Specialist guide Jody Cole throughout
Trip Overview
Uganda, deservedly dubbed the Pearl of Africa, is located in the Great Lakes Region of the Albertine Rift in central Africa and boasts an ecological diversity that rivals many larger countries. Here, Eastern Savannah meets West African jungle. Uganda really does offer visitors incredible diversity with its multitude of varying ecosystems. For most, the highlight is found amongst the bamboo and thick ground cover of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, where coming face to face with endangered Mountain Gorillas in their natural habitat is one of the most profound wildlife encounters in a lifetime.
Tanzania is home of the highest point, Mount Kilimanjaro and the deepest caldera in Africa, the Ngorongoro Crater. These two facts alone strike the imagination for adventure. We’ll see these, PLUS the largest concentration of wildlife in the world in the Serengeti National Park, oh about 4 million wild animals, give or take. Tanzania is the largest country in East Africa, we will visit a small portion of it, leaving you to return again and again.
Day 1
Arrive into
Entebbe, Uganda
Upon arrival in Entebbe, Uganda and after completing immigration formalities and luggage claim, you’ll be met by one of our friendly drivers for your transfer to Hotel No.5. After a welcomed shower and recovery from the long journey, we’ll meet for our Welcome Dinner.
Meals: Bed & Breakfast
Day 2
Fly to Bwindi National Park
After breakfast, we’ll be transferred to the airport for our flight into the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. An ancient rain forest, the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest extends over a series of steep ridges in the Virunga Volcanoes mountain range. Declared a UNESCO world heritage site due to its ecological uniqueness and natural beauty, roughly half of the world’s total gorilla population live in this park.
Our accommodation at Rushaga Gorilla Camp, situated on the edge of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park (Southern Sector) which lies in southwestern Uganda on the edge of the Rift Valley. Its mist-covered hillsides are blanketed by one of Uganda’s oldest and most biologically diverse rain forests, which dates back over 25,000 years and contains almost 400 species of plants. More famously, this “impenetrable forest” also protects an estimated 320 mountain gorillas – roughly half of the world’s population, including several habituated groups, which can be tracked.
Each afternoon we have a choice of activities to participate in as a group or to relax and enjoy the view. Activities include: A Cultural Experience and Forest Walks. (Cost for these activities is additional and not included.)
Meals: Full Board
Day 3
Gorilla Trek One
Today our adventure truly begins!!! After an early breakfast, we will make our way to the National Park headquarters. After completing our park formalities, we embark on a once in a lifetime experience of tracking Mountain Gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei). This is perhaps one of the most breath-taking wildlife experiences on earth!!!
We get so close to these awesome giant primates that you stare at each other blankly not knowing who will break the long silence first. Tracking the gorillas through the light mountain forest on the slopes of the Virunga is a magical experience. These massive primates are extremely rare, with just more than 1000 living today. We will get within meters of the family and be privileged to spend an hour amongst them.
The trekking may be fairly strenuous; possibly up to six hours round trip at a relatively high altitude, approx. 2500 meters/8200 feet. We encourage you to prepare for the trek now, by doing exercise that increases your heartrate. Once off the trail we will return to our lodge for lunch. Afternoon at leisure or participate in a local activity.
Accommodation: Rushaga Gorilla Camp
Meals: Full Board
Day 4
Gorilla Trek Two
After a good night’s sleep and early breakfast, we head to the National Park headquarters again to meet our guides for another thrilling gorilla trekking experience. Afternoon at leisure or participate in a local activity.
Accommodation: Rushaga Gorilla Camp
Meals: Full Board
Day 5
Fly from Entebbe
to Tanzania
Up and at’em! We fly out of the forest and be back in Entebbe in time to catch our noon flight to Tanzania. We arrive at 1:55pm in Tanzania right smack-dab in the middle of the Serengeti on the Seronera Airstrip. We’ll be met by our local safari guides and game drive en route to our first Tanzania camp for afternoon tea.
The Serengeti is the most famous wildlife area in the world. More than 4 million animals reside within its ecosystem, including a million and a half wildebeest, a quarter million zebra, twice that many gazelle, and tens of thousands of their predators (lion, leopard, cheetah, hyena, crocodile, etc.). Moreover, the vast park offers breathtaking scenery unto itself. Scattered throughout the southeastern short grass plains are kopjes, geologic wonders comprised of exposed gneiss and granite shaped by the wind and temperature fluctuations. Different environments emerge as you head deeper into the Serengeti, where you will find riverine forests, acacia woodlands, forested hills, and open grassland that create a vast geographic mosaic. We will have unlimited game drives all days in the Serengeti.
Accommodation: Kati Kati Tented Camp Serengeti is a mobile tented camp resembling the original form of tented camp of the old camps the first explorers in Africa erected with all the modern conveniences. Enjoy the unique opportunity to experience a true safari camp in style with comfortable accommodations in one of the large en suite tents. The camp has been designed to cause a minimum impact on the environment. We’ll be strategically located in the central Serengeti, with easy access to several regions of the vast plains. Delicious fresh meals are served in the cozy dining tent located in the center of camp, where an outdoor campfire is lit every evening for appetizers and snacks before dinner.
Meals: Full Board
Day 6
Game Drives
All Day
We will have unlimited game drives all day in the Serengeti.
Accommodation: Kati Kati Tented Camp
Meals: Full Board
Day 7
Drive into the
Southern Serengeti
This morning, we’ll head into the southern Serengeti where the wildebeest migrate from December through April for the birthing of the calves. We’ll have the chance to see lives come into the world as we game drive through this part of the park. We’ll be in the southern Serengeti near Lake Ndutu in the Ndutu Conservation area.
Lake Ndutu is a shallow basin where water accumulates from the nearby highlands. The water is extremely saline, too saline for human consumption. Lake Ndutu becomes alive with animals during the migration because it is surrounded by the Ndutu woodlands and the short grass plains, which provide ample cover and food. The lake is full of Flamingos this time of year. Flamingos are filter feeders feeding on plankton (resembling the feeding of whales and oysters). It is their diet of these microscopic plants and animals that gives the flamingo the pink color.
Accommodation: Ndutu Kati Kati Tented Camp is a mobile tented camp that moves to follow the migration.
Enjoy the unique opportunity to experience a true safari camp in style with comfortable accommodations in one of the large en suite tents. Meals served in the cozy dining tent located in the center of camp, where an outdoor campfire is lit every evening for appetizers and drinks.
Meals: Full Board
Day 8
Exploring Your Love of Africa
As you wake up with a new love for Africa, we have the opportunity to spend the day exploring Serengeti South. After breakfast we’ll enjoy a 1-2 hour ranger-guided bush walk through the acacia forest and open plains of the Lake Ndutu area.
We are here between the long and the short rain seasons of East Africa, and the grass is green and lush at this time of the year, providing plenty of nourishment for the annual wildebeest calving season. The abundance of grass enables the wildebeest to remain strong and healthy to avoid predators and give birth to their young. The opportunistic predators however, are always nearby, allowing us to see many lions, hyena and hopefully leopard or cheetah. Not forgetting the small things, we can also be on the lookout for the dung beetles hard at work and providing their share of balance to this amazing ecosystem.
Accommodation:
Ndutu Kati Kati Tented Camp
Meals: Full Board
Wildlife and Cultural Life
Along with the wildlife, Ngorongoro is permanent home to many Maasai pastoralists. During one of our game drives, we may visit a Maasai boma (homestead) for an exciting cultural interaction and peek into the lives of this fascinating tribe, known for their beaded jewelry, dramatic dancing, and steadfastness to their indigenous culture.
Accommodation:
Farm House Valley Lodge. Farm House Valley is a stunning 30-room luxury lodge located on a 500-acre coffee farm in the Ngorongoro Highlands just outside the Conservation Area. The cozy main house, where meals are served, is located in the center of the facility, providing views of the Great Rift Valley and Oldeani Volcano. Sunlit breakfasts and candlelit dinners are enjoyed inside the restaurant or on the veranda with views extending across the valley. Enjoy evening drinks and appetizers in the relaxing lounge or by the outdoor campfire.
Meals: Full Board
Ngorongoro Crater
Today we enter the world famous Ngorongoro Crater for a game drive in what is often referred to as “Africa’s Eden.” The descent into the crater, 2,500 feet below the rim, is an unforgettable experience. While only 100 square miles in area, it offers several distinct habitats: acacia forest, swamp, short grass plains, long grass plains, riverine, and woodland.
Each habitat attracts a unique variety of the crater’s 30,000 resident animals, which creates a density and diversity of wildlife unseen anywhere else in Africa. We can choose between a picnic lunch in the crater or a hot lunch back at the lodge.
Accommodation:
Farm House Valley Lodge
Meals: Full Board
Walking and Departures
In the morning, we’ll stretch your legs with an easy two-hour guided hike through the forested highlands inside the fabulous Ngorongoro Conservation Area, where a majestic 150‐meter waterfall awaits. Trek onward to visit the elephant caves, so‐called because the deep recesses in the valley wall are created by elephants digging up the earth to ingest the mineral‐rich soil.
The rich soil also attracts buffalo, bushbuck, waterbuck, and baboons to the area. Drive back through Karatu, Mto wa Mbu, and Arusha Town en route to Kilimanjaro Airport.
On the outskirts of Arusha, hidden amongst one of Tanzania’s largest coffee plantations, sits Arusha Coffee Lodge. A stroll around the grounds will lead you to Traders Walk and Shanga Arts Studio. Shanga is a socially conscious enterprise employing people with disabilities to create unique, high quality, handmade jewelry, glassware and homeware using recycled materials.
We’ll head to Kilimanjaro International Airport for evening flights homeward.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Price Per Person
Enquire for a 2024 quote
2023 safaris are fully booked.
“Jody was very attentive to all of us. I liked how she took care of each person’s individual needs.”
Sonya A., San Jose, CA
Additional Pricing Information
Pricing is per person, double occupancy*.
Final payment is due 120 days before travel.
Single supplement: Limited Single Supplements available. Please contact us for more information
*Price is based on a minimum of 6 guests
Additional costs:
Gorilla trekking permit fee is USD 700.00 per person per trek. We have planned for two treks per person.
Visas for Uganda USD 50.00 pp and Tanzania USD 100.00 pp
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