COMING SOON: Mountain Gorillas & Chimpanzees in Rwanda (2026)

We do realize this is quite an expensive trip, and we’d like to point out the main reasons why this is so:

1. The permit costs for animal tracking are quite high, with the gorilla tracking permits in particular being the most expensive in the region.  This permit alone accounts for 1500$ of your trip’s cost.  We still feel it’s completely worth it, especially since your money goes toward not only an extraordinary experience, but also directly back into the Volcanoes National Park and their great education & outreach projects, as well as their gorilla conservation programs.
2. We are staying at two incredible One & Only properties, for a total of 4 nights.  These all-inclusive resorts are very expensive, but we believe that it’s very much worth the cost, as a stay in these incredible properties definitely contributes immensely to your trip being memorable and unforgettable. 
3. As this is, for many, their first trip to the Africa of their dreams, we’ve constructed an itinerary that truly makes this the adventure of a lifetime by privatizing most of our meals and activities, and choosing the very best accommodation possible in terms of comfort and location.  This may well be your only time in this part of the world, so we make it count!
4. Compared to many other tours to the region, we are comparatively priced, especially when taking into account that we include all meals and (non-premium) drinks, all tips for every driver, guide and tracker on our included activities (this can add up!!), porters when tracking to see the chimpanzees and gorillas, and a few extras like a gift bag and even a laundry day.  You are also supported by 2 experienced tour leaders, a team of experienced local guides, and, of course, this is your chance to travel with author and animal advocate Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.
5. finally, this may very well be the only vegan tour to the country, and our costs include not only the lengthy and hard work done with all of our hotels and restaurants, but also the importation of a few vegan ingredients that aren’t found yet in Rwanda! 

Colleen Patrick-Goudreau and World Vegan Travel work closely together to create JOYFUL VEGAN TRIPS, which are specifically curated by Colleen to ensure the high quality that she has come to be known for.  All trips include activities and dedicated time with Colleen, such as Q&A session, round-table discussions, sharing, and more.

Absolutely!   We have many people on our trip that sign up as solo travelers.   You can choose to share a room with another solo travelers, or pay the single supplement to get your own room. 

FLIGHTS
​You are in charge of your own flights to and from Rwanda.  We ask that you try and arrive in KIGALI early on the 1st day at the very latest, so you can allow enough time to go through the immigration and baggage retrieval process and the drive to our hotel and still be able to freshen up and rest up a bit before our first meeting and welcome dinner.   We would estimate the time between landing and arriving at the hotel to be about 1.5hrs.  Our first meeting is traditionally at 4pm.

Regardless of your arrival date, we will provide an airport pickup. 

Please note that check-ins at our hotel are not guaranteed BEFORE 3PM.  We will try and have the hotel accommodate early arrivals, but it’s possible you will be asked to wait until a room becomes available.  We are situated right downtown, so worst case it’s nice and exciting to go and explore the neighborhood!

Our trip finishes up in KIGALI so book your return or ongoing flight from there.   You may also decide to stay in Rwanda or in the region a little longer, and if that’s the case let us know if we can help with your ongoing travel (ie accommodation, transportation, ideas, suggestions, etc).  We will be providing airport transfers on our final itinerary day only, until afternoon.

VISAS
As of January 1st, 2018, all nationalities coming to Rwanda are now eligible for getting a visa on arrival.   The visa costs is $50 USD.   This is payable upon landing at Kigali airport.  Please have cash with you. 

Regarding vaccinations:  there are no compulsory vaccinations required for entry to Rwanda unless you are arriving from an area infected with Yellow Fever, in which case a Certificate of Inoculation against Yellow Fever is required from travelers.

We will update all our travelers concerning the requirements of entry in regards to COVID19.  It could be that you will need to provide proof of vaccination or a negative test.  

For all other vaccines, we strongly recommend you consult directly with your doctor or health professional to make sure you are getting the proper care.   They will assess your particular health risks before recommending vaccines and /or antimalarial tablets.​  

Typically, the recommended vaccinations are Typhoid, Hepatitis A & B, Polio, cholera, yellow fever, rabies and influenza.      As mentioned above, please chat with your doctor to decide on which ones to get, if any. 

Since we will be hiking in jungles (when tracking monkeys and gorillas) and therefore possibly exposed to mosquitoes, having anti-malarial medication could be a good idea.  Make sure to bring your mosquito repellent, and use long sleeves and trousers during evenings/ morning times as a prevention of getting bitten. 

Medical facilities are common throughout Rwanda, with the best services provided in Kigali.   Do note that some medicines and prescriptions may be hard to find here, so come well prepared.

JOYFUL VEGAN TRIPS and WORLD VEGAN TRAVEL hold no responsibility for any medical issues resulting from your lack of vaccination.

Yes, you will need medical travel insurance.  This is a requirement from World Vegan Travel.  We need to know that you are fully covered in the event of a medical emergency, including repatriation.  You will need to send us your policy detail and emergency contact number before the trip’s start date.

As we are not a travel agency or booking agents, we can’t book any flights or ongoing travel (ie hotels, transportation, etc) for you. However we can surely help with recommendations, suggestions and tips as you look into flights, or extending your holiday. It never hurts to ask, so don’t hesitate to contact us with any queries whatsoever!

Rwanda has a temperate tropical highland climate due to its high elevation.  Most of the country is located on a plateau, around 5,000 feet (1500m) above sea level, so for most of the year, and despite being just south of the Equator, Rwanda enjoys pleasantly warm day temperatures and cool nights all year round!   Still, they do have a dry and rainy season… 

At the time of our visit, we will be in Rwanda just before their 2nd (and shorter) dry season.  This means we might run into some rain here and there, but the downpours are quick and very rarely last more than a couple of hours.   It usually doesn’t affect travel too much.  But it can mean that the trails when gorilla trekking may be a bit muddy.  No worries, we can clean up in our beautiful resort! 

You can expect daily high temperatures are around 79°F (26°C), rarely falling below 75°F(23°C) or exceeding 83°F (28°C).   Daily low temperatures are around 62°F (16°C), rarely falling below 58°F (14°C) or exceeding 65°F (18°C).

Here are some essential items to consider for your trip to Rwanda:

• Bring light layers of clothing. It can be warm-to-hot during the day, but it can get cooler at night.
• Sunscreen to protect your skin from the sun. Sunscreen is available in Rwanda but it can be quite expensive.
• Insect and mosquito repellent is important to have. Practice all precautions against mosquito bites to avoid malaria and zika.
• Comfortable walking shoes make exploring much easier. Roads can be muddy and uneven. Simple sandals won’t cut it.
• a small umbrella could prove handy if you’re out and about and it starts to rain (usually not very long)

Overall, this means light (preferably) cotton or linen material.  Skirts, dresses, light shirts and light pants should do the trick.  Jeans are ok, but heavy and bulky.   We’ll have a laundry day included as well, so no need to over-pack.  Otherwise, and since we usually stay 2 nights in each location (except for Lake Kivu), laundry is easy and accessible everywhere (at extra cost).   Your guide will help you.  You just need to ask!   

Suitcases: we highly recommend that you bring SOFT SHELL LUGGAGE as we will need to fit quite a few in our land vehicles.    They are easier to stack and fit in tight spaces.

Smaller is always better, but a normal-sized luggage is ok.  We don’t have any domestic flights and will be going from location to location in our own vehicles so the times you need to carry your own bags will be quite limited.   Please try and stick to one suitcase per person, plus your laptop bag/day backpack, but this is mostly due to space in our vehicles than your own discomfort at actually having to carry anything around (there are porters everywhere).

Avoiding shorts and wearing long pants and long-sleeved shirts is best, for both men and women, as it shields you from the sun (even if it’s cool, don’t forget that Rwanda lies at a high elevation and a bit closer to the sun!) and, of course, mosquitoes!   Those pants that have zips transforming them into shorts are ideal. 

We do have a few days of tracking animals.  Golden monkeys aren’t too strenuous, but you should expect a lot of jungle walking as well as uphill/downhill and very possibly mud (these are rain forests after all!) when tracking both the gorillas and chimpanzees, so do bring adequate footwear and walking gear.   This means well-broken into hiking shoes with comfy socks and good grip!   A hat is also recommended. 

Don’t forget binoculars!  The forests are full of birds and many other types of monkeys, etc.  Plus chimpanzees have a habit of staying up high in the trees!  If your camera has a decent zoom lens, you’ll be the group’s hero.  Prepare to share your pictures 😉

At no time will you need to dress up for our meals, so forget about suits and Sunday dresses.  Likewise, bring some comfy shoes for when we’re traveling and staying put at hotels, or simply walking around town or a village, but leave anything dressy at home.

Our hotels all have toiletries so there’s no need to pack shampoo and soap unless you want to try and minimize waste.  Don’t forget:

• sunscreen and mosquito repellent
• sunglasses

Our hotels all have internet, and we will have WIFI in the vehicles.  Do note that the connection in the latter may be spotty at times.

For the most part, this is an all-inclusive trip.  We provide all accommodation, transportation, activities, meals and drinks.  You will only need cash for extra purchases such as souvenirs, spas, optional activities and extra drinks outside of what’s included.  There are ATMs in the big cities.  For us, this means Kigali and any town we hit while traveling from location to location, but not so much in the areas where we stay the night.   If you are in need of an ATM, please let your tour leader know so they can plan a stop.

Outside of Kigali, you should expect minimal chances to use your credit cards (mostly visas and MasterCard.  Best to forget about American Express).  

The tour leaders will be carrying extra cash.  If you decide to go on an optional activity at the last minute but don’t have enough money, we will be able to help you out and you can simply pay us back when we find an ATM.

During meals: we will provide non-premium drinks (soda, wine, beer, coffee, tea).   Any premium drinks on top of what’s provided will require you to pay the suppliers (ie hotel, restaurant) directly.   We will make it very clear how much is included before each meal. 

We also include tips for all our activities.  For all optional activities, you should budget tips around 5$-10$ per person.  This is the way in Africa.

Tipping hotel and restaurant staff is not necessary and entirely up to you.  If you like to tip service staff, please bring some extra US cash.

This is generally not a problem, but we do need to be informed at the time of booking so we may prepare the meals accordingly. Please be as precise and detailed as possible. Once on the trip, it is difficult and/or not possible to change our meal plans.

Colleen (and her husband David) is very much another traveler in our group and will be taking the same vehicles and participating in the same activities as the rest of us. You can approach and talk to her at any time, just like anyone else. Having said that, do remember that she will be as tired as everyone after a long day of travel or sightseeing, so we should just be respectful of that as we are of anyone else. ​​

This trip does include at least 2 days of heavy hiking (gorillas and chimpanzees) so you WILL need to be physically fit enough for these undertakings.  You don’t need to be the fittest person on your block, but you should be ready to hike up and down hills in a wet and hot jungle for several hours, on two occasions.  So while you can certainly skip those two activities (or one of them), we feel your overall enjoyment will be hindered a bit as they are definitely the highlight of the trip! 

It’s important to note that for these 2 activities, we will be hiring local porters that can help you not only with carrying your bag, but hold your hand during tricky parts and generally do everything they can to get you to the chimps and gorillas. You will also have the option to use a walking stick, which everyone is always glad to have — regardless of their fitness level or hiking expertise

For gorillas: if you have an ailment or a bit of a hard time with long hikes, we can ask the National Park to assign a gorilla family that isn’t too far off into the mountain.  However, while in the past our requests have been honored, there is simply no guarantee that they will or can do so this time.  For the chimpanzees, they live deep in the bush and up trees, so there’s no way out of having to run up and down thick jungle to see/find them. 

If the gorilla hike is the only thing stopping you from joining the trip, please contact us as we may have extra space and be able to negate the high cost of gorilla permits for you. There is no guarantee, but it doesn’t hurt to ask!

Youth above 16 years young are welcome.    We are currently not accepting any younger children. ​

There’s no upper age limit, though do note that there is a fair amount of walking on this trip. 

Rwanda has emerged from its troubled and horrific past to become one of Africa’s shining beacon in terms of safety and cleanliness.    And while there are pockets of instability, mostly due to its volatile neighbors, we will always be staying within safe areas and have local experienced guides to ensure we don’t stray into problematic areas.

Serious crime or hostility aimed specifically at travelers is very rare, and there’s no more to worry about here than in most other countries.  The most common crimes that are reported are robbery.  The biggest city and capital, Kigali, may well be a genuine contender for the safest capital in Africa, though, as in any big city, take care at night and don’t take unnecessary risks.  Don’t display cash, avoid walking at night in areas you aren’t familiar with, and basically use the same common sense you do at home.  

Day-to-day though, you will only encounter friendly locals and, due to how clean the cities and countryside is, wonder if you’re in Africa or not.  Kigali is safer than many western cities.  And while we are traveling in areas where we will be in close contact with animals (gorillas, chimps) we will have local and experienced guides and trackers to keep us safe. 

English and French are both official languages, and many residents (particularly in urban areas) will speak one or the other in addition to Kinyarwanda.   In practice though, English is by far more popular, with the number of french-speakers decreasing, except perhaps near the borders with the Democratic Republic of Congo (where French is the official language) or by DRC expats.   

Everyone in the tourist trade, as well as most young people, will speak ENGLISH while the older population may speak at least a bit of English (and a lot of French). ​

Kinyarwanda is the chief spoken language in Rwanda. It is also spoken in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo and in the south of Uganda (Bufumbira-area). Kinyarwanda is a language of the Bantu linguistic family. It is closely related to Kirundi spoken in the neighboring country Burundi and to Giha of western Tanzania.   Still, English remains the language of business and trade, hence its popularity and fluency across the country. 

World Vegan Travel and Joyful Vegan Trips aim to be a safe place for all LGBTQ travelers. We have a zero-tolerance policy on discrimination of any sort.

Overall, travel to Rwanda for the LGBTQ community is safe. As a visitor to Rwanda, your sexual preferences and identity are your private business, and are generally of no interest to others. Rwandans tend to be very welcoming to all tourists, regardless of their sexual orientation.

That said, openly amorous behavior, for both hetero- and homosexual couples, can cause offence, especially in rural areas, so we’d still advise all our travelers to be cautious, regardless of sexual orientation. In general, we’d suggest that you stick to a “don’t ask, don’t tell” approach while travelling.

While same-sex marriage remains illegal, there are no laws against homosexual behavior (unlike neighboring Uganda).    Since debating the issue in 2009, Rwanda has pushed ahead to progress human rights for its LGBTQ citizens.  In the region, Rwanda is therefore known as something of a haven for LGBTQ citizens alienated from neighboring countries.  

In 2011, the Rwanda government signed the UN statement condemning violence against LGBT people, joining a further nine African countries in supporting LGBT rights. Then, in 2016, President Paul Kagame delivered an outspoken address stating that living as an LGBT citizen in Rwanda “…hasn’t been our problem. And we don’t intend to make it our problem”.