Kigali & Volcano National Park

From June 14th to June 18th, 2023

Day 1 

• Flew in from Nairobi, Kenya, took about a 40 minute car ride from the airport and checked into The Retreat in the center of Kigali. 

• We had dinner that night at their regular restaurant by the pool and called it an early night. 

Day 2

• We started our day with our guide ‘Bridge’ with a tour around Kigali. 

• We went on a tour of the Genocide Museum, and Bridge shared personal stories of when he was 17 years old during the 100 day genocide that took place in 1994. We drove past the Hotel des Mille Collines (the hotel that Hotel Rwanda was written about) and reflected more on what those times might have been like for Rwandans. 

• Food options for lunch were either at Republic or at Hotel des Mille Collines. We felt like having something local, so we stopped for lunch at Republic. It was the perfect choice; the food was traditional and delicious. We didn’t even order from a menu, they just brought us an assortment of the many different dishes they offer. After eating, Julia and Hailey went to the local shop at the bottom of the restaurant and picked up some local Rwandan crafts (a gold ring and a scrunchie) 

• After lunch we continued to make our way north towards the Volcanoes National Park. The drive from Kigali to the national park was about 3 hours and we got a great overview of the city during our drive. We drove past miles of markets, countless farms, thousands of people working, commerce trading, vehicles and cyclists hauling things up and down the highway, scooters buzzing around in every direction, uniformed children heading to and from school, cyclists hanging on to the back of large trucks to make it up the hill, people carrying their goods on their heads, people hauling water jugs, etc. Most notably was the beautiful farmland that pretty much took over the majority of the scenery in the rural area. Our guide mentioned that 80% of Rwandans are farmers. 

• Midway through the 3 hour drive we stopped in a ‘rest stop’ style place where we used the bathroom, walked around a little, and continued to observe the Rwandan way of life. Max made a friend when a local college age kid came to his window and asked to share contact information so they could be pen-pals. 

• We finally made it to Hotel Sabyinyo around 6pm and Max went off to take a call in the room. The hotel staff educated us on what our upcoming days would consist of and how to be ready on time and prepared. We had a delicious dinner at the main building and prepared for a busy day of gorilla trekking the next day. 

Day 3 

• Our first day of gorilla trekking began at 5:30am with a knock on the door and hot tea delivered on our patio.

• We sat for breakfast at 6am; filled up with avo toast, yogurt, fresh juices, fruit, more tea, hard boiled eggs, etc, and left the hotel at 6:45am with all our gear on ready to start our day.  

• We arrived at the headquarters/meeting point around 7:15 to use the bathroom one last time and get assigned our gorilla family, trekking group, and guide for the day.

• We were paired up with a guide named Eugene, and 2 other couples (one from Canada, one from Russia). The family we were to visit that day was the Isimbi Family, which inhabits the slopes of Mt. Karisimbi. We were assured it was an ‘easy’ hike, but after a 2 hour drive further in the bush, 2 hour uphill hike through the bush, 90 mins with gorillas, a 1.5 hour hike back out of the forest, and 2 hour drive back to hotel - we knew we didn’t get an easy hike. Nonetheless, the hard work to make it to the family was worth it in the end and it was all a part of a magical experience. 

• We saw 16 gorillas total, 1 silverback, 8 juveniles and saw a 2 month old baby. The silverback who leads the group is named Puturengere. Max actually got swatted/punched by the silverback because he was ‘in the way’. All of us ended up getting ‘touched’ by the gorillas at one point. 

• We drove through small villages on our way to visit the gorilla families, and passed small groupings of small children all running towards our car to say hi, wave, and shout things at us. We must have seen hundreds of kids on the drive and every one of them was excited to see us. We felt like we had to make sure every kid got a wave back. Their energy was bursting of pure joy and excitement. 

• We got back to the hotel around 4pm and were met with 25 welcoming committee singers and dancers that were performing a traditional dance and song for us. At the end of their song and dance, they shouted “Happy Birthday Max”. We were the only ones there to enjoy the song and dance, and it felt so special. 

• We washed up for dinner and headed back to the main lodge to have our final evening meal. Again, the kitchen staff surprised Max with a warm birthday song at the table.

Day 4

• Our second an final day started like the previous gorilla trekking day. We went through the routine, wake up early, head to breakfast, leave for the main center for gorilla trekking assignments, get assigned our gorilla family, fellow trekkers, and our guide. We ended up being assigned the Muhoza family, Amani was our guide, and the place we went to see the gorillas was within a 10 minute drive from our hotel. (We pleaded to have an actual easier hike this day because of our exhaustion from the day before). We trekked for about 30 minutes before we found the gorilla family and our time with them was just as special as the day before. We spent about 15 minutes watching a newborn baby and their mother lay around and play around in the leaves in grass. Then we went a little further in and met the silverback relaxing in the middle of his family huddle. In the Muhoza family there are 12 total gorillas, with 1 silverback, and 2 juveniles. Muhoza is the name of the silverback who formed his group (aka ‘family’) in 2016.

• We walked through locals farmland on our way to the forest. The weather was beautiful and luckily for us, the trek was mostly flat (compared to the previous day when it was uphill and still wild). 

• We got back to the hotel, showered, had lunch, and set out for Kigali. Our time in the mountains of Rwanda was short-lived, but we look forward to going back again. 

• We spent the night in Kigali back at The Retreat, had dinner as a family, and saw Hailey’s cousins who were also in town about to embark on their gorilla trek journey. 

Day 5

• We woke up at 3am getting mosquito bites everywhere, even though we had a mosquito net around our bed. By 6am we realized a window was open in our room and that’s how we were eaten alive. 

• By 8am we were flying out of Kigali and into Cape Town by Rwanda Air. 

Next time we visit, we plan to check out:

• More days of gorilla treks

Tour groups used:

• Premier Tours

• Wilderness 

Words learned:

• Bizungu - white man (which is what the young kids would shout at us as we drove alongside their villages)

• Mizuri- I’m fine 

• Saba Saba - all good

Watch:

• Hotel Rwanda movie

• Virunga tv show 

• Gorillas in the Mist movie