This afternoon you will be transferred to Cyimbili by motorboat to go on a fascinating tour of the artisanal coffee plantations. After the coffee tour, you will be transferred back to Gisenyi for dinner and to check into your next hotel.
Day 6: Coffee Tour in Karongi & Transfer to Volcanoes
08:00 – Check out
08:00 – Karongi Coffee Tour
This fascinating tour of a thriving Coffee washing station provides brings to life the entire process of harvesting, washing, roasting, grinding and preparing some of the best coffee in Rwanda – and the world. Coffee has literally transformed lives of this community and created a sustainable income for numerous local families. In fact, whilst it is (sometimes) possible to buy Kinunu coffee after the tour, the beans grown here are also included in some of the best-known coffee brands in the world.
15:00 – Handspun Hope Community
Designer knitwear, such as warm jumpers, hats and scarves made from merino wool are a fashion statement in New York, Paris and London. And now they are handmade in Rwanda from handspun wool. Meet the shepherds and members of the cooperative to see a successful, practical and viable project that is transforming an entire community.
The real jobs created by Handspun Hope mean that the (mostly) women they employ have a work-based solution to poverty that is restoring dignity to formally impoverished people. It is helping them to move into economic self-sufficiency so that they can become leaders of change in their families and surrounding communities.
Whether you just visit the initiative in Musanze town for a short tour or spend the day really getting to know the women and taking part, you will see an example of how real change is coming to Africa.
You will have the opportunity to meet the shepherds as they tend their flock of merino sheep in the temperate climate on the slopes of Mount Sabyinyo, one of the Virunga Volcanoes. They allow the wool to grow until it is 9cm / 3.5 inches long so that it produces the softest fibres and then after shearing, it is taken to the Musazne co-operative where it is transformed.
You could also visit the cooperative This is where a small army of industrious women set to work. They start by carefully washing, cleaning and combing it into fluffy rolags, or rolls, of wool. The rolags are fed into the spinning wheel and transformed into a single-ply yarn. Two single-ply yarns are then reverse fed back through the wheel, creating the two-ply yarn used to created Handspun Hope’s stunning organic yarn.
Every day, the women collect natural plant material like avocado pits, onion skins and eucalyptus bark, that they use to create 100% organic dye baths. Once the yarn has been dyed and dried, the knitters set to work to craft beautiful garments.
Try your hand at each stage of wool production after (optionally) visiting the shepherds on Mount Sabyinyo, the women in the Musanze centre will show you and help you to have a go at every stage of the wool production process. During this fascinating and unique insightful day you’ll learn just how skilled they are and how much work and effort they put in.
It’s a wonderful way to interact with and connect with a group of friendly people, to learn about their lives, laughing with them and appreciate how each garment is made with both pride and hope for a better future, is unique and takes around eight months from wool growth to a finished product.
18:00 – Check in at 3B Mountain Gorilla View Lodge (Standard Room, VIP Room)
Day 7: Trekking Mountain Gorillas & Explore the countryside on a canoe
07:00 – Mountain Gorillas Trekking
On arrival, everyone will be split into groups of up to 8 people – and maybe joined with other tourists – before being allocated a ranger. You will then drive a short distance to the start of the trail, from where you will trek in the forest for around 1-3 hours or so to meet the gorillas. When you find them, the hour you spend with these incredible primates is a true lifetime experience that you will never forget. To see – and walk amongst – a family of mountain gorillas is a wildlife encounter unlike any other on Earth.
You’ll be so close to the individual gorillas. Boisterous adolescents will be misbehaving whilst playful children are constantly demanding the attention of their parents as aunts and uncles wander together in an extended family group under the watchful eye of the silverback. You may only be a visitor, but you will briefly be part of their family in a really remarkable way.
Once you have returned to the Head Quaters, head back to your hotel for a celebration lunch, followed by an afternoon at leisure to relax or visit the local community projects in the area.
13:00 – Celebration lunch at the lodge following gorilla trek
Once you have returned to your lodge after your trek and freshened up, enjoy a celebration lunch before departing for Kigali.
15:00 – Sundowner Mukungwa River Canoe Trip – Best way to explore the countryside
Set in the foothills of the Virunga Volcanoes, discover this special way to journey though the countryside in our modern canoes! Soak up impressive views, spot abundant birds, look out for the otters and meet friendly communities. Led by an experienced Kingfisher Journey’s activity leader, this river is mostly very gentle and flat with one short, easy rapid and one section where the water goes quite fast.
The start is a 15 minute transfer from central Musanze (add about 15 minutes from Kinigi). Here your activity leader will give you a briefing on the riverside before you get on the water. The first section is a flat and easy opportunity to learn how to steer your canoe as you float gently downstream. After about 20-30 minutes you will pull over for a short additional briefing about the small rapid, where helmets must be worn.
You’ll be given an additional briefing about the approximately 200m section where
the water speeds up as it goes around a few corners. After about 2.5-3 hours on the water the end of the trip is just after a road bridge. It takes about 20 minutes to drive back to Musanze and a further 15 minutes to Kinigi.
Day 8: Optional * Golden Monkey trekking & Transfer back to Kigali – Departure
10:00 – Check out
10:30 – Private transfer from Volcanoes National Park to Kigali International Airport
Today you will be collected by your driver from your lodge in Volcanoes National Park and transferred back to Kigali International Airport for your flight home. The journey is approximately 117 km and will take between 2 to 3 hours.
