Travel by road to The Retreat by Heaven
Accommodation
Heaven the Retreat features three Deluxe Rooms (35m²), six larger Superior Suites (60m²) and three Master King Suites (65m²) with pool view, all with en-suite bathrooms and a private atrium. The suites have an additional terrace and outdoor shower. Furthermore, there are eight Luxury Pool Villas (120m²) with private salt water solar heated plunge pools, private front and back gardens. The retreat is fully powered by salar electricity, making it the first eco resort in Kigali. Fitness centre and spa are also available.
The retreat's Fusion Restaurant offers culinary delights from around the world, especially Italy, Mauritius and Morocco, but prefers to use local fruits, spices and herbs, creating a unique taste experience. Perched beside The Retreat’s glorious saltwater pool, rock gardens and native plantings, Fusion offers some of the finest dining in Kigali.
The distance to the international airport is about 10km.
All residents have to clean the city every last Saturday of the month. The police are then controlling Kigali and anyone who is moving around without permit is stopped, handed over a broom and ordered to help cleaning the city. Kigali lies in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes, a challenge for both pedestrians and traffic. Kigali is clean, safe and most visitors spend the first night of their trip in Kigali.
Travel by road to Nyungwe House
Accommodation
Nyungwe House is refreshingly modern and the best choice for visiting Nyungwe Forest. The lodge is surrounded by tea fields and during the week the workers pick the delicate top tea leaves and carry the harvest to the factory.
The main house is centrally located and elevated on the hill and is surrounded in a semicircle by the individual rooms. The lodge offers a good restaurant, a tea lounge, a bar and a beautiful terrace. Here you can have a wonderful breakfast in the morning when the sun rises behind the forest and the first rays of sun fall on the lush green meadows.
The rooms are in single houses, four rooms per house. In addition there are three suites featuring two bedrooms each. All rooms have a fireplace, air conditioning, safe, tea/coffee station, hairdryer, telephone and WiFi. From your balcony you can see the green of the Nyungwe Forest and sometimes some curious monkeys appear.
There is also a separate heated swimming pool and spa with fitness room.
With an annual rainfall of over 2000 mm, the evergreen Nyungwe Forest is a so-called cloud or fog forest. Nyungwe House is located close to Gisakura on the forest’s western edge.
The lodge can be reached by car from Kigali in approximately 6 hours. You actually cross Nyungwe Forest from East to West before reaching the lodge.
Nyungwe Forest is located on the western foothills of the East African Rift Valley (Albertine Rift), whose rift flanks, up to 3000 meters high, cross the country from north to south. The Nyungwe Forest is a so-called cloud forest with over 2000 mm of rain per year, therefore always green and a proper jungle.
The visits of the chimpanzees, the Colobus Monkeys and the hikes inside the park are always guided by a ranger and a permit is required. Guests who really want to dive deep into the forest can do treks of several days. Please be aware that rain is very common and paths easily become slippery and boggy.
Tea plantations are found along the edges of the forest. Tea is one of the most important export articles of Rwanda. Nyungwe Forest Lodge can organize a visit to a tea plantation if you are interested.
There are two habituated chimp groups in Nyungwe Forest. One of them stays around Uwinka deep in the forest, the second one lives in a forest on the outskirts of Nyungwe, called Cyamudongo (say: Cha-mu-dongo). It is about a one hour-drive from Gisakura Reception Center. Chimp trekking at Cyamudongo offers the best chance to see the chimpanzees.
Travel by road to Bisate Lodge
Accommodation
Bisate Lodge offers six sumptuous en-suite rooms (92m²) that maximise comfort, warmth and views while retaining environmental principles and reflecting the culture of surrounding rural Rwanda. Its vision of reforestation and rehabilitation means that each guest is invited to participate in their biodiversity conservation efforts, as well as engage and meet the local community – in addition to learning about and making a far-reaching positive impact on an iconic Critically Endangered species: the mountain gorilla.
The Bisate property covers 42 hectares (103.78 acres) of intriguing and varied topography that shield and protect the lodge from any unnatural disturbance, blocking out light from the distant village of Kinigi and the town of Musanze and giving guests the sense of being actually inside the national park. Bisate itself is situated within the amphitheatre of an eroded volcanic cone, the main area and villas taking advantage of their raised elevation to gaze directly onto the slopes of one of the volcanoes.
Wilderness' second property is called Bisate Reserve
Bisate is situated close enough to Kinigi (Park Headquarters) to be convenient for your morning gorilla trek rendezvous, but far enough away so as to feel remote and even part of the spectacular Volcanoes National Park. From Kigali, Rwanda’s capital city, Bisate Lodge is approximately 2,5 hours by road.
The Virunga Volcano Region (VVR) is ecologically a single entity, but politically divided into three national parks: Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda, Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda, and Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Another gorilla population lives in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (BINP) in Uganda in an area of about 330km².
Five extinct volcanoes named Karisimbi, Bisoke, Sabyinyo, Gahinga and Muhavura form an impressive backdrop and the border to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mikeno is also visible in the very far distance, a volcanoe that is located entirely in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) live in stable groups led by a dominant silverback. Unfortunately, the gorillas are threatened. Your visit of these magnificent animals helps generate urgently needed funds for the protection of the gorillas. Today, more than 1,000 mountain gorillas can still be found in these countries and the numbers are increasing again.
The trekking takes anything from two hours to seven hours, depending on the location of the gorilla group. Please note that the duration of stay with the gorillas is strictly limited to one hour. The gorillas are often very curious towards guests, especially the teenagers in the group like to investigate.
Flight to Magashi Camp
Accommodation Magashi Camp is small and personal six-tented camp with access to some of the most scenic savannah in east Africa. It is situated in the north-eastern part of Akagera overlooking Lake Rwanyakazinga.
Akagera was founded in 1934. Sadly much of the park was re-allocated as farms to returning refugees following the Rwandan Civil War. As a result, in 1997 the park was reduced in size from more than 2,500km² (nearly 10% of the surface area of Rwanda) to its current extent of 1,122km².
The Akagera River feeds a whole series of larger and smaller lakes, which together form a jumble of open water areas, channels and flood plains. The western side of the park is dominated by a range of hills (highest point 2300m), the north by savannahs, home to impressive numbers of buffalo, giraffe, zebra and antelope.
The park was founded as early as 1934 and in its early days covered 2,500 km², or about 10% of the entire country. More than half of the park, especially the open savannahs in the west, that are well suited for agriculture, were allocated to returning refugees after the civil war in 1997.
The pressure of the population on the park was and is enormous. When the land was taken in 1997, all lions were poisoned by the farmers and all rhinos dissapeared as well.
Leopard, hyena, serval, jackal, giraffe, zebra, topi, impala, waterbuck, eland, roan, buffalo and about 100 elephants can be found on the remaining 1'122km². Hippo and crocodile live in the rivers and lakes. The number of birds species is quite impressive with more than 500 counted in the park. Of special interest are the rare Papyrus Gonolek and the Shoebill, which occur in the papyrus swamps of Akagera National Park.
Travel by road to Kigali
Basic Information
Individual journey. The journey will be planned on your preferred dates.
Duration 10 nights. Min 2 guests. Weight limit of luggage 20 kg. Luggage in one soft bag only.
Includes all transfers from Kigali to the hotels/camps to Kigali
- The Retreat by Heaven: Superior Suite. Breakfast.
- Nyungwe House: Canopy Treehouse. All meals, drinks (except premier brands).
- Bisate Lodge: Double Room. All meals, drinks (except premier brands), laundry service.
- Magashi Camp: Double Room. All meals, drinks (except premier brands), laundry service, twice daily shared activities with one of the camp guides.
1 x Chimpanzee Trekking
1 x Colobus Monkey Trekking
Included Permits Volcanoes:
1 x Gorilla Trekking
1 x Golden Monkey Trekking
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