Day 1: Kigali - Parcs de Volcans

Ake will greet you as you arrive Kigali this morning and immediately take you on one of the most spectacular drives in East Africa into the highland jungles of Parcs de volcans. You'll arrive the luxury Volcanoes Camp for lunch. In the afternoon, you can relax, visit a local pygmy village or hike a bit in the countryside. Dinner and overnight in camp.

Day 2: Parcs de Volcans - Kigali

Dawn trek to find the Mountain Gorilla, in the volcanoes made famous by Dian Fossey. This is a challenging trek to as high as 8500' in thick highland jungles. Towering ferns and draping lianas are hacked away by your ranger guides.

When you find a gorilla family, you'll have one of the most dramatic hours of your life, as you sit among these enormous and gentle kings of the forest. By the end of the day you descend the volcano and drive back to Kigali for a celebration dinner and overnight at the Intercontinental Hotel.

Day 3: Manyara

Depart Kigali this morning on an early 7 a.m. flight and connect through Nairobi, arriving Kilimanjaro airport in northern Tanzania in the late morning. This is Ake's home, and his hand-picked driver/guides will meet you and take you onto the Maasai Plains.

You'll stop first in Arusha town for lunch at a popular local restaurant, and visit the Meserani Snake Farm and anti-venom facility on the way towards the Great Rift Valley. This magnificent drive ends at dusk as you climb the towering escarpment. Enjoy a sundowner on the elegant deck of Kirurumu Camp as you look over miles and miles of Africa. Dinner and overnight at the camp.

Day 4: Manyara

Dawn game drive in this UNESCO biosphere, Lake Manyara National Park, remarkable for its variety of trees and other vegetation, and famous for a wide range of big game including lions in the trees. In the afternoon, join Ake for some mountain biking before dinner and overnight at Kirurumu Camp.

Day 5: Ngorongoro Crater

Leave Kirurumu after an early breakfast and arrive Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge for lunch. In the afternoon enjoy a game drive in legendary Ngorongoro Crater. Once the world's tallest structure, Ngorongoro Volcano blew its stack about three million years ago, collapsing into the magnificent caldera that we see, today, 100 sq. miles of some of the most productive African savannah found anywhere.

The density of lions in Ngorongoro is the highest of any African park. Ngorongoro is the last place where free-ranging, wild black rhino can be seen, and they're doing well, here. The floor of the caldera is about 1500' below the rim, producing a spectacle that few photographers can capture. Return to the lodge in time to watch sunset over this magnificent natural wonder. Dinner and overnight in the lodge.

Day 6: Ngorongoro - Empakaii

Depart after an early breakfast to the Eastern arm of the Ngorongoro Highlands. This area is only ever seen by a handful of visitors every year and the extinct crater of Empakai is our target. This is scenery that will leave you breathless and in the afternoon we descend into the depths of this beautifully formed caldera.

There is a crater lake, home to a plethora of flamingoes and the crater is home to a variety of animals from buffalo to waterbuck. In the late afternoon we ascend back to our adventure camp where our crew prepares a filling dinner. Dinner and overnight in Empakai expedition camp.

Day 7: Trek Rift Valley

The track sets off down from your lofty position towards the rift valley. The landscape here is dotted with Maasai bomas as well as deep gorges that have been incised by millennia of rainy seasons. Lengai is clearly visible and the numerous other extinct volcanoes can be spotted as well. The hike is quite a long one today and you arrive in camp where your crew has already set up in advance. Dinner is served in a remote expedition camp overlooking the rift valley.

Day 8: Decend Gregorian Rift Wall

From your expedition camp you now head down the huge rift valley wall with Oldoinyo Lengai to your right and Lake Natron stretching away north. This arid environment becomes scorching hot in the mid day and we are picked up by your driver guide at the trail base and transferred to your camp to relax and hide away from the heat of the day.

An afternoon walk is taken at the lake shore edge where numerous tributaries flow into the highly saline Lake Natron – home to the breeding grounds of both lesser and greater flamingoes. Dinner and overnight at Lengai camp.

Day 9: Ascent of Lengai

Ascent of Lengai nearly always starts at night to avoid the heat of the day. We transfer to the base of the mountain before setting off up ever steeping slopes. These incredibly fertile slopes are home to a variety of small game that in turn support mid sized predators – Ake has even heard two leopard near the summit on previous ascents but they pose no threat to hikers. We normally reach the summit by dawn where the sunrise can be spectacular.

Lengai is active and is also has a unique composition giving the lowest temperature lava in the world. Fumaroles vent sulphurous gases and steam and from time to time ash cones erupt black ash with resounding thuds. A remarkable environment. The steep decent makes for a slow pace and we reach the vehicles and transfer back to camp for a well-deserved rest and lunch.

Day 10: Lake Natron to Serengeti

For those with the energy, an early morning hike can be done to waterfalls deep within a riverine gorge before setting off towards the Grande Dame of African game parks, the great Serengeti. You head up a twisting road that leads up the rift wall where views of Natron and the rift are sweeping and majestic and on through Sonjo land, a Bantu tribe that is an island amongst the surrounding Maasai.

The route then leads into game rich areas bordering Serengeti national park where game is plentiful. You'll weave your way through the remarkably beautiful giant kopjes of this area of the Serengeti, heading to an extraordinarily luxurious mobile camp for dinner and overnight.

Each massive tent contains very comfortable beds, proper furniture, a vanity area, private toilet and private hot-bucket shower, illuminated by gentle solar light. The finest bush cooks will prepare gourmet meals to be served in the mess tent, and afterwards, around the camp fire, you can recount the magnificent expedition you just concluded. Tonight, you'll fall asleep to the roars of lion and laughs of the hyena.

Days 11 & 12: Serengeti

Camp will be strategically placed to ensure the best game viewing, and this means the location of camp changes in the 5,000 sq. mile Serengeti with the season, the pattern of rains and the predicted animal migrations. The amount of wildlife in the Serengeti is famously known, but in addition to game viewing there will be time to explore other attractions in the park, including sacred Maasai sites and cave paintings, as well as the Serengeti Welcome Center.

The schedule of game viewing depends upon your stamina and interest! Return each evening for sundowners and freshly cooked hors d'oeuvres around the campfire, before a gourmet dinner and fine South African wines.

Day 13: Arusha - Depart

Final game viewing this morning as you drive to the nearest airstrip for a quick late morning flight back to Arusha town. Ake will then take you to a special restaurant for a farewell bash, before an afternoon free to explore Arusha and shop. Later, you'll be taken to the Kilimanjaro Airport Hotel where private rooms are available for everyone before the evening departures to Europe.