Gorillas first, then Stone Town and the Zanzibar coast: for fit walkers aged 15 and up.
Rwanda: 7–10 nightsSafari & seaVolcanoes or Bwindi · Stone Town · Zanzibar coast
The journey
After hours of climbing through wet forest and bamboo, the trackers slow and someone points. If the family is found, you have one hour.
Two or three nights near Rwanda’s volcanoes or Uganda’s Bwindi forest, then a flight east to Stone Town’s coral-stone lanes and a quiet coast. The physical day comes first, the slow days last.
Gorillas & Zanzibar suits travellers aged at least 15 who can walk steep, muddy ground for hours. Rwanda fits seven to ten nights. In Uganda a licensed Ugandan partner provides the guide and 4x4. Choose another journey for a short trip or a beach-only plan.
Forest first, sea after, with flights between confirmed for your dates and nights shaped on your terms.
Moments along the way
Hard day first, soft days after.
01
Briefing at first light
Rangers assign your group a family and explain the rules before you climb.
02
Into the bamboo
Trackers ahead, an optional porter beside you, slopes lost in cloud and mud underfoot.
03
The hour in the clearing
Up to an hour with the family, if they are found: voices low, no flash.
04
The flight east
A drive to Kigali, a flight east, and the Indian Ocean’s pale edge appearing below.
05
Stone Town’s doorways
Carved wood, coffee on a shaded bench, and lanes of coral stone to walk at dusk.
06
Afternoons with nothing in them
Sea, shade and a book, earned on the mountain, while the tide goes out.
Where you’ll stay
Each stay adds to the story.
From an Essential forest lodge and island guesthouse to a Private Collection lodge above the forest and a coastal retreat, each stay is chosen for what it adds. Forest lodges vary widely, so the level matters.
Select an idea to carry into your brief. Nothing is added to a booking or priced automatically.
BEFORE YOU ENQUIRE
A route with room to breathe
Here’s how it comes together.
Kigali → Volcanoes → Kigali → Zanzibar airport → Stone Town → coast. The map shows the Rwanda version; in Uganda, Entebbe and Bwindi replace Kigali and the volcanoes.
Preparing the route map…
A sense of the days
The rhythm of the journey.
Drive two to three hours from Kigali to the volcanoes; from Entebbe, Bwindi is a long road day or a short flight.
Briefing, the climb, the hour with a family if found, then the long walk down. The afternoon is for rest.
Trek again with a second permit, though rangers may assign the same family; add golden monkeys in Rwanda, or simply rest.
Return to Kigali or Entebbe for the flight east. RwandAir began flying Kigali to Zanzibar direct in December 2025, on set days of the week.
Walk carved doors and markets in the evening and again at dawn, dressing modestly and asking before photographing anyone.
Four or five nights of reef, tide and shade; then a transfer to Zanzibar’s airport for your flight home.
Via Rwanda: two or three forest nights, up to one in Kigali, one in Stone Town and four or five on the coast.
Clear from the beginning
What’s included.
Typically included
Expert driver-guide in Rwanda or Uganda
4x4 safari vehicle
Accommodation at your chosen level
Meals as set by each stay
Flight from Kigali or Entebbe to Zanzibar
Road, airport and island transfers
Not included
Gorilla permits, quoted separately; Nobu books them
Long-haul international flights
Visas, Zanzibar inbound and travel insurance
Premium drinks
Gratuities, including porters and trackers
Second treks and other optional extras
Every journey is quoted in full, with no surprises.
Good to know
Gorillas and Zanzibar, in context.
Gorilla trekking happens in Rwanda at Volcanoes National Park and in Uganda at Bwindi or Mgahinga. Permits are extra and quoted separately: US$1,500 in Rwanda; US$800 in Uganda, or US$600 in April, May and November, when they cannot be rescheduled. Ugandan permits are paid in full at booking. Zanzibar is part of Tanzania, so one e-visa covers it, and inbound insurance is bought once, at your first port of entry: Zanzibar.
So you rest on the island after the hard day. After Rwanda’s 07:00 briefing, the walk in takes 30 minutes to over four hours, and the way back can take as long; Uganda’s treks run two to seven hours.
No one can promise it. Trackers look for a family used to people; if you reach it, you stay up to an hour, 7 metres back in Rwanda or 10 in Uganda. Rwanda refunds 75% of the permit if a full day’s tracking finds none.
June to August suits both halves, with Rwanda’s long dry season and a dry coast; December to February works too. Trekking runs all year, but wet months mean muddier trails and, in April, May and November, a lower Ugandan permit.
Via Rwanda, seven to ten nights: two or three near the gorillas, up to one in Kigali, one in Stone Town and four or five on the coast. Bwindi is far from Entebbe, so we set Uganda’s nights with you.
Choose Shores of Zanzibar for beach only, Rwanda Gorillas or the Uganda journey for forest alone, and Gorillas & the Mara for plains first. With fewer than seven nights, or anyone in your group under 15, choose another journey.
Government advice, checked October 2026. The US rates Uganda Level 4, Do Not Travel, countrywide, and Rwanda Level 3, Reconsider Travel (both 4 June 2026), warning against travel within 10 km of Rwanda’s Congo border; read its full page on how that applies to Volcanoes National Park and Kinigi. The UK’s only Rwanda warning covers parts of Rusizi District. The UK has no area warning for Uganda but says attacks are very likely and urges particular caution near the Congo border, where Bwindi lies. Both governments’ Uganda pages also cover its 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act. Tanzania is US Level 3 (31 October 2025); the UK warning covers the 20 km strip along Tanzania’s border with Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province. The UK Air Safety List names Tanzania-certified airlines, which are banned from commercial services to, from and within the UK. Read each country’s current advice before deciding.
Tanzania requires a yellow fever certificate from arrivals from Uganda, Kenya or Ethiopia, or after a transit of 12 hours or more there; Rwanda is not listed. Malaria risk covers all of Rwanda, Uganda and Zanzibar. Gorillas catch human respiratory infections, so trek only without a cold, flu or other infection. This is general information, not medical advice — consult a travel clinic.
A seasonal snapshot for the forest and Zanzibar. Gorilla trekking runs all year; your month and interests matter too.
Typically drierLonger rainsMore variable
Jul / Main dry season
Firmer ground, dry coast.
Rwanda’s long dry season, about June to August, usually makes trails easier underfoot, and Zanzibar is dry too. Rangers still judge conditions on the day.
Broad seasonal guidance — not a forecast, availability calendar or migration promise. Picking a month sets it in your plan.
The logistics handled quietly, so your week stays effortless.
✓ Licensed Kenyan tour operator✓ Our own guides and 4x4 fleet✓ 24-hour on-safari support✓ Financial protection on every journeyIn Uganda a licensed Ugandan partner provides the guide and 4x4.
A journey made around you
The forest first, then the sea.
Tell us your dates and whether Rwanda or Uganda appeals, and we’ll design Gorillas & Zanzibar around you.
