9-Day Tanzania & Rwanda Luxury Safari — Gorillas and the Serengeti

A two-country luxury safari combining mountain gorilla trekking in Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park, a visit to the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund's Ellen DeGeneres Campus, and three nights of Big Five game drives at Sayari Camp in the northern Serengeti National Park — connected by bush flights between Kigali, Kogatende Airstrip, and Arusha.

Overview

This 9-day itinerary combines Rwanda’s gorilla trekking circuit with Tanzania’s premier luxury safari destination — the northern Serengeti and Sayari Camp — in a single, tightly structured two-country trip. The Rwanda chapter opens in Kigali for a cultural day before the drive to Volcanoes National Park and the gorilla trek. A fourth Rwanda day visits the Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund — the organisation at the centre of mountain gorilla research and conservation — before the return to Kigali and the flight into Tanzania. Three nights at Sayari Camp close the trip with Big Five game drives in the northern Serengeti, positioned at one of the most productive game areas in the entire park.

The camp and lodge selection defines the luxury tier of this itinerary. Kataza House at Volcanoes National Park is one of Rwanda’s most exclusive gorilla lodges — small, design-led, and set at the forest’s edge. Sayari Camp is the flagship luxury property in the Serengeti’s northern circuit, positioned for the Great Migration’s Mara River crossings between July and October and year-round predator densities in the Lamai Wedge area.

What distinguishes this itinerary from a standard gorilla-and-Serengeti circuit is the Dian Fossey Campus day — an unusually substantive conservation experience that takes guests beyond the permitted hour with gorillas into the research and science that underpins gorilla survival.

It suits luxury travellers wanting both the gorilla encounter and the Serengeti in a single trip, conservation-minded travellers, and anyone for whom the quality of the lodging is as important as the wildlife experiences.

Key Information:

Duration: 9 days
Departure Location: Kigali International Airport
Trip Type: Tailored / Partly physical
Price from: USD 10,399

The Fossey Campus day sets this itinerary apart. Most gorilla visits are one hour and out. Here you spend a full day understanding what gorilla conservation actually involves — the researchers, the data, the challenges. It changes how you see the gorilla trek itself.

Highlights

Kigali cultural immersion — markets, galleries, and authentic Rwandan cuisine
Kigali Genocide Memorial — essential context for understanding Rwanda today
Scenic drive through Rwanda’s rolling hills to Volcanoes National Park
Mountain gorilla trekking in the Virunga Mountains — one hour with a habituated family
Ellen DeGeneres Campus, Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund — gorilla research and conservation in depth
Bush flight Kigali to Kogatende Airstrip — into the northern Serengeti
Three nights at Sayari Camp — northern Serengeti’s flagship luxury property
Big Five game drives and Great Migration (July–October) in the northern Serengeti
Optional walking safari from Sayari Camp

General Information

Rwanda and Tanzania are two of East Africa’s most distinct countries for wildlife travel — Rwanda for the intimate, forest-based mountain gorilla experience and the context of its extraordinary national recovery; Tanzania for the open savannah scale of the Serengeti and the world’s most celebrated annual wildlife event.

Volcanoes National Park covers the Rwandan portion of the Virunga volcanic mountain chain — eight peaks shared between Rwanda, Uganda, and the DRC. It is the site of Dian Fossey’s original research station, where she studied mountain gorillas from 1967 until her death in 1985. The park now holds multiple habituated gorilla families, with each family allocated to a small trekking group for one permitted hour per day.

The Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, opened in 2022 near the park boundary, is the world’s largest gorilla research and conservation centre — housing research labs, data archives, anti-poaching coordination, and education facilities. It was funded substantially by Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi and is open to a limited number of visitors per day.

The Serengeti National Park covers 14,763 km² of open savannah. Sayari Camp sits in the northern Serengeti’s Lamai Wedge area — north of the Mara River, one of the most productive game zones in the park and the setting for the wildebeest crossing spectacle between July and October.

Ultimate Tanzania and Rwanda Luxury Safari

What's Included?

Accommodation in luxury lodges throughout, meals as indicated
1 gorilla trekking permit ($800) — Rwanda Development Board
Entrance to the Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund
Bush flights: Kigali to Kogatende Airstrip (Serengeti); Kogatende to Arusha
All excursions and activities listed in the itinerary
Professional English-speaking guide throughout
Ground transport and transfers in a 4×4 safari Land Cruiser
AMREF emergency evacuation insurance cover
Government taxes

International flights to/from Kigali or Arusha
Travel insurance (required — not provided)
Rwanda and Tanzania tourist visa costs and processing
Extra activities and meals not listed in the itinerary
Extra luggage on domestic/regional flights
Service tips, gratuities, souvenirs, and snacks
Accommodation after the end of the trip

Detailed

Itinerary

This 9-day itinerary moves Rwanda-first, Tanzania-second. The Rwanda chapter (Days 1–5) opens in Kigali, drives to Volcanoes National Park, and spends three nights covering the gorilla trek, the Dian Fossey Campus, and a return to Kigali. The Tanzania chapter (Days 6–9) opens with the bush flight into the northern Serengeti for three nights at Sayari Camp before the Arusha flight on Day 9.

The pacing is appropriate — two nights at Volcanoes National Park gives the gorilla trek and the Fossey Campus day in proper sequence. Three nights at Sayari Camp covers the full northern Serengeti circuit without rushing. The return day via Kigali (Day 5) is a practical transit between the two chapters rather than a wasted day — there is time for a final Kigali meal or last-minute shopping before the onward flight.

On arrival at Kigali International Airport, your guide meets you and transfers you to The Retreat — one of Kigali’s finest luxury properties. The afternoon is given to the city: Kigali’s markets and local craft galleries are accessible within a short drive, and the evening meal features authentic Rwandan cuisine. Kigali is one of Africa’s cleanest and most walkable capitals — a genuine place to spend an evening rather than simply transit through.

Accommodation: The Retreat, Kigali (Luxury) Meal plan: Bed & Breakfast (dinner at local restaurant)

The morning starts at the Kigali Genocide Memorial — a carefully designed museum and burial site commemorating the 1994 genocide. It is one of the most affecting memorial sites in Africa, and an essential foundation for understanding Rwanda’s present. The exhibits are comprehensive and the site is approached here with the seriousness it deserves.

After lunch, depart Kigali for the scenic two to three-hour drive west to Volcanoes National Park. The road climbs through Rwanda’s terraced hills and tea country, with the Virunga volcanoes appearing ahead as the altitude rises. Arrive at Kataza House — one of Rwanda’s most exclusive gorilla lodges, set at the foothills of the Virungas — in the late afternoon.

Accommodation: Kataza House, Volcanoes National Park (Luxury) Meal plan: Full board

Briefing at the Rwanda Development Board’s Kinigi visitor centre at 7:00 am, followed by the guided trek into Volcanoes National Park with park rangers. Groups are assigned to one of the park’s habituated families — each family is named, researched, and monitored by the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund’s field teams.

The Virunga forest is a different environment to Uganda’s Bwindi — open bamboo zones alternating with dense Hagenia woodland, at higher altitude and often mistier. One hour is spent with the gorilla family on finding them. The permit costs $1,500 per person (Rwanda Development Board rate) — confirm the current RDB fee at booking as Rwanda’s gorilla permit price is subject to periodic revision.

Accommodation: Kataza House, Volcanoes National Park (Luxury) Meal plan: Full board (packed lunch)

A morning visit to the Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund — opened in 2022 near the park boundary, the world’s largest facility dedicated to mountain gorilla research and conservation. The campus houses research laboratories, data archives spanning decades of gorilla monitoring, training facilities for rangers and conservationists, and educational spaces.

The visit is guided by Fossey Fund researchers — a rare opportunity to understand what gorilla conservation actually involves: the population genetics, the health monitoring, the anti-poaching coordination, and the community programmes that buffer the park’s human edge. The afternoon is free at Kataza House before the return to Kigali tomorrow.

Accommodation: Kataza House, Volcanoes National Park (Luxury) Meal plan: Full board

A morning departure from Volcanoes National Park for the return drive to Kigali — two to three hours through the same terraced hill country as the outward journey. The afternoon in Kigali is free: a final lunch, the Kimironko Market for crafts, or time at the hotel ahead of tomorrow’s early departure for Tanzania.

Accommodation: The Retreat, Kigali (or airport hotel — confirm at booking) Meal plan: Bed & Breakfast

A morning flight from Kigali to Kogatende Airstrip in the northern Serengeti National Park — the most remote and wildlife-productive section of the park. On arrival, an airstrip transfer takes you to Sayari Camp, positioned in the Lamai Wedge area north of the Mara River.

Sayari is &Beyond’s flagship northern Serengeti property — 15 tented suites with private plunge pools and the Mara River visible from the camp’s elevated terrace. An afternoon game drive covers the Lamai Wedge’s lion and cheetah territories as the day’s light changes across the northern plains.

Accommodation: Sayari Camp, Northern Serengeti (&Beyond) — 3 nights Meal plan: Full board

Two full days of morning and afternoon game drives from Sayari Camp, covering the Lamai Wedge, the Mara River banks, and the broader northern circuit. The northern Serengeti’s game density is exceptional year-round — resident lion prides, large leopard territories, cheetah, elephant, and buffalo across the open grassland.

Between July and October, the northern Serengeti is where the Great Migration concentrates for the Mara River crossings — the wildebeest and zebra approaching the crossing points in massed groups before committing to the river, with Nile crocodiles in the water and predators on both banks. This is the Serengeti at its most dramatically concentrated.

Optional activities from Sayari include guided walking safaris into the bush with an armed ranger guide — an unusually immersive way to experience the northern plains at ground level. Sundowners in the field and bush dinners can be arranged at the camp’s discretion.

Accommodation: Sayari Camp, Northern Serengeti Meal plan: Full board

A final sunrise game drive before the flight from Kogatende Airstrip to Arusha. The short bush flight crosses the Serengeti from north to south, with aerial views of the migration herds and the escarpment country approaching Arusha. On arrival at Arusha Airport, ground transfer to Kilimanjaro International Airport for international departures, or to an Arusha hotel for any additional overnight.

Accommodation: None included unless requested Meal plan: Breakfast

Testimonials

What Our Travellers Say

My son and I spent two weeks experiencing African magic with Nkuringo Safaris, and we will never forget our time there. Truly a priceless experience. I could talk about those experiences for pages — the friendly people, the beautiful Nile River where we did whitewater rafting, the tree lions, the chimpanzees, and the majestic mountain gorillas.

Steven Susser

In November 2020, we travelled to Uganda as a couple in a 4×4 Safari Jeep. Considering the difficult time we are all in, we were especially happy about the level of service we experienced. You can travel to Uganda with no problem. During our travel, we felt safer than in Europe – everybody cared about our health and happiness.

Sarah B

Don’t miss out on this unique experience. Our guide, Richard, was excellent. We had an informative and unique walk down the mountain from Kisoro to Lake Mutanda. We walked through villages and saw families actively working their farms. The walk is easy. The dugout canoe was very comfortable, with padded seats. We highly recommend the adventure.

Kwa Alaska

My husband and I had a week’s vacation, which is not a lot given everything we wanted to do/see. Nkuringo organized our trip to make the most of this week. The trip was flawlessly organized. Time management was perfect. They were flexible and accommodating, all our needs were met, and we felt listened to; it was a truly customized experience.

Victoria V

The most beautiful scenery I’ve ever seen. The welcome from a gorgeous team was lovely… hot water bottles in the bed and a fire lit in our room each night made it such a special place.

David Q, UK

My son and I spent two weeks experiencing magic in Africa… the friendly people, the Nile where we did white-water rafting, the tree lions, the chimpanzees and the majestic mountain gorillas.

Steven S, USA

Travelling Uganda as a couple… our guide knew so much about animals, plants and the country’s history. He was funny and friendly and looked after us incredibly well.

Tom R, USA

We are a travel company ourselves and this company over-delivered for us… The whole thing ran like clockwork, even while making sure everyone was happy with the amount of time spent in each place.

Jeannie E, USA