8 Day Team Rwanda Guided Congo Nile Trail Mountain Bike Tour & Chimpanzee Trek Package

Welcome to Kigali. You will be greeted by our representative at the arrivals hall of Kigali International Airport and introduced to your driver guide. After a briefing we will then take the 2.5 hour scenic transfer from Kigali to Musanze, Volcanoes National Park. En-route you will discover why Rwanda is called the Land of a Thousand Hills and we will stop for some photography.

Once in Musanze we go to the Africa Rising Cycling Center which is home to Team Rwanda. Here we will introduce you to Team Rwanda members and tour their facility and then have lunch.

Then it’s time to fit your bikes and gear before we head off on a 3-hour ride to the border town of Gisenyi. It’s tarmac all the way and whilst hilly a majority is downhill as we go from the mountains to Lake Kivu passing through several small trading towns of interest.

Upon arrival we transfer you to your hotel for dinner and overnight at your accommodation of choice on Lake Kivu, Gisenyi.

After breakfast overlooking Lake Kivu we start the first leg of the Congo Nile Trail. The first leg is around 40 kms and will take you along the stunning Lake Kivu and through small villages on your way to Kinunu. There is a coffee washing station at Kinunu and we will stop for a crop to cup tour before embarking to your accommodation of choice:

This is the big kahuna leg. After breakfast begin the 55kms on Mountain bike trail making your way to the picturesque town of Kibuye where you can relax after the hardest day of riding on this tour.

Take a gentle canoe ride as the sunset to relax and wind down if you so choose. The support vehicle is with you all the way in case you want a break or catch a lift.

Meals & Drinks : Dinner

Today we take an easy ride of only 22 kms to MUGENERO.

We will check you in to your accommodation of choice and drive you to Gisovu Tea Estate in the afternoon for a tour experience on a working tea plantation. Here you will learn about Rwanda’s no. 1 export crop, production and processing as well as wall the beautiful tea plantation and it’s ridges. The pickers will only be too happy to interact.

On the way back we will visit Biserero Genocide Memorial. This is one of the key memorial the government maintains in order to never forget or repeat the tragedy of 1994.

In the evening a sundowner on Lake Kivu is planned and your rejuvenation is complete.

Meals & Drinks : Dinner

Your second last day on the Congo Nile trail takes you from Mugonero to Kibogora Guesthouse. En route we pass by some beautiful scenery at Kumbya Peninsula which has been a long-established retreat for Christian Monks since the 1940’s and is considered a national treasure. This is a great destination to spot birdlife.

All stops stay at Kibogora Guesthouse. This is a remote part of the Congo Nile trail and only basic but clean and friendly accommodation is available here.

Meals & Drinks : Dinner

Wow, what an achievement. You complete the Congo/Nile Trail today after a 38 kms ride south from Kibogora to southern border town of Rusizi. Here the Congo/Nile trail turns in to a nice tarmac ride. We won’t ride right in to town as the traffic gets hectic at this border town so we will drive the last 20 kms to your accommodation, dinner and overnight at your accommodation of choice. This is the gateway to Africa’s largest temperature rainforest, Nyungwe Forest National Park and is also the southern border town of Lake Kivu taking you in to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Meals & Drinks : Dinner

Wake at 5 am to leave for an exciting Chimpanzee Trek. We have a tea or coffee ready in the morning and pack breakfast for you to have along the way. We reach Nyungwe Park headquarters by 6am in time for the briefing, then we transfer 90 minutes to the starting point of the Chimpanzee Trek.

Along with the Bonobo of Congo this is our closest living relative in the animal kingdom sharing 93% DNA. It may take a few hours trekking to locate the chimpanzees but once you find them the troop is quite large and normally more active than Mountain Gorillas. I’m sure you’ll recognize some behaviors and characters.

After the trek return to your accommodation of choice for lunch and a refresh. In the afternoon you can either rest at your accommodation or we can head back to Nyungwe for a guided trek to Isumo Waterfalls if you didn’t get a chance to complete this yesterday. This track will show off the best parts of this temperate rainforest and usually you can spot some quite unique and stunning birdlife.

Meals & Drinks : Dinner

Butare and visit the Kings Palace. This great reconstruction is of the Rwanda King’s lifestyle and living conditions prior to colonial arrivals.

Then we head to Huye Mountain Coffee for a coffee plantation tour that includes mountain biking.