KENYA

Days 1 - 7

Our first day in Nairobi, Kenya, and we are up close and personal with some of Africa’s most famous residents. With visits to both Sheldrick’s famous Elephant Orphanage as well as the Giraffe Park we gain some insight into the work being done to protect Africa’s wildlife. At the Giraffe park hand feed rare Rothschild giraffe from a specially elevated viewing platform where you can get face to face with these gentle giants, and make friends with the tame warthogs roaming the grounds. The baby rhino at Sheldricks are also very special.  At our departure meeting this afternoon, we familiarise ourselves with the truck and day to day life overlanding, and then in the evening enjoy a night out at one of Nairobi’s fun restaurants.

The following morning we are on the stunning drive into the Rift Valley on our way to Kenya’s most famous game reserve, The Masai Mara. A park of rolling savannah plains the Mara teams with wildlife, and particularly when the big herds of over two million wildebeest, as well as Thomsons gazelle and zebra arrive, usually anytime from June onwards. The parks also boasts high densities of lion. Whilst here we will also visit in a traditonal Maasai village. It is always a treat to visit in Maasai lands. Many Maasai continue to live their traditional semi nomadic lifestyle. Dressed in distinctive red check and bedeck in jewellery, they can be found throughout the region.  Both men and women wear wooden bracelets, and Maasai women regularly weave and bead jewellery. This bead work plays an essential part in the ornamentation of their bodies.

Leaving the Mara we stop over by Lake Naivasha. The evidence of recent past volcanic activity can be found throughout this area and we have time to stretch our legs on a walk in the wilds to the beautiful jade green Crater Lake or alternatively cycling through Hells Gate. A hippo cruise on the lake allows us to enjoy the scenery further and afternoon tea on the lawns entertained by the antics of black and white colobos monkeys is always fun.

Our next camp is in Nakuru National Park. A small park close to the busy Nakuru town the park is home to rhino, giraffe, eland, waterbuck, cape buffalo as well as hippo. It is famous for its flamingo population and other water birds, and boasts numbers of leopard and lion. On afternoon and morning game drives we aim to see as much as possible across the park.

Camping over night in the bush is a special treat and your truck is well kitted out so we can enjoy our night in the wilds. The following morning we enjoy breakfast at Baboon Cliffs with special views across the soda lake, before heading on towards the Eldoret.

Please note The Masai Mara with a visit to a Maasai village and Nakuru National Park is included in the kitty payment.

Optionals: Sheldrick’s famous Elephant Orphanage as well as the Giraffe Park, Hells Gate National Park or Crater Lake Sanctuary, Elsamere afternoon tea.

UGANDA

Days 8 - 16

Into Uganda we arrive at our tranquil campsite at Jinja by the Nile to pitch camp and relax for a few nights after being on the road and on safari in Kenya. But for those who want to keep up the pace there is a huge range of adventure sports on offer that are far from relaxing......white water rafting, kyaking, bungee jumping and quad biking. This section at the beginning of the Victoria Nile in particular has some of the wildest whitewater in the world as Lake Victoria, the second largest freshwater lake in the world, spills into a bubbling cauldron at Jinja where those up to it can tackle up to X5 grade 5 rapids. This is adventure plus!!

Otherwise there are canoe trips, horse riding, village walks and cycling tours.  There is also the opportunity to help out in a local school if you want, a great chance to get to know the local community and get a feel for life on the ground.

Then its time to move on to the capital, Kampala, to catch up on shopping and banking before heading to Lake Victoria to catch up with another of Uganda’s special treats, its famous primates. The chimp sanctuary at Ngamba is home to over 30 rescued chimpanzees who are being reintroduced gradually to life in the wild here on the island. Feeding time gives us a great chance to see them from the special viewing platform. It is a quiet peaceful day journeying over to the island by boat, with a traditional lunch served by the local village and a chance to swim right on the equator during our journey across the Lake.

Uganda has some of the least visited game parks in East Africa and leaving Entebbe we follow the main road to the South West heading to Queen Elizabeth National Park. On the way we stop over at the traditional drum markets.     

Arriving into Queen Elizabeth an afternoon cruise on the Kazinga Channel allows us to enjoy the African bush again. The 34 kilometre Channel links Lake Edward and Lake George and much of the park sits between the two lakes. The cruise allows you to see the parks large numbers of hippo and provides a great chance to see crocodile. Like Nakuru the park has areas of savannah with thickets dominated by candelabra euphorbias, but the chance as well to see wildlife from the water makes this a very special and different experience. The park also has elephant, waterbuck and a wonderful amount of bird life.

Please note entry into Queen Elizabeth National Park as well as the Kazinga Channel Cruise is included in the kitty payment.

Optionals: White water rafting, kyaking, bungee jumping, quad biking, canoe trips, horse riding, village walks, cycling tours, helping out in a local school, chimp sanctuary at Ngamba.

RWANDA

Days 17 - 20

We are now on our way to Rwanda. Arriving in Kigale there is time to stop over to have a look around this modern capital as well as visit the Genocide Museum.  

The following morning we are on route to Ruhengeri and our trek on the steep slopes of the mighty Virunga volcanoes to view the endangered mountain gorilla, often seen as one of the greatest wildlife experiences on earth.

The current estimate is that there are only about 720 mountain gorillas left in the world all living in this region of thickly forested volcanoes, along the borders of Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. We head out early morning, the gorilla trek taking us through the flower farms which back on to the national park and then on to the misty lush slopes of the volcanoes in search of the gorillas. The gorillas are usually found on the ground in a family group which can comprise up to 35 individuals, organized according to fascinating social structures. The families are led by one dominant, older adult male, a silverback named after the swath of silver hair that adorns his otherwise dark fur. There are often then several other young males, black backs, as well as females and their offspring. The young ones particularly might be seen swinging from vines and trees and can be very curious as to their daily visitors.

Optionals: mountain gorilla trek, Dian Fossey’s grave, golden monkey hike

TANZANIA

Days 21 - 25

The Serengeti is one of the world’s most famous game reserves. It borders Ngorongoro in the East and Kenya’s Masai Mara in the north. The Serengeti takes its name from the Maasai word “Siringet” - endless plains – the flat grassland plains dominating the eastern and southern section of the park and being synonymous with the classic African savanna. All year round there is plenty to see with resident elephant, giraffe, lion, black and white rhino, topi, impala, Grant’s gazelle, buffalo, warthog and hippo. Then from December to June the migration finds the big migratory herds also onto the famous plains. The migration is one of the most staggering displays nature can turn on with millions of herbivores, moving on mass in search of fresh water and pasture dictated by the rains followed by the ever-present predators – lion, cheetah, hunting dog and spotted hyena.

                  The Migration

                                                  For more information including

                                                  migration times click here...

Ngorongoro Crater, the world’s largest intact caldera, nestles also beside the Serengeti, and boasts upwards of 25,000 large mammals, a virtual Noah’s ark with all the wildlife you would want to see barring giraffe. Wildlife can be found across the Conservation area before you even descend with its rim cloaked in moist montane forest and grassland hosting elephants, as well as wonderful bird life - golden-winged and eastern double-collared sunbirds, stone chats and widow birds. Black rhino, buffalo, wildebeest, zebra, elephant, lion, spotted hyena, golden and black back jackal as well as ostrich are all resident on the Crater floor. Hippo laze in the hippo pools and Lake Magadi can be fringed with pink by flamingo. Three days are allocated for guided game drives in these reserves, camping in the parks surrounded by the wilderness under the African stars. A very special last few days for your African safari. We return to our camp the last night and enjoy our last meal together at the Arusha campsite.

  

Please note Ngorongoro Crater is included in the kitty payment.

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