24 days Kigali- Uganda – Kenya & Tanzania wildlife safari
Safari Overview
Arrival & departure: Kigali – Mombasa/ Nairobi
Day 1- arrive, Kigali city tour
Day 2- golden monkey tracking at volcanoes NP
Day 3- gorilla trekking
Day 4-5- queen
Day 6-7- Murchison
Day 8- Kampala city tour and night life
Day 9- source of the Nile
Day 10- Sipi falls
Day 11- mt. Elgon np
Day 12- transfer to Nakuru
Day 13- l. Nakuru & Ol Pajete
Day 14- Nairobi np & night life
Day 15-16 Masai mara
Day 17- transfer from mara to Serengeti
Day 18-19 serengeti
Day 20- Ngorongoro
Day 21- Kilimanjaro
Day 22-24- Zanzibar to departure
Detailed itinerary
Day 1
Destination: Kigali city
On arrival at Kigali international airport, our tour guide will pick you up and lead you to your booked accommodation in the heart of the city for a brief rest and will later on take you around Kigali city; one of the cleanest cities in Africa with its malls, eco parks, resorts, golf courses, restaurants and lounges, hand-made art and craft shops, museums, archeries, horse riding, recreation parks among others (the duration of this tour will depend on time of arrival).
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Day 2
Destination: golden monkeys- volcanoes NP
This day will find you in the same volcanoes national park and will be woken up by the songs of the birds of the montane tropical rain forest. After breakfast, you will have a briefing and be led by expert rangers up to above 2,500 meters of sea level in the bamboo vegetation zones of the mountains where the playful and chattering golden monkeys reside in groups and families of hundreds along with over 200 bird species including Albertine endemics. Thereafter you will return to the park headquarters and continue with a nature walks that will lead you the Musanze caves; 52 caves with 15.2km of cave passages developed from Cenozoic volcanic rocks dating back to 65 million years. After this amazing tour, you will head out to Uganda and have another great time at lake Bunyonyi crater lake.
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Day 3
Destination: gorilla trekking & Batwa experience
Very early in the morning you will embark on a four-hour journey to Bwindi impenetrable forest in Uganda for a morning gorilla trekking. On arrival you will have a briefing on the gorilla behaviors, livelihoods and how to handle their reactions to the human presence. The trek into the tropical montane forests will last between 30 to 1 hour before meeting the gorilla family you are assigned to and you will be allowed to follow and spend an hour with that gorilla family. Getting to find the mountain gorillas on a trek in Uganda is a 99% chance backed up by the gorilla population in this region. After the trek, you will have an experience with the Batwa people who have for all their life time co-existed with the forest and its species. During this nature walk you will experience numerous bird species with particularly 23 albertine endemics that are habitats to only the albertine region.
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Day 4-5
Destination: queen Elizabeth
This day you will have morning and evening game drives to various parts of the park for a lot of wonderful scenic view of the Rwenzori mountains and its slopes, the African big 5; elephant herds, lion families, leopards, hippo herds, hyenas, wild dogs, Uganda kobs, water bucks, antelopes, baboons, monkeys, crocodiles, crater lakes, reptiles, raptors, sun birds and many more awaiting your memorable tour in this game park. You will head out to the Kazinga channel (a river connecting lakes Edward and George) for a morning boat cruise through queen Elizabeth national park. At this experience you will have a glance at the world’s largest concentration of hippos which are numbered above 5,000 at the Kazinga channel, Nile crocodiles, buffaloes, water birds and other land birds coming in to quench their thirst, elephants, lions and other land wild game like water bucks, giraffes, kobs, kudus among others also coming in onto the banks of the Kazinga channel to quench their thirst. After the boat cruise, you will embark on a game drive around this channel and beyond into the vast savannah grassland to enjoy more game viewing at more lion and elephant families, ostriches, cheetahs, leopards, raptors and vultures, reptiles, monkeys, wild dogs among other creatures, scenery views of the ice capped mountain Rwenzori and its slopes. On this day, you will also once again come across the equator landmark as it crosses through queen Elizabeth national game park.
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Day 6-7
Destination: Murchison falls NP
Today you will head out to sections of the Murchison falls national park to continue exploring this vast grassland and its remarkable wild game. You will be amazed with many elephant families and their playful young ones, lion families, rothschild’s giraffes, waterbucks, buffaloes, baboons, reptiles, numerous bird species among others. Later on you will have a trek up to view the magnificent Murchison falls from above and watch the strongest falls on the planet, gashing 3,000 cubic litres of water per second through an eight-meter corridor cascading down a 43-meter height into the “the devil’s caldron” forming a white mist and a signature rainbow producing a loud sound from the powerful force of the water of the river Nile. The park has the strongest water falls in the world and the highest number of rothschild’s giraffes in the world, more than three- quarter of the total world population and numerous elephant and lion families, waterbucks, impalas, kobs, warthogs, hippos, buffaloes, crocodiles, leopards, hyenas, jackals among other mammals and more than 450 bird species recorded in the park. After lunch you will then head to the banks of the river Nile for a boat cruise towards the face of the Murchison falls. While on the boat cruise, you will have scene of various water birds like the shoebills, raptors, geese among others, hippos and a great number of huge nile crocodiles and many more mammals that approach the river banks to quench their thirst like buffaloes, elephants and the scenes are endless. You will also have a boat cruise to the Nile delta as it flows back to the albertine peninsular, an experience that obviously unmatchable as you watch the waters of the river Nile anchor the wild and its species.
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Day 8
Destination: kampala city tour & nightlife
On this day, you will embark on a city tour around the hills of Kampala and its streets. This tour will get you to various historical administrative, economic and cultural sites and centres in the city have affected the development of Uganda as a country such as the Kasubi tombs where 3 ancient kings are buried, the Rubaga cathedral; headquarters of the Catholics’ faith, namirembe cathedral; headquarters of the protestant faith, Kaddafi mosque; headquarters of the Muslim faith, Baha’i temple of the Baha’i faith, fort Laggard the first administrator of Kampala city, the parliament building of Uganda among others. Food and commodity markets around Kampala are so interesting and have a great reflection of how the county’s population survives; these will get you have some taste on fresh fruits, vegetables grown in the country and street food delicacies like the rolex (an egg omelet rolled in chapatti). Later on in the evening, you will have a nightlife experience in the bars and lounges of Kampala city till resting time as you wait for the next day.
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Day 9
Destination: source of the River Nile
This section of the river Nile has numerous water falls that have become common water sport points to tourists and adventurers from all corners of the world. Some of the falls include Owen falls, Bujagali falls, Ripon falls, Itanda falls, Busowoko falls among others. The clean and white waters of the River Nile at this point are the most entertaining of the river course throughout Africa offering the best bungee jumping point, water rafting, horse riding at the river banks, water surfing, swimming, canoeing, river boarding, quad biking around the river banks among others. The river banks also host numerous bird species that can be experienced on nature walks thus being some of the best birders’ destinations in the region. You will also take a boat to reach the source of the nile where 30% of the water emanates from underground streams and 70% from Lake Victoria. The green sparsely forested areas will provide a chilling breeze for nature walks and relaxations that will grant you a memorable time at the source of the river Nile.
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Day 10
Destination: Sipi falls & Pian Upe
On this day you will continue with the 3 different water falls (Sipi, Simba, Ngasire) that pour from cliffs as high as 95 meters and are separated by steep hillsides. The falls are found outside mountain Elgon national park. During the hike you get across numerous other unnamed water falls across the steep slopes, a number of bird species as you hike along, can engage in fly fishing, biking among others. Later on you will visit the surrounding community for an agro-tour more so of the special indigenous Arabica coffee and coffee tasting sessions. You will also head to the Pian Upe game reserve; Uganda’s second largest game reserve, that will guarantee you over 80% chances of spotting cheetahs along with ostriches, lions, leopards, buffaloes, crocodiles and snakes, dik-dik, roan antelopes, zebras, hyenas, wild cats, vervet and patas monkeys, eland, hartebeests, and numerous bird species.
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Day 11
Destination: mt. Elgon NP
On this day you will start your journey from Sipi falls to mount Elgon national park while enjoying sights of the Elgon peaks, numerous water falls flowing from the mountain caldera, montane vegetation that cascades on the slopes of the mountain, volcanic plugs, basalt cliffs and many others volcanic features and rocks. You will then go through the park and its forests enjoying its wild game such as blue monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys, vervet monkeys, de brazza’s monkey, leopards, elephant and cape buffaloes. Later you will have a tour on cultural sites and know about the Bagisu/ Masaba people that are custodians of that place most interesting their cultural dance, tunes and embalu adulthood initiation ceremonies.
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Day 12
Destination: transfer to Nakuru
On this day you will head out of Elgon nation park and drive across the border for lake Nakuru national park.
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Day 13
Destination: lake Nakuru NP & Ol Pajete
This day will find you at lake Nakuru which one of the world’s highest bird concentrated areas with more than a million flamingos, storks, geese, ducks among others residing at this shallow lake. The shallowness of lake Nakuru easily exposes algae which acts as food to greater and lesser flamingos and other water birds thus making it a favorite place for them to stay. The pink colored flamingoes flying and settling in huge numbers make this lake one of the most colorful destinations in the world to visit; hottentot teal, bateleur, maccoa duck, pallid harrier, rupell’s vulture, shining sunbird, European roller, great snipe, western reef heron, red-capped lark, Abyssinian thrush, eastern imperial eagle, long crested eagle among others. Along the birds are mammals such as buffaloes, kobs, water bucks, antelopes, giraffes, baboons, monkeys, reptiles among others.
At Ol Pajete conservation area which has the highest number of protected black and white rhinos and also the only 2 remaining northern white rhinos in the world. The park offers both drives and walking safari experiences to its visitors as they interact with rangers sharing with them knowledge about the sanctuary and the animals therein. The conservatory is also a sanctuary to many more rescued species especially from hands of poachers and this is also the only place in Kenya where you can find chimpanzees. The expanse of the sanctuary also harbors lions, giraffes, elephants, warthogs, hyenas, kobs, waterbucks, leopards, cheetahs, wild dogs, hippos, zebras, reptiles, buffaloes, baboons, vervet monkeys among others.
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Day 14
Destination: Nairobi NP
On arrival at the airport, you will be picked up by our guide and get you to your booked hotel for a brief rest and there after head out through Nairobi city to Nairobi national park which is just 7km outside the city. You will have an exciting tour of a tour of wild game while gazing at skyscrapers of the city. The park has numerous bird species and numerous migrant species especially during the time between June and August adding to the more than 400 resident species making it a true birding haven in Africa. Along with mammal species such as lions, leopards, giraffes, hippos, ostriches, rhinos, hartebeests, waterbucks, hyenas, buffaloes, kobs, reptiles among others. This park will give you a unique scenery of the existing interdependency of nature and its wild with modernity.
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Day 15-16
Destination: masai mara
On this day, you will head to the masai mara game reserve. The park offers different safari experiences such as air balloon safaris, game drives, horse riding safaris and walking safaris with the masai people. The park is a vast green grassland anchored by woodland, swamps, forest species, acacia and the mara river that have maintained an effective eco-system that is a habitat to huge number of wild game. The concentration of wild game in this park will give non-stop action packed safari drives all throughout of Africa’s big 5 game; lions, leopards, cheetahs, elephants, buffaloes, along with rhinos, kobs, hyenas, hartebeests, wildebeests, zebras, giraffes, waterbucks, reptiles, warthogs, monkeys, baboons, crocodiles, hippos, wild dogs, ostriches and numerous bird species all over the park. The most famous and eye catching phenomena of the park is the great migration that occurs around the park between June and august every year championed by the wildebeests and zebras against other predators in the park and residential nile crocodiles in the Mara river for their survival battle.
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Day 17
Destination: transfer to serengeti
On this day, you will head out of Kenya and cross the border to Tanzania heading to the serengeti via the shores of Lake Victoria.
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Day 18-19
Destination: serengeti NP
On this day, you will head out to serengeti national park, the home of the great migration. Never disappointing right from the time of entry till exit, this park is one of the largest parks in Africa and in the world and one of those with the highest concentration of wild game per square km in the world ranging from the Africa’s big 5 to the ugly 5 and more than 500 bird species. don’t miss watching numerous lion families, elephant herds, wildebeests, zebras, buffaloes, giraffes, hippos, hyenas, leopards, cheetahs, waterbucks, gazelles, kobs, reptiles, wild dogs, foxes, vultures, eagles, turacos, secretary birds a few but to mention this endless list. The tour around this park will leave you satisfied by its nature and habitats.
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Day 20
Destination: Ngorongoro
This day will find you at the world’s largest crater and its vegetation that gets look like the “garden of Eden” will leave you amazed with the large number of wildebeests, zebras, buffaloes, elephants, lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, hippos, elands, kobs, bush bucks, waterbucks, rhinos among others and numerous bird species such as turaco, great kingfisher, abdim’s stork, white-backed vulture among others; along with various features such as Ndutu plains, Gol mountain, Endoro waterfalls, Olduvai gorge, shifting sands among others.
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Day 21
Destination: Kilimanjaro NP
On this day, you will head out to Kilimanjaro national park; The park offers several safari experience such as wild game drives, hiking, picnics and camping. You will have the best sceneries of Africa’s highest snow-capped mountain and its biodiversity that harbors the largest herds of the African elephants along with lions, leopards, buffaloes, giraffes, hippos, hyenas, gazelles, kobs, waterbucks and numerous bird species. the combination of both montane and savannah grassland will give you the best environmental sceneries.
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Day 22
Destination: transfer to Mombasa
This day will get you on a road trip moving from mountain Kilimanjaro across the border back to Kenya for Diani beach in Mombasa for your next activities.
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Day 23-24
Destination: Diani beach
On this day you will be woken up by a beautiful sunrise from the horizon of the Indian ocean and set out onto the shiny white sands of Mombasa coastal line at Diani beach; one of the most-white sands and cleanest beaches in the world. You will be able to engage in various activities during your stay there such as; scuba diving, swimming, kite rafting, horse riding, nature walks, sea creature viewing like sea turtles, dolphins, corals among others, spot fishing, enjoying sea food cuisines and coconut cocktails, beach sports, camp fires among others, have a view rare species such as yellow baboon,, Angolan colobus, Sykes monkey, bush babies and bird species such as; african barred owlet, malachite kingfisher, house crow, mosque swallow, pied kingfisher, gray heron, great egret, striated heron, african jacana, african darter, little grebe, african pygmy goose, african pied wagtail among others. This is one of the best ways to end an African safari. On the last day of the safari, you will either set out to Mombasa or back to Nairobi for departure according to your booked departure flight.
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Other related safaris
- 10 days Uganda- Rwanda wildlife safari
- 10 days Kenya-Tanzania safari
- 10 days Masai mara-Source of the Nile safari
- 10 days Serengeti-Kilimanjaro-Amboseli-Diani experience
- 14 days Kenya-Tanzania-Zanzibar safari
- 15 days Rwanda-Uganda wildlife safari
- 16 days’ gorilla trek-source of the Nile-Masai mara safari
- 24 days’ gorilla trek-source of the Nile-Serengeti-Zanzibar safari