7 Days Gorilla Trekking and Masai Mara Safari

7 Days Gorilla Trekking and Masai Mara Safari in Uganda & Kenya

This 7 Days Uganda Gorilla Trekking and Masai Mara Safari is a Gorilla trekking and wildlife safari adventure to Uganda and Kenya through Kigali International Airport-Rwanda. The 7 Days Gorilla Trekking and Masai Mara safari includes visiting Masai Mara game reserve in Kenya for a breathtaking game drive and Bwindi impenetrable national park in Uganda for a gorilla trekking experience. From Kenya you will arrive in Uganda for Gorilla Trekking and depart via Kigali International Airport instead of Entebbe International Airport. This is to avoid the long hours (approximately 10 Hours) of road road drive from Entebbe to Bwindi compared to the 5 Hours drive from Kigali to Bwindi.

Day to Day:

7 Days Gorilla Trekking and Masai Mara Safari

Gorilla Trekking and Masai Mara Safari Tour Highlights:

Day 1: Arrival and Transfer to Your Hotel in Nairobi
Day 2: Drive to Masai Mara and evening game drive
Day 3: Full Day Game drives in Masai Mara
Day 4: Flight to Kigali International Airport
Day 5: Drive to Bwindi national park
Day 6: Gorilla trekking
Day 7: Drive to Kigali

Detailed Itinerary:

Day 1: Arrival and Transfer to Your Hotel in Nairobi

You will be picked up from Jomo Kenyatta international airport by your guide who will welcome you for the safari in Kenya. After a short briefing, you will be driven to the hotel in Nairobi to check in.

Depending on your time of arrival, you will engage in a city tour around Nairobi with your guide and later return to the hotel to relax and spend the night.

Accommodation Option: Serena Hotel Nairobi / JW Marriott Nairobi / Hemingways Nairobi / Sarova Stanley Hotel

Meal Plan: All Inclusive

Day 2: Drive to Masai Mara and evening game drive

Your breakfast will be served at the hotel in Nairobi and after check out, you will embark on the drive to Masai Mara reserve for about 5 hours with a stop in Narok town for a chance to encounter the locals and enjoy learning about their culture and later continue to the lodge in Mara for check in and lunch.

After lunch, you will engage in an evening game drive in Masai Mara reserve to search for the wildlife like elephants, giraffes, antelopes, wildebeests, zebras, lions, leopards, rhinos among others and your guide will drive you to the lodge to have dinner and spend the night.

Accommodation Option: Ol Seki Hemingways Mara Camp / &Beyond Kichwa Tembo Tented Camp / Elephant Pepper Camp / Mara Kempinski / Elewana Sand River Camp / Mara Serena Safari Lodge / Sanctuary Olana Safari Lodge

Meal Plan: All Inclusive

Day 3: Full Day Game drives in Masai Mara

You will have a full day to explore Masai Mara national reserve after having breakfast at the lodge. Your guide will take you on a morning game drive around the destination to search for the different wildlife species and after a lunch break, you will have another game drive to look out for wildlife species such as elephants, lions, leopards, rhinos, buffalos, antelopes, impalas, zebras, giraffes, hippos, waterbucks, wildebeests, cheetahs and many others.

After the game drives in Masai Mara reserve, you will return to the lodge to prepare for dinner and overnight stay.

Meal Plan: All Inclusive

Day 4: Flight to Kigali International Airport

After having breakfast at the lodge in Masai Mara, your guide will drive you to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport arriving in time for your flight to Kigali International airport. You will be picked up from Kigali airport on arrival by our company representative and proceed to the hotel in Kigali City for check in and overnight.

Accommodation Option: Kigali Serena Hotel / The Retreat / Marriott Hotel Kigali

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Day 5: Drive to Bwindi national park

You will have breakfast at the hotel in Kigali and your guide will drive you to Bwindi national park with a stop at the Katuna border crossing for immigration purposes. You will continue to the lodge in Bwindi national park arriving in time for check in, lunch and later dinner and overnight

Accommodation Option: Four Gorillas Safari Lodge / Buhoma Lodge / Sanctuary Gorilla Safari lodge / Kiho Gorilla Safari Lodge

Meal Plan: Breakfast and Lunch

Day 6: Gorilla trekking

Accommodation Option: Four Gorillas Safari Lodge / Buhoma Lodge / Sanctuary Gorilla Safari lodge / Kiho Gorilla Safari Lodge

Meal Plan: All Inclusive

Day 7: Drive to Kigali

Your breakfast will be served at the lodge in Bwindi national park and your guide will lead you to the park headquarters for a briefing on gorilla trekking. You will start the search for gorillas in Bwindi after being allocated ranger guides and in your groups you will head into the impenetrable forest.

Your encounter with the gorillas will take 1 hour and after the gorilla trek, you will return to the lodge or take part in a cultural tour to interact with the locals and get to know more about their way of life and culture. Your dinner and overnight stay will be at the lodge in Bwindi.

Meal Plan: Breakfast and Lunch

Tour Includes:

Exclusive Safari transport in custom made Safari 4 by 4 wheel drive Land Cruiser with air conditioner.
Services of English-speaking driver guides.
Pick-up and drop-off.
Park entry fees
Bottled water
All Meals included
Six nights accommodation at luxurious lodges
All Activities listed in the itinerary

Tour Excludes:

International and Visa entry charges to East Africa.
Personal expenses and gratuities.
Additional optional activities.

Best Time To Travel:

The best time to go for this Kenya Uganda luxury safari is during the dry seasons: June to October and December to February. These months offer excellent wildlife viewing in the Masai Mara, including the Great Migration between July and October, and ideal trekking conditions in Bwindi, with drier trails and better visibility of the mountain gorillas.

How To Get There:

This luxury safari begins with your arrival at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, where your guide will meet and transfer you to your hotel in the city. The next morning, you’ll travel by road from Nairobi to the Masai Mara, a scenic drive of approximately 5 to 6 hours (about 270 km), with a cultural stop in Narok town along the way. After your wildlife experiences in the Mara, you’ll return to Nairobi by road and catch a scheduled flight to Kigali International Airport in Rwanda, which takes about 1 hour 30 minutes. From Kigali, the journey to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park continues by road through the Katuna border, taking roughly 4 to 5 hours depending on road conditions and border crossing time.

About Masai Mara National Reserve

The Masai Mara is the crown jewel of luxury Kenya safaris and arguably the most iconic wildlife destination in Africa. Located in the southwest of Kenya and bordering Tanzania’s Serengeti, the Mara is famed for its abundant big cat population, high density of game, and its starring role in the Great Wildebeest Migration.

Covering around 1,510 square kilometers, the Mara is a landscape of wide open plains, acacia woodlands, riverine forests, and seasonal swamps. It’s bisected by the Mara River, which serves as both a lifeline for wildlife and the dramatic stage for river crossings during the migration months.

Wildlife Behavior in the Mara
The ecosystem supports an incredible variety of wildlife, including the Big Five animals: lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo, and rhino. Lions are particularly abundant, and it’s common to observe prides lounging in the sun or stalking prey during a game drive. Leopards are frequently spotted along the Talek and Mara Rivers, while cheetahs prefer the open plains for high-speed hunts.

The reserve comes alive between July and October, when nearly two million wildebeest, zebras, and gazelles flood in from the Serengeti in search of fresh grazing. This phenomenon, known as the Great Migration, is one of the greatest natural spectacles on Earth. The river crossings are particularly dramatic, with crocodiles waiting in the waters and predators lurking on the banks.

Even outside the migration season, the Mara offers year-round game viewing. Resident animals include giraffes, hippos, hyenas, jackals, topis, impalas, and hundreds of bird species. It’s a photographer’s dream and one of the few places where you can witness raw predator-prey interactions up close.

About Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is a remarkable protected area in Uganda that serves as a sanctuary for endangered mountain gorillas and a haven for numerous other plant and animal species. The National Park is located in southwestern Uganda and is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its exceptional biodiversity and its significance in the conservation of endangered mountain gorillas.

Bwindi National Park is estimated to have approximately half of the world’s remaining mountain gorillas which reside within the park’s boundaries. The mountain gorillas are considered to be endangered species and Bwindi national park provides a crucial habitat for their survival.

Gorilla trekking sectors in Bwindi Impenetrable national park
When visiting Bwindi national park, there are different sectors where gorillas can be seen during tours and they include the Rushaga sector, Buhoma sector, Nkuringo sector and Ruhija sector.

Rushaga is a popular area located in the southern part of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda. Some of the gorilla families in Rushaga include Mishaya, Nshongi, Bweza, Kahungye , Busingye among others.
The Buhoma Sector is located in the northern park of Bwindi national park and is home to several habituated gorilla families including the Mubare, Habinyanja, and Rushegura families.
Nkuringo sector is also located in the southern part of Bwindi National Park and gorilla families in this sector include the Nkuringo gorilla family, Bikingi and also Bushaho.
Ruhija sector is found in the eastern part of Bwindi national park and some of the gorilla families here include Bitukura family, Oruzogo family, and the Kyaguriro group.

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