Are gorilla permits included in Rwanda Great Apes Expedition?
Gorilla permits are included only when clearly listed in the confirmed proposal. Permit availability should be checked before finalising travel dates.
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Planning notes, destination ideas and safari inspiration from the Rift & Tide Africa team.
Get safari planning ideas, destination notes and occasional offers.

Nairobi-based East Africa safari specialists for tailor-made journeys, beach escapes, and trade-ready planning.
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Planning notes, destination ideas and safari inspiration from the Rift & Tide Africa team.
Get safari planning ideas, destination notes and occasional offers.
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Private Tailor Made Tour
Rwanda Great Apes Expedition is a premium 6-day gorilla and primate journey crafted for travellers who want East Africa to feel beautifully paced, personal and deeply connected to the landscape.
The journey moves through Rwanda with a route shaped around Rwanda, Kigali, Volcanoes National Park, Huye / Butare, Nyungwe Forest National Park, Nairobi. It balances signature wildlife areas, scenic transitions, carefully selected stays and enough breathing room for the experience to feel refined rather than rushed.
Accommodation is an important part of the journey, with stays such as Lake Kivu Serena Hotel, Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge, Kigali Serena Hotel, Silverback Lodge used as route anchors where available and suitable for the traveller's dates, budget and preferred style.
Rift & Tide Africa can tailor the final routing, pace, rooming, guiding style and optional experiences before a confirmed proposal is prepared.
Travel and accommodation
6 Days / 5 Nights, 2 countries, Butare to Airport for Your Flight. - Departure
5 nights accommodation
Meals
Meals as per day-by-day itinerary
Safari style
Gorilla and Primate Journey
Private Tailor Made
Itinerary
5 stops across the route
Trip code: RTT-PC007
Starting from
Price on request
Public retail pricing. Final quote confirms availability and inclusions.
Request quoteWhy this trip
Route notes
Rwanda, Kigali, Volcanoes National Park, Huye / Butare, Nyungwe Forest National Park, Nairobi, Nyanza, Lake Kivu, Kibuye / Karongi, Gisenyi / Rubavu
FAQs
Answers are general public guidance. Your final itinerary, inclusions, pricing, and supplier conditions are confirmed during quotation.
Gorilla permits are included only when clearly listed in the confirmed proposal. Permit availability should be checked before finalising travel dates.
Trekking difficulty varies depending on forest conditions and the movement of the gorilla family. Travellers should be prepared for uneven terrain, humidity and variable walking times.
Yes. It can be extended with Kigali, Lake Kivu, Nyungwe, Akagera, Uganda safari parks, Kenya, Tanzania or Zanzibar depending on the wider itinerary.
Permit availability, trekking sector, accommodation, transfer times, luggage requirements, health guidance and border/visa arrangements should be confirmed before booking.
Yes. Rift & Tide Africa can adjust the number of nights, accommodation level, private guiding, flight sectors, beach extensions and pacing before the final quote is prepared.
Named accommodations may be used as the preferred style or route reference, but final confirmation depends on availability, budget, dates and supplier conditions at the time of quotation.
FAQs
Answers are general public guidance. Your final itinerary, inclusions, pricing, and supplier conditions are confirmed during quotation.
Public prices are indicative retail guidance. Availability, seasonal adjustments, rooming, and final inclusions are confirmed when the team prepares your quote.
Many scheduled routes can be adapted with lodge, timing, or extension changes depending on availability and supplier rules.
Share travel dates, traveller count, rooming preferences, gateway city, and any must-see destinations or experiences so the team can respond efficiently.
Approved travel agents can log in for trade rates and partner resources. New agencies can apply through the Become an agent page.
Keep exploring
Compare similar routes before sending your enquiry.
Entebbe
private tailor made
Virunga Highlands Expedition is a 8-day Uganda and Rwanda journey designed around refined pacing, meaningful wildlife encounters and carefully selected lodges, with a route shaped around Entebbe, Lake Victoria, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Bwindi.
8 Days / 7 Nights
Price on request
Plan this journey
Ask Rift & Tide Africa to tailor Rwanda Great Apes Expedition around your travel dates, preferred pace, accommodation style and safari goals.
Trip route
Follow the day-by-day flow of this itinerary across East Africa.
Nairobi
Butare
Mapped stop
Lake Kivu
Nyungwe Forest
Mapped stop
Lake Kivu
Nyungwe Forest
Mapped stop
Volcanoes National Park
Kibuye
Mapped stop
Kigali
Parc National Des Volcans
Mapped stop
Depart After Breakfast, Transfer to Airport for Your Flight. - Departure
Itinerary
Morning flight Nairobi/Kigali. Meet and greet by your Rift & Tide Africa representative and transfer to Kigali Serena hotel for coffee and trip briefing. Then depart for Butare, the intellectual and cultural heart of Rwanda 2 hours from Kigali. Visit the King's Palace at Nyanza, a museum now. Later visit the National Museum which houses the finest ethnolographic collection in East Africa. Lunch will be served at IBIS HOTEL. Thereafter drive to Nyungwe Forest Reserve via.
Nairobi is treated as more than a transit point: it gives guests time to arrive well, recover from long-haul travel, complete a safari briefing and settle into the pace of East Africa before moving into the wilderness.
The routing is designed to reduce long road hours where possible, using scheduled flights or airstrip connections so that more of the day is spent in the destination rather than in transit.
Gisakura Guest House - Tracking Chimps and other primates Lake Kivu - After an early breakfast trek through Nyungwe Forest Reserve which extends for almost 1000Km2 across the majestic hills of southeast Rwanda. After lunch visit the nearby tea plantation and its factory (Gisakura Tea Plantation). Dinner and overnight at Gisakura Guest House. (BLD).
Stay details available on request.
Stay details available on request.
Stay details available on request.
Stay details available on request.
Featured stays
Named stays are subject to availability or comparable alternatives.
Inclusions & Exclusions
Departures
Contact us for current departure dates and quotation-stage availability.
Planning notes
Gorilla and primate journeys can be planned throughout the year. The drier months are often more comfortable for trekking, while greener months can feel quieter and atmospheric in the forests. Permits should be secured early, especially around peak travel seasons.
Good to know
Yes. The itinerary can be positioned for premium clients through upgraded lodges, private transfers, fly-in sectors, carefully chosen guides and a more unhurried route.
It should link to its country pages, destination pages, accommodation pages, relevant ways-to-go categories, travel guide articles and quote form.
private tailor made
Rwenzori Summit Challenge is a 9-day Uganda journey designed around refined pacing, meaningful wildlife encounters and carefully selected lodges, with a route shaped around Entebbe, Rwenzori Mountains.
9 Days / 8 Nights
Price on request
Entebbe
private tailor made
Rwenzori Foothills Trek is a 5-day Uganda journey designed around refined pacing, meaningful wildlife encounters and carefully selected lodges, with a route shaped around Entebbe, Rwenzori Mountains.
5 Days / 4 Nights
Price on request
Nyungwe adds rainforest depth, chimpanzee tracking, canopy experiences and exceptional biodiversity to a Rwanda itinerary.
The overland movement is part of the travel story, with changing landscapes, local towns, escarpment views or border formalities handled as part of the day's rhythm.
This morning, we re-enter the forest for a second chimp and primate trek (primates are not habituated yet). Lunch enroute. After lunch continue west to Cyangungu on the shores of lake Kivu. From here, continue by speedboat to the lake resort town of Kibuye. Dinner and overnight at Kivu Serena Lodge. (BLD).
Nyungwe adds rainforest depth, chimpanzee tracking, canopy experiences and exceptional biodiversity to a Rwanda itinerary.
The day is paced around walking rhythm, hydration, steady ascent or descent and careful attention to how the body is responding to altitude.
After a leisure breakfast, drive to Gisenyi at the northern end of Lake Kivu and then to Kinigi. Picnic lunch en-route. Dinner and overnight at Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge (BLD).
Volcanoes National Park is Rwanda's most iconic gorilla region, combining bamboo forest, volcanic scenery and one of Africa's most moving wildlife experiences.
The overland movement is part of the travel story, with changing landscapes, local towns, escarpment views or border formalities handled as part of the day's rhythm.
Arrive at the park gates at 08h00. Registration and briefing by park guides. Enter the Parc National des Volcans and trek for 2 to 8 hrs depending on the family and the movement of the gorillas. The authorities permit only one hour of gorilla viewing. Descend for lunch at a lodge and in the afternoon visit the serene lakes of Bulera and Ruhondo. Overnight at Kigali Serena Hotel. (BL).
The Aberdares bring forested highlands, cooler air, waterfalls and a mountain-lodge atmosphere that contrasts beautifully with savannah safari areas.
The day is paced around walking rhythm, hydration, steady ascent or descent and careful attention to how the body is responding to altitude.
Depart After breakfast, transfer to airport for your flight.
This stage of the journey is designed to keep the route coherent, comfortable and experience-led, with the day shaped around the best practical flow for travellers rather than rushed movement.
The routing is designed to reduce long road hours where possible, using scheduled flights or airstrip connections so that more of the day is spent in the destination rather than in transit.