DR Congo – Burundi, Rwanda & DR Congo Tour

Itinerary

Friday 8 March

• Arrival at your own convenience in Bujumbura.
• Overnight stay in Bujumbura

Saturday 9 March – Bujumbura (Burundi)

• At 9:00AM we start the city tour.
• Highlight: The Explorers Memorial, at this place Livingstone and Stanley met with the famous words from Stanley “Doctor Livingstone I presume?”
• Independence Hero Mausoleum & Unity Monument.
• We leave the capital and head to Rusizi National park, just outside Bujumbura. We’ll hop on a boat to spot a few hippos.
• We visit Saga Beach, to enjoy a view of Lake Tanganyika.
• Overnight stay in Bujumbura.

Sunday 10 March – Bujumbura – Gitega – Karera Falls

• Early departure to the countryside of Burundi, along the way we’ll make various stops to enjoy the amazing scenery.
• Visit to a local tea plantation, here we’ll take a short walk between the tea fields.
• Highlight: Drive to Gitega where we are going to visit the Gishora drummers village.
• We continue onwards to Karera Falls, in the South of the country.
• Enjoy the falls before we had back to Bujumbura.
• During our drive back to Bujumbura we will be passing through different villages, on lucky days, we may attend a Burundi traditional wedding.
• Overnight stay in Bujumbura, Burundi.

Monday 11 March – Bujumbura – Rwanda – Bukavu (DR Congo)  

• After an early breakfast we start our ride towards the border with DR Congo.
• We take the border crossing directly next to Bukavu. This means we go from Burundi to Rwanda and from Rwanda to DRC. Two interesting border crossings.
• Drive to Bukavu, one of the biggest cities in Eastern DR Congo.
• Highlight: City tour in Bukavu. We visit a local market, Place de l’Indépendance and the art deco style Our Lady of Peace Cathedral.
• Overnight stay in Bukavu.

Tuesday 12 March – Bukavu

• Highlight: We will head in the jungle to be guided and have a briefing before the gorilla trek. It usually requires up to 2 hours of hiking one way, depending on location of the gorilla group and depending on how difficult is the path. After spending one hour with the gorilla family group, we will make our way back to Bukavu.
• We’ll visit the abandoned Luiro Research Center. The center was use during the colonial times, but has been since then abandoned. Today it’s home to a rehabilitation center for primates.
• After a full day with wildlife we had back to the bustling city of Bukavu where we’ll find a great restaurant to unwind from the day.
• Overnight stay in Bukavu.

Wednesday 13 March – Bukavu – Idjwi

• We catch a speed boat to Idjwi. A major island in Lake Kivu.
• Highlight: On the island we will visit the typical coffee farmers. They make one of the best coffee in the world with simple farming methods.
• On a local motor we’ll head to a pygmy village. Here we’ll learn more about local village life on the island.
• Overnight stay in Idjwi.

Thursday 14 March – Idjwi – Goma  

• Time for another boat ride! This time we take the speedboat to Goma.
• Highlight: Goma is one of the bigger cities in Eastern Congo and has a rich cultural history. One of the most striking features are the famous chukudus (wooden bikes). We’ll find someone who can show us how the bike works and if you want you can even try it yourself!
• We visit the Lava Park, Goma is located quite close to a couple of active volcanos.
• Overnight stay in Goma.

Friday 15 March – Goma – Bigogwe (Rwanda) – Kigali

• We leave early in the morning towards the border with Rwanda.
• Border formalities before we continue onwards to Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.
• After crossing the border you’ll see the stark difference between the two countries. Rwanda has recently been known as one of the prime examples of countries which have managed to recover from a devastating war and become a real, ecofriendly tourism destination.
• Highlight: We’ll make a stop in Bigogwe. Here we’ll get to experience a unique Rwandese tradition; the original cow farming.
• We continue onwards to Kigali.
• Overnight stay in Kigali, Rwanda.

Saturday 16 March – Kigali   

• Today we’ll have a relaxing day in the capital of Rwanda: Kigali.
• Highlight: Presidential Palace Museum (also known as the Rwanda Art Museum), this palace used to belong to Juvenal Habyarimana. You can still find remains from his nightclub, a plane wreck and several hidden rooms.
• Kigali Genocide Memorial, the memorial commemorating the loss of 250,000 people lost during the Civil War.
• We take a stroll around the Kigali City Market for some last minute souvenir shopping.
• Visit to the Hôtel des Mille Collines, made famous by the film Hotel Rwanda. During the Rwanda Genocide it became famous as it housed more then 1000 refugees.
• Overnight stay in Kigali, Rwanda.

Sunday 17 March – Kigali

• Depart on your own convenience.
• End of trip.

• OR: Continue with our Uganda tour.