Proposal

Website: www.essentialafrica.co.za e-mail: leew@essentialafrica.co.za, eva@essentialafrica.co.za Skype: lee.whittam Tel: +27 73 510 3180 (Lee), +27 74 9030 577 (Eva)

Gorilla Trekking in the Rwandan Highlands Rwanda

2016

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Introduction

You will fly directly to Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. After an informative city tour of Rwanda, you will drive to the Rwandan Highlands, bound for Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge, situated in the foothills of the magnificent Virungas.

Early the next morning you will start your exciting trek to spend time with some of the last remaining families of Mountain Gorillas left in the wild today. Spending a full hour, literally a few metres away from a family of gorillas, watching and photographing them as they go about their daily lives in the pristine indigenous forests, is an experience that will stay with you for the rest of your life.

We look forward to arranging your safari and time with these incredible great apes.

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Brief Itinerary

Day Date Location

1 Day 1 Scheduled international flight to Kigali International Airport, Rwanda (own arrangements). City tour of Kigali. Road transfer from Kigali to Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge.

1 Day 1 City Tour of Kigali

1 Day 1 Road transfer from Kigali to Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge

1 – 4 Day 1 – Day 4 Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge

2 Day 2 First Gorilla Trekking

3 Day 3 Second Gorilla Trekking

4 Day 4 Road transfer from Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge to Kigali International Airport. Scheduled flight from Kigali International Airport (own arrangements) to onward journey.

End of arrangements.

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Location

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Location

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Itinerary

The history of Rwanda dates back centuries. Kigali has been a part of it for a hundred years. You will be able to take a City Tour of Kigali founded in 1907 as a German settlement. Kigali did not become the capital until Rwanda’s independence in 1962 when it replaced the colonial seat of power in Butare. Since then, Kigali has seen major economic development resulting in what it is today, a vibrant African city of one million with wide boulevards, an international airport, world-class hotels and restaurants, crafts & curio shops as well as a lively, cosmopolitan population.

Visit the Kandt Museum, tour old Kigali, the craft centres and visit the genocide memorial site. Here you can learn about Rwanda’s history pre-colonial to the 1994 genocide and about other genocides in the world. Witness the new development in Rwanda and the incredible recovery of this country… a testament to mankind’s resilience

Scheduled international flight to Kigali, Rwanda (own arrangements).

City Tour – Kigali – 1 afternoon

Included: Private vehicle and water in vehicle

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Itinerary

Road Transfer to Sabyinyo Silverback lodge

Volcanoes National Park – Sabyinyo Silverback lodge – 3 nights

Included: All meals, accommodation, local drinks, transfers and two gorilla trekking permit per person and private guide.

The focus of our time at Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge will be to trek and spend time with some of the last remaining families of Mountain Gorillas left in the wild. A close encounter with these gentle giants is an experience that will stay with you forever.

Being able to sit within a few metres of these magnificent animals is both awe-inspiring and humbling. As pressure from a growing human population threatens this species (and many more), it is rewarding to know that by visiting the lodge and viewing the gorillas, you are creating jobs for the local community as well as helping to ensure that the gorillas remain protected. Their estimated population of just 700-800 individuals faces an uncertain future.

The cost for this safari includes all internal transfers and flights within Africa, as well as 2 gorilla trekking permit per person.

View Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge Website

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Itinerary

First Gorilla Trekking

Mountain Gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) are a subspecies of the Eastern Gorilla, the largest living primate on earth. Numbering only about 700 individuals worldwide, this amazingly large hominid who share 95% of their genes with humans, is now listed on the IUCN Red List of critically Endangered Species due to habitat loss, poaching, disease and war. After an early breakfast, drive to the Volcanoes National Park to be allocated a gorilla tracking group. 0700 hrs: Receive a briefing by your trackers then drive to the trail head for the start of an amazing adventure. Our exhilarating trek, in the footsteps of the rare and critically endangered Mountain Gorillas, starts in the cultivated foothills of the Virungas, with stirring views in all directions. Upon entering the national park, her paths littered with fresh spoor of the mountains’ elusive buffalo and elephant, trekkers will be immersed in the mysterious intimacy of the rainforest, alive with colourful bird calls and butterflies, etc. Through gaps in the canopy, the magnificent Virunga peaks, among the highest in Africa, yet easily accessible, are glimpsed, beckoning an ascent. Weaving through overhanging vines, moss-covered hagenia and giant lobelias that thrive in the tropical climate, our experienced trackers, who spent their entire lives in or close to this forest, soon bring us up close with the family. Upon sighting the gorillas, you will stay with them for a magical hour as they go about their daily life, feeding, playing, resting and tending to their young. Coming face to face with a giant silverback must truly be one of the greatest wildlife experiences on earth!

In the afternoon, you will take a tour to the nearby ex-poacher’s village. An award-winning conservation initiative started by former poachers, who were convicted to renounce their old ways and become conservation activists. Together with their families, they founded this little village with a replica of the Kings palace, where they now participate in eco-tourism, showcasing Rwandan culture. Visitors are taught about traditional skills like fire-making, archery, weaving, traditional medicine, architecture (totally unique grass thatched huts that were used for the kings) and cultural dances among other attractions. Time at this village is highly informative of the heritage of this place.

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Itinerary

Second Gorilla Trekking

You have a second early breakfast wake and return to the Park HQs to spend the morning tracking, visiting a different Gorilla Family, providing a different experience. The benefit of having two treks to view these incredible great apes is that both will be unique experiences.

There are, at the moment, seven habituated gorilla families in Volcanoes National Park namely; Susa, Agashya, Umubano, Amahoro, Sabyinyo, Kwitonda and Hirwa. Each family will usually reside in a different section of the ranges, further or higher up the volcanoes. Gorillas are however not territorial and when two families come together, the silverbacks may fight, sometimes to death, to defend family not territory.

In the afternoon, enjoy sightseeing around the Twin Lakes, Burera and Ruhondo, deep blue waters ringed by steep hills and tall waterfalls in the spectacular backdrop, the Virunga Volcanoes.

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Itinerary

End of arrangements

The safari ends in Kigali, Rwanda

Road Transfer to Kigali International Airport, connect to onward flight.

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Safari Cost

Cost Breakdown

Currency Price Per Guest

Total per person when 2 guests travelling US$ 5 900

Total per person when 2 guests + Private guide travelling US$ 9 300

Total per person when 4 guests + Private guide travelling US$ 7 100

Total per person when 6 guests + Private guide travelling US$ 6 700

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General Information

GENERAL INCLUSIONS:

• All accommodation on a shared basis.

• Meals as specified.

• Exclusive use of a 4x4 vehicle in Rwanda, mineral water in the vehicle and services of a Thousand Hills guide/driver

• City tour of Kigali Rwanda

• Two Gorilla Trekking permit per person

• Excursions and transfers as specified.

• Services of the lodge guides and staff.

• Relevant park fees and entrance fees as specified.

• Drinks as specified.

• Laundry can be done at Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge and is included in the rate.

• Air transfers as specified.

• Accommodation taxes, the applicable Tourism Levies and all relevant Value Added Tax (VAT) or Government Sales Tax (GST).