The 9 Days gorillas and Masai Mara safari starts in Uganda where you will visit Kibale national park for chimpanzee trekking and also take part in gorilla trekking in Bwindi national park before flying to Kenya for an exciting wildlife viewing experience in Masai Mara reserve.
Safari highlights of the 9 Days Gorillas and Masai Mara Safari
Day 1: Transfer to Kibale Forest National Park
Day 2: Chimpanzee trekking and Bigodi swamp walk
Day 3: Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Day 4: Gorilla Trekking experience
Day 5: Transfer to Kampala/Entebbe
Day 6: Fly to Masai Mara national reserve
Day 7: Full day safari in Masai Mara
Day 8: balloon safari and game drives in Masai Mara
Day 9; drive to Nairobi
Detailed itinerary
Day 1: Transfer to Kibale Forest National Park
Your guide will pick you up from Entebbe airport and welcome you for the safari in Uganda. You will have a short briefing ahead of the journey to Kibale national park which will take about 5 to 6 hours. You will have a stop for lunch in Fort Portal and proceed to the lodge where you will have dinner and overnight stay.
Day 2: Chimpanzee trekking experience and Bigodi swamp
After breakfast at the lodge, you will proceed to the park headquarters for a briefing on chimpanzee trekking. You will start the trek into Kibale forest to search for the chimpanzees in their natural habitat for about 2 to 5 hours with your ranger guide. On finding the chimpanzees, you will spend 1 hour with them and later return to the park headquarters.
You will also engage in a nature walk in the Bigodi area in the afternoon and later return to the lodge to prepare for dinner and overnight stay.
Day 3: Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
You will wake up early and after breakfast at the lodge in Kibale national park, you will start the journey to Bwindi national park via Queen Elizabeth national park. You will also have lunch enroute and continue to the lodge where you will rest and have dinner and overnight stay in Bwindi.
Day 4: Gorilla Trekking experience
After having an early breakfast at the lodge, you will transfer to the Bwindi park headquarters for a briefing on gorilla trekking. You will be led through steep terrain and dense forests during your search for the gorillas with the ranger guides leading the way.
You will have 1 hour with the gorillas after finding them in the Bwindi forest and after the gorilla trekking experience, you will return to the lodge for your dinner and overnight stay.
Day 5: Transfer to Entebbe
You will have early breakfast at the lodge in Bwindi national park and start the journey to Entebbe for about 8 to 9 hours with a stop at the Equator and you will also have enroute lunch.
You will spend the night at the hotel in Entebbe where you will also have dinner ahead of your flight to Kenya.
Day 6: Fly to Masai Mara national reserve
You will be driven to Entebbe international airport for your flight to Masai Mara and upon landing in the airstrip, you will be welcomed by your guide in Kenya who will drive you to the lodge for check in.
In the evening, you will engage in an evening game drive in Masai Mara reserve and look out for different wildlife species such as elephants, buffalos, lions, giraffes, antelopes among others and later have dinner and overnight stay at the lodge.
Day 7: Full day safari in Masai Mara
After breakfast at the lodge, you will spend a full day in Masai Mara reserve and take part in morning and afternoon game drives. You will go with your packed lunch for the day in search of the different wildlife species including the big five such as elephants, lions, leopards, rhinos and buffalos.
You will also search for other wildlife species like topi, giraffes, zebras, impalas, wildebeests, hyenas, cheetahs among others during the game drives in Masai Mara and later drive to the lodge for dinner and overnight stay.
Day 8: balloon safari and game drives in Masai Mara
You will start your day early morning as you prepare for a hot air balloon safari just in time to watch the sunrise over Masai Mara reserve. You will enjoy the balloon safari for about one hour above the savannah plains where different wildlife species like elephants, giraffes, zebras among others can be spotted.
After the balloon safari, you will spend the rest of the day searching for wildlife species in Masai Mara such as lions, cheetahs, leopards, antelopes and many more. Your guide will drive you back to the lodge after the game drives for dinner and overnight stay.
Day 9; drive to Nairobi
On the last day of your safari, your guide will pick you up from the lodge in Masai Mara reserve and you will enjoy a short game drive on the way back to Nairobi where you will be dropped off which will bring the tour to an end.