Day 1 - Lake Naivasha

Leaving Nairobi we travel north to Lake Naivasha and a day spent at Hell’s Gate National Park. The interesting name comes from the huge red-coloured cliffs that form the entrance to the geothermal interior. This is the only National Park where you can go hiking and activities include game and bird watching. The park entry fees are included and one of the more popular optional activities is to go game viewing from a bicycle. An alternative way to spend your afternoon is to take high-tea at Elsamere, the former home of Joy Adams, best known for her autobiographical novel, Born Free.

Optional Activities: Cycle hire, High Tea at Elsamere

Meals: Lunch, Dinner

Day 2 - Masai Mara National Reserve

The Masai Mara National Reserve is the Kenyan side of the Serengeti National Park (located in Tanzania). Today the tour will be entering 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. In addition to what we hope will be a successful day’s game viewing, cultural interaction with Kenya’s native Masaai people will round off your experience.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 3 - Masai Mara & Lake Nakuru NP

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 savanna area surrounding the lake, with great photo opportunities for the keen photographers.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 4 - Uganda - Kampala

Leaving Lake Nakuru we drive to the Uganda border, 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 use this day to 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. Ngamba Island is situated 23 km from Entebbe (near Kampala) on Lake Victoria and is only accessible by boat.

Optional Activities: Ngamba Chimpanzee Excursion, Kampala Markets, Dinner Out.

Meals: Breakfast

Day 6 - Lake Bunyoni

Lake Bunyoni 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 and spend the night before the final drive to the Gorillas.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Day 7/8/9 - Gorillas

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 NP in Uganda, but this depends on the availability of permits.

Should we not obtain permits to visit the Mountain Gorillas in either Bwindi or Mgahinga NP in Uganda then we will inform all passengers beforehand that the tour will travel to Rwanda or DRC. Visas for all nationalities are available on the DRC and Rwandan borders.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and 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 mainly wetland park including the (elsewhere elusive) giant forest hog, and the legendary tree-climbing lions of the Ishasha Sector. The 1995 square kilometres of exceptional bio-diversity contain over 600 species of birds and nearly 100 mammals. Game is best viewed from the water and we recommend the optional sunset river cruise on the Kasinga channel.

Optional Activities: Kasinga Channel Sunset Cruise

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Day 11 - Kampala

The morning is spent on further game viewing and this afternoon we return to Kampala where we can dine out at one of the city’s many restaurants. The next day the tour will leave early for Jinja, home to some of the best White Water Rafting in the world. As we need to pre book this activity, our guides need to know on arrival at Kampala, if you wish to brave the Nile River.

Optional Activities: Meal out in Kampala

Meals: Breakfast and Lunch

Day 12 - 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 and 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 and Dinner

Day 14 - Nairobi

Returning to Nairobi, the largest city in the East Africa region, there’s an optional dinner at the city’s famous Carnivore Restaurant, where we can swap stories and exchange contact details.

Optional Activities: Meal out in Nairobi

Meals: Breakfast and Lunch

NB: The itinerary is flexible and can be changed without notice in order to accommodate the best possible viewing of the Gorillas. The Permit price to visit the Gorillas can also change without notice.