Gorillas, then the Maasai Mara, then a private island. Bisate, Mara Plains and Mnemba, with both permits and every flight included.
The Ultra Luxury Rwanda, Maasai Mara and Zanzibar Safari is a 13 day, 12 night journey across three countries. Guests stay one night at The Retreat in Kigali, three at Wilderness Bisate beside Volcanoes National Park with two gorilla treks, one at Hemingways Nairobi, four at Mara Plains Camp in the Olare Motorogi Conservancy and three at andBeyond Mnemba Island. Both gorilla permits at USD 1,500 each, every flight, all park and conservancy fees and the Great Plains Foundation contribution are inside the price. Prices start at USD 29,900 per person sharing and rise to USD 47,900 in the July to October migration.
This is the top of our range, and we do not pretend otherwise.
Wilderness Bisate at the edge of Volcanoes National Park, six villas woven into a volcanic amphitheatre. Mara Plains in the Olare Motorogi Conservancy, seven suites on a conservancy that caps beds at one tent per 700 acres. andBeyond Mnemba, twelve bandas on a private island inside its own marine reserve.
Each is at the front of its market. Put together they make a journey that goes from cloudforest at 2,500 metres to open plains to a coral reef, with two hours of flying between each.
Both gorilla permits, every flight, all park and conservancy fees and the Great Plains Foundation contribution are inside the price. At this level nothing should be handed to you at a reception desk.
Why we love this journey: of the order it happens in. Four days of hard walking at altitude, then a week where the vehicle does the work, then three days where the only decision is whether to swim before or after breakfast. By the time guests reach Mnemba they have earned it, and it shows.
Two gorilla treks · Both permits included at USD 1,500 each. Eight people may visit a family in a day, worldwide. Two of them are yours, twice.
One tent per 700 acres · Olare Motorogi caps its beds harder than any other Maasai Mara conservancy, and permits off road driving and night drives.
A private island to finish · Mnemba is twelve bandas inside its own marine reserve, with twenty four guests at most and no roads at all.
Two flights included free · Mara Plains build the Wilson flights into their rate, and Mnemba include the flight in from Nairobi.
Everything inside the price · Permits, flights, park fees and the Foundation contribution. Nothing is billed on arrival.
Three ecosystems in twelve nights · Cloudforest at 2,500 metres, open savannah, and a coral reef, with two hours of flying between each.
Fly into Kigali International, the calmest arrival airport in the region, and transfer twenty minutes to The Retreat in Kiyovu. A handful of suites around a garden and a saltwater pool in the middle of the city. If your flight lands early there is time for the Kigali Genocide Memorial, which is difficult and worth it.
The road north climbs out of Kigali through terraced hillsides into the Musanze plain, about two and a half hours, with the Virunga chain rising ahead. Wilderness Bisate sits on the eroded rim of an old volcanic crater at the park boundary. Six spherical thatched villas, each with a fireplace lit before you reach it. In the afternoon you plant a tree in ground that was farmland ten years ago.
An early start at the park headquarters, where families are allocated and groups briefed. The walk in takes anything from one to six hours on steep, wet ground at altitude. When you reach the family you have one hour, and the seven metre rule is one the gorillas ignore entirely. Back for a long lunch and the fire.
Out again, usually to a different family. This is the one guests remember, because the nerves have gone and the hour goes on watching rather than concentrating. In the afternoon, the golden monkeys of the bamboo zone, a species found nowhere but the Virungas.
The drive back to Kigali, then RwandAir to Nairobi, about two hours. Hemingways in Karen, looking out at the Ngong Hills, every room a suite with full butler service. A quiet evening after four days at altitude.
A short transfer to Wilson and a light aircraft south west across the Rift Valley. Your guide meets the plane and the first drive begins on the way in. Mara Plains is raised on decking above the Ntiakitiak River with only seven suites, a Relais and Chateaux member. Every park fee and all your drinks are already inside the rate.
A dawn drive while the cats are still moving, then out again in the afternoon. Conservancy land means your guide can leave the track to follow a sighting and take a night drive after dinner, neither of which the reserve allows. Every suite carries professional camera bodies and lenses for you to use.
A full day inside the national reserve, included in your rate. Between July and October this is where the river crossings happen. Outside those months it is where the largest resident lion prides hold territory. Picnic lunch under a tree.
A balloon at first light, a walking safari with a Maasai guide, or two more drives and nothing else. After four days on foot at altitude in Rwanda, most guests are content to sit in a vehicle and watch.
The flight back to Wilson, across the city, and on to Zanzibar, which andBeyond include. Then a short drive and a boat out to Mnemba. There is no reception and nothing to sign. Twelve bandas among the casuarina trees, each with its own stretch of sand, and a reef a few strokes offshore.
Two dives are included daily for certified divers, on reef inside a protected marine conservation area. If you do not dive, the snorkelling off the beach is as good as the diving elsewhere. Kayaks, a traditional ngalawa under sail, and a spa treatment on your own deck are all there if you want them.
Green turtles nest on these beaches and the island runs a conservation programme guests can join. Otherwise the day has no shape at all, which after eleven nights of early starts and a week at altitude is precisely the point.
A last swim, then the boat back and a short drive to Zanzibar International for your onward flight. Guests connecting through Nairobi or Dar es Salaam do so the same day, and we hold a dayroom in Stone Town if the connection is a long one.
A small, quiet hotel in Kiyovu, central Kigali, and the easiest possible first or last night in Rwanda.
The Retreat is a boutique property of a handful of rooms set around a garden and a saltwater pool, twenty minutes from Kigali International. Kigali is the cleanest and calmest capital in the region, and the hotel matches it.
It exists to solve the arrival and departure problem well. You land, you sleep properly, and you leave for the volcanoes in the morning. On the way home it holds you between the Rwanda leg and the flight to Nairobi.
Suites with private terraces, outdoor showers and plunge pools on the upper rooms, finished in Rwandan craft and local materials. Quiet, despite being in the middle of the city.
Fusion, the hotel's plant forward restaurant, works almost entirely from Rwandan smallholders. Breakfast can be taken early for the drive north, or slowly by the pool.
A saltwater pool, a spa and a gym. The Kigali Genocide Memorial, the Nyamirambo Women's Centre and the city's craft markets are all within a short drive and worth the afternoon if your flight allows.
Six villas woven into a volcanic amphitheatre at the foot of the Virunga chain, and widely held to be the finest place in Africa from which to walk in and meet a mountain gorilla.
Bisate sits on the eroded rim of an old volcanic crater at the edge of Volcanoes National Park, looking out at Bisoke, Karisimbi and Mikeno. The villas are spherical and thatched, echoing the hills that give Rwanda its name, and the interiors use woven screens and materials drawn straight from Rwandan craft.
The lodge is as much a reforestation project as a hotel. Every guest plants a tree, and the land around the villas has been rebuilt from farmland into indigenous cloudforest over the past decade. It has collected more than thirty international awards since opening in 2017.
Six Forest Villas, each with a fireplace, a wide curved window facing the volcanoes, a private deck and a bathroom with a deep tub. The lodge is built into a mountainside on three levels reached by stone steps, so it does not suit guests with limited mobility.
Fully inclusive, with all meals, local drinks and laundry inside the rate. Dining moves between the main lodge, the fireside and the deck depending on the weather, which at 2,500 metres changes quickly. The kitchen leans on Rwandan produce and the lodge's own garden.
Gorilla trekking and golden monkey trekking are the reason to be here, both on permits bought separately. Beyond them, guided nature walks, birding in the Albertine Rift, tree planting, community visits, biodiversity briefings and The Sanctuary wellness rooms are all included.
With sweeping views of the Ngong Hills and interiors that reflect the grace of Kenya's heritage, Hemingways Nairobi blends timeless hospitality with thoughtful design.
Set between Nairobi National Park and the foot of the Ngong Hills, Hemingways Nairobi is an exclusive boutique hotel far from the bustle of central Nairobi. An all suite property providing full butler service, a brasserie and a bar, it is perfectly placed for trips to Nairobi National Park and the capital.
Hemingways Nairobi has a sophisticated and tranquil ambiance. Each of the 45 suites is a generous size, all with walk in dressing rooms and a terrace with magnificent views of the Ngong Hills.
Hemingways' 45 loftily ceilinged rooms are bright, open and fresh, decorated with soothing, muted colours and canopied beds, with touches of brass and mahogany. Large Italian marbled bathrooms, a personalised bar, in room dining and the attentive service of your butler are testimony to Hemingways' dedication to surpassing the very highest expectations.
The Dining Room serves delectable cuisine from the hotel's Michelin starred chef. Top notch culinary creations have placed Hemingways on Africa's gourmet food map, with contemporary European styled dishes and a variety of international flavours to suit every palate.
The utterly unique Nairobi National Park, offering authentic big game viewing with a city skyline, lies just a few minutes away, while the Karen Blixen Museum, Giraffe Centre and Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage are also nearby.
Where the rhythm of the Mara meets the refinement of safari living, Mara Plains Camp is a small and private luxury tented camp in the Olare Motorogi Conservancy, on the northern border of the Maasai Mara National Reserve.
An intimate safari retreat hidden beneath the canopy of riverine forest on the banks of the Ntiakitiak River, Mara Plains offers a rare sense of seclusion in the heart of the Maasai Mara. With only a handful of luxury tents, the camp blends understated elegance with authentic safari character: canvas walls, deep wooden decks, and interiors adorned with handcrafted furnishings and Swahili antiques.
Designed to merge seamlessly with nature, the camp opens to unbroken views across the savannah. The conservancy caps beds at one tent per 700 acres, the lowest density in the greater Mara ecosystem.
Seven spacious and uniquely designed canvas rooms built on a raised platform, each with its own private veranda and views of the Mara plains or the river. Every room has a private dressing area and an en suite bathroom with a double vanity, flush toilet, bathtub and shower.
Brunch and dinner are enjoyed around a grand wooden table in the canvas dining room or on the outdoor deck overlooking the river. Meal times are flexible, so you will not find yourself constrained to return to camp if you come across a great sighting.
Game drives across the Mara and the Olare Motorogi Conservancy, photographic safaris, and guided walks that bring the ecosystem to life. Cultural experiences with the Maasai community reveal the connection between land and heritage. Night drives are permitted on conservancy land.
Twelve bandas on a private island off the north east corner of Zanzibar, with twenty four guests at most and no roads at all.
Mnemba is a small coral island inside its own marine conservation area, ringed by reef and reachable only by boat. You can walk around it in about twenty minutes, and for most of that walk you will not see anyone.
The bandas are open sided, thatched, and set back among the casuarina trees a few paces from the sand. There is no reception, no keys and nothing to sign. Two dives a day are included, as is everything else.
Twelve bandas, each with a private stretch of beach, an open sided living area, a large bed under netting and an outdoor shower. There is no glass and no air conditioning, because the sea breeze does the work.
Fully inclusive of all meals and drinks. Meals appear wherever you happen to be, on the sand, on your own deck, or at a communal table. The kitchen works almost entirely from what comes off the boats that morning.
Two dives a day for certified divers, snorkelling on the reef, kayaking, sailing a traditional ngalawa, and turtle conservation work on the island itself. Green turtles nest on the beaches and the hatchings are protected and monitored.
This journey runs on request rather than on fixed departure dates. You choose the dates, we hold the camps. What changes is the season you travel in, and each band below is priced from our contracted rates for that window.
| Travel Window | Season & Availability | From | Quote |
|---|---|---|---|
11 January – 28 February 2027 Peak |
Limited | USD 36,950per person sharing | Get a Quote |
1 – 31 March 2027 Shoulder |
Good availability | USD 35,200per person sharing | Get a Quote |
1 April – 31 May 2027 Closed |
Mnemba closed for maintenance | — | |
1 – 14 June 2027 Green |
Wide open | USD 31,650per person sharing | Get a Quote |
15 – 30 June 2027 Peak |
Limited | USD 42,450per person sharing | Get a Quote |
1 July – 30 September 2027 Peak, Migration |
Very limited | USD 47,900per person sharing | Get a Quote |
1 – 31 October 2027 Peak |
Limited | USD 45,700per person sharing | Get a Quote |
1 November – 17 December 2027 Green |
Wide open Best Value | USD 29,900per person sharing | Get a Quote |
20 December 2027 – 4 January 2028 Festive |
Very limited | USD 47,900per person sharing | Get a Quote |
Rates are per person sharing in United States dollars, based on two adults travelling together. Both gorilla permits at USD 1,500 each are inside the price, along with every flight, all park and conservancy fees and the Great Plains Foundation contribution of USD 100 per person per night. Nothing is billed on arrival. Mnemba Island closes for maintenance through April and May, so those two months are not available on this routing. Mnemba also include a complimentary flight in from Nairobi and the boat transfer, which is why the Kenya to Zanzibar leg costs nothing. Note the step between 14 and 15 June, where Mara Plains moves into its migration season. The Great Plains Stay 4 Pay 3 offer is applied from 11 January to 14 June and 1 November to 19 December. Gorilla permits are limited to eight visitors per family per day and sell out well ahead for July to October. Prices are held for 14 days from the date of quotation and confirmed on receipt of a 30 percent deposit, with the balance due 60 days before departure.
It starts at USD 29,900 per person sharing in November and December and rises to USD 47,900 through July to October. Both gorilla permits, every flight, all park and conservancy fees and the Great Plains Foundation contribution are inside that figure. It is the most expensive journey we sell, and the properties are the reason.
Bisate, Mara Plains and Mnemba are each at the front of their market. Six villas, seven suites and twelve bandas respectively. Add two gorilla permits at USD 1,500 each and the arithmetic follows. Nothing here is padded, and two of the flights are free because the camps include them.
Through April and May for annual maintenance, which unfortunately removes the two cheapest months for Bisate and Mara Plains as well. If your dates fall there we will substitute another Zanzibar property and reprice.
Mara Plains moves into its migration season on 15 June. A departure on the 14th is USD 31,650 and one on the 16th is USD 42,450. If your dates are flexible, early June is the best value of the whole year.
Very. Altitude and hard walking first, then a week where the vehicle does the work, then three days at sea level with nothing to do. Reversing it would leave guests trekking at 2,500 metres after a week horizontal on a beach, which is a genuinely bad idea.
Not when it is flown. Three countries, four properties, and no leg longer than two hours in the air. The exhaustion in a long journey almost always comes from road transfers, and there are none here beyond the drive to Volcanoes.
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