7 Days Birding and Wildlife Safari Rwanda

7 Days Birding and Wildlife Safari is one of the best birdwatching tour packages in Rwanda that takes you to Important Bird Areas of Nyungwe Forest National Park, Akagera National Park, and Rugezi Swamp which is close to Volcanoes National Park. This tour will start and end at Kigali International Airport.

7 Days Birding and Wildlife Safari highlight

• Day 1: Arrive – Drive to Akagera National Park
• Day 2: Full day birding in Akagera National Park
• Day 3: Transfer to Nyungwe Forest National Park.
• Day 4: Full day birding in Nyungwe Forest
• Day 5: Bird Nyungwe Forest National Park / Optional Chimpanzee trekking
• Day 6: Transfer to Ruhengeri Area – North West of Rwanda
• Day 7: Morning birding safari in Rugezi Swamp – Transfer to Kigali

Day 1: Arrive – Drive to Akagera National Park

Meet and greet our company representative and your birding guide for a quick briefing about your 7 days birding and wildlife safari and later set off to Akagera national park for an evening birding tour to look for over 500 bird species including the papyrus gonolek and several other water birds. The park has 44 species of raptor and the palearctic migrants like the Gallinago media, Falco naumanni and the Glareola nordmanni. On this day, you will also encounter several animals like; elephants, buffalos, leopards, hyenas, giraffe, zebras, lions, bushbucks, Topis, Oribis, water-buck, klipspringer, impala and Cape eland. Dinner and overnight stay at Akagera Game Lodge

Day 2: Full day birding in Akagera National Park

After breakfast, head to Akagera National Park for an exciting full day birding to look for birds like Amur falcon, Beaudouin’s snake eagle, Red-winged francolin, Blue-shouldered robin-chat, Booted eagle, Brown-chested lapwing, Cabanis’s bunting, Carruthers’s cisticola, Crested barbet, Denham’s bustard, Short-tailed pipit, Dimorphic egret, Eleonora’s falcon, Grasshopper buzzard, Northern brown-throated weaver, Souza’s shrike, Papyrus gonolek among others. In the afternoon, you take up a boat safari on Lake Ihema to look for several water birds and aquatics like Crocodiles and Hippos. Retire for dinner and overnight stay at Akagera Game Lodge

Day 3: Transfer to Nyungwe Forest National Park.

Have an early morning breakfast and embark on a long drive from Akagera national park to Nyungwe forest national park via Kigali. During this journey, you will drive through traditional home steads and the rolling countryside landscapes. Dinner and overnight at Nyungwe Hill Top View Hotel.

Day 4: Full day birding in Nyungwe Forest

Today is a highlight of your 7 Days birding and wildlife safari! Wake up early for breakfast and drive to one of the Important Bird Areas in Rwanda in search for over 310 bird species of which 27 of these are restricted in range to Albertine rift. Birds in Nyungwe Forest National Park include; Rwenzori Turacos, Grauer’s Rush Warbler,  Shelley’s Crimsonwing,  Regal Sunbird, Cinnyris regius, Archer’s Robin-chat, Red-throated Alethe, Purple-breasted and Blue-headed, Kungwe Apalis, Ruwenzori Apalis, Alehe poliophrys, Batis diops, Yellow-eyed Black Flycatcher, Ruwenzori Batis, Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill, Stripe-breasted Tit Parus fasciiventer, Caprimulgus ruwenzorii, Melaenornis ardesiacus,  Cossypha archeri, Dusky Crimson Wing, Francolinus nobilis, Cryptospiza jacksoni, Cryptospiza shelleyi, Hemitesia neumanni, Handsome Francolin, Kupeornis rufocinctus, Ruwenzori Nightjar, Red-collared Babbler, Neumann’s Warbler among others. Dinner and overnight at Nyungwe Hill Top View Hotel.

Day 5: Bird Nyungwe Forest National Park / Optional Chimpanzee trekking

After breakfast, return to Nyungwe forest for another birding safari in search for some of birds that you might have missed in the previous day. Alternatively, you may go for an optional chimpanzee trekking experience, Canopy walk or Colobus Monkey tracking. Dinner and overnight at Nyungwe Hill Top View Hotel.

Day 6: Transfer to Ruhengeri Area – North West of Rwanda

Have breakfast and transfer to Musaze in the north west of Rwanda with several stops to spot birds. This journey takes you through the Congo Nile trail and Lake Kivu.  You will see birds on lake Kivu such as Southern Red Bishop, Common Waxbill, Red-chested sunbirds, Hadada Ibis, Crimson-rumped Waxbill, Scarlet-chested, Spectacled Weaver, Striated Heron, Variable Sunbird, Black-headed Weaver, Black-headed Heron, Sacred Ibis, Red-billed Firefinch, Yellow-fronted Canary, Holub’s Golden Weaver, Little bee-eater, Bronzed Manakin, Yellow-bellied Waxbill and many others.  Dinner and overnight at Da Vinci Gorilla Lodge.

Day 7: Morning birding safari in Rugezi Swamp – Transfer to Kigali

After breakfast, head to Rugezi swamp which is another Important Bird Area (IBA) in Rwanda for another birdwatching tour. Look out for the following bird species in Rugezi swamp; papyrus gonolek, papyrus canary, papyrus yellow warbler, carruuthers’s cisticola, Grauer’s swamp-warbler, white-collared oliveback, slender-billed starling, yellow-browed citril, thick-billed seedeater, baglafecht weaver, white-winged scrub-warbler among others.

Depending on your flight departure time, you may take a canoe ride on the twin lakes of Ruhondo and Bulera to look for several waterc bird species such as Pied and Malachite Kingfishers, Hammerkops, Darters, storks, Grey crowned cranes, African fish eagles, Herons and Cormorants among others. Later transfer to Kigali to end your 7 Days Birding and Wildlife Safari in Rwanda.

7 Days Birding and Wildlife Safari is one of the best birdwatching tour packages in Rwanda that takes you to Important Bird Areas of Nyungwe Forest National Park, Akagera National Park, and Rugezi Swamp which is close to Volcanoes National Park. This tour will start and end at Kigali International Airport.