18 Days Rwanda, Tanzania Safari & Zanzibar

Day 1: Transfer To Akagera National Park

After an early breakfast at your lodge, our safari guide from Mj Safaris will pick you up from your hotel or the airport and then transfer to Akagera National Park where you will get a chance to see the different wild animals in the country. On arrival you will check-in at your lodge where you will have lunch, relax and later in the evening have a game drive to see various animals like buffaloes, elephants, giraffes, elephants, zebras, gazelles, impalas among others. Later return for the overnight at your lodge.

Meal plan: lunch and Dinner

Accommodation: Akagera Game Lodge

Day 2: Game Drive & boat Ride on Lake Ihema

Today have very early breakfast before setting out on a game drive to esplore the plains of this park where you will get a chance to see some of the early rises and any other animals you might have not seen the day before, you are likely to encounter elephants, the maasai giraffes, zebras, leopards, antelopes among others, return to the lodge for some refreshments and relax as you wait for lunch. in the late afternoon head out for a boat ride on Lake Ihema to see hippos, crocodiles and various birds including the fish eagle and the rare shoebill.

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Accommodation: Akagera Game Lodge

Day 3: Explore the Masai Mara

Day 3 Transfer to Nyungwe Forest Park

You will transfer to Nyungwe Forest National Park right after your breakfast at your lodge driving through the capital Kigali. Along the way, you will visit various places including the Butare Cultural Museum and the king’ palace in Nyaza before finally arriving in the park for your overnight.

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Accommodation Options: Nyungwe Hotel, or Gisakura Guest House

Day 4: Chimpanzee tracking, transfer to Kibuye

Right after an early morning brakfats, transfer to the park headquarters where you will b briefed about the thrilling experience of tracking chimpanzees considered to be the closest living relative to man. The 3 to 5 hours activity will take you hiking through the verdant forested area until you finally meet them. Have lunch back at your lodge and in the afternoon transfer to Kibuye town where you will spend the night

Meal Plan: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Overnight at Bethanie

Day 5: transfer to Ruhengeri

today you will transfer from Kibuye and drive through Gisenyi all the way to Ruhengeri going past the beautiful green countryside characterized with rolling hills dotted with tea plantation.

Meal Plan: Breakfast Lunch and Dinner

Accommodation: Mountain Gorilla View Lodge, Kiningi Guest House or Le Bambou Gorill Lodge

Day 6: Golden Monkey Trekking and transfer back to Kigali

You will start the day with breakfast early in the morning possibly at 7am then you will take a morning tour to search for the golden monkeys. It is usually a simple tour that will last for a hour or two. While you are searching for the golden monkeys, you will get the chance to see birds as well as other primates which also live in the Virunga mountain ranges.

You will then head back to your lodge and enjoy a delicious lunch. After this, you will travel back to Kigali for your overnight.

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Accommodation Options: Hotel des Mille Collines (mid-range hotel) or Classic Hotel (budget Hotel)

Day 4: Take a Nairobi city tour.

When you are done with your breakfast, you will be given a tour around Nairobi where you can take part in a variety of activities including visiting the museum, shopping and many more.

You can have your dinner and spend the night at The African Tulip Hotel.

Day 5: Nairobi-Samburu

You will set off from your hotel at 0700 hrs., you will have a short safari orientation meeting with one of our tour consultants then you will begin the safari through the exceptional Mt. Kenya on the way to the open savannah in Samburu National Reserve. You will stopover at Samburu Sopa Lodge for lunch and the go for the afternoon game drives. After this, you will head back to your lodge for supper and rest.

Day 6: Samburu National Reserve

You will spend the whole day touring Samburu Game Reserve. There will be both morning plus afternoon game drives provided. You will have your dinner and

spend the night at Samburu Sopa Lodge.

What makes Samburu Game Reserve stand out is the rich forests, rivers plus the astounding scenic beauty. The native people of this place have a rich beautiful culture. The game reserve has a variety of permanent springs and a diverse wildlife such as hippo, leopard, lion, reticulated giraffe, crocodiles in the Ewaso Nyiro River, elephants plus grevy’s zebra. It has documented more that 365 species of birds.

Day 7: Lake Nakuru National Park

When you are done with breakfast, you will transfer to Lake Nakuru National Park. You will get to see some of the wildlife as we leave the park. You will have a lunch break on the way and then you will have afternoon game drives. You will then have supper and spend the night at a hotel.

Lake Nakuru is situated on the boundary of Nakuru town and is approximately 160 kilometers from Kenya’s capital Nairobi. It is an alkaline lake that is not deep. The lake is very popular internationally for the high concentration of flamingoes on it. The population of flamingos relies on the water levels that influence the amount of algae which is food for the flamingos. The flamingos usually move to different Rift Valley lakes when the water level reduces in Lake Nakuru. The national park encircles the lake and was gazetted to conserve the flamingoes in addition to provide a paradise for threatened wildlife like the rhino. The park has almost 25 white and black rhinos, one of the highest numbers in Kenya. There are a number of carnivores in this park and the Rothschild’s giraffe has been shifted into the park for their protection.

Day 8: Lake Nakuru -Masai Mara

When you are done with breakfast, we head south via the stunning savannahs plus the plains of the Rift Valley and arrive at the base camp area, where you will have an amazing night out in the wild under the blanket of the beautiful sky in Africa. You will then see some wildlife and continue to Kichani Tented Camp.

Day 9: Maasai Mara

You will enjoy your day filled with game drives touring the Masai Mara. The open savannah inhabits a variety of wildlife, the fascinating yearly migration of millions

of wildebeest, zebras as well as antelopes are some of the things that would make your safari stand out if you travelled to Africa during July to September. If you want to take a balloon safari, it can be organized for a fee of US$ 450 for every individual.

You can have your dinner and spend the night at Kichakani tented Camp.

Maasai Mara is probably the most famous game park in Kenya. It is the most popular as well as most visited game park in Kenya.

The movie ‘Out of Africa’ was majorly made in Masai Mara. Almost every kind of wildlife can be found at the park. One of the main highlights of Masai Mara is the Great Migration of millions of wildebeest, gazelle plus zebras from Serengeti National Park to Mara River to arrive at Masai Mara grazing fields from the end of June. This extra ordinary crossing of the river and the feeding on the migrating animals by predators can be observed from early July to August. Masai Mara has an abundant birdlife and it has documented close to 452 species of birds.

Day 14: Explore Serengeti

Day 10: Maasai Mara- Musoma- Lake Victoria

You will set off from the campsite and travel via the southern part of the reserve seeing wildlife as we continue to the border of Tanzania at Sirari or Isebania. We will stopover to spend the night in a tranquil town on the banks of the expansive Lake Victoria called Musoma. The neighboring countryside houses a variety of tribes such as Taturu, Kuria, Luo plus Jita. Musoma’s beautiful port plus the numerous tribes have transformed it into an exciting town.

You will spend the night at Stopover Lodge.

Day 11: Musoma- Serengeti National Lodge

In the morning, we will head down south then west to the western corridor of the great Serengeti throughNdabaka Gate and then you will have a picnic on the way. You will spend the afternoon observing wildlife and we will then spend the night at Ikoma safari camp.

Day 12: Serengeti National Park

We will set off in the morning and travel west seeing game via the western corridor of the Serengeti heading to the Central area of Seronera. You will spend the night

at Ikoma safari camp.

Serengeti National Park is the most popular national park in Africa and the biggest park in Tanzania occupying 14,736 sq. km and shares a border with Masai Mara Game Reserve in Kenya. It has over 2 million wildebeest and a number of other hoofed species such as Thomson’s gazelle, klipspringer, warthog, zebra, giraffe, Kirk’s dikdik, impala, buffalo, roan, eland, Oryx, topi, oribi, Grant’s gazelle, waterbuck, Kongoni, as well as roan which draw a variety of predators including the cheetah, golden jackals, lion, hyena, bat eared foxes as well as leopards. Elephants are a rare sight and the endangered black rhinos are limited to the MoruKoppies area.

Day 13: Serengeti- Ngorongoro crater

You will see a lot of wildlife as you head south east until you reach the stunning Ngorongoro Conservation Area. You will enjoy exploring the crater for the whole afternoon then you will have dinner and spend the night at Ngorongoro Rhino Camp next to the crater rim.

The Ngorongoro crater is the largest whole volcanic caldera in the world at 8300 sq. km and is possibly the most fascinating arena.

It is usually talked about among the wonders of the world as a result of more than just its geological beauty but since it provides an exceptional natural sanctuary for a few of Africa’s highest concentration of large animals. Ngorongoro plus other freestanding mountains were initially volcanic in nature, created in the fracturing process that formed the Rift Valley about 15 to 20 million years ago. After it peaked almost three million years back, it was the same height as Mountain Kilimanjaro currently.

Day 14: Ngorongoro -Lake Manyara

You will start the day with breakfast then depart from the park and head to Lake Manyara National Park. You can take a tour of the park which is popular for tree climbing lions. You will have a picnic lunch. You will have your supper and spend the night at Bouganvilea hotel.

Lake Manyara National Park is tranquil and stunning with major attractions such as elephants, a diverse birdlife, hippos, tree climbing lions that you can get really

up close with them than you can in other parks. Lake Manyara is an alkaline lake and at different times of the year, it is a home to thousands of flamingos as well as a variety of bird species. Even though it is among the smallest parks, it has a variegated vegetation cover which is conducive for having a number of wildlife habitats.

Day 15: Lake Manyara – Arusha -Zanzibar

When you are done with breakfast, you will proceed to Arusha and stop for lunch at Kibo palace hotel. You will then head to the airport to catch a flight to Zanzibar. When you reach Zanzibar, you will be welcomed by one of our representatives who will then take you to RasChamvi beach resort to begin your beach vacation.

Day 16/17/18: Zanzibar

You can enjoy days of just basking in the sun and unwinding at the beach hotel. You can take a stroll through Stone Town, a unique stone city that has World Heritage Status. There are a number of activities that you can indulge in like diving, swimming, kayaking, sunbathing plus snorkeling. You can also take a boat safari to any of the close islands or a motorbike trip next to the eastern beaches of Zanzibar.

Day 19: Zanzibar- Nairobi

You can enjoy the morning by yourself then proceed to the airport to get your flight to Nairobi where you will reach in time to get your next flight home. This marks the end of our 18 Days Classic Rwanda, Tanzania Safari & Zanzibar tour.