Rwanda Gorillas Trek and Serengeti Safari

Arrive in Kigali and transfer to your hotel in Kigali for the night to rest and prepare for the days ahead. Overnight at Serena Hotel this five-star hotel is the pick of the bunch when it comes to accommodation in Rwanda’s capital. Located just ten minutes from the international airport and three hours from the Volcanoes National Park, home of the gorillas, the Serena offers convenience, as well as comfort and top quality service.

Following a breakfast meet your private guide and start your journey to the Volcanoes National Park. You driver-guide will your great source of information and will be happy to answer any questions you may have along the way. After around three-hours you'll arrive at One&Only Gorilla’s Nest Lodge where you will spend 4 nights a place that encourages you to gaze into the mirror through eye opening encounters with majestic mountain gorillas and experience the story of Rwanda. Enjoy dinner and overnight.

After an early breakfast, you'll head to the park headquarters to meet your guide with whom you'll spend the morning tracking the endangered golden monkeys. The walk to find them is generally easier than to the gorillas, and it can help you acclimatise to the altitude and terrain. It will also test your photographic skills as they can move fairly quickly; it is a good introduction to life in the Volcanoes National Park. Returning for lunch and a hot shower, you will have the afternoon at leisure. Your driver will be at your disposal, so perhaps you will need explore the local villages, or the nearby lakes of Burera or Ruhondo. 

Following early breakfast your guide will transfer you to you to the park's headquarters for a briefing on the etiquette of visiting mountain gorillas. An experienced park ranger will lead you to one of the habituated groups of gorillas, where you have one amazing hour to observe these delightful, human-like primates. It is a breath-taking experience that you will never forget!  Return to the Lodge for lunch then get ready for some spa treatment at where you will discover inner joy for truly relaxation, unplug and recharge before dinner. 

Return to the park headquarters to be briefed on the gorilla group you will be tracking today. The different groups may vary significantly in their behaviour and how long you must trek to reach them, so your experience can be quite different. Your guide can put in requests for you if you have a certain group you'd like to see, although these can never be guaranteed. Another afternoon at leisure to relax and look through the many photos you are sure to have taken!. 

After a very early breakfast; you'll be dropped at Kigali airport where you'll catch a small plane into Tanzania. Stop briefly at Mwanza to pass through immigration before hopping back on the plane into the Serengeti. You'll be met at the airstrip by a private guide and 4WD vehicle will meet you when you arrive and who will stay with you for the duration of your time in Tanzania. You'll spend the day game driving and return to stay for three-nights at Nomad Serengeti Safari Camp. This mobile tented camp moves about every 4 weeks or so, following the movements of the wildebeest migration so your game-viewing here will mainly revolve around this incredible wildlife spectacular.

Your journey today will depend what time of year you're visiting. From around November to June, when Serengeti Safari Camp is in the central, southern or western part of the Serengeti, you'll probably continue on with the same driver guide out of the Serengeti and into the Ngorongoro Conservation area. You'll spend two-nights at Ngorongoro Crater Lodge, Boasting unbeatable views across the Ngorongoro Crater, this luxurious lodge is one of the stunning properties in the &Beyond collection. It’s comprised of three separate, intimate camps and has regularly been referred to as where Versailles meets Maasai thanks to its elegant European touches in what is an undeniably East African environment. Choose from several exciting optional tours as you depart the Serengeti. Today you will game drive to the Crater with optional tours along the way at Moru Kopjes, (renowned for its black rhinos and the mysterious Gong Rock), a nature walk at Naabi Hill and Olduvai Gorge (a famous archaeological site and home of the Maasai people). Few places in the world can match the Serengeti's long human history and this fact has earned this part of Africa the title 'Cradle of Mankind.

Aim to be the first vehicle in the famous Ngorongoro Crater this morning! Descend the steep walls of the Crater for an early morning game drive and enjoy this amazing sanctuary undisturbed from other visitors. After tracking down the Crater's rare black rhinos, massive bull elephants and famed black-maned lions, head over to Ngoitokitok Springs and indulge in a bush picnic with superb hippo viewing. Complete your circumnavigation of the Crater before returning to your accommodations.  

Enjoy your final day, perhaps by adding on a morning game drive in Lake Manyara, or just relaxing at the lodge, before finishing this part of your itinerary. You might head back to Kilimanjaro to fly home, or fly elsewhere in Africa, or if you're in need of a little rest and relaxation, you can transfer to the very nearby Manyara airstrip and catch a flight from there down to Zanzibar or the coast!