Welcome to Uganda! When your flight lands at Entebbe International Airport, a friendly representative from Jimnat Gorilla Tours will be there to meet you. You will be driven to your hotel, where you can relax, settle in, and get a good night’s rest after your journey. Entebbe is a calm and pleasant town sitting on the shores of Lake Victoria, and it serves as your starting point for this incredible adventure.

Meal Plan: Half-Board

Accommodation: 2 Friends Hotel

This morning, you will be picked from your hotel and driven to the airport for a short but stunning flight to Bwindi. The flight takes about two hours and gives you a beautiful bird’s-eye view of Uganda’s changing landscape below — rolling hills, thick rainforests, deep valleys, and wide papyrus swamps. It is a visual treat even before the safari truly begins.

On arrival at Kisoro airstrip, a lodge vehicle will be waiting to take you to your accommodation. Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is one of the oldest and most diverse rainforests on earth. It is home to hundreds of primate species, rare birds, and, most famously, the endangered mountain gorillas. Take time to relax at the lodge and prepare yourself for the exciting day ahead.

Meal Plan: Full-Board

Accommodation: Ichumbi Gorilla Lodge

This day is the highlight of your Uganda experience — gorilla trekking! After a hearty breakfast and with a packed lunch in hand, you will walk to the park headquarters where a ranger will brief the group. You will be told everything you need to know before meeting the gorillas, including important rules about keeping a safe distance and how to behave in their presence.

Your guide will then lead you into the forest toward a specific gorilla family. The family you visit will be chosen based on your fitness level, age, and personal preferences, so make sure to share any concerns with your guide beforehand. The trek itself can range from a short 30-minute walk to several hours, depending on where the gorillas are on that day, so it is wise to come prepared for a long hike.

As you make your way through the forest, your guide will point out interesting trees, colorful birds, and other wildlife along the path. When you finally find the gorilla family, you will have one full hour to watch them, take photos, and simply soak in one of nature’s most powerful and moving experiences. Seeing these magnificent creatures in the wild — eating, playing, and caring for their young — is something you will never forget.

After the trek, return to the park headquarters to collect your gorilla trekking certificate, a proud reminder of your achievement.

Meal Plan: Full-Board

Accommodation: Ichumbi Gorilla Lodge

After an early breakfast, you will check out of the lodge and transfer back to the airstrip for your return flight to Entebbe. From Entebbe, you will connect to a flight heading to Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya.

On arrival at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, a member of the team will meet you and drive you to your hotel. Nairobi is one of Africa’s largest and most vibrant cities. It is a major business and cultural hub, full of energy, great food, and fascinating history. Take some time to enjoy the city before the next leg of your safari begins.

Meal Plan: Full-Board

Accommodation: Tamarind Tree Hotel

After breakfast, you will leave Nairobi and drive toward Lake Nakuru National Park. The drive takes you through beautiful countryside and eventually into the park itself. Lake Nakuru is well known for its large population of flamingos, which gather in their thousands along the lake’s shores, painting the water in shades of pink. The park is also home to rhinos, lions, leopards, giraffes, zebras, and many other animals.

You will enjoy a morning game drive followed by lunch at the lodge. In the afternoon, head out again for another game viewing drive before returning to the lodge for dinner and a good night’s sleep.

Meal Plan: Full-Board

Accommodation: Lake Nakuru Sopa Lodge

This morning you will drive across the dramatic floor of the Great Rift Valley, passing through the wide open Loita Plains on your way to the world-famous Masai Mara National Reserve. The landscape on this drive is impressive, offering wide open views and a real sense of arriving in the heart of wild Africa.

You will reach the Mara in time for lunch at your lodge. In the afternoon, set off on your first game drive in the reserve and discover why this place is considered one of the greatest wildlife destinations on the planet. Return to the lodge for dinner and rest.

Meal Plan: Full-Board

Accommodation: Masai Mara Sopa Lodge

This day is entirely yours to explore the Masai Mara. You will go out for both a morning and an afternoon game drive, giving you the best chance of seeing as much wildlife as possible. The Mara is home to nearly every species of African wildlife imaginable, including the famous Big Five — lion, leopard, buffalo, elephant, and rhino.

This is truly Africa at its most spectacular. The wide-open plains seem to stretch on forever, and the skies above are enormous and filled with light. The Mara is also the traditional homeland of the Maasai people, a proud warrior community who have lived alongside wildlife here for centuries.

Between July and October, the Mara becomes the stage for one of nature’s greatest events — the Great Wildebeest Migration. Over 1.3 million wildebeest, along with hundreds of thousands of zebras and gazelles, pour across the Mara River from the Serengeti in Tanzania. Predators such as lions, cheetahs, and crocodiles are never far behind. Even outside of migration season, the Mara delivers extraordinary wildlife encounters day after day.

Meal Plan: Full-Board

Accommodation: Masai Mara Sopa Lodge

Start the day early because today involves a long but rewarding drive. After an early breakfast, you will pack your picnic lunch and head toward the Kenya-Tanzania border at Isebania, approximately 300 kilometers away and about five hours of driving. After crossing the border, you will enter Tanzania and drive into the legendary Serengeti National Park.

The Serengeti is vast, ancient, and breathtaking. As you drive through, keep your eyes open because wildlife viewing opportunities can pop up at any moment along the way. On arrival at your camp, settle in and relax. You will spend two nights here.

Meal Plan: Full-Board

Accommodation: Serengeti Mawe Camp

Day 9 Full Day Safari in the Serengeti

The Serengeti is Tanzania’s oldest and most famous national park, and today you will have a full day to explore it. The park is home to an astonishing variety of wildlife — massive herds of wildebeest and zebra roam across the golden plains, while lions, leopards, cheetahs, elephants, and hippos are found throughout the park. Game drives here feel like stepping into a nature documentary.

The sheer scale of the Serengeti is humbling. Wherever you look, there is something happening — a pride of lions resting under a tree, a herd of elephants moving slowly toward a waterhole, or a cheetah scanning the horizon for prey. This is one of the world’s great wilderness experiences.

Meal Plan: Full-Board

Accommodation: Serengeti Mawe Camp

Day 10 Drive to Ngorongoro — Visit Olduvai Gorge

This morning you leave the Serengeti and head toward the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, about 160 kilometers away and roughly three hours of driving. Along the way, you will stop at Olduvai Gorge, a hugely important archaeological site where some of the oldest human fossils ever found were discovered. It is a fascinating and thought-provoking place that connects you to the very origins of humanity.

After the visit, continue to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, where you will stay for two nights.

Meal Plan: Full-Board

Accommodation: Rhino Lodge

Day 11 Full Day Tour of Ngorongoro Crater

On this day, you descend into the Ngorongoro Crater, one of the most extraordinary places on earth. This massive volcanic crater is roughly 20 kilometers wide and acts as a natural enclosure for approximately 30,000 animals, including lions, elephants, hippos, zebras, wildebeest, and the rare black rhino. With so many animals in one place, game viewing here is outstanding.

The scenery inside the crater is stunning — sweeping views of the crater floor, forests, lakes, and grasslands all contained within the ancient volcanic walls. In the late afternoon, you will climb back out of the crater and return to your lodge for dinner.

Meal Plan: Full-Board

Accommodation: Rhino Lodge

Day 12 Drive to Nairobi — Departure

After breakfast, you will begin the long drive back to Nairobi. You will stop in Arusha for lunch before continuing to the Tanzania-Kenya border and crossing back into Kenya. You are expected to arrive in Nairobi by late afternoon, where you will be transferred to the airport for your homeward-bound flight. Alternatively, you may choose to extend your trip with a visit to Mombasa and the beautiful Kenyan coast.

Meal Plan: Half-Board

Accommodation: None unless requested