Tanzania and Rwanda Highlights Safari

Rwanda Gorilla Safari and Tanzania Wildlife Safari -  From £4,500 Per Person Sharing

Day 1
Arrive Kilimanjaro and met by your private guide and vehicle. Upon arrival at your hotel you will have a briefing and then time to relax before the start of your safari.
Overnight The Arusha Hotel (D)

Day 2
Transfer to Ngorongoro Crater. Lunch at Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge and afternoon Crater drive. The Crater is one of the wonders of the world, a natural caldera serves as an amphitheatre for stunning game drives during which you can expect to see the Big 5.
Overnight: Plantation Lodge - a beautiful property set amidst lush gardens with a pool to relax off in during the heat of the day (B, L, D)

Day 3, 4, 5
Today you drive further north and on to Lobo, part of Serengeti National Park. Lobo offers a wide variety of fauna with 3 prides of lion a number of resident leopard, cheetah and elephants, and experiences the migration twice a year! With varying landscape from open savannah plains, kopjes and riverine woodlands this is a fascinating area to experience the savannah game of Tanzania. In the evening relax back at camp and experience the true bush existence as you sit round the fire chatting about the days’ sightings and watching supper being cooked on open coals...

Olakira Camp provides a unique bushcamp experience as it follows the migrating herds. Taking up some of the best locations in the Serengeti Olakira maximises your chances of seeing as much of the action as possible!
Overnight: Olakira Tented Camp - a very comfortable tented camp located in the prine areas of the Serengeti (B, L, D)

Day 5
Today you leave Olakira Camp and transfer south to Seronera airstrip for your flight to Mwanza where you will clear customs and immigration. From here you continue your flight to Kigali, Rwanda. Upon arrival in Kigali you will be met by your private guide and vehicle and transfer through the land of a thousand hills to your lodge.
Overnight: Mountain Gorilla View Lodge/Virunga Lodge (D)

Day 6, 7
Early start to Ruhengeri, to start the Gorilla tracking for these 2 days. The next two days activities may be amongst the most exciting and challenging of our entire expedition. The Mountain Gorillas in the Parc National des Volcans are part of a worldwide population of just 740 individuals. The gorillas we are allowed to track belong to one of five habituated family groups. For up to five years each, these groups have undergone an extremely delicate process that has gradually brought them to tolerate the presence of humans for a brief period every day and allowed a few privileged visitors to interact with them in the wild.

The gorillas are by no means tame, and are completely wild animals. However, experienced guides will accompany us on our tracking, many of who have been involved in the habituation process themselves. The guides will use their knowledge of the gorillas’ habits and information from the previous day to locate the group’s whereabouts.

Because of this, the time taken to track the gorillas varies enormously, from as little as half an hour to as much as 9 hours before one returns to base. Once the gorillas are located, our group will be allowed a maximum of one hour with them. This is one of the world’s truly memorable experiences – a look into one of these magnificent creatures’ eyes brings home the bond that exists between them and us. It also brings home the poignant fact that they are on the edge of extinction, and that our presence here contributes to ensuring their continued survival.
Overnight: Mountain Gorilla View Lodge/Virunga Lodge on the first night, Kigali Serena Hotel on the second night (FB)

Day 8
Today we enjoy a morning tour of the city, followed by an early lunch and a transfer to the airport for our flight out.

Notes: This safari can also be run in reverse and has the option of a beach extension to Zanzibar. Please ask for further details.