2 Days Rwanda Gorilla Trekking

Detailed Itinerary:

Day 1: Arrival in Kigali – Drive to Volcanoes National Park – Community Visit

As soon as you arrive, your guide waits, eyes warm, voice welcoming and ready to transfer you to the Volcanoes. The drive to Volcanoes National Park begins, winding through hills that rise and fall like waves, each curve revealing terraced fields and clusters of red-roofed homes. By midday, the mountains appear closer as you approach your lodge. You drop your bags, take a breath, and head to the Gorilla Guardians Village.

The village hums with life — drums thumping, children laughing, elders singing and here, you see former poachers standing in a circle, telling stories of a past marked by survival and a present defined by change. Hands once skilled in setting snares now weave baskets and carve wooden masks. Each story is a thread in a larger tale of transformation.

Back at the lodge, the fire crackles. Dinner is a spread of local dishes — spicy stews, grilled meats, warm bread. Outside, the mountains stand watch, shrouded in mist and silence.

Accommodation Options:

• Camping: Kinigi Guesthouse
• Budget: La Palme Hotel
• Standard: Mountain Gorilla View Lodge
• Luxury: Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge

Day 2: Gorilla Trekking – Drive Back to Kigali

Wake up early morning ready for the trek. Have breakfast as the forest waits, its canopy thick, its trails shrouded in mist. The rangers brief you at the park headquarters, their voices calm and steady, eyes scanning the group and letting you know the gorilla trekking dos and don’ts just before you step into the forest.

Each step presses into the soft, damp ground. The trail winds through bamboo thickets, where the air smells of wet leaves and moss. The group moves quietly, eyes darting, ears tuned to every rustle.

Then, a grunt. Low, deep, unmistakable. The ranger raises a hand, signaling silence. There, just ahead, a silverback sits, his massive frame framed by a curtain of vines. He watches, unblinking, muscles tense but calm. Nearby, a juvenile swing from a branch, eyes wide and curious. A mother rests in the shade, her infant nestled against her chest. The group moves slowly, grazing, playing, resting — life unfolding without rush.

You stand there, heart pounding, camera heavy in your hands, but for a moment, you forget to take pictures. You just watch. The hour passes too quickly just before the ranger signals that it’s time to leave, but the sight of those eyes — dark, deep, and knowing — lingers.

Later after the encounter, back at the lodge, lunch is served and as soon as you are done enjoying it, you then immediately embark on a drive to Kigali is quieter, the road a blur as you replay the morning’s encounter. In the late afternoon, Kigali’s streets come alive, the scent of grilled meat and fresh coffee drifting through the air. Your guide’s handshake is firm, eyes warm. The airport looms ahead, but the forest — its whispers, its shadows — stays with you.

Accommodation Options: Not included as the tour ends in Kigali.

End of Safari:

These are the two days of your life that you shall live to always remember. It feels like a lifetime. The eyes of a silverback, the laughter of children in the village, the scent of rain-soaked bamboo — Rwanda’s echoes follow you, a reminder of what you saw, felt, and experienced.