Volcanoes National Park is the only home for the mountain gorillas in Rwanda. This park lies in the Northern part of Rwanda, sharing a border with Mgahinga National Park in Uganda and Virunga National Park in Congo. Each day tourists gather at the park’s headquarters for a briefing before starting the gorilla trekking experience. Rwanda Gorilla permits costs USD 1500 per person. They are a bit expensive but worth the experience.
For the safari in Tanzania, taking a game drive in Serengeti National Park is an excellent decision when planning this safari combination. Serengeti National Park in Tanzania is famous for being the starting point for the great wildebeest migration known as one of the world’s natural wonders. Serengeti National Park is open for safaris all. Secure all the necessary visas for either Rwanda or Tanzania because you must have them as travel documents before entering the mentioned counties. It is best to apply for your visa in advance to avoid inconveniences on arrival at immigration because of the long queues. It will be fly-in safari.
Your safari may start in Tanzania by a pick at Kilimanjaro International Airport by our company representative who will brief you about your multi border safari. He will transfer you to your booked hotel or lodge in Arusha where you will have your dinner and sleepover. Here you can have a variety of accommodation facilities to choose from such as Arusha coffee lodge, Kirawira Luxury Tented Camp, Onsea House, Machweo House among others.
One of the great wildlife in Tanzania is the great migration of the wildebeest and is seen in Serengeti National Park. From Arusha your guide will transfer you to Serengeti National Park after having your early morning breakfast. After breakfast, depart for Serengeti National Park a journey that is filled with excitement and thrills of adventure. Arrive in Serengeti and proceed with a drive to check-in at your booked lodge. You can check-in at Singita Sasakwa lodge or any other accommodation of your choice for lunch.
After lunch, enjoy an afternoon game drive across the Serengeti verdant plains to experience its abundant wildlife. Serengeti National Park is famous for its annual wildebeest migration where over 1.5 million wildebeest and their entourage move across the verdant Serengeti plains northwards to the nearby Masai Mara National Reserve and back. This safari park also hosts all the African iconic Big Five mammals such as lion, leopard, rhino, buffalo, and elephant and several other wildlife species like hyenas, cheetahs, gazelles, zebras, giraffes, hippos, crocodiles, and several antelope species. Enjoy watching different wildlife on your afternoon game drive in different areas of the park. As the sun goes down, you will drive back to your booked safari lodge for dinner and an overnight stay.
Apart from Tanzania knowing it for its abundant wildlife (wildebeest migration), while on this safari, you can also enjoy hot air balloon safari. The hot air balloon ride allows for a unique aerial perspective of the Serengeti landscape. A Hot Air Balloon Safari across the Serengeti is a once in a lifetime adventure. Here you can experience the majestic Serengeti from the sky. A Hot Air Balloon Safaris are run daily in the morning from four launch sites within Serengeti National Park that is; Seronera, Ndutu area, in the Western Corridor and northern Serengeti.
A Serengeti balloon flight costs US$ 599 per person and this includes the Tanapa ballooning fee of US$ 40. This rate includes a transfer from your lodge or camp to the departure balloon site, the balloon flight itself and a champagne breakfast. The flight will last for about 1 hour. Depending on the landing site, also the breakfast site is set up at a different location daily. You will share the balloon with up to 16 passengers in total. The experience is a bit expensive but worth the money. During the balloon flights, the pilot will include sections flown at a higher altitude allowing you to soak up uninterrupted views of the Serengeti; other sections may involve low-level flying, during which there may be the opportunity to see wildlife. Highly experienced pilots can follow rivers and streams, and will glide just meters above grunting hippos or wandering giraffes. Flying low allows you to take some great aerial wildlife photos. You move over the plains wherever the wind takes you, whilst being tracked from the ground by balloon crew in their vehicles.
From Kigali you can go to Rwanda via Arusha city. On arrival in Rwanda, you will be picked up at the Kigali International Airport by a Nature Adventure Africa Safaris’s expert who will transfer you to the home of mountain gorillas (Volcanoes National Park). Volcanoes National Park is a rich ecosystem, a habitat with vibrant and unique mammal species. Mountain gorillas and Golden monkeys are most recognized than other wildlife species because the Virunga volcanos region is their only habitat on earth.
Gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park is the most popular tourism product in Rwanda. This activity involves hiking through mountainous areas and forests in search of a creature that behaves like humans. Mountain gorillas are special among the gorilla sub-species because of their endangered status. Only 1000 individuals still roam earth and there are none in zoos. An encounter with them is concerned to be one of the best 5 wildlife experiences. All gorilla trekking activities in Rwanda are organized at the Volcanoes National Park. It is one of the four national game parks in Rwanda but stands out because of the mountain gorillas. The park has 30% of the overall population of mountain gorillas remaining on earth. In all, about 320 individual gorillas roam the park with 10 families habituated.
Gorillas thrive in the Volcanoes National Park because of the remarkable biodiversity. The vegetation cover consists of mainly bamboo forests, montane forests, swamps and grassland. The landscape is dominated by 5 volcanoes that is Bisoke, Gahinga, Muhabura, Sabyinyo and Karisimbi. It is not only mountain gorillas that enjoy the beauty of the park but also other animal species like African forest elephants, duikers, bush bucks, giant forest hog, blue monkeys, golden monkeys, Angola colobus and birds.
Apart from gorilla trekking, you can also go for Golden monkey trekking, Dian Fossey Tomb Hike, visit to the Musanze, IbyI’wacu cultural village encounter and many other activities.
Some of the luxury accommodation facilities where you can have your lunch, dinner and sleepover while at your gorilla trek safari include Virunga lodge, Sabyinyo silverback lodge, Bisate lodge, Five Volcanoes lodge, Mountain Gorillas’ Nest Lodge, Kwitonda lodge and Bishope House.
