SIGNATURE SAFARI SERIES

Complete East African Luxury Safari

Two Gorilla Treks, Four Countries

21 Days / 20 Nights

Overview

Twenty-one days move through four countries — Kenya’s private conservancies, Tanzania’s Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater, Rwanda’s Virunga foothills, and Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. Two separate mountain gorilla treks anchor the journey, one in each country, alongside the density of the Masai Mara and the scale of the Ngorongoro Crater — eight properties, one continuous route through East Africa’s complete safari landscape.

  • Accommodation as specified in the itinerary
  • Meals as specified in the itinerary
  • Gorilla trekking permit, Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park
  • Gorilla trekking permit, Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
  • Golden monkey trekking permit
  • Scheduled flights between stops
  • Park and conservancy fees

  • International flights
  • Tips/gratuities
  • Entry visas and fees
  • Medical and travel insurance
  • Any other items of a personal nature

The Journey – Your Itinerary

A plantation-style sanctuary in Karen, with butlers and Ngong Hills views to ease you in.

Hemingways Nairobi sets an intentionally unhurried tone: a colonial-era-inspired retreat in Karen with dedicated butlers and views to the Ngong Hills, giving travellers time to acclimatise before eight changes of camp across four countries begin.

THE EXPERIENCE
— Private visit to the Giraffe Centre
— David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust elephant orphanage
— Farm-to-table lunch at Cultiva Restaurant
— Kazuri jewellery workshop visit and dinner at Talisman Restaurant

THE STAY — HEMINGWAYS NAIROBI
45 suites with private balconies and dedicated butler service, set in Karen.
— 45 suites, each with a private balcony
— Dedicated butler for every stay
— Award-winning on-site dining

Maasai-owned wilderness between Amboseli and Tsavo, with a star bed for every suite.

Between Amboseli and Tsavo, on Maasai-owned group ranch land, ol Donyo Lodge is one of the only properties anywhere offering a star bed with every suite — a rooftop platform where guests sleep beneath the Milky Way with Kilimanjaro silhouetted in the distance.

THE EXPERIENCE
— Scheduled game drives across the ranchlands
— Horseback riding and mountain biking
— Star bed sleep-outs under an open sky

THE STAY — OL DONYO LODGE
Eight pool suites and a two-bedroom family suite, each with a private star bed.
— 8 pool suites plus a 2-bedroom family suite
— Private star beds for open-air sleeping
— Infinity pool, spa, and multiple lounges

Fifty years of one family’s conservation legacy, and the best rhino odds in Kenya.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site run by the Craig family for half a century, Lewa is home to roughly 15% of Kenya’s black rhino population and one of the country’s largest Grevy’s zebra populations — a conservation story as compelling as the wildlife it protects.

THE EXPERIENCE
— Game drives with exceptional rhino sighting odds
— Camel safaris and horseback riding
— Full-day excursion to Ngare Ndare forest
— Educational visit to Lewa Conservancy’s research headquarters

THE STAY — LEWA WILDERNESS
Nine thatched cottages run by the family that has protected this land for generations.
— 9 thatched cottages, each individually styled
— Organic garden supplying the kitchen
— Open-air dining room

A Canon-equipped photography studio and a star bed, on the wildest bend of the Mara River.

Ishara Mara sits on a dramatic bend of the Mara River, offering both the reserve’s celebrated density of wildlife and a rare in-camp photography studio for guests looking to refine their safari images with expert guidance.

THE EXPERIENCE
— Private game drives across the Main Reserve
— Access to the in-house photography studio
— Spa, sauna and cold-plunge wellness facilities

THE STAY — ISHARA MARA
Ten tents — seven river suites, two family suites, and a villa — with a star bed and working aeroponic farm.
— 10 tents including river suites, family suites and a villa
— Private star bed and observation deck
— On-site aeroponic tower farm supplying the kitchen

An Edwardian manor house on Sasakwa Hill, with the Serengeti’s migration at its feet.

Set within a 350,000-acre private reserve on the Serengeti’s western edge, Singita Sasakwa Lodge is built in the style of an Edwardian manor house, commanding sweeping views over plains that, in season, fill with the Great Migration.

THE EXPERIENCE
— Game drives across the private reserve
— Guided walks with a Singita naturalist
— Al fresco lawn lunches
— Starlit courtyard dinners

THE STAY — SINGITA SASAKWA LODGE
Nine cottages and a villa, each with a private infinity pool, on a hilltop above the plains.
— 9 cottages plus a villa, each with an infinity pool
— Grand manor-house entrance and wraparound verandas
— Views across the private Grumeti reserve

Perched on the crater’s wild rim, built to be entirely removable from this elemental place.

Entamanu Ngorongoro sits directly on the crater’s rim, designed and built with a low-impact ethos — every structure removable, every material locally sourced — in one of Africa’s most visually overwhelming landscapes.

THE EXPERIENCE
— Full-day crater floor game drive with a picnic lunch
— Cultural insight into neighbouring Maasai communities

THE STAY — ENTAMANU NGORONGORO
Seven en-suite cottages and three two-bedroom cottages, handcrafted from local materials.
— 7 en-suite cottages plus 3 two-bedroom cottages
— Handcrafted, entirely removable construction
— Heaters and sheepskin textiles for crater-rim nights

Rwanda’s first eco-conscious luxury boutique hotel, in the Land of a Thousand Hills.

The journey crosses into Rwanda through Kigali, one of Africa’s cleanest and most orderly capitals, built across a series of green hills. Hemingways Retreat gives travellers a boutique, sustainability-minded base for both arrival and departure legs of the Rwanda extension.

THE EXPERIENCE
— Kigali Genocide Memorial visit
— City tour and Kimironko Market
— Rwandan coffee culture experience

THE STAY — HEMINGWAYS RETREAT KIGALI
20 individually styled rooms in the Kiyovu neighbourhood, with a strong sustainability focus.
— 20 individually designed rooms
— Sustainability-led design and operations
— Central Kiyovu location

The first of two mountain gorilla encounters — a front-row seat to the world’s most famous gorilla sanctuary.

The Kenya-Tanzania-Rwanda leg’s culmination: a trek through bamboo forest to spend one hour with a family of mountain gorillas, in the shadow of the Virunga volcano chain. A golden monkey trek and a visit to the Dian Fossey campus round out Rwanda’s rarest wildlife encounters, ahead of a second, entirely different gorilla trek awaiting in Uganda.

THE EXPERIENCE
— Mountain gorilla trekking — one hour with a habituated family
— Golden monkey trekking
— Visit to the Ellen DeGeneres–Dian Fossey Campus
— Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village experience

THE STAY — ONE&ONLY GORILLA’S NEST
Set in the foothills of the Virunga volcanoes, with exclusive proximity to the gorilla sanctuary.
— Suites and villas in forested volcano foothills
— Two complimentary daily experiences
— Direct access to trekking briefing points

A calm lakeside pause on Lake Victoria’s shores, between Rwanda’s volcanoes and Uganda’s mountain gorillas.

The journey’s fourth country begins gently: Entebbe sits on a peninsula along the northern shores of Lake Victoria, its character defined by palm-lined roads, botanical gardens and an unhurried lakeside atmosphere far removed from the pace of larger cities — a soft landing before the final push to Bwindi.

THE EXPERIENCE
— Boat cruise across Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake
— Birding for the rare shoebill stork in nearby wetlands
— Visit to a wildlife conservation centre
— Evening at leisure in Entebbe’s botanical gardens

THE STAY — NO.5 BOUTIQUE HOTEL
A stylish boutique hotel in Entebbe’s leafy suburbs, with rooms opening onto garden and pool.
— Boutique rooms opening onto garden and swimming pool
— Full-service spa and gym
— Internationally inspired dining with a curated wine list

Half the world’s remaining mountain gorillas, in Africa’s oldest rainforest — a second gorilla trek, in a second country.

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, in southwestern Uganda, is said to be Africa’s oldest rainforest and is home to half of the world’s remaining mountain gorillas. This second gorilla experience unfolds among dense jungle, cascading waterfalls and steep ridges — a UNESCO World Heritage Site whose ecological richness closes the Complete East African Safari on its most extraordinary note.

THE EXPERIENCE
— Mountain gorilla trekking in Bwindi’s Buhoma sector — a second, separate gorilla family from Rwanda’s
— Guided forest walks through Africa’s oldest rainforest
— Birding among more than 340 recorded species
— Butterfly spotting along forest trails

THE STAY — BUHOMA LODGE
Ten eco-friendly wooden chalets at the gateway to Bwindi, steps from the gorilla trek starting point. Gorilla Forest Lodge, an A&K Sanctuary, is offered as an elevated alternative.
— 10 spacious eco-friendly wooden chalets with private verandas
— Elevated lounge, bar and dining area with uninterrupted forest views
— Resident L’Hoest’s monkey troop visits the gardens

Transfer to the airport for the return flight home.

Where You Will Stay

Why ChoosE TRAVEL WILD?

Journeys designed around you, never off the shelf

Access to experiences few others can offer

Hand-selected luxury hotels in every destination

Guides who know this land as home

Airport meet and greet with private transfers