Begin your day with an early morning pickup from your accommodation in Kigali. Enjoy scenic highlights on the 2.5-hour drive east, passing rolling hills and local village life. Stop at a community arts center for a 20-minute stretch and immersion in local crafts, adding a cultural layer and photo opportunity not typically included in other itineraries.

Enter the park, complete registration and orientation at the park entrance. Traverse diverse habitats: open savannah, wooded hills, and swamp fringes. Look out for elephants, giraffes, zebras, buffalo, and antelope species like topi and eland.

Seek out the Big Five like lions, leopards, rhinos, elephants, buffalo which have all been reintroduced and are now regularly spotted. Use a high-quality pair of binoculars: a personal tip often neglected in standard tours.

Dine lakeside by Lake Ihema or Rwanyakazinga, serenaded by hippos surfacing and water birds herons, fish-eagles, shoebill stork, and the jewel-like papyrus gonolek. Glide silently across the lake, spotting hippo pods, Nile crocodiles, and birdlife across at least 525 species, including waterfowl and endangered shoebills.

Head inland via the giraffe and hippo zones, then cut through wooded ridges for trackers to lead a “Big Cat Moment.” This involves silent stops at known watering holes, enhancing chances to encounter lions or leopards an interactive twist beyond the usual route. Look out also for hyenas and bushbuck, and the smaller primates (vervet, olive, and blue monkeys) for a fuller ecological experience.

Choose a scenic hilltop or woodland clearing for a sundowner moment, complete with sparkling water or soft drink and light snacks against the backdrop of the golden savannah. Time permitting, pause briefly at the arts center or roadside bazaar en route for souvenirs, local honey, or curios.