21 Days East Africa safari overview (Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania & Kenya)
The safari takes you to some of the top and most famous national parks in East Africa: Murchison Falls National Park, Kibale Forest National Park, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National park, Volcanoes National Park and Nyungwe Forest National Park in Rwanda, Arusha National Park, Lake Manyara National Park, Serengeti National Park and Maasai Mara Game Reserve offering the best trip rewarding you with gorilla trekking both in Uganda and Rwanda, game drives, bird watching and nature walks.
Brief itinerary
- Day 1: Transfer to Murchison Falls National Park
- Day 2: Game drive and boat cruise
- Day 3: Transfer to Kibale Forest National Park
- Day 4: Chimpanzee tracking and bigodi swamp walk
- Day 5: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park – boat cruise
- Day 6: Game drive and transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park
- Day 7: Gorilla Trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National park
- Day 8: Transfer to Volcanoes National Park
- Day 9: Gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National park
- Day 10: Transfer to Nyungwe Forest National Park and city tour
- Day 11: Exploring Nyungwe Forest National Park
- Day 12: Transfer to Arusha National Park
- Day 13: Game drive
- Day 14: Transfer to Lake Manyara National Park
- Day 15: Game drive
- Day 16: Transfer to Serengeti National Park
- Day 17: Game Drive
- Day 18: Transfer to Maasai Mara Game Reserve
- Day 19: Game drive
- Day 20: Transfer to Nairobi town for city tour
- Day 21: Transfer to Nairobi International Airport
Detailed itinerary
Day 1: Kampala/Entebbe>Murchison Falls National Park. After breakfast, the Jewel Safaris professional driver guide will pick you from your place of residence or hotel, brief you about the safari before setting off to Murchison Falls National Park. You will have an optional stopover at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary for Rhino tracking. Proceed to Masindi town where you will have lunch. After lunch, continue with the journey to Murchison Falls and on arrival, you will visit the top of the falls before you proceed to the lodge for evening relaxation, dinner and overnight.
Day 2: Murchison Falls National Park. Arise very early in the morning, have breakfast, and head out for a game drive in the savannah in search of wildlife such as Nubian giraffes, Lake Chad buffalos, lions, spotted hyenas, Savannah elephants, Uganda kobs, Lelwel’s hartebeest, common warthogs, Oribis, Bohor’s Reedbuck and many birds like Black-headed Lapwing, Blue-headed Coucal, Giant kingfisher, Swamp flycatcher, Red-throated bee-eater, Black-billed barbet. The game drive is conducted in the Northern sector. After the game drive, you will have lunch at the lodge then prepare for a thrilling boat cruise on the Nile. The launch cruise will grant you an opportunity to an eccentric view of the Nile, amidst the encounter of the huge Nile crocodiles, hippos and several other wildlife and waders like African skimmers on the lake shores. You will later return to the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 3: Murchison>Kibale Forest National Park. After your breakfast, you will start your drive to the south western part of the country, driving through different landscapes and seeing different ways of living. Along the way, you will have lunch and then drive through the western arm of the rift valley with a great view of the escarpment and Lake Albert with the blue Mountains of Congo in the background. Arrival will be later in the evening for relaxation, dinner and overnight.
Day 4: Kibale Forest National Park. After your early breakfast, you will drive to the chimpanzee briefing point where you will be briefed about the chimpanzee trekking activity. You will be assigned a game ranger and armed men for your safety and security. Shortly, you will walk through the forest as the ranger keeps in touch with the monitoring team on the ground. Upon finding the chimpanzees, you will be given one hour to watch them playing, feeding and going about their day. Later, you will drive back to the lodge for lunch and prepare for the bigodi swamp walk and community experience. Among the activities to excite you here include local liquor making, weaving of baskets, cultural dances and also paying a visit to the cultural doctor. You will later then drive back to the lodge for dinner and an overnight.
Day 5: Kibale>Queen Elizabeth National Park. After your breakfast, you will transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park via Rwimi driving through scenic views of some different crater lakes like Lake Nyinambuga, Kasenda, and Kifurukwa, seen along the way. As you approach Kasese town, you will be able to have spectacular views of the Rwenzori ranges. Arrival in Queen Elizabeth National Park for check-in and lunch and prepare for the afternoon boat ride. After lunch, you will take a boat cruise on the Kazinga channel. The Kazinga channel is a 42km stretch, connecting Lake George and Lake Edward with rewarding big herds buffaloes, schools of hippos, Nile crocodiles and different bird species like the rare African skimmers and Lesser Flamingos. After the cruise, you can opt for a sundowner at one of the crater lakes or transfer back to the lodge for relaxation, dinner and overnight.
Day 6: Queen>Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. You will have breakfast and head out for a game drive in the Kasenyi plains where you have chances to see the cats in action and also expose you to other species like African elephants, African Cape buffaloes, Uganda Kobs, Bushbucks, Defassa waterbuck and birds since the park boosts about 600 bird species. You will then transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, a UNESCO world heritage site and home to the famous Mountain Gorillas making it the best place in Uganda for tracking these gentle giants. Arrival in bwindi will be later in the afternoon for relaxation, dinner and overnight.
Day 7: Bwindi gorilla trekking. After breakfast, you will have your packed lunch ready then drive to the park headquarters for a briefing before the gorilla trekking activity. You will then be assigned a group to track a particular gorilla family. You will be led into the jungle by an armed ranger who will keep in touch with the monitoring team on the ground in order to easily locate the mountain gorillas. The activity takes between 3-7 hours depending on the movement of the gorillas. Once you locate the gorilla family, you will be given one hour to watch them in their natural habitat playing, feeding, resting and going about their daily life. Depending on the time you return from the forest and your level of fatigue, you can choose to do a community visit to the Batwa or relax at the lodge.
Day 8: Bwindi>Volcanoes National Park. Have an early breakfast and transfer to Rwanda, the land of a thousand hills, lush vegetation and beautiful people who are so welcoming. Arrival at the lodge will be later in the evening for check in, dinner and overnight.
Day 9: Volcanoes National Park. You will begin the day with an early breakfast then report to the park headquarters for briefing about gorilla trekking by the game rangers. The armed game ranger will lead you into the thick forest in search of mountain gorillas which search takes between an hour to a full day. On finding the mountain gorillas, you will spend about an hour watching them in their natural habitat before you return to the lodge for evening relaxation, dinner and overnight.
Day 10: Volcanoes National Park>Nyungwe Forest National Park. Have breakfast, check out and head out for a city tour visiting different historical and cultural sites in Rwanda. You will have lunch after the city tour and then proceed to Nyungwe Forest National Park for check in at the lodge, dinner and overnight.
Day 11: Nyungwe Forest National Park. After breakfast, head out to Nyungwe Forest National Park where you will spot chimpanzees, monkeys and plenty of bird species with some views of waterfalls and lush vegetation. You will have packed lunch and enough drinking water. Later return to the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 12: Nyungwe>Arusha National Park. Have breakfast and depending on the time of your flight, you will be transferred to Kigali International Airport for your flight to Arusha. On arrival in Kenya, you will be received by another company representative. You will then be transferred to Arusha National Park which is the nearest park to Arusha town. Proceed to the lodge for check-in, dinner, and overnight.
Day 13: Arusha National Park. After breakfast, you will go for a game drive. You will carry packed lunch and enough drinking water because you will spend the entire day before returning to the lodge. You will pass by the wooded savannah and you will encounter a number of buffaloes, giraffes and zebras. You will also view some leopards and spotted hyenas. After the full day in the park, you will return to the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 14: Arusha>Manyara National Park. Begin your day with breakfast before you depart to Lake Manyara National Park. You will carry packed lunch due to the long distance between the two parks. On arrival in Lake Manyara National Park, you will check-in at the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 15: Manyara National Park. Wake up in the morning and have breakfast. Have your packed lunch and drinking water ready. You will then head out for the game drive with an armed game ranger where you will be able to spot different wildlife species. Visit Lake Manyara for bird watching as well and later return to the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 16: Manyara>Serengeti National Park. After breakfast, you will check out of the lodge with packed lunch and depart for Serengeti National Park. Serengeti is the oldest and most famous national park in Tanzania. You will reach Serengeti National Park late in the evening. Check-in at the lodge for evening relaxation, dinner and overnight.
Day 17: Serengeti National Park. After early breakfast, you will leave the lodge for a game drive in the plains of Serengeti National Park. You will carry packed lunch because you will spend the entire day viewing millions of wildebeests as they fulfill their instinctive role in the inescapable cycle of life. The zebras and Thomson’s gazelles always join the wildebeest migration in search of fresh lush vegetation. They cross the Mara River to Maasai Mara Game Reserve in the season of June and September. You will also spot cheetahs, wild cats, leopards, lions, spotted hyenas and other animals. Your lunch will be a game viewing point. After spending the entire day in the game drive, you will return to the lodge for relaxation, dinner and overnight.
Day 18: Serengeti>Maasai Mara game reserve. You will have breakfast and set off to Maasai Mara Game Reserve in Kenya. The Tanzanian guide will drop you at the border crossing point where you will meet the Kenyan guide who will take over the Kenyan safari. The guide will receive and transfer you to Maasai Mara with an en-route lunch break. You will check-in at the lodge, have dinner, and overnight.
Day 19: Masai Mara game reserve. Begin your day with an early breakfast then head out for a game drive. Before leaving the lodge, you will carry packed lunch because you will spend the entire day in the game reserve. You will see a lot of animals like lions, cheetahs, ostriches, elephants, wildebeests, zebras and wild cats. After the game drive, you will return to the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 20: Masai Mara game reserve>Nairobi town. Start your day with an early breakfast. You will then transfer to Nairobi town for the city tour. You will visit top attractions in Nairobi and have lunch. Later drive to the hotel for evening relaxation, dinner and overnight.
Day 21: Departure. After breakfast on the final day of your 21 days East Africa Safari, the guide will pick you up from the hotel and drive you to the airport to catch your flight back home.
Accommodation is booked in accordance with your preferences and depending on your budget and availability.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
- Gorilla permits
- Chimpanzee permits
- Pick-up and drop-off in Kampala
- Transport in a 4×4 safari vehicle
- Services of an English speaking driver-guide
- All park entrance fees
- Bottled water (2 bottles per day)
- Meals included till dinner
Package excludes
- Activities not listed in the itinerary
- Laundry services
- Tips
- Travel insurance
- Visa fees
