Best of Tanzania & Rwanda

A 12 day luxury safari with private 4×4 and scheduled flights visiting some of East Africa’s most incredible locations. First take a tour of the highlights of Tanzania including Tarangire National Park as well as the Serengeti National Park – the World’s most famous safari destination. Then fly to the stunning landscape of Rwanda for a once-in-a-lifetime experience of seeing endangered Mountain Gorillas in the wild.

Accommodation in Tanzania is in high quality tented camps. In Rwanda, accommodation is at the luxurious Volcanoes Virunga Lodge, within the dramatic scenery of towering peaks, vibrant green terraces and shimmering lakes of the Virunga mountain range.

This tour includes private 4×4 vehicles with expert driver-guides (and scheduled flights from Serengeti to Rwanda, and Rwanda to Kilimanjaro). Flexible departures (any day).

In Summary:

Discover some of the best game-viewing areas in Tanzania in a comfortable 4×4 safari vehicle and escorted by an expert driver-guide. Starting in Kilimanjaro (or Arusha) – and after a night at the Arusha Hotel – we head to the beautiful Tarangire region for 2 nights, then on to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area for 1 night. Then choose to continue by road or air  to spend 3 nights in the heart of the Serengeti for fascinating game-viewing in the most celebrated safari park on Earth.

Fly back to Arusha and transfer to Kilimanjaro Airport  and connect to Kigali. You’ll be greeted on arrival and transferred to the Kigali Serena Hotel for overnight.

The next morning your expert driver-guide will take you by private 4×4 vehicle through the beautiful landscape for 3 nights at Volcanoes Virunga Lodge, a luxury haven from where you can take various excursions / activities including a trek into the Parc National des Volcans to see Mountain Gorillas.

The choice of excursions includes:

• Gorilla Tracking in Parc National des Volcans
• Golden Monkey Tracking in Parc National des Volcans
• Dian Fossey’s Grave and Karisoke Research Centre
• Intore Dance Performances at the Lodge
• Mwiko Primary School Community Support Project

On the last day transfer back to Kigali Airport to connect with your onward international flight (or we can include a flight back to Kilimanjaro for onward connections).

Accommodation:

• Hamerkop House – Lemala (1 night)
• Nimali Tarangire (2 nights)
• Lemala Ngorongoro Tented Camp (1 night)
• Lemala Ewanjan, Central Serengeti (3 nights)
• Kigali Serena Hotel (1 night)
• Volcanoes Virunga Lodge (3 nights)

Optional Upgrade to Lemala Kuria Hills Lodge (Northern Serengeti)

At any time of year (excluding Apr to May) we can offer the exclusive Lemala Kuria Hills Lodge in Northern Serengeti as an alternative to Lemala Ewanjan. The luxurious Lemala Kuria Hills Lodge is particularly popular when the Great Migration is in this area (July to August).

Tarangire National Park

Ngorongoro Conservation Area

With a span of over 8,300 sq kms (3,192 sq miles), the Ngorongoro Conservation Area is a perfect microcosm of East Africa: it combines spectacular scenery and valuable archaeological sites with mountains, forests, grassland plains, extinct volcanoes and a staggering profusion of wildlife.

Central to the Area is the Ngorongoro Crater which is actually the sunken cone of a huge, extinct volcano – the crater floor covering 260 sq kms (100 sq miles). There are stunning vistas from the road that descends the 2,000 feet to the crater floor.

Within the crater are bull elephants, lions, hyena, zebra, wildebeest among others living on the grasslands and acacia forests. The location is important as a successful sanctuary for the endangered black rhino. There is also a soda lake – Lake Magadi – which attracts greater and lesser flamingo and other water birds.

The Ngorongoro Crater provides a unique and beautiful backdrop for observing and photographing its fascinating and varied wildlife.

Serengeti National Park

The Serengeti National Park is the largest and best known of all the Tanzania National Parks covering an area of 14,500 sq km (5,600 sq miles). The vast Serengeti plains sustain the greatest and most spectacular concentration of wildlife found anywhere in the world.

The Serengeti is known for its vast open plains with lofty rocky outcrops giving character to the landscape, but there are also acacia and savannah woodland, forests, rivers and the occasional swamp and small lake.

The natural phenomenon of the Great Migration sees vast herds of wildebeest gather to the south to give birth in February to March – over 400,000 calves are born within a six week period. Over the coming months they move north through Central Serengeti and along the western corridor and up to the Maasai Mara to breed before returning south to start the whole pattern again.

The Serengeti is also known for its large prides of lions and the magnificent black maned lions are often seen surveying their territories from the top of the rocky outcrops. Leopards are relatively numerous and are to be found during the daytime resting in trees along the Seronera river.

Smaller animals also play an important role in the plains life cycle. Banded mongoose, brightly coloured agama lizards, rock hyrax, dikdik, vervet monkeys to name just a few.

Bird-lovers are drawn by more than 500 species of birds. There are large numbers of Kori Bustard, Africa’s heaviest flying birds, as well as the snake eating Secretary Bird, Crowned Plover, Yellow throated sandgrouse and many more.

Rwanda

Rwanda – “the land of a thousand hills” – offers a new aspect to Africa and a different holiday experience to that of other East African countries. With its stunning landscape including dramatic volcanoes, thick rainforest and vast lakes, Rwanda ensures that travellers have a truly unforgettable time.

The Parc National des Volcans is one of the only places in the World where you can trek through the rainforest to track and observe endangered Mountain Gorillas.

Other activities are treks to see Chimpanzees and Golden Monkeys in the wild, guided forest walks to see waterfalls or to visit lakeside villages to learn about the local culture or community projects. Guests can also learn about the life and work of the late Dian Fossey, the conservationist and author (“Gorillas in the Mist”) who dedicated her life to the study and protection of Mountain Gorillas.