13moons

Okay, here comes the itinerary for my next trip. I would love to see if anyone is going to around as I travel alone and am always interested in friendly faces to say hello, share a drink or just chit chat:
2007
8/16 SF - London
8/17 London (Jury's Inn Hotel)
8/18 London to NBO
8/18 & 19 Fairview Hotel
8/20 NBO to Kigali
8/20 Kigali - Hotel up in the air
8/21 Day adventure up in the air
8/21 - 24 new Gov's Camp lodge in Kinigi - Sabyninao Lodge (?spelling)
8/24 pm to Kigali, hotel ?
8/25 Kigali to NBO, charter to Ol Malo
8/26 Ol Malo
8/27 charter to Lewa Downs, wilderness Trails
8/27 - 30 Lewa WT
8/31 Flight to Mara
8/31 - 9/2 Rekero's
9/3 - 9/8 Lil Gov's
9/8 Nairobi (Day room ?) BA to London
9/9 VA to SF

Pat_Rick

That is some itinerary, 3 weeks of safari!

We will arrive in Nairobi on August 1 and back to LA on August 14. You will be just getting ready to leave when we come back.

Pat

Lucia78

Looks great 13moons! I know you posted on another thread that you were looking for a TA for your Rwanda piece.

Just so you know, you don't really need one for your hotel booking or NBO-Kigali flight or to pick up your gorilla permits that you said you had already booked. You will need someone to provide you with transport from Kigali to Ruhengeri for your gorilla trek and back.

You can probably save a fair bit though if you do the other stuff yourself. For instance, if you want to stay in the nicest hotel in Kigali, the Intercontinetal, it is currently $186USD per night (you can book this online). The flight from NBO-Kigali roundtrip is currently $485 and you can book that online (although right now they are only taking bookings until July, but that should change shortly). You can also ask for the Interncontinental to pick you up from the airport and drop you off, there should not be a charge for that.

They may also be able to pick up your gorilla permits from the ORPTN office for you. Alternatively, you could get them on the 20th. If you wanted to stay in a slightly cheaper, although controversial in its quality hotel...you could stay at the Milles Collines which is across the street from the ORPTN and more centrally located than the Intercontinental.

In terms of what to do during your day on 8/21. If you hire a driver to take you from Kigali to Governor's Camp in Kinigi...you could do some exploring that way. Gyozi is the Genocide Memorial in Kigali and it is modeled after the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. It is poignant and the site of a massacre, but much less gruesome than some of the other memorials in the country. I would recommend that you visit.

In Kigali, you might want to do a little shopping and get a sense of the way of life and the people. Near Gyozi is Kimilongo Market which sells a lot of wares(baskets, wooden artwork, etc.) Rwanda is known for its baskets...I wish I had bought more.

Then your drive to Ruhengeri will take around 2.5 hours through GORGEOUS scenary. Are you going on multiple gorilla treks since you are spending 3 nights at the Governor's Camp? If you are not, than I would recommend cutting your stay there...as honestly there is not much to do or see in Ruhengeri (others may disagree...but I think Lake Kivu would be a bigger draw if you had an extra day).

If you do and you've hired a driver...than I'd suggest spending only 1 or 2 nights at Kinigi and then driving to Gisenyi (since it is only an hour from Ruhengeri) and staying over at the Kivu Sun (around $120 per night). It is beautiful and you will get a sense of a totally different part of Rwanda and get to relax after your trek.

From Gisenyi, it's about 2.5-3 hours to Kigali. Again you could stay at the Intercontinental (you could also leave your bags there from your previous stay in their locked room...so you wouldn't have to haul them around...we did that and also left all our money and passports (not on purpose!)). They will be able to take you to the airport in the morning.

Hope this helps.

tacos10

I think we may be crossing paths somewhere in Rwanda. I don't have my final plans yet, but I think I'll be leaving NBO on the 16th to Kigali. Then I'll be spending a few days up to a week in Rwanda before I move on to Uganda.

atravelynn

I only wish I were going where you are. That's quite the itinerary! I'd recommend the Never Again Memorial in Kigali for part of 8-21.

You may actually have almost 2 days in Kigali, depending on your flight times from Nairobi to Kigali on 8-20.

Unless 8-21 is an intentional buffer day after a flight, you could probably see the Memorial on your day of arrival in Kigali. I know there are am flights.