Kenya and Uganda: the Masai Mara and the Mountain Gorillas

1. Day 1: Arrive in Nairobi

   Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to your hotel in Nairobi

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Dinner
   • Stay in Nairobi
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) any time today. A driver meets you in the arrivals hall and takes you to the hotel, about 20 km and up to an hour in Nairobi traffic, door to door with no shared shuttle or bus station. Nairobi sits at about 1,700 m, so evenings are cooler than most people expect, even in July. If you land early, rest after the long flight or take a walk near the hotel. At 6 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a briefing on the two weeks ahead: how the light aircraft and the soft-bag limit work, what a day in the Mara looks like, and what to expect on the gorilla trek, from boots and gloves to the porters. Then we sit down together to a welcome dinner of Kenyan dishes at a local restaurant.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide at 6 pm
   • Welcome dinner

   Free time: Free until the evening briefing

   

2. Day 2: Giraffes, orphaned elephants and a flight to the Mara

   Nairobi to the Giraffe Centre and the Sheldrick nursery in Langata, then Wilson Airport to the Masai Mara by light aircraft

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Masai Mara
   Day 2 details

   We start at the Giraffe Centre in Langata as it opens in the morning (we confirm opening times and booking at booking), before the school groups, where Rothschild's giraffes lean over the feeding platform at eye level. Late in the morning the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust opens its elephant nursery to the public for one hour, and we confirm the time and any booking at booking: the keepers bring the orphaned calves out for their milk feed and a mud bath while a keeper explains how each one was found. After a sit-down lunch nearby we drive about ten minutes to Wilson Airport for an early-afternoon light-aircraft flight to a Mara airstrip, about 45 to 60 minutes, instead of a five to six hour drive on the road. Our 4x4s with pop-up roofs and our driver-guides meet the plane, and the game drive starts on the airstrip: the road to camp is the first look at the Mara, in the low afternoon light. Dinner is at camp, our home for three nights.

   Included

   • Giraffe Centre in Langata at opening
   • Sheldrick Wildlife Trust elephant nursery public hour (time and booking confirmed at booking)
   • Sit-down lunch in Nairobi
   • Light-aircraft flight from Wilson Airport to the Masai Mara
   • Afternoon game drive from the airstrip to camp

   Activity: We confirm the Giraffe Centre and Sheldrick nursery opening times and booking at booking. The light aircraft takes a soft bag of about 15 kg per person, hand luggage included. A bigger bag stays at the Nairobi hotel and meets you at the airport on day 5.

   

3. Day 3: A full day in the Masai Mara

   Camp to the Masai Mara National Reserve and back

   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Masai Mara
   Day 3 details

   We leave camp at about 6:30 am, with coffee and a snack, because the first hours after dawn are when lions and cheetahs are most active and the light is soft. A picnic breakfast comes later, out on the plains. This is a whole day in the reserve with two 4x4s, so nobody sits in a middle seat and the driver-guides can split up and share sightings by radio. We head towards the Mara River, where from about July the wildebeest and zebra herds may gather to cross; crossings happen on the animals' timetable, so we wait at a sensible distance and move on if nothing stirs. Elephants, buffalo, giraffes, topi and hippos in the river pools are likely; leopards are a matter of luck. Lunch is a picnic in the shade of a tree, and we are back at camp in the late afternoon for a shower before dinner.

   Included

   • Full-day game drive in the Masai Mara National Reserve, reserve fees included
   • Picnic breakfast and lunch on the plains
   • The Mara River, when the herds are there

   Easier option: Come back to camp at midday with one vehicle and spend the afternoon resting.

   Free time: Late afternoon at camp

   Activity: A game-drive day of about 8 to 10 hours with stops; bumpy tracks, little walking.

4. Day 4: On foot with a Maasai guide, and a Mara sundowner

   Camp, community land beside the reserve and an evening game drive

   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Masai Mara
   Day 4 details

   A slower morning. If you have booked the optional balloon, you are collected before dawn and float over the plains at sunrise, then join the group for breakfast. After breakfast a Maasai guide and an armed ranger lead a walk of about two hours on community or conservancy land next to the reserve, where walking is allowed: tracks in the dust, the medicinal plants, and the small things you miss from a vehicle. Later the guide takes us to a Maasai homestead whose families welcome visitors, where we hear how cattle, school and conservation fit together. The middle of the day is yours at camp, in the shade. In the late afternoon we drive out once more and stop on a rise for a sundowner as the light goes gold over the grass, then back for dinner and the night sounds of the Mara.

   Included

   • Walking safari of about 2 hours with a Maasai guide and ranger
   • Visit to a Maasai homestead
   • Late-afternoon game drive with a sundowner

   Optional experiences

   • Hot-air balloon over the Mara at sunrise, with a bush breakfast (price shown at booking)

   Easier option: Skip the walk and stay at camp until the afternoon drive.

   More active option: Take the optional sunrise balloon before the walk.

   Free time: Midday free at camp

   Activity: The walk is on flat ground at an easy pace; the ranger sets the route by what animals are about.

   

5. Day 5: From the Mara to Lake Victoria

   Masai Mara airstrip to Wilson Airport, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, then Entebbe

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Entebbe
   Day 5 details

   One last short game drive takes us to the airstrip for a mid-morning light-aircraft flight back to Wilson Airport in Nairobi. From there it is about 20 km to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, where your bigger bag meets you, and we have lunch at the airport before the regional flight to Entebbe, about an hour and a quarter over Lake Victoria. Overland trips take two long days to drive this far, with a slow land border; flying makes today a travel day, not an endurance test. Kenya and Uganda share the same time zone, so there is no clock change. Our Ugandan guide team and the 4x4s meet us in Entebbe for the short drive to a hotel on the lake shore. The evening is free: walk down to the water, or eat at the hotel or nearby.

   Included

   • Short game drive to the airstrip
   • Light-aircraft flight from the Masai Mara to Wilson Airport
   • Transfer from Wilson Airport to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport
   • Lunch at the airport
   • Flight from Nairobi to Entebbe
   • Transfer to your Entebbe hotel

   Free time: Evening free in Entebbe

   Activity: Have your Uganda visa approval and yellow fever certificate in your hand luggage for arrival.

6. Day 6: Fly west to the Kazinga Channel

   Entebbe to Kasese by domestic flight, then by road over the equator to Queen Elizabeth National Park

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Queen Elizabeth National Park
   Day 6 details

   A short morning flight takes us west to Kasese, at the foot of the Rwenzori Mountains, in about an hour and a quarter; the road would be seven to eight hours. Our Ugandan 4x4s, which have driven out with the bigger bags, meet the plane. It is about an hour to the lodge, crossing the equator on the way, where we stop at the marker for a photo. Queen Elizabeth National Park spreads between Lake George and Lake Edward, joined by the Kazinga Channel. After lunch at the lodge we take the afternoon boat along the channel, about two hours on the water: hippos in dense pods, buffalo and elephants coming down to drink, crocodiles on the banks and a crowd of pelicans, cormorants and fish eagles. The boat gets you closer to the animals than any vehicle can. Dinner is at the lodge.

   Included

   • Domestic flight from Entebbe to Kasese
   • The equator marker on the way to the park
   • Kazinga Channel boat, about 2 hours
   • Queen Elizabeth National Park fees

   Free time: Late afternoon free at the lodge

7. Day 7: Kasenyi at dawn and the crater lakes

   The Kasenyi plains, then the explosion crater drive

   • Drive about 2.5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Queen Elizabeth National Park
   Day 7 details

   We leave at about 6:30 am for the Kasenyi plains, where herds of Uganda kob gather and the lions that hunt them are easiest to find in the first hours of light. Elephants, buffalo and warthogs are common, and the guide watches the sky for vultures that give away a kill. Back at the lodge by late morning for brunch, the middle of the day is free: sleep, read, or sit with binoculars over the channel. In the late afternoon we take the explosion crater drive north of the channel, a track along the rims of old volcanic craters, some dry, some holding lakes, with Lake George and, on a clear day, the Rwenzori Mountains in the distance. Dinner is at the lodge. If you would like to see chimpanzees, tracking in Kyambura Gorge is an option this morning instead of Kasenyi.

   Included

   • Dawn game drive on the Kasenyi plains
   • Late-afternoon explosion crater drive

   Optional experiences

   • Chimpanzee tracking in Kyambura Gorge in place of the dawn drive (permit price shown at booking)

   Easier option: Skip the dawn drive and join the group for the crater drive.

   More active option: Track chimpanzees in Kyambura Gorge, a steep forested valley, in place of Kasenyi.

   Free time: Midday free at the lodge

8. Day 8: Ishasha's lions, then to Bwindi

   Kazinga Channel area to the Ishasha sector, then to Buhoma at Bwindi

   • Drive about 4.5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Bwindi (Buhoma)
   Day 8 details

   Today is the one long road day, about four and a half hours in all, and we break it in the middle. We leave after breakfast at about 8 am and drive south for about two and a half hours to Ishasha, the park's quiet southern sector. Here we spend about two hours on a game drive looking for the lions that rest in the branches of the big fig trees, something only a few places do; they are not always up there, but the search also turns up topi, buffalo and elephants. Lunch is a sit-down meal before the last two hours to Buhoma, climbing out of the plains into the green hills on the edge of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. We arrive in the afternoon at the lodge where we stay for three nights. Your guide checks your trekking kit before dinner.

   Included

   • Game drive in the Ishasha sector, about 2 hours
   • Sit-down lunch on the way
   • Kit check with your guide at Buhoma

   Free time: Late afternoon free at the lodge

   Activity: About 4.5 hours of road, over our 4-hour cap, broken by the 2-hour game drive and lunch; the last stretch is unpaved.

9. Day 9: Mountain gorillas in Bwindi

   Buhoma park headquarters into Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Bwindi (Buhoma)
   Day 9 details

   After an early breakfast we walk to the park headquarters at Buhoma for the 7:30 to 8 am briefing by Uganda Wildlife Authority rangers. The group splits across two habituated gorilla families, because each takes at most eight visitors a day, and every guest has a porter to carry a bag and give a hand on the steep parts. Trackers go out ahead to find where the family nested last night, so the walk can be two hours or six, up and down slopes of thick, wet forest, sometimes cutting a way through. When you reach the gorillas you have one hour with them: the silverback feeding, the young ones tumbling, and the quiet sound of them pulling at leaves. Masks are worn close up. Lunch is packed for the forest. Back at the lodge, the afternoon is yours to rest and download your photos.

   Included

   • Uganda gorilla permit, one per guest
   • Ranger briefing and gorilla trek from Buhoma
   • One hour with a habituated gorilla family
   • A porter for each guest
   • Packed lunch on the trek

   Easier option: Tell the rangers at the briefing that you would like a family that is usually closer; they try to match walkers to families, but nothing is certain.

   Free time: Afternoon free at the lodge

   Activity: 2 to 6 hours or more on steep, muddy slopes at about 1,200 to 2,000 m. Wear waterproof boots, long trousers tucked into socks, long sleeves and gardening gloves. Minimum age 15.

10. Day 10: Bwindi at an easy pace

    Buhoma: the Munyaga waterfall trail and the village

    • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
    • Stay in Bwindi (Buhoma)
    Day 10 details

    A day built for the legs to recover and for the forest itself, which most trips leave the morning after the trek. After a late breakfast a park guide leads the trail along the Munyaga River to a waterfall, about three hours there and back under tree ferns, with chances of black-and-white colobus, red-tailed monkeys and some of Bwindi's many birds. Bwindi is a UNESCO World Heritage site for that richness. We are back for lunch at the lodge, and the afternoon is free. Some guests walk through Buhoma village with a local guide to meet craftspeople and growers; others simply sit on the deck and watch mist come in over the trees. If you would like a second hour with the gorillas, a second permit can be requested at booking for today, subject to availability.

    Included

    • Munyaga waterfall trail with a park guide, park fee included
    • Lunch at the lodge

    Optional experiences

    • A second gorilla permit for today, subject to availability (price shown at booking)
    • Buhoma village walk with a local guide

    Easier option: Spend the whole day at the lodge.

    More active option: Trek to a second gorilla family on a second permit.

    Free time: Afternoon free

    Activity: The waterfall trail is about 3 hours on a forest path with some slippery sections.

11. Day 11: Through the hills to Lake Bunyonyi

    Buhoma to Lake Bunyonyi via Kanungu and Kabale

    • Drive about 4 h
    • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
    • Stay in Lake Bunyonyi
    Day 11 details

    We leave at about 9 am for the drive south to Lake Bunyonyi, about four hours and partly unpaved, right at our daily cap, through tea estates and some of the most closely terraced hillsides in Uganda, with a stop for coffee on the way. The lake sits at about 1,960 m in the highlands near Kabale, scattered with small islands and ringed by steep cultivated slopes, and it is cool enough here for a fire in the evening. Lunch is at the lakeside lodge, then the early afternoon is free to rest. At about 4 pm a boat takes us between the islands as the light softens, past fishermen in dugout canoes, with a stop to hear the story of Akampene, the small island once used as a punishment. Dinner is at the lodge. The lake is free of bilharzia, so a swim off the lodge's jetty is an option if the day is warm.

    Included

    • Drive from Bwindi to Lake Bunyonyi with a coffee stop
    • Lunch at the lodge
    • Late-afternoon boat among the islands

    Optional experiences

    • Paddling a dugout canoe on the lake (price shown at booking)

    Free time: Early afternoon free

12. Day 12: Over the Kanaba Gap and back to Entebbe

    Lake Bunyonyi to Kisoro over the Kanaba Gap, then a domestic flight to Entebbe

    • Drive about 2.5 h
    • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
    • Stay in Entebbe
    Day 12 details

    After breakfast we drive about two hours west to Kisoro on a road that climbs through the Kanaba Gap, where on a clear morning the volcanoes of the Virunga range line up along the border with Rwanda and Congo. We stop at the viewpoint before dropping down to Kisoro for lunch and a short domestic flight back to Entebbe, about an hour and a half, instead of a seven to eight hour drive. Our vehicle takes the bigger bags back by road. In Entebbe you have the late afternoon free at the hotel on the shore of Lake Victoria, time to repack and rest. In the evening we gather for a farewell dinner with your guide and the group, to share the photos and stories of the trip.

    Included

    • The Kanaba Gap viewpoint over the Virunga volcanoes
    • Lunch in Kisoro
    • Domestic flight from Kisoro to Entebbe
    • Farewell dinner

    Free time: Late afternoon free in Entebbe

13. Day 13: Entebbe gardens and home

    Entebbe Botanical Gardens, then Entebbe International Airport

    • Drive about 15 min
    • Breakfast
    Day 13 details

    A gentle last morning. At about 9 am, after breakfast, a local guide walks the group through the Entebbe Botanical Gardens on the shore of Lake Victoria, laid out in 1898, where black-and-white colobus monkeys and great blue turacos are often seen in the old trees and fish eagles call over the water. The walk takes about an hour and a half on flat paths, and you can leave it early if you prefer to pack. We are back at the hotel by late morning, then it is about ten minutes to Entebbe International Airport (EBB). Your guide sees you to the terminal and checks your flight before saying goodbye. Book a flight leaving after about 1 pm to join the gardens walk, or ask us for a late checkout or an extra night if your flight is in the evening.

    Included

    • Entebbe Botanical Gardens walk with a local guide
    • Drop-off at Entebbe International Airport (EBB)

    Easier option: Skip the walk and rest at the hotel until your transfer.

    Activity: Book a flight leaving after about 1 pm to join the gardens walk.

Wildlife and weather: June to September is the dry season in both countries: tracks are firmer, grass shorter for game viewing and the Bwindi slopes less slippery, though rain can fall in the forest any month. The wildebeest herds usually reach the Mara from about July; the exact timing changes every year.

• Nairobi1 night
• Masai Mara3 nights
• Entebbe1 night
• Queen Elizabeth National Park2 nights
• Bwindi (Buhoma)3 nights
• Lake Bunyonyi1 night
• Entebbe1 night