Tanzania Safari and Rwanda Gorillas

You will be picked by our guide from Kigali Airport and depending on your arrival time, you may be able to visit some of Kigali’s craft markets to browse amongst the pottery, carvings, batik, weaving, sculpture, musical instruments, leather and fabrics on offer. Prepare to use your haggling skills! All activities and purchases today are at your own cost.

Journey Time: 15 minutes from the airport

Accomodation: Hotel des Mille Collines

You will wake in the morning after breakfast, then head to Virunga ranges, home of the Mountain Gorilla and your lodge, you can see the lakes Burera and Ruhondo then the other side, you have magnificent views of the volcanoes Karisimbi, Mikeno and Visoke.

Optional activity: Genocide Memorial
Depending on your time of arrival on day 1, you could visit the Genocide Memorial in Kigali in the afternoon or on day 2 in the morning. Walking the streets of Kigali today, it is hard to imagine the 100 days of madness in which an estimated one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were systematically butchered by the Interahamwe in one of the most savage genocides in history. This center has been built near the mass graves of 250,000 of those who perished and attempts to explain the event in context – from the divisive colonial experience in Rwanda and the heinous crimes that took place in 1994 to the aftermath of the genocide and the search for justice. The tour concludes with a section about other mascres of global significance and this activity is optional and at our own cost.

Journey Time: 2 – 3 hours

Meal Plan: Lunch & Dinner

Accomodation: Virunga Lodge

You will have an early morning breakfast and then you are driven into the park about 30 minutes to the Office Rwandais du Tourisme et Des Parc Nationaux (ORTPN). The head ranger of the ORTPN will divide you into groups based on interest and fitness. From here your driver/guide will take you as close as possible to the starting point of your tracking and today you will track one of the habituated Gorilla groups who can tolerate the presence of humans for a brief period every day. The time taken to track the gorillas can take as little as half an hour to as much as 8 hours!

Your track will be an exciting journey along forested slopes, entwined vines, bushes and bamboo before you eventually reach the gorillas’ current location. Your guide will point out signs of previous gorilla activity, including dung, nests and chewed bamboo shoots. Once the gorillas have been located, you will be allowed a maximum of one hour with them. Coming face-to-face with a mountain gorilla is a humbling and emotional experience. This is a fantastic and privileged opportunity to get up close and personal with Rwanda’s own ‘Gorillas in the Mist’.

Note: Sight View Safaris purchases the permits in advance but is unable to reserve a specific gorilla group as it is for the head-ranger to decide this!

Journey Time: 15 minutes by car, tracking time varies

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Accomodation: Virunga Lodge

You will have an early morning breakfast and be transferred to you to Kigali airport for your flight to Tanzania.

Flight details Rwandair
Departure: 19:30 pm
Arrival time: 22:10 pm

Then our driver will pick you up from Kilimanjaro airport and transfer you to the Arumeru River Lodge. Set on an old coffee plantation, this elegant lodge features beautiful cottages built in a mix of African and European styles.

TOURS DEPARTING BETWEEN JANUARY AND MAY OR IN NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER, WILL VISIT LAKE MANYARA N.P. ON DAY 2.

Journey Time: 45 minutes

Accomodation: Arumeru River Lodge

You will have an early morning breakfast and have an en-route game drive traveling to ‘Mto wa Mbu’. You will discover a melting pot of cultures, during your visit you’ll get a good feel for the social side of the village – the farms and the milling machines, the schools, markets and churches. You’ll likely visit the village banana plantation as well as a youth art project, and a wood workshop where you can watch skilled Makonde tribe members carve intricate figurines, masks and household objects. You may also visit the local market. The length of the tour is very flexible but generally last around 2–3 hours. After the village walk, you have a delicious local Swahili meal which you (can) prepare together with the highly respected Local woman. Then visit Lake Manyara to have an opportunity to see baboons, flamingos, water birds, long-crested eagle, grey headed king fisher, there is also a high chance to see elephant families moving through the forest as well as Lake Manyara’s famous population of tree-climbing lions are reason enough to include a visit to this park in the itinerary.

TOURS DEPARTING BETWEEN JUNE AND OCTOBER WILL VISIT TARANGIRE N.P. ON DAY 2

Journey Time: 2 hours to Mto wa Mbu

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Local Lunch, Dinner

Accomodation: Escarpment Luxury Lodge

DAY 5B
Tarangire National Park
You will have an early morning breakfast then head to Tarangire National park for a game drive. You can spot herds of elephants, many different animals like leopard, zebra, impala, warthog, eland, buffalo, waterbuck and lion. Also the birders will have so much to see; more than 500 different bird-species are present. This park hosts the biggest concentration of wildlife outside the Serengeti. Also it is the only place in Tanzania where the oryx and gerenuk are regularly spotted. Then have a parked lunch picnic stopover in the park, then go for an afternoon game drive, then head back to your accommodation Sangaiwe Tented Lodge.

Journey Time: 2 hours to the park entrance

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Packed Lunch & Dinner

Accomodation: EcoScience Luxury Lodge

You will have an early morning breakfast and then have a full day game drive to encounter with the big cats and there are thousands of lions in the Serengeti and you have a fair chance to see cheetahs, although they are difficult to spot and when it comes to leopards, the Serengeti rarely disappoints. Then have a picnic lunch stopover in a nice spot in the park, then continue with a game drive and in the late afternoon return to the lodge for relaxation and dinner

Optional activity: Hot Air Balloon Safari Serengeti

This optional activity costs US$ 800 per person.

Float in a hot air balloon over the famous Serengeti National Park with its enchanting scenery. This may be the most beautiful area in the world for a balloon flight. There are no power lines, fences and few roads. Your Balloon Safari adventure starts early morning when you depart your lodge or camp. It is still dark and you may be fortunate to see nocturnal animals on the way to the launch site. When you arrive, you meet your pilot and witness your balloon being inflated and prepared. The capacity is limited making this experience a special and exclusive one. The balloon safari takes approximately 1 hour depending on the weather conditions. You will end this excursion in style with a champagne bush breakfast in the middle of the park!

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Packed Lunch, Dinner

Accomodation: Serengeti Tortilis Camp

You have an early morning breakfast, then have an en-route game drive out of the Serengeti towards the Ngorongoro Crater where you find the largest population of wildlife throughout the year with a good chance of spotting ‘The Big 5’: lion, elephant, buffalo, rhino and leopard. Other wildlife includes serval cat, cheetah, jackal, Grant’s and Thompson’s gazelle, flamingo and bat-eared foxes, as well as approximately 400 species of colorful birds. Then have a picnic lunch and then continue with an afternoon game drive while heading to your accommodation for dinner and sleeping over.

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Packed Lunch, Dinner

Accomodation: Ngorogoro Farm house