12 Days of Rwanda Gorilla Trekking and Tanzania Safari

Safari Overview

Summary

This 12-day journey combines Rwanda’s famous Gorilla Trekking with Tanzania’s amazing safari escape. Begin in Kigali, with an optional genocide memorial visit, before heading to Volcanoes National Park for unforgettable encounters: trek mountain gorillas and playful golden monkeys, and explore the Ellen DeGeneres Campus to learn about conservation.

Fly to Tanzania’s Serengeti, where game drives in the Grumeti River region reveal the Great Migration’s dramatic river crossings. Enjoy a sundowner, bush breakfast, or optional hot air balloon ride. Traverse to the Ngorongoro Crater, a UNESCO site teeming with the Big Five, and visit a Maasai village. Explore Lake Manyara and Tarangire National Park, famed for elephant herds and baobab-dotted plains, with guided game drives and serene lodge stays.

Luxury accommodations like Serena Hotels and Kirawira Camp ensure comfort, while meals blend local flavors and international cuisine. The adventure concludes in Arusha, leaving you with memories of Africa’s raw beauty, rich cultures, and extraordinary wildlife. Perfect for nature enthusiasts and culture seekers alike, this tour offers a seamless blend of adventure and relaxation.

Accommodation Options

• Kigali: Kigali Serena Hotel
• Volcanoes National Park: Farm House Rwanda
• Serengeti: Kirawira Serena Camp, Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge
• Ngorongoro: Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge
• Lake Manyara: Lake Manyara Serena Safari Lodge
• Tarangire: Tarangire Sopa Lodge

Activities: Game viewing, photography, nature walks, sightseeing, birding, gorilla trekking, and cultural visits.

Detailed Itinerary

Day 1: Welcome to Rwanda

Upon arrival at Kigali International Airport and passing through the immigration process, you will be welcomed by our safari driver who will brief you shortly and transfer you to the booked accommodation.

Overnight: Kigali Serena Hotel

Meals: Bed and breakfast

Day 2: Transfer from Kigali to Volcanoes NP. (Approx. 2hrs)

After breakfast in Kigali, you will be met by our representative, who will introduce you to your safari driver guide and brief you shortly. Depart Kigali and drive to Musanze.

Alternatively, time permitting, you can have a short brief Kigali city tour, with a visit to Kigali genocide memorial, and later have lunch, before heading to Musanze. Check in for dinner.

Overnight: Farm House Rwanda

Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner

Day 3: Gorilla Trekking in Volcanoes National Park

After an early morning breakfast by 6:30 am, you will be transferred to the park headquarters. You will meet with your ranger who will brief you about the code of conduct while with the gorillas. You will then enter the forest in search of the gorillas. The gorilla trekking may take 2 – 6 hours depending on the movement of the gorillas in the jungle and your group speed as well. Meet and stay with the gorillas for a maximum of one hour. After a great experience, you will walk back to the starting point, meet your guide waiting for you and be transferred to your lodge for lunch. Rest to recover from the trek. Spend the afternoon at leisure by the pool side. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

Overnight: Farm House Rwanda.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch & Dinner

Day 4: Golden Monkey Trekking- Transfer to Kigali

After breakfast, we will be transferred back to the park headquarters for briefing and start off your day golden monkey trekking in search of these primates in the jungle. Just like the gorilla trekking experience, the same trekking procedures and guidelines apply to golden monkey trekking though not so hectic as gorilla trekking. You will later return, visit Ellen DeGeneres Campus, and learn more about her work towards gorilla conservation, before transferring to the lodge for lunch and later transfer to Kigali, to your booked hotel for dinner and overnight stay.

Overnight: Kigali Serena Hotel

Meal Plan: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 5: Rwanda- Transfer to Serengeti (by Air- Approx 1.5 hours)

Check out of the hotel after breakfast and have another short city tour before having lunch. Transfer to the airport for a flight to Serengeti that departs Kigali at 2 pm to arrive in Serengeti at approximately 4:30 pm. Our driver/guide will receive you and immediately start your evening game drive as you head to lodge for check in and dinner.

Overnight: Kirawira Serena Camp

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Day 6: Grumeti Region

Spend the day on extensive game drives along the Grumeti River in search of the migration. You may be lucky to watch the wildebeests and zebras attempt to cross the crocodile infested river as they embark on their journey up north to Mara River.

The guide will look for a good place to have a picnic lunch.

Included Activity: Bush Breakfast

Optional Activities: Hot air balloon ride

Overnight: Kirawira Serena Camp

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Day 7: Transfer to Seronera Area

After breakfast, check out and have your bags with you in the vehicle. Enjoy a game drive that leads into central Serengeti. Check in at Serengeti Serena for lunch and midday rest.

The evening game drive is at 4 pm to 6 pm.

Included Activity: Sundowner

Optional Activities: Hot air balloon ride

Overnight: Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Day 8: Serengeti – Transfer to Ngorongoro (Approximately 3 hours)

After breakfast, depart for Ngorongoro Crater with a short stop at Olduvai Gorge. Arrive in Ngorongoro and check in at the lodge. There will be no other game drive. after lunch, you will have a Maasai Village visit till evening when you will return to the lodge for dinner and overnight stay.

Ngorongoro is unique as its physical protection from man’s natural beauty ranks it among the most pristine wilderness on the earth. It has also been declared a world heritage and is the largest intact crater in the world.

Overnight: Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Day 9: Ngorongoro – Full Day- Transfer to Lake Manyara

After breakfast, depart for a tour of the crater floor with picnic lunch boxes. Spend the day on the crater and have lunch at one of the famous picnic spots in the park. In the afternoon, drive to Lake Manyara, enjoy a lovely evening game drive as you head to Lake Manyara Serena Safari Lodge for dinner and overnight rest.

Overnight: Lake Manyara Serena Safari Lodge

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Day 10: Lake Manyara- Transfer to Tarangire. Approx. 2 hours

Wake up for a pre-breakfast game drive and return to the lodge for breakfast. Return to the lodge for breakfast then check out of the lodge and drive to Tarangire to arrive with a game drive en route to the lodge for check-in and lunch. Rest and have an evening game drive from 4pm.

Overnight: Tarangire Sopa Lodge

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Day 11: Tarangire – Full Day

Have morning and afternoon game drives with the rest of the time being spent at the lodge.

Activity: Sundowner

Overnight: Tarangire Sopa Lodge

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Day 12: Tarangire to Arusha

Have breakfast and depart for Arusha. Arrive and have lunch at a city restaurant. Enjoy a drive through the city and drop off at the hotel.

Meals: Breakfast and Lunch

Notes

• Accommodation is subject to availability

Inclusive of;

• Game drives in a 4×4 Land Cruiser vehicle with pop -up roof to facilitate game viewing.
• Accommodation and meals as per itinerary
• Golden Monkey Permit
• Game drives as mentioned above
• Park entrance fees in both Rwanda and Tanzania
• Bush Breakfast in Grumeti
• Maasai Village Visit in Ngorongoro
• Kigali city tour
• Cultural experience
• Unlimited bottles of mineral water during safari
• Local flights : Kigali- Serengeti
• Drinking water in the safari vehicle
• Complementary sundowner in Tarangire and in Serengeti

Exclusions

• Visa Fees and flights
• Optional Activities
• Tips and gratuities
• Laundry
• Alcoholic drinks
• Porter fees while trekking
• Travel Insurance
• Items of personal nature
• Anything not mentioned in the Inclusions and itinerary