Tour destinations

Kenya: Masai Mara National Reserve - Uganda: Lake Nakuru National Park - Ngamba Island - Chimpanzee Sanctuary (optional) - Lake Victoria - Lake Bunyoni - Bunyoni Impenetrable Forest - Mountain Gorilla (optional) - Queen Elizabeth National Park - Nile River - Kenya: Great Rift Valle

Tour dossier:

Day 1
Masai Mara National Reserve

We leave the capital and travel to the Masai Mara National Reserve. Today the tour enters this huge area of spectacular game viewing to photograph some of Africa’s most abundant wildlife. Famous for the annual migration of around 1.5 million wildebeest, the Masai Mara is also home to many other animals, including lions. Cultural interaction with Kenya’s native Masaai people completes our experience.

Meals: Lunch, Dinner

Day 2
Masai Mara to Lake Naivasha

We travel north to Lake Naivasha, en-route we will visit Hell’s Gate NP. One of the more popular optional activities in Hells Gate NP, is to go game viewing on a bicycle. Optional Activities: Cycle hire, High Tea at Elsamere.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 3
Nakuru National Park

This morning there’s more game viewing in the Masai Mara before we travel towards Lake Nakuru NP, a great place to spot flamingos. White Rhino also inhabit the transitional savannah area surrounding the lake
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 4
Uganda - Kampala

Leaving Lake Nakuru we drive to the Uganda border, and then stop for a photo at the equator. Later we arrive in Uganda’s capital and largest city, Kampala.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 5
Kampala / Ngamba Chimpanzee Sanctuary

Although officially this day is set aside for everyone to explore Kampala, most people take an optional day trip to the Chimpanzee Sanctuary of Ngamba Island. This non-profit eco-friendly project was set up in 1998 to care for orphaned chimpanzees. Optional Activities: Ngamba Chimpanzee Excursion, Kampala Markets, Dinner Out.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 6
Lake Bunyonyi

Lake Bunyonyi is a small but attractive lake with steep sides and abundant birdlife. Ringed by mountains, the lake is best known for its dense Otter population and stunning scenery. We make use of this beautiful spot to relax the night before the final drive to the gorillas.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 7
Gorillas (Days 7,8 & 9 )

The mountain gorilla is extremely endangered and while exact numbers vary it is widely assumed that there are only around 650 left. Visiting the gorillas is a great way to support their future on earth as the money spent on permits is used for their protection. An extremely important part of the future conservation of the remaining gorillas rests in the community development work – as local communities change their attitudes towards wildlife and start to protect rather than poach, the future of the mountain gorilla is assured.

As permits granting permission to visit the gorillas are extremely limited we require flexibility in both the tour itinerary and where we actually visit them. The home of the mountain gorillas is completely at odds with man-made borders and so their range encompasses Uganda, Rwanda and the DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo). Whenever possible we choose to make use of the National Park in Uganda, but this depends on the availability of permits.
Should we not obtain permits to visit the mountain gorillas in Uganda then we will inform all passengers beforehand that the tour will travel to Rwanda or DRC.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Please note: Although there are 3-days allocated to Gorilla Trekking you will only spend one-day on the trek. The other days are there to provide a large enough window in which to obtain permits and to allow the entire group to trek if there are more than 6 of you on the tour

Day 10
Queen Elizabeth National Park

Many game species are to be found in this wetland park including the (elsewhere elusive) giant forest hog, and the legendary tree-climbing lions of the Ishasha Sector. Optional Activities: Kasinga Channel Sunset Cruise.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 11
Jinja (Days 11 & 12 )

The morning is spent on further game viewing and this afternoon we travel to Jinja. Jinja is Uganda’s second largest city and is famous as the point where the Nile (officially the Victoria Nile) flows out of Lake Victoria and begins the 6695 kilometre journey to Egypt and the Mediterranean. If you do not want to go rafting, why not volunteer for the day at Soft Power Education, a UK registered charity that is doing a wonderful job educating Jinja’s youth. Optional Activities: White Water Rafting, Soft Power Education Project.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 13
Kenya - Eldoret

Returning to Kenya we visit Eldoret, the country’s 5th largest city. The Great Rift Valley is still the dominant geographical feature of this region and the altitude at Eldoret is 2100 metres above sea level.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 14
Nairobi

Returning to Nairobi, the largest city in the East Africa region, there’s an optional dinner, where we can swap stories and exchange contact details. Optional Activities: Meal out in Nairobi.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch