Visit the best and finest Tanzania’s wildlife national park – Serengeti which has been recognized as the best African national park with concentration of wildlife including wildebeests that have an annual migration crossing to Masai Mara national reserve of Kenya. The park is home to the big five animals and this means you are entitled to see them during this safari.
Also head to the best mountain gorilla home in Rwanda – Volcanoes national park where you will be able to trek these gentle apes and learn about Dian Fossey, a primatologist and researcher who introduced habituation of mountain gorillas in Africa.
Day 1: Transfer to Serengeti National Park
You will be picked from the starting point of your choice in Tanzania and then transfer to Serengeti National Park located in the northern part of the country. As you come from Arusha, take about 7 hours to drive with an en-route lunch and on arrival in the park, you will take an evening game drive to be able to spot some animals like lions, cheetahs, hyenas, giraffes, leopards, elephants, as well as antelopes like Oribis, Jackson’s dik-dik, gazelles and bushbucks among other wildlife species including birds and trees.
Serengeti National Park is famous for its annual migration of wildebeests. On arrival, you will check in the lodge for your dinner.
Day 2-3: Exploring Serengeti National Park
In these two days while in the park of Serengeti, you will be enjoying the plains of the savannahs that have different animals, birds and trees. These will give you great sights and again enjoy the beautiful scenery during sunrise and sunset. While taking these game drives the corneas of the park, you will meet animals like the big five animals (lions, rhinos, leopards, warthogs, cape buffaloes and the elephants), giraffes, jackals, zebras, antelopes like East African Oryx, Reedbuck, Grant’s Gazelle, Waterbuck, Thomson’s Gazelle, Hartebeest among others.
Day 4: Transfer back to Arusha via Ngorongoro crater
Have breakfast and load all your luggage into your vehicle with a help of the park driver guide and then find your way to Ngorongoro craters. This was part of Serengeti national park before it was made a separate conservation area. Ngorongoro conservation area is listed under the world heritage sites due to its unique features such as Grimezk grave, Empakai Crater, Malanja Depression, Rim Forest, Serengeti Plains, Olduvai Gorge, Soitoo Quartzite hills, Leakey Camp, shifting sand, Nasera Rock, Bao Site and An’gatakiti Hills.
This makes Ngorongoro conservation area so unique from other areas. Therefore there is a lot to discover since the concentration of craters attracts a big number of mammals like lions, Cape buffalos, leopards, rhino’s, zebras, elands, blue monkeys, baboons among others. There is a lot to see while taking a game drive here. Check in at your place of accommodation for dinner.
Day 5: Fly into Rwanda – Kigali and transfer to Volcanoes National Park
Take a short morning game drive in the conservation area and then head to Arusha where you will get a flight to Kigali. Upon reaching Kigali, take lunch and embark on a journey to Volcanoes national park where you will spend a night. The park is home to unique wildlife which you will enjoy and the most outstanding ones are mountain gorillas and golden monkeys but also over 300 birds can be spotted here in the forest.
The park is home to numerous mammals like elephants, buffaloes, bush pigs, giant forest hogs, duikers, spotted hyenas and much more. Also while on this visit to the park, you will learn about Dian Fossey who saved several gorillas and again introduced the habituation process in Rwanda and Africa at large.
Day 6: Gorilla trekking adventure
Embark on a gorilla trekking encounter after breakfast and this will begin with a briefing session at the park offices where you will be told about do’s and don’ts, get knowledge about the forest and its wildlife, know more about gorillas and with the help of a park ranger / guide, head to the forest where you will spot different attractions like birds, different primates while searching for the unique species of mountain gorillas. Have an hour with one gorilla family while taking photos and after the trek back to the park office where you attended a briefing from.
Trekking takes about 3 to 5 hours and this means you need to have enough water in the bag to keep you fresh and an energy-giving snack, again hiking books are required since the gorillas are found in mountains. The driver-guide will take you back to the lodge for your lunch after you have different options like visiting the nearby cultural Village or hike to Dian Fossey graveyard or relax and prepare for next day’s departure.
Day 7: Transfer back to Kigali and departure
On this beautiful day, you will wake up depending on your scheduled flight and take breakfast. Embark on a 3 hour’s journey to Kigali where you will have lunch and maybe visit one or two attractions in the city like the famous Rwanda genocide memorial center, local markets as well as the national museum.
The driver guide will thereafter drop you at the airport and this will be the end of this gorilla and wildlife safari to Volcanoes and Serengeti national parks.
