The route begins in Kigali, Rwanda’s hill-spread capital, then climbs to Volcanoes National Park for the mountain gorillas of the Virunga forests. It crosses into Kenya through Nairobi before three conservancies in turn: Mara North on the Mara River, Namunyak in the Mathews Range and Ol Malo on a Laikipia escarpment. It finishes on the coast at Kilifi Creek.
You travel by road and light aircraft, with private guiding through the conservancies and time to trek, drive, walk and ride at your own pace. The stays run from a sole-use villa in Kigali and a forest lodge below the volcanoes to exclusive-use camps and a private house above the Indian Ocean.
Rwanda's capital spreads across a series of ridges, widely regarded as the cleanest city in Africa and a calm place to arrive. Give it a day for the Kigali Genocide Memorial at Gisozi, the textile stalls of Kimironko Market and the painters of the Inema Arts Center. Your base is a four-bedroom family home on Rebero hill in Kicukiro, taken on sole use with a private chef and butler, its veranda and pool looking out across the folded country beyond.
From Kigali you move north to the Virunga volcanoes, where a permit grants one hour with a habituated mountain gorilla family, eight visitors per family each day. Treks assemble at Kinigi Park Headquarters by 7am and can last from two to seven hours across farmed foothills and forest; golden monkeys and around 200 bird species share the park. Between walks, the lodge sits among eucalyptus at the foot of the volcanoes, its free-standing suites raised among the trees with the peaks filling the view.
A night in Nairobi's Karen suburb breaks the move into Kenya. The Giraffe Centre and the David Sheldrick elephant orphanage lie fifteen minutes away, the Karen Blixen Museum a few minutes' drive, and Nairobi National Park is close enough for a morning game drive among lion, black rhino, zebra and giraffe. The house is a privately owned Cape Dutch guesthouse of seven rooms, its gardens falling to a quiet stream under mature shade trees.
In Mara North Conservancy the days run to game drives with a private vehicle and a two-person guide-and-tracker team, following the day's light and the movement of animals across savannah and riverine forest. Elephant, buffalo, lion and leopard range the conservancy, and resident hippos wallow in the pools below camp. Three timber-and-canvas rooms above a bend of the Mara River are taken whole by up to six guests, so the river frontage and the guides are yours alone.
Namunyak covers around 850,000 acres of plains, riverine corridors and rocky slopes in Samburu County, a community conservancy where activities face few restrictions. Days can hold unrestricted game drives, night drives, walking safaris, horseback rides on bush ponies and camel treks into the Mathews Range. Eight canvas suites stand on stilts in a forest glade at the foot of Mount Uarges, with elephants, buffalo and giraffe moving across the floor beneath the decks and a waterhole below the pool.
On a Laikipia escarpment above the Ewaso Ng'iro, the days go on horseback, on camels and on foot with armed Samburu guides, drawing closer to Grevy's zebra and reticulated giraffe than a vehicle allows. Night drives and off-road tracking are permitted here on private land, and a waterhole and salt lick sit directly beneath the cliff, where leopards visit after dark. The lodge is a family ranch, hand-built in local stone above the river and now run by a third generation.
The trip finishes on the coast, on a clifftop above Kilifi Creek where the Goshi River meets the Indian Ocean. The sheltered, tidal channel suits sailing, kayaking and paddleboarding, the reef off the house holds tropical fish reached with mask and fins, and the estate's own boat goes out into deeper water. Six suites take twelve guests on exclusive use, with a private chef, a 25-metre infinity pool above the rock pools and gardens running to the cliff edge.
Ed Charles, BBC Producer
Fitzroy are true specialists in accessing the wilderness. They know where to go and importantly, when to go there. Highly recommended.
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rwanda & tanzania
Rwanda's mountain gorillas, private Serengeti reserves in Tanzania and a finish on the Zanzibar coast.
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rwanda
Eight nights across Rwanda, from Nyungwe's rainforest and Lake Kivu to the gorilla trailheads of the Virunga volcanoes.
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rwanda & tanzania
Twelve nights from Kigali to the Virunga gorillas and on to the eastern and western plains of the Serengeti.
rated five stars by our clients
our approach
Every journey starts with a conversation. We take the time to understand your vision before we start planning.
Whether by phone or in person, we work with you directly to shape something that is considered, personal, and expertly delivered.
Every journey starts with a conversation. We favour a direct, personal approach: understanding your vision before anything else.
Whether by phone or in person, we work with you directly to shape a journey that is both thoughtfully considered and expertly delivered.
Get in touch to start planning yours.
