14 Days Ancient Traditions

On your arrival at Kigali International Airport, you’ll be welcomed by our meet and greet team who will ensure you have a smooth and a safe passage through the airport.  When exited, your private guide will assist you with baggage and transfer you to The Retreat.

After breakfast, visit Kandt House Museum; the first modern building which laid the foundations for Rwanda’s capital city; Kigali. Proceed to Nyamirambo Women Center for uniquely personal insight into the culture, history, and daily life of the Nyamirambo community through the walking tour. It begins at the Women’s Center with a traditional snack, a quick Kinyarwanda language lesson, and an introduction to the Center and its activities. It then weaves through Nyamirambo, one of Kigali’s oldest neighbourhoods. Along the way your guide will lead you into a women’s hairdressing salon where the adventurous type can get a free braid; into a family, compound to pound cassava leaves; by two mosques and a lookout view over Kigali; and into a tailor shop to feel the fabrics you’ll otherwise see styled on the streets.  Spend the afternoon learning the traditional instore dance of Rwanda

After breakfast, drive to the north, weaving through beautiful terraced hillsides, culminates at the base of the awe-inspiring Virunga massif. Check-in at Singita Kwitonda Lodge.  In the evening, visit the Conservation Room, where a lodge manager and Singita conservationist will explain various aspects of the trekking experience. This includes more details about the area and a general outline of the trekking day.

After an early breakfast, drive from the lodge to Kinigi Headquarters where you will register for the gorilla trekking. Once you’ve been divided into parties of 8, assigned a group and have had a briefing from your guide you will be driven to the trailhead where you will start the walk to reach your mountain gorilla group. Your experienced trackers use their knowledge of the gorillas’ habits to locate their whereabouts. Upon sighting the gorillas, you stay with them for a magical hour, admire the behaviour of the gorillas as they go about their daily lives feeding, the youngster playing and picking open fruit and throwing it through the air, resting and raising their young. Occasionally one, often a playful youngster, will approach you with curiosity, sometimes coming so close that you’ll have to move away. At that moment, the world seems to come alive, and your view of the natural world is changed to include creatures’ humans have so feared for thousands of years. At that moment, the world seems to come alive, and your view of the natural world is changed to include creatures’ humans have so feared for thousands of years. Return to the comfort of the lodge, where you will gear down in a warm mudroom and relax with a refreshing beverage.

NOTE: The minimum age requirement for gorilla trekking is 15, but little ones will be engaged and entertained in array of activities such as Akarabo nursery garden tour, cooking interaction, Arts & crafts, birding and movies.

On this day, spend the morning searching the lush vegetation at the foot of Mount Sabyinyo for a beautiful little creature found only in the high-altitude forests of Virunga Mountain Chain. You will track the monkeys with a guide and you will spend an hour once you locate the monkeys (a Troup of more than 80 members), you will often need to follow them as they are often on the move jumping from tree to tree with their long tails which is really entertaining but a little difficult to photograph! We recommend setting your camera to a fast shutter-speed to allow for low light in the dense undergrowth and to better your chances of capturing the golden monkeys on film.

NOTE: The minimum age requirement for golden monkey trekking is 12.

Spend the afternoon at Red Rocks and immerse yourselves in the traditional Rwandese methods of ceramic production, Banana beer production, Banana paper preparation, basket weaving or visit an off-the-beaten-track art studio to discover how art has become the universal language in supporting the efforts of conserving the iconic mountain gorillas.

Have a leisurely breakfast and later carry on with your journey to Kigali where you will have a stop for lunch and then transfer at the airport for your flight to Arusha. On arrival at Kilimanjaro international airport, you’ll be transferred to Arusha Coffee Lodge.  Later one our safari manager will come to detail you about the safari & leave you to relax.

After sipping the Tanzanian cup of coffee, you will drive Arusha for your scheduled flight to Ruaha National Park. Once you touch down, you will be met by a guide who will game drive you at Ikuka Safari Lodge.  Arrive to welcoming smiles and an escort to your family suite. After settling in, enjoy a mouthwatering. Later you will go for an evening Game drive. Your guide will select a scenic spot and pulls out a hamper packed with sundowner treats and chilled drinks and as the sun sinks toward the horizon, you raise a glass to the wildness of Ruaha.

The Ruaha is a vast savannah dotted with mighty baobabs, hills and rocky outcrops and its river valleys full of palm trees. This kaleidoscope of life makes the Ruaha an exceptionally beautiful park. The entire cast of the Tanzania savannah and wildlife is on the show here. The Ruaha combines acacia savannah of East Africa and the Miombo woodland of Southern Africa. The Great Ruaha River as other rivers like Mwagusi, Jongomero and Mzombe serve as the lifeline of the park bringing water into an otherwise dry area and ensuring wildlife and bird life is adequately sustained. Despite being the largest national park in Tanzania and one of the largest in Africa, Ruaha is a little known and untrammeled wilderness.

Explore the vast savannah on early morning or evening game drive. You’ll be on the lookout for the Wild dogs, Lions, Leopards, Elephants as you follow the Riverine belt where the Wildlife come to drink. On foot you are a participant in the world of wildlife rather than a spectator. Your senses awaken and you become part of your environment. Imagine walking the same path as elephants, hear a lion roar in the distance or smell the bush and wildlife. One of the allures of exploring the bush on foot are the smaller things which often get missed in the vehicle; the tracks and trails of animals as well as seeing how important each and every creature is in making nature work. Children will be thought tracking, the chef will show them how to prepare a local dish and the waiters will teach them some Swahili phrases.

After breakfast, you will drive to Ruaha airstrip for your scheduled flight to Zanzibar. Upon arrival at Zanzibar airport, you will be met by a meet and great team who will drive you to Baraza Resort& Spa; a stunning fully inclusive resort evokes the heritage of Zanzibar dating back to the era of the Sultans. A fusion of Arabic, Swahili and Indian design, with Swahili arches, intricate hand carved cement décor, beautiful antiques, handmade furniture and intricate brass lanterns; it offers unparalleled standards of luxury on the Island of Zanzibar.

Get up close and personal with turtles via an excursion to our local trail-blazing sea turtle rescue programme. This trail-blazing eco-team works with local fishermen, encouraging them not to use the nets that can also ensnare turtles; and helping them rehabilitate those turtles who have already suffered from coastal plastic contamination. Keep active with some frisbee, beach- tennis or swimming-pool volleyball. If you’d like to add to your skills while on vacation, then why not learn the ancient game of Bao? Bao originated in East Africa and you can see it being played in town squares all over the archipelago.

It would be a tragedy to visit Zanzibar and not experience the wonder of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Stone Town. The tour also includes visits to the Sultan’s Harem and Maruhubi Baths, the slave market and slave chambers, Prison Island and the gorgeously-scented spice gardens. Once you’ve sampled the Swahili cuisine – you may want to know how to recreate it at home. So why not join one of our chef’s master classes and learn about all things spice, seafood and coconut? Alternatively, you could join our Swahili School. As tradition dictates, lessons are held in the shade of our palm trees and led by a local Mwalimu (teacher) who can teach you how to speak Swahili … or all about Zanzibar’s history. Finally, to take home an authentic Zanzibar cultural skill, why not pitch up for the beach-class on palm weaving – and weave yourself a sun hat.

After breakfast, you will drive to Arusha International Airport for your flight back home.