Forest first, then the plains.
Two permits in Volcanoes National Park, and then the widest contrast available in a fortnight: from 2,800 metres of bamboo to the open Mara.
Eleven nights, forest first and plains second, with two gorilla permits on consecutive days. Permits are USD 1,500 each and must be secured six to nine months out.
- From
- $24,800 pp
- Duration
- 11 nights
- Best months
- Jun–Sep, Dec–Feb
- Party size
- 2 – 6 guests
The most requested pairing we sell, and the one with the tightest logistics
An hour of a mountain gorilla family at close quarters is the single most affecting wildlife experience in Africa, and it bears no resemblance to a safari. You climb — sometimes forty minutes, sometimes three hours — through bamboo and nettle at 2,500 to 3,000 metres, and then you stand very still while a silverback decides you are not interesting. Then it is over, and you walk back down.
That is why this journey puts Rwanda first and Kenya second. The trekking is physically demanding and emotionally large; the plains afterwards are where you process it. Reversing the order, which some operators do for flight convenience, makes the safari half feel like an anticlimax.
Two permits are included, on consecutive days, because a single trek is a gamble on weather and on which family you are allocated. The second one is almost always the better hour. Permits are USD 1,500 each and non-transferable, and must be secured six to nine months out — this is the one journey on our list where the booking deadline is real.
- Two gorilla permits in Volcanoes National Park, on consecutive days
- Golden monkey trekking in the bamboo, which almost nobody books
- Dian Fossey’s grave and the Karisoke research story, walked to on foot
- Lake Kivu for two nights of decompression between forest and plains
- Four nights on a Kenyan conservancy: cats, walking, night drives
- Kigali properly — the genocide memorial, and a city that surprises everyone
Ideal traveller
Reasonably fit travellers who can manage three hours of steep, wet walking at altitude. Minimum age fifteen for gorilla permits, without exception. Not suitable for anyone with knee or breathing difficulty.
The itinerary
Kigali
Met at the airport and taken to a hotel in the city. An afternoon at the genocide memorial with a guide who will not rush you, and dinner somewhere quiet.
To Volcanoes
Two hours north by road through terraced hills — one of the most beautiful drives in Africa. Afternoon briefing, boot fitting, and an early dinner before a five-thirty start.
First trek
Up before dawn, allocated a family at the park headquarters, and into the bamboo. Anything from forty minutes to three hours of climbing, then one hour with the gorillas. The afternoon is left completely empty.
Second trek
A different family, a different climb, and — almost always — the better hour. Guests who thought the first was the point discover the second is.
Golden monkeys, and Karisoke
A gentler morning with golden monkeys in the bamboo, then the walk up to Dian Fossey’s grave and what remains of Karisoke. Fewer than one visitor in ten does this, and they are wrong not to.
To Lake Kivu
Two hours south-west to the lake. Nothing arranged: swimming, a boat if you want one, and the first day since arrival without an alarm.
Lake Kivu, then Kigali
A slow morning, then the drive back to Kigali. Coffee at a roastery, the craft markets if you want them, and an evening flight east.
To the Mara conservancies
Into Nairobi overnight, then a morning charter west. Your Kenyan guide meets you at the strip. Afternoon drive: cats, and a landscape that could not be less like a volcano.
The conservancy
First light out, long breakfast, hot hours free. Night drive after dinner, which is permitted on conservancy land and not in the reserve.
Into the reserve
A full day south into the national reserve — the river, the open plains, the crossing points in season. Breakfast in the vehicle.
Walking, and the last night
On foot at dawn with an armed Maasai guide. The afternoon yours; dinner laid privately wherever you liked best on the conservancy.
Homeward
A late-morning charter to Nairobi, day rooms at a private club, and our concierge with you until you are through security.
A forest lodge, a lake house, and a camp on the plains
Rwanda, nights 2–5. A lodge on the edge of Volcanoes with fireplaces in every room, which sounds decorative and is not — you come back wet and cold, and drying kit properly before the second trek matters more than anything else on the property.
Nights 6–7. A small house on Lake Kivu for decompression. Warm, quiet, and deliberately without a schedule.
Kenya, nights 8–12. A six-tent conservancy camp on a lugga in the Mara’s northern conservancies, with walking, night drives and no crowding at sightings.
Kigali’s hotel is a city property rather than a lodge, and a good one. Two nights of it bracket the journey, which is the right amount.
What the price covers
- Eleven nights as described, all meals and house drinks
- Two gorilla permits per guest, plus the golden monkey permit
- Private guides and vehicles in both countries
- All flights, including the Kigali–Nairobi–Mara connections
- Park fees in Rwanda and Kenya, and the conservancy levy
- Porters on both treks, gaiters and walking-stick hire
- Airport meet-and-greet, fast-track and day rooms
- 24-hour concierge in Nairobi and a Kigali number for the Rwandan half
What it does not
- International flights, Rwandan and Kenyan visas
- Travel insurance — must cover altitude to 3,500m; we will check yours
- A third gorilla permit, if you want one ($1,500)
- Balloon flights in Kenya, spa treatments, premium wines
- Gratuities, at your discretion — porters expect and deserve more than you think
June to September and December to February are the dry seasons, and the trekking is far easier underfoot. March to May and October to November are wetter, the forest is harder work, and permits are sometimes available at shorter notice. Book nine months out for the dry months regardless.
Shall we hold the dates while you think?
Tell us the month and we will send a costed draft of this journey, with the camps held provisionally at no charge. A written reply within one working day, from the specialist who will run it.
On gorilla journeys
How difficult is the trek, honestly?
Harder than most people expect. Steep, muddy, at 2,500 to 3,000 metres, through nettles, for anything from forty minutes to three hours in each direction. Porters carry your bag and will physically haul you up if needed. If you can walk uphill for two hours at home, you will manage.
Why two permits?
Because one is a gamble. Weather, which family you are allocated and how the group is behaving all vary, and the second trek is almost always the better hour. At $1,500 each it is the most expensive line on the invoice and the one we argue hardest for.
Rwanda or Uganda?
Rwanda for efficiency — an hour from Kigali, better roads, shorter treks, and a country that is genuinely easy. Uganda for value: permits at half the price, longer and wilder walking, plus chimpanzees at Kibale. We will build either and will tell you which suits your fitness.
Is there a minimum age?
Fifteen for gorilla permits, enforced strictly by both countries with no exceptions. Golden monkey trekking has no minimum, which is occasionally the answer for a family travelling with a fourteen-year-old.