This 16 Days Combined East Africa Safari takes travelers to uncover and experience the scenic moments in East Africa’s most famous destinations. It encompasses the rarest wildlife and cultural encounters in allowing one to completely enjoy epic vacations in Africa. Greatest and wildest places to visit include Kibale forest, Queen Elizabeth and Bwindi impenetrable national parks in Uganda, Volcanoes national park in Rwanda and Maasai Mara National park in Kenya.
Day 1: Arrival through Entebbe international airport
Upon arrival in Uganda, your safari guide will be waiting at Entebbe, ready to welcome you with a smile, and brief you about the entire safari and later transfer you to the pre-booked hotel, either in Entebbe or Kampala city.
Accommodation options:
Budget: Boma Guesthouse
Midrange: Cassia Lodge / Karibu Guesthouse
Luxury: Serena Lake Victoria Resort
Day 2: Drive to Kibale Forest National Park
Have an early breakfast and the guide picks you to begin a journey to western Uganda. The drive is quite magnificent, traversing a beautiful countryside marked with tropical forests, plantations, agricultural farmlands and bustling trading centers.
Feel free to taste the highway roasted meat and roasted plantain; pure Ugandan local cuisines.
Drive to Fort portal for lunch or have it in Mubende town along the way and later proceed to the lodge in Kibale for accommodation.
Budget: Kibale Forest Camp
Midrange: Isunga Lodge
Luxury: Primate Lodge
Day 3: Chimpanzee trekking in Kibale forest national park.
Wake up to an early breakfast ahead of a sensational chimp trek which begins at 7:30am. After breakfast, head to park headquarters in Kanyanchu sector for a 30 minutes’ briefing. The briefing is aimed at revealing different rules and regulations of chimp trekking experience, the Do’s and Don’ts and later head off into the forest to begin the search for these beautiful creatures.
Kibale forest is known as the “primate capital of Africa” with over 13 different species of primates, plus abundant bird species, forest mammals, amphibians and lush flora.
The trekking takes between 1 – 4 hours, including the actual 1 hour of one on one encounter with a given troop of chimps. Alongside the chimps, the walk brings you close to other forest’s residents, including different species of butterflies, bird species, lush flora and mammals.
After this encounter, trek back to the starting point, and join your diver to transfer you back to the lodge. Spend the afternoon resting at the lodge, or take a nature walk to explore the surrounding crater lakes and local communities to discover the traditional ways of life in this area.
Budget: Kibale Forest Camp
Midrange: Isunga Lodge
Luxury: Primate Lodge
Day 4: Travel to Queen Elizabeth National Park. Kazinga channel boat cruise in the afternoon.
After breakfast in Kibale, prepare for a 3-4 hours’ drive to Queen Elizabeth national park. This journey takes you past Fort Portal town, and via the jagged Rwenzoris until you reach Queen Elizabeth national park. This is a very popular park in Uganda, known for its rich history, rolling rangelands, magnificent savannah vegetation, scenic crater lakes, surrounding local communities and over 500 bird species, more than elsewhere in Uganda.
Upon arrival, take lunch and immediately transfer to Mweya jetty for the 2pm boat cruise along Kazinga channel. This cruise takes you to the channel’s most densely populated shores, with reptiles like Hippos, Crocodiles, and other mammals like buffaloes, elephants, antelopes, and prolific bird life etc.
The boat cruise takes approximately 2-3 hours, and returns at Mweya jetty by 5:00pm
Return to the lodge on a leisurely drive, with chances of spotting big mammals along the way, including elephants, buffaloes, Uganda Kobs, warthogs, and so much.
Accommodation options:
Budget: Simba Safari Camp
Midrange: Park View Safari Lodge
Luxury: Mweya Safari Lodge
Day 5: Transfer to Ishasha sector for a short game drive and track the tree climbing lions.
After breakfast, depart from the lodge and drive southwards to Ishasha sector, the home of elusive tree climbing as well as other wildlife species, including prolific herds of buffaloes, elephants, Topis and amazing species of birds, including rare shoebill storks.
A full day game drive through this sector will allow you spot all or some of these species including the tree climbing lions which the Ishasha is well known for.
Accommodation options:
Budget: @the River Ishasha Camp
Midrange: Ishasha Jungle Lodge
Luxury: Ishasha wilderness Camp
Day 6: Ishasha sector to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
Have a relaxed breakfast in Ishasha sector admiring the beautiful sun rising over the lush savannah and rolling landscapes of Ishasha. Drive further to the south into Bwindi impenetrable national park via the Albertine rift and the Kigezi towering highlands, until you reach Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Bwindi is home to the rare and endangered mountain gorillas, as well as a number of other primate species, forest mammals, and lush vegetation. Check in at the lodge, have dinner and overnight stay.
Accommodation options:
Budget: Broadbill Forest Camp
Midrange: Ishasha Jungle Lodge
Luxury: Ishasha wilderness Camp
Day 7: Gorilla trekking in Ruhija sector (Bwindi impenetrable national park).
After breakfast, leave your place of accommodation, and join the driver guide to the starting point of gorilla trekking. Attend a simple briefing at 7:30am and after that continue to the jungles to meet your assigned gorilla family.
The trek is often not an easy one, as the forest is usually wet with boggy, uneven slopes making the entire experience quite hectic but the eventual meeting with a gorilla family viewing the gorillas playing, feeding and grooming is extremely unequalled.
The trekking experience takes somewhat from 1 hour to 8 hours depending on how fast you find the family, and this is determined by their daily movements and the hiking speed of trekkers; but usually met within he first 2 hours of trekking.
Bwindi is a renowned destination for endangered mountain gorillas as well as other primates and mammal species and birds. It boasts a huge population of mountain gorillas, up to 700 individuals more than any other place in the world, and it is arguably the most densely populated destination with mountain gorillas contributing to almost half of their total world population.
Spend the rest of the afternoon resting at the lodge or just take a walk to the neighboring communities to meet indigenous Batwa people. Enjoy their traditional dances, performances, songs, and listen to their fascinating history.
Accommodation options:
Budget: Broadbill Forest Camp
Midrange: Gorilla Mist Camp
Luxury: Ruhija Gorilla Safari Lodge
Day 8: Bwindi – Lake Bunyonyi. Sunset boat cruise.
Leave Bwindi forest in the morning after breakfast and drive to Lake Bunyonyi, another famous lake in Uganda. Lake Bunyonyi is located approximately 8km from Kabale town.
Ruhija sector is close to Lake Bunyonyi, therefore the drive takes about 1 hour as you enjoy stunning views of Kigezi highlands and scattered farmlands and homesteads.
Upon arrival, have lunch and embark on a motor boat crusie to explore the numerous islands that dot the lake, plus listening to their fascinating stories, each with its uniqueness, told a well experienced site guide.
Accommodation:
Luxury: @The Bird Nest Resort
Midrange: Arcadia Cottages
Budget: Bunyonyi Overland resort
Day 9: Canoeing and transfer to Volcanoes national park.
Have a pre-breakfast canoe experience to explore more of Lake Bunyonyi’s wonders. The lake is Uganda’s deepest and Africa’s second deepest after Tanganyika. A full morning at the lake gives more insight into its tragic history as well as exposing its 29 islands that are marked with evergreen landscapes, terraced hillsides and the lively neighboring communities.
After this experience, return to the lodge for a sumptuous breakfast, relax a bit at the shores of the lake and embark on the transfer to the southern border of Uganda and Rwanda, via Kisoro. Cross through Cyanika border and with pleasant scenery of the Twin Lakes and the Virunga chain of mountains, you drive until Musanze, an outpost town close to Volcanoes national park. Check in at the lodge, relax and have an overnight stay.
Accommodation:
Luxury: Mount Gahinga Lodge
Midrange: Le Bambou Gorilla Lodge
Budget: Muhabura Hotel
Day 10: Golden monkey trekking and cultural tour in the evening.
Have an early breakfast, and by 7:00am set off to the park headquarters for briefing and thereafter penetrate into the jungles of Parc National des Volcans (Volcanoes national park) – the sole home of endangered mountain gorillas and golden monkeys in Rwanda.
This morning, head out to explore the elusive and shy golden monkeys in their natural habitat. Trekking these uniquely created, colorful primates is a spectacular encounter that allows one to view, study, and photograph them as they mix up freely within their specific troop.
Volcanoes national park is also home to so many other primates, other than the golden monkeys; these include Red & white colobus monkeys, Red tailed monkeys, baboons, and mammals such as forest elephants, buffaloes, bush pigs, forest hogs, among others.
After meeting golden monkeys, return to the lodge for relaxation, have lunch and in the evening, visit one of the neighboring communities to learn more about the Kinyarwanda culture and get deep insight into their ways of life. See them perform, sing their cultural songs, their energetic dances and taste on their local cuisine. Overnight stay at the lodge.
Accommodation:
Luxury: Mount Gahinga Lodge
Midrange: Le Bambou Gorilla Lodge
Budget: Muhabura Hotel
Day 11: Transfer to Kigali. City tour and departure to Nairobi.
Early breakfast at your lodge in Volcanoes national park. Transfer thereafter to Kigali, a journey of about 2.30 – 3 hours, arriving in the afternoon. Depending on your flight time, dedicate one hour to visiting historical sites in Kigali city; these may include the Kandt Museum, Kigali Genocide Memorial museum, Kigali craft market, the historical Hotel des Mille Collines – “Hotel Rwanda”, among so many other places of historical and cultural importance.
Have lunch and drive to Kigali international airport to catch your connecting flight to Jomo Kenyatta International airport in Nairobi. This is a 1 and a half to 2 hours’ flight and arrive in Nairobi late in the evening. Meet and greet with your Kenya safari guide who will brief you about the entire trip in safari and thereafter transfer you to a hotel for dinner and overnight stay.
Accommodation:
Budget: Wildebeest Eco camp
Midrange: Best Western Plus Meridian Court hotel
Luxury: Sarova Stanley hotel
Day 12: Nairobi – Lake Nakuru.
Wake up to a delicious breakfast in Nairobi – Kenya’s biggest and commercial capital. Drive immediately to Lake Nakuru national park. Have a stopover at Thompson’s falls in Nyahururu for scenic pictures and drive through the Great Rift Valley escarpment and stunning country side.
Arrive at Lake Nakuru in the afternoon just in time for your lunch, check in at the lodge and spend the whole afternoon enjoying bird watching and game viewing. Lake Nakuru national park boasts a prolific number of bird species, including beautiful flamingos, and hundreds of different mammal species, including the threatened white and black rhinos.
Accommodation:
Budget: Chester hotel
Standard: Lake Nakuru lodge
Luxury option: Sarova Lion Hill
Day 13: Lake Nakuru to Lake Naivasha / Bogoria.
Exit Lake Nakuru national park after breakfast and a sun rise game safari to view more animals and bird species in this scenic park. Drive to Lake Naivasha / Lake Bogoria towards southern province of Kenya. The drive is filled with amazing scenic views, the floor of Great Rift Valley, scattered farmlands and rural homesteads.
Upon arrival at Lake Bogoria, visit the striking hot springs, flamingos, and geysers and after proceed to Lake Naivasha, for dinner and overnight stay. Visit the Hell’s Gate National park on bicycles. The park provides the best experience for cycling to explore it on foot and be able to spot small and big game at a much close distance.
Accommodation:
Budget: Camp Carnalleys
Standard: Lake Naivasha Sopa resort
Luxury: Enashipai resort and spa
Day 14: Lake Naivasha – Maasai Mara national park.
Sunrise boat safari on Lake Naivasha and undertake a short walking tour on Crescent island. Return to the lodge for relaxation and breakfast and thereafter exit Naivasha as you head straight to Masai Mara National park. This is approximately 5 hours’ drive, arriving in Maasai Mara National park in the evening. Depending on the time, you will go for sunset game viewing experience in Maasai Mara to explore some of its epic residents.
Accommodation:
Budget: Jambo Mara camp
Standard: Mara Sopa Lodge
Luxury: Mara Serena safari lodge
Day 15: Maasai Mara National park (Full day game).
This is a full day of spectacular game viewing and encounter! Beginning after breakfast or even before dawn, a game drive in Maasai Mara is purely magical and a world wonder! This natural reserve has remained the most wildlife rich ecosystem in the world. It is home to the biggest concentration of savannah wild game in the entire region.
Mara’s moderate climate and tree studded savannah plains provide peaceful shelter for diversity of wild game, including lesser animals and the Big Five making the park a one-stop center for spectacular game viewing.
Also visit the Mara River to spot reptile species including hippos, crocodiles and depending on the season, you can view the great wildebeest migration which happens between July and October.
Accommodation:
Budget: Jambo Mara camp
Standard: Mara Sopa Lodge
Luxury: Mara Serena safari lodge
Day 16: Maasai Mara National park to Nairobi. Departure.
With a pre-breakfast game drive; you’ll be able to spot early risers in the savannah plains of Maasai Mara; including rare carnivores like lions, leopards, hyenas, among others. Return to the lodge for a well-deserved breakfast and immediately check out and depart for Nairobi. The journey to Nairobi takes approximately 5-6 hours, and you will arrive in the evening, continue to JKA for departure flight.
