About Rwanda

It is a hard morning, not a hard week, and people of a very wide range of ages do it every day. There is no time pressure — the group moves at the pace of its slowest member.

Take a porter each, put a soft day either side, and do not schedule it for the morning after a long-haul flight. Done that way it is the thing you will talk about for years.

Here, yes — and it is the only country we plan where that is true. No internal flights, no airstrip transfers, two hours from the airport to the gorillas on tarmac.

A night in Kigali, three at Volcanoes with the trek in the middle, two at Lake Kivu.

Rwanda for comfort and brevity: two hours from an international airport, the better lodges, a complete trip in six nights.

Uganda if the trek is the point: cheaper permits, wilder forest, chimps at Kibale, far fewer people, and a great deal more driving.

Any month. June to September and December to February are drier and easier underfoot; the wet months are muddier rather than closed.

That makes Rwanda the best answer for couples marrying in April or May.

Six to nine months for June to September, six months for December to February, and as early as possible for any fixed date.

Book permits before lodges and before international flights. A permit cannot move to suit a flight; a flight can usually move to suit a permit.

Yes — it is bilharzia-free and has no crocodiles or hippos, which is unusual in this part of the world and is a large part of why it works as the resting half of the trip.

A Rwanda safari is usually quoted fully inclusive: accommodation, all meals, park and conservancy fees, your guide and vehicle, and transport between parks. Most camps include soft drinks, house wine, beer and laundry.

Not included: international flights, visas or travel authorisation, travel insurance, tips, premium drinks, and extras like balloon flights and spa treatments.

This site is a planning guide. When you send an enquiry it goes to Nomad Africa, our partner travel agency in Kenya, who prepare your itinerary and quote and handle the booking, the payments and you on the ground.

You deal with one team from the first email to the airport transfer home.

No. Sending your dates, getting an itinerary and getting a costed quote is free and carries no obligation. Money only changes hands when you decide to hold space at a camp.