guide to return to the lodge for an evening relaxation dinner and overnight.
Day 4: Golden monkey trekking and Ibyi’wacu cultural tour
Golden monkey trekking,
After an early breakfast on the fourth day of the 8 days Maasai Mara and Rwanda gorilla safari, you will meet up with your driver guide to transfer to the park headquarters for golden monkey briefing. After the briefing you will start trekking in the forest which takes about 30 minutes to 5 hours depending on their location and during trekking you will be able to view different bird species, other primates, plant and tree species among others. Once the golden monkeys are found you will be able to spend one hour with them which gives you an opportunity to learn more about their behaviours, habits, take photos, watch them carry out their daily activities, record videos among others.
After a breath-taking encounter with the gentle giants, you will trek back to the starting point where you will be awarded a certificate for participating in golden monkey trekking and then meet up with your guide and then meet up with your guide to return to the lodge for lunch where after you will go for an interesting Ibyi’wacu cultural tour where you will be able to interact with the local people in the community, learn about their culture, history, listen to their ancient stories, visit their homesteads, enjoy their traditional performance among others. After the cultural tour, you will drive back to the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 5: Transfer to Kigali for your flight to Nairobi-Kenya
After breakfast on the fifth day of the 8 days Maasai Mara and Rwanda gorilla safari, you will check out of the lodge and meet up with your driver guide to transfer back to Kigali. Upon arrival, you will have lunch and later transfer to Kigali International airport for your departure flight to Nairobi. Upon arrival at the airport, you will be picked by our driver guide and transfer to the hotel in Nairobi for dinner and overnight.
Day 6: Transfer to Maasai Mara National Reserve, evening game drive
On the sixth day of the 8 days Maasai Mara and Rwanda gorilla safari, your driver guide will pick you up from the hotel in Nairobi to transfer to Maasai Mara National Reserve with en-route lunch and stunning views of the landscape, scenery, rift valley escarpments among others. Upon arrival, you will go for an evening game drive where you will be able to view different animals like elephants, buffaloes, zebras, giraffes, lions, elands among others. After the game drive, you will drive to the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 7: Full day game drive in Maasai Mara
After an early breakfast on the seventh day of the 8 days Maasai Mara and Rwanda gorilla safari, you will meet up with your driver guide to go for a full day game drive in the reserve where you will be able to view various animals like buffaloes, rhinos, gazelle, elephants, elands among others grazing in the open savannah plains, view predators like lions, leopards, hyenas, cheetahs among others. In the middle of the day, you will have a picnic lunch and then continue with the afternoon game drive where you will be able to view other wildlife species. After the game drive, you will return to the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 8: Morning game drive and transfer to Nairobi
After an early breakfast on the last day of the 8 days Maasai Mara and Rwanda gorilla safari, your driver guide will pick you up from the lodge to go for a short morning game drive where you will be able to view some of the animals that you might have missed during the previous game drive. After the game drive, you will drive out of the park and start the journey to Nairobi with en-route lunch on the way and upon arrival, you will be dropped off at the airport or dropped off at any place of advise
End of 8 days Maasai Mara and Rwanda gorilla safari
Tour includes
- Gorilla trekking permit
- Golden monkey trekking permit
- Ibyi’wacu cultural tour
- Park entrance fees/ game drives
- All activities included in the itinerary
- Services of a professional English speaking driver guide
- Full board accommodation
- Pick up from Entebbe and drop off in Arusha
- Vehicle and fuel
- Bottled drinking water in the safari vehicle
- All national park fees
- All meals on the safari
- Crater and concession fees
- Government taxes
Tour excludes
- Air flight tickets
- Entry Visas
- Life &travel insurance
- Tips and gratuities
- Optional activities not included on the itinerary
- Personal expenses like buying souvenirs, cigarettes, crafts, drinks, laundry services, hiring a porter, tips among others
