Classic Mara Safari
Three nights in the Maasai Mara with the Governors' Camp Collection, flown in on Governors' Aviation. One camp, up to three game drives a day, and nothing else on the diary.
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Kenya · Rwanda · 9 days
Big Five & Gorillas Safari
Nine days and two countries with Hemingways. Nairobi, three nights of conservancy game drives in the Maasai Mara, then Kigali and a gorilla trek in the bamboo at Volcanoes National Park.
Overview
The shape of the journey
The two things East Africa does better than anywhere else are the Mara's cats and Rwanda's gorillas, and they are two hours apart by plane. This puts them in one trip without either half feeling rushed.
NairobiMaasai MaraKigaliVolcanoes National Park
Hemingways covers both ends of it: Karen, the Mara conservancies, and their own house in Kigali. The standard holds across the border. The night up at the volcanoes is at a partner lodge by the park, which we confirm with your booking.
Where you'll stay
The camps and hotels
Hemingways Nairobi
A boutique hotel in Karen, close to the Giraffe Centre, the Sheldrick elephant orphanage and the Karen Blixen museum.
Hemingways Ol Seki Mara
A tented camp on private conservancy land in Naboisho, where drives can leave the track.
Hemingways River Camp Mara
A riverside camp in the Mara North Conservancy, the alternative Mara base on this itinerary.
Hemingways Retreat Kigali
Hemingways' house in Kigali, used either side of the drive up to the volcanoes.
Day by day
How the days run
A proposal, not a timetable. The routing, timings and inclusions are confirmed in writing before you pay anything.
Day 1
Arrive in Nairobi
Out to Karen after the airport, and dinner at the Brasserie. The first evening asks nothing of you.
Hemingways Nairobi
Day 2
Nairobi's animals
The Giraffe Centre and the Sheldrick elephant orphanage in the morning. Both are close, and both are worth the early start. The Karen Blixen museum afterwards if the day has room.
Hemingways Nairobi
Day 3Flight
Fly to the Maasai Mara
A light aircraft into the conservancies. Settle in, then an afternoon drive on private land where there are no crowds at a sighting.
Hemingways Ol Seki Mara or Hemingways River Camp Mara
Day 4
A full day in the conservancy
Out at first light, back through the heat, out again in the afternoon. This is the day the big cats usually turn up.
Hemingways Ol Seki Mara or Hemingways River Camp Mara
Day 5
On foot, then sundowners
A bush walk with a Maasai guide for the ground-level version of the same country. Sundowners on a rise, and dinner in the open afterwards.
Hemingways Ol Seki Mara or Hemingways River Camp Mara
Day 6Flight
Fly to Kigali
West across the border to Rwanda. Kigali is small and green and easy to walk, and the Retreat is where the collection puts you.
Hemingways Retreat Kigali
Day 7
Kigali
Galleries, markets and the city's memorials, at whatever depth you want them. An early night, because tomorrow starts before dawn.
Hemingways Retreat Kigali
Day 8
Gorilla trekking at Volcanoes
North to the volcanoes, briefed at the park, then into the bamboo behind a tracking team. You get an hour with the family. Add a night here if you also want the golden monkeys.
Day 9
Back to Kigali, and out
Return to the Retreat for a last lunch, then the airport and your flight home.
Price & terms
What it costs
Priced on request. This itinerary is quoted for your dates, your party and the grade of camp you choose, which is why there is no single number on this page.
What this price covers
- Rates are per person sharing unless the line above says otherwise.
- Prices move with the season and with availability, and are held only once your quote is confirmed in writing.
- The day-by-day above is a draft. Final routing, timings, inclusions and any park or permit fees are confirmed with your quote.
Before you go
Worth reading before this trip
- The best time to visit Kenya, month by monthJanuary and February, then July to October, are the months we send most people.
- The best time to visit Rwanda for the gorillasJune to September and December to February for drier trails, November to May for lower permit prices, and the gorillas every month of the year.
- Gorilla trekking packing listOne morning in steep, wet forest in Rwanda or Uganda.
- Safari packing list for KenyaA working checklist for a week on safari in Kenya: the bag, the layers for a cold six o'clock start, optics, health and documents, with quantities for seven nights and what changes by season.
- Kenya safari cost: where the money goesWhat you pay for on a Kenya safari, why two similar weeks can differ threefold, who sets the park fees, and how to get more from the same budget.
- What a gorilla permit costs, in Rwanda and UgandaUSD 1,500 in Rwanda, USD 800 in Uganda, and the discounts, resident rates and habituation permits either side of them.
- Practical facts by countryPlugs, currency, time zone, driving side, SIM, tipping and tap water.
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