DAY 1: Sunday 19th July 2026
JOURNEY
- Arrival into Kilimanjaro International Airport under own arrangements
- Private road transfer to hotel
ACCOMMODATION
- Arusha Coffee Lodge
- 6x Plantation Rooms
- 1 night
INCLUSIONS
- Breakfast
WHAT TO EXPECT
The bustling and vibrant town of Arusha, overlooked by Mount Meru, is the starting point of most safaris in northern Tanzania. Situated on the outskirts of the town, hidden amongst one of the country’s largest coffee plantations, is one of the best hotels. Arusha Coffee Lodge, part of the renowned Elewana Collection, is stylish and comfortable and is an ideal place to acclimatise before your safari or relax afterwards.
Designed around the original landowner’s home, the lodge consists of 30 luxurious cottages all creatively decorated and spaced throughout the lush coffee grove to ensure privacy and solitude. All rooms have comfortable king-sized or twin beds, inviting log fires, stylish furniture, interesting coffee themed artefacts and elegant en-suite bathrooms. Of the 30 cottages there are 18 Plantation Rooms and 12 Plantation Suites, which are slightly larger and even have a small sitting room with couch and chairs off from the bedroom.
One of the most appealing features is the private wooden deck attached to each cottage which overlooks the coffee plantation. As many guests arrive late in the evening, the deck offers an excellent morning view to experience your first sights and sounds of Africa. You may catch a glimpse of the first wildlife of your safari as vervet monkeys can be seen clamber through the trees.
The lodge has a wonderful bar and central lounge area which offers a great atmosphere, an excellent à la carte restaurant with indoor or terraced seating, its own pizza oven and of course a coffee station. Log fires keep all of the main areas toasty warm. There is also an enclosed swimming pool area and attractive gardens to stroll around. If guests are interested, and have enough time, guided tours around the coffee plantation can be arranged, or they can enjoy an authentic Tanzanian shopping experience at Traders Walk.
DAYS 2 TO 4: Sunday 20th – Tuesday 22nd July
JOURNEY
- Private road transfer to Arusha Airport
- Scheduled light aircraft flight Manyara Airstrip
- Shared road transfer to lodge
ACCOMMODATION
- The Highlands
- 6x Domed Suites
- 3 nights
INCLUSIONS
- Meals, soft drinks, local beers, wines and spirits, limited laundry service and shared activities: game drives into the Ngorongoro Crater, and Olmoti Crater and Empakaai Crater visits (Maasai cultural visits available at additional cost).
WHAT TO EXPECT
Beautifully located on the lower slopes of the Olmoti volcano to the north of the Ngorongoro Crater, The Highlands is a completely unique and private camp that contrasts its truly wild destination with high-end luxury and stunning individual style.
Each of the camp’s eight canvas and perspex domed suites is inspired by a traditional Maasai boma. The views from the floor-to-ceiling windows stretch all of the way to the Serengeti, and you can feast your eyes on the landscapes from the comfort of your king-sized bed. Every suite has an en-suite bathroom with hot and cold running water, and at night you’ll stay toasty warm thanks to a wood-burning stove.
The suites are built around a stylish main area, complete with an indoor fireplace reminiscent of a campfire, from where you can enjoy sumptuous meals, a drink at the bar, or relaxing with a book in the library. The design of the camp is such that both sunrise and sunset are visible each day. Those who love the great outdoors will thrive at The Highlands.
During your stay you will be taken by your guide into the nearby Ngorongoro Crater for a full day’s game viewing. Known as Africa’s Garden of Eden, the Crater was originally a volcano larger than Mount Kilimanjaro but approximately three million years ago a huge series of eruptions caused the centre to subside forming a vast volcanic caldera ten miles wide. The floor of the caldera is 1500ft below the rim and on this 80-mile² area live 20,000 animals of all kinds.
There are thousands of wildebeest, zebra, antelope, and other plains game, lion, leopard, hyena and bat-eared fox and good numbers of rhinoceros which have been preserved from the poachers and are now beginning to flourish again. The animals in the crater are used to the presence of mankind, which makes this a good area for wildlife photography, particularly as the crater floor is so diverse with areas of swamp, woodland and dry savannah grassland, all set against the backdrop of the forested crater walls.
In the southern quarter of the crater lies Lake Magadi which is a haven for waterbirds and you can frequently see flocks of thousands of flamingos gathered in one corner making their raucous calls and presenting a mass of pink wings, necks and legs.
DAYS 5 TO 8: Wednesday 23rd – Saturday 26th July
JOURNEY
- Game drive transfer to airstrip
- Scheduled light aircraft flight into the Serengeti
- National Reserve
- Game drive transfer to camp
ACCOMMODATION
- Olakira Migration Camp
- 6x Luxury Mobile Tents
- 4 nights
INCLUSIONS
- Meals, local drinks, laundry service, and game drives with your private guide
WHAT TO EXPECT
The Serengeti is one of the largest and richest wildlife reserves in the world. The soil is very fertile, with light coloured volcanic deposits blown from the huge volcanoes which lie to the east creating continuous undulating plains, giving the appearance of great “oceans of grassland”.
This land is full of variety with unbroken grassland in some areas, towering hills, great partially eroded rocky kopjes in the east and south, while to the west woodland and forest lead down to Lake Victoria. A variety of attractive acacia trees are found throughout the Serengeti, and by rivers there are huge fig and rain trees. As you drive across the plains the scenery changes in appearance every three or four miles. It also changes from season to season; covered in brilliant green grasses with beautiful flowers during and after the rainy season with bright beige and yellow grass colours predominating in the dry season.
The Serengeti is home to millions of animals of all kinds including elephant, buffalo, rhino, graceful giraffe and many species of antelope ranging from the tiny dik dik to the larger hartebeest and waterbuck. This is also an excellent area for spotting predators including lion, leopard and cheetah.
It is perhaps most famous for the annual migration of around 1.5 million wildebeest and 300,000 zebra and antelope which traverse the plains in large herds and long lines, plunging into the rivers spectacularly in huge numbers and braving crocodile jaws and big cats waiting on the banks in the endless search for fresh pastures.
Olakira Migration Camp is an exceptional traditional tented camp that moves seasonally to track the natural flow of the wildebeest migration, making it the perfect choice for those wishing to see this natural phenomenon.
From the beginning of December until the end of March the camp is on the southern plains with access to both the Serengeti National Park and the Ndutu region of the Ngorongoro Conservation area. Throughout this time the great migrating herds settle in to calve, attracting an array of predators.
In addition to the migrating herds, this area is also home to many resident creatures including all the cats – lion, leopard and cheetah – hyena, giraffe, elephant, buffalo and a variety of antelope species. There are also numerous smaller creatures such as baboon, warthog, jackal and in the rivers are hippopotamus and crocodile. This part of the Serengeti also has approximately 300 species of birds.
The camp consists of nine spacious canvas tents, each having a viewing deck and en-suite bathroom facilities. Being the most luxurious of Asilia’s seasonal migration camps, Olakira boasts a unique feature that really sets it apart from other camps of its type.
Each of its tents has a secure, insect-proof meshed area with a panoramic view of the plains and an unobstructed view of the heavens, allowing guests to roll their bed out and spend an evening sleeping under a blanket of stars, a unique, magical experience!
Expansive dining and lounge tents make up the main guest area and both are designed with an open feel making them the perfect place to relax with a drink looking out over the plains stretching away in front of camp.
The camp is run in an extremely friendly and welcoming manner with nothing too much trouble to make your stay comfortable and memorable, while the chefs and kitchen staff produce a seemingly impossible standard of cuisine in this remote environment.
DAY 9 TO 11: Sunday 27th – Tuesday 29th July
JOURNEY
- Game drive transfer to airstrip
- Scheduled light aircraft flight to Kigali
- International Airport
- Private road transfer to lodge
ACCOMODATION
- Amakoro Songa Lodge
- 6x Individual Cottage
- 3 nights
INCLUSIONS
- Meals, soft drinks, local beers and house wines, one gorilla trekking permit per person and one golden monkey trekking permit per person
WHAT TO EXPECT
A tiny, landlocked republic in Equatorial Africa, Rwanda lies on the eastern rim of the Albertine Rift and the watershed between Africa’s two largest river systems: the Nile and the Congo. Often called the “land of a thousand hills”, Rwanda is a mountainous country with a moist, temperate year-round climate. This is a sultry land of lakes, rain forests and rolling hills, offering a number of magnificent lakeside resort towns.
The rainforests of the Virunga Volcanoes span Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, with the Parc National des Volcans being the Rwandese element of this ecosystem. The Parc is part of the Virunga Conservation Area, a region of towering conical volcanoes covered in lush afro-montane forests, watered by fast flowing rivers, which flow into beautiful lakes.
The lush slopes of the volcanoes provide an appropriately dramatic natural setting for what is perhaps the most poignant and thrilling wildlife experience to be had anywhere – to see the Mountain Gorilla in its natural habitat. Roughly half of the world’s wild population of Mountain Gorillas are resident on the Rwandan slopes of the Virungas, spread across ten different habituated families. The largest family has roughly 38 members, while some of the smaller groups have only eight to ten individuals.
The national park is also an excellent place for bird watching and for viewing primates and other smaller creatures, and the nature of the wildlife and, in particular, the setting contrasts spectacularly with almost all other safari destinations in East Africa
Amakoro Songa Lodge is situated on the edge of the park, in an undulating area with fabulous views towards the volcanoes.
The main area of the lodge includes a reception, bar, lounge and dining room, while there is also an extensive outdoor deck from which guests can enjoy the spectacular views. There is also an outdoor fireplace where guests can enjoy a drink of an evening in comfort.
The accommodation comprises charming cottages with private veranda, bedroom and en suite bathroom. Each cottage has large windows to make the best of the wonderful views and fireplaces to keep guests cosy when it is cool. The lush gardens have been extensively landscaped and are a pleasure to explore, keeping an eye out for all manner of visiting birds.
Early on the morning of Day 10 you will be taken to the gorilla tracking base where you will be briefed by your guides before setting off into the hills to track these truly amazing animals. Tracking the gorillas through the misty forests requires patience and stamina, sometimes walking for hours in the mud and the wet. Finally meeting them in the undergrowth is an inspiring moment. Quietly chewing away at their vegetarian delicacies, they seem like a marooned human family. The tender grooming and firm disciplining of their offspring seems all too familiar. The family cast a wary glance at the sudden human intrusion into their private world but are comforted by the clucking made by the trackers. When provoked, the noisy, but harmless silverback grunts, screeches, bares his fangs and beats his chest, before slithering off with attendant females, offspring and other mature males.
On Day 11 you will head off with a guide in the search of the golden monkey, of which the only viable populations are thought to exist in this little corner of Rwanda. Two groups of these rare and beautiful primates live within a couple of hours walk of the lodge.
Trekking through the rich rainforest you can expect to encounter diverse species of birds, large troops of colobus monkeys and other primates as well as the rare golden monkeys.
DAY 12: Wednesday 30th July
JOURNEY
- Private road transfer to Kigali International Airport
- Continue with onward travel arrangements
PRICING INFORMATION
The price of this itinerary (subject to availability) on the basis that you book directly with us, departing in July 2026 and travelling as a party of 12 adults is: USD 16,286 per person (sharing)
Single Supplement – US$2,260 per person
Inclusions:
- Accommodation as detailed
- Meals and drinks as listed
- Warren Samuels Private Guide for 12 days
- Game viewing activities as listed
- 1x Gorilla trekking permit per person
- 1x Golden Monkey trekking permit per person
- Pre-payable park/concession fees
Exclusions:
- International flights
- Any items not detailed in the travel itinerary
- Tips
Notes:
- Inclusions are subject to change at the discretion of the property.
- All the photos contained in this itinerary are illustrative of the lodges, transport and sights you will see on your holiday. Please note however that we cannot guarantee that you will see all the animals and birds shown as these are wild creatures and not under our control. Equally where specific food or drink, or furniture/furnishings are shown, these may not be identical to those you will experience. Please note inclusions are subject to change at the discretion of the property.
- If flights have been included within your booking then unless provisionally held for you, these are subject to change and any increases in fares at the time of booking will be passed on. Similarly, if booking a trip inclusive of flights more than 11 months in advance we will try to give as accurate an indicative cost as possible, but exact flight costs will need to be obtained once flight fares become available and as such, any variance will be reflected in your final balance.
- Check the brochure for information on visas, passports and vaccinations.
