Gorillas, Migration & Golf

Nights

16

Party

2–4 guests

Countries

South Africa · Kenya · Rwanda

From

US$ 58,750 per person, based on four guests sharing, including private aircraftExcludes international flights to and from Africa.

Best season

Jul–Oct

This journey fits three of Africa's great experiences into sixteen nights: Fancourt's courses, the Migration in the Maasai Mara and the mountain gorillas of the Virungas. You start at the Belmond Mount Nelson in Cape Town with dinner at Salsify, then play all three Fancourt courses. Singita Ebony gives you the Sabi Sand from the riverbank. The aircraft then takes you to Giraffe Manor and on to Angama Safari Camp, a private camp inside the Mara for one party only. You finish in Rwanda, with a day in Kigali and then One&Only Gorilla's Nest at the foot of the volcanoes.

Highlights

• All three Fancourt courses
• Singita Ebony in the Sabi Sand
• Angama Safari Camp, one party only
• A Mara River crossing with no other vehicles
• Mountain gorilla tracking in Volcanoes National Park
• The Kigali Genocide Memorial and the Inema Arts Center

1. Day 1

   Cape Town · Belmond Mount Nelson

   We meet you at Cape Town International and drive you to the Belmond Mount Nelson in the Gardens, under Table Mountain. The gardens and the pool are there for the afternoon. Dinner at the hotel, early, to let the flight wear off.

2. Day 2

   Cape Town at your own pace · Salsify

   No schedule today. Walk the hotel gardens or the Company's Garden next door, or call your guide for anything you want to see. In the evening you eat at Salsify at The Roundhouse in Camps Bay, Eat Out's Restaurant of the Year for 2025, where Ryan Cole cooks eight courses.

3. Day 3

   Cape Town → George · Fancourt Outeniqua

   Your Embraer Phenom 300 lands at George in under an hour. After lunch you play the Outeniqua, a Gary Player course ranked No. 22 in South Africa. Non-golfers have the spa and the gardens for the afternoon. Dinner at Fancourt.

4. Day 4

   Golf · Fancourt Montagu

   The Montagu is No. 4 in South Africa, a Gary Player design upgraded in 2005. You play it in the morning with the Outeniqua Mountains behind every tee. Non-golfers spend the day on the Garden Route, with a private drive to Knysna and lunch on the lagoon.

5. Day 5

   Golf · Fancourt The Links

   The Links is No. 1 in South Africa for 2025 and hosted the 2003 Presidents Cup. It is open and firm and the wind decides it, so ask your caddie how much. Non-golfers can visit the Golfing for Change project in Oupad, Knysna, which every Ascot Private journey supports.

6. Day 6

   George → Sabi Sand · Singita Ebony

   A Pilatus PC-12 flies you north-east to the Singita airstrip in the Sabi Sand. The pilot does a low pass first to scatter the impala, and sometimes elephant, grazing on the runway, so your game viewing starts in the air. Singita Ebony Lodge has twelve tented suites on the river, and your guide and tracker are waiting.

7. Day 7–8

   Singita Ebony · Sabi Sand

   Two full days on the Singita concession, on your own timetable. Your guide and tracker follow leopard and lion, and you stay with every sighting as long as you want. Dinner is at the lodge, under the trees by the water.

8. Day 9

   Sabi Sand → Nairobi · Giraffe Manor

   A short hop to Kruger Mpumalanga International for customs, then an Embraer Praetor 600 flies you north to Nairobi. You are at Giraffe Manor in Karen by late afternoon: twelve rooms, with the Rothschild giraffe out on the grounds when you arrive.

9. Day 10

   Nairobi → Maasai Mara · Angama Safari Camp

   A Cessna Caravan flies you from Wilson Airport to the Mara. Angama Safari Camp is a private standing camp inside the reserve for one party only. Being among the herds gives you about two more hours of game viewing a day than you would get from the escarpment. The afternoon drive leaves from your tent.

10. Day 11–13

    Maasai Mara · The Migration

    Three full days with the Migration. On one of them your guide has your vehicle at a Mara River crossing point before dawn, with no other vehicles in sight, and you stay until the crossing is over. On the other days you follow the herds and their predators across the plains from first light to last.

11. Day 14

    Maasai Mara → Kigali · The Manor Hotel

    A Pilatus PC-12 flies you west to Kigali, formalities cleared en route. In the afternoon a specialist takes you privately through the Kigali Genocide Memorial, and afterwards to the Inema Arts Center, the best-known gallery in East Africa. Dinner is at The Manor Hotel, a 1950s house in an avocado garden in the hills.

12. Day 15

    Kigali → Volcanoes · One&Only Gorilla's Nest

    A helicopter flies you north-west to Volcanoes National Park in about thirty minutes, with the Virunga volcanoes ahead. One&Only Gorilla's Nest has twelve private lodges at the foot of the volcanoes. Rest this afternoon and take a short walk if you want one. Tomorrow starts early.

13. Day 16

    Mountain gorilla tracking

    You set out at dawn with your guide and the park's trackers and climb through the forest until they find the family. Then you have your hour with them: the silverback, the mothers, and the young climbing over him and tumbling off. The walk back is quiet. The afternoon is for the lodge, and dinner runs long.

14. Day 17

    Departure

    A helicopter takes you back to Kigali for your international flight, or a Praetor 600 flies you on to Johannesburg or Nairobi. Your Journey Architect has your luggage checked through. Thirty days later the coffee table book of your trip reaches your door.

Flown by turboprop, light and super-light jet, mid-size and super mid-size jet and helicopter. How we choose the aircraft