17 Days Masai Mara and gorilla trekking tour
17 Days Masai Mara and gorilla trekking tour begins in Nairobi - Lake Naivasha - Masai Mara - Lake Nakuru National Park - Eldoret - Jinja - River Nile - Murchison Falls National Park - Kibale Forest Chimpanzee tracking - Queen Elizabeth National Park - Bwindi Impenetrable Forest Gorilla Tracking - Kigali and the Genocide Museum
The 17 Days Masai Mara and gorilla trekking tour Description
17 days Masai Mara with Gorilla Tracking by land in two great countries with different cultures, wildlife, and feel. Start with the greatest wildlife showdown on earth in the Masai Mara. While you climatize for the most engaging experience of eye contact with the mountain gorillas of Uganda. End your trip with memories and a reminder of what humanity is capable of when you visit the historical remains of the 100 days of hate that took place in Rwanda!
DAY ITINERARY MASAI MARA WITH GORILLA TRACKING
Day 1: Arrival at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Nairobi meet, greet, assist, and transfer to the hotel, which is standard. Check into Hotel, settle, and have a briefing 45mins later. Dinner and overnight.
Day 2: Early breakfast and then travel to Masai Mara via Narok.
The Masai Mara then greets our arrival in the afternoon when the open savannah will display its residents to the marvel of the eye and creation. Here the savannah plains support a wide array of wildlife such as wildebeest, gazelle, topi, zebra and African buffalo, cheetah, lion, and hyena.
Explore the Masai Mara
On these plains, from mid-August through to late October, 2 million wildebeest are on the move in the race of life. Chasing new grass shoots and fresh rains - the annual migration encompasses wildebeest, gazelle, and zebra. While we can be guaranteed nothing on safari, keep your eyes peeled and with the guide of top safari guides. You will see and perhaps learn a great amount about the Masai Mara Triangle and its wildlife.
Accommodation: Mara Lodge
Day 3: After breakfast, we embark on a full-day game drive in the Masai Mara to maximize your chances of spotting many of the wild game species of Masai Mara. You will head back to the nearest lodge for a hot lunch before you continue game viewing. We start returning to the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Mara Lodge
Day 4: After breakfast, we drive to Lake Nakuru National Park, where we arrive in the afternoon. The smallest of all Kenya's national parks. This park has been demarketed with an electric fence as it is home to Black and Southern White rhinoceros. There you will spot it during your stay. There is a good population of lesser flamingos in the waters of Lake Nakuru. The alkaline PH of the lake has changed this has, in turn, reduced the flamingo population.
Accommodation: Lake Nakuru Lodge
Day 5: After breakfast, go for a game drive in Lake Nakuru National Park. After lunch inside the park, we return to the lodge for rest and free time. Dinner and overnight at Nakuru Lodge.
Day 6: After breakfast, there is a long drive of close to 450km to Jinja, taking about 8 hours. The border crossing into Uganda is inclusive. Sometimes the process of border crossing can be tediously slow! Jinja is located on the shores of lake victoria and is best known for its adventurous lifestyle. Due to the presence of the source of the longest river in the world, the River Nile.
Dinner and overnight at the Black Lantern.
Day 7: After breakfast, we visit the source of the Nile you are also open to choose white water rafting, quad biking, horse riding, or just a family float on the Nile.
Dinner and overnight at the Black Lantern.
Day 8: We leave Jinja for Murchison Falls National Park, visiting the rhinoceros sanctuary at Ziwa. We visit the top of the falls, where the river narrows from 50 meters to crash through a 7-meter gorge. Falling 45 meters to the rocks below before we cross to Pakuba Safari Lodge.
Dinner and Overnight at Pakuba Safari Lodge
Day 9: After breakfast, we start our game drive in Murchison Falls National Park to see African elephants, Rothschild giraffes, and African buffalo. And Uganda kobs, as well as the predators: lions and leopards. After lunch, you will go on a boat safari up the Nile, and pass hippopotamus, Nile crocodiles, and other serval animals. These come for a drink on the river bank. Taking about 3hrs, this boat will also stop near the ‘Devil’s Cauldron’, where the water bursts through the narrow gorge and creates an outstanding rainbow. Dinner and overnight at Pakuba Lodge.
Day 10: We depart for the Kibale forest, a place best known for boosting the highest numbers of primates in Africa. One would think that surely central Africa should hold such a title, but due to the constant bush meat trade, the primate of central Africa is struggling to keep up with their population while the ones in Uganda and especially the Kibale forest are thriving. Dinner and overnight at Kibale forest lodge.
Day 11: After breakfast, Today, we get the opportunity to explore Kibale forest national park. Kibale Forest is home to 13 primate species, and a guided forest walk will be taken in search of one of the most popular primate species in the world – the chimpanzee that is famous in this rainforest.
You will see the chimpanzee on this 3 days Kibale forest safari. There are nine diurnal primates; these include vervet, red-tailed, L’Hoest’s, blue monkeys, grey-cheeked mangabeys, red colobus, black and white colobus, olive baboon and the most famous of all, the chimpanzee.
Chimpanzee tracking within the Kibale forest
Although chimp sightings are not guaranteed, the odds are good, with the chance of encountering them standing at higher than 90%. This morning you will go on a forest walk in search of primates. Whilst trekking in the depths of the lush green forest, you will be surrounded by bird songs and can expect to see at least 5 or 6 other types of primate, most probably the grey-cheeked mangabey and the red-tailed monkey and, of course, the chimpanzee.
The walking is fairly easy due to the well-maintained trails and reasonably flat terrain. You will get another chance to trek the chimpanzees in the afternoon, allowing for observation of the chimpanzees during a different section of their daily lives.
Day 12: Calmly transfer to Queen Elizabeth national park. It is Uganda’s most popular and accessible game reserve, covering 1978 square kilometres. Covered with grassy savannah plains, rainforests, dense papyrus swamps, and volcanic crater lakes. Queen Elizabeth national park has the highest biodiversity ratings of any game reserve on earth, with a total of 95 recorded mammal species and 610 bird species. Dinner and overnight at Ihamba Safari Lodge
Day 13: After breakfast, head on a game drive in search of wildlife, including African elephants, lions, African buffalo, leopards, hyenas, jackals, topi, kob, bushbuck, and various others. After lunch, take a boat trip for two hours along the Kazinga Channel to view the largest concentration of hippopotami in the world (recorded to be about 30,000). You shall also see different wildlife with excellent birding. Dinner and overnight at Ihamba Safari Lodge.
Day 14: After breakfast, we transfer through Ishasha, heading for Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site as well as a habitat of the Mountain gorillas. The journey is 182 km and takes 5 hours, including breaks along the way. Dinner and overnight at Ruhija gorilla safari lodge.
Day 15: Life-long memories will happen today as you spend a full hour in the presence of a family of Mountain gorillas! Your trek will not follow well-paved trails on the search for mountain gorillas, but your excursion leader from the Uganda wildlife authority will cut through the undergrowth to make a route.
7:30 am safety briefing, you are assigned to a gorilla family group in a team of 8 people, sometimes more. The trek takes a lot of effort and energy on the soggy wet forest floors, tangled twigs, and scratching thorn-creeping plants, all to discourage your effort. But you have to match on to victory once you get in the presence of the endangered mountain gorillas. See what to pack for more information on the dressing for gorilla tracking.
Dinner and overnight at Gorilla Safari Lodge
Day 16: After breakfast, we will travel and visit Lake Bunyonyi, or you can go for a second gorilla tracking before we transfer to Kigali, where we will spend a night in Kigali town. Dinner and overnight Kigali.
Day 17: You will visit the genocide museum before we transfer you to the airport, and your trip with us comes to an end with a farewell at the airport. Journey Mercies back home.
End the 17 Days Masai Mara and gorilla trekking tour