L'Hoest's Monkey Safari: In full

Connect onto your onward flight to Kigali Airport, near Rwanda's capital.
Arriving in Kigali, you are met by your private guide and 4WD before driving to Nyungwe Forest National Park - usually stopping in Butare for lunch and to visit the national museum there. Nyungwe Forest is an enormous tropical forest which harbours about 275 bird species and 13 primates. Forest walks last from one to seven hours (!), depending on your energy, but can be hugely rewarding.
Spend 2 nights at Nyungwe Top View Hill Hotel. This simple lodge has absolutely fantastic views over Nyungwe Forest Park, and is often frequented by inquisitive vervet monkeys. Trekking to see chimpanzees can be pretty strenuous but great fun, but more relaxed guided walks are also possible.

After breakfast, leave Nyungwe and drive northwest to the town of Kibuye on the shores of Lake Kivu where you spend 2 nights. The lakeshores are covered by pine and eucalyptus trees, which lend an alpine air to the region. With panoramic vistas of the lake, your accommodation for this night is Bethanie Guesthouse. If time allows, take a boat trip out to nearby Napoleon's Island (so-called as it is shaped like his hat), which is host to a colony of fruit bats!

From Kibuye, a scenic road gently weaves through hills to Volcanoes National Park, which protects the Rwandan side of the Virunga Mountains, and the forest-clad volcanoes which were made famous by Dian Fossey's study of gorillas. Due to the altitude, gradient and, at times, thick foliage, tracking to see the gorillas can be challenging, however your time in Nyungwe Forest will have helped you to acclimatise. Spend a total of 3 nights at Gorilla Mountain View Lodge, ideally located fairly close to the park headquarters. The lodge has en-suite facilities with hot showers and fairly good general amenities. There are some lovely views from here across the Volcanoes National Park.

After an early breakfast, spend your first morning tracking the endangered golden monkeys. These enigmatic primates are endemic to the region and live on the lower mountain slopes in bamboo thickets. They can be a bit harder to track down than the gorillas, but it is a good introduction to life in the Volcanoes National Park. In the afternoon, use your free time to explore the local villages, or the nearby lakes of Burera or Ruhondo, or just to relax and watch birds around the lodge. Your guide and 4WD are, as always, at your disposal for excursions if you want them.

Another early morning sees you meeting at the park's headquarters for a briefing on the etiquette of visiting mountain gorillas. An experienced park ranger will lead you to one of the habituated groups of gorillas, where you have one amazing hour to observe these delightful, human-like primates. It is a breath-taking experience that you will never forget! Again, you can decide what to do during the afternoon, with your guide and 4WD available for your use.