Car hire to Lake Kivu

If you needed a good reason to hire a car to Lake Kivu, it is to drive safely and comfortably. This is all while you avoid delays and difficulty in order to ensure that you reach your destination. To achieve this, you will need reliable, well-maintained cars capable of handling every aspect of the journey to Lake Kivu. Hiring a car to travel to Lake Kivu offers you the freedom to travel at your own pace while enjoying privacy and comfort throughout the journey. This is quite different from using public means, which is time-consuming and often less comfortable.

Why hire a car to Lake Kivu from Standard Safaris?

Standard Safaris is a reputable tour operator that offers tours and travel services throughout East Africa and beyond. We ensure that each car available for hire is well-maintained and well-suited for the journey, such as Lake Kivu. We also guarantee professional support, assistance, and local expertise for each one traveling with us. Carefully handling every issue throughout the trip ensures that our clients enjoy peace of mind, reliability, and safety on Lake Kivu. We also offer carefully curated tour packages designed with your input.

This will transform your simple transportation into a complete travel experience. We also have our own experienced guides who can drive you to Lake Kivu. Each one of them has a clear understanding of the terrain and natural wonders throughout the trip. They will offer you deeper insight to ensure your travel experience is both effortless and insightful. These driver guides are quite multilingual and capable of speaking the local languages, including Kinyarwanda, English, Swahili, and French, among others.

Vehicle types available at Standard Safaris

Our fleet offers a very wide range of vehicle types that can take you to and from Lake Kivu in Rwanda. Vehicles to choose from include the Toyota Land Cruisers (including 7-seater, 5-seater, 3-seater), safari vans, Sedans and SUVs, etc. The latter includes TX, VX, TZ, and V8s, among others. All the mentioned vehicles are designed to capably traverse through rough and varied terrain all the way to Lake Kivu. Their off-road capabilities ensure that you can explore remote areas with ease and comfort.

Car hire costs at Standard Safaris.

Each of our vehicle types has its own cost. Excluding the cost of the driver and fuel for each trip to Lake Kivu, our car hire rates are as follows.

Toyota V8 – USD 200 per day
7-seater Toyota Land Cruiser – USD 150 per day
5-seater Toyota Land Cruiser – USD 110 per day
3-seater Toyota Land Cruiser – USD 80 per day
Safari van – USD 70 per day
SUV – USD 60 per day
Sedan – USD 45 per day

Driving to Lake Kivu

If you are driving from Kigali City to Lake Kivu, you will cover a distance of around 154 kilometers westwards. The scenic trip to Lake Kivu, particularly at Gisenyi, takes between 3 and 4 hours from Kigali. You can also start your journey from other destinations, including Kampala City, Nyungwe National Park, Volcanoes National Park, and Akagera National Park. The distances to cover are 577 kilometers, 178 kilometers, 68 kilometers, and 243 kilometers, respectively.

What to do at Lake Kivu?

Lake Kivu has a wide range of tourist activities from beach adventures to offshore experiences, attracting many visitors from far and wide. Below are some of these activities.

Boat cruise

A boat cruise offers a chance for you to enjoy a relaxing trip on Lake Kivu by boat. You can watch the numerous water birds in the place. Meanwhile, you will get out of the boat and explore one of the Islands. This is a chance to capture beautiful green hills while interacting with the indigenous people. Sport fishing can also be done while on a motorboat.

Kayaking

This is an exciting water sport that you can enjoy on Lake Kivu. This offers a chance to glide on the serene water as you soak in the rare beauty of the shoreline and surrounding hills. There is a kayaking crew that ensures that you are safe while on Lake Kivu. They offer life jackets and well-maintained kayaks for you.

Relaxation

At the shores of Lake Kivu, you will enjoy sunbathing, sundowning, or simply soaking in the lake breeze. While reclining on your deck chair, you will have a glass of a cocktail or juice in your hand to sip. If you are the social type, you can engage in meaningful conversations to share your personal experiences or business ideas.

Birdwatching

Birding is exciting for birders and ornithologists since Lake Kivu has a wide range of waterbirds. Birdwatching can be done in various locations on and around Lake Kivu to observe as many bird species as possible. Some of the key bird species to spot include the red-chested sunbird, hadada ibis, Egyptian goose, and pied kingfisher, among others.

Other exciting activities to do at Lake Kivu include cycling, hiking, coffee tour, Island hopping, sightseeing, and swimming, among others.

Best time to drive to Lake Kivu?

Traveling to Lake Kivu can be done year-round. But roads to Lake Kivu are often in much better condition during the dry season of the year. The days are also clear because of the open skies above. Dry seasons usually occur from June to July and again from December to February. The dry season is also ideal for travelers hoping to enjoy boat cruises, view scenery, and relax by the lakeside. Nevertheless, with Standard Safaris, you can also drive to Lake Kivu in the wet season. Our cars can traverse wet, muddy, and slippery roads well.

Sándor Jakubinyi

14:31 22 Feb 24

2019 megigazulás

12:45 21 Feb 24

We went on a two-week trip with my family, organised by Coleb from Standard Safaris.

I had my concerns about organised trips, but this one didn’t justify any of those. Everything went very smoothly, even when some problems arose with one of the cars it got fixed by next morning, the accomodations were clean and comfortable, the programs were exciting and well-balanced - everything was done to a truly high standard.

If you plan to visit Uganda and are looking for a guide, I warmly recommend Coleb and his team. In case you have a choice of drivers, go for Godwin, his presence made this trip even more enjoyable - cheerful, helpful, good sense of humour, generally a great person. Just look for the guy with a big smile and big heart:)

Bert Simoens

09:38 08 Jan 24

We recently embarked on a safari adventure with Standard Safaris in Uganda, which was truly exceptional. Our guide, Yonah, was outstanding - his kindness, knowledge, and discretion significantly enhanced our experience. He was the heart of our trip.

The local company's planning was offering a tailor-made journey that matched our interests. We saw an array of wildlife in Murchison, enjoyed rafting at Jinja, and experienced mountain biking at Sipi. A visit to Kidepo National Park was a highlight and comes highly recommended.

The vehicle provided was comfortable and reliable. We highly recommend Standard Safaris for anyone seeking an unforgettable safari in Uganda. Their professionalism and the exceptional guidance of staff like Yonah make them an great choice.

Michał Kostrzewa

00:41 15 Nov 23

We are all extremely grateful Standard Safaris for an incredible East Africa experience. I recently booked a custom trip for group of 8 people, including an 8-year-old boy, from Kampala through Queen Elizabeth National Park and on to Rwanda and Burundi. Coleb delivered on everything that was discussed and agreed upon beforehand.

The car provided was in great condition and our driver Meddy went above and beyond to make sure we were comfortable, informed, and had the best possible time. He was friendly, knowledgeable, and professional. All local services were inlcuded in (reasonable) price that we agreed, so there was no need to worry about payments during the 6 day trip. Also Standard Safaris agreed took care about safety and security by helping us organize armed ranger while in the park.

The whole trip was hassle-free and smooth. We saw amazing wildlife in Queen Elizabeth NP, took in the sights of Rwanda and Burundi, and made lifelong memories.

I would happily book with Standard Safaris again in a heartbeat and recommend them wholeheartedly to anyone looking for the best East Africa trip. They provide top-notch service while ensuring you have an incredible, customized experience. If you want a hassle-free, flawlessly organized African adventure, Standard Safaris is the tour operator to book with.

Ivan Nammanda

18:31 27 Oct 23

Very organized travel operator who chose awesome guide to make our trip wonderful.

We booked a nine days trip with Standard Safaris and all was perfect from start to finish. Coleb was very prompt at replying and easy to liaise with ahead of the trip. We had done a lot of research and had an itinerary in mind and Coleb helped us to put everything together to make this happen for a very reasonable price.  On the trip we had a private vehicle for the whole tour which was exactly what we wanted. Bryan was our driver and an amazing guide - really friendly and knowledgable, working hard to find the things that we wanted to see and quickly understanding what was of interest to us/how much information to give.

Would highly recommend a trip to Uganda with Standard Safaris. We are definitely coming back soon!

MUGAIGA KENNETH

18:01 27 Oct 23

The company has very courteous tour guides with wide knowledge of fauna and frola in the whole of East Africa.
The choice of safari Lodges is good with first class treatment.
Game drive security is assured.
Almost The whole of September I was traversing through DRC, Uganda,and Rwanda on a gorilla tour and wildlife expedition.
Everything was arranged and booked perfectly by Standard Safaris.
The owner, Coleb was always helpful whenever we needed to ask questions about this gorilla safari in Uganda and beyond.
It was a complex expedition but Standard safaris and Coleb made it look amazingly easy.
I’ll recommend Standard safaris 200%, for all gorilla safaris in Uganda, Rwanda and wildlife tours in east africa.

travel uganda

16:35 27 Oct 23

This is so far the best gorilla trekking company in Uganda, and africa, by far. I had a wonderful time with Standard Safaris as a solo traveler.
My guide was excellent and our safari planner, Coleb was quick with responses and the prices were very friendly.
I’ll definitely book with Standard safaris on my next gorilla tour in Rwanda and Uganda.