You can arrive at any time on day 1 as there are no activities planned until the important welcome meeting tonight at 6pm. Your leader will leave a note at reception telling you where this important meeting will take place. Please ask a member of reception for this information. After the group meeting there is the option of joining the group for dinner.

At this meeting, your leader will collect your local payment and park fees. Please bring USD notes/bills printed after 2003 in large denominations.

Nairobi is a bustling city that is constantly alive with a wide array of restaurants, clubs, pubs and discos. If you arrive early, head out to explore the National Museum of Kenya or the Karen Blixen Museum (author of Out of Africa), or Bomas which displays the traditional homesteads of several Kenyan tribes in an outdoor village.

Tonight we stay in a clean, comfortable hotel. All rooms have hot water and ensuites.

This itinerary is intended as a guide only. While it is definitely our intention is to adhere to the day to day route published, on any particular departure the distances travelled, driving time and available activities can vary for a variety of reasons including the weather, road conditions, local restrictions, etc. Overnight stops also may vary on occasions from those suggested.

We depart Nairobi with our first stop being the town of Gilgil in order to learn more about visit the Kariandusi School Community Project and to visit one of the schools involved. This project was started with the aim of improving rural schools and the educational opportunities for disadvantaged rural children. Our visit to the school will be a mixture of helping in small construction or learning projects and meeting the children and their families within the local community. We will make direct payments for each visit which help to fund the project. 

We head to the nearby Lake Nakuru National Park in time to do a game drive to our campsite. Distance driven today is about 170km which will take around 3 hours.

Nakuru's small and compact area based around a lovely flamingo filled lake makes it the ideal location for wildlife spotting. As well as the other animals counted in the Big Five, this Park harbours many rhino and will be your best chance to get a great photo of these magnificent beasts.

While tonight's campground is beautifully located, it is very basic, having drop toilets and cold showers.

We begin the day with a dawn safari in Nakuru before heading closer to the Ugandan border. We drive 180km, which takes us about 3 hours, to reach our basic campsite at Eldoret.
 

The following day we make the full day journey from Eldoret to our camp near Jinja, crossing the border into Uganda along the way (352km, approx. 6 hours). We camp at our exclusive campsite in beautiful surroundings halfway between Jinja and Kampala.
 

Our jouney today from Jinja to Kibale is 350kms, approximately 6 hours travel time. The most accessible of Uganda's major rainforests, Kibale Forest National Park lies 35km south of Fort Portal. This equatorial rainforest is home to the highest concentration of primates in the world. Twelve different species have been recorded. However the major attraction are the 500 Chimpanzees, which have been habituated to human visitors. These delightful animals, more closely related to humans than to any other living creature, are tremendous fun to watch as they squabble and play in fruiting trees. 

We'll take a 2-4 hour walking safari that gives us the amazing opportunity to watch the way the chimps feed, climb trees, respond to humans and care for their young ones. It is a phenomenal experience and a real highlight. The primate walk is a guided walk through thick hilly jungle. You will need to take water bottles, rain coats, good walking boots and perhaps a walking stick.

When not trekking there is plenty to do in this beautiful area including walks to villages, rivers, lakes, or just kick back and enjoy.

We camp in the beautiful grounds of an old colonial bungalow, surrounded by tea plantations with views of the hills and mountains.

We travel to the Queen Elizabeth National Park, beautifully set between the Great Rift Valley lakes of Edward and George undertaking a game drive on our way to the camp. This drive takes about 1 hours (45km on good roads). 

We take a boat cruise along the Kazinga Channel, well-known for pelicans, eagles and other wonderful birdlife as well as its healthy population of hippos.

During our time in the park, we are taken on land-based game safaris, and can hope to see elephants, lions, leopards, buffaloes, Uganda kobs and waterbucks.

Tonight we camp. The camp ground is basic and has drop toilets with cold showers.

Today we travel on to Lake Bunyoni, a drive of 190km, or about 5.5 hours. Here we find some of the most picturesque scenery in all of Uganda and you might like to take it in from on the lake itself by hiring a traditional dugout canoe. They can be hard to master at first but great fun in amongst the amazing views.

Tonight's campground has drop and flush toilets with hot and cold showers.

This morning we cross the border into Rwanda. Once in our new country, we head to Ruhengeri, gateway to the gorillas and our base for the next three days. We will travel via the capital city of Kigali where we will organise a visit to the very moving genocide memorial. Travelling time is about 6-7 hours.

We allow two days for gorilla visits as you are assigned a trekking group/time on your permit. The group may be split up into different trekking groups during the day or even over two days depending on time of permit issue and group size. There is a maximum group size of 8 on each gorilla visit.

This region is one of the last remaining sanctuaries for the mountain gorilla. Each day after a full briefing, three small groups will head off early in the morning with local trackers. No more than eight per day can visit any one habituated family and visits are strictly controlled to minimize the possibility of disturbance or transmission of disease to the animals. 

Tracking gorillas in the dense forest can sometimes be wet, muddy and uncomfortable. The terrain is by no means easy either, so it can be pretty strenuous and often humid- but the sheer thrill in coming across a habituated group of gorillas, dominated by a great male silverback, more than outweighs any difficulty. You need to be prepared and fit enough to walk up to 4 hours- up and down hill. We can usually get very close to the mountain gorillas, who are placid and gentle, and watching their movements is like seeing a mirror image of yourself. Your visit with the gorillas will last one unforgettable hour.

When you are waiting for, or have completed you gorilla visit, your leader will provide you with options and ideas on how you may wish to spend your time in this glorious area.

We stay in dormitories at a local church mission.

Today we travel to the border with Uganda where we will complete the border formalities. It is possible for most nationalities to purchase a re entry visa at this land crossing but please check before travelling. We will then head to Lake Mburo (330km, approx 6 hours).

Lake Mburo National Park is found in the only part of Uganda which is covered in extensive acacia woodland, giving it a very different fauna to other reserves. It is the best place in the country to see the gigantic eland antelope and has about 68 different species of mammals. The common ones are zebra, impala, buffalo, topi, not to leave out the rare sightings of roan antelope. Leopard, hyenas and jackals are all predators of this region. The five lakes within the park attract hippos, crocodiles and a variety of waterbirds, while fringing swamps hide secretive papyrus specialists such as the sitatunga antelope and red, black and yellow papyrus gonalek. This small park is not swarming with tourists and so has a much more natural feel to it than some of the other more famous East African parks.

Tonight we will camp on the shores of the lake at a stunning wild location surrounded by wildlife.

Before breakfast today we have a two hour guided walking safari through the Lake Mburo National Park allowing us to see some of the animals and spectacular birdlife. 

Afterwards we travel from Lake Mburu to Jinja. Distance driven today is around 520km as we travel via Kampala. It will take about 8 hours driving time. En route we will stop at the Equator.

In Jinja we visit the nearby Bujagali Falls, one of the many different sources of the Nile, the world's longest river. Afterwards, there is plenty of time to relax, catch up with last-minute souvenir shopping or perhaps you might want to try white water rafting. 

We camp at an exclusive riverside retreat.
 

We begin our journey back to Nairobi with the our first stop being the cheese town of Eldoret, where we camp for the evening (approx. 8 hours drive).

We then make our way back to the bright lights of the big city of Nairobi, arriving in the late afternoon of day 16 (300km, approx. 6 hours). We finish the tour back at our start point hotel. A departure transfer to the airport is available, please enquire at time of booking. 

Please note that no accommodation is provided on the evening of day 16 but we are able to arrange additional accommodation for you. Please enquire at the time of booking.