Land in Rwanda to find that your hotel is scented with history. After being glamorized in a movie and book about the genocide, it has returned to its old-world luxury roots and makes for a very comfortable base in the heart of the capital city. After being greeted at the airport, you will enjoy lunch with the private guide who will accompany you for the first week of your trip. Immediately, you will notice the easygoing and gregarious nature of the people, along with their determination to achieve. On your afternoon city tour, it will seem astonishing that this country is barely two decades past a devastating genocide. Calm and clean, it also has its colorful charms, wonderfully experienced at the local Kimilonko Market. Move into the evening, and your guide can take you for drinks and make dining reservations at Kigali’s upmarket hangouts.
After breakfast, you will hit the road for 2 hours as you transfer to Nyungwe Forest National Park. Some 13 primate species inhabit the Nyungwe Forest, and the park's inaccessibility has helped to preserve scores of each. With its swamps and thick sweeps of bamboo, this forest has traditionally been one for people to avoid rather than pillage. A wonderfully wild atmosphere envelops every step with the distant hoots, random shouts, and baboons that drum sticks against branches to cause a racket. Your local guide has grown up here and in understanding the forest's distinctive habitats, he will know how to maximize your chances of seeing different species. While nothing is guaranteed, with three days in Nyungwe, there is a high chance that you will see all 13 different primate species.
Some of Nyungwe's primates are difficult to miss. Vervet monkeys are regular visitors to the lodge and these inquisitive creatures that will steal your breakfast if you leave it unattended. Baboons rumble past, large troops often in a boisterous mood. On a guided hike, these are the easiest to find as their rowdy behavior reverberates across the canopy. Look up, and Angola colobus monkeys sit serenely with their black and white striped tails hanging down from above. White cheeks alert you to the red-tailed monkeys, which have fur that seems to change in tone as the sun crosses the sky. Silver monkeys have a cheeky stare while a golden mane alerts you to a grey-cheeked mangabey troop in a fig tree.
Three chimpanzees swing past, and their feet look just like your own, except that they have been enhanced by a remarkable dexterity. Another four chimpanzees come from a different direction and this time, they scamper, half-crawling and half-walking towards a fig tree. Just out of sight, you can hear a baboon troop shout their protest as they had been feeding, but 30 chimpanzees are not to be trifled with, especially when they're known to hunt infant baboons. See a chimpanzee for the first time, and it will be difficult to stop staring at their facial features. Their eyes wander and their faces sketch through the emotions, so there is much to read in frowns and smiles.
Your guide can lead you on an excursion towards primates that have not yet been spotted; perhaps the white beard of the L'Hoest's monkey, the elegant tail of Dent's mona monkey, or the peculiar face of the owl-faced monkey (regularly known as Hamlyn's monkey). Or your trek could return you to one of your favorites, like the chimpanzees or the serene Angola colobus monkeys. Many of this forest's primate species are classified as vulnerable or endangered, and while most have a habitat that stretches across Central Africa and the Congo Basin, there are only a handful of places where they are accessible to tourism. The adventure here takes you into the atmosphere of the Congo with all of its complexities and wonders, just without the logistics and dangers of visiting a war-torn land.
Today you will traverse the length of Rwanda as you drive north and across the rolling volcanic hills. Rwanda was one of the last African places to be seen by Europeans, oddly four years after it was nominated a German territory, and there is something compelling about the inaccessibility to the landscape. Nothing is flat, everything hides behind another hill, and you cannot go a moment without another epic panorama stretching out in front of you. At another time it would have taken days, weeks even, to cross Rwanda. But the modern roads easily rival those in Western Europe and the journey from south to north takes just over four hours, despite the road never going straight. There is a number of potential stopping points on your route, and your guide will tailor the journey dependent on your interests. One stop to consider is the Rwanda National Museum in Butare. After the journey, arrive in the Volcanoes National Park, and you will immediately see why the movie was called Gorillas in the Mist.
Deep in the forest, you will find the great legends of Rwanda. At first, they are just dots of black fur in the distance, but as you walk closer the rich and remarkable details rise. Small, deep-set black eyes convey emotion as facial expressions that change every moment. Watch a jet of gray fur across the silverback’s back and thick arm muscles that extend to nimble fingers for climbing and foraging. You will spend an hour with a wild mountain gorilla troop with nothing between you and them. Admire the behavior, explore the emotions, uncover the interactions, and then laugh as an infant starts throwing rotten fruit out of the tree. It will be a remarkable experience, one that is emblematic of wider Rwanda while emanating an exclusivity and inimitability that makes you want to keep exploring.
Perhaps the silverback scene has been playing out for five minutes, but you may not have taken a photo. Mesmerizing natural encounters like these make it hard to for reach for technology. Suddenly you will look around, and there are another 15 gorillas in the vicinity, including a baby that seems intent on grabbing at your backpack. Officially, you must not come within seven meters of the gorillas, but they often come much closer. Spend an hour with the troop, a generous amount of time for both taking photos and soak up the behavior of the primates. Then return through the forest to the lodge for a relaxed afternoon and evening to overlook the trees.
Another icon of Rwanda occupies Volcanoes National Park, the troops of golden monkeys that are playful and proud. Their blue faces are surreal and surprising, juxtaposed with the lush green of this distant forest. You are trekking to a habituated troop who are used to human presence, so at first, they stare at you, inspecting their foreign visitors. Over a few minutes, they relax, and you just watch them, taking in all of the intricacies. You should finish the trek in time to have some spare time in the afternoon for a chance to visit the Karisoke Research Center, where Dian Fossey is buried alongside some of her favorite gorillas. Her legacy has been continued, and the center provides an insightful look at how to preserve one of the world’s most endangered species.
Today you will depart Rwanda and wind south from the volcanic forests toward the capital city of Kigali and its international airport. You will have full use of the lodge's facilities before your departure and the two-hour drive to Kigali for your departure flight.
