uganda & rwanda
camping the highland lakes
From Kigali across Uganda's highland lakes to gorillas at Mgahinga, savannah game and the chimpanzees of Kibale Forest.
- Private Safari
- From $9,950 pp
- 2 guests
- 15 nights
trip highlights
- Trek to habituated gorilla families in the Nkuringo sector of Bwindi, with the briefing point about 300 metres from the lodge.
- Explore the Lolldaiga Hills, a private conservancy of cedar forest and rocky valleys where leopards are unusually dense and elephants work the waterhole below camp.
- Track lions on foot and after dark across Naboisho, a conservancy of some 50,000 acres owned outright by the Koiyaki Maasai.
- Snorkel the fringing reef off Diani Beach and watch colobus monkeys move through the coastal forest above the suites.
Scroll for the full itinerary
From Bwindi's Gorillas to Diani Beach
This route links two countries across fourteen nights. It opens in Entebbe near Lake Victoria, then climbs to the Nkuringo sector of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest for gorilla trekking. Kenya follows: Nairobi National Park on the capital’s edge, the Lolldaiga Hills of the Laikipia Highlands, the Mara Naboisho Conservancy north of the Maasai Mara, and finally the coral sand of Diani Beach.
You travel it as a sequence of contrasts, forest to highland to plains to reef. Days hold gorilla treks, game drives, walking and night drives on private conservancy land, then flat-water and reef time on the coast. The accommodation runs from a quiet garden hotel and a ridge-top forest lodge to owner-run tented camps and an oceanfront resort, each chosen for its ground rather than its size.
Daily Itinerary Breakdown
Entebbe, Lake Victoria and First Rest
The trip begins in a leafy suburb of Entebbe, ten minutes by road from the international airport and close to the shores of Lake Victoria. This first night is built around the flight schedule and rest rather than game viewing, with birds moving through the gardens all day. No.5 Boutique Hotel is a small garden retreat of fifteen rooms gathered around a central courtyard and pool, where meals run through the day in an airy dining room and arrivals are met with a cold juice.
- Accommodation at No.5 Boutique Hotel
Nkuringo, Gorillas in Southern Bwindi
These days are given to gorilla trekking in the southern Nkuringo sector of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, where four habituated gorilla families live. Treks drop steeply into the forest and climb back out, and the terrain is among the more demanding in Bwindi, so this is a difficult base for anyone hoping for gentle walks. The briefing point is about 300 metres from the door. Nkuringo Gorilla Lodge stands on Nteko Ridge at roughly 2,160 metres, its volcanic-stone and timber cottages each with a fireplace, looking across the Kashasha River Valley toward the Virunga Volcanoes.
- Accommodation at Nkuringo Gorilla Lodge
Nairobi, Rhino at the City Edge
Crossing into Kenya, this night sits on the southern edge of Nairobi National Park, a piece of savannah pressed against the capital where lion, black rhino, cheetah and buffalo range within sight of the skyline. The transfer runs through the park itself, so the drive in is already a game drive, with more than 400 bird species recorded across the park. The Emakoko is a family-built lodge worked into a steep valley above the Mbagathi River, its suites stepped across the cliff and reached on foot over a wooden footbridge.
- Accommodation at The Emakoko
Lolldaiga Hills, Leopard Country in Laikipia
Three days in the Lolldaiga Hills, a private conservancy in the Laikipia Highlands where the land climbs from 1,700 to 2,300 metres through valleys, rocky outcrops and cedar forest. Because it is private, walking, night drives and off-road driving are all permitted. Leopards are unusually dense here, with lion, elephant, buffalo, reticulated giraffe and gerenuk ranging the valleys, though no rhino. Moon's Camp is owner-run and off-grid on solar, its tents facing a waterhole with Mount Kenya beyond. Guides host two game drives a day.
- Accommodation at Moon's Camp
Naboisho, Lions on Maasai Land
Three days on the Mara Naboisho Conservancy, some 50,000 acres of the greater Maasai Mara ecosystem owned outright by the Koiyaki Maasai. Naboisho is known for a high density of lions, and low vehicle numbers mean a sighting rarely draws a crowd. Night drives, guided walks and off-road tracking are all permitted, so a guide can leave the road to follow a hunt across open country. Eagle View Camp holds an escarpment with its nine tents cantilevered along the hillside, a waterhole and salt lick directly below that draw elephants, giraffes and zebras into view from the decks.
- Accommodation at Eagle View Camp
Diani Beach, Reef and Coastal Forest
The final four nights are the ocean chapter, on the central stretch of Diani Beach on Kenya's south coast, where white sand runs down to a lagoon held calm by a fringing reef. Days fill with the water: snorkelling out to the reef by boat, kitesurfing and windsurfing off the sand in the steady trade winds, and kayaking in the sheltered lagoon. Waterlovers Beach Resort holds ten oceanfront keys built into coastal forest that was never cleared, with colobus monkeys in the canopy above the suites and Tides Restaurant opening by the pool with the ocean in front of it.
- Accommodation at Waterlovers Beach Resort
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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uganda
remote karamoja safari
Nine nights from Lake Victoria through Karamoja to the Kidepo Valley, Uganda's most remote park.
- Private Safari
- From $6,755 pp
- 2 guests
- 9 nights
uganda
gorilla trekking adventure
Trek twice into Bwindi for mountain gorillas, then track chimpanzees in Kyambura Gorge and Kibale Forest.
- Group Departure
- From $7,851 pp
- 7 guests
- 10 days
rated five stars by our clients
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.