Meeting up at 7 am on our first day, we head from Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, to the Ugandan border. We arrive in Kisoro to check into a simple guesthouse, our base for the next two nights.

After meeting the rest of the group, you can head out on a coffee tour or visit a Batwa (Pygmy) village to start to soak up the local world around you and get to know others in your group. Some enjoy visiting Lake Mutande later in the day.

Alternatively enjoy having a look around this rural Ugandan town, enjoy a coffee in the coffee shop, or a beer in a local pub. Late in the afternoon we hold a group departure meeting and also go through arrangements for those trekking the gorillas the following day.

Distance: 136 kms
Est. Drive Time: 5 hours (depending on the border)
Meal: X1 Dinner

Optional excursions: Coffee tour or Batwa (Pygmy) village visit or Lake Mutande

The critically endangered mountain gorilla population currently numbers around 1,000 individuals. The gorillas are found in two forested areas – Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda and the Virungas, which stretch from Rwanda and Uganda into the Congo.

Over these days we gorilla trek. The gorilla trek is our first big highlight.

Our trek starts early morning, and can take anything from an hour to many hours depending on where the guides locate the gorillas. When found, they are usually on the ground munching away. They keep in family groups of up to 35 individuals led by one dominant, older adult male, a silverback, named after the swath of silver hair that adorns his otherwise dark fur. The family structure of a gorilla group often also includes several other young males, known as black backs, as well as females and their offspring. The young ones particularly might be seen swinging from vines and trees and can be very curious as to their daily visitors.

There is a morning also for trekking the golden monkeys in Mgahinga National Park or some enjoy visiting a local orphanage.

By afternoon of day 3 we usually return into Rwanda, a country with a turbulent history now moving rapidly forward in an attempt to put their past behind them. This afternoon there is the option to learn how to make banana beer and do basket weaving, as well as head out on a bike tour.

Distance, Day 2: 0 kms
Est. Drive Time, Day 2: 0 hours
Distance, Day 3: 51 kms
Est. Drive Time, Day 3: 3 hours (depending on the border)
Meals: X2 Breakfasts, X2 Dinners

Included Wildlife Activity: Mountain gorilla trek Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda

Optional excursions: . Golden monkeys trek or orphanage visit. Batwa (Pygmy) village visit or a coffee tour. Lake Mutande. Basket weaving, banana beer making, bike tour.

Notes: If you also wish to trek the gorillas in Rwanda please let us know at the earliest prior to booking.

For those who fancy it, a visit can be arranged early this morning to the grave of Dian Fossey in the Rwandan forest. Dian dedicated her life to protecting the mountain gorillas. Her life and work is remembered in the film ‘Gorillas in the Mist’.

If you are not trekking, we head off early, making our way to the capital Kigali, a very European style city. For those trekking, a transfer is arranged for later in the day.

We spend the next two nights in Kigali, the modern capital of Rwanda and now a vibrant cosmopolitan city. Here, we visit The Genocide Memorial and Museum. Opened in 2004, ten years after the Genocide, the memorial is a sobering reminder of the horrors that occurred over a 100 day period from April to June 1994 during which up to 1 million Tutsis and moderate Hutu were brutally slaughtered.

Some also take time to visit the Nyamata Church Memorial, a Women’s Centre, Hotel des Mille Collines (well known from the movie Hotel Rwanda) or wander in the local markets.

Distance, Day 4: 115 kms
Est. Drive Time, Day 4: 3 hours
Meals: X2 Breakfasts, X2 Dinners

Optional excursions: Trek to Dian Fossey’s grave, Visit to the Genocide museum and memorial, Nyamata Church Memorial

Today we are on the winding road out of Rwanda, heading south east via Rusomo Falls into remote rural Tanzania.

We stay tonight in a small local guest house across the border. The local children show us around this country village and the guest house owner’s wife usually cooks us a simple traditional local meal.

Distance: 260 kms
Est. Drive Time: +/- 10.5 hours (depending on the border)
Meals: X1 Breakfast, X1 Dinner

Today’s travels through rural Tanzania bring us to Lake Victoria and a ferry crossing to Mwanza, Tanzania’s second largest city. Surrounded by hills with picturesque large boulders, the city is set beside the lake.

Distance: 275 kms
Est. Drive Time: 9 hours incl. ferry journey, lunch and shopping stop
Meals: X1 Breakfast, X1 Dinner

We leave Mwanza to travel to Bunda where we relax before starting on our game drives in Tanzania’s world famous northern game parks the following day. It’s great to stretch your legs between the drives with a 2 hour climb up the large hill near camp to enjoy the stunning views.

We then head into the African bush to camp and enjoy Tanzania’s world famous game parks. Transiting through Grumeti brings us to the Serengeti, quite simply one of the best wildlife sanctuaries on the planet.

Here we start our game drives into an expanse of vast vistas, a world of rolling savannah plains of the Serengeti National Park, The park varies from open grass plains, savanna with scattered acacia, and wooded grasslands to extensive woodlands and clay plains. The Serengeti grass plains dominate the southern half of the park. The rich volcanic soil here nourishes the grasslands which attract the migratory herds. The wildebeest follow the seasonal rains and head south each year, settling on the Serengeti Plains anytime from late November onwards, having spent the dry season in the Mara and the wetter northern woodlands of the Serengeti.

The herds regularly calve here from late December through to February. More than a million wildebeest, hundreds of thousands of plains zebras, and thousands of Thomson’s gazelles can be found across the grasslands when the migration is in residence. Large predators including lions, cheetahs, and hyenas are drawn to the area also by this abundance of prey.

The large rivers in the park, whilst dry for most of the year, flow and flood during the wet seasons in December, then from March to May. Even during the dry season though, the water table is higher along the rivers and because these areas have more water, a dense riverine forest of evergreen trees grow here, and create a special habitat for other plants, insects, birds and animals.

We set up camp in the heart of the park and enjoy an evening around the camp fire listening to the sounds of the wild.

Distance to Bunda, Day 8: 156 kms
Est. Drive Time, Day 8: 3 – 4 hours incl. lunch stop Distance to Ikoma Gate, Serengeti, Day 9: 160 kms
Est. Drive Time, Day 9: 5 hours to Ikoma Gate incl. slow transit through Grumeti.
Meals: X2 Breakfasts, X2 Dinners

Included wildlife activity: Afternoon game drive, Serengeti National Park
Vehicle for game drive: Overland truckOptional excursion: Hill walk

We are up early this morning for further game drives in the Serengeti before traveling around lunchtime into the famous Ngorongoro Conservation Area, another wildlife paradise beside the Serengeti. Some too take the opportunity to balloon very early to float silently over the ancient plains.

The sweeping landscapes of the Great Rift Valley will continue to impress today as we head up to the Crater rim. With the Serengeti, the Ngorongoro is designated a World Heritage Site and Biosphere Reserve due to the biodiversity and range of animals represented across this eco-system.

The Maasai live throughout this region. We stop over to visit a Maasai village and school en route to enjoy some traditional dancing, the Maasai warriors being famous for their leaping movements, which are part of a mesmerizing sequence of movements and song designed to work the group into a state of trance.

We enjoy an evening meal and overnight camp on the Crater rim beneath a blanket of stars for our last night in the bush.

Distance: 161 kms
Est. Drive Time: 5 hours
Meals: X1 Breakfast, X1 Dinner

Included wildlife activity: Morning game drive, Serengeti. Afternoon slow transit drive, Ngorongoro Conservation Area
Vehicle for game drive: Overland truck

Optional excursions: Balloon safari, visit to a Maasai Boma, Olduvai Gorge Museum depending on road conditions. Please note if you wish to visit Olduvai Museum you must let the office know prior to the tour departure.

Early morning we descend 2,000 feet into the Ngorongoro Crater, the world’s largest extinct volcano. Ngorongoro Crater is a park that never disappoints. Travelling in customised land cruisers with a local guide we can find rhino, hippo, lion, elephant, hyena, buffalo, zebra, impala, wildebeest, cheetah, monkey, ostrich and, depending on the season, flamingo, feeding in Lake Magadi.

After our morning game drives we travel onto Arusha and civilisation, to hot showers, as well as supermarkets! There is usually time for some market shopping for items such as Tinga Tinga paintings, beaded jewellery, carvings and other local crafts on the way.

We have a fun barbecue at camp tonight.

Distance: 195 kms
Est. Drive Time: 3 – 4 hours
Meals: X1 Breakfast, X1 Dinner

Included wildlife activity: Morning game drives, Ngorongoro Crater.
Vehicle for game drive: 4×4 landcruiser with pop up roof

We spend the morning in Arusha to shop and explore the town. After lunch we travel to Marangu at the foot of Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain at 5,895 metres, the highest free-standing mountain in the world.

The next day there is the option for a day hike in Kilimanjaro National Park to Mandara hut along the start of the Marangu route. This is a beautiful walk through tropical forest and on clear days there are exciting views of both the Kibo and Mawenzi peaks of the mountain.

Alternatively take a day tour of the Marangu area to visit the village to learn more of local life, to visit a coffee plantation and a nearby waterfall.

Distance, Day 12: 120 kms
Est. Drive Time, Day 12: 3 hours
Meals: X2 Breakfasts, X2 Dinners

Optional excursions: Kilimanjaro day hike, Marangu day tour

We head south towards the Indian Ocean coast today, where we park up for a night to make final preparations for our four day stay on the tropical spice island of Zanzibar.

We retire tonight lulled to sleep by the sound of the waters lapping nearby and the breeze in the coconut palms.

Distance: 485 kms (545 kms if to Dar)
Est. Drive Time: 9 – 10 hours incl. lunch stop (11 – 12 hours if to Dar)
Meals: X1 Breakfast, X1 Dinner

The last few days on tour allows us time on the exotic spice island of Zanzibar. We make core arrangements well ahead of time so we are assured our groups are comfortable in popular beach cottages to the north of the island and for a night in a simple local lodge in the traditional capital. The tour leader travels over to the island with the group to ensure that all runs smoothly. Other excursions available include snorkeling excursions to Prison Island, famous for its giant tortoise, as well as Mnemba Atoll; a trek in Jozani forest to see the red colobus monkeys, and fishing. Scuba diving can be arranged from the Dive Centre near the beach cottages.

Day 15 we travel by ferry in the morning to Stone Town, the ancient capital of Zanzibar Island. We head north, straight to the beach at Kendwa for a three-night stay in beach cottages. Zanzibar’s coastline offers superb white, palm-fringed beaches. Out from our beach cottages, we can swim in warm waters, much less susceptible to the tides than on the east side. The smooth beaches and white sand make for dazzling days in the sun. There is beach volleyball and fun beach bars.

There are also different excursions to enjoy. You can take a walk in the Jozani Forest, home of the red colobus monkeys or head south to swim with the dolphins off Kizimkazi Beach. There are also opportunities to visit Prison Island with its giant tortoise and to snorkel in crystal clear coral waters. Mnemba Atoll is a boat ride away just off the north east coast, and has superb corals and gorgeous schools of reef fish. Turtles who breed on the island, and dolphins, can be seen with a little luck. Seasonal whale shark and humpback whales can be seen gliding past.

For the final night, we check into a lodge within Stone Town. Stone Town was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000. With its classic Swahili architecture of towers, courtyards and narrow alleys fronting onto shops, houses and mosques, the old town will catch your imagination. Mainly built of coral stone in the 19th century, the buildings have large verandahs with wooden balustrades and elegantly decorated balconies, and distinctly ornate wooden doors often with brass studs.

A Spice Tour on the island allows you to test different spices and fruits as well as find out a little of the island’s history. You can enjoy sundowners at Africa House whilst watching the traditional dhows sail in the harbour against the sunset and wander the evening food markets for Zanzibar pizza and other seafood delicacies.

Distance, Day 15: 60 kms Bagamoyo to Dar es Salaam
Est. Drive Time, Day 15: Up to 2 hours Bagamoyo to Dar es Salaam
Meals, Day 15: X1 Breakfast

Optional excursions: City tour, Snorkeling, Scuba diving, Mnemba Island, Turtle Sanctuary visit, Prison Island with a visit to the Aldabra tortoise, Jozani Forest to view the red colobus monkeys

Zanzibar Island finishYou can fly out at any time from the island the day after the tour ends or spend extra days here. We can also arrange the ferry back to Dar es Salaam for you should you fly out from there. Contact the office for more information as to arrangements at the end of the tour.

Extra accommodation can be arranged for those who would like more time on Zanzibar Island

Please note safari itineraries are given as a guide only. A safari is a journey and true journeys in Africa unfold and are of an adventurous nature. The unexpected can arise, so do allow for this.