Gorilla safari & the Masai Mara
One of our most popular African safari holidays combines locally-guided Kenyan game drives with gorilla and chimpanzee watching in Uganda, offering a deeper connection to nature than you get on most trips with 13 nights of wild camping.
Kenya: Nairobi Lake Naivasha Masai Mara Lake Nakuru National Park Eldoret Uganda: Jinja River Nile Optional: white water rafting, village walk Murchison Falls National Park Chimpanzee tracking in Budongo Forest Queen Elizabeth National Park Bwindi Impenetrable Forest Trek to see gorillas Optional: second gorilla trek Rwanda: Kigali Genocide Museum
Price
£4899including UK flights
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More info
From £3999 - £4099 excluding flights.
Optional single supplement £155.
Minimum age 16.
Optional single supplement £155.
Minimum age 16.
Description of Gorilla safari & the Masai Mara
This epic 18 day gorilla safari and the Masai Mara will take you over the wildlife filled grass plains of Kenya and national parks of Uganda, before coming to a thrilling climax within a trek to meet the gorillas of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.
This small group holiday begins in Kenya, where you’ll take game drives in the Masai Mara. Look out for lions and cheetahs, as well as numerous other species and, at certain times of year, you can watch as the Great Migration of wildebeest thunders past. Then it’s on to Lake Nakuru National Park, one of Kenya’s best small parks, home to a population of black and white rhino. Once in Uganda, we’ll make for Jinja, the adventure sport capital of the country, where you have the option to try white water rafting on the Nile. We spend time in Murchison Falls National Park, seeing the famous falls and enjoying a game drive on the north side of the Nile, before heading to Budongo Forest. This is your first opportunity to meet one of our closes relatives, chimpanzees, as we trek into the trees to see them. In Queen Elizabeth National Park, enjoy game drives or an optional boat cruise along the Kazinga Channel to see huge numbers of hippo, before finally, in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, we pull on our walking shoes again and go in search of gorillas – a truly breathtaking finale to this wonderful adventure.
Another exciting dimension to this wildlife adventure is the accommodation. For 13 nights we will camp, with all meals prepared by the team. It’s a chance to stay deeply connected to nature and brings a real sense of immersion in the landscapes and life of East Africa. This is a small group holiday with a maximum of 18 people.
Map
Price information
£4899including UK flights
Convert currency:
From £3999 - £4099 excluding flights.
Optional single supplement £155.
Minimum age 16.
Optional single supplement £155.
Minimum age 16.
Check dates, prices & availability
Leader interview
“Where we camp there is no fence. One time, lions came into the campsite; we could hear them roaring…”
Learn more about this itinerary in Responsible Travel's interview with Often Konzoro, a tour leader on this trip.Read full interview
Travel guides
Gorillas are like the godfathers. The largest and most powerful of the great apes, you are only granted an hour's sitting with them. That is the law o...
First things first. The author of this guide has passed the 50 mark and, like most travellers, doesn’t feel any different about travel. 18-30 clubbing...
Holiday information
Small group tours:
Small group travel is not large group travel scaled down. It is modeled on independent travel – but with the advantage of a group leader to take care of the itinerary, accommodation and tickets, and dealing with the language. It’s easy to tick off the big sights independently – but finding those one-off experiences, local festivals, travelling markets and secret viewpoints is almost impossible for someone without the insider knowledge gained from years in the field. Those with a two-week holiday, a small group tour will save valuable planning time.
Our top tip:
In addition to your daysack, take a small overnight bag to pack what you’ll need in for camping.
Trip type:
Small group tour. 4-18 adults (min. age 18) with a tour leader.
Activity level:
Leisurely.
Accomm:
11 nights camping, 4 nights hotel.
Solos:
Solo travellers welcome. Single rooms available with surcharge.
Meals:
15 breakfasts, 14 lunches, 13 dinners.
Included:
Accommodation, all transport and listed activities, tour leader, gorilla permit, flights (if booked).
Reviews
18 Reviews of Gorilla safari & the Masai Mara
4.5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed on 23 Oct 2019 by Madeleine walker
We had the best wildlife encounters ever! Read full reviewReviewed on 20 Jul 2019 by Violeta Maftei
Just returned from my first African wild adventure and I'm still day dreaming of it!...Absolutely awed day in day out. This being my first experience camping and group travelling i must say it has been a blast! Read full reviewReviewed on 15 Jan 2019 by lisa houston
Very good great experience very well run and crew are fantastic. Read full reviewReviewed on 23 Oct 2018 by Billie Jean Stubbs
Excellent. It is a shame that we did not do this before we reached our sixties. Read full reviewReviewed on 01 Aug 2018 by Kay Emblen-Perry
Too many to pick just one highlight - spending an hour with a family of 10 mountain gorillas, a balloon flight over the Masai Mara at sunrise, seeing wild chimpanzees, spotting elephants, big cats, hippos.... The list could go on. Read full reviewReviewed on 03 Jan 2018 by Xi Wang
White Water Rafting in river Nile is very interesting. Seeing Lion, Elephant and Zebra. Read full reviewReviewed on 16 Jul 2017 by Alice Neeson
The most memorable moment was getting up close to a gorilla family at Volcanoes National Park; seeing white and black rhinos in Lake Nakuru NP; seeing the Wildebeest migration in the Maasai Mara. Read full reviewReviewed on 07 Jan 2017 by Adam Southorn
This is by far the best holiday I have ever been on, and I've been on quite a few! Nothing beats the natural untouched beauty of Africa, but it was the beauty of the people that helped us feel at home that I will remember most. Read full reviewReviewed on 28 Mar 2014 by Valerie Koppi
Every day was fabulous always something different... travelling with like minded people was also a good thing. Read full reviewReviewed on 12 Mar 2014 by Mark Asquith
Gorillas!!!!! Interacting with them was the most exceptional experience of my life and the biggest adrenaline rush I have ever had. It is without comparison. The Masai Mara was amazing, wild camping was a buzz and white water rafting on the Nile was an amazing experience but being close to the African people(especially the happy kids) and not isolated in 5 star resorts made the trip a once in a lifetime experience. Read full reviewReviewed on 01 Feb 2014 by Sally Knowles-Jackson
It was excellent. I would go again tomorrow... it was such a fabulous trip from the start in Kigali to the end in Nairobi. Seeing the gorillas was obviously so special and memorable and the rafting in jinja was an unexpected highlight. Also the people in my group and our fabulous tour operator's team who were so efficient, friendly, patient and organised. Read full reviewReviewed on 26 Mar 2014 by Chris Hehir
Wildlife from Masai Mara to Rwanda was amazing, varied and stunning...Brilliant - one I shall never forget. Read full reviewReviewed on 08 Jan 2014 by Mary-Laure Bollini
It was a really great holiday, great wildlife, beautiful scenery, great people, and well organised. Read full reviewReviewed on 06 Mar 2013 by D Smith
The Gorilla trek in Rwanda was the real highlight, would do it again tomorrow, but Uganda was an unexpected highlight, with wonderful bird watching at Lake Bunyonyi, camping next to the hippos at Lake Mboru and at Jinja the boat trip to the Source of the Nile. Read full reviewReviewed on 17 Sep 2012 by Lisa Irving
The most memorable part was game driving in the Masai Mara and visiting the gorillas in Rwanda...Excellent. Read full reviewReviewed on 16 Aug 2011 by Pete Fuller-Thompson
Most memorable? Seeing the gorillas, playing with children at the orphanage at Bunyonyi, seeing an elusive cheetah on our final game drive in the Mara and an absolutely fantastic group of people led by an amazing guided. Read full reviewReviewed on 30 Oct 2011 by John Durham
Seeing the mountain gorillas at such close proximity. Incredible...It was an excellent trip. Very well organised with lots to see and do without feeling rushed. Read full reviewReviewed on 10 Aug 2011 by Phoebe Harrison
I have travelled a lot and have been to Africa before but not the East. However, something about this trip touched me deeply. I worry for Africa, for the people, the environment and the wildlife. This trip educated me further on the problems facing this great continent. It was truly educational, breathtaking, humbling and fun! Read full reviewResponsible Travel
As the pioneers of responsible tourism, we've screened this (and every) holiday so that you can travel knowing it will help support the places and people that you visit, and the planet. Read how below.
Planet
Accommodation & meals:The majority of this trip is spent camping, therefore reducing our energy consumption and carbon footprint for the whole trip. Each tour has their own chef, dedicated to buying produce from local stalls and markets and making a range of traditional meals. Guests might have the chance to learn to make an African Lakes regional specialty such as stew with ‘Ugali’ - a maize flour and water mixture with the consistency of dough.
Group size:
This is a small group tour and so numbers do not exceed 18, meaning that local environments and the communities and variety of species (endangered and otherwise) that we encounter are not seriously impacted by our stay. This group size also allows us to travel with ease and therefore to stay at a number of unique, lesser known campsites and one hotel that would not usually benefit from tourism commerce due to its limited size.
UK office:
It all starts at home so we have first worked at reducing our carbon footprint in our UK offices. Through energy conservation measures and recycling policies, we are proud to be actively reducing the waste produced and our impact on the environment. We support various projects all over the world to try and give something back to the places we visit.
Conservation:
The permit fee charged to see the Gorillas in in Parc National des Volcans goes directly towards the preservation of this endangered species and their fragile but beautiful environment. By travelling with us, you ensure that rangers are paid a fair wage and have the provisions and personnel to protect themselves and wildlife against harmful poaching activity.
People
Community:We employ local tour guides, drivers, porters and chefs and so all of these employment opportunities provide financial benefit for people in the community. Beyond this, we also work directly with a number of charitable organizations in the area. Along with offering the opportunity to get involved in a school project in Jinja, for example, we make a point of visiting the genocide museum in Kigali, Rwanda. This helps to educate visitors, drive income to the area and to support the work of the Aegis Trust which prevents further acts of atrocity in the region.
Local Crafts & Culture:
In addition to purchasing supplies locally, tour guides encourage travelers to purchase goods and souvenirs from a Maasai village. Through this we encourage and respect their customs and craftsmanship while sharing with our visitors at a fair price for the Maasai people. Our guides are also keen to teach Swahili as a means of making a more genuine connection with people they meet on the trip.
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