rwanda: the country’s finest lodges

The sample route describes one gorilla trek, and a second can be added.

If the budget allows, we think that is the best use of the third night, and we recommend three to four nights to allow for two treks. We put success on any one morning at better than 95 per cent, so a second permit is not insurance against missing the gorillas.

The case for it is different: in our experience the hour goes fast and much of a first visit is spent simply taking it in, while the weather and where the gorillas settle that morning are out of anyone's hands. Families are allocated at the 7am briefing, so a second morning means a new allocation and a new walk.

If once is enough, we can arrange golden monkeys for the spare morning or, for strong walkers, a day hike to the crater lake on Bisoke volcano. Each gorilla permit is for a fixed date, so decide before you book.

All five live there, which is not the same as seeing all five.

Buffalo are everywhere and elephants tend to stay near the lakes, so the boat on Lake Rwanyakazinga is a good place to look for them, along with hippo and crocodile.

Lions, brought back in 2015 and now established on the northern plains, Magashi's side of the park, are an occasional sighting; leopard are rare, and may be seen on a night drive.

Rhino come in two kinds: white rhino, which graze the open plains, are the likelier sighting, while black rhino keep mostly to thickets far to the south. The shoebill that birders hope for on the lake appears on rare occasion.

So plan on excellent general game, giraffe, zebra and topi included, and treat the cats and the rhino as the prizes.

Two mornings ask something of you; the rest is as gentle as you like. Akagera is seen from a vehicle and a boat.

Nyungwe is the surprise. Its chimpanzee tracking is difficult, the ground is steep and often slippery between 1,600 and 2,950 metres, and the start is around 5.30am.

Its chimpanzees are only semi-habituated and far less dependable than the gorillas, so no one can tell you how long that walk will be. The canopy walkway is graded moderate, and there are easy trails too.

The gorilla trek is higher, between about 2,500 and 4,000 metres, yet we regard this as the easiest place anywhere to track mountain gorillas: rangers match families to fitness at the briefing, and porters are there to carry your bag and steady you.

You do need to be happy on steep, muddy ground for several hours, twice, with a few days between the two.

Because the usual road does.

Akagera lies on the eastern border and Nyungwe in the far south-west, and the main way between them runs through the capital. Akagera's entrance lies two to three hours by road from the city, with Magashi well to the north of it, and Nyungwe is five to six hours south-west of the city.

In one go that is a punishing day, so the sample route breaks it with a night in Kigali. The alternative is to fly.

The route allows for air transfers, which between these parks usually means a chartered helicopter, typically an Agusta with five or six seats, or for Nyungwe a scheduled airline flight into Kamembe, around an hour from Nyungwe House by car.

The helicopter from Kigali takes around 30 minutes. Flying can remove the Kigali night or hand it to one of the parks.

All three parks carry our recommended rating in June, July and August, and Akagera and the volcanoes keep it through September.

They are also the dates that go first, because gorilla permits for the dry months sell out early and the lodges here are tiny.

The alternative we suggest most is the short dry window of January and February, when both Akagera and the volcanoes carry our recommended rating. No month stops the gorilla treks, so rain alters the walk and not the odds of reaching a family.

Between those extremes come May, October and December: some rain and heavier going underfoot, greener scenery, fine birding in Akagera, overcast skies that are kinder than hard sun for photographing black fur, and more room at the lodges.

The two months we would rule out are April and November, along with March for the gorilla days.

Further ahead than most safaris, for two reasons the route makes plain.

The first is gorilla permits. There are twelve habituated families and eight permits a day for each, so 96 people a day can trek in the whole park, and we advise securing the permit before committing to any other dates.

The second is the size of the lodges: Bisate has six villas and Magashi eight tents, so one family party takes a real share of either.

For travel between June and September, when permits and the smallest lodges sell out well ahead, we suggest starting as early as you can, and earlier still if you have a particular week in mind; the wetter months usually leave more room.

The order we work in is always the same:

• We fix the gorilla permit date
• We hold the two smallest lodges around it
• We then fit Nyungwe and Kigali, which have more rooms and more give