Rwanda | Remarkable Rwanda with Drs. Dieter and Netzin Steklis

Depart U.S.

Upon arrival at the airport, you will be met and taken to the VIP lounge to coordinate luggage. Afterward, meet your guide and travel to the hotel for overnight.

This morning after breakfast, meet as a group to go over the program orientation. Afterwards head out to explore Kigali during a city orientation and then pay a visit to the Kigali Memorial Centre, a permanent memorial and museum dedicated to the victims of Rwanda's 1994 genocide. Here you will gain a deeper understanding of Rwanda's history and amazing resilience, turning tragedy into powerful messages of peace, reconciliation, and hope. Have lunch at a local restaurant and then transfer to Akagera National Park to check into Ruzizi Tented Lodge, a luxury eco-lodge on the shores of Lake Ihema.

Spend the first day in Akagera discovering its fascinating wildlife on mulitiple safari drives. Akagera National Park provides savannah habitat for many iconic mammal species, and contains Central Africa's largest protected wetland. The park has grown into an area that boasts wildlife numbers of around 12,000, which include species like elephants, lions, rhinos, buffalos, hyenas, zebras, giraffes, bushbucks, topis, oribis, impalas, olive baboons, and many more.

Enjoy another day of wildlife viewing drives in Akagera. This evening, enjoy a sunset boat excursion on Lake Ihema, inhabited by hippos, crocodiles, and a large diversity of water birds.

This morning, go on another safari drive before traveling to Volcanoes National Park. The park was established in 1925 with the purpose of helping save the resident gorillas and their mountain forest habitat from the growing threats posed by poachers and farming. The remote national park gained international fame when Dian Fossey published "Gorillas in the Mist," a compilation of her many years in the field working among wild mountain gorillas. Fossey's research and lifelong commitment to protecting mountain gorillas and their shrinking habitat helped prevent local gorillas from possible extinction.

Spend the first part of the day tracking the rare Golden Monkey. These small monkeys are found in troops of up to 30 individuals, and you will be able to spend time observing their behavior and complex family dynamics in a bamboo forest.
Later in the afternoon, visit the regional headquarters of Gorilla Doctors for a tour and presentation about the important work they do to provide life-saving medical care to mountain gorillas.

After an early breakfast, drive to the Volcanoes National Park headquarters, where you will be assigned to a gorilla tracking group. Attend a briefing by your trackers, followed by a drive to the trail, and head for the start of your amazing gorilla tracking adventure. This afternoon, enjoy a visit to the Iby'inwacya Cultural Village, which is a non-profit organization that aims to improve the lives of reformed poachers.

Enjoy the morning at leisure or head out for your second Gorilla Tracking tour. Afterwards, visit the Ellen Degeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund. The campus opened to the public in 2022, and is dedicated to research and education. An immersive conservation gallery tells the story of mountain gorilla research and conservation from the time of Dian Fossey into the present day. The property itself is a marvel of eco-engineering, designed to reduce negative impacts on the environment through the use of locally sourced resources, rainwater harvesting, green roofs, and the construction of a wetland. The campus gardens highlight native plant species to the area. Have lunch at the onsite Gorilla Café.

Dian Fossey is the pioneer of mountain gorilla conservation, and today we will get to pay a special visit to her tomb. This hike will take you up to the site of her original research center, Karisoke, where Dieter and Netzin Steklis both lived and studied. On the way up, discover the vibrant birds and plants that make up this unique mountain forest. The gorilla graveyard is nearby, which is the final resting place for Dian Fossey and many of the gorillas that were killed by poachers during her time on the mountain. After the hike, return to Kigali for a farewell dinner this evening.

Begin journey back to the U.S.