Gorillas and Masai Mara Safari

Nairobi sets the scene for our journey. At about 6pm we meet our tour leader and fellow travellers to hear about the adventure ahead, then we share a welcoming Kenyan dinner together. If you wish to explore further before the tour, you can arrange extra hotel nights through your sales representative.

After loading the vehicle, we leave Nairobi for the Masai Mara – a journey of around seven hours – arriving to sweeping grasslands alive with wildebeest, gazelles, topis, zebras and buffalo, shadowed by cheetahs, lions and hyenas. Between mid August and late October the Great Migration often surges across the plains. Nothing is guaranteed, but with our expert guides we should see and learn a great deal as we game drive through the reserve this afternoon.

We spend a full day on safari in the Masai Mara to maximise our wildlife encounters. We pause at a quiet spot for lunch by the vehicle, gazing over the plains.

After breakfast we depart the Masai Mara for Lake Naivasha – about four hours forty minutes by road – stopping in the Loita Hills to visit Tepesua, a Maasai village known for championing women’s health and education. We are welcomed with traditional warrior song and dance before our host explains warrior training, then we stroll through the village. On reaching Lake Naivasha, we take to the water by boat to admire the scenery and wildlife, and we visit a hippo pool to watch these magnificent animals in their element.

We lace up for roughly three hours of walking to Crater Lake, looking for prolific birdlife along the way. From the hilltops we enjoy superb views over the water and may spot giraffes and zebras. After lunch back at camp, we visit Elsamere – the former home of naturalist and author Joy Adamson, of Born Free fame – now a small museum with evocative photos of Elsa the lioness. Later we savour high tea in the gardens with the lake as our backdrop.

Today we explore Hell’s Gate National Park, a compact reserve home to zebras, giraffes, leopards and more, and we visit a Maasai cultural centre to learn about local traditions. We take a game drive in the park, while you also have the option to hire bikes locally to explore on two wheels. This afternoon you can relax at the beach or by the hotel pool, or take a stroll into nearby villages.

We bid farewell to Lake Naivasha and transfer about one hour to Lake Nakuru National Park. An afternoon game drive – up to three hours, depending on wildlife activity – gets us straight into the action. Set on the floor of the Great Rift Valley, the park shelters lions, leopards, giraffes, zebras and buffalos.

We begin our journey towards Uganda, travelling about five hours to Eldoret in Kenya – a convenient staging post for tomorrow’s drive to Jinja. En route we enjoy sweeping views of the Great Rift Valley, particularly around the Church Rock viewpoint.

We continue 250km to Jinja – roughly eight hours including the border crossing into Uganda at Malaba, which can be slow, though we allow ample time and the process is often a fascinating experience. Set on the shores of Lake Victoria, Jinja is Uganda’s adventure capital, famed for thrilling white water rafting among many other adrenaline filled pursuits.

Today is free – you can choose from a range of optional activities. White water rafting here ranks among the world’s best, with half day and full day routes that vary from calm pools and forested islands to thunderous rapids, including several grade V challenges such as Big Brother, Overtime and Silverback. If rafting does not appeal, you can visit the source of the White Nile, one of the two principal tributaries of the Nile.

We undertake a longer drive of around seven hours to Mbarara – well placed for chimp tracking tomorrow. We cross the equator en route, where our tour leader can demonstrate a few fun experiments.

We venture deep into Kalinzu Forest for a three to four hour chimpanzee tracking experience, accompanied by experienced guides as we trek and listen for the chimps’ distinctive calls. Along the way we might also encounter colobus and vervet monkeys, olive baboons and a wealth of birdlife. The terrain can be steep and at times muddy, though the chimpanzees typically remain on flatter ground.

We travel to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park – a World Heritage site and stronghold of mountain gorillas. The journey is about 300km and takes five to six hours with stops.

An unforgettable day unfolds as we spend a full hour with a habituated family of mountain gorillas. After a safety briefing we are assigned to a family group and begin the trek – there is no set path, so our guides cut a route through the undergrowth. Expect at least three hours of walking on irregular terrain, with steep ascents and descents over muddy slopes. Robust footwear is essential, and we recommend hiring a local porter to carry your bag or camera equipment and provide steady support – arrangements and payment are made locally on the day. Seeing wild mountain gorillas in their natural habitat is extraordinary: an adult male can weigh up to 430lb (195kg), a female up to 220lb (100kg), and a male can stand about 5ft 7in (1.7m) tall. They are almost exclusively vegetarian and can be destructive feeders, which makes them unpopular with farmers lower down the mountain, so they are carefully protected. Gorillas are gentle and not known to attack unless severely provoked. To prevent over familiarisation, our time with them is limited to one hour. If permits near our base are unavailable, we may use permits in another sector of the park, which would involve a longer drive to the start of the trek.

We depart early and transfer to Kigali airport in Rwanda. Our journey concludes this afternoon as we bid the group farewell. If you would like more time to explore, you can arrange to extend your stay with your sales representative.