An exciting and naturalistic side of Rwanda will be shown on this tour, besides the famous Luxury to mid-range gorilla trekking tour and lush green hills. Over the course of five days you will visit volcanic landscapes, bamboo forest, ancient woodland, underground lava formations, tea-growing country and the broad expanse of Lake Kivu. This is not a safari set-up of long game drives, the experiences will be close together but nature will change all the time.

The golden monkey tracking experience will take you into the extraordinary world of one of the unique primates of the Virunga area. Their bright coats, speed and active social behavior create a very different forest experience from that of larger wildlife. The setting is part of the story, with the Virunga volcanoes looming over the forest, with bird calls filtering through the vegetation.

Then Musanze will reveal a side of Rwanda many first-time visitors don’t expect: geology and history beneath the hills. The Musanze Cave is around 2 kilometers long, and is explored on guided visit. Nearby Buhanga is an ancient forest, associated with Rwanda’s royal heritage and traditional coronation rituals.

The last rhythm will soften around Lake Kivu, where the forest trails yield to tea, water, islands and local life. Tea growing, processing and tasting are combined at Pfunda and kayaking provides a look at the hills from the water, rather than from the road. Your 4 nights will be in carefully selected accommodation, with the specific hotel or lodge details provided once your booking is confirmed.

This will be a moderate tour with a mix of walking, light hiking, caving, kayaking and road transfers. Golden monkey tracking takes some hours depending on where the troop has moved, on uneven forest terrain and some elevation. Rwanda’s regulations currently mandate a minimum age of 12 years for golden monkey tracking.

The tour of the Musanze Caves will last around two and a half hours and is a guided experience rather than an open underground hike. The Buhanga Eco-Park is much more user-friendly, with mostly easy trails that can nonetheless be uneven and have steps. No previous experience is required to kayak on Lake Kivu but the conditions and the instructions of the local guide should always determine how far and where you paddle.

The experience will also include road transfers. The drive from Kigali to Musanze takes about one and a half to two hours normally, and the road from Musanze to Rubavu is about 55 kilometers. It is three hours drive from Rubavu to Kigali.