Planning for a 12-Day Rwanda Birding and Gorilla Trekking Safari Adventure?
Rwanda is a very small but beautiful country with three major national parks.
The national parks are also important birding areas, as recognized by the international birding community.
The country boasts about 700 bird species that have been recorded here.
Key Bird Species to See on This Trip in Rwanda
Shoebill, Great Blue and Ruwenzori Turacos, Northern pintail, African wood Owl, White-headed Wood-hoopoe, Barred Long-tailed Cuckoo, Chestnut Owlet, Olive Woodpeckers, Little grebe, White-bellied Robin Chat, African finfoot, Fan-tailed Widowbird, and Caruther’s Cisticola, Collared Pratincole, Emerald spotted wood-dove, Klaas’s Cuckoo, Mountain Masked Apalis, Handsome francoline, White-headed Black Chat, Secretary bird, Western banded eagle, African hawk eagle, black-bellied bustard, Red-chested flufftail, Broad-billed Roller, and Malachite Kingfisher among other birds.
See detailed Rwanda birding safari itinerary below.
12-Day Rwanda Birding Safari Highlights
- Day 1: Arrival for Birding Rwanda and Gorilla Trekking Safari
- Day 2: Birding to Akagera National Park
- Days 3 – 4: Birding in Akagera National Park
- Day 5: Birding in Nyungwe Forest
- Days 6 – 7: Albertine Rift Endemics
- Day 8 – 9: Birding to Lake Kivu
- Day 10: Transfer to Volcanoes National Park
- Days 11: Volcanoes National Park
- Day 12: End of the Rwanda Birding and Gorilla Safari
Detailed 12-Day Rwanda Birding Safari Itinerary
Day 1: Arrival for Birding Rwanda and Gorilla Trekking Safari
You will be met by our representative on arrival who will drive you to your accommodation for dinner and overnight.
You may do a city tour depending on your time of arrival.
Day 2: Birding to Akagera National Park
We shall have our breakfast and then leave by 7 am to Akagera National Park, which is in the eastern part of Rwanda.
The park is the only protected area in Rwanda with Savanna grasslands.
The area is covered in small mountains and many thick forests.
The park has a bird count of about 535 species recorded here in recent times.
The park also has the largest species count in all the birding areas in Rwanda.
Some of the species to look out for include: cattle Egret, Augur Buzzard, Long-crested Eagle, Hamerkop, Sacred and Hadada Ibis, and Pied Crow, Village, Black-headed, and Veillot’s Black Weavers.
Days 3 – 4: Birding in Akagera National Park
Our safari in the Akagera National Park will begin in the southern sector of the park, which is mostly covered in acacia bushes and woodlands.
The common animals you expect to see here are Antelopes and Zebras. In the afternoon, we shall do a boat trip on the small Lake Ihema, which is also the biggest in the national park.
Be ready to spot water birds and other animals like hippos, crocodiles, and species including Goliath, Long-toed and Senegal Lapwings, African fish eagles, Rufous-bellied Heron, Greater Swamp Warblers, Slender-billed Weavers, and Swamp Flycatcher, Black-headed, and Squacco Herons, Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters, Little Bittern, Grey Crowned Crane, African Openbill, African Darter, Black tern, African Wattled Plover, Water Thick-knee, and Giant, Pied and Malachite Kingfisher, etc.
Day 5: Birding in Nyungwe Forest
On this day, we shall be driving to the Nyungwe forest national park, which is in the southwestern region of the country.
This area is also recognized as an important birding area of Rwanda.
The area has a bird count of about 310 species with about 27 of these being the Albertine rift endemics out of the total 40 known.
There are about 13 primate species here that you will have a chance to explore.
We will search for White-winged Warbler, Papyrus Gonolek, Papyrus Canary, and Grauer’s Swamp Warbler.
Days 6 – 7: Albertine Rift Endemics
We shall do a whole day of birding in the Nyungwe forest National Park.
The park is also famous for the numerous Albertine rift endemic species. This is the best place to see them in Rwanda.
The park has many trails that will lead you to several habitats like grasslands, swamps, and forested areas.
We shall carry our packed lunch and spend the whole day on the birding trail.
There are many other wildlife species we shall see other than birds.
We shall have optional chimp tracking on any of the days.
Day 8 – 9: Birding to Lake Kivu
We shall have breakfast and then head out to Lake Kivu.
We shall do birding en route as there are many stopovers.
The drive will usually take us the whole day considering that we shall be birding on the way.
We shall then do a whole day of birding the next day.
Day 10: Transfer to Volcanoes National Park
We shall be heading to the Volcanoes National park today after our breakfast.
The park is located in the Musanze area. You will be within the same vicinity as the scenic Lake Kivu.
We shall be birding en route.
Days 11: Volcanoes National Park
We shall be trekking the Volcanoes national park today.
The park boasts about 200 bird species, and of these, 15 are Albertine rift endemics.
The trek will take you through the bamboo vegetation cover, which exposes you to many high altitude bird species.
We shall bird around Lake Ngezi and the Bisoke Mountain.
We have optional gorilla trekking on this day.
Day 12: End of the Rwanda Birding and Gorilla Safari
We shall then drive back to Kigali for our flight back home.
Other recommended birding tours:
- 18-Day Birding Safari in Rwanda and Uganda
- 16-Day Explore Rwanda Birding and Wildlife Adventure Tour
- 10-Day Albertine Rift Birding and Primates Tour in Rwanda
- 3-Day Bird Watching Tour in Nyungwe Forest, Rwanda
