15 Days Congo Nile Trail Hiking

Your Responsible Africa Travel guide will pick you up from Kigali International airport and transfer your hotel. Check in, acclimatize and enjoy a light dinner this evening.

In the morning, after breakfast, visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial, the final resting place for more than 250,000 victims of the Genocide against the Tutsi. Proceed to Rubavu with a stopover at Ikirenge Culture Village for an enriching experience into Rwanda’s history and cultural heritage. Enjoy a traditional lunch made with ingredients fresh from the area. At sunset, join the singing fishing crew for night fishing on Lake Kivu. Watch and take part in the traditional ways of fishing and explore the livelihood of the fishermen as well. Overnight stay at the lodge. Tomorrow our Congo-Nile hiking adventure begins!

Duration: 5 hours
Length: 16.5 km
This morning after a hearty breakfast, we will pack our bags and depart from Ruvavu to Cyimbiri village. Along the way interact with the local community and get to know their culture, how they live their daily lives. Check into our accommodation at Cyimbiri and relax before our delicious dinner is served.

Duration: 4 hours

Length: 13.4 km

Today, hike mainly near or along the Lake Kivu and passing through small villages and harbors, along the trail you will enjoy the charming views of the amazing landscapes, bird watching, fishing activities, all the way through coffee and banana plantations. Overnight stay in Kinunu

Duration: 7 hours

Length: 24 km

This morning we have a leisurely breakfast, pack our day packs and start to this challenging but walkable stage. It gives hikers an opportunity to walk around rolling hills and have a great view of the crystal-clear water of the Lake Kivu. Overnight stay in Bumba

Duration: 5 hours

Length: 15.9 km

Today’s hike, you will continue enjoying the beauty of Rwanda through its rolling hills while taking pictures on your adventure to Congo Nile Trail, a visit to INGE-BAHO COOPERATIVE known for its weaving and woodcarving activities or Bee keeping experience. Stop at Nkomero Center to savor our packed lunch and later transfer to kibuye by boat for an overnight stay at the lodge.

Spend the morning exploring the Lake Kivu and its islands on a boat and afternoon at leisure. Admire a beautiful sunset from the deck before enjoying a sumptuous dinner. Overnight stay at the lodge.

Duration: 6 hours

Length: 19.6 km

The 19.6 km stage gives remarkable views of Lake Kivu and its beautiful islands. From the trail, you can see the fascinating Kivu Belt Road twisting on the shores of the lake. The stage ends at Mugonero Orphanage, for overnight stay.

Duration: 7 hours

Length: 22.5 km

Begin the day with a boat trip across Mugonero Bay, climb up small paths to a hill 1,800m high (350m above lake level) overlooking the lake, pass a valley with rice fields, follow a long and small valley framed by steep hills before climbing up through fields and small forests to Karengera. Overnight stay in Karengera

Duration: 4 hours

Length: 14.7 km

From Karengera, this stage of 14.7 km mainly through rice fields leads you to Kumbya the hidden gem that is a lovely serene and peaceful retreat center on a little peninsula on Lake Kivu secluded away from the rest of Rwanda. This peninsula with a small forest of native trees is a birder’s paradise. Cross the rice fields of Kilimbi-River on small dams, jump over small ditches, watch the herons on the fields and the monkeys near Kumbya.

Duration: 3 hours

Length: 13 km

Today, our hike starts with a very beautiful footpath along the banks of the lake, continues through several villages where you come across charming smiles and greetings from the rural communities along the trail and ends with a walk through the rice fields of Kamiranzovu Valley. Overnight stay in Ishara

Duration: 7 hours

Length: 24 km

Laying very close to the lake and surrounded by nature, this 24 km stage is also a great trek through beautiful vegetations, including eucalyptus trees. The stage is mainly on narrow footpaths passing through villages and fields. It also offers astonishing lake views with long passages on the coastal path of the Lake Kivu.

Duration: 5 hours

Length: 18.3 km

The last stage of the Congo-Nile Hiking Trail stretches for 18.3 km from Shangi to Kamembe Town of Rusizi District. Arrive in time for lunch, relax and later head to the hot spring. See the spring bubbling up as geothermally heated water from beneath rises to the surface, cooling through a process of convection and releasing all the volcanic gas in a large and misty green pool. Overnight stay at the lodge

Breakfast at your hotel before transferring to Kigali with a stopover at the excellent Ethnographic Museum which houses one of Africa’s finest ethnographic collections before visiting a replica of the king’s and a look into the Rwandan monarchical system and its abolition in early 1960s due to colonialism. In the evening head to a local restaurant to enjoy live music, dancing, and scenic vistas as you celebrate your trip during a farewell dinner.

Today, enjoy a leisurely morning relaxing at the hotel before being picked up and transferred to the airport for your flight