Luxury Rwanda Cultural Adventure

Experience the unique Rwanda Culture through art, music, and the ways of lives of people of Rwanda in this Luxury Rwanda Cultural Adventure.

Luxury Rwanda Cultural Adventure Itinerary:

Day 1: Arrive at Arrive at Kigali International Airport.

You will arrive at Kigali International Airport where you will be met by our representative for the meet and greet and transfer to your hotel. You will also be given a briefing of the safari.

Kigali Kigali is the capital and largest city of Rwanda and has been the economic, cultural, and transport hub of Rwanda since it became capital at independence in 1962. The main residence and offices of the President of Rwanda are located in the city, as are the government ministries. The city is found in the province of Kigali City, which was enlarged in January 2006, as part of local government reorganization in the country. Kigali's city limits cover the whole province, it is consolidated. While in Kigali, you will visit the Kigali Genocide Museum, visit the local markets or the community projects in Nyamirambo that are run by women.

Overnight: Kigali Marriot Hotel/ Radisson Blu Hotel/Kigali Serena (B)

Day 2: Kigali

This morning after breakfast, you will be picked from your hotel and go for a cultural tour of Rwanda. You will visit the Kigali Genocide Museum that includes three permanent exhibitions, the largest of which documents the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. There is also a children’s memorial and an exhibition on the history of genocidal violence around the world. The Education Centre, Gardens, and Genocide Archive of Rwanda form part of a meaningful tribute to those who perished, and provide a powerful educational tool for visitors.

Visit the Camp Kigali also called the Blue Beret Museum the venue of the massacre of 10 Belgian UN Blue Berets on the first day of the genocide in 1994. You also have an opportunity of visiting the Kandt House Museum, named after A German-born doctor, soldier, poet, scholar, naturalist and avid explorer, Dr. Richard Kandt became the first European who lived in Rwanda since 1907 and was appointed the first Resident Governor of Rwanda.

Day 3: Kigali - Gisenyi

This morning after breakfast, we will drive eastwards to Gisenyi on the shores of Lake Kivu. On this journey, we will have a stopover in Huye at the Ethnographic Museum of Butare and King’s palace at the nearby Nyanza Ethnographic Museum of Butare and King’s palace This is one of the popular ethnographic museums in Rwanda that houses one of Africa’s finest ethnographic collections. It was a gift from Belgium’s King Badouin in the late 1980s and now has seven galleries display historical, ethnographic, artistic and archaeological artefacts accompanied by visual aides, giving visitors a rich insight into the 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. You will also go to the King’s palace in the nearby Nyanza that will take you back in the pre-modern ways of lives of the kings and people of Rwanda through the displays of Regalia and taking you through how the Rwandese used to live. You will then proceed to Gisenyi for dinner and overnight Dinner and Overnight: Lake Kivu Serena (B, L, D) Gisenyi: Gisenyi is a town on the north shore of Lake Kivu, in northwestern Rwanda’s Rubavu district. Beach resorts line the lake’s sandy waterfront, and kayaks ply its clear waters. From Gisenyi, the long-distance, lakeside Congo Nile Trail winds through hilly terrain, passing villages, waterfalls and tea and coffee plantations. East of town, Gishwati-Mukura National Park’s rainforests are home to chimpanzees and monkeys.

Other activities that you can do while in Gisenyi include visit to the Nyiragongo Volcano in DRC, take a boat to Idjwi Island or a sundowner on the lake or a leisurely bike ride.

Dinner and Overnight: Lake Kivu Serena (B, L, D)

Day 4: Lake Kivu

We will spend our day in Gisenyi with the Crop-to-Cup Experience. First you will take a boat trip on Lake Kivu to Nyamirundi Island, where you will visit a plantation owned by one of the Ingoboka families. Each plant thrives in the volcanic soils of the area, and nurtured in equal measure by the farmer and the local climate, results in a full-boded, non-acidic coffee flavor. From the island, you will move on to the nearby Gashishi Coffee Washing Station, located on the shores of the lake. During the coffee harvest season (March to June) you will see over 700 men and women working at this station, processing the coffee cherries through over 20 different steps, from picking to washing to roasting. You will get the opportunity to try harvesting a few cherries yourself, before participating in a coffee tasting procedure. Finally, the boat will return you to Gisenyi for lunch with representatives of the Ingoboka co-operative families.

Day 5: Lake Kivu – Volcanoes National Park

After a leisurely breakfast at the hotel, you will take a scenic drive to Volcanoes National Park in the northern part of Rwanda. You will visit the Musanze markets and craft as well as interacting with the people before retiring at the lodge.

Dinner and Overnight: Volcanoes Virunga Lodge/Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge /Bisate Lodge (B, L, D)

Day 6: Volcanoes National Park

Today you will have a full day experiencing the Rwandan culture. We will go for the cultural experience to Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village for an experience of the Rwandan culture. Here the people will take you through the way how the Rwandan people used to live as well as how the ancient kingdoms were run. You will then return to the lodge in the evening for dinner.

Overnight Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village. Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village is a setup of a replica of a typical Rwandan Palace along with entertainment from the traditional Intore dancers who take you through dance and drumming for a chance to participate in. Located on the edge of Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park, Iby’Iwacu cultural village grants visitors the opportunity to meet with the local people in their local environment and have a taste of their culture. The tour focuses on a variety of the local community activities and practices that you can watch and engage in during your visit.

The excursion begins with a guided community walk that is led by a community member leading you on a tour of the different sites within the community. You get to visit and tour the king’s house and listen to the olden folklore stories. Above all, you can experience the unique culture by being enthroned as king for hours or a day, exercising the kings’ powers as bestowed upon you by a village elder through a village ceremony. This tour is conducted by a local historical and cultural guide. The tour includes demonstrations of day to day activities such as harvesting food from the gardens, making banana beer, grinding millet, a lesson on Rwandan archery by one of the local pygmies, a visit to the local schools and a stop-over at the traditional healers place; who has proved to be quite the favorite especially with regard to some of his wonder cures. You will then return to the lodge later in the evening.

Dinner and Overnight: Volcanoes Virunga Lodge/Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge /Bisate Lodge (B, L, D)

Day 7: Volcanoes National Park

This is the highlight of your day as you go for a gorilla safari experience. The day begins with an early breakfast and then transfer to park headquarters for briefing and allocation of gorilla family that will track for the day. You will then head into the forest with your ranger guide. Once you have reached the gorillas, you will spend an hour with them. Gorilla tracking activity in all the gorilla parks is a strenuous activity are requiring a level of fitness. Guidelines for the activity are always given by our sales team as well during the briefing.

Volcanoes National Park Situated in the far northwest of Rwanda, Volcanoes National Park protects the steep slopes of this magnificent mountain range – home of the endangered mountain gorilla and a rich mosaic of montane ecosystems, which embrace evergreen and bamboo forest, open grassland, swamp and heath. Parc National De Volcans (Volcanoes National Park) shares on the Virunga Mountain ranges in the border of Uganda, Rwanda and DRC and possibly the best place in the world for mountain gorilla trekking. It is also one of Africa’s oldest parks and as such makes for an extraordinary experience. Tracking Rwanda’s mountain gorilla remains one of the most moving, life changing experiences on a Rwanda Safari.

Dinner and Overnight: Volcanoes Virunga Lodge/Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge /Bisate Lodge (B, L, D)

Day 8: Volcanoes National Park – Kigali – Departure

This morning after breakfast at the lodge, you will go and visit the twin lakes of Lake Ruhonda and Burera near Volcanoes National Park through the picturesque scenery of Rwanda. The twin lakes area is very scenic, with steep and intensively farmed hills surrounding the pristine dark blue waters. You will then proceed to Kigali for your international flight back home.

End of Luxury Rwanda Cultural Adventure