rwanda
a week of gorillas and rainforest
Seven nights across Rwanda, linking Nyungwe rainforest, Lake Kivu and the gorillas of Volcanoes National Park.
- Private Safari
- From $8,700 pp
- 2 guests
- 7 nights
trip highlights
- Trekking to a habituated mountain gorilla family in Volcanoes National Park, where a permit grants one hour and eight visitors per gorilla family each day.
- Guided walking safaris on the northern Serengeti plains, led by armed guides with a national park ranger at a pace no vehicle allows.
- Off-road game drives and dawn balloon flights in Mara North Conservancy, where no more than five vehicles may gather at a sighting.
- Horseback safaris across Maasai-owned land in the Chyulu Hills, with a waterhole in front of camp that draws elephant, giraffe, zebra and antelope.
Scroll for the full itinerary
Rwanda, Tanzania and Kenya Overland
Three countries over 14 nights, beginning in Kigali, Rwanda’s clean and orderly capital. The route climbs into Volcanoes National Park for the mountain gorillas, crosses to the northern Serengeti where the plains run toward the Mara River, then reaches the Maasai Mara’s Mara North Conservancy and its predators. It ends in the Chyulu Hills, where safaris are ridden below Kilimanjaro, with a final night in Nairobi.
You travel by a mix of road and air transfers, with private driver-guides and 4x4s. Days hold gorilla trekking, guided walks, game drives and horseback riding, at a pace set by the season. The accommodation runs from an established city hotel to a ridge-top lodge, a mobile walking camp, a small conservancy camp and a hosted farmhouse, each chosen for its place.
Daily Itinerary Breakdown
Kigali, Arrival in the Capital
Kigali spreads across ridges and valleys at the centre of Rwanda, a clean, orderly capital of memorials, markets and arts. A single night settles you after the flight, with the Kigali Genocide Memorial at Gisozi and the textile stalls of Kimironko Market within an easy drive by private driver-guide. Set on Boulevard de la Révolution, the Kigali Serena Hotel is the city's established five-star address, built around a polished granite atrium of Rwandese art and roughly twenty minutes from Kigali International Airport.
- Accommodation at Kigali Serena Hotel
Volcanoes National Park and the Gorillas
From Kigali you travel northwest into the Musanze District and the rainforest of Volcanoes National Park, home to Rwanda's mountain gorillas. Trekking begins at Kinigi Park Headquarters, where groups assemble by 7am before climbing through farmed foothills and forest; a permit grants one hour with a habituated family, and a trek can run from two to seven hours depending on where the gorillas have moved. Golden monkeys, endemic to the Virunga region, also live here. High on a ridge between Lakes Bulera and Ruhondo, reached by a drive of around an hour from the park headquarters, Virunga Lodge looks west to the volcanoes, its ten hand-built bandas each with a private terrace.
- Accommodation at Virunga Lodge
Northern Serengeti and Walking Safaris
In the northern Serengeti the plains run on toward the Mara River, and from around July to October the camp stands in the Kogatende area within range of the crossings. Walking is the point here: armed guides, accompanied by a national park ranger, lead outings from a couple of hours to a full day, reading tracks, grasses and insect activity at a pace no vehicle allows, with morning and afternoon game drives as standard. Serengeti Green Camp is a mobile tented camp that moves with the wildebeest, its ten canvas tents opening onto the grass and its interiors drawn from Tanzanian craft.
- Accommodation at Serengeti Green Camp
Maasai Mara, Conservancy Predators
Mara North Conservancy borders the national reserve on Kenya's northern Mara plains, worked to a low-density model where no more than five vehicles may gather at a sighting and off-road driving is permitted to reach one. Days hold game drives in customised 4x4s morning and afternoon, guided bush walks with an armed ranger, and dawn hot-air balloon flights, on ground that carries strong predator numbers the year round. In Acacia Valley, tucked into a grove of wild olive and croton above the seasonal Olare Orok stream, Kicheche Mara Camp is a small tented camp where zebra and antelope graze within sight of the tents.
- Accommodation at Kicheche Mara North
Chyulu Hills, Horseback Below Kilimanjaro
On Maasai-owned land in the Chyulu Hills, between Amboseli and Tsavo, you explore as often on horseback as by vehicle, with Kilimanjaro filling the horizon on clear mornings. Night drives, guided walks and mountain biking all belong here, none of them permitted in neighbouring Amboseli, and a waterhole in front of camp draws elephant, giraffe, zebra and antelope. The ranch is known for its large-tusked bulls. On the Mbirikani Group Ranch, Ol Donyo Lodge sits on the south-western flank of the hills, with a sunken hide that brings guests to eye level with elephant.
- Accommodation at Ol Donyo Lodge
Nairobi, A Final Slow Day
Karen sits on the leafy south-western edge of Nairobi, some fifteen kilometres from the centre, with the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust nursery, the AFEW Giraffe Centre and the Karen Blixen Museum nearby and arranged with a vehicle on hand. A final night here lets you slow down after the bush, the day yours to shape. Sheba's Secret Garden is a hosted Cape Dutch farmhouse taken as an exclusive-use home, with its own Shagalabagala distillery where an African Dry Gin is made, a tour and tasting part of every stay.
- Accommodation at Sheba's Secret Garden
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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- Private Safari
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- 2 guests
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rwanda & tanzania
gorillas, grumeti and zanzibar
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- Private Safari
- From $32,805 pp
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our approach
remote, exclusive
& personal
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.