14 days gorillas, game and masai mara safari

TOUR DESCRIPTION

This Uganda and Kenya safari takes you on a memorable adventure to discover the gorillas, wildlife, and culture—showing you the very best of East Africa.

The trip starts in Uganda, where you will do rafting in the Nile, and see wildlife in the savannah parks, as well as chimpanzees and gorillas in the forest parks. In Kenya, you will go to the Masai Mara for more Savannah wildlife.

If your schedule is around the same time as the great migration, you will have the great pleasure of witnessing millions of wildebeest and zebras move from the Serengeti to the Masai Mara. This is probably the most spectacular show of wildlife in the whole world.

Take a closer look at the detailed itinerary and get a better idea of how this safari would work for you. Keep in mind that our trips are fully customizable and can be personalized to match your specific needs.

Detailed Itinerary

Day 1: Airport pickup

Our driver/guide will be waiting at Entebbe International Airport to pick you up and then transfer you to your accommodation for the night.

Accommodation: The Boma Hotel

Meal plan: Dinner

Day 2: White Water Rafting in the Nile, Jinja

Early in the morning, after your breakfast, you will be driven to Jinja for a white water rafting experience which can either take a full day or half-day depending on your choice.

This is one of the most exciting rafting trips on earth going up to 31 km and includes a fantastic barbeque lunch and complimentary drinks after the trip. 

Accommodation: Jinja Nile Resort

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Day 3: Drive to Kibale Forest National Park

After your breakfast, you will leave for Kibale National Park in western Uganda. The drive takes around 8 hours including a stopover for lunch in Fort Portal town.

Along the way, you will pass many small towns, villages, tea farms, and roadside markets all of which make the Ugandan countryside full of beauty.

You will reach Kibale with enough time to relax and unwind from a day of travel.

Accommodation: Turaco Treetops

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Day 4: Chimpanzee tracking in Kibale National Park

After early morning breakfast, your driver/guide will drive you to the Kibale National Park office where you will be briefed about the activity of tracking chimpanzees in the wild.

You will then go on a guided primate walk in search of chimpanzees and 12 other primates including l’ Hoestes, Red colobus, blue, red-tailed monkeys, brown monkeys, and grey-cheeked mangabey.

The park rangers will provide detailed explanations, not only on primates but on all the forest fauna and flora, and will ensure that your walk is informative and enjoyable.

After finding the chimps, you will spend 1 hour with them before heading back to the park offices.

You will go back to the lodge for lunch & refreshments.

After lunch, you will visit the community and take a walk in Bigodi Swamp – which is the home of the great blue Turaco bird. The swamp is home to around 200 bird species and 8 primate species. Later, return to your accommodation for dinner & overnight stay.

Accommodation: Turaco Treetops

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Day 5: Visit caves and craters. Drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park.

After breakfast, you will start the day with a cultural tour of the Amabere ga nyina mwiru caves – a great historic site located 10km from Fort Portal town.

You will be accompanied by an informed guide who knows more about this place. remember to carry along a flashlight, hiking boots, long trousers, etc since you are going to enter the caves. Thereafter, you will hike the explosion crater lakes surrounding this area and then return to Fort Portal town for lunch and a visit to the Tooro Kingdom Palace.

In the evening, drive to Uganda’s second-largest park, Queen Elizabeth National Park while enjoying the changing views of the mystical Rwenzori Mountain ranges.

Accommodation: Kasenyi Safari Camp

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Day 6: Wildlife game drives in Queen Elizabeth National Park

After breakfast, you will go for an early morning wildlife safari game drive in this park. Queen Elizabeth National Park’s diverse ecosystem of grassy plains, tropical forests, rivers, swamps, lakes, and volcanic craters is home to an incredible abundance of wildlife.

With the massive Rwenzori Mountains as a backdrop, you will have excellent opportunities to see lions, leopards, giant forest hogs, cape buffalos, elephants, waterbuck, Uganda kobs, topi, and bushbuck

After lunch, you will go for a 2–3-hour boat cruise along the Kazinga Channel and into Lake Edward. This take will take you through possibly the highest concentration of hippos. Many animals may be seen drinking at the water’s edge.

This launch cruise offers great opportunities for photography, bird watching, and game viewing. The prolific bird life is colorful and stupendous with more than 600 different species.

Accommodation: Kasenyi Safari Camp

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Day 7: Drive to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

After your breakfast, you will be driven from Queen Elizabeth to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. This is a 6 hours journey passing through the Kigezi Highlands an area known as the “Switzerland of Africa”. The journey takes you through terraced hills and winding roads to the Bwindi forest. You will have a stop-over in Kabale for lunch.

Accommodation: Rushaga Gorilla Lodge / Buhoma Haven Lodge

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Day 8: Gorilla trekking in Bwindi

Today is the big day! Prepare yourself for an encounter with the gentle giants; the rare mountain gorillas.

For most people, this is the absolute highlight of their tour. You will go into the forest in groups of not more than 8 in search of mountain gorillas. En route, your guide will point out previous signs of gorilla activity such as dung, nests, and chewed bamboo shoots.

Your trek will be an exciting journey along forested slopes, entwined vines, bushes, and bamboo. Upon finding the gorillas, you will spend a maximum of 1 hour with them after which you will be led back to the starting point.

Later relax at your lodge while enjoying the views of the park.

Accommodation: Rushaga Gorilla Lodge/ Buhoma Haven Lodge

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Day 9: Drive to Lake Mburo National Park, Afternoon Boat Cruise

After breakfast, you will leave Bwindi for Lake Mburo National Park with a stopover in Mbarara for your lunch. Lake Mburo is the best and easiest place for seeing a lot of Zebras in Uganda.

You will see other wild animals such as buffaloes, hippos, crocodiles, elands, antelopes, and lots of birds as well as the local long-horned Ankole cattle in the nearby ranches.

Take an afternoon boat ride on the Lake & see a variety of birds and hippos too.

Accommodation: Rwakobo Rock Lodge

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Day 10: Drive from Lake Mburo to Entebbe

After breakfast, proceed for a wildlife safari walk in Lake Mburo National Park. An armed ranger will escort you to make sure you are protected. You may also come across a herd of zebras peacefully grazing alongside the long-horned Ankole cattle. For those willing to get up a bit earlier, you may be able to see Lake Mburo’s hyenas in their cave.

You will return to the lodge for lunch after which you will be driven back to Kampala.

You will have a stopover at the Mpigi Royal Drum Makers where you will witness the making of ceremonial drums using methods passed down for many generations. There will also be time to stop at the equator for photographs.

Accommodation: The Boma Hotel

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Day 11: Transfer to the Airport and fly to Masai Mara.

After breakfast, at your will and according to your flight schedule, your guide will transfer you to the airport in time for your flight to Masai Mara with Aerolink.

Accommodation: Ashnil Mara Luxury Camp

Meal plan: Breakfast and Dinner

Day 12: Wildlife Safari in Masai Mara National Reserve

Depending on the wildlife migration patterns and the weather, an early morning breakfast is followed by a full day of game drives within the reserve. The Masai Mara is famous for its black-maned lions and the annual wildebeest migration.

This is probably one of Kenya’s most visited reserves with an extraordinary density of animals including the Big five and many other varieties of plains game. The Mara River cuts through the Mara and Serengeti ecosystems giving life to both reserves before finally pouring out into Lake Victoria.

Impressive and most notable is the wildebeest, zebra, and gazelle instinct-led migration from the Serengeti in Tanzania to the Mara in Kenya. This journey is coupled with numerous obstacles which makes it even more magnificent.

You will have a picnic lunch and continue with the game drives arriving at the lodge in the evening for a well-deserved rest and a hot relaxing shower.

Accommodation: Ashnil Mara Luxury Camp

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Day 13: Wildlife Game Drive in Masai Mara

After Breakfast, another game drive as you follow the migration of the wildebeests cross the Mara River.

Accommodation: Ashnil Mara Luxury Camp

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Day 14: Drive from Masai Mara to Nairobi/JKIA

You will be treated to an optional final early morning game drive after which you will return to the lodge for breakfast. Embark on your safari back to Nairobi at around mid-morning.

We shall have a brief stopover at Narok town and later proceed to Nairobi city and to the JKIA for your onward flight. This will mark the end of your Gorillas and Masai Mara Safari in Uganda and Kenya.

Accommodation: None (Last day).

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch